Michael L. Jackson -- accused of burglary, grand larceny, criminal mischief and tampering with a witness -- was in Genesee County Court this afternoon after his attorney, Public Defender Gary Horton, requested a hearing to reschedule the trial.

On Sept. 3, Jackson posted a $10,000 bond and got out of jail. His trial was set for April 19. Because of a case-schedule conflict, Horton asked Judge Robert Noonan to reschedule Jackson's case.

The judge agreed to the request and it is now on the calendar for 9:30 a.m. on June 14. District Attorney Lawrence Friedman had no objections for the People. At trial, the People will be represented by Assistant District Attorney William Zickl.

The scruffy-looking, sleepy-eyed defendant sat alone in the gallery, wearing a striped, short-sleeve polo shirt and faded, baggy jeans with tattered hems. But he was well ahead of his appointed time. 

According to the Grand Jury indictment, Jackson is charged with a count of burglary in the third degree, two counts of grand larceny in the third degree, and two counts criminal mischief in the second degree. He's also charged with tampering with a witness in the fourth degree.

Now an Oakfield resident, he's accused breaking into Holland High Lift, 10033 East Road, Bethany. He allegedly stole a 42-inch Viewsonic flatscreen television, a Samsung 22-inch flatscreen television and a Sony digital camera. He also allegedly stole a 2005 Ford Supercab 250. Jackson also allegedly damaged an office window, a display case, light fixtures, drywall, a motorcycle, computer equipment and an overhead door. He also allegedly damaged the Ford truck.

A man wanted by Batavia Police has been located in Florida and is in a Tampa-area jail awaiting extradition to New York.

A week ago, Batavia Police issued a "wanted" notice for Dajuandrick Gardner, 33, of Byron. Gardner is wanted for an alleged violation of parole.

U.S. Marshalls' took Gardner into custody on Monday.

No information has been released regarding the original charges against him.

When the police released the wanted information on Gardner, they also listed 18-year-old Jeremiah Williams as a wanted person on unrelated charges. Williams remains at large.

Last year was a very special benchmark for the Batavia Area Jaycees. It was their Diamond Anniversary.

On Saturday, the community service and social-networking group will receive the Special Service Recognition Award from the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

"The membership looks at it as a lifetime achievement for everyone who's ever been a Jaycee," said Steve Tufts, chairman of the Jaycees' 75th Anniversary Committee. "I think they are looking at the award as a nod from the chamber of commerce that they're doing some good stuff for the community."

Other committee members are Danielle Russell, Jodie Freese and Tara Pariso. Alumni who served on it are Bill Young, Ron Weiler, Bill Dougherty and Tom Ditzel.

The 1934 charter meeting of the Batavia Junior Chamber of Commerce was held at the Hotel Richmond on Main Street. Membership was restricted to men aged 18 to 35, but the age span shifted to 21 through 39 once the national legal drinking age became 21. The local chapter incorporated in 1976 and changed its name to the Batavia Area Jaycees. Eight years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the national organization and all its affiliates could not ban women from membership.

"That year, the brainstorming power of our chapter effectively doubled," Tufts said.

From the beginning, the Jaycees were all about networking and developing leadership skills to better themselves and their communities. So for decades now, the club has groomed tomorrow's leaders, which is one of the unique aspects of the Jaycees. Some people think of it as a "stepping-stone organization."

"We recruit them, train them and ship them out," Tufts said. "When they leave, they're better at organizing things, running a project or serving on a board. They understand the basics of Roberts Rules of Order and parliamentary procedure."

The development of an individual's leadership skills includes learning to: think fast and speak extemporaneously; debate topics; improve writing and otherwise hone the abilities considered to be valuable assets, both on the job and in the public sector.

People in their 20s and 30s experience a lot of flux and changes in their lives, so the average length of a Jaycee membership is three years. If a member hits 40 and "ages out," he or she affectionately becomes "an exhausted rooster."

Over the years, many people have benefitted from their association with the Jaycees. Past Chamber of Commerce President Ray San Fratello is said to credit the group with helping him learn the skills to serve in that capacity. Chamber Executive Assistant Melissa A. George was once a Jaycee president. So was Kelly J. Bermingham, the chamber's director of membership and special events.

Each year, the Jaycees Board of Directors proposes a calendar of events to meet the needs of the membership and the community. Programming falls into one of four areas: management development, individual development, community development and membership services. Community volunteer activities are offered most.

