The sun had yet to rise and the 15-year-old angler was already at the water's edge. Standing on a large flat rock beneath a railroad trestle, he cast the surface plug far as he could downstream. The plug landed near the top of the pool. Then, instead of allowing the plug to remain motionless until all the ripples disappeared, the young fisherman began to reel in his line as soon as the lure hit the water. And rather than retrieve it slowly, alternately popping and twitching the plug, he reeled steadily, creating a tiny wake.

Within moments the young man noticed another wake, this one smaller, v-shaped and moving rapidly toward his incoming lure. While the wake may have been small, the fish about to intercept his surface plug was not. The water erupted and the young angler at once had his hands full, realizing he was into a mighty good fish. The fish on the end of his line was a jumbo smallmouth and it wasted no time tearing up the surface of that pool, jumping, somersaulting, bulldogging and ending the early morning calm. And just like that it was gone.

As the bewildered young angler stood with his mouth agape, a voice emanated from within a sleeping bag on the bank.

"Youdidn'tplayitlongenough." The voice belonged to Joe Mazzarella Sr. who could sometimes turn a sentence into a single word. That scenario took place 45 years ago this month on the banks of Oatka Creek where it flows near the Le Roy-Pavilion border. The young angler was yours truly. The action began the previous evening. What began as a simple overnight on the banks of the Oatka, turned into an introduction to smallmouths, aka the feisty bronzeback.

After setting up our camp, Joe Jr. and I helped his father with the crab scoop, seining soft shells from a thick weed bed. After nightfall crayfish began to emerge from their daytime lairs beneath rocks. By lantern light we could easily see them in the clear water, dozens of them on the creek bottom. Soon afterward the bullheads began to bite. Not long after that, a school of jumbo smallmouths invaded the pool.

Thus began my introduction into the world of the smallmouth bass, pound-for-pound one of the gamest fish that swims. Once the action slowed we crawled into our sleeping bags and fell asleep under the stars. My education continued just after dawn the next morning, when the aforementioned big smallmouth put on quite an aerial display before spitting the plug back in my direction. A few minutes later Mr. Mazzarella started a fire and I was able to temporarily forget losing the fish when the aroma of bacon and eggs filled the air.

I've lost numerous fish in my time, but none comes to mind like that Oatka smallmouth all those years ago. And too, whenever I think of that fighting smallmouth, wondering just how big it might have been, I can't help but think of Joe Mazzarella Sr.

A few years afterward, while working on the construction of the GCC Batavia campus, I saw "Joe Mazz" quite often. Whenever our paths crossed, he'd ask, "beenfishin?" or "doinanyhuntin?"

It was in the winter of '71 when Joe Sr. was heading to Silver Lake for a day of ice fishing. Weather conditions weren't good, but that wasn't about to stop him. En route to the lake, he happened upon an accident and, being the person he was, Joe Mazz stopped to help. A snow squall had enveloped the area and in near-whiteout conditions the driver of a truck failed to see Joe Sr. assisting at the scene.

That smallmouth was quite a fish and Joe Mazzarella Sr. was quite a guy.

More flowers, notes, gifts and two signs have been added to an informal memorial created by friends and family of three young people killed in a one-car auto accident early Saturday morning. The accident claimed the lives of Matthew Ware, 22, Joshua Durham, 21, and Allyson Galens, 20. Ware lived in Batavia and was a graduate, along with Basom-resident Durham, of Oakfield-Alabama High School. Galens, a GCC student, was from Stanley.

I continue to be impressed by the beauty I find in Genesee County as I drive around the back roads (and, truth be told, I think I was still on Caswell when I took this picture, but frankly, forgot to write down where I was).

Friends and family of Deborah Maniace gathered on the Route 33 CRX overpass this evening to pay respects to Maniace, whose body was found early Saturday morning next to the railroad tracks. The cause of her death has yet to be determined.

Drive from Bergen to Batavia, southwest on Route 33, and just a mile or so from the Route 237 intersection, you will see a big red barn with "Oderkirk" in hand-painted big white letters on one end.

We've all seen it.

And this time of year, we've all noticed the sunflowers saturating the north side of the property, too.

The free sunflowers, it turns out, are just a ploy to get you to stop and buy vegetables from Richard Oderkirk.

The 69-year-old is a fifth generation farmer to operate the Oderkirk spread since 1877. But he's retired now and growing vegetables is both a hobby and a way to supplement his income.

"They're self-seeded," Oderkirk said about the sunflowers. "I try to exterminate a few more of them each year. They provide a lot of shade for my squash plants -- too much shade."

