As 2021 draws to a close, the village of Bergen can look back on a year of successes, while looking forward to new improvements.

This week, mayor Anna Marie Barclay reflected back on some of the positive advancements made in the village this year, the most notable being the buildings on Main Street which were restored with a Main Street grant which Barclay applied for and received two years ago.

As a result of the façade restoration, four new businesses have opened on Main Street – Pivot Acupuncture owned by Barclay’s son and daughter-in-law Derek and Lainy Barclay, TK Flooring, a laundromat, and Alvamar Healthy Foods.

Barclay would like to have a Main Street open house, perhaps in the spring when Covid is not a concern.

The village has recently redone several village streets with oil and stone, preserving them for another five years, the mayor said. They were able to carry over state money for road repair. Two small streets, Spring Street and Leroy Street are left to do, she said.

As part of the Federal American Rescue Plan, Bergen received $112,000, half of which is reserved for their stormwater, wastewater, and Covid mitigation issues.

“We wanted to come up with a plan for the most efficient way to use the money,” Barclay said. “Our proposal is to finish mapping our stormwater infrastructure. After that, we will use the funds left to update and repair our stormwater infrastructure. We have maintained our system but there is work that needs to be done.”

She added it has been 10 to 12 years since the stormwater infrastructure was mapped.

Now that people can be outside more, due to Covid, we plan to build a new restroom in Hickory Park.

“Our parks and trails and disc golf course are used extensively by our residents and those outside our village,” Barclay said. “The new restroom will have a utility section in the center, with the restrooms on each end. That will allow all the pipes to be in the center, making them inaccessible to vandals.”

Vandals were recently caught on camera tearing down and destroying a new fence village workers had just installed. They have been identified and dealt with by the Sheriff’s Department. The village has cameras in all their parks, the mayor said.

The last of the funds from the American Rescue Plan will be used for wastewater improvements.

“We’ve been wanting for a long time to have spare parts at our wastewater plant,” Barclay said. “This money will go toward the purchase of expensive supplies we need on hand.”

Barclay said they attended seminars and listen to webinars on how the money could be used.

Bergen didn’t receive a Genesee Valley Restoration/Rehabilitation grant, which the mayor applied for, but she is going to reapply, she said.

The money would be used for much-needed preservation work on the Tully Building, which houses the village offices. Barclay explained the building is made of Bergen brick and therefore is soft and porous. This allows water to come in through interior walls. They have secured an architect to design the painting scheme on the exterior. When the mural on the south wall was painted, the brick beneath that was sealed and preserved, Barclay said.

Another project the mayor is hoping to complete is paving the trail in Hickory Park because it is used extensively.

Since becoming mayor eight years ago, Barclay has secured $1.4 million in grants to improve the village. She said it would be late next spring or early summer before they will know if they receive the new grant she is re-applying for.

Top photo: Anna Marie Barclay, mayor of Bergen, stands in front of the American Legion building on Main Street, which is one which has completed façade restoration with a Main Street grant.

TK Flooring is a new business in Bergen which has taken advantage of a Main Street grant to improve its façade.

Brette-Ashley Wilcox Schmitt's photography studio was one of the first to have its façade restored. The building dates back to the mid-1800s.

Dana Michael McGill, 61, of Maple Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, driving while impaired by drugs, moving from lane unsafely, speeding, failure to obey traffic control device. On Aug. 8, at 2:29 a.m., on Townline Road, Byron, McGill allegedly failed to yield to the lawful command of a police officer and led deputies on a vehicle pursuit.  At the conclusion of the pursuit,  officers suspected he was driving under the influence of a drug and that he was allegedly found in possession of a controlled substance.  He was arraigned in Byron Town Court and released on an appearance ticket.

Brian J. Miller, 40, of Ellicott Street Road, Bethany, is charged with criminal mischief 4th, obstructing governmental administration 2nd, and menacing 3rd. Miller was allegedly involved in a physical altercation with another person at a residence on Ellicott Street Road at 10:51 p.m., Wednesday. He allegedly fled the scene into a wooded area prior to the arrival of deputies. Deputy Andrew Mullen and K-9 "Frankie" were called to the scene and located Miller. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and released on his own recognizance.  Also assisting in the case were Sgt. Mathew Clor and Officer Peter Flanagan, Batavia PD.

Thomas James Leonard, 38, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with burglary 3rd and petit larceny. Leonard is accused of stealing merchandise from Walmart. He was arraigned in Town of Batavia Court and released.

The Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors, acknowledging the continued record earnings at Batavia Downs Gaming, today approved raises of 3 ½ percent for its non-union employees, effective Jan. 1, 2022.

