An airplane with a flat tire is stuck on the runway at the Genesee County Airport.

Town of Batavia Fire dispatched.

UPDATE 8:27 p.m.: The Town of Batavia chief is clearing the scene at the airport. "They're all set here," he reports.

Harry Rascoe (seated), director of The Recovery Station on Clinton Street Road, welcomes a variety of characters during this afternoon's Trunk or Treat event. Six vehicles -- trunks decorated with Halloween themes -- were stationed around the parking lot and each offered treats for children of all ages.

"Pirate" Jess Budzinack, right, provides treats for 3 1/2-year-old Nevaeh, and Ariel Goldstein.

Jessica Powers and her children, Aleah and Cierra Greig, embrace the holiday spirit. The Recovery Station is a program of Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse. Photos by Mike Pettinella.

Disclosure: Mike Pettinella is the publicist for GCASA.

Photo by Kristin Smith, North Byron Road, Elba.

Photo by Tom Tharp.

Crosby's convenience stores have apparently become the target of burglars after closing hours recently.

The most recent burglary was at 12:05 a.m. on Saturday at the Crosby's on Clinton Street Road, Batavia. The store closed at 10 p.m. on Friday night.

A source said it doesn't appear that anything of value was taken, but the burglars did make a mess of the store.

The State Police are investigating the Batavia burglary, said Sheriff's Office Chief Deputy Joseph Graff.

He confirmed there was also a burglary at the Crosby's in Elba on Oct. 23, which is under investigation by the Sheriff's Office, and in Albion on Oct. 22.

"Preliminary indications all look to be similar MOs," Graff said. 

Press release:

Just a reminder to voters about Early Voting times and locations.

There are nine days of early voting beginning Oct. 29 thru November 6 at the ARC Community Center, 38 Woodrow Rd., Batavia.

The schedule:

• Saturday, Oct. 29, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, Oct. 30, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Monday, Oct. 31, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Tuesday, Nov. 1, noon to 8 p.m.
• Wednesday, Nov. 2, noon to 8 p.m.
• Thursday, Nov. 3, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Friday, Nov. 4, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, Nov. 5, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, Nov. 6, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The poll site is accessible.

Call the Genesee County Board of Elections with any questions or concerns -- (585) 815-7804.

Press release:

The following phone lines are currently experiencing outages:

• Administrative (585-345-3000)
• Non-emergency Genesee County Dispatch Center (585-343-5000)
• Genesee County Jail (585-343-0838)

THE EMERGENCY 9-1-1 PHONE LINE IS WORKING.  Due to the sporadic nature of the outage, it is highly recommended to use a cell phone if you are experiencing a true emergency. 

Until the issue is resolved, other alternatives for non-emergency/administrative communication include e-mail to 911.Center@co.genesee.ny.us, Sheriff.Dept@co.genesee.ny.us.

We apologize for any inconvenience and hope that this issue is resolved shortly.

Dave Robinson, Graig Nettles and Alan Trammell all reached the pinnacle of success in professional sports.

Robinson was a star linebacker for the Green Bay Packers teams that won NFL championships in 1965, 1966 and 1967 – the latter two culminating with victories in Super Bowl I and Super Bowl II.

Nettles was a power hitting and Gold Glove third baseman for the New York Yankees teams that won the World Series in 1977 and 1978.

And Trammell was an elite shortstop who earned World Series MVP honors in leading the Detroit Tigers to the title in 1984.

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Legends & Stars is a bit hit with sports' memorabilia fans

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The trio was in town on Sunday, putting their signatures on a variety of sports memorabilia for collectors at the Legends & Stars show at Batavia Downs Gaming. Each of them gave about five minutes of their time to The Batavian.

ROBINSON PLAYED FOR TWO GREATS

Dave Robinson’s stellar NFL career took place in Green Bay (1963-1972) and Washington (1973-74), playing for two legendary coaches – Vince Lombardi and George Allen, respectively. He said he still follows both teams and felt mixed emotions when they faced off against each other last week.

“Once a Packer always a Packer,” Robinson, now 81, said. “I really wanted to see the Packers break that (then three-game) losing streak that they had, but I hated to see them do it against the Commanders (formerly Redskins) – and they didn’t. But that's the only time I really have a conflict is when the two teams play each other.”

