Press Release:
The Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) Genesee and Leadership Genesee offices will close for the day at 12 p.m. on November 14 for a staff in-service. The offices will reopen at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, November 15.
Press Release:
Genesee Community College's (GCC) Stuart Steiner Theatre will stage the chilling thriller Misery, adapted by William Goldman from the iconic Stephen King novel, this November. Performances will take place on November 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m., with a matinee on November 10 at 2 p.m.
Goldman's gripping adaptation, which first premiered on Broadway in 2015, brings King's horror masterpiece to the stage, telling the story of novelist Paul Sheldon and his unsettling encounter with fan-turned-captor, Annie Wilkes.
As Paul recovers from a car accident at Annie's isolated home, he soon realizes that her obsession with his work goes far beyond admiration. Held captive and forced to write under terrifying conditions, Paul's survival hinges on his ability to appease his captor-creating a tense and suspenseful psychological battle.
Misery has been described as a fast-paced, edge-of-your-seat thriller. "There are no lulls in famed screenwriter William Goldman's 90-minute stage adaptation of the Stephen King story, which Goldman himself translated into the 1990 film," said WNBC NY.
Directed by Maryanne Arena, the production will feature Paul Sheldon played by Tony Haitz, and Maryanne Arena taking on the role of Annie Wilkes. Joshua Lang, a fellow graduate of the GCC Theatre Arts program, will portray Buster. Scenic, lighting and sound design will be overseen by Sandor Nagar.
Content Warning: This production contains graphic violence, explicit language, gunshots, frightening moments, adult themes, strobe lights and the use of fake blood. Viewer discretion is advised.
Ticket Information:
- General Admission: $10
- Non-GCC Students, Seniors (55+), and Children (under 16): $5
- GCC Students, Faculty and Staff (with valid ID): Free admission (available only at the box office)
Tickets are available for purchase online at www.genesee.edu/campus-life/center-for-the-arts, at the campus art gallery during operating hours, or at the box office, which opens one hour before each performance.
For more information or to reserve tickets, contact Maryanne Arena at mcarena@genesee.edu or the box office at boxoffice@genesee.edu.
Press Release:
Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced that Celebrity Chef Anne Burrell will be hosting “An Afternoon with Anne Burrell” at Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel in the Park Place Events Center on Sunday, November 24 at 3 p.m.
Attendees will see Chef Anne prepare an entrée, side, and dessert and hear about all the fun she has hosting her hit show Worst Cooks In America on Food Network. Come see one of America’s favorite chefs!
Following the show, Anne will be hosting a small reception for those with Meet and Greet tickets. Dinner with the same items Anne demonstrated making will be held at two different seating times (5 p.m. and 7 p.m.) in the Genesee Room upstairs.
Show only tickets are $60, Show and Dinner Tickets are $110 (choose seatings at 5 p.m. or 7 p.m.), Show and Meet and Greet Only are $150, and VIP (show, 7 p.m. dinner & meet and greet) are $200.
Tickets are on sale now at BataviaConcerts.com.
“With the Buffalo Bills on a bye week and Thanksgiving the week after, we thought it would be a perfect time for folks to come see this famous upstate New Yorker, “ said Byron Brown, President & CEO of Batavia Downs. “I know our patrons will be looking forward to her demonstrating her culinary skills and hearing stories about her time as a TV Star.”
Press Release:
The Point Breeze Yacht Club held its annual Members Meeting and Election of Officers at Godfreys Pond on Saturday, October 26. Boaters interested in membership may find information at PBYCNY.com.
Press Release:
Eco Waste Solutions held a VIP event at the company’s newly renovated manufacturing facility on Cedar Street in Batavia. Among the attendees were members of the United States Military, various City of Batavia and Genesee County officials, and representatives from state and federal offices.
Eco Waste Solutions anticipates hiring up to 30 employees at this location, to manufacture and support its line of thermal treatment technologies. The facility is specifically designed for mass production of the Expeditionary Solid Waste Disposal Systems (ESWDS) for the United States Army. The ESWDS eliminates the need to rely on burn pits which were a long-standing source of toxic exposure on overseas missions, resulting in cancers and other health issues among personnel.