Early projects were health related, including Adam Miller's Stamp Out Syphillis program in 1937, free polio and measles clinics and a blood bank. During World War II, the chapter displayed flags on Main Street, led campaigns on civic planning, Americanism, Boost Batavia, and established three shelters for hitchhiking servicemen.

In the '60s, the Jaycees "spearheaded the effort to establish Genesee Community College," according to the Special Recognition Award application. And later, they held several annual competitions, including the Miss Batavia Pageant and Outstanding Young Farmer program. They developed a blind trail and built a shelter at Genesee County Park and a shelter at DeWitt Park.

Projects overseen by the Batavia Area Jaycees today include the annual Labor Day 5K Run, and the Home, Garden & Trade Show, which is the group's largest fund-raiser. Their 57th annual show was held this past weekend.

"It's been our longest-standing project because the basic model works -- it's a temporary place where local businesses can see more people than they normally would (in a weekend) and develop leads and maybe even sell some products," Tufts said.

He views the show as, indirectly, the chapter's best community service project, even though it is held to raise money for the chapter. Putting the show together serves as a "catalyst to local businesses" because homes are typically a family's greatest tangible asset, so virtually everyone has some connection to a home show.

The chapter's awards are too numerous to list. Suffice it to say that there are dozens and dozens of them, many of which are displayed at its hall in the historic Batavia Industrial Center on Harvester Avenue.

"We call it our woodpile," Tufts said, of the plaques, trophies, certificates, ribbons, etc., lining the shelves.

The fact that the Batavia Area Jaycees have a home base sets them apart from all other chapters in the state. It is a business. The chapter's ever-changing membership has been confident enough in its fund-raising abilities to take on the associated costs -- rent, utilities, insurance -- of renting office and hall space.

And they have succeeded, in part, because of the size of this community, not in spite of it. The small- to medium-sized community is best suited to any club that really wants to make a difference.

"We've got enough feelers out there to know and sense what needs to be done, how we can help and what gaps need to be filled," Tufts said.

General membership meetings are held at the Jaycee Hall at 7 p.m. on the first Thursday of the month. The Jaycee Hotline is 343-5775.

Photo: Tara Pariso, Danielle Russell and Steve Tufts.

A 16-year-old Batavia girl is charged with two counts of petit larceny. She allegedly stole items from Walmart and Kmart. She was arrested at 9:31 p.m., Tuesday.

Deborah Ann Butler, 42, of 5335 Egerton Road, Elba, is charged with issuing a bad check. Butler was picked up on a warrant on the charge.

Lynda Lee Snyder, 27, currently in state prison, is charged with criminal facilitation, 4th. Snyder allegedly allowed a person who had been ordered to stay away from her child to be in the residence and company of the child.

Kelly J. Rhim, 31, of Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Rhim was reportedly stopped by state police on the Thruway in Batavia at 7:30 p.m., Feb. 28.

Accidents from the state police blotter:

8:58 p.m., March 1, Route 98, Alexander, one vehicle: Driver 1: Joyce M. McNutt, 46, of Darien Center. No injuries reported.

6:05 a.m., March 1, Quaker Hill Road, Elba, one vehicle; Driver 1: Karen J. Vancott, 49, Albion. No injuries reported.

One person so far has reported a headache in apparent connection to a natural gas smell at a building at 8020 E. Main Road, Le Roy.

The building has been evacuated.

Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance have been dispatched.

UPDATE 10:12 a.m.: An assistant fire chief reports no reading of gas inside the structure.

UPDATE 10:16 a.m.: Le Roy Fire is back in service.

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We don’t think that everyone in the village of LeRoy is being represented fairly and equally. 

We are running for office for Village Trustee positions, because we believe in fair and equal representation.

We are concerned about a local law proposing that sidewalks be paid for by the adjacent landowner.  That’s unfair because: 1) not all people in LeRoy have sidewalks yet they have equal access to the existing sidewalks; 2) people who live on corner lots will be responsible for twice as much sidewalk as the average homeowner; 3) the law is discriminatory because the Village can come to homeowners demanding replacement of sidewalks without a reason why. 

Sidewalks are a community asset and should be paid for equally by the community.  On February 23, Senator Orrin Hatch, long-time member of the Senate Judicial Committee, said that it was unconstitutional to force someone to buy anything they don’t want to buy.  Furthermore, he said that if they get away with it, your rights are gone, and they can force you to do just about anything they want.

We agree with current Democratic Trustee Greg Rogers that we shouldn’t change the law and that we should fund the line item in the budget each year to repair and maintain the sidewalk system.