Robinson brought up Lombardi and Allen, noting that they were similar in their approach to the game.

“They both did things thousands of times, so it became second nature to you,” he said. “The difference was that when Lombardi did it, he did it in a thousand different ways. George used to do the same thing over and over again. So, his game got a little stale by the end of the season. That’s why his playoff record wasn’t that great because the players weren’t as motivated. They had heard it all before.”

Robinson is one of a dozen “Lombardi” Packers inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, his honor coming in 2013.

“I think there are six in there from the defense,” he said. “We didn’t know that we’d end up in the Hall of Fame, but we knew we had a tough bunch of guys.”

He said that Lombardi, understanding that most quarterbacks were right-handed and teams tended to run more plays to the right, built up the left side of the defense.

“We had Willie Davis to my insider, Herb Adderley to my outside, inside linebacker was Ray Nitschke and safety was Willie Wood,” he offered. “When you looked to your right, there were five future Hall of Famers on the field at one time.”

Following Green Bay’s victory over the Oakland Raiders in Super Bowl II, Robinson said he went up to tell Oakland (and former Buffalo Bills) quarterback Daryle Lamonica “nice game,” when Lamonica shared that he was told all week to not throw the ball to the right.

Robinson said that Lamonica told him that by the fourth quarter, he thought he had lulled the Packers to sleep and tried to hit receiver Fred Belitnikoff with a quick slant to that side. That’s when Adderley intercepted the ball and returned it 60 yards for the first defensive touchdown in Super Bowl history.

“I said to him, ‘They told you don’t do it. You should have listened to your coaches,” Robinson said with a hearty laugh.

NETTLES CRITIQUES CURRENT YANKEES

Nettles, now 78, said he continues to follow the fortunes of the Yankees, the club he played on from 1973-83. All told, Nettles played for six teams – ending his 22-year career in 1988.

Assessing this year’s loss to Houston in the American League Championship Series, Nettles said it seemed as though the Yankees’ hitters were swinging for the fences.

“Well, to me it looked like everybody’s trying to hit home runs instead of getting base hits,” he said. “A lot of strikeouts and a lot of swinging at bad pitches. It seems they would take a good pitch and swing at the bad pitches.”

He said he noticed many times that batters were taking the first pitch, which would end up right over the heart of the plate.

“For some reason, guys like to take the first pitch and that’s usually the best pitch. My theory was to guess strike on the first pitch and swing at it,” he added.

When asked about Aaron Judge and his American League record 62 homers, Nettles said “it was great for baseball and I sure hope he stays with the Yankees.”

“You know, he gambled on himself with the contract (by not signing a long-term deal with New York prior to the season) and now he’s got every right to listen to the offers,” he said. “But I hoe he stays in New York with the Yankees.”

When asked why he doesn’t attend Yankees’ Old Timers Day festivities, Nettles said “they stopped inviting me about five years ago and I don’t know why, really.”

“I don't know if somebody – whoever is in charge, somebody doesn't like me. I don't know.”

When asked if his nickname “Puff” stemmed from him being a practical joker, Nettles said he got that moniker from his ability to leave the scene without anyone noticing.

“It’s just that I could disappear quickly, after a couple of beers,” he said. “I just say goodbye. I don't even say goodbye. If I had one night having too many beers, the next day I was hurting. So, the next night I just left after about two beers … and they didn’t know where I went.”

When asked about the 1978 playoff game against the Boston Red Sox (won by the Yankees, 5-4), Nettles talked about the last out – a foul pop-up off the bat of Carl Yastrzemski that landed in Nettles’ glove.

“I’m just glad it wasn't hit very high because I didn't like pop-ups,” he said. “That was the hardest thing for me because you never practice them; you can’t practice them during batting practice.”

TRAMMELL REMEMBERS MAGICAL YEAR

The 1984 Detroit Tigers arguably is one of the greatest teams ever – a team that won 35 of its first 40 games, went 104-58 during the regular season and captured the World Series in five games against the San Diego Padres.