“The health and safety of our personnel is of paramount importance, and the ESWDS manufactured by Eco Waste Solutions, gives us a safe and critically important tool to address waste management in conflict zones,” said United States Army Lieutenant Colonel Reuben Joseph, Product Manager, Force Sustainment Systems Program Executive Office Combat Support & Combat Service Support.
The ESWDS product represents the culmination of over a decade of product development, including thousands of operational hours, and testing to rigorous military standards. The result is a product that is robust, capable, and easy to transport, set-up, and use.
“Today marks an important milestone for our company. The opening of this facility significantly enhances our production, support, and engineering capabilities; an investment that reflects our commitment to building high-quality, innovative, and sustainable products,” said Jean Lucas, President & Chief Executive Officer, Eco Waste Solutions. “We are proud to be
doing this work, and excited to be part of this vibrant community.”
The sixth annual Rotary Trick or Trot 5k drew a total of 58 runners and walkers to the event Saturday evening at DeWitt Recreation Area in Batavia.
Zak Jantzi was the 1st place male winner with a time of 17:17.
Abbey Jantzi was the 1st place female winner with a time of 22:47.
Photos by Kara Richenberg.
There may not have been hiccups on the first day of early voting, but there were plenty of smiles for at least one voter who was glad she did her patriotic duty Saturday.
Tonya Gray, proudly displaying an “I Voted” sticker on her forehead, was practically giddy as she came out of the ARC Community Center building on Woodrow Road Saturday in Batavia after casting her votes in this year’s election.
“It’s the first time I ever voted early,” said Gray of Batavia. “It just made me feel good to get it off my chest. There’s so much going on in the world, so much madness. I’m able to have a voice, I feel so good. I feel chipper and I voted. And I’m going to spread the word and tell others to vote early — today.”
She planned to corral some friends or family to get off the couch and go vote instead of sitting around and letting time waste, she said. Gray later added that “tomorrow isn’t promised to us,” so go vote while you can.
Apparently she wasn’t alone in her enthusiasm to get it done on the first of nine early voting days. There were 1,143 voters that showed up to ARC Saturday, Democratic Election Commissioner Lorie Longhany said.
“We processed more early voters today than we ever have in one day,” she said.
As far as the process and people, things couldn’t have gone better, Longhany said.
“There were no hiccups,” she said. “Setup went without a hitch. Voters were pleasant, poll workers and techs did an outstanding job. Everything ran perfectly today. Very proud of the staff.”
She checked in at the polling site earlier in the day and was also at the Board of Elections, where people could register to vote. Some registrations came from portals and some from walk-ins, for a total of about 50 for the day, she said.
Alicia Catlin was the election technician for polling, and will be one of three for the nine-day duration. There were 10 inspectors and three coordinators also working with her Saturday, she said.
With about 90 minutes to go, they had clocked “just over 1,000 so far,” she said.
“It has been crazy,” Catlin said. “We had a line at 8:30 this morning. I’m happy, I’ve been keeping my fingers crossed.”
The place seemed like a well-oiled machine just past 3:15 p.m., as people still trickled in, checking in, getting their voting forms, taking a seat at the privacy voting tables and then submitting their own forms through the scanner.
County officials have said that presidential elections draw the most people out to vote, and this year is to be no exception. It has been a hotly contested race between non-incumbents Donald Trump and J.D. Vance on the Republican and Conservative tickets and Kamala Harris and Tim Walz on the Democratic and Working Families lines vying for president of the United States.
Patrick and Karen Herron of Le Roy were satisfied with how well it was operated, and glad they got their voting over with.
“It’s great, especially for people that work. And that was easy,” Karen Herron said. “It seems that it was pretty regulated. This is a very important election.”
Her husband Patrick said it was a first time for them early voting, and he did so because that’s what the Republican Party had asked of its members.
“And anyone that can vote should do so,” he said, listing some concerns of immigration, the high cost of goods, and turmoil in the Middle East. “There’s a lot of chaos that shouldn’t be.”
Early voting continues at the ARC Community Center, 38 Woodrow Road, Batavia with the following schedule:
• Monday, Oct. 28: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Oct. 29: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, Oct. 30: 12 p.m. to 8 p.m.
• Thursday, Oct. 31: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 1: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 2: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 3: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For additional information about this year’s election, sample ballots and Election Day, go to the Board of Elections.
I love to take long walks on the streets of Batavia. It is like taking a trip to a different time in our history. So many places trigger so many memories.
