The many who have served in the U.S. military throughout the nation's history were honored on Monday for Veterans Day, with multiple ceremonies being held at sites in Genesee County.
At 11 a.m., veterans gathered to honor veterans at the Soldiers, Sailors, & Marines Monument (the Upton Monument).
There were also ceremonies in Genesee County Park and Forest, the Batavia VA Medical Center, the NYS Veterans Home, and the memorial monument at Jerome Center. There was also a ceremony in Trigon Park in Le Roy.
Participating organizations were Veterans of Foreign Wars, the American Legion, and Vietnam Veterans of America.
Ka'Morah Mims, age 4, was excited to see Santa on Sunday.
Santa stopped by Sunday to visit with kids and take photos during the Zonta Holiday Festival at Batavia Downs. The Festival, which was this weekend at the Park Road facility, had two floors full of crafts and vendors.
Photos by Kara Richenberg.
Posing for a picture with Santa are Lucille Balon, 7, and Megan Balon from Attica.
A fence has been erected once again around Ellicott Station, though it still appears to be in limbo as a construction project on the city's southside in downtown Batavia.
Property owner Sam Savarino confirmed with The Batavian this weekend that he ordered the fence to be put up as a response to city management.
"Yes, I sent a crew to install the fence," Savarino said Sunday. "Addressing a city code citation."
There has been no definitive word as to when the project may get going again or whether it will be Savarino or another developer that kicks it back into gear. There were tax credits and exemptions with Genesee County Economic Center that were taken off the table after the economic agency claimed Savarino broke tenets of the contract. He has vehemently disagreed.
Fourth set final celebration LeRoy Knights claim victory. Photo by Steve Ognibene
Le Roy made its fifth-straight appearance in a volleyball sectional champion game on Friday and came away with its third title in that span.
After Avon won the first set 25-20, Le Roy won three straight (25-15, 25-22, 26-24) to secure the Class C1 title.
"That (last) set was definitely a nail-biter," said senior Kylee Green. "I mean, we got down on ourselves, but we realized that we needed to pick it up to win, play our game and do what we do best. So I knew I had to pick my head up. I got down a few times, but I knew I had to focus, get the serves that I got and pick it up for the team."
Stats:
Kylee Green, nine service points, two aces, 19 digs
Sierra Burk, eight service points, two aces, 16 digs, three kills
Kylie Wilson, seven service points, two aces,19 digs
Shea Williams, 14 digs, 11 kills, one block
Eleah Dowell, nine kills, five blocks
Gabby Zitz, eight kills, five blocks
Le Roy's tournament all-stars were Gabby Zitz, Green, and the MVP was freshman Shea Williams.
St. Paul Lutheran Church and School will host their 4th Annual Small Business Craft and Vendor Event on Saturday, November 30 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. St. Paul's Church and School is located at 31 Washington Ave, Batavia.
Come browse a variety of handcrafted item including, quilts, blankets, children and baby items, wood crafts, jewelry and much more.
United Lakes of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes provided $41,075 to Genesee County nonprofits this quarter, the latest installment in United Way’s commitment to deliver $164,300 in 2024. The funding supports 21 agencies and 26 programs in the county.
“We are pleased to be able to support our dedicated nonprofit partners in Genesee County who are on the front lines in addressing a wide range of pressing community needs,” said Jaime Saunders, President & CEO of United Way of Greater Rochester and the Finger Lakes. “This is an example of how United Way leverages the generosity of donors to deliver impact at scale.”
United Way is committed to supporting impactful and essential initiatives in Genesee County and across our region. Learn more about how you can make an impact in Genesee County by donating to United Way.
Here are the organizations in Genesee County that are receiving funding from United Way this year:
211 WNY
All Babies Cherished
American Red Cross, WNY Chapter
Arc GLOW
Boy Scouts of America, Western NY Scout Council
Care-A-Van Ministries
Community Action of Orleans & Genesee, Inc.
CORE The Learning Center
Genesee County CASA for Children
Genesee-Orleans Ministry of Concern
Gillam-Grant Community Center
Girl Scouts of Western New York, Inc.
GLOW YMCA
GO ART! – Genesee-Orleans Regional Art Council
Hope Center of Le Roy
Junior Achievement of Western NY
PathStone Corporation
Salvation Army, Batavia Corps
UConnect Formerly Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse
City Manager Rachael Tabelski and City of Batavia Fire Chief Josh Graham issued the following statement later Saturday regarding the fire at Baskin Livestock on Howard Street in Batavia:
At 7:45 a.m. on Saturday, November 9, 2024, the City of Batavia Fire Department, along with several volunteer fire companies and assisting agencies, responded to a third alarm fire at a large commercial and manufacturing facility located at 20 Howard Street in the City of Batavia.