Trammell, now 64, was the leader of that bunch, which was managed by the legendary Sparky Anderson, and included stars such as relief pitcher Willie Hernandez (who won the AL MVP and Cy Young Award), second baseman Lou Whitaker, catcher Lance Parrish, outfielders Kirk Gibson and Chet Lemon and starting pitcher Jack Morris.

When asked about the team’s place in MLB history, Trammell said, “I’m not going to be the one to try to rank it because that’s too hard, but during that particular year … it didn’t matter if we were playing the 1927 Yankees (with Babe Ruth), we were going to win.”

“That was just our feeling. Going into the Series, if you don't feel confident that you’re going to win, then you shouldn’t be there. So, my point is that it was our year and nobody was going to beat us in that particular year.”

Trammell, who was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 2018, mentioned that the 35-5 start is the best in baseball history, adding that the team won 17 road games in a row as well.

“We were confident and we had a pretty balanced team,” he said. “I was hoping that maybe we'd be able to win another championship, but unfortunately, that didn't happen. But at least for that one year, we were the best.”

Photo: Dave Robinson, an All-Pro linebacker with the Green Bay Packers, displays his Pro Football Hall of Fame ring to Ken Van Remmen of West Seneca during Sunday's Legends & Stars show at Batavia Downs Gaming. Photo by Mike Pettinella.

Things were spooky in Oakfield on Saturday evening with the Oakfield Betterment Committee opening up a haunted house.

Photos submitted by Jamie Lindsley

As Alina Kovalenko and her daughter Vlada settled onto a comfy-looking couch bathed in soft blush lighting from a nearby lamp, it was hard to imagine the terror and destruction that surrounded them not long ago.

Alina had been teaching English at a university, and her teenage daughter was finishing high school with a goal to study languages — English, French and Dutch — in college. Their lives were flowing along as Russia placed troops in Belarus, and by February, fighting began in eastern Ukraine.

Amidst the shock of Russia’s infiltration and gradual obliteration within sections of Ukraine territory, Alina still didn’t quite believe that it would reach her beloved hometown of Kharkiv. It was her 17-year-old daughter who kept up-to-date with friends and began to give mom nudges that they should move.

After weeks of disbelief that military maneuvers and bombings were heading their way, the pair eventually — and reluctantly —  left their homeland in search of peaceful existence. They went to Poland but realized that, since Poland had assisted Ukraine, it was not a safe country either.

Meanwhile, Art and Carla Wahls were sitting in their Batavia home’s living room in April watching television.

“We saw things on TV about the war. And then one night there was a piece on that President Biden was saying that he was going to allow at least 100,000 Ukrainians come to the United States through the United for Ukraine program,” Carla said during an interview with The Batavian. “So we're watching that, and Art turned to me, and he said, ‘we need to do something. We need to help.’ And we started the search process to find the perfect family.”

Alina’s disbelief was further validated by her parents, who felt that it was going to be ok for them to stay, even though her brother encouraged Alina to keep her car full of “petrol” and have a backpack filled with necessities at the ready. The sounds of bombs grew ever closer, and Ukraine residents’ lives changed into that of a fugitive — sleeping in their clothes, having the backpack nearby, and ready to run at a moment’s notice.

Of course, unlike a criminal fugitive, Alina, Vlada and their family and friends had done nothing wrong. Vlada kept asking her mom if they could move far from the violence, and there came a point when the worried mom conceded.

They had a curfew not to be outside from 4 p.m. to 6 a.m. each day, and shopping lines were very long due to the short amounts of time they had to get somewhere and back before 4. Roads were dangerous, with officials checking for valid passports and Russian soldiers shelling the town.

“It was first a shock to see shelled cars in Kharkiv,” Alina said. “It was surrounded by Russians. I didn’t want to believe it would be as bad as it was.”

They moved to Poland, but Russian troops were getting ever closer to the country, so — with Vlada’s prompting — Alina decided it was time to seek safety farther away.

“Children shouldn’t see this all. Vlada was afraid all the time,” Alina said. “I told her ‘if you wish, you can try.’”

So Vlada researched online, and Carla was also doing her research, and they eventually got connected through Icanhelp.com. After registering, the Wahls received “a plethora of people looking for help,” Carla said, but many of them had the money and means to move. They were just looking for a United States citizen to host them. So she sifted through applicants as Vlada looked at profiles, and they eventually met via Zoom.

