Peggy Marone has been selected to receive the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce’s Wolcott “Jay” Humphrey III Excellence in Community Leadership Award. The Chamber’s Board of Directors gives this award, no public nominations are solicited. It is not an annual award and is only given when the Board feels there is a qualified candidate.
The Award is named after Mr. Wolcott “Jay” Humphrey III who was President of the Wyoming County Bank (Pavilion State Bank/Five Star Bank). He was extremely involved in the community as a volunteer and encouraged his employees to develop a commitment to volunteerism and community. He was a visionary that could see the big picture and made real improvements to his passionate beliefs.
Peggy has served as Leadership Genesee’s program director for the past 23 years. During this time, Peggy has shaped the leadership within our community with more than 600 alumni participating under her tutelage. Peggy challenges each graduating class to contribute and make an impact on Genesee County.
The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce will be celebrating its 53rd Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday, March 1 at Batavia Downs, Park Road, Batavia. This is the County’s premier event that honors businesses and individuals for their achievements in business, community service and volunteerism.
Tickets are $65.00 per person or a table of 10 for $480.00.
The evening begins at 5 p.m. with Hors D’oevures, Entrée Tables & Cash Bar (no formal sit-down dinner is to be served). The Award Program starts at 7 p.m. where dessert and coffee will be served.
This year’s honorees are:
Wolcott “Jay” Humphrey III Excellence in Community Leadership Award: Peggy Marone
Business of the Year: H.E. Turner & Co.
Small Business of the Year: Southside Deli
Agricultural Business of the Year: Alexander Equipment
Entrepreneurial Business of the Year: Meraki Beauty, LLC
Special Recognition of the Year: Genesee County 4-H Critter Crew
Geneseean of the Year: Mickey Charters
Call Kelly J. Bermingham, at 343-7440, ext. 1026 or email kbermingham@genseeny.com to make your reservations or with any questions you may have.
If you are someone who is civic-minded, independent, ambitious, enjoys exploring creative solutions to problems, and wants to make an impact in your community, we want to talk to you about running for local office.
If you are interested in getting involved politically in any capacity, please reach out to us at geneseenydemocrats@gmail.com or www.geneseenydemocrats.org
The following local elected offices will be voted on in November 2025.
County Legislature District 7: City of Batavia Wards 1 & 6
County Legislature District 9: City of Batavia Wards 4 & 5
The plot of land along Law Street in the city of Batavia to be used for fire department training. Submitted Photo
A $10,000 yearly investment will alleviate overtime and inconvenience for firefighters, while boosting opportunities for training with a new fire training center set up on Law Street, Chief Josh Graham says.
The new training area is a multi-year project located on City owned property, and the ultimate goal is "to create a training building constructed from connex boxes (shipping containers), which will serve dual purposes for both structural training and prop storage."
"This year we are spending 10K of VLT (video lottery terminal) funds. The plan is to spend that annually until it's finished in a few years," Graham said to The Batavian. "This will be nothing like the County FTC and as such will be much cheaper.
"This new training facility will enable our members to practice life-saving skills while on duty, reducing the need for off-duty personnel to attend training and alleviating the stress on our staff," he said. "It will provide regular training opportunities, rather than the current limited schedule and overtime. It will generate cost savings by reducing the need for overtime pay for off-duty training. Importantly, this facility will operate without any environmental concerns or risks to the surrounding community.
Would this be used year-round or seasonally? "Initially, it will be set up for spring to fall; however, as we progress, we will open more options to train in year-round," Graham said.
In a news release, he said that "as the Chief of the City of Batavia Fire Department, I have analyzed our costs and training practices along with command staff and have determined that the City can conduct more training at a lower cost by having training space located within the City.
"Currently, the City of Batavia Fire Department conducts six training events annually at the Genesee County Fire Training Center, located outside the City of Batavia," he said. "When conducting training, off-duty personnel report to the training center on their scheduled days off, while our first-due engine (first responding vehicle) and ladder truck and crew must remain in the City.
"City Fire's primary responsibility is to ensure the safety of the City of Batavia, and therefore, we must have an on-duty shift present to guarantee a swift and effective response. Consequently, the city incurs overtime costs to accommodate training on these six occasions. Additionally, due to family obligations and other concerns, personnel are not always able to attend training during their time off, which can lead to additional strain on our members and cost to the City," he said. "The new training center will not be a live-fire training area, meaning no actual fires will be burned at the location. Modern technology allows us to use smoke machines that simulate low-visibility conditions encountered by our firefighters.