Non-union employees, about 120 of them, include senior management, supervisors and department heads, said WROTB President Henry Wojtaszek following the board’s monthly meeting at the Park Road facility.

Last month, management and the union agreed to raises and bonuses for union workers.

Director Dennis Bassett, representing the City of Rochester, commended the senior leadership team for a successful 2021 thus far.

“Coming out of the pandemic, it was a long hard fight,” he said. “There are people that care about us and people who want to make headlines that don’t care about us. So, we thank you.”

Genesee County Director Richard Siebert, speaking after the meeting, said he is in full support of the salary increase.

“If you look back over the last 18 months or so, with the pandemic and everything, we were in trouble and worrying about staying in business, to be honest about it,” Siebert said. “We had to let a lot of people go – we asked for help. But the fact that where we are now, setting records, when just a few months ago we were down on our backs, it’s just a credit to the leadership.”

Siebert reiterated a previous public statement that this is the best management team he has seen in his 27 years on the board.

“Obviously, we’re doing good in the community, we’re good neighbors and we’re making money for our county (and other participating counties) and we’re providing jobs for the local people.”

According to figures provided by Chief Financial Officer Jacquelyn Leach, Batavia Downs Gaming earned $668,000 in October – a record month. That is up significantly from the $192,000 in October 2019, which at that time was considered a highwater mark.

Leach also said that the corporation will distribute $68,120 in surcharge for October, the first leg of the fiscal year’s fourth quarter. Third quarter earnings of $2.5 million also were a record, something that was reported on The Batavian in late October.

Thus far in 2021, about $4.5 million in earnings and surcharge has been distributed WROTB’s 17 municipalities.

In her operating plan for 2022, Leach projects revenues of $4.8 million in earnings and another 886,000 in surcharge.

On other fronts:

• Wojtaszek said that some preparatory work on the Park Road Reconstruction Project is taking place, noting that crews are at the corner of Lewiston Road today.

“They’ve got some equipment lined up, and as soon as they get the pipe in, they will work on putting that in and then we will begin the process of beautifying the road,” he said.

Supply chain issues have resulted in the project being pushed back until spring, Batavia Town Assistant Engineer Tom Lichtenthal said last month.

When construction does start in earnest, Wojtaszek said his team is hoping to work with other businesses along the road to help mitigate any traffic issues.

“There were some good suggestions made by the board yesterday. Some of them are to go to some of the various businesses and see if we can work with them on the parking that they have, instead of having everybody come down in the middle of Park Road,” he offered.

• Pepsi-Cola has signed on as the 2022 Rockin’ the Downs Concert Series “name sponsor,” a $40,000 investment that, according to Wojtaszek, is “raising the level of the performers.”

The Batavian ran a video and story on the concert lineup on Wednesday.

Additionally, Rochester Regional Health, locally represented by United Memorial Medical Center, will become a sponsor.

“We want to partner with them on various health care initiatives,” Wojtaszek said, mentioning the corporation’s participation in a wellness points program.

Marketing Director Ryan Hasenauer said the RRH logo will be placed on all hand sanitizers at Batavia Downs Gaming.

Genesee County lawmakers are being asked to consider spending $15,000 as part of a regional media blitz aimed at persuading the “vaccine hesitant” and others to protect themselves against COVID-19.

County Legislature Chair Rochelle Stein, County Manager Matt Landers and Public Health Director Paul Pettit are part of a weekly conference call with representatives of the seven other counties in the Finger Lakes Region.

Over the course of recent discussions, the participants have reached a consensus to contract with Rochester-based Causewave Community Partners and Common Ground Health through the end of the year on a media campaign targeting rural counties such as Genesee.

The full cost of the initiative – which would include television ads, radio spots, direct mailing and social media announcements – is $150,000. Genesee’s cost, based on population, is around $15,000, Landers said at today’s Ways & Means Committee meeting at the Old County Courthouse.

The campaign is being coordinated by Chris DeBolt, Ontario County administrator.

“One of the things that we really liked about (the companies’ presentation) is that the focus is, one, that they're not going after the never-evers,” Landers explained. “They understand where people are and they’re not going to try to change set minds.”

Instead, he said, the goal “is to help people that are vaccine hesitant …to help reinforce people that have already gotten the vaccine to get the booster and to focus on masking -- good defenses that are out there for COVID.”

Another important aspect is that the focus will be on rural counties, Landers advised.

“Monroe County would not be participating in this, which is good, because they have a different challenge and different dilemma than the rest of the counties that surround Monroe County,” he said.