“So we were afraid that if the worst comes to the western part of Ukraine, they could easily (cross the border) and come to Poland. My brother, he’s a military soldier, they're in Kharkiv and our family friend, Stas, he's also there and he protects all this, but I also didn't believe that there are some people who can give you housing, who can give you financial support and mental support and any kind of support,” Alina said. “After the first (Zoom) video, I say no. It’s a huge responsibility that people have to take.”

But as they talked, some patterns arose. Alina is close in age to the Wahls' daughter Andrea. Arthur was Alina’s brother’s name and that of Carla’s husband. Both Art Wahl and Alina’s dad were mechanics.  These little details slowly forged a trust between them that this relationship was meant to be.

The women’s English was fairly good, and Carla has been giving them further help. Vlada is studying at the university online — beginning at 1 a.m. to coordinate with Ukraine time — and taking dance, playing acoustic guitar and writing songs about the war.

“You can’t understand what she’s saying, but you understand the feeling,” Carla said.

Vlada displayed an obvious spark of enthusiasm for acting, singing, playing piano and guitar and dancing.

“My soul is music,” she said, sharing one possible goal. “Maybe working in the theater.”

It has taken a while for them to get used to noises — such as a loud thunderstorm — and realize they are no longer in danger.

“For us, it’s important to be in a safe place and not have to run away from bombing,” Alina said. “Each of us had a life that we could control. We had a job, money, a home. Vlada was going to have her first concert, but war (stopped that from happening). We planned to buy a dress for her prom … I said ‘tomorrow we will go,’ and we never did.”

Memories of their journey are still vivid, as the women spoke of sleeping in shifts with family members and being cognizant of where they would go if they had to move quickly. Basements were considered safety zones.

As Alina grappled with explaining the terror they felt -- with crumbled buildings, fires, death -- she credited her daughter for doing much of the legwork for their final escape to a U.S. family.

“She was searching for them. She was texting everybody. So she did all the job. And then she just said, ‘Mom, I found the family. We need to make a chat. Okay, okay, I'm ready. Let's chat,” Alina said. “So in Poland, we leave like with people who also gave us housing, food and that's all, and I understood that I just couldn't go anywhere because we couldn't even buy tickets. So that's why we decided to go farther because we were afraid to be in the same situation like we were in Kharkiv.”

Since being in Batavia for nearly two months, they are experiencing a better life, a safer existence. There have been walks through a park, a trip to Niagara Falls, afternoon tea (from Carla’s English heritage),   discovering buttery Eggo waffles with syrup “a dream come true,” Vlada said with a grin — and the recognition of Ukraine flags hanging at random homes and office buildings.

“It’s so nice when in a different country and to see the Ukraine flag; it’s in our DNA,” Alina said, explaining the Coat of Arms blouses that she and Vlada quickly changed into for a photo. “This became our national protest. We are Ukraine, we belong to Ukraine. Everybody wears it to show that Kharkiv is Ukraine.”

When Art first suggested that they help a Ukraine family, his reason was simple, he said.

“They’re people like us,” he said. “What if that happened in the U.S.?”

They have each discovered how true that is — despite different cultural backgrounds, Alina and Vlada have been embraced by their hosts and become part of the Wahls brood.

“They’re already in our hearts. Our children (Andrea and Jamie) love you, and our grandchildren love you,” Carla said. “You’re family.”

If anyone is interested in serving as a host family and would like some guidance, email Carla.

Top photo of Alina and her daughter Vlada Kovalenko, who came from Kharkiv, Ukraine to stay with host family Art and Carla Wahls of Batavia, having afternoon tea with Carla and posing in front of the Wahls' U.S. and Ukraine flag, and relaxing in their living room together, above. Photos by Joanne Beck. Photos of the destruction in Ukraine and of Alina's brother, Arthur, and good friend Stas, submitted by Alina Kovalenko.

The high scores continued in league action at Mancuso Bowling Center this week, with Brian Cline adding to his long list of perfect games.

Cline, 44, a prolific left-hander from Middleport, opened the Mancuso Real Estate Monday Doubles League with 300 and finished with a 725 series. The big night upped his average to 236.