This is just one of our concerns about our community.  Please save these three dates:

·        Tuesday, March 9 at 7:00 p.m. at the Greens of LeRoy, 1 West Ave., for the Meet the Candidates Night, where you will be able to ask the

candidates questions;

·        Wednesday, March 10 at 7:00 p.m. at the Village Hall to voice your opinion in the Public Hearing regarding the proposed sidewalk law;

·        Saturday, March 13 at 1:30 p.m. at Java’s on Main St. to meet us, your Democratic candidates.  Join us for coffee and cookies, and bring us your concerns about the Village of LeRoy, regardless of your party affiliation.

Jennifer Keys

Jim DeLooze

If you weren't biting your nails at the half on Tuesday night, you're not a Batavia Blue Devils fan.

At the half in Batavia's Section V semi-final playoff game against Hornell, the Blue Devils were in locked horns at 20-20.

Even though Hornell came into the tournament as the #5 seed in the division against Batavia's #1 standing, Hornell wasn't making it easy on Batavia.

Hornell came out of the locker room with an aggressive game plan that had Batavia a little bit flustered in the opening minutes of the match.

“We didn’t play very good at all in the first half – our shots weren’t falling and the presses got to us, particularly me," said Batavia's leading scorer, Andrew Hoy. "I didn’t really know how to break it at the time, but we figured it out at half time. Coach gave us a game plan and we came out in the second half and said we’re going to hold them to 13 points per quarter and we played defense. That’s what Batavia is built on, defense.”

The plan worked. Hornell was able to manage only three baskets in the second half and Batavia went on to win 51-34.

Hoy sank three three pointers and led Batavia (17-3) with 24 points.

Justin Washington and Co Co Irvin each added nine.

The Blue Devils advance to the Section V finals against Livonia on Friday night.

Thirty more pictures after the jump:

Submited by Robert Hunt:

Batavia Ramparts Squirt B finished their regular season undefeated and went on to win the Division Championship Sunday February 28th over the Rochester Youth Hockey Hawks.

Law enforcement officials now believe that there was actual methamphetamine in a house at 9434 Route 19, where the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force executed a search warrant at 2 a.m., Tuesday.

Initially, officials didn't believe there was any completed product at the house, though suspected precursor chemicals were found and Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster described the meth lab set up as particularly dangerous because of the use of batteries in the alleged process.

At a little after 1 p.m., investigators from the state police crime lab (pictured) arrived at the house to gather evidence and conducted tests on the chemicals and compounds allegedly found at the scene.

In a press release this evening, the Sheriff's Office announced that more than two ounces of suspected methamphetamine were found in the house.

A police officer on scene this afternoon said the room where the suspected lab was found, which he also described as potentially highly flammable, was right next to the bedroom of a 6-year-old child.

Charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 2nd and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument were Christopher L. Williams, 31, of 8 Erie St., Le Roy, and Nicholas Patrick Sadwick, 23, of 354 Sandybrook Drive, Hamlin.

The two men were jailed on $32,500 bail each.

It's unclear who was living at the house. The residence was clearly occupied. Officials discussed the fact that a dog was picked up earlier in the day and two domesticated cats hung out near the front door. A neighbor said that new tenants had only recently moved into the house and that this morning, the school bus stopped at the house as it usually does, but this time, no little boy was there to get on it.

No other charges have been announced by the Sheriff's Office against any other individuals.

Tonight's press release said officials found "chemicals and equipment which are commonly used to manufacture Methamphetamine."

This is the fifth suspected meth lab found in Genesee County since Nov. 12, when suspected labs were discovered in Alabama and on Jackson Street in Batavia.

A member of the drug task force at the scene today said that media coverage of that first raid helped alert local residents to the problem and the dangers of meth labs, and the increased vigilance has led to more tips about these other suspected meth operations.

For previous coverage of suspected meth labs, click here.

This is a reader-submitted photo of the rollover accident in the Village of Elba last night. The driver was reportedly unhurt.  We've received no further official information on this accident at this time.

UPDATE: We received a copy of the accident report from the Sheriff's office later this evening.

The car was driven by Mark J. Schultz, 24, of 4658 Barryville Road, Elba. Deputy J. M. Graff reported the Schultz said he fell asleep. The car drifted off the roadway and struck a utility pole. No tickets were issued.

That big blue and white object in the background isn't some jet engine I PhotoShoped into a farm picture -- it's a wind turbine, called the WindTamer.

