Spectators turned out on a Sunday afternoon to watch some hot Power Wheels action from the stands at Genesee County Fair. Photo by Nick Serrata
A decent crowd turned out to watch little tykes churn up some dust for the Power Wheels demo at the grandstands Saturday afternoon at the Genesee County Fair.
Some 15 participants skillfully drove their ways down the dirt track in vehicles of red, green, pink and more, all vying for awards that were handed out at the end.
The fair is continuing throughout the day with exhibits, food, and entertainment, including Knight Patrol at 7 p.m. at the yellow entertainment tent. Check out The Batavian's eagle-drawing contest at our booth in the Exhibit Hall all this week or stop by just to say hi and sign up for the newsletter.
On Friday, July 19 at the Holland Land Office, Dave Reilly presented a book talk about his book Small Town Talk, a collection of his stories written for The Batavian.
It was well attended and had an audience of over 30 people, including 6 of Dave’s 1964 Notre Dame classmates who were celebrating their 60th high school reunion.
All Early Access Pass members will receive a coupon for free entry into the Genesee County Fair on Thursday. Join by the morning of July 24 to be included. Use the Coupon Code GCFAIR 24 for $10 off on an annual membership or $1 off a month for the first year. Click here to join.
Like Local News? Then why not support it? Join Early Access Pass today so we can keep bringing to you the news that matters most, the news of Batavia and Genesee County. Use the Coupon Code GCFAIR24 for a discount. $10 off the first year of an annual membership or $1 off each month for a year on a monthly membership. Click here to join.
Senator George Borrello provided the following comments on Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s recent audit citing numerous failures of the Public Service Commission (PSC) and the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) in the planning and implementation of the Climate Act.
Among the criticisms contained in the audit were charges that the agencies failed to:
develop viable plans for the transition, using accurate data and updated assessments as projects were delayed and cancelled.
account for new energy laws and mandates which will drive up future energy needs.
provide a detailed cost analysis of the transition and the projected costs to ratepayers.
“Comptroller Tom DiNapoli’s scathing audit of the state’s planning, implementation and progress towards its Climate Act goals only confirms my view that this effort is a disaster in the making. It has been clear all along that the zero emission targets and timelines were unrealistic and often based on assumptions rather than accurate data.
In the rush to push through this politically driven agenda, major issues were overlooked. As the audit points out, among the many issues that were not accounted for in the Climate Act plans was the intermittent nature of renewables, which only produce energy when the wind blows and the sun shines. Also left unaddressed were the impact of cancelled projects and expired renewable energy contracts.
The audit criticized the lack of an accurate, detailed cost analysis of the transition and its real impact on ratepayers and taxpayers, a point I have raised from day one. If the costs are being hidden to avoid public backlash, that is corrupt and doomed to fail. If the costs are impossible to calculate due to assumptions and unknown variables, that is just as bad. Blindly pursuing a statewide energy transition without knowing the impact on the people who will pay for it is reckless and the very definition of bad leadership.
Now is a good time to hit the pause button on this collapsing house of cards. A climate agenda developed primarily by bureaucrats and environmental activists was bound to be unworkable in the real world.
Rather than continuing to flounder in the face of unachievable goals and burdening ratepayers, businesses, school districts and organizations with the costs of ill-conceived mandates, I urge the governor and majorities in the legislature to reassess and authorize a thorough study, led by energy experts and engineers, of how our state can pursue green energy goals in a way that is affordable and achievable.
New York’s economy, and the quality of life for its residents, should not be sacrificed for this corrupt and costly political agenda.”
Photo submitted by QueeNia AsheeMa'at of some of the talent show winners.
This year’s Genesee County Fair talent show contrasted with 2023 as a flood of Mini contestants took to the stage, and the weather remained warm and dry all day, unlike last year’s downpours.
Music was the order of the day, from guitars and piano to singing and dancing to popular favorites. The event capped off outgoing Byron-Bergen senior Aurora Hiscutt’s high school career as she prepares to major in education and minor in music at Genesee Community College, she says.