It's the winter squash that Oderkirk really hopes to sell each year -- it will be ready in a few more weeks, and when it is, even the cucumbers and tomatoes will be given away, so more people will stop and buy the squash.

And people do stop. Often with cameras in hand.

"I enjoy seeing people like the sunflowers," Oderkirk said. "I had an art student from GCC here 10 days ago taking pictures, and two girls yesterday. I'm happy seeing that."

The sixth and seventh generation of the Oderkirk family now live on the property. Once a dairy farm of 280 acres, it's now the 2.5-acre residence of Mary Thomas, her husband and daughter.

Asked what she thought of so many people driving by and admiring her property, Thomas said, "I’m surprised to hear somebody say that. I guess I didn’t think of the place like that. I see people stop to take pictures of the sunflowers. That’s nice. I get tickled when Dad gives them away for free."

Knowing that daughter Mary enjoys the sunflowers, Dad planted a small variety  -- the plants closer to the road are HUGE -- on the far side of the barn, and if she squints between barn structures, Mary can see from her kitchen window.

Good naturally, she turned to her dad while we were taking and said, "They aggravate you because they’re not produce, but I love them because they add beauty. Everybody likes them, Dad."

Everybody does, even Richard, even if he doesn't always admit it.

More photos after the jump:

H.E. Turner and Sons has posted obituaries for Matthew Ware and Joshua Durham.

Ware and Durham, along with Allyson Galens, died early Saturday morning in an accident on Albion Road in Oakfield.

(From left: First runner-up Ryleigh Rowcliffe, Onion Queen Jessica Pcionek, and Second runner-up Molly Geissler.)

When Jessica Pcionek was crowned Onion Queen on Saturday night, she couldn't believe it was actually happening.

"I was thinking about how I used to always go watch the Onion Queen contest when I was little, but I never really thought I would be up there doing it myself," Pcionek says. "I was shocked, but really excited at the same time because one of the dreams from my childhood came true."

Jessica is the daughter of James and Joyce Pcionek and has one sister, Jamie. She is employed at Post Farms and is a member of the Center Stage Dance Company.

She volunteers with SADD and at the Batavia Youth Bureau and is involved in many school activities including National Honor Society, Future Teachers Association, Friends of Rachel, Library Club, Drama Club, Senior High Chorus, Spirit Club, and Varsity football cheerleading. 

She plans to attend a four-year college to major in education.

The dream did not come true without hard work on Jessica's part, although she insists the whole process was "really fun."

"I had to write two essays and do four hours of community service, and then we had to go to a dinner interview and answer some questions. Then basically after that we just did the parade, rode on the float, and threw candy, which was really, really fun."

The other contestants were her classmates Ryleigh Rowcliffe, Racheal Cook, Molly Geissler and Jessica Hickey. The contest was open to incoming senior girls at Elba Central School.

"They're all my friends and I was hoping for the best for all of them," Pcionek says. "We had a lot of fun together and it's not like anyone holds a grudge or anything because we're all really good friends. I know no matter who would have won, we would have been happy for each other no matter what."

The newly crowned Queen says she loves Elba because of its size and the close-knit feeling. 

"It's a nice small community and everyone's really friendly and they're able to help you out if you get lost or something -- well, it's not like you'd really get lost in Elba in the first place. But you don't feel like you're just a number like you do in a bigger city. You get that community feel."

First runner-up Ryleigh Rowcliffe is the daughter of Garth and Mary Rowcliffe. She has two sisters, Alexandra and Meghan, and works for Oak Orchard Dairy.

She volunteers at Bezon Farms and Genesee Valley BOCES. She is involved in many activities including 4-H, FFA, and GAA. She plays varsity softball, soccer and basketball.

Ryleigh plans to attend school out of state to become a large-animal veterinarian specializing in dairy and beef cattle.

Second runner-up Molly Geissler is the daughter of David and Jane Geissler. She has one brother, Matt, and volunteers for the Elba Sports Boosters and the Oakfield Turkey Trot.

Molly is involved in many school activities including Varsity soccer, softball, and basketball. She is a member of the Future Teachers Association, National Honor Society and the Girls Athletic Association.

She will be attending the Health Careers Academy during her senior year. Molly plans to attend college to become a registered nurse.

Dr. Victor DeSa talked with seniors Friday about the federal government's new health care legislation. This followed his hour-long presentation, sponsored by the "Older Adult Ministries" program of Batavia's First United Methodist Church.

DeSa is a retired surgeon who had a private practice in Batavia for many years and currently serves on the United Memorial Medical Center Board of Directors. He is well renowned and respected in the community and very knowledgeable about how the health care field works -- including the role of legislation and the relationship between health care and the government.

