Announcements

The Third Annual Pedal to Save the Church -- J.D. LeSeur Memorial Bike Rally is scheduled for 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.

The Landmark Society of Genesee County will be assisting with the 21-mile event. There is a $25 minimum pre-registration fee, $30 registration day of the event, which can be obtained by sponsors or donation.

A $50 gift certificate from the The Adam Miller Toy & Bicycle Shop will be awarded to the rider with the most sponsorship. Also, the bike shop people will be at the church checking over bikes prior to the event.

Optional tours will be given of St. James Episcopal Church and short presentations given at several historic sites in Oakfield. There will be refreshments and prizes.

All proceeds benefit the St. James Restoration Fund. For more information, please call 343-6802.

The public is welcome to enjoy Southern gospel music performed by The Crist Family beginning at 7 p.m. Friday, Oct. 7, at the New Hope Fellowship. A free-will donation of $10 is suggested.

The church is located at 8052 Bank St. in Batavia.

St. Paul Lutheran Church & School in Batavia is hosting Oktoberfest from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 1. It will take place on the back lawn area of the church at 31 Washington Ave.

St. Paul invites all crafters, local businesses, and organizations to host a booth. If you would like a booth, contact St. Paul at 585-343-0488. Booths are $30 each.

Oktoberfest admission is free!

Participants can welcome fall in the German tradition with German food, an authentic 25-piece German band, kids' activities, crafters, a Chinese auction, and more. This is a family friendly event for all ages!

Local author Tom Rivers will be the guest speaker at the first free spaghetti dinner, "Pasta for Peace," at 6:30 p.m., on Thursday, Sept. 15, at the First Presbyterian Church, 300 E. Main St. in Batavia.

The dinner is sponsored by Pax Christi Genesee County. Tom Rivers, who authored "Farm Hands," will share his "food for thought" -- his first-hand experience with farm workers, hard work and lessons from Western New York fields.

Pax Christi Genesee County is part of the national and international Catholic Peace Movement and operates locally on an interfaith basis. Pax Christi has sponsored programs such as a recent Interfaith Witness for Peace at Genesee Community College and a three-part series, "Understanding Islam for the 21st Century."

William Privett, coordinator, Pax Christi Genesee County
Home: 585-599-3366
Cell: 315-866-6925

Dine-Out Days to support local restaurants and student scholarships at Genesee Community College are back with new, delicious local eateries. This year's restaurant revue is scheduled for two full weeks starting Friday, Sept. 16 through Friday, Sept. 30.

During this time, 34 restaurants throughout the Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties (GLOW) have agreed to donate a portion of their proceeds to Genesee's Foundation, which supports student scholarships.

This event is a great way to have fun, promote the local economy, try a new restaurant, and sustain student scholarships at the college.

The foundation is a not-for-profit organization dedicated to providing service and support to Genesee Community College. It was formed in the mid-'80s provide philanthropic support, scholarships and grants totaling $599,779 to Genesee students as of last year.

"Dine-Out Days is just one way GCC promotes and supports the local economy," said Dine-Out Days Chair Robert Moore. "This program focuses on our area restaurants and at the same time helps fund Genesee's scholarship program which encourages students to pursue their academic dreams locally and remain in our community to live and work.

The following Genesee County restaurants are participating this year:

• Alex's Place -- 8322 Park Road, Batavia

• Bohn's Restaurant & Lounge -- 5256 Clinton St. Road., Batavia

• Miss Batavia Diner -- 566 E. Main St., Batavia

• Delavan's -- 107 Evans St., Batavia

• Larry's Steakhouse -- 60 Main St., Batavia

• Pauly's Pizzeria -- 314 Ellicott St., Batavia

• Subway -- 412 E. Main St. and 8351 Lewiston Road, Batavia

• Terry Hills Restaurant & Banquet Facility -- 5122 Clinton St. Road, Batavia

• T.F. Brown's -- 214 E. Main St., Batavia

• D&R Depot -- 63 Lake St., Le Roy

• Scooters of Le Roy -- 140 W. Main St., Le Roy

• McDonald's -- 67 Main St., Le Roy

• The Ganson Inn -- 65 Lake St., Le Roy

• Le Roy Country Club and Golf Course -- 7759 E. Main Road, Le Roy

• Pizza Land -- 131 W. Main St., Le Roy

• Caryville Inn -- 25 Main St., Oakfield

• Oakfield Hotel / Scopano Lanes -- 49 S. Pearl St., Oakfield

• Red Osier Landmark Restaurant --  6492 Main Road, Stafford

Participants are encouraged to tell their server or host they are dining there because of their support of Dine-Out Days to benefit Genesee Community College.