Two members of the County Line Stone Friday Trios League registered games with 11 straight strikes. Jason Quilliam rolled 297 in a 715 series and Geoff Harloff put a long string together after an open in the first frame for 278 on the way to a 703 series.

Other high series at the Batavia establishment included Scott Culp with a trio of 250-plus games for 770 in the Mancuso Real Estate League; Alishia Foss with a 712 series in the Toyota of Batavia Thursday 4-Man and Nick Johnson with a 771 series in the Turnbull Heating Triples.

For a list of high scores for the week, click on the Pin Points tab at the top of the home page.

Chris Crocker said about a few dozen cutely-dressed little trick-or-treaters stopped by her store, the YNGodess Shop on Main Street, Batavia, on Saturday to add some candy to their baskets.

Photos submitted by Chris Crocker.

With a course that encompassed the lake at DeWitt Recreation Area and took runners through two fall-colored cemeteries, the Batavia Rotary Club hosted its second Trick or Trot 5K on Saturday evening.

There were 61 runners in this year's contest, and Zak Jantzi (top photo in white shirt) won with a time of 18:05.

The top woman runner was Joanne Kachelmeyer (second photo) with a time of 21:31.

Photos by Howard Owens.

North Darien Bible Church on Simonds Road hosted a "trunk or treat" on a Noah's Ark theme on Saturday.  The event also featured a juggler.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Basket raffles and door prizes brought out hundreds of animal lovers to Pudgies in Batavia on Saturday to raise money to help Volunteers for Animals service all the needs of pets residing, however temporarily, at the Genesee County Shelter.

If a National Basketball Association franchise featured three Rookies of the Year in a span of five seasons, you’d have to think that team was destined for greatness.

That club was the Buffalo Braves and the three first-year standouts were center Bob McAdoo (1973), point guard Ernie DiGregorio (1974) and forward Adrian Dantley (1977). All three of those former players were among the luminaries that took part in the Legends & Stars memorabilia show today at Batavia Downs Gaming.

Unfortunately for the fans of the Braves (and there were thousands upon thousands of them), the team stayed in Buffalo for only eight seasons – 1970-71 through 1977-78 – before the franchise was relocated to San Diego and renamed the Clippers.

The Braves, behind McAdoo, DiGregorio and hometown hero Randy Smith, were among the elite teams in the league in the mid-1970s, making it to the playoffs three times and losing in a pair of hard-fought six-game series to the Boston Celtics in 1974 and 1976. The Celtics went on to capture the NBA titles in those seasons.

But continued success was not to be as financial concerns, problems with the lease at the old Memorial Auditorium and changes in team ownership led to the franchise’s demise. The city’s loss of the team is still considered to be one of the lowest moments in Buffalo sports history.

The Batavian caught up to the trio during their autograph sessions, posing the question, “What went wrong?”

DIGREGORIO: POINT GUARD EXTRAORDINARE

“First of all, I loved playing in Buffalo because as you see the crowds and the fans were tremendous. They loved to support the team,” said DiGregorio, who starred at his hometown Providence College before becoming the No. 3 pick in the 1973 NBA draft. “I had a great time in Buffalo, but the owner of the team, Paul Snyder, had it in his head that he was going to sell the team.

“So, when he started to sell the team to John Y. Brown and made him part-owner, that’s when they started trading Dantley, trading me, trading McAdoo – cleaning house – and everybody knew that eventually the team was going to be moved. So, that was the reason why Buffalo moved from Buffalo to the (San Diego) Clippers.”

DiGregorio, now 71 (the same age as McAdoo and four years older than Dantley), said that in hindsight, it was “a stupid thing to do.”

“A franchise today is worth a billion dollars,” he said. “And he probably sold it for $5 or $10 million … But when the owners have the mindset that they're going to sell, that’s what happened.”

When this reporter mentioned that the NBA became a hot item just three years later when Magic Johnson and Larry Bird burst onto the scene, that prompted DiGregorio to talk about the Braves’ limited appearances north of the border.

“We used to go up to Toronto and play five games a year in Maple Leaf Gardens just to introduce the City of Toronto to the NBA,” he said. “And ironically, as McAdoo told me last night, you can't get a ticket for the Toronto Raptors, they’re sold out (every game). So, it was definitely the wrong move.”

