batavia

In a ceremony at the Richmond Memorial Library yesterday, two original works by Roy Mason were dedicated to the memory of Ted and Rosemary Surowka, who both dedicated many years of service to the library and the NIOGA library system.

Director Bob Conrad said library officials have been looking for a way to honor the Surowkas after Rosemary's death a year ago and when they realized one of the Mason paintings at the library had hung in Ted's school district office for 30 years, before Rosemary had it moved to the library after his retirement, it seemed natural to rededicate the paintings in their honor.

Plaques will be affixed to the wall next to the paintings.

Ted, who died in 2001, was the business administrator for Batavia City Schools for 36 years and served on the NIOGA Board of Trustees. Rosemary was a trustee of the library from 1995 to 2011 and board president from 1997 to 2011.

Mason is a significant American artist who worked mainly in watercolor. He moved to Batavia as a child when his father took over a family label-making business. After pursuing a career as an artist for a time, he returned to Batavia to work in his father's business. He retired in 1959 and moved to La Jolla, Calif., (San Diego County) and lived there until his death in 1972.

Martha Spinigan, director of the library for 28 years, said both Ted and Rosemary were steadfast in their work for the community and support of the library. Ted was a force behind moving the library expansion forward and getting it completed in the 1970s.

Beth Stich, current board president, read two resolutions dedicating the paintings.

Join us at Centennial Park at 9 a.m. this Monday, July 4, for the Kiwanis Independence Day 5K. To register, click here.

Pictured above, Pablo Garcia watching two West Virginia runs being scored.

A quiet start but energetic night coming into tonight’s second game versus West Virginia Black Bears, but the Batavia Muckdogs ended a three-game winning streak losing at Dwyer Stadium 9-4.

After the first few innings being tied, in the bottom of the sixth, Isaiah White stirs the field on a forced out grounder advancing Rony Cabrera to third who scored on Aaron Knapp’s single next at bat taking the game lead by one. Pablo Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to left which brought White in to score leading the Muckdogs after six innings 3-1.

Top of the 7^th Muckdogs Justin Langley comes in, West Virginia unloaded on Batavia, scoring six runs runs by, George, Krause, Baur, Craig, Pabst for the Black Bears. Ty Provencher replaced Justin Langley, Provencher  escaped the inning allowing two runs by Leffler and Owen which brought West Virgina’s lead 9-3.

No change until the bottom of the ninth with two outs Batavia’s Jhonny Santos homers on a fly ball to left field to eventually end the night with Batavia losing 9-4, tying the series 1-1.

Muckdogs will play tonight ending the three-game home stances against West Virginia game time 7:05.

Agents of the Local Drug Task Force report that they interrupted a crack cocaine sale in progress in the parking lot of Walmart on Wednesday afternoon and took two Rochester residents into custody.

Arrested were Antoine T. Clark, 32, of Lake Avenue, Rochester, and Kristina M. Kretchmer, 34, of White Swan Street, Rochester.

Uniformed deputies of the Sheriff's Office assisted in the arrest.

Clark is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, criminal possession of a controlled substance, 3rd, criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, and unlawful possession of marijuana.

Kretchmer is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, 3rd, conspiracy, 4th, criminal possession of a weapon, 4th, unlawful possession of marijuana and aggravated unlicensed operation, 3rd. 

Both suspects were arraigned in Batavia Town Court and Clark was held without bail and Kretchmer was held on $5,000 bail.

A child is reportedly injured after a car accident at 300 Ellicott St. City fire, police and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 10:52 a.m.: This was a mini-van vs. semi-truck accident. The passenger vehicle was northbound on Liberty Street and the semi-truck was westbound on Ellicott. Three witnesses told responders the passenger vehicle failed to stop at the red light. The vehicles clipped one another as a result. The child inside the mini-van was not injured and "was ambulatory" when medics arrived, but a front-seat passenger was taken to UMMC for evaluation. 

UPDATE 11:29 a.m.: At the same location, there is now a report of a truck that hit a power line "and something else" and now the caller can smell natural gas. City fire dispatched.

