Daily News reporter Tom Rivers spoke to the Elba Historical Society yesterday evening about his award-winning series on farm labor.

Rivers gave an energetic, anecdote-laden, hour-long talk on the series in which he explained that he set out to really understand what it's like to work in the fields, doing the work that migrant workers do, and whether an average American could handle the task.

His conclusion: Not only can't the average American not handle the jobs (and they rarely apply, and when  they do, they usually wash out after two hours of work), most world class athletes couldn't handle what immigrant workers do every day.

"After being out in the fields with these guys for eight hours a day, professional sports seems pretty lame," Rivers said.

He's used his experience picking cucumbers and tossing cabbage to help him get through running a marathon, which he said wasn't nearly as difficult compared to his work among the migrants.

The work ethic of the migrants astonished him, Rivers said. He explained that in picking berries, it's important to get the ones at the right stage of ripeness, otherwise the suburban housewife will be unhappy if she arrives home with bitter berries.  At the berry farm where Rivers worked one day, the owners had tried hiring teen-age workers once, but they just didn't take enough care about which berries they threw into baskets.

"The Mexican workers impressed me with their quality control," Rivers said. "Among themselves there is a lot of pride, you could even say perfection."

Such praise for the migrant workers didn't always win Rivers fans, he said. He said people actually called the paper to complain about his stories.

"Some people have a problem with showing the humanity of farm workers," Rivers said.

Tom Rivers, Sharon Larson and Ben Beagle all garnered awards from the New York Newspaper Publishers' Association.

Congratulations to all three. Details here.

This weekend, Tom Rivers delivered another in his series of farm work articles for the Daily News.

Again, it's a stunning piece of writing and reporting. We could never summarize if for you in a way that would do it justice. You will need to find a copy of the paper for yourself and read it.

Besides producing a fine article, I admire Tom for sticking with such a physically demanding job under adverse conditions for a full 10 hours.

The article makes the point well that if you like -- as Jack Davis apparently does -- that there are locals ready, willing and able to do this farm work, but they're just being pushed out of the way by immigrants, you're deluded.

Darren, 42, seems a little bewildered by my interest in the job. He can't remember anyone from around here ever wanting to cut cabbage. The farm puts many ads in local newspapers seeking field help, and no locals have even called about a job in at least two decades, Darren said.

Cutting cabbage may not be "skilled" labor as we traditionally define it, but you better have the right muscles and motor skills developed, and have built some level of mental immunity to the demands of the job. This is a job that not just anybody can do. Clearly, farmers can't just hire a crew of anybody off the street and expect to fulfill the tons of orders for their crops.

Rivers is doing a good bit of public service journalism with this series.  We wish him well in the appropriate journalism awards competitions.

Of course, what these stories lack are video. We've offered the Daily News help in this regard. So far, they've declined.

From the Daily News (Tuesday):

• O glorious day! Today's Daily News features the third installment of Tom Rivers' adventures in agriculture series — cherry picking. Rivers begins the article with a confession of his rampant fear of heights, ladders in particular, which makes for a tense and funny start to what proves another gem in a great series. Go read it.
• United Memorial Medical Center received a $2.2 million state grant that will help finance the renovation of the Jerome Center on Bank Street. Reporter Paul Mrozek writes: "The project will provide 37 condominium-style apartments for low-income senior citizens, ages 55 or older. Rent will be from $475 per month to $575 per month, depending on the person's income." The total cost of the project is about $8.2 million. No date has yet been set for the start of the project, but UMMC spokeswoman Colleen Flynn said that they hope to start soon.
• The Genesee County Nursing Home was told it will get $800,000 in "retroactive Medicaid reimbursements," money that was supposed to be granted by the state as reimbursement for Medicaid patient care provided by the nursing home. Also, the state will start to pay more for Medicaid services and the county should see an added $600,000 "in unanticipated revenue," writes Paul Mrozek, which means more good news for an institution that hasn't heard much of it in recent months.
• And the money just keeps flowing... The city of Batavia received a check for nearly $630,000 from the state thanks to Batavia Downs video gaming facility. An article in the Daily News Friday made mention of the state funds — some went to the county and some to the town, as well. After reading today's article, I still don't quite understand why the state gives money to community's for hosting video gaming centers, which I believe are no more than video slot machines. Reporters Tom Rivers and Joanne Beck explain how it came about: "The state last year approved legislation allowing host communities to receive payments for having video gaming centers within their municipal borders. They share 3.5 percent of the total net revenue generated by the video gaming centers." I assume that "they" here refers to the "host communities." But then the next sentence says that the "money comes from the state and not the tracks that operate the gambling centers." I'm confused. Whose money is this? Is it the state's or does it belong to the Downs? Why do municipalities get a share? Anyone know how this works?
• A fire at a home in Corfu Monday morning resulted in the death of two cats and caused about $50,000 in damage. No one was home at the time, and the Corfu fire chief said the house is not habitable.
• The owner of BrightLine, a television marketing company, was honored as the Batavia High School Graduate of Disctinction Sunday. Jacqueline Corbelli Modzelewski graduated from the school in 1982.
• Brian Hillabush reports on the NFL-sponsored football camp at Batavia High School. More than 400 kids are enrolled in the camp, and they come from schools all over the area. It's an interesting article, worth reading.

For the complete stories, the Daily News is available on local newsstands, or you can subscribe on BataviaNews.com.