DiGregorio, at 6-foot, had a spectacular rookie season, averaging 15 points per game, while leading the league in assists (his 25 in one game still is an NBA record) and free throw percentage. The following year, however, he suffered a torn meniscus of his left knee and was limited to 31 games.

“It was a torn cartilage. And in those days, they never had arthroscopic surgery,” he said. “So, it was a big thing. They cut it and put you in the hospital for a couple of weeks.”

He shared that the Braves’ head coach, Dr. Jack Ramsay, believed that DiGregorio had lost a step, “but I didn’t believe that. I had all of my career highs after the injury – and it was a common injury. But those are the breaks; I could have got hurt before I even came to Buffalo and would have never made Rookie of the Year. I had my day in the sun.”

DiGregorio went on to play with the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics after leaving Buffalo in 1977, but his best memories are with the Braves.

“Some of my great games were against the Celtics in the playoffs,” he said. “In fact, my third year, I had been benched most of the whole year. And then I played in the playoffs. And they were writing the headlines in the paper in Boston – Ernie D’s gang is in town. So, proved that I could still play.”

BOB MCADOO: PROLIFIC SCORER

Bob McAdoo, who led the league in scoring average for three straight seasons (30 ppg in 1973-74, 34.5 ppg in 1974-75 and 31 ppg in 1975-76), said he didn’t understand what was going on in the front office – calling it “strictly business” that doomed the franchise.

“When I look back, I see the teams we could have possibly had with Adrian Dantley and Moses Malone, and they ended up trading all three of us that same year (1976-77),” he said. “That was a team that would have been good for the next seven, eight years because we were very young. But you know, as players we don't have any control over what happens with management.”

The 1974-75 NBA Most Valuable Player, the 6-foot-9 McAdoo was the first of the center/power forwards or “stretch fours” that could score from well beyond the paint. He was a scoring machine, earning the call “Two for McAdoo” from Buffalo Braves radio personality Van Miller.

But he saw the writing on the wall when John Y. Brown didn’t meet his contract demands.

“I got traded to the Knicks in the middle of the season,” said McAdoo, who went on to win two NBA titles as a member of the 1981-82 and 1984-85 Lakers.

When asked if he any expectations when he joined the Braves as the No. 2 overall pick of the draft, McAdoo said he “didn’t have a clue until Ramsay started me in December.”

“This is after Bob Kaufman got hurt, and he inserted me into the lineup. And from December to the end of the season, my rookie year, I averaged 33 points a game. That’s when I kind of knew that I could score with anybody in this league.”

McAdoo, who played one year at the University of North Carolina, was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.

ADRIAN DANTLEY: SIX-TIME ALL-STAR

Dantley, the former University of Notre Dame star who was instrumental in ending UCLA’s 88-game winning streak in 1974, just shook his head when wondering what could have been.

“We lost the team because it was all about finances,” he said. “And we had two different owners and each owner was trading away players during the year. So, we never got to be what we thought it might have been.

“In our frontcourt, we had three Hall of Famers – Moses Malone, who they traded before the season; McAdoo, who was traded about 30 games into the season, and then they traded me at the end of the season. We talk about that all of the time. How great of a team that could have been with Ernie D and Randy Smith.”

Dantley recalls “getting bounced around” from team to team in his early years. He played with seven teams, in all – Buffalo, Indiana, Lakers, Utah, Detroit, Dallas and Milwaukee.

“When I went to Indiana, I remember the coach telling me to not buy a house because we’re going to be trading you in a couple weeks,” he said. “That took about 20 games and then I went to LA.”

At the end of his 15-year NBA career, Dantley had a scoring average of 24.3 and, in 2008, was inducted into the Hall of Fame.

“For me, it was about perseverance,” he said. “Nobody likes to get traded. But, I guess you could say that I had a pretty good career.”

Photos from Legends & Stars show by Mike Pettinella.

The fall edition of the Legends & Stars memorabilia show concluded this afternoon at Batavia Downs with appearances from those who made their mark in the professional baseball, football and basketball ranks, as well as participation by a host of vendors of collectibles. Check out these photos by Batavia publisher Howard Owens, who was thrilled to meet Alan Trammell and Graig Nettles, who, like Owens, are natives of San Diego.