Landers said ideas include enlisting a local doctor to answer questions from a community resident – “30-second bites tailored toward our communities,” he noted – and direct mail that would target hard to reach zip codes and hard to reach populations, in general, such as Mennonite, Amish or Native American.

He said he sees the $15,000 as a relatively small amount that enables the county “to leverage a company that is going to have some uniform messaging throughout the region to similar counties.”

“And I think it's a good step given the direction that we are going with the pandemic.”

Ways & Means Chair Marianne Clattenburg pointed out that the cost breaks down to 26 cents per resident.

Stein agreed that the county could get a lot of bang for the buck.

“I know we can’t do a postcard mailing for that by ourselves,” she said. “And that is really inexpensive and, at the same time, everything is going to be focused towards a rural population, not an urban -- and the unvaccinated zip codes are also really going to be called in on and that information is available through the Finger Lakes Hub.”

She said project is another way “to get our message out … to help us stay healthy and to understand how critical it is that everybody plays a role in getting our health back under control and to help us use the tools that we have this time around with an outbreak.”

Landers said the fee is a one-time cost but is leaving the door open – upon approval by the legislature – to conduct a longer campaign. He said he plans to introduce a resolution that would be voted on at next Wednesday’s legislature meeting.

In a sign of a much healthier housing market, Genesee County is set to distribute nearly $550,000 in mortgage tax revenue to its municipalities – about $128,000 more than it doled out at the same time in 2020.

The County Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee today approved the distribution of $546,430.58 as the county's second payment of 2021 to the City of Batavia, the 12 towns and seven villages. The second payment of last year amounted to $418,882.58.

The breakdown by municipality is as follows:

• City of Batavia, $113,736.69;
• Town of Alabama, $8,328.62;
• Town of Alexander, $24,688.48;
• Town of Batavia, $77,658.07;
• Town of Bergen, $27,694.15;
• Town of Bethany, $14,585.36;
• Town of Byron, $20,905.21;
• Town of Darien, $42,525.02;
• Town of Elba, $21,884.54;
• Town of Le Roy, $57,904.37;
• Town of Oakfield, $20,172.09;
• Town of Pavilion, $19,657.02;
• Town of Pembroke, $38,540.20;
• Town of Stafford, $25,817.67;
• Village of Alexander, $2,510.95;
• Village of Attica, $874.64;
• Village of Bergen, $3,855.28;
• Village of Corfu, $2,322.85;
• Village of Elba, $2,725.09;
• Village of Le Roy, $16,890.31;
• Village of Oakfield, $3,153.97.

$1.7 MILLION IN UNPAID SCHOOL TAXES 

The committee authorized (subject to full legislature approval) the inclusion of more than $1.7 million in unpaid 2021-22 school taxes into the 2022 county and town tax levy.

The unpaid amounts range from $70,774 in the Town of Oakfield to $311,239 in the Town of Le Roy. Unpaid taxes in the Town of Batavia amounted to $97,466.

Another $135,000 in unpaid village taxes will be relevied as well, with the Village of Le Roy accounting for the bulk of that total ($119.800).

 

Genesee County Manager Matt Landers this afternoon urged lawmakers to move swiftly on the financing piece connected to the construction of a new county jail.

Landers, speaking at the County Legislature’s Ways & Means Committee meeting at the Old County Courthouse, said it is important for the governing body to approve a bond resolution in early January – preferably by Jan. 5 or Jan. 6 – in order for him to meet the schedule he has mapped out to solicit construction bids by early March.

“Time is of the essence and to wait until the end of January is going to be difficult with a timeline -- the timeline that we're looking at,” he said.

He outlined several items that need to be done, including approval of the State Environmental Quality Review, drafting bid packages, awarding contracts and preparing for cash outlay until the bond proceeds are received in mid-April. He noted that County Manager Scott German has sent documentation to bond attorneys and expects to have the resolution “in our hands by the fifth of January.”

“If we can pass it then … it takes 60 to 90 days, and we expect it to get closer to the 90 days just because of the pure size (of the bond),” he said.

The county is looking at financing around $70 million via a 30-year bond. Landers estimated that annual payments would be $3 million to $3.5 million.

Landers suggested taking up the matter at the legislature’s 2022 organizational meeting on Jan. 5 but, after discussion, it was decided to conduct a special meeting immediately after the organizational meeting.

In other action, the committee:

• Approved a special counsel agreement with Napoli Shkolnik PLLC for the New York City law firm to represent the county in litigation pertaining to generic drug manufacturers' overcharging of self-insured county employees and dependents for medical care supplies and pharmaceuticals.

Napoli Shkolnik LLC previously worked on behalf of Genesee and other counties on the opioid settlement, and is doing the same in this matter.