"This simulated smoke is non-toxic and dissipates quickly once it exits the structure. We will also use the facility for vehicle extrication training, employing vehicles that have been drained of all fluids, with batteries and hydraulic pistons removed. This ensures that there are no environmental hazards.
"The City does not use firefighting foam containing Perfluoroctane Sulfonate (PFOS). The state restricts its use to extreme life-or-death situations, and the associated costs make its use impractical for training. Instead, alternatives such as dish soap will be used when necessary."
Is maintenance of the grounds/containers required, and if so, how much do you expect? "This will be extremely low maintenance with general clean up around the grounds," he said.
How many times do you expect to have personnel out there in training mode, in addition to the six times at the other county training site? "Again, this is just the start, as we add to it and create ways to train on different disciplines, we will be out there more frequently," he said.
Have you calculated the cost savings in overtime? "I do not have a hard number. We open the annual training at the FTC to all off-duty members on these dates. Any given time, we have 27 firefighters off duty, so there could be anywhere from a handful to in the 20s," he said. "Each training session is generally around four hours. Additionally, we occasionally have to send members out of the area for more specific training that we cannot facilitate currently."
The fire department is on City Council's agenda for the next budget discussion set for 5 p.m. Monday Tuesday at City Hall.
The fourth annual “Music at St. Mark’s” concert series begins on Thursday, February 20, at 7 p.m. at St. Mark’s Episcopal Church, 1 East Main St. in Le Roy. All concerts are free to attend, as the project is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant Program administered by GO ART! (Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council).
On Thursday, February 20, the series opens with The Rochester Bagpiper. Jake Kwiatkowski is a professional piper who will present an evening of performance, education, interaction - and some humor - that explains just how unique bagpipes are in the world of music. He'll cover things like how bagpipes work, the origins of the instrument, stories about the tunes being played, and a wide variety of modern and traditional bagpipe music.
On Thursday, March 20, Laura Dubin and Antonio Guerrero present an evening of jazz. Laura Dubin, a virtuoso pianist as well as a composer and arranger, and her husband and percussionist Antonio Guerrero, will play a repetoire of Dubin’s creative pieces that combine works of classical greats and popular contemporary pieces with elements of jazz. The duo play an astonishing number of concerts each year and have produced 11 albums of their music, including the latest recorded in Vienna, Austria in 2024.
On Thursday, April 24, the Genesee Valley Recorder Ensemble performs music of the Renaissance and Baroque periods along with some contemporary compositions. Their instruments include recorders of all sizes, from the small sopranino to the very large Great Bass. The group also includes harpsichord, gamba (an early bowed string instrument), and various percussion instruments. The eight members of the group are from the northern Genesee Valley region, and all have had formal music training and enjoy playing music on period instruments. Several of the members also play with the Rochester chapter of the American Recorder Society.
On Thursday, May 15, the Batavia Swing Band is back by popular demand. This is a full 17-piece band that has been playing music in Genesee County and the surrounding areas for over 40 years. Members range from music educators, professional musicians, and advanced amateurs who love to play; a few high schoolers join the group occasionally. They play standard jazz/swing classics like “In The Mood” and “Moonlight Serenade” to more modern songs from Frankie Valli, Disney, and Michael Bublé. Membership may have changed over the years, but the one thing that keeps the band going, is that they all love to play and make music together.
For more information, call the church office at 768-7200 or visit stmarksleroy.org/upcoming-events.