There is a lot of misinformation about the new health care law and how it could affect  people -- especially Medicare and Medicaid recipients.

The doctor expressed disappointment in the mainstream media's handling of the topic.

"The people in the media are not doing their job," DeSa said. "The media used to look out for the common man, but now they have a bias and a preference. (Consequently), the news we get is filtered and we don't have all the information we need in order to make informed decisions."

For those who could not be there, here's the gist of DeSa's presentation (it will be divided into two parts for the reader's convenience) -- it reflects the arguments he made based on careful and meticulous research, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of The Batavian.

Health care: rights and responsibilities

The question of whether health care is a right or a privilege came up early in the presentation. This language, said DeSa, is problematic. The real question is this:

"Is health care a right, or is it a personal responsibility?"

He pointed out that health care is considered a right in socialist countries, where people "have abrogated their rights to the government" so that the government "will take care of (them) from the cradle to the grave -- and that includes health care."

"The United States is not yet a socialist country," he said (and yes, he did emphasize yet), "so here, health care is a personal responsibility."

What he meant by this, is that each person has a certain amount of control over his/her own health (diet, exercise, etc). For instance, if someone chooses to live on bacon, cheeseburgers and cigarettes all the time, then he/she is indirectly "choosing" to have weight problems, heart problems, high blood pressure, etc.

"If I'm responsible for my own health, should everybody pay for it or should I?"

Misconceptions about U.S. health care

DeSa assured his listeners that we here in the U.S. do, in fact, have the best health care in the world. To prove it, he spent some time debunking two popular myths that lead people to believe the contrary: that our infant mortality rate is higher than in countries with socialized health care, and that lifespan is shorter in the United States than in said countries.

On infant mortality, he said: "We (in the U.S.) over-report infant deaths, while other countries under-report them. Here, we're so meticulous about reporting, that if a baby takes a couple breaths and has a couple heartbeats after birth, it's reported as infant mortality. But in developing countries, a baby dies an hour or two after being born and it's reported as a stillbirth."

He also pointed out that a large percentage of infant deaths take place in the inner-cities, where there are a lot of crack cocaine and AIDS babies.

"These babies die in spite of very good health care. Their deaths are due to social problems, not medical problems."

As far as lifespan goes, he said that longevity is about the same in this country as in those that have socialized health care; what doesn't get factored in with lifespan studies is the fact that the U.S. is the "murder and accident capital of the world."

"If you took the murders and deaths from accidents in Chicago, Detroit or New Orleans in one month, they are more than the deaths of our soldiers in Iraq or Afghanistan in one month."

In short, the evaluation of U.S. life and health often ignores social problems and unfairly puts all the blame on health care.

Universal care vs. universal insurance

...Wait a minute, aren't they the same thing? Not according to DeSa.

"We do have universal care in the U.S. The EMTALA Law ensures that no one who comes into the emergency room will be refused care -- even illegal immigrants. That's the right thing to do, the humane thing to do and the moral thing to do, and I support it."

He says there is a "subtle but important difference" between this and universal insurance, which we don't have. There are currently 47 million Americans uninsured.

The Congressional Budget Office predicts that as a result of the new health care legislation, 32 million people who were previously uninsured will be insured at the end of 10 years. However, there will still be 21 million people uninsured -- and this is in spite of the fact that the new law will require people to buy insurance!

Who are these 21 million uninsured, you ask? Young, healthy people making between $35,000 to $82,000 a year.

"When you're young, and you're starting a family, and you have mortgage payments, you have a whole host of other host of things you have to worry about. You're going to say, 'Well, I'm young, and I'm invincible...maybe I won't fall ill. I'll take the chance and hold off on buying health insurance.'"

This is going to have a couple of important consequences. First of all, DeSa said, "the IRS is going to need about 16,000 new agents to track them down."

Even if they do track them down, not much is likely to change.

"If I'm a young person," DeSa said, "and a federal agent tells me I have a choice between a fine -- which starts at $95 and over the course of seven years will go up to about $700 -- and purchasing health insurance for $12,000-$13,000, it's a no-brainer."

Secondly, these people will cycle in and out of insurance programs. Faced with a serious condition like cancer, a young person will go to an insurance company for coverage -- and they cannot be refused under the new law. But when they get better, they will forego the insurance.

"People will abuse the system. That's just human nature."

While uninsured, these individuals will be able to make partial payments for hospital visits about 27 percent of the time; the rest will be covered by the state's "uncompensated care pool," into which each hospital in the state pays.

But even this won't cover the whole cost. To whom does the remainder of the cost shift? The taxpayers.

"This varies from state to state depending on the percentage of uninsured they have, but the average each person pays is $300."