County Attorney Kevin Earl said the latest litigation claims that manufacturers have illegally price fixed or violated antitrust laws. He noted that Genesee County will not be responsible to pay anything, unless there is a recovery, and only will have to pay based on the net amount recovered.

• Approved a resolution to contract with Direct Energy Business, LLC, of Iselin, N.J., to supply natural gas to 20 Genesee County accounts at a fixed rate instead of the current variable pricing policy in an effort keep utility costs in check.

The contract, if approved by the full legislature, would run for 16 months, beginning on Jan. 1, 2022. The change is expected to save the various county budgets around $9,000 during that time.

• Approved a memorandum of understanding with Cornell Cooperative Extension for the county to support the agency in the amount of $385,484 for 2022 – an increase of nearly $47,000 from this year – and a contract renewal with Genesee County Economic Development Center to provide $233,513 as its yearly contribution plus an additional $25,000 for workforce training program administration.

Landers pointed out that the increases are for 2022 only and the total amounts are subject to change in 2023.

Press Release:

Sheriff William A. Sheron, Jr. is pleased to announce the appointment of Diana M. Prinzi to the position of Program Coordinator at Genesee Justice, a  division of the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office. Mrs. Prinzi is a retired, 22-year veteran of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement where she held the positions of Detention Officer, Lead Detention Officer, Deputy Chief, Deportation Officer, Supervising Deportation Officer, and Assistant Field Office Director.

Mrs. Prinzi is a Batavia native and a 1986 graduate of Notre Dame High School. In 1990, she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree, Magna Cum Laude, in Criminal Justice, from SUNY Brockport. She resides in Genesee County with her husband, Samuel. Diana was recently hired in February of this year as a part-time Community Services/Victim Assistant at Genesee Justice.

"I am excited to have someone with such character and experience lead Genesee Justice and look forward to working with Diana. She will assume the duties of Program Coordinator as of January 3, 2022," stated Sheriff William A. Sheron, Jr.

While there have been 307 new positive COVID-19 cases in Genesee County in the current reporting period, there has been a sharp decline overall in the number of current active cases since Nov. 22, when there were 397 active cases.  

As of today's report, there are 243 cases, with 30 of those people in the hospital.

The current reporting period, with 307 new cases, covers from Nov. 22 through Nov. 29, indicating recoveries over the past two days have outpaced new cases.

Between Nov. 22 and Nov. 29, there were 459 people removed from mandatory isolation due to a previous positive test.

One more person died during the week, bringing the total number of COVID-19-related deaths to 300 in Genesee County.

Press release:

U.S. Attorney Trini E. Ross announced today that Matthew Barber, 53, of Batavia, NY, who was convicted of possession of child pornography and violating supervised release, was sentenced to serve 147 months in prison by Senior U.S. District Judge William M. Skretny. 

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Aaron J. Mango and Michael DiGiacomo, who handled the case, stated that in April 2007, Barber was convicted on a federal charge of possessing child pornography and sentenced to serve 74 months in prison and five years’ supervised release. Barber’s supervised release was revoked on July 5, 2017, after he was unsuccessfully discharged from sex offender treatment. As a result of this violation, Barber was sentenced to six months in prison and five years of supervised release.

On May 20, 2020, Barber was found in possession of and using a cell phone and a USB device to view child pornography. A forensic examination of the cell phone and USB device recovered over 1,000 images and 200 videos of child pornography on the two devices. Barber was subsequently charged and convicted of possession of child pornography. 

The sentencing is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Stephen Belongia; the Cheektowaga Police Department, under the direction of Chief Brian Gould; the Batavia Police Department, under the direction of Chief Shawn Heubusch; and the New York State Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, under the direction of Acting Commissioner Anthony J. Annucci.

Press release:

Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced the lineup for their fifth Rockin’ the Downs concert series, presented by Pepsi, which will take place outside on the racetrack, with ten Friday dates, starting in June and running into August.  

Kicking off the series on Friday, June 17th will be a double bill of rock with Tommy DeCarlo and Rudy Cardenas.   Tommy has been the lead singer of Boston since 2007 and performs all of Boston’s hits from the ’70s and 80’s including More Than a Feeling, Peace of Mind, Hitch A Ride, and more!  Opening the show will be Rudy Cardenas, a season 6 American Idol finalist and who will perform a full set of Journey’s classic hits.

Next up, on Friday, June 24th, Batavia Downs welcomes Canadian Rock Band Finger 11.  Originating in Burlington, Ontario in 1990, the band has gone on to release 7 studio albums.   The Juno Award-winning rockers will be performing hits such as One Thing, Paralyzer, and others.