Members of the Class of 2025 and their sponsoring organizations are: 1st row: MarcAnthony Bucci, United Way of Greater Rochester & The Finger Lakes: Claudia Nusstein, Genesee County Parks & Recreation; Jenelle VonBuren, Coordinated Care Services,Inc./ Wyoming County Mental Health; Kayla Shuknecht, Genesee County Health Department; Aurora Wzientek, Batavia Downs Gaming; Lindsey Weaver, Liberty Pumps, Inc.; Rick Lawrence, WROTB Corp. 2nd row: Jodi Nichols, Council Rock Wealth Advisory Group-Ameriprise; Erin Martin, Genesee Justice; Jennifer Shaffer, Crossroads House; Jennifer Back, Byron-Bergen CSD; Barb Radley, Town of Stafford; Karlyn Backus, Genesee Community College; Jessica McAlister, GC Office for the Aging 3rd row: Jeff Bartz, Grace Baptist Church; Abby Heineman, GC Mental Health Services; Jackie Swaby, Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council; Samantha Rychlicki, YWCA Genesee County; Sara Brunner, Gateway Home; Lisa Bors, Arc Glow; Wendy Spence, RRH United Memorial Medical Center; Jessica Reyes, Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union; Heather Zerillo, SMG-Batavia LLC; Julie Carasone, Oak Orchard Community Health Center; Angie Dickson-Griffin, Town of Batavia; Mandy Norton, Freed Maxick CPAs P.C.; Sara Andrew, VA WNY Healthcare System, Brian Dilcher, Genesee Patrons Cooperative Insurance; Miranda Gray, GC Department of Social Services; Alex Bookmiller, Alleghany Farm Services
Press Release:
Leadership Genesee welcomed 30 individuals from all walks of life representing our community’s public and private organizations, on January 22 and 23 for the 2-day Opening Retreat.
Leadership Genesee Director Peggy Marone said, “We believe it takes people from all walks of life and opinions to lead our county. Our future generations deserve a community with people who care about it, are knowledgeable, able to listen to each other and respect the difference of opinions about all sides of an issue.”
She continues, “There is a lot going on in our world, we must have leaders who embrace inclusion, listen generously and understand we all have opinions and that’s what makes a community great. This kind of respect is missing in many conversations, it’s up to each of us to bring that respect back to our relationships.”
First time organizations include Gateway Home, Oak Orchard Community Health Center, Council Rock Wealth Advisory Group-Ameriprise, Crossroads House, Coordinated Care Services Inc./Wyoming County Mental Health and SMG-Batavia, LLC (The Daily News, Livingston County News). The class represents a broad cross-section of the community, including education, finance, manufacturing, healthcare, service industry, not for profits and the public sector.
The retreat was sponsored by Leadership Genesee Alumni, hosted by Grace Baptist Church and was facilitated by Skip Helfrich of Human Energies. Leadership Genesee is a program of CCE Genesee County, an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.
For more information, visit LG’s website at http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu/leadership-genesee; “like” LG on Facebook at www.facebook.com/leadershipgenesee; or contact Director Peggy Marone at 585-343-3040, ext. 118 or mem77@cornell.edu. Up next for the Class of 2025: Our Business, Our Economics on February 26.
The NYS LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program (NYSLTAP-CLRP) congratulates the Genesee County Department of Public Works as one of the winners in the 2024-25 Work Zone Equipment Package Grant - funded by a grant from the New York State Governor's Traffic Safety Committee. We know that many agencies with small budgets have difficulty getting new work zone equipment, especially when it’s stolen or damaged due to circumstances beyond their control.
The equipment includes cones, safety vests, work zone signs, and stop-slow paddles for setting up a proper work zone. These materials help keep our highway and DPW crews safe when working out on the road.
“We know that many agencies have difficulty getting work zone equipment, especially when it’s stolen or damaged due to circumstances beyond their control. Good work zone signs protect the workers, improve communication with the public, and make the work more efficient by allowing it to be done faster.” said NYS LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program Director, David Orr, PE.
The NYSLTAP-CLRP Work Zone Equipment Package Grant is for NYS highway and public works departments that have lost, damaged, or are in need of work zone equipment. This year’s grant, from the Governor’s Traffic Safety Committee, allows the NYSLTAP–CLRP to purchase 30 work zone packages, each work zone package comes to just over $1,900.
The NYS LTAP Center - Cornell Local Roads Program provides technical assistance and training to highway and public works departments across New York State. Additional information can be found www.nysltap.org by contacting NYSLTAP-CLRP at 607-255-8033 or clrp@cornell.edu.
A great team win from start to finish," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "We were able to force a number of turnovers that led to some easy baskets in the first half."
Notre Dame improved to 11-4 on Monday on Tuesday with a 53-37 win over Pembroke in Girls Basketball.
Sofia Falleti led the way for the Irish with a game-high 24 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Lucia Fiorentino also contributed 10 points and 7 rebounds.
“This was a big Genesee Region match-up for us tonight," said Coach VInny Falleti. "We knew Pembroke was a good team and could shoot well. Our team did a great job defensively and was able to have the majority of our team contribute offensively as well.”