“When I give a performance that I’m proud of, especially when it’s an event such as closing night of a musical or a senior concert, it’s the best feeling ever. It makes me feel like I’m doing the right thing in my life,” the 18-year-old said after winning first place in the Maxi category Saturday at the yellow entertainment tent. “I felt very confident. I’m used to performing as I’ve done dance and musicals since I was 4. I wanted to participate because, during my school’s talent show, I was unwell and didn’t give a performance that I was proud of.”
According to the judges’ reviews, she can be proud of her rendition of “The Man” by Taylor Swift. She sang and danced a routine that she choreographed herself.
Hiscutt plans to continue singing, but only in a way that will make a difference in the world, she said. On the local level, that would be in her school’s music program.
“I plan on going back and assisting with the musicals at my alma mater, Byron-Bergen,” she said, adding that she enjoys attending the annual fair. “I always look forward to the different carnival foods; it’s a key staple of my perfect summer.
“I’m a fan of the fair because it’s always irritated me how people think of New York and only think of Manhattan. The fair shows off all the amazing things that make Genesee County, well, Genesee County.”
One of those regular events is the talent show, organized and run by Laura Kauppi of Corfu. She was pleased with the number of participants this year, especially in the mini category, ages 6 to 12. It varies from year to year, she said, as there are four age categories, and all can be filled or just a few of them, as was the case this year.
“The mini was huge this year; sometimes it’s just like that,” she said.
Winners were:
Mini Category (ages 6-12)
First Place was a tie:
Asheem JaRule Salem Ali and Roneo James Williams, guitar duet
Avantae Owens, piano solo
Second Place:
Asheem JahRule Salem Ali performing a guitar solo he wrote himself
Third Place was a tie:
Megan Drier, piano solo
Aria Frazier, piano solo
Maxi Category (ages 13 to 19)
First Place:
Aurora Hiscutt, vocal and dance
Second Place:
Keyon Thomas, vocal solo
Asheem JaRule Salem Ali and Roneo James Williams perform a guitar duet during the talent show Saturday at Genesee County Fair. Photo by Nick Serrata
Spectators gather to watch and listen to the talent up on stage during the 2024 talent show Saturday at Genesee County Fair. Photo by Nick Serrata
Kids and farm animals are always a highlight of any day at the Genesee County Fair, and on Saturday, the first full day of the 2024 fair, it was no different. Members of 4-H showed their livestock in a variety of competitions.
There are also all of the games and vendor booths to visit every day.
Here is Sunday's fair schedule:
• 9 AM—Open Class Poultry Show—(Merton Building) • 10 AM—Open Class Rabbit Show—(Merton Building) • 10 AM – Exhibition Halls & Buildings Open • 10 AM – 4-H Beef Show (Show Arena) • *Stockyard Classic Beef Show Following the 4 H Beef Show( Livestock Arena) • 12 PM – 4-H Poultry Show (Merton Building) • 1 PM to 5 PM Free Kids Bounce Houses • 2 PM PowerWheels Demo (Grandstands) • 3 PM Patriot Garden Tractor Pulls (Grandstands) • 4PM—Fair Queen Pageant (Entertainment Tent) • 7PM – Knight Patrol – Band (Entertainment Tent) • 10 PM – Exhibit Halls & Buildings Close
Fame Racing – Radio Controlled Car Racing (SAT 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SUN 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; MON 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; TUES 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; WED 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; THURS 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; FRI 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SAT 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm)
Fair Trivia Hunt – All Day (July 20th-26th) – Exhibition Building – DAILY PRIZES Events & times on the schedule are subject to change. Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with changes.
Thiago Vergara, 4, of Batavia, Caico Harjo, 2, of Basom, and Melanie Calmes, 4, of Le Roy, have some fun in a bounce house Saturday afternoon at Genesee County Fair in Batavia. Photo by Nick Serrata
Hot weather poured into Genesee County fairgrounds as visitors were more intermittent throughout Saturday's opening day.
Attractions included animal shows -- rabbits, goats, sheep, halter draft horses -- vendor booths, the kids' bounce houses and talent show. The Eaglez tribute band is set to take the stage at 7 p.m. under the yellow entertainment tent.