Friday, July 1st will see Get the Led Out perform at Batavia Downs. This group of professional musicians are passionate about their love of the music of Led Zeppelin, making it their mission to bring the studio recordings of the Mighty Zep to life on stage.  These musicians were fans first and strive to do justice to one of the greatest bands in rock history by touring all across the US and Canada.  Songs performed by the band will include Led Zeppelin hits like Black Dog, Immigrant Song, Stairway to Heaven and more!

Returning to Batavia Downs on Friday, July 8th is Theory.  Hailing from Delta, British Columbia, the band also known as Theory of a Deadman has turned their hard rock/alternative sound into nine top 10 hits on the US Billboard Hot Mainstream Rock Tracks, including four number one tracks in Bad Girlfriend, Lowlife, Rx (Medicate) and History of Violence.

Performing on Friday, July 15th is another double bill of great music, this time with Herman’s Hermits starring Peter Noone. Peter Noone is a multi-talented entertainer, who achieved international fame as Herman, lead singer of the legendary Sixties pop band Herman’s Hermits.  His classic hits include: I’m Into Something Good, Mrs. Brown, you’ve Got A Lovely Daughter, I’m Henry VIII, I Am. 

 Earlier that evening The Grass Roots will take the stage having originated in the Mid-60s and charted with such hits as; Midnight Confessions, Let’s Live for Today, Sooner or Later, and Temptation Eyes.  The current Band Line up of Mark Dawson, Dusty Hanvey, Larry Nelson, and Joe Dougherty rocked Batavia Downs last summer with an inspired performance. 

On Friday, July 22nd, Batavia Downs welcomes back Southern Rock legends Molly Hatchet.  Originating in Jacksonville in 1978, the band has gone on to release 14 studio albums.   They’ll be performing hits such as Flirtin’ with Disaster, Dreams I’ll Never See and Whiskey Man.  Opening for them will be American Southern Rock Band Blackfoot, who will be playing such hits as Train, Train, and Highway Song.

Rocking the stage on Friday, July 29th is the legendary band, 38 Special.  After forming in Jacksonville in 1974, they have currently achieved over $20 Million in sales.  Their signature blast of Southern Rock is unmistakable with such arena-rock pop smashes as Hold On Loosely, Rockin’ Into the Night, and Caught Up in You.

America’s top Pink Floyd Show, The Machine returns to the Batavia Downs stage on Friday, August 5th.   For over 30 years they have extended the legacy of Pink Floyd, while creating another legacy all their own. Over the years, The Machine has touched the hearts and souls of many with their stellar musicianship, dramatic lighting and video performances.  Last year’s performance at Batavia Downs was well received by one of the largest crowds of the summer.

Making his Batavia Downs debut on Friday, August 12th is Mike DelGuidice - Recording Artist/Singer/Songwriter who is currently on tour with Billy Joel.

Mike DelGuidice now lives a dream come true. In October of 2013, Billy Joel was so impressed with Mike's singing, Joel personally hired Mike to join his band. 

And now you can see Mike on tour with Billy Joel all over the US & world in major arenas and stadiums including every month at the iconic Madison Square Garden.  Mike and his band play all of Billy Joel’s big hits.  They will also perform a few astonishing renditions of other classic rock hits,  plus some of Mike’s own original work.

Closing out the series on Friday, August 19th  is the Dire Straits Experience.  With former Dire Straits member Chris White, this stellar collection of professional musicians has been paying homage to one of the greatest songbooks of all time with tours across the world.  They will be playing all Dire Straits’ major hits, in all their ambition, grandeur and aching beauty.  These songs are once again presented live for the fans that that have kept them alive.

“We are looking forward to hosting what we feel is the best Concert Series Line-up we’ve ever had,” said Henry Wojtaszek, President, and CEO for Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel. “We’re appreciative to the folks at Pepsi for being our headline sponsor this year and excited to welcome back charities like Make-A-Wish Western New York & Volunteers for Animals who raise funds for their organizations through the chair rental and guitar raffle.”

Tickets for all ten concerts will be available at www.BataviaConcerts.com only beginning on Thursday, December 2^nd at 10am.

Tickets this year will be $15 for General Admission, $30 for VIP, $50 for Premium and debuting this year, limited tickets for $75 will guarantee a front row spot.  All tickets can be redeemed at Player’s Club at any time in the three days following the concert for $15 Free Play to be used on one of Batavia Downs Gaming’s 800+ gaming machines.