Owner Garry Wilson said the turbine will be fully operational this week and will provide more power than he needs for his farm.

Wilson's farm is on Route 19 in Le Roy, right next door to the suspected meth lab police found this morning.

While Wilson said he's never heard a blade-type wind turbine, this one doesn't make much noise at all.

"We had quite a bit of wind a few nights back and it was no louder than a truck idling," Wilson said.

The turbines are advertised as more efficient, producing more power, than conventional turbines.

Wilson said he believes he has the first WindTamer in Genesee County, and the first turbine of any kind in Le Roy.

I got a chance to talk with Garry because while I was waiting for something interesting to happen at the suspected meth lab house (more on that later), I stood along the edge of the road and started trying to take some pictures of his horses, which is when I spotted one laying on the ground with its hoof apparently caught on a fence railing.

I spotted Garry's number and gave him a call. He came out immediately to help the horse get uncaught and get back up. He said it happens once in a while when the horse lays down too close to the fence and then rolls over, getting its hoof caught.

Pictures below of the horse rescue as well as one of Garry throwing some hay to his horses and of his cattle.

The horse seemed perfectly fine after it got up, even coming over to the railing where I was hoping I might be a person with a treat. Sorry, horse, no treats.

Another suspected meth lab has been discovered in Le Roy though no suspects have been charged yet in connection with the operation.

Two people were taken into custody this morning following a traffic stop and are being held on unrelated charges.

Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster described the operation as fairly significant and more dangerous than any lab the Local Drug Enforcement Task Force has yet uncovered.

"They were using batteries, which is a method we're not particularly familiar with," Brewster said. "We haven't seen that before, but it's a particularly dangerous method."

The lab is not believed to be operational and no completed product was apparently found on scene, but enough precursors were found that the county must be very careful in cleaning up, Brewster said. 

County Emergency Management and a hazmat team are preparing to deploy to the house, which is located at 9434 Route 19.

Taken into custody were C.L. Williams and Nicholas P. Sadwick. They were arraigned in Town Court on unrelated charges, including, for one of them, possession of a hypodermic instrument. One of the men also allegedly had an outstanding warrant out of Monroe County.

The home is owned by a relative of one of the men taken into custody, but the owner is not in custody and has not been charged with any crime.

Two Batavia men were jailed in Wyoming County after a drug task force operation caught them allegedly trying to sell prescription drugs.

Larry Yoho, 37, of North Spruce Street, is accused of selling Xanax and Fentanyl to undercover agents.

Nicholas Williams, 37, of 15 Ross Street, is accused of possession and sale of Xanax.

(via WBTA)

As factory jobs have moved overseas, Western New Yorkers are making less and less money, according to a recent study from the University of Buffalo.

From 2004 to 2008, low-paying jobs -- those paying less than $30,000 per year -- increased 17 percent, while mid-wage jobs ($30,000 to $70,000) decreased 10 percent.

From the press release:

"These findings portray a new economic reality for Western New York that's in stark contrast to decades past, when the region paid some of the highest wages in the country," said Kathryn A. Foster, economics institute director. "It raises a host of questions about how to build and sustain economic security for Western New Yorkers."

During this same period, good-paying jobs -- above $70,000 -- have increased 6 percent. Those jobs comprise about 8 percent of the workforce, and the other two sectors are split evenly at 46 percent.

The federal poverty line for a single person is $10,830. For two people living together, it's $14,570. According to the report, Penn State’s Living Wage Calculator (meeting basic expenses), a single person should earn $18,300 in Buffalo. A single parent with a 5-year-old child needs $36,000 annually to meet basic needs.

A full-time, minimum wage job pays $15,000 annually. The median income in WNY is $31,080.

In 2008 dollars, a typical factory job from the 1970s might pay $60,000.

The report uses a fictional three-generation family to illustrate how the loss of good-paying factory work has forced both parents in a family of four to work and that family has less to fall back on.

But WNY is not alone. Low-paying service-sector jobs have been growing at about the same rate across the country, according to the report, though those jobs comprise just 43 percent of the work force.

As factories have closed, fewer and fewer workers enjoyed the benefits of organized labor:

"As both cause and reflection of the changing economy and wage structures, the percentage of workers represented by labor unions dropped steadily since the 1950s, from a national high of 35 percent to a current level of 12 percent. Unionization levels in the Buffalo Niagara region have mirrored national trends, particularly as manufacturing jobs have fallen. Yet the region’s unionization levels are consistently above national averages. Metro Buffalo’s 17-percent unionization rate in 2009 for private-sector workers was more than two times the 7-percent private-sector unionization rate for the nation."