For updated information about Dine-Out Days, visit www.genesee.edu/gcc/dineoutdays/  or contact the foundation office at foundation@genesee.edu or call 345-6809.

Genesee Community College announced today that it has selected Shirley Verrico as the new full-time Roz Steiner Art Gallery director. She comes to the job with a wealth of gallery management experience. In addition to her gallery management duties, she will also instruct classes in art history, gallery management and other fine arts courses.

Verrico will focus on organizing calls for art submissions and managing the exhibition calendar, communicating with artists to plan professional exhibits and with faculty and staff to schedule student exhibitions. In addition, she will work with students and artists to hang and take down gallery shows, prepare for art receptions, and integrate gallery experiences into college coursework.

Previously, Verrico was the director of the Carnegie Art Center in North Tonawanda for two years and left that position to work for Young Audiences of WNY, Inc., an arts-in-education organization that serves the eight counties of Western New York.

During that time, she also began teaching Art History for Medaille College's Accelerated Learning Program. Shirley has also worked for Niagara County Community College where she taught Art History and eventually became director of the campus art gallery. Most recently, she  taught for Medaille College and served as an instructional design consultant as the college converted traditional courses for the online format.

"I saw an advertisement for a gallery director in the Buffalo News and immediately recognized the description for my 'dream job.' I researched the gallery and campus and was very impressed with the college's vision and growth," Verrico said.

"I am looking forward to sharing this amazing space with the regional arts community who will in-turn share their work and talent with our GCC community.  I am certain we will have many wonderful exhibition proposals when artists see the potential of this space."

The new director grew up in Grand Island and stayed local for her college education. She holds a bachelor's of Fine Arts from the University of Buffalo (UB), a master's of Arts and Humanities in Art History and English from UB and a post-baccalaureate certification in K-12 Art Education from Buffalo State College.

Outside of work, she enjoys gardening and cooking as well as spending time with her husband of 15 years, Jamie, and their three children Maggie, 12, Michaela, 10, and James, 5. They currently reside in Clarence.

Press release:

"Self-Therapy for the Stutterer" is a classic self-help guide by the founder of The Stuttering Foundation, Malcolm Fraser. It is now available at most public libraries, including the Corfu Free Library and the Haxton Memorial Library in Oakfield.

The 192-page book is written to and for the many adults and teens who stutter. If you stutter, you do not need to surrender helplessly to your speech difficulty because you can change the way you talk. You can learn to communicate with ease rather than with effort. There is no quick and easy way to tackle the problem, but with the right approach, self-therapy can be effective.

This book outlines a self-therapy program which describes what the person who stutters can do to work toward better communication. It is often used as a supplement to speech therapy.

A timely feature on page 164 is information about King George VI and how inspirational his speeches were during WWII as depicted in the Academy Award-winning movie "The King’s Speech."

Writes Charles Van Riper, Ph.D., about this book: “There are always some who stutter who are unable to get professional help and others who do not seem to be able to profit from it. There are some who prefer to be their own therapist. In this book, Malcolm Fraser has provided guidance for those who must help themselves.

"Knowing well from his own experience as a stutterer the difficulties of self-therapy, he outlines a series of objectives and challenges that should serve as a map for the person who is lost in the dismal swamp of stuttering and wants to find a way out.”

The book is available free to all public libraries. If your library doesn’t have it, ask them to contact the Stuttering Foundation toll-free at 800-992-9392 for a copy.

Genesee Community College has announced that Maryanne Arena, director of Fine and Performing Arts, is a recipient of a GO-ART! Community Arts Award. She will be recognized for her contributions to art and culture in the Genesee-Orleans communities at the 11th annual Community Arts Awards Gala on Saturday, Oct. 1.

It is being held at Terry Hills Restaurant & Banquet Facility, located at 5122 Clinton St. Road in the Town of Batavia.

Arena is a professional union actor and has been directing and teaching theater for many years. She volunteers her time in the local community with annual Rotary productions and enjoys passing her professional skills down to the next generation. In 2009 she received the SUNY Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Professional Service for her dedication and outstanding commitment to GCC.

A native of Brooklyn, Arena earned her master's degree in fine Arts, Acting/Theater from Brooklyn College in 1994 and her bachelor of arts degree in Theater from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in 1992. Before arriving at Genesee Community College in 2004, Arena spent five years successfully directing the Theater Arts program at Southwestern Michigan College, a two-year college located in Dowagiac, Mich.

Beyond her ambitious theater career, Arena has had successes in other very active and significant professions. She was a New York City police officer and received a Medal of Valor for distinguished service. She worked as a radio disc jockey, dance teacher, small business owner and has lectured on a wide variety of topics including the U.S. Constitution, domestic violence, careers for women, and musical theater. She also owns a horse farm, where she adopts horses, and has professional harness horses.