Pictured front row (from left to right): Vice-District Gov. Tom Flaherty, Linda Olsen - new member, Dr. Ross Fanara - board member, Roger Bohn - membership chairperson. Middle row (left to right) Hal Mitchell - board member, Zac Curtis - new member, Mike Taggert - new member, John Bohn - new member. Back row: Ron Metz - President of the Lion's Club.
Press Release:
Batavia Lion's Club inducted new members at their monthly meeting, Dr. Ross Fanara led the induction.
Western Regional Off-Track Betting was informed on Monday that the office of NYS Comptroller Thomas Dinapoli is conducting a financial audit of the corporation, according to a statement issued to The Batavian on Wednesday.
Jennifer Freeman, communication director for the comptroller's office said that the audit will start in February.
"It will take several months to complete," Freeman said. "During an audit, we do not comment on specifics or what we are finding."
Michael DeGeorge told The Batavian on Wednesday that the OTB was told that the audit could include a review of the past three to five years of financial operations, including internal controls.
"The president and CEO (Byron Brown) made it clear that the new management team will fully cooperate with the comptroller's office throughout the process and that we welcome outside review," DeGeorge said.
There has been recent controversy regarding executive buyouts, other perks, and executive-level expenditures as a result of the transition from the leadership of Henry Wojtaszek to Brown.
City Council is considering a perk for employees and themselves of $500 toward a GLOW YMCA membership in the 2025-26 budget. File Photo by Howard Owens
Coupled with a discussion about the astronomical rise in healthcare costs Monday evening, City Manager Rachael Tabelski and City Council members also kicked around the idea of paying a larger portion of gym memberships for city employees and council members.
The proposal was to pay from $100 to $500 toward a membership to one of three city facilities, with the $500 going to the brand-new Healthy Living YMCA. Employees already receive the $100 perk for gym memberships, and the $500 and adding council members is new.
The money would come from a slush fund of sorts, Tabelski said.
“So as the city continues to incentivize health and wellness of our employees through various programs, such as our premium reduction for their health screenings, physical fitness incentives for firefighters and police officers and the $100 gym reimbursement, I believe the city should partner with the new Genesee County YMCA and offer a discounted membership for all city employees, including council members," Tabelski said during the conference meeting at City Hall. "I've had many employees come to me, council members come to me, saying, wouldn't it be great if we could provide some kind of membership or incentive towards using the new facility.
"So I went and looked at this year's budget. We have interest in earnings right now at about $24,000 that might pop out around $50,000, so we could cover the majority of employees and council members if they were to sign up for this incentive," she said. "So I leave it to you to discuss and determine if this is something you'd like to move forward with.”
Meanwhile, the remaining budget talks included increasing the tax cap with an override that will require a future public hearing to deal with about $1 million more in expenses for healthcare and retirement this coming year.
The only council member who vocally seemed to have an issue with the proposal was Bob Bialkowski, who apparently was one of the people who asked Tabelski about such a perk.
Paying $100 to the other gyms and $500 to the YMCA, and all are “paying property tax, local tax,” seems “discriminatory,” he said.
“We could get rid of the $100 and force them to join the Y. It’s just an offering,” Tabelski said. “You're actually the council member that asked me about joining, right?”
To clarify, YMCA is a nonprofit and is exempt from paying county, city and school taxes.
Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. and Kathy Briggs were in favor of the gym proposal.
“It’s a perk for employees, I like it,” Briggs said.
Jankowski said that a YMCA membership is from about $600 for a single to $1,000 for a family membership per year, so the person would still have “some out-of-pocket costs.”
“I think it's a great idea. I think you could get rid of the $100 if you'd like, and just do the $500 to the Y. I don't know that we'd want to incentivize $500 to any gym across America, you know what I mean, because it'd be way too hard for us to track,” Jankowski said. “I like the idea. I like where we're going with it, because in the long run, when you stay healthy, it saves us money.”
No one brought up the inclusion of council members in the package. If they are covered and all of them choose YMCA, that would mean an additional $4,500 in the budget, plus their annual salaries of $5,000 per council member and $7,000 for council president.
Council took a vote to move the topic to the next business meeting on Feb. 10, and approved it by 6-1. Members Briggs, Jankowski, Al McGinnis, Rich Richmond, David Twichell and Derek Geib voted yes and Bialkowski voted no. Paul Viele and Tammy Schmidt were absent.