Everything begins again at 9 a.m. Sunday with an open class poultry show, and several more 4-H animal shows, the bounce houses, a Power Wheels demo at 2 p.m. at the Grandstands, followed by Patriot Garden tractor pulls at 3 p.m.
The fair queen finale is set for 4 p.m. at the entertainment tent, where Knight Patrol will fill the air with tunes at 7 p.m.
The Batavian posts a daily schedule of fair activities, and for more details, go HERE.
Genesee County Fair has officially rolled into town, and The Batavian staff is waiting to meet you! We're in the Exhibit Hall all day Saturday and this next week with the second annual eagle-drawing contest in full swing.
Come on over to the fairgrounds on East Main Road, Batavia and draw your best version of an eagle for prizes of a beautiful honey flame Harley Benton SC-Custom II guitar (ages 17 and under), a Red Osier gift card (18 and over) and a ukulele for the People's Choice Award!
Check out all of the animal and other 4-H exhibits, food, music and entertainment going on at the fair. The daily schedule is posted right here on The Batavian, along with photos and stories of the ongoing action.
Corrine Rhoads performing during the talent portion of the Genesee County Fair Queen competition. Photo by Howard Owens.
It didn’t take long for the action to begin at Genesee County fairgrounds Friday evening, as the six-horse hitch teams made their way to the horse arena and nine young ladies prepared to take the main stage one by one for the first half of the fair queen pageant.
“Tonight, after the speeches, we are focusing on women’s health,” pageant director Virginia Zocco said before the event began. “There will be a discussion on the importance of eating clean food. We are hosting a demonstration on cheese making, drying fresh herbs, and milling your own flour, presented by Gabriella Zocco and Lyza Baker. Immediately after, the contestants will be performing their lovely talents.”
This is Zocco’s fourth year as pageant director, and she gives the contestants a packet with rules, including that they need to select a topic for their presentations.
There was a focus on clean eating from the earth this year. Lyza Baker, a Little Miss contestant, and Gabriella Zocco, a contestant for Fair Queen, teamed up, given their mutual interests of love for the earth and a concern for women’s health, said Zocco, who happens to be Gabriella’s mom.
“She loves the pageant; she has done it since 2015. So for her, it was kind of bittersweet tonight because she knows this will be, once you’re queen, you’re kind of aged out,” Zocco said. “But now it's nice to see the other girls come up. The one thing I love about doing the pageant every year is I get to see the girls grow, and I watch them mature and get more confidence, and I watch their love of farming and nature.”
Lyza Jean Baker, 7, is a Little Miss contestant from Basom, where her family raises many animals. She is homeschooled and going into second grade, with this being her third pageant. Lyza is an active 4-H member and will be showing her bunny Ophelia at the fair. Other hobbies are gardening, camping and dance, and this year she is trying out for the Rochester City Ballet performance of The Nutcracker.
Gabriella Zocco, 17, of Le Roy, attends Our Lady of Mercy School for Young Women, where she will be entering her senior year this fall. She maintains a 4.5 grade point average while also being the historian in National Honor Society and a member of the Leadership Distinction Program. Her other activities include founding and acting president of Book Club, co-founder and vice president of Lorax Club, Red Cross Club, Sunshine Club, Merceds Articles, and Mercy Service. She has received awards for her balance of leadership, work, service, academics and clubs, and they include Issues of Morality, U.S. History and Environmental Health, the Rachel Carson Healthy Planet Award from Chatham University and the Youth Leadership Recognition Award. Gabriella is captain of the Mercy Dance Competition Team; she volunteers to care for the earth, animals and people while also enjoying gardening, traveling, and playing the piano and clarinet.
Zocco has volunteered at the fair and was put into the director's position after the last one moved on, she said.
“She got a different position, and it left a pageant director open, and she knows I'm a teacher, and I have experience working with kids and doing different activities,” she said. “So I took on this role because I love what the Genesee County Fair does for the community, and bringing everybody together and having that shared experience. So I really do love continuing the pageant legacy.”