The second and final part of the article will be up soon.

A motorcyclist is reported down in the median of the Thruway, eastbound, near Exit 47. It is 1.5 miles from the Scottsville exit. Monroe County has requested Le Roy Fire Department to check the scene. Henrietta EMS is responding.

Two men have been injured in a construction-related accident at the Travelodge hotel in Batavia. Initial reports say a high-lift machine fell over, injuring the men.

One is being taken by Mercy Flight to Strong Memorial Hospital in Rochester. The other is being transported to a hospital via Mercy EMS.

The address of the incident is 8204 Park Road.

UPDATE: Since this was an industrial accident, there was no law enforcement on scene. Only through a law enforcement report could we obtain more details, so there will likely be no further updates about this incident.

Somebody broke into a residential garage on East Main Street in Le Roy a couple of days ago and stole two sets of golf clubs and a laptop computer.

Le Roy Police are asking for the public's help in solving this crime.

The burglary was discovered by the homeowner in the early afternoon on Friday. Police believe the burglary occurred either late Thursday night or Friday morning.

It was a forced-entry burglary.

No further information is available.

Anyone with information or who may have seen anything suspicious or who may have seen persons carrying golf bags late at night on the East side of the village is asked to call the Le Roy Police Department at 768-2527.

The following people were arrested by the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office during the Tim McGraw concert at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Friday:

Michael E. Tamol, 23, of Walden Avenue, Alden, is charged with trespass after allegedly refusing to leave the concert venue.Tamol was jailed on $200 bail.

Andrew F. Heidt, 29, of Beech Street, Erie, Pa., is charged with disorderly conduct. Heidt is accussed of fighting with concert security. He was jailed on $250 bail.

Alexander T. Froman, 21, of Baker Street Extension, Ashville, is charged with trespass. Froman is accused of returning to the concert venue after being repeatedly told to leave and not return.

The following individuals were issued citations for allegedly drinking under age 21.

Kevin M. Richard, 20, of Montvale Lane, Rochester
Matthew P. Myers, 19, of Garden Street, Avon
Brian R. Hopkins Jr., 19, of Parkside  Lane, Rochester
A 17-year-old of Barber Road, Dansville
Matthew J. Piedmont, 20, of Winding County Lane, Spencerport
Lindsey M. Masullo, 20, of Nittany Valley Drive, Bellafonte, Pa.
Ashleigh M. Bunton, 20, of West Church Street, Lockhaven, Pa.
Paige E. Ambrose, 20, of Jack Street, Custer City, Pa.
Tricia K. Copeland, 20, of Interstate Pkwy, Bradford, Pa.
Ellin C. Vaccaielli, 19, of Northbrook Way, Webster
James E. Taft, 18, of Ruie Road, N. Tonawanda
Kaitlyn D. Worth, 19, of Humbert Road,. N. Java
Jessica M. Raichel, 19, of Aurora Street, Lancaster
Rebecca G. Keller, 18, of Marlau Road, E. Aurora
Jocelyn T. Gleiser, 18, of Longs Lane, Corfu
Rebecca K. Parese, 19, of Sherman  Street, Little Falls
Ashley L. Boepple, 20, of State Road 67, Little Falls
Erika L. Labaff, 20, of Hurley Road, Brasher Falls
Lindsay M. Wigderson, 18, of Fairmont Drive, Webster
Jonathan W. Daniels, 19, of Middlebury Road, Webster
Emily R. Von Schondorf, 19, of Shady Glen Circle, Webster
Samantha L. Smith, 18, of Apple Orchard Lane, Webster
Nathan F. Crosby, 20, of Howard Street, Hornell
Teren L. Persichilli, 18, of Lattimer Road, Arkport
A 16-year-old, of Starin Avenue, Buffalo
A 16-year-old, of Winston Road, Buffalo
Katie A. Luthringer, 20, of N. Forest Road, Williamsville
Kathryn M. Mucha, 18, of County Road 16, Dalton
Michael H. Moran, 20, of North Street, Batavia
A 17-year-old of Fisher Road, Oakfield
Dale B. Frier, 20, of William Street, Lancaster
Austin T. Smith, 18, of Fox Hunt Road, Lancaster
Derek C. Jansma, 19, of Matthews Drive, Lancaster
Jason D. Platt, 18, of Center Road, Kendall

The sun was out and the humidity down, making for perfect weather conditions at the Elba Onion Festival. Hundreds of people were there by mid-afternoon. Several people mentioned to me how much they especially enjoy the Onion Festival. I saw people there from all over Genesee County and met one family from Erie County who said they come to the festival every year.