Former New York Yankee third baseman Graig Nettles signing a seat from old Yankee stadium for Buffalo resident Mike Emo.

That's Alan Trammell, ex-All-Star shortstop for the Detroit Tigers. Trammell led the 1984 Tigers to 104-58 record and was named World Series MVP that year.

Helmets, cards, jerseys and much more were available in the Park Place room at Batavia Downs Gaming.

A young Josh Allen fan watches as Darryl Strawberry, former slugger for the New York Mets and New York Yankees, signs a Mets' shirt. Today, Strawberry is in full-time Christian ministry.

Former Buffalo Bills' running back LeSean McCoy signs his jersey for a collector. McCoy surpassed the 10,000-yard rushing mark during his time with the Bills.

Former Buffalo Bills' Pro Bowl center Eric Wood made fine use of the Sharpies during his signing stint.

Greyson Good, 8, of Batavia, was a polite young man when he met Jim Kelly on Friday at the Legends and Stars Sports Expo at Batavia Downs, and Kelly was so impressed that he offered the youngster a special treat.

"Greyson had the most amazing night," said his mother Brenda Good (who submitted the info and photo). "He met both Dawson Knox and Jim Kelly! As we were walking away from Jim Kelly, he called Greyson back over to the table and told him that he was so impressed that Greyson said thank you. He asked for our names and address so he could send Greyson tickets to his football camp in June! Greyson is thrilled!!! What an amazing guy!"

The Batavian will have more coverage of the expo later today.

Press release:

Team Results: 1. Rush-Henrietta: 125.25, 2. Genesee: 119.375, 3. HFL: 51.05, 4. Victor: 34.75

• All Around: 1. Sophia Damico (Victor): 34.75, 4. Roan Finn (Genesee): 30.60,  6. Mikayla Yohon (Genesee): 29.775, 7. Emily Salmonds (Genesee): 28.95, 8. Gianna Trigilio (Genesee): 27.3, 10. Hannah Spencer (Genesee): 26.00
• Vault: 1. Sophia Damico (Victor): 8.825, 2. Mikayla Yohon (Genesee): 8.225, 5. Roan Finn (Genesee): 8.0,  6. Emily Salmonds (Genesee): 7.9, 11. Lei St.Clair (Genesee): 7.35, 12. Gianna Trigilio (Genesee): 7.15, 13. Hannah Spencer (Genesee): 6.75
• Uneven Bars: 1. Sophia Damico (Victor): 8.05, 7. Haylie Leitten (Genesee): 6.8, 8. Roan Finn (Genesee): 6.7, 9. Mikayla Yohon (Genesee): 6.4, 10. Gianna Trigilio (Genesee): 6.25, 14. Hannah Spencer (Genesee): 5.7, 15. Emily Salmonds (Genesee): 5.55 
• Balance Beam: 1. Sophia Damico (Victor): 8.675, 3. Haylie Leitten (Genesee): 7.9, 6. Roan Finn (Genesee): 7.55, 8. Emily Salmonds (Genesee): 7.4, 9. Mikayla Yohon (Genesee): 7.3, 12. Gianna Trigilio (Genesee): 7.0, 13. Nee'Kay Smith (Genesee): 6.9,  15. Hannah Spencer (Genesee): 6.25
• Floor Exercise: 1.Sophia Damico (Victor): 8.9, 4. Roan Finn (Genesee): 8.35, 6. Emily Salmonds (Genesee): 8.1, 7. Mikayla Yohon (Genesee): 7.85, 11. Haylie Leitten & Hannah Spencer (Genesee): 7.3, 15.  12. Gianna Trigilio (Genesee): 6.9, 16. Sam Copani (Genesee): 5.8

The Genesee Varsity team had their best team score of the season, 119.375!  Coach Stephani Hamilton is super proud of all of her gymnasts and so very happy that they have all achieved personal bests at each meet this season.  Seniors Haylie Leitten, Gianna Trigilio, Emily Salmonds & Hannah Spencer were recognized and celebrated for their many years on the gymnastics team!  Sectionals are Saturday, November 5th at the Rush-Henrietta Rec Center at 3 p.m.