Friday’s pageant included introductions, speeches, and a talent portion. The topics for the speeches can vary according to what the contestants find interesting and important.
“We’re pretty open to what the girls want. And this year, one of our contestants wanted to give a speech on women’s health and the earth, connecting those two together and the importance of clean eating and tying that into our farmers,” Zocco said. “When I give the girls topics to do on agriculture, it’s really open to interpretation. So the girls can take it a different way if they’d like to.”
The talent portion featured “a good range of talents,” she said. “It’s a great variety for the community to see. We had dancing, singing, storytelling, acrobatics,” she said. “Sunday we usually get more people, the tent usually overflows when we crown the contestants.”
The second half of the pageant is scheduled for 4 p.m. Sunday at the Main Stage, under the big yellow tent. It is there and then when the final crowning will occur.
Remaining contestants include:
Also vying for Little Miss is Kali Martino, who is also 7 and moving into second grade at Pembroke Primary School. She lives in Batavia with her family with her family and two puppies and has taken dance classes since she was just 2, including acro, ballet, tap, cheer, and hip-hop. Her favorite sports are soccer, swimming, softball and cheerleading, and she’s very active in her church. Kali’s hobbies are trampoline jumping, dance parties with her siblings, swimming, riding her bike, traveling and gardening. Kali wants to be a teacher and a doctor once she grows up because she wants to help children learn and feel better, she says.
Two contestants for the Miss category: 10-year-olds Eleanor Hudson and Carly Hanel. Eleanor lives with her parents and brother in Alabama and is a 4-H Goat Club member, raising Nigerian award dairy goats. She can’t wait until this fall to be in Future Farmers of America at Oakfield-Alabama Central School, she says. She loves to dance and has been dancing for seven years, currently taking jazz, tap, and pre-pointe ballet classes. Ellie, as she’s called, plays soccer, and participates in Run Club, Page Turners, chorus and plays the tenor saxophone in her school’s band. She attends church, loves musicals, and wants to be an agriculture teacher.
Carly lives with her mom and older sister, loves to sing and draw. This is her second year in th pageant, and she enjoys singing karaoke and being part of her school musicals. She also participated in the Kids Club at her school. Her favorite princess is Cinderella, and she hopes to go to Disney Land one day. Elephants are her favorite animal and aqua green her favorite color.
Duchess contestant Isabella Redden, 12, is from East Pembroke, where she lives with her mom, stepdad and family dog, Dozer. She has a love for swimming, crafts, dance — senior across and jazz — French bulldogs, the piano, reading, and public speaking. Since the age of 5, she has had a desire to contribute to her local fire company and other organizations by helping with activities and events by collecting donations of food, household needs and blankets for the local food pantry. Known as Bella, her future plans are to go into the field of education and musical theater, and she’s waiting to be accepted into the Genesee Community College homeschool accelerated college enrollment program this fall.
Cassandra Judge, 14, a high honor roll student who just completed eighth grade at Akron Middle School, is a candidate for the Princess category. Her academic diligence earned her the Presidential Gold Award, and she received the Mission Mover Award from the school’s Board of Education for initiating and raising all the funds for inclusion projects in her school. She is a member of student government, concert, jazz and marching bands, chorus, cheerleading, Girl Scouts, and a competitive dancer on the Diamond Dance Team for Batavia Muckdogs.
Grand Princess contestant Sara Keller is 15 and lives with her mom in Darien, attending 10th grade this fall at Alexander Central School. Sara has been a dancer since 2016. She also loves toeing and has been part of her school chorus and the school’s swim team. She participates in church activities, attends youth group, and enjoys traveling — having visited seven countries and 19 states. For several years, she has helped her grandpa raise goats, chickens and pigs on his small farm.
Corrine Rhoads, the second Grand Princess contestant, is 14 and lives in Le Roy with her family, participating in the 4-H programs of Family Consumer Science, Fur and Feather, Dog and Raptor clubs. She likes to play ultimate frisbee and has competed in the state and national championships, spends a lot of tie hanging out with her teammates, and hiking, going to church and writing poetry. She has spent the last four years performing in the circus and enjoys working with her partner in ground acrobatics, the Lyra and recently began the Chinese pole. Corinne plans to continue her education at GCC this fall and would like to pursue a career in criminal justice and psychology.