More pictures after the jump:

There are large sewer pipes on each side of Bank Street -- part of the Bank Street sewer-replacement project.

The Sheriff's Office is investigating the death of a woman whose body was found early this morning under the Route 33 overpass next to the CSX tracks in the Town of Stafford.

A CSX engineer on a westbound train contacted Sheriff's Dispatch at 5:53 a.m. about spotting the body of a woman along the tracks.

The woman was identified as Deborah Maniace, 47, of Batavia.

Coroner Kristine Flanigan pronounced Maniace dead at the scene.

No cause of death has been determined. Her body was transported to the Monroe County Medical Examiner's Office for an autopsy.

The investigation by the Sheriff's Office is continuing.

All photos submitted by Steve Ognibene.

(UPDATED 12:49 p.m.)

One of Oakfield-Alabama's football stars of the past decade was among three people killed in an accident on Albion Road in Oakfield overnight.

Matthew Ware, 22, and Joshua Durham, 21, were declared dead at the scene, according to a statement issued by the Sheriff's Office.

Ware, a running back for O-A, was named to the All-State second team in 2004 and 2005.

Durham was on the track and baseball teams during those same years. He was a Genesee Region League track All-Star in 2007.

Allyson E. Galens, 20, of Stanley, was a passenger in the 2005 Scion TC. She was taken by Mercy Flight to ECMC. Galens was declared dead at 4 a.m.

The trio had been at the Elba Onion Festival prior to the accident, according to Sheriff Gary Maha. Maha said investigators believe alcohol was a factor in the accident.

The accident occurred at 1:37 a.m. on Albion Road just past Lockport Road. The car collided with a utility pole.

Oakfield Fire responded to the scene.

No further information about the accident was released.

The investigation is ongoing and being handled by Investigator Timothy Weis, Sgt. Greg Walker, Deputy Frank Bordonaro, Deputy James Diehl and Deputy John Duyseen of the Crash Management Team.

Photos: Top, Matthew Ware, from his Facebook Page; Joshua Durham, from his MySpace page; Josh and Allyson Galens from Josh's Facebook page.

UPDATE 6:10 p.m.: Top photo, flowers left at the scene of the accident. Below, sign in the beer tent at the Elba Onion Festival. I wanted to talk with somebody from the organization about the positive steps they take to discourage drinking and driving (not that that has been established in this case), including having firefighters available to give free rides home, but officials steadfastly refused to speak.

The Muckdogs rode into Brooklyn as the hottest team in the NY-Penn League. They're leaving with a three-game losing streak on their tails.

Batavia dropped the three games by scores of 4-0, 14-4 and on Friday in extra innings, 5-4.

Yesterday, the Muckdogs' bullpen spoiled an outstanding pitching performance by Zack Russell, who gave up no runs and no hits over six innings. Batavia was up 2-0 when he left the game.

Michael Reid gave up two runs in the seventh to get tagged with a blown save. After the Muckdogs scored two runs in the top of the ninth, Keith Butler gave the runs back to Brooklyn in the bottom half. Tavis Lawlor took the loss, giving up the winning run in the 11th.

Nick Longmire and Chris Edmondson each had two hits.

The Muckdogs are 3-5 since hot-hitting catcher Audry Perez was injured while running the bases on July 31. He hasn't played since.

The team's record is now 27-20 and they're 2.5 games out of first.

They now travel to Vermont for a three-game series against the Lake Monsters, who are in first in the Stedler division with a record of 26-21.

Batavia returns home Tuesday to face Aberdeen.

Baseball America -- the premier publication covering minor league and college baseball -- reports that the 2010 campaign for the Batavia Muckdogs will likely be the team's last under Rochester Community Baseball management.

"I have had discussions with (Genesee County Baseball Club) president (Brian Paris) and told him that we would probably not be interested in coming back for another year," said Silver, the president of the Red Wings. "So he is going to have his work cut out for him."

The article blames lack of community support for the situation, noting that average attendance has not risen above 1,045.

"It wouldn't take a miracle to turn it around, but it takes a certain community spirit to make something like this work," Silver said. "In a lot of communities, particularly where the population is rather small and drawing power is not the greatest in the world anyway, it becomes increasingly hard for a team to generate enough excitement and turnstile attendance unless something major happens. A small community can make it work if a team is new to them or a new stadium becomes all the buzz for several years. That may be enough to get them excited for years to come.

"In Batavia, it is real tough. We market much the same way as we do in Rochester. It's a miniature version, but it just doesn't get the same attention. People are missing out. And then the franchise disappears. And then you don't get it back. Once you lose it, you don't get it back." 

Read the whole thing.