Season Tickets are also back and will also go on sale for General Admission, VIP, and Premium Sections.  A Season pass for General Admission will be $100 (a savings of $50) and purchasers will receive a $50 Free Play Voucher valid to be used within one month of purchase.  Season Passes for VIP tickets are $250 (a savings of $50) with the purchaser receiving $100 in Free Play Vouchers. A Premium Season Pass is $450 (a savings of $50) with the purchaser receiving a $150 in Free Play Vouchers.  Season passes may only be purchased online.

For the month of December until Christmas, tickets purchased online for the General Admission section will be only $10.  Concert goers will still receive $15 in Free Play on show day with this ticket.

Suite Packages for the Hotel at Batavia Downs are available for $500 and include 10 Lawn Tickets.  To book a suite package, contact Sara Tenney at 585-344-6155.

Concerts are held Rain or Shine.  Additional information may be found at www.BataviaDownsGaming.com.

Devon Wright

Devon Wright, who entered a guilty plea to multiple charges during a trial on Nov. 16, is wanted by Batavia PD on two warrants and police are seeking the public's assistance in locating the fugitive.

Wright is accused of shoving two females on Nov. 27 while at a location on Central Avenue and of tampering with the property of one of the women by throwing it all over the residence.

He is also wanted for violating his terms of release following his guilty plea on counts of attempted criminal possession of a weapon 2nd, assault 3rd, attempted assault 1st, and criminal sexual act 4th.

The plea came during a rare two-defendant trial.  A jury would eventually find Wright's co-defendant, Jacob Sponaugle guilty of attempted murder, along with other changes, in connection with a shooting outside the Days Inn in Batavia in July 2020.

Anyone with information on Wright's whereabouts is asked to contact the Batavia Police Department at 585-345-6350, the confidential tip line at 585-345-6370.

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If it’s possible to have a “defining moment” in the first game of the season, Marc Staley, head coach of the Batavia Notre Dame United varsity ice hockey club, said he may have witnessed one during the third period of Tuesday night’s Section V season opener.

In front of a large and energized crowd at the Batavia Ice Arena, United posted a 6-3 victory over visiting Aquinas Institute in its debut following the merger of the Batavia High and Notre Dame programs.

Staley said his team’s ability to control its emotions with the score tied at 3-3 midway through the third period was the difference in the game.

“The kids really gutted it out down the stretch,” he said. “We called a timeout with seven minutes and 40 seconds to go. And all we said was to breathe – everybody reset. This is a big moment."

“It's a 3-3 game. It's an emotional night. Just breathe. Let’s go put the stamp on this thing right now. We have the power play. Let’s go execute the power play.”

Batavia ND did just that, with seniors Andrew Kasmarek, Gavin Schrader and Vin DiRisio working together to produce what proved to be the game winning goal.

Defenseman Kasmarek, who shined in the penalty killing department, was at the top of the power play and “executed it perfectly,” Staley said.

“(Kasmarek and Schrader) got the puck across ice to Vincent, which is what we wanted, and he fired the puck in the net,” Staley said.

DiRisio’s goal at the 9:59 mark put Batavia ND in front, 4-3, and United was able to hold off Aquinas, which pulled its goalie in the final minutes – leading to empty net goals by DiRisio and Schrader.

Staley thinks the team’s response to the timeout could be a rallying point as the players, including some from other Genesee County schools, seek to bond as a unit.

“I hope that was a moment that we're going to be able to call back on already – that we were able to calm down,” he said. “Hockey is played with an active body and a calm mind.  We were able to calm our minds, go back to the task at hand and execute down the stretch.”

The win was a costly one, however, as junior Cooper Hamilton, the team’s second line center, suffered a broken collarbone on the game’s first shift when he fell into the boards. He is expected to be out of action for at least six weeks, Staley said.

Batavia ND also played without its first line center, senior Zack Eschberger, who is quarantined due to an exposure to COVID-19.

“He’s not positive but he’s out for the first two games. We found that out less than 24 hours before the game,” Staley said.

That forced the coaching staff to improvise, putting together different combinations on the front line.

“I mean, our whole game plan and our whole line sequencing was just immediately thrown off. And it was not the easiest situation to coach, when you're thrown curveballs like that to manage the bench and to find combinations, and you really have to just coach on the fly, which is not ideal,” Staley said.

Furthermore, starting goaltender sophomore Frank Falleti injured his leg early in the third period and had to come out of the game. His status for this weekend’s two contests in Potsdam is uncertain, Staley said.

His replacement, senior Courtney Schum, came through with flying colors – giving up only one goal, which was tallied by CJ Mangone, his second of the game.

“Courtney came in and did a tremendous job for us in a really pressure packed moment,” Staley said. “She was coming in cold and did a great job and made some big saves for us down the stretch to help us secure the lead.”