Recently, I was walking by Farrall Park. It was a beautiful fall day. I sat on one park bench, and my mind took me back to the 70s when I was a playground supervisor. I closed my eyes, and it was 9 a.m., and I could hear the front doors of the homes on James Street, Otis, Osterhout, Clifton, Jackson, Swan, Sumner, and Williams Street slamming shut as the neighbor kids ran to the park to begin their day. We had already unlocked the storage door and removed the sports equipment and the craft they would make that week.
The children were all friends, and many were cousins. I’m looking at the old swing set and remembering the merry-go-round where we gave endless pushes to the squeals of delight from the children.
When all the parks opened at 9 a.m. all over Batavia, all the supervisors experienced what I was experiencing. You owned that park and were there to encourage all the children to have fun and use suitable sportsmanship, but you also tried to beat the other parks in everything competitive.
We had the smallest park, and it did not have a wading pool, but it had the best kids. I worked with two excellent park supervisors, Gary Starowicz and Tim Beers. We all said we had the best kids.
Every week, we did a different craft. One week, it was boondoggles. Unfortunately, the little kids had no idea how to make them so that they would be clipped to the chain-link fence. A supervisor like myself would begin making them as the young child would watch in anticipation of getting their boondoggle. You can’t forget the little clip that was added at the end.
Another week would be the plaster of Paris. Hopefully, it would be a warm sunny day so the plaster would dry. I think that was one of the children’s favorite weeks. We would line up the molds, mix the plaster, pour the plaster into the rubber molds, shake the mold to eliminate the air bubbles, and insert that tiny hook into the back so your creation could hang on the wall. After we removed them from the rubber mold, the children painted them. They were all masterpieces.
Some of the weekly contests we had were sandbox, coloring, stuffed animal, jello eating, tetherball, pet show, baby picture contest, stuffed animal, scavenger hunt, peanut hunt, and bean bag contest, to name a few. Another favorite was the Park Penny Carnival. Anything you can think of was a contest, and everyone was a winner because everybody at the park was a winner. The Daily News posted contest winners from the various parks in the paper every Friday.
The highlight of the summer was the park parade. Today, my children and grandchildren can’t imagine closing Main Street and having a hay wagon pulled by a tractor showcasing the most beautiful park float. It was covered in chicken wire, twisted, and stapled to 2X4s, depicting the theme of a particular year. Children today can’t imagine building a float, making flowers out of crepe paper, and stuffing the crepe paper flowers into the holes of the chicken wire. The older park members built the float if they were not hopping a train to Pembroke! People would offer their barns or garages to construct the float. We had a garage on Liberty Street for one year and Hawley’s barn on Bank Street for a couple of years. A lot of this took place after park hours.
I miss the sounds of voices as I sit on a park bench at Farrall Park today. I miss seeing the smiles of those kids who had a safe and fun place to go every day. The boys would jump on their bikes and ride to another park if it were a baseball game. The same was true for the girls, who were amazing athletes.
On the day of the park parade, I remember walking with our park kids down Main Street with our float and ending at Austin Park. Every park had a location to display its float. Looking at the park from the street, you would see a wonderland of children and parents standing proudly by their float. Their park scrapbook was displayed with pictures from the summer. There was also a talent show and a place for our king and queen winners, regally dressed, to be judged. Every park waited to hear the winners.
I can’t say we ever came in the first place, but in my heart, they were all first-place winners. I cherish the memories, but my heart is so sad that children today will never have the experience that the children from the city parks had back when the parks were open from 9 to 5 with a lunch break from 12 to 1.
Every child back then had similar memories, and in their hearts, their park was the best it could be. You can delete Farrall Park and insert Kibbe, Williams, Austin, John Kennedy, MacArthur, Woodward, or Pringle Park, and the memories will all be the same.
As I leave Farrall Park to continue my walk, I leave the voices of children’s laughter and the camaraderie of the voices I hear daily as a supervisor. Today, children’s memories are captured on their iPhones. That is their playground. I don’t think kids today can relate to what it was like to belong to a park. The memories from all those beautiful summers go to the park supervisors who made the memories possible. I thank former supervisors Marcia, Bill, and Gary for their help with this article.
If you recognize your park float, please post the name of the float and your park. ENJOY!