Clearly, although the report concentrates on Buffalo as "Western New York," these issues do appear to be regionwide.

Full report available for download (pdf).

A car has struck a poll and rolled over on Main Street in Elba.

No word yet on possible injuries.

Elba Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.

UPDTE 9:55 p.m.: One person out of the car with minor or no injuries.

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John Alan Delano, 19, of 556 Peck Road, Spencerport, was arrested on a bench warrant for alleged aggravated unlicensed operation. Delano was reportedly arrested in the Village of Le Roy in connection with an unrelated incident. Bail in that case was set at $500. Delano reportedly posted bail and then was arrested on the Monroe County warrant and transported to the county line, where he was taken into custody by a Monroe County deputy.

Jeremiah T. Jones, 36, 535 McGinnis Road, Scottsville, is charged with petit larceny. Jones allegedly bought vehicle parts from L&L Transmission and then stopped payment on his check after work was completed on his vehicle.

Alexander J. Delahanty, 20, of Brockport, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Delahanty was stopped by State Police on the Thruway in the Town of Batavia. No further details provided.

Accidents from the State Police blotter:

4:21 p.m., Feb. 26, Allegany Road, Darien, two vehicles; Driver 1: Wayne S. Marks, 39, of Orangeville, Ontario, Canada; Driver 2: Wilfredo Vargas, 31, of Buffalo. No injuries reported.

5:22 p.m., Feb 26, Route 5 and Bater Road, Stafford, one vehicle; Driver 1: James Gideon Halsey, 17, of Le Roy. No injuries reported.

11:21 p.m., Feb 25, Thruway, Mile Marker 400.5, Town of Pembroke, one vehicle; Driver 1: Patrick C. Sieber, 20, of Lancaster. No injuries reported.

10:15 pm., Feb. 25, Thruway, Mile Marker 397.4, Town of Pembroke, one vehicle; Driver 1: Elhadji M. Wane, 24, of Brockport. No injuries reported.

Reginald Wilson will take his chances with a jury.

The Rochester resident with multiple felony convictions is accused of taking part in a four-person burglary that reportedly terrified an older person on State Street. The woman was reportedly home and in bed at the time

Wilson turned down a plea offer this morning that would have capped his sentence at two- to four-years in State Prison.

Wilson would have been required to plead guilty to a felony count of criminal possession of stolen property. On Friday, his attorney, Public Defender Gary Horton, said his client sought a reduction to a misdemeanor.

District Attorney Lawrence Friedman kept the felony offer on the table, but added a sentence cap. Friedman was prepared to drop the more serious burglary, 2nd charge in order to make the plea offer valid.

Wilson said no, even after Judge Robert Noonan reminded him that if walked out of the courtroom this morning without a plea bargain, there was no second chance. His case was going to trial.

The trial is scheduled to start March 29.

If convicted, the 37-year-old Wilson, faces a possible life sentence because of his five prior felony convictions.

In New York law, some felony convictions are considered "predicate" crimes and count toward a possible life sentence on the third felony conviction. Unlike some state's so-called "three strike" laws, New York's does not mandate a life sentence.  

Wilson was allegedly caught driving a car stolen from the residence.

Two of the other three defendants in the alleged burglary admit to taking part in the crime, but say Wilson was not there. A third defendant puts Wilson at the scene and part of the alleged burglary crew.

A jury will decide whom to believe.

Today, Judge Noonan issued an order of protection for one of the witnesses in the case. The witness expected to testify at the trial is not one of the other three men charged in the burglary.

It was the day after the Batavia Blue Devils dropped a first-round Section V playoff game to Aquinas in 1997 that Alex Nesbeth and Mike Glow came to Coach Myron "Buddy" Brasky and said, "Next year, we're going to win the sectionals."

Brasky looked at his junior players, shrugged, and said, "yeah, OK."

"No, Coach," Nesbeth said. "We're going to do it. We're going to do whatever it takes."

The Blue Devils hadn't so much as won its division in years and years, and Brasky, in his seventh season as head coach, had just posted his first winning campaign, leading the team to a 11-10 record.

From the day Brasky took over, the naysayers told the young coach the Blue Devils would never win another championship in basketball. Batavia was too small of a school in a big-school division. There was just no way to beat the big boys from Monroe County.