As crews arrived, the structure was fully engulfed with flames and a large plume of smoke was showing. Crews have been fighting the fire all day and were successful in containment. They ensured that the fire did not spread to neighboring buildings, including Graham Manufacturing Corporation.
As night falls, crews will break firefighting efforts, with City personnel tasked with securing and monitoring the scene overnight. Material in the facility has been confirmed to be food products.
Shortly the City will be opening up Harvester Avenue to regular traffic. Howard Street will remain closed at this time.
Initial investigation into the cause of the fire has begun, and will continue in the following days. Crews will return to the fire in the morning to continue fire suppression, overhaul activities and investigation efforts.
The City of Batavia Fire Department will continue to provide updates regarding the fire and will issue a full press release tomorrow.
Thank you to all the departments and agencies that assisted the City today.
The Pembroke Dragons will play for another Section V 8-Man football title this week after winning its semifinal game over Red Jacket 46-14.
It is the fourth time in five years the Dragons have played for a sectional title.
Caleb Felski ran for 328 yards on 16 carries and four touchdowns. Other scores were by Vijay Dhanda and Caleb Kimmel.
Defensively, the Dragons were led by Jayden Bridge and Octavius Martin, who each had 12 tackles. Madden Perry added nine while Felski and Dhanda each had interceptions.
The Dragons will face the Holley-Lyndoville Hawks for the sectional final.
It was a sectional semifinal game but the battle was decided early as Batavia scored 50 points in the first half on the way to a 56-6 win over East Rochester Prep on Friday night.
Stats:
Bronx Bucholz, 7-11 passing for 83 yards and three touchdowns.
Zailen Griffin, 73 yards on nine carries
Jameson Motyka, 33 yards and two TDs on three receptions, plus a fumble recover TD
Carter Mullen, one reception for six yards and for a TD plus a 69 yard punt return for a TD
Maggio Bucholz, seven tackles, a sack and a fumble recovery
Luke Gutman, seven tackles
Batavia gets a shot a block on Saturday at SUNY Brockport. The Class B title game is at noon.
It will take days for investigators to determine what may have started this morning's fire at a animal feed processing plant at 20 Howard St., Batavia, said City Fire Chief Josh Graham.
The call came in at 7:47 a.m. and Batavia patrol officers arrived on scene first and confirmed smoke and flames, which led to an immediate second alarm. When the first fire crew arrived he said, they realized the fire was going to require more resources so a third alarm was called.
It took hours to fight the fire, which as of 2 p.m. on Saturday, wasn't completely extinguished as firefighters worked to extinguish hot spots.
"We just started now the investigation," Graham said. "The investigators went in to look around and get an initial look at this. They're gonna work on that probably for the next four or five days to try to figure it all out. There's going to be a massive amount of information to look at."
Baskin Livestock owner Bill Baskin said he is baffled by the fire.
"This is the last place I expected something like this," Baskin said.
There have been a few fires over the years at Baskin's other facility on Creek Road, Batavia. They are generally explainable because of the large furnace used to dry food items—such as discarded baked goods—which are ground into feed for cattle.
The Howard Street facility processes dry dog food into feed for hogs and heat isn't used, Baskin said. Yesterday's work crew finished at 2 p.m. on Friday and when an employee stopped by the facility at 7 a.m. on Saturday, there was no sign of fire, Baskin said.
Baskin said the two facilities are segregated to ensure the dog food doesn't contaminate the cattle feed. Spreading mad cow disease would be damaging if that were to happen, Baskin said.
On Saturday afternoon, an excavator was brought in to move debris so firefighters could attack hot spots. Graham said piles of debris would be moved, the hotspot dealt with, and then debris moved to that spot to deal with the next hotspot until the job is complete. Even then, Graham expects calls for rekindles over the next few days.
The buildings at 20 Howard were originally constructed in 1946 and it was once a fertilizer plant. The three structures on the property were a combined 82,257 square feet.
Agencies responding to the fire: City Fire, Town of Batavia Fire, Stafford, Elba, Mercy EMS, Office of Emergency Management, Batavia PD, Salvation Army, National Grid, Sewer & Water, and National Fuel. Fill-in companies for departments that responded: Alexander, Bergen, Albion, and East Pembroke.
When 1978 Batavia High School grad Phil Zickl Jr. becomes part of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame later this month, he knows his late grandfather Robert E. Noonan (1907-1965) would be proud and cheering him on if he could.
Noonan was an avid football fan and player who aspired to get into the NFL. Despite a chain of missteps, including a twice-broken leg, he never made it. He had been a strong supporter of his grandson, who went on to play football into his sixties, scoring big at 64 this year when he and his team, the Syracuse Express, were named to the Hall of Fame.