Junior center Ronin Hofmaster and Kasmarek had first-period goals for United, and Hofmaster scored again in the third period to give the home team a 3-2 lead. Schrader had four assists and DiRisio had two.

Going forward, Hofmaster, who Staley credited as having a “phenomenal” game, will anchor the second line with freshman wingers Brady Johnson and Jameson Motyka. Key defensemen include juniors Noah Hudson, Alex Johnson and Bryce Feldman and seniors Kasmarek and Parker Corbelli.

United travels to Potsdam for games against Canton (Friday) and Potsdam (Saturday). Its next home game is at 6 p.m. Dec. 9 against Portside Royals.

The merged program's JV team has won two of its first three games.

The Village of Bergen ushered in the holiday season with a tree lighting and fire truck parade on Monday night.

The parade started at 6:30 p.m. at the fire hall and traveled throughout the village, ending in Hickory Park where Santa and Mrs. Claus placed a wreath on the veteran’s memorial.

Along the parade route, elves passed out gift bags to children, containing hot cocoa, candy canes, and a cookie. The Bergen Business and Civic Association put together 350 bags of goodies to be handed out along the parade route, according to mayor Anna Marie Barclay.

A stop was made in Ward Park, for the annual lighting of the Christmas tree. A limited number of artificial trees are set up there for village residents or businesses to decorate.

Submitted photos.  Top photo:  The Sapienza children are eager to help the Bergen Fire Department decorate its trucks for a parade through the village Monday night.

Trish Hemmerl-Plucknette donned a Santa hat to video Bergen’s Christmas parade Monday night.

Santa hangs from one of Bergen Fire Department’s trucks, which was decorated for a Christmas parade Monday night.

Bergen’s Christmas parade Monday night ended in Hickory Park, where Santa and Mrs. Claus placed a wreath on the veteran’s memorial.

In 1926 a young woman purchased Batavia's Central Hotel.  She renamed it the Palace Hotel.  The red brick structure was located just south of the New York Central Railroad tracks.  The hotel consisted of three floors.  The main living space for the family was five rooms on the first floor, with nine bedrooms on the second floor and six unused bedrooms on the third floor.  The stately hotel would soon be known as Edna's or the 'house of ill repute.' No one knows how Edna got into prostitution, but there is mention that she was raped at a young age.  She was determined never to allow another woman to go through that violent, humiliating experience.

Edna Geyer was born on July 28, 1882, into a poor family in Buffalo, NY. By the age of 13, she began working in a barroom scrubbing floors. At the age of 15, Edna married Joseph Gruber and had a daughter, Florence in 1901.

In 1935 Edna's daughter Florence died in an accidental fire in Sandusky, Ohio. The death of her daughter was traumatic for Edna. Florence had two children, William and Edna, ages five and three. They moved into the Palace Hotel to live with their grandma, the infamous Edna, upon their mother's death. 

It was difficult for young Edna to lose her mother, move to Batavia and live with her grandmother.  When young Edna's father Charles returned to Batavia to find his wife and children, Grandma Edna took him to the cemetery and pointed to her daughter Florence's headstone.  When Charles wanted to take his children back with him, Edna had him beaten and implied that if he didn't leave town now, then he never would. 

Edna was a powerful woman.  She had connections and was not afraid to use them. As a result, Charles seldom saw his children, except when Edna went to prison for a year for "operating a disorderly house." At that time, Edna asked Charles to come to Batavia and run the Palace Hotel until she returned.

Edna, as the grandmother, was obsessively clean and neat.  She maintained an immaculate house, scrubbing the kitchen floor and bleaching the sidewalk every single day.  She was not your stereotypical madam or your demonstrative loving grandma.  She was an alcoholic and would be drunk for days on end.  As a petite woman of 5 feet stature, she raised her grandchildren with very high morals.  Her grandchildren were completely separate from Edna's prostitution business. Her grandchildren said, "She tried very hard to save us from hurt. She didn't care if people respected her, but they had to respect her grandchildren." The children were never told what went on at the Palace Hotel.

It was challenging to grow up in the Palace Hotel.  Other children ostracized young Edna. If Edna thought her granddaughter was being shunned by her classmates, she had no trouble calling the family and asking the parents if their child had a problem walking to school with her granddaughter.  Just hearing the threat in her voice was enough to instill fear in her granddaughter's classmates.  Ultimately, Edna wanted to save young Edna and Bill from hurt.

Edna was a shrewd businesswoman.  When the earnings from the Palace were divided, she took fifty percent of the profits for herself, and 50 percent went to the girls to be shared with their pimps.