Corrine Rhoads Photo by Howard Owens
Cassandra Judge Photo by Howard Owens.
Sara Keller Photo by Howard Owens.
Kali Martino Photo by Howard Owens.
Lyza Baker Photo by Howard Owens.
Gabriella Zocco, with the assistance of Lyza Baker, gives a talk and demonstration on the importance of clean eating while making cheese. Photo by Howard Owens.
New York State Senator George Borrello announced that Nina Bartz, a recent graduate of Notre Dame High School in Batavia, was one of just four students statewide awarded a $3,000 scholarship from the New York Conference of Italian-American State Legislators. She is Christian and Celina Bartz's daughter.
Sen. Borrello, President of the Conference of Italian-American State Legislators, nominated Bartz for the scholarship based on her stellar academic record and extracurricular involvements.
"I am immensely proud to have recommended Nina for the James D. Conte Memorial Scholarship. She realizes the value of education and has proven that by working hard to achieve top grades and taking college courses through her school’s ACE program. She has consistently made the high honor roll and was a member of the National Honor Society,” said Senator Borrello.
He added, “she achieved all that while also participating in varsity soccer and basketball and a host of extracurricular and community activities. Nina is truly a standout student with a bright future. It is evident the scholarship panel agreed with me that her extraordinary achievements were worthy of an award.”
Nina’s plans to earn a four-year degree will start at Genesee Community College where she has been accepted as a student for the 2024-25 academic year. She plans to major in business or sports management and transfer to a four-year school after graduation.
A former Genesee Region Allstar and Sectional Champion for soccer and basketball, she has committed to playing on GCC’s Women's Soccer team for the 2024 season.
The New York Conference of Italian-American State Legislators is a bipartisan organization of state Assembly and Senate members who actively promote and celebrate the state’s Italian-American community.
Each year, the organization offers two academic and two athletic scholarships. The scholarships are named in the memory of two legislators and conference members who were champions of educational opportunity, Assemblyman James D. Conte, and Senator John J. Marchi.
Nominee applications were reviewed by an independent panel from The John D. Calandra Italian American Institute of Queens College, the City University of New York, who selected four scholarship recipients.
Bartz and her fellow scholarship recipients were honored during a celebration at the Legislative Office Building and during a luncheon at the Governor’s Mansion at the end of the legislative session.
Fame Racing – Radio Controlled Car Racing (SAT 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SUN 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; MON 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; TUES 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; WED 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; THURS 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; FRI 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SAT 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm)
Fair Trivia Hunt – All Day (July 20th-26th) – Exhibition Building – DAILY PRIZES Events & times on the schedule are subject to change. Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with changes.
Friday's first day featured only a few events, including the North American 6 Horse Hitch Classic.
Check The Batavian daily for the fair schedule and coverage, and also stop by the fair's Media Center to meet the staff of The Batavian and WBTA and enter our contests.
Rochester Regional Health's assessment of the worldwide CrowdStrike IT outage has shown minimal impact on our systems.
All RRH hospitals and outpatient sites are fully operational. Patients with scheduled procedures and appointments should continue with those as planned.
If you have any questions, please contact your provider’s office.
Photo of the Bacon Brothers, by Jacob Blinkenstaff.
Next year will mark 30 years since Kevin and Michael Bacon first performed as the Bacon Brothers. And as they approach that milestone, with a new album, “Ballad of the Brothers,” having been released and a tour cycle just starting, the brothers admit they never envisioned this musical venture would last three decades or produce as much music as it has.
“For me I don't know, I didn't really have a grand plan in the same way that I did for my acting, you know what I mean?” said Kevin Bacon -- yes, the A-list actor known for roles in such hit movies as “Footloose,” “Mystic River” and “A Few Good Men -- in a late-June phone interview.