Arena treats her students like equals and teaches them to embrace life's challenges no matter what comes their way. She tries to inspire students to "venture outside the safe box" and to "defy gravity" and encourage them to try anything upon which they are willing to fully focus their attention and energy.

"Maryanne Arena has made a point of engaging the community in the events and programs happening at the Genesee Center for the Arts," said Norman Gayford, GCC professor of English. "To Maryanne, the community involvement is the backbone of the community college concept. Her support of the arts throughout the local region is unsurpassed and we are excited to see her receive this award."

Arena was nominated by Lucine Kauffman, Randy Kaplan, Margaret DeBellis, Norman Gayford, Jeanie Thompson, Patricia Simmons, Christopher Montpetit and Luis A. Rodriguez. She will be honored with other GO ART! award recipients at the banquet.

After finishing in 24th place in the July 2011 voting round for a Pepsi Challenge Grant, St. James Episcopal Church has been selected to run again this month.

If they win, they will use the $50,000 grant for restoration of the bell tower.

Those wishing to support St. James can text 109009 at 73774 and vote online at
http://www.refresheverything.com/savethechurchtower.

You can also collect specially coded yellow Pepsi caps and donate them to the church to increase voting power. Voting ends Sept. 30. Please vote to save the church tower and hear the bells ring at St. James Church!

For more information, please call the Landmark Society at 343-1457 or St. James Church, 343-6802.

The local AmeriCorps is partnering with RSVP of Genesee County and the Genesee Region Citizen Corps Council to hold an event on the 9/11 Day of Service and Remembrance.

In keeping with the theme “A Time to Remember, a Time to Prepare," AmeriCorps members and RSVP volunteers will be at Home Depot in Batavia 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. on Sunday Sept. 11 to help local citizens honor those who serve and learn how to prepare for emergencies.

Residents will be able to write messages of support and memories of 9/11 on a large banner that will be displayed at several different locations during the month of September. Emergency preparedness information will be distributed.

Donations of emergency supplies will be collected and given to senior citizens. Ladder trucks from the Town of Batavia and LeRoy fire departments will be in the parking lot. The event will also feature a kids craft activity and a chance to win an emergency supply kit.

The 10th annual Batavia Blue Devils Athletic Hall of Fame gala will be held on Saturday, Oct. 8 at Terry Hills Restaurant and Banquet Facility. It is sponsored by the Batavia Coaches Association.

Cost is $30. Social hour begins at 5 p.m. with dinner and the induction ceremony to follow at 6 p.m. Terry Hills is located at 5122 Clinton St. Road in the Town of Batavia. Phone is 343-0860.

The following individuals will be inducted:

Gerald Maley, '48

Wayne Benedict, '72

William Monroe, '74

David Weiss, '85

Michael Wormley, '85

Kathy Hancock Marcus, '90

Brad Mazur, '91

Tickets are available at the Athletic Directors office located at Batavia High School, 260 State St. For more information please call (585) 343-2480, ext. 2003.

"Hands on with the Harvest” Fall festivities have been announced by the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, located at 420 E. Main St., in the City of Batavia.

This season programs will include:

Sept. 13 – Arrangements from the Garden

The best bouquets and arrangements come from your garden! Join Master Gardeners for a “hands-on” workshop as they show you how to use flowers from the garden. Create your own masterpiece to take home. Cost is $15 per person, which includes supplies. (Bring your own scissors.) This program will be held from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Kennedy Building (Genesee County Fairgrounds) Route 5, Batavia. Class size limited to 15 people. Pre-registration and prepayment is required by September 8. Please contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 101, to register.

Sept. 17 – Harvest Gala

Join the Master Gardeners for their annual Harvest Gala. It will take place from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County. Activities include a plant sale featuring indoor and outdoor plants, mum sale, Chance Auction, free soil pH testing, and gardening advice by Master Gardeners. The plant sale will start promptly at 10 in the parking lot. The Chance Auction drawing will start at 12:30 p.m.

Sept. 28 – Growing Garlic

For thousands of years garlic has been used as food, a spice and a medicine. Join Master Gardener Jim Schnellinger as he shares his tips for growing garlic in the home garden. The class will take place at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County from 6 to 8 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes handouts, coffee and dessert. Pre-registration is required by Sept. 23. Please contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 101, to register.

Oct. 12 – Winter Birds

Feeding the birds is a rewarding and enjoyable hobby in the midst of chilly winter weather. Join Master Gardener Jan Beglinger as she shares backyard feeding tips and shows you the birds that may visit your yard this winter. The class will take place at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County from 6 to 8 p.m. Cost is $10 per class which includes handouts, coffee and dessert. Pre-registration is required by Oct. 7. Please contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 101, to register.