SUNY Chancellor John King, left, Senator George Borrello, and GCC President Craig Lamb during a recent visit from King to the GCC Batavia campus. Photo by Joanne Beck
With all of the availability of artificial intelligence — AI for short — and the myriad apps available to help with research, to answer questions, and figure out how to do most anything, comes a new dilemma for educators wanting to ensure their students aren’t misusing the technology, State University of New York Chancellor John King says.
“We actually just added artificial intelligence to our general education requirements around information literacy, because we think our students will need to understand how AI works, how to use it ethically,” King said during a recent visit to Batavia. “And so we’re now building that into the general education requirements for all undergraduates across SUNY, and we’re doing a lot of professional development with faculty thinking about both, how do you teach students about using AI, but also, how do we think about the role that AI plays in the classroom?”
That might change how teachers dole out homework, he said, moving them from at-home assignments to asking students to complete them during class time.
“Because you want to make sure that students are engaging with the material themselves and not just relying on AI. You know, some of the work is actually helping students understand how best to use AI, you know, the prompt development, for example, the kind of question you ask matters a lot with what you'll get back from AI, and so helping students think about, how do you design the right question?” he said. “Also helping students be skeptical readers of what they find, whether it's on the internet or from AI, they have to ask, is this right? How do I know? Let me go check these sources.”
There are so many interesting things that college faculty members are working on with AI, he said, including simulated conversations in foreign languages.
“It’s such an incredible tool if used well,” he said.
The State University of New York — of which Genesee Community and Empire State colleges are included — will require undergraduate students to take courses in AI and civic discourse as part of their general education curriculum beginning in fall 2026.
The courses will be part of the university’s effort to prepare students to engage with emerging technologies and evaluate information, as King said, ethically.
According to SUNY's website, students will be learning how to use AI tools to locate information, evaluate that information from different sources, understand the ethical implications of using AI, how to weigh information for bias, truthfulness and other factors and how to navigate and assess the impact of AI in society.
Photo of Miss. Leona - Teacher's Assistant at Pembroke Primary, picking up a pizza from Jen Wilson, third-sixth grade math teacher, and Ann Fenik, fourth grade teacher.
The second annual Pembroke Teacher's Federation (PTF) Pizza Night was held at Homeslice 33 Pizzeria in Corfu on Jan. 22.
The PTF was excited to team up with Homeslice 33 to raise funds and awareness for mental health resources in Genesee County, members said. Ten teachers volunteered to help make pizza, wings, and fried goodies.
Aaron Brown, a sixth grade teacher at Pembroke, said "Teaming up with Tom and his amazing staff is awesome. Seeing the community support not only mental health but also their teachers is what makes Pembroke a special place!"
During the four-hour event, the PTF raised $450 for mental health.
Photos by Kara Richenberg.
Photo of (from left to right) Rachel Shay - 11th grade U.S. History and 12th grade AP History Teacher, Jess Edwards - Attica Faculty Association, and Aaron Brown - sixth grade teacher, making pizzas.
Photo of Mike Wilson - High School Special Ed teacher, and Reilly Bonastra on fryer duty.
Photo of Ann Fenik - fourth grade teacher, Jessica Phelps - sixth grade teacher, and Patty Lamadue - third grade teacher.
Due to the current weather and road conditions, Batavia City School District will be closed for classes today, Tuesday, January 28. A decision on evening events (games, practices, etc) will made by 2 p.m.
Due to the poor visibility and hazardous conditions, Elba Central will be closed today, Tuesday 1/28.
The Richmond Memorial Library will be open 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, January 28.
Oakfield-Alabama Central School District, closed
Genesee Valley BOCES, closed
Byron-Bergen Central School District, closed
Alexander Central School, closed
Le Roy Central School District, Delayed one hour
Please submit cancellations and closures to: news@thebatavian.com.
NOW HIRING seasonal agribusiness positions. CDL A & B Drivers to deliver bulk crop nutrients. Potential long-term opportunities. Great for retirees! GENERAL LABOR positions. Daily variety of indoor/outdoor responsibilities. Loader experience a plus. SIGN-ON BONUS and plenty of OT during spring/summer months. Apply in person at: 8610 Route 237, Stafford, NY www.cecrocker.com