“My mother and my aunt, and both are deceased now, but they used to talk about how family-oriented he was and how supportive he was. And so my initial thought is how supportive he would be of this happening, especially because he was so athletic, and he wasn't just successful in football, even though football was his first love … but he would be very positive and very supportive of just the induction,” Zickl said during an interview with The Batavian. “I remember when I first heard, one of my former teammates called me and left a voicemail. But the voicemail, it was hard to hear everything, it kind of crackled a little but I heard him say something about Hall of Fame, and I thought he was calling to tell me that he got inducted to his high school Hall of Fame. So I called him back, got his voice mail, and I said, ‘Hey, Mike, congratulations; I didn't hear the message completely, but it sounded like you said something that you were inducted to your high school hall of fame.’
“So, he called me back and said, 'No, no, Zick, it’s our team, the Syracuse Express.' it's a big deal. It's not that high school Hall of Fames are not a big deal, every Hall of Fame is a big deal as far as I'm concerned. This is the Greater Syracuse Hall of Fame. We’re being inducted as one of the teams of honor,” Zickl said. “And I’ve got to say that it caught me off guard. It's one of those things you don't expect somebody to call you on the phone and tell you that. I'm not going to forget that night any time soon.”
His team will be honored during an awards dinner Nov. 11 in Syracuse. The GP/Syracuse Express went 36/6 across the 1985-86-87 seasons and won a pair of Minor Professional League championships in 1985 and 1987.
There were 15 former Orangemen who helped the Express to football glory during those title years. They included Ray Seals — the former Hotel Syracuse doorman who, as a starter for the Pittsburgh Steelers, would later sack Dallas’ Troy Aikman in Super Bowl XXX, and Dave Jacobs and Chuck Cassidy.
It was an athletic combination that defeated the Chicago Cowboys (7-3 at muddy Griffin Field in 1985) and the San Jose Bandits (17-10 in glitzy Las Vegas in 1987) for their crowns, a worthy choice for one of the Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame’s “Teams of Honor” for 2024. Listed on a program titled “Welcome to ‘Express’ Football” is #65 Phil Zickl with fellow Outstanding Syracuse Players teammates.
The Express competed in the Empire Football League. The team was owned by Greg Portzline, coached by Tom Anthony, and cheered by supportive crowds at old Griffin Field in Liverpool. This year, it’s being recognized as a Greater Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame Team of Honor for the excellence it demonstrated from 1985 to 1987.
Ever since high school, where he was named Most Outstanding Lineman in his senior year, Zickl played minor league football for 25 years, being named to the American Football Association’s semi-pro records for Most Years of Service, which at the time it was compiled was 20 years. His age when listed as Most Aged Player was 55, having played for the Syracuse Express, Batavia Bandits, Hornell Dragons, Batavia Titans and Buffalo Gladiators.
After graduating BHS, Zikl went on to University at Buffalo and was briefly profiled as an alumnus for his athletic and professional achievements per the following:
“Zickl has continued playing semipro football well into his fifties after a successful playing career at UB as an offensive guard and defensive end in the 1980s. Since 2018, Phil has expanded his health and wellness business (Total Personal Wellness) to include education on American football. He is an American Football specialist and has participated in the sport for more than 40 years as both player and coach.”
Before branching out with his own business, Zickl worked in education as a social worker at Batavia Middle School while also still playing ball in Syracuse. He was able to arrange a schedule of driving to only one weekday practice, followed by a second one on Friday that included an overnight stay, and he would then play the weekend game. He was definitely hooked on the sport.
While he loved the game of football, he also enjoyed the ambition taken on by the group of athletes, he said.
“You’re all trying to work for the same goal. You’re everybody’s teammate, just being on a team working toward a common goal,” he said.
Zickl established his wellness business in 2017, making presentations on various related topics of maintaining and regaining good health; however, the pandemic shut down those in-person activities. The business, as he puts it, “went into hibernation.” He also has a penchant for song lyrics, having written at least 100 sets of parodies that he has licensed, with no certain path for what he’s going to do with them all other than using one as a team warm-up rap song.
He is rethinking the scope of his speaking topics and wants to circle back to what he perhaps knows and loves best: football and the history of American football, dating back to 1869. He has learned plenty of other lessons, though, while immersing himself in the sport, including while with the Express.
“It was a real city of Syracuse team, and the majority of the players were African American, and so I was a minority. And I was a minority for months at a time. And it really made me think that every human being who is capable of understanding being a minority situation should have that experience. Because to me, I think it allows you, I mean, this is aside from what I said before about the team all pulls together, but it also allows you to feel, like, 'walk a mile in my shoes,' type of thing,” he said. “It gives you that opportunity to walk a mile in someone else's shoes, especially because I'm European American, so I don't remember any other times when I was a minority, but I remember early on, you know, first, second year on the team, I remember thinking, this is a really good experience.”
For more information about the Hall of Fame and upcoming event, go HERE.
Phil Zickl, second row from top, far left, with his Syracuse GP Express teammates. Submitted Photo
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