The park supervisors in 1972 were: Debbie Lampkin, Ann Gorton, Mary Preston, Doris Holvey, Nancy Manchester, Ann Pietrovito, Marcia Macugowski, Anne Peca, Roberta Thrasher, Laurie Winegar, Dennis Buckley, Larry Barone, Mike Stevens, Marie Howe, Bill Bostwick, Gary Starowicz, Wayne Benedict, Jeff Smith, Peg Marone, Fred Francis
The Pembroke Kiwanis hosted its third annual Trunk or Treat Saturday, and rain didn't dampen the trick-or-treaters' spirits as it cleared quickly for the event.
Patrick Weissend, event chair and member of Kiwanis, said that they were planning for 600 kids and that they had over 35 participants with trunks show up for the annual event.
"Growing up in the country I missed getting trick-or-treaters come to my house," Weissend said. "I never got kids that I didn't know."
This event allows the Pembroke Kiwanis to contribute to the community through a free, family fun event, he said.
Byron-Bergen/Elba beat Pavilion-York in Boys Soccer Section V Class C1 quarterfinal on Saturday.
Jack Farner and Noah Clare each scored two goals. Colin Rea twice assisted on goals, and Joel Lamb and Jadiel Amaro each had an assist.
Goalie Martin MacConnell got the shutout.
Photos by Jennifer DiQuattro
Alexander beat Notre Dame in football on Saturday at Van Detta Stadium, 49-6.
The Trojans rushed for 355 yards.
Kingston Woods ran for 118 yards and scored three touchdowns. Damien Hale ran for 100 yards and a TD on 10 carries. Sean Pietrzkowski and Tyler Caldwell also scored rushing touchdowns.
Back Brody Heckman ran an interception back 32 yards for a score in the third Quarter.
Melissa Sawyer was 3-4 on point after attempts.
Sean Pietrzkowski led the Trojans' defense with eight total tackles, two for loss, and one sack.
Duke Snyder had four tackles and sacks, along with an interception. Damien Hale recorded three tackles and an interception for the Trojans. Jacob Smith, Micah Pulliam and Dylan Pohl all recorded sacks.
No stats were submitted for Notre Dame.
The Trojans are now 7-1 on the season and will host Attica in the first round of sectionals Friday night.
Le Roy Mini Knights finished out their 2024 season with a perfect 10-0 record with a 19-14 win over Albion on Saturday.
Submitted photos.
While 6-year-old Joseph Robinson continued to fill his Batman bag with sweet loot Saturday afternoon, his folks had the opportunity to learn about new places they hadn't seen before during the annual Business Improvement District Trick-or-Treat event in downtown Batavia.
Derek and Mary Beth Robinson, of Batavia, brought their son for some fun trick-or-treating, and also took a tour of the newly built Main St. Theater inside Batavia City Centre.
"It's really good, it's awesome," Mary Beth said. "We got the brochure, so we plan on coming back."
That was a cabaret to Coburn's ears, you could say. They had an estimated 200 visitors throughout the two-hour event, and some "didn't know we existed," she said.
"That's our reason for participating," she said. "That's our mission, to make theater accessible for people, and they can't attend if they don't know we exist."
She wanted to remind the public that a "Spooky Cabaret" is coming up in time for the season. It's at 7:30 p.m. on Nov. 1, and tickets are $10.
Just outside the theater, Matteo Spink was with his dad, Michael, from Oakfield. They believed this was their fourth year attending, and it was mainly about the fun more than learning about the merchants since his family's experience had already been "dipped" in many of the local businesses, he said.
"I have friends that work at some of these businesses, and my daughter has been in a youth program here," Michael said, motioning to the theater.
Nearly 40 BID merchants sponsored the event, which drew families from throughout Genesee County and beyond, including Batavia, Oakfield, Le Roy and Varysburg.
Oakfield-Alabama/Elba beat Geneseo.Mount Morris 42-7 in football on Friday.
OAE Statistics:
“We are very proud of the way our guys were able to execute at a high level from the jump and not look back," said Caoch Tyler Winters. "We have been preaching fast starts the past few weeks, and tonight’s outcome was a byproduct of that exact mentality. The team is very happy to get a big win like this against a good Geneseo team on Senior night and close out the regular season with some momentum. Second season starts tomorrow.”
Also on Friday,
Photos by Debra Reilly.
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