“It was kind of like, well, let's do this show and then that show turned into another show. Of course, I would love to have success and a hit record and that would be really fun,” he said. “But it's really been more kind of driven by oh, we wrote this song. You want to play it for somebody. Oh yeah, we want go in the studio. We played it for somebody. It feels like it's getting good. Let's go in. Let's record it, you know, and put out the record. Getting something played widely has always been sort of elusive, you know. So it's hard to say is it where I envisioned it because I didn't really have that much of a wider vision for it.”
Kevin Bacon’s answer makes sense considering the idea of being the Bacon Brothers literally did start in the most modest of ways. The brothers had played music together since childhood without ever planning to do music together professionally. That began to change in 1995 when a long-time friend in the brothers’ hometown of Philadelphia who heard Kevin and Michael play offered to book them for a one-off gig at the local venue.
The show went well and word got out about the brothers -- who each had successful careers underway, with Kevin, of course, as an actor, and Michael as a songwriter, solo artist, and Emmy-winning writer of scores for film and other projects. More offers to play shows came in and eventually the bothers decided to continue writing music and performing as the Bacon Brothers.
Their first album, “Forosoco,” arrived in 1997, its title an acronym for the styles of music their songs encompassed -- folk, rock, soul and country. They’ve gone on to release nine more albums since then, while building an audience that now enables them to play large clubs and theaters across America.
Joining his brother for the interview, Michael Bacon said a few factors have helped give the Bacon Brothers the longevity they have enjoyed, including contrasting their genre-evading sound, contrasts in their writing style (he said Kevin Bacon is more groove driven, while he’s melody focused) and a shared focus on writing good songs, as opposed to emphasizing solos or other elements of the music.
“Both of us are always in pursuit of writing a great song,” he said. “We're not in pursuit of shredding (on guitar), you know. or of more octave range or whatever that happens to be…We have different ideas about music, but we both love songs yeah well that's kind of the thing you've always kept at the core.”
Like their previous releases, the new album is plenty diverse. Its range spans stripped-back folk-centric material (“Dreams of the San Joaquin,”), cello-laced pop balladry (“Airport Bar”), a country-flecked examination of aging (“Old Bronco”), a bouncy pop tune (“Put Your Hand Up”), a full-bodied mid-tempo tune that splits the difference between rock and folk (“Losing The Night”) and the bluesy standout (“Live With The Lie”). And that’s not mentioning the album’s boldest song, “Take Off This Tattoo,” which gets some EDM touches via the production from Kevin Bacon’s son Travis, while a stinging violin solo that further energizes the song. Overall “Ballad of the Brothers” isn’t soft, and in fact is a bit more robust than the brothers’ other albums.
With the Bacon Brothers starting to tour in support of their new album, fans will see the brothers front what they feel is a first-rate band with three additional musicians. They plan to include a healthy number of new songs in the show.
“We like to interject new stuff,” Michael Bacon said. “After a while, you play a song for so long it's just sort of, it's rote. Whereas if we throw a new song in, you know, we don't have a ton of time to practice and the guys in our band are just, you can throw something at them at sound check and they'll play it perfectly that night. So that's a big advantage. And it's fun to put new songs in. You don't really understand how to do a song until you play it live. You learn an awful lot from the audience by doing that.”
The Bacon Brothers will be performing at Batavia Downs on Friday, July 26.
City of Batavia, NY Position: Full-time Building Maintenance Worker. Salary: $20.60 - $24.45/hour. The City of Batavia is accepting applications for one full-time Building Maintenance Worker. The work involves a variety of mechanical and other building maintenance tasks. Applicant must have a minimum of two years of full-time paid experience in general building construction or maintenance work, or an equivalent combination of training and experience indicating ability to perform the duties of the job. Civil Service applications may be obtained at City Hall in the Human Resource Department. Please send completed applications to Teri Dean, Employee Payroll/Insurance Clerk, One Batavia City Centre, Batavia, NY, or via email to tdean@batavianewyork.com by September 20, 2024. Background check, psychological assessment, and physical/drug testing required. Candidate must become a resident of the County of Genesee or any adjacent town to the County of Genesee within 6 months of the date of conclusion of the probationary period for the City of Batavia. EEO