Young Edna and her brother, Bill's lives, were a contradiction.  On the one hand, Grandma Edna was very generous with gifts, but on the other hand, she had young Edna work on the muck to earn money for school clothes.

The Edna the public knew was different from the madam. Edna's generosity to children in the area was legendary.   In the 20s, Edna noticed three young girls living near the New York Central railroad in squalor.  She took the girls home, cleaned them up, fed them, found homes for the older children, and adopted the youngest.

Rather than Edna the madam from Jackson Street, you heard stories about Edna taking care of the less fortunate.  At Christmastime, she would spend hundreds of dollars on toys for children at the Children's Home, the local orphanage in Batavia.  She was known for purchasing communion dresses and suits for needy children of the neighborhood. She told sales clerks at Thomas and Dwyer to be on the lookout for children walking to school barefoot.  She would ask that they be fitted for shoes, and then she would pay the bill.  Edna would send men into McAlpine and Barton in need of a warm suit, and again, the clerks would fit that person and send the invoice to Edna.  She also bought uniforms for the police and fire departments.

Yes, Edna had politicians in her back pocket and probably was connected to the Mafia. She knew how to outsmart the local police and could be very strict and often cold. However, most stories about her described her generosity. She believed that you did not hurt someone who was already down but rather should help them. 

Edna died in 1953. Her granddaughter, young Edna, found her in their living room slumped over a chair.  The Palace Hotel was left to Edna and her brother Bill.  Today the building has been sided and made into apartments.  If only the walls could talk!

Photographs are courtesy of Edna's Gruber's Family and the Holland Land Office Museum.

Press Release:

Notre Dame High School is having a virtual fundraiser, the second Ca$h for Christmas Reverse Raffle, with a chance to win up to $10,000! This fundraiser was very successful and popular last year so we are doing it again. 

Notre Dame Events Coordinator, Kathy Antinore, says “ticket sales are going well as everyone could use $10,000 right before Christmas.”

The Notre Dame Foundation raises funds to use for financial aid and scholarships for students. Those needs are greater now than ever. The object of a “Reverse” raffle is to be the last number drawn. That lucky person wins $10,000. Between the immense need and the great cash prize, the school is hoping to sell 1,000 tickets.

Tickets are $25 each and there are 20 chances to win at least your money back plus two $1,000 prizes. The drawing for the last 5 numbers will be “Live” on the Notre Dame Facebook page on Thursday, December 16th .

More information can be found on the school’s Facebook page and website www.ndhsbatavia.com.

Interested in purchasing tickets, please contact Notre Dame at (585)343-2783 or email Events Coordinator, Kathy Antinore, at kathy.antinore@ndhsbatavia.com.

Press Relase:

The Genesee County Economic Development Center (GCEDC) Board of Directors will consider a final resolution for a proposed $4.5 million financial investment by Valiant Real Estate USA Inc. for a bus operations facility in the town of Batavia at its board meeting on Thursday, December 2, 2021.

The 20,000 sq. ft. facility would include office space, training space, repair areas and storage in order to support school districts and school bus operators across Genesee County. The project would include infrastructure to support future utilization of electric/clean energy vehicles and related initiatives.

The facility would be located on Saile Drive in the town of Batavia. Over the next three years Valiant Real Estate USA Inc. plans to create up to 19 new jobs and 12 part-time jobs. 

The GCEDC Board also will hear an initial resolution to consider the purchase of a vacant 142,000 sq. ft building in the city of Batavia by Mega Properties Inc., which plans to develop the building into a warehouse distribution facility. 

The potential $8.5 million financial investment by Mega Properties Inc. would retain nine full-time employees and the creation of up to 11 new jobs. The project would receive approximately $600,000 in property, sales, and mortgage tax exemptions. 

“There is a huge demand in the marketplace for operations and warehouse space not only regionally but across the nation,” said GCEDC President and CEO Steve Hyde. “The dynamics of supply chain economics is impacting every industry sector and the need for more storage and distribution space is vital to future economic development.”

A public hearing regarding the Mega Properties Inc. plan will be held at 4 p.m., December 2 at the Town of Pembroke offices on 1145 Main Road in Pembroke.

The December 2, 2021, GCEDC Board meeting will take place at 4 p.m. at 99 Med-Tech Drive.

A livestream and on-demand recording of the meeting also will be available at www.gcedc.com.

The Genesee County Deputy Sheriff's Association, in cooperation with Sheriff William Sharon, raised $1,900 for Genesee Cancer Assistance in 'Movember.'

Members of the association were allowed to grow beards in November in exchange for a $100 donation to GCA.  In total, 19 members of the association participated.