Oct. 26 – Garden Secrets

Looking for answers for your yard and garden? Want to increase your confidence and experience level? Master Gardener Pam Conklin will take you on a photo tour of some little-known garden spaces cared for by Master Gardeners (including the emerging GOArt! gardens). Hear the stories behind them and learn what all this has to do with your own gardening journey.  Discover the secrets to creating and maintaining beautiful plantings for the enjoyment of others, whether in your own backyard or at the corner of Main and Bank. The class will take place at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County from 6 to 8 p.m. Cost is $10 and includes handouts, coffee and dessert. Pre-registration is required by Oct. 21. Please contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 101, to register.

Classes size are limited so register early.  Pre-register for the classes by stopping by the Extension Center or visit the website at <http://www.genesee.shutterfly.com/>, or contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 101.

The 36th annual Harvest Festival put on by The Salvation Army is set for 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 7.

It will be held at its community center, located at 529 E. Main St. in the City of Batavia.

From 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. there will be a mega rummage sale, featuring toys, books linenes, housewares, bric-a-brac, hourly grab bag sales and much more.

From 9 a.m. to noon there will be a blow-out bake sale with famous apple pies, sweets, farm produce and coffee.

Then at 6 p.m. the Spud Fest will begin and baked potatoes will be sold, with a bar of 10 toppings to choose from, along with a drink and dessert for $10.

For more information or to make donations, please call 343-6284.

The Batavia Area Jaycees will hold their 25th Annual Labor Day 5K Run & Walk on Sept. 5 at MacArthur Park in Batavia.

Registration begins at 8 a.m. and the race will begin at 10. The race fee is $12 for runners and $10 for walkers, with the fee going to $15 for the day of the race.

Medals and prizes will be given out to the top male and female runners afterward. Sign up early to receive a free T-shirt.

The Batavia Area Jaycee’s 5K course is USA Track & Field certified #NY-06038-JG.

The Batavia Area Jaycees are also still looking for sponsorships for this event; if interested in participating or being a sponsor call 585-343-5775 or email us at bajny@yahoo.com.

A free workshop to learn more about energy efficiency and opportunities for businesses to reduce energy costs will be held on Tuesday morning, Sept. 13, at The Generation Center, 15 Center St. in Batavia.

You must register by Sept. 9 to attend. To do so, call the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce at 343-7440.

On the day of the workshop, check-in and networking begins at 8. The workshop runs from 8:30 to 10. Refreshments will be served.

Topics include:

• Free energy assessments and comprehensive audits
• Subsidized installation and rebates for energy efficient measures
• Other incentives and assistance available to qualified businesses

Speakers include energy experts from the local Small Business Development Center, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), National Grid and Lime Energy.

Press release:

United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia announced today that it has received NICHE designation for 2011-2012 from the Hartford Institute for Geriatric Nursing at New York University College of Nursing.

The NICHE (Nurses Improving Care for Healthsystem Elders) network, of nearly 300 hospitals across the United States and Canada, allows organizations to share knowledge, experiences and best practices to improve elder care and to promote the role of patients and families in directing the care they receive.

In 2011 the first Baby Boomers turned 65. Improving geriatric nursing competencies is more important than ever as a large segment of our population becomes seniors. The NICHE program is designed to upgrade the quality of care for hospitalized older adults by increasing awareness of geriatric issues and implementation of hospital geriatrics protocols.

The process to achieve NICHE designation included participation in a leadership training program by three members of the nursing management team. The team identified clinical and operational priorities through a review of performance improvement and risk management data and developed and presented a NICHE action plan.

The YWCA of Genesee County, Inc., is seeking applications for its ninth session of Power UP!  This is a workforce initiative is designed to provide women with the skills and tools they need to advance in their career or seek the job they want.

The Fall session begins Saturday, Sept. 17. To find out more and to sign up, contact the YWCA, located at 301 North St. in Batavia. Office hours are 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday. Phone is 343-5808.

Abbey Grinham was a participant last year. At the age of 69 and having sought employment for two years to no avail, she decided that it was time to make a change. The Power UP program was her solution.

By working with her mentor, Sherry Szemplenski, and other professional advisors on the team, Abbey changed her life. She recreated her resume, changed her appearance from head to toe,  improved her computer skills, learned how to manage her money and, overall, felt so much better about herself upon completing the program.

“I loved going every week, the professional presenters were great, and I learned so much," Grinham said. "I learned about the YWCA and was introduced to more people in the community.  Power UP motivated me to move forward. It gave me the confidence to seek and find a job in Batavia. I love the program!"