An 11-10 season wasn't exactly a prelude to proving the skeptics wrong, but Nesbeth and three of his teammates decided it was high time to do just that.

"That’s when I was teaching at Jackson School," Brasky said. "It was the middle of winter and those kids -- there were four of them -- they would walk from the high school to Jackson School and do skill work with me. Almost every day, from about 3:30 to 5. We had a small, tiny gym, just two baskets, and they worked and worked and worked."

The next season, the Blue Devils posted an impressive 20-4 record. But more importantly, they won a Section V title -- the first of three titles the Blue Devils posted in Brasky's 20 years as the team's head coach.

"The Pride is Alive." 

That was the motto Brasky coined for the team when he took over as coach prior to the 1990-91 season.

The Batavia-born-and-bred athletics fanatic never forgot the glory years of Blue Devils basketball from his young days -- the years of John Walton, the Wescotts, Bruce Beswick and Billy Monroe.  

But by the time Brasky was the starting point guard, the glory years, the pride, were starting to fade.

"When I played here, we were just average," Brasky said. "We weren’t great. That’s where it started going down a little bit, and after I graduated, it went way down."

Brasky enrolled at GCC after graduation and then transferred to SUNY Cortland. He completed his degree in Physical Education and soon after moved to Denver, where he worked for health clubs. From there, he moved back to Buffalo.

Then a coaching and teaching position opened in Batavia. This is what Brasky had always wanted to do.

As an athlete, he gravitated toward the leadership positions on teams -- quarterback in football, catcher in baseball, point guard in basketball. He hung close to his coaches. He didn't strive to be the star of the team. He liked the leadership role and he looked up to the men that molded the teams he played on.

"I’ve known since I was 10 years old I wanted to be a coach," Brasky said.

But it wasn't easy taking over Blue Devils basketball. It was a program that wasn't in the habit of posting winning records -- the team would win only two games in Brasky's second season -- but the coach said he knew the spirit was there. "The pride is alive," he kept telling his players. There was a tradition to Batavia basketball, and Brasky was determined to bring it back.

Since that first winning season in 1997, the Blue Devils have not dipped into double-figure losses. They've won eight division titles and are on a run of 14 consecutive winning seasons.

Brasky credits the young athletes for their willingness to work hard, to work year around, but they're only willing to make that committment, Brasky said, because "the pride is alive."

"Now the kids (have) bought in," Brasky said. "We won. They want to be part of a winner."

Just in basketball alone, Brasky probably interacts with more than 250 students in the community every year. Besides the regular varsity season, Brasky coaches basketball year round, including summer camps and clinics. Every step of the way, he stresses that it isn't just about winning. It's about developing the habits that make young men succeed in life.

"I try to instill that all of this hard work you’re doing is not just to win basketball," Brasky said. "That’s part of it. We want to win. But these are habits that you’re going to carry on the rest of your life. These habits of hard work, and dedication, and loyalty and commitment – those are what companies look for. You will be a success in life if you can get these values."

No matter how important the game, Brasky said -- miss a practice, break a rule, and you're not likely to play. That isn't a position that is always popular with fans or parents, but it's the only way, Brasky said, to teach players to be winners both on and off the court.

“I made a decision early in my career that I would never put winning over doing what ‘s right for the kids,” Brasky said.

It's an ethic that has paid off. In the application to the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce for Brasky's 2009 Geneseean of the Year Award, student after student said they learned the value of hard work from Brasky and it has helped them be more successful in life.

"Coach Buddy Brasky shared with me the passion to be the best you can be in life," wrote Scott "Par Par" Partridge (Class 1997). "Every practice, every game, every scrimmage we took part in was completed with 100-percent effort -- if not, then we enjoyed running suicides until we did. I have learned from Coach Brasky that hard work and dedication pays off. Those who push themselves as hard as they can will reap the rewards in the end. The quote, 'The Pride Is Alive,' was printed on our shirts and through playing for coach, I took that to heart. Have pride in who you are and what you do -- give it your all and you have nothing to regret."

Brasky said he was moved by all the testimonials from former players, just as he is when he sees those young men out in the community or at games.

"You hope you're making an impact on kids," Brasky said. "They never tell you that until they get to be like 25 years old. A lot of times, they will see me out -- I'll be at dinner -- and they'll be with their girlfriends and they'll come over to the table, or a lot of them will come and see me before a game, or wait until after, so we can talk -- that's a very, very rewarding part of the job."