Updated at 2:22 p.m.

Randolph Zickl, the 81-year-old attorney, charged with grand larceny 2nd for stealing $75,000 from a former client, pled guilty to the charge in County Court on Friday, The Batavian has learned.

Since police departments only release information on arrests, and not court activity, that information wasn't available in the initial press release.

The guilty plea was uncovered by our news partner 13WHAM in a conversation with the Erie County District Attorney's Office and confirmed by The Batavian through a local source. 

Zickl will be sentenced Sept. 20.

Through court sources, 13WHAM learned that Zickl's victim was the widow of a client who died and Zickl handled the estate. He reportedly double-billed the client and then continued to withdraw money from the victim's account over a three-year (not two as previously reported) period.

If Zickl is able to make full restitution by Sept. 20, he will likely receive a probationary sentence.

He also resigned from the New York State Bar Association.

Because Zickl has two sons working the Genesee County District Attorney's Office, the Erie County office handled the prosecution and Zickl appeared in Genesee County Court, but an Erie County judge presided over the case.

Previously: Respected local attorney accused of stealing from elderly client

A man fell and struck his head on a trailer hitch and is now unresponsive at a trailer park on Main Street Road in Batavia. East Pembroke fire and Mercy EMS are responding.

Yes, dreams can come true, and so far, they have for Brenden Mullen, who eight years after going to work in his father's restaurant, formerly Larry's Steakhouse, is now the owner of Carter's in the same location.

But the dream doesn't stop there. Carter is the name of his 9-year-old son, and if dreams really do come true, it will be Carter someday welcoming you at the front door or serving you a drink.

"If I can, I'll get Carter's successful and then 10, 15 years down the road, I'm on my way down South and I'll leave this place for him to take over if he wants," Mullen said.

It's been seven months since Larry's closed so Mullen could revamp the restaurant and put his own mark on it. There was a lot of planning and work into getting the doors open again, he said, which happened today.

The theme of the new restaurant is nautical with a nod toward the Northeast seafaring tradition.

Naturally, the menu is filled with seafood appetizers and entrees.

"I spent the past seven months coming up with different menu ideas," Mullen said. "When I started narrowing it down, the result was predominately seafood, and then when I got to thinking about it, it seemed like a good idea, our niche, so to speak."

Mullen enjoys the restaurant business, he said, because he loves food and he loves people.

"When I was 21 years old, looking for something to do, I thought, there's no better way to make a living than working in a restaurant," Mullen said. "I love food and I love going out to dinner, and you can't be in this business if you're not a people person. To be able to hang out and mingle with my friends and customers, it really doesn't get much better, in my opinion."

Athletes Edge Summer Baseball Camp will be held July 11-14 for children ages 5 to 12 at the Batavia Little League Complex near Dwyer Stadium. The address of the complex is 299 Bank St.

This camp will be assisted by Batavia High School Varsity Baseball players.

Cost is $90 per camper. Registration deadline is July 7. Each camper will receive a camp T-shirt.

Age groups are:

• Group 1: 5- and 6-year-olds
• Group 2: 7- to 9-year-olds
• Group 3: 10- to 12-year-olds

Times are 9 a.m. to noon every day.

Mail payment with a piece of paper containing the player's name, age, address, and phone number, along with T-shirt size to:

Athletes Edge Summer Baseball Camp

8487 Violet Lane

Batavia NY 14020

Contact is Ben Buchholz via email  athletesedgebatavia@gmail.com

or call his mobile phone at (716) 982-8259.

Press release:

For the ninth consecutive year, Notre Dame High School is ranked as the #1 secondary school in Genesee, Wyoming and Orleans counties, according to rankings announced last week by Buffalo Business First.

In addition, this is the ninth consecutive year that Notre Dame is included in the "Top 15 Percent" of all 136 secondary schools -- public and private -- in Western New York. And it is the 12th straight year that the Catholic school ranked in the publication's "Top 10" of WNY private schools.

Notre Dame, home of the Fighting Irish, offers a physically and emotionally safe learning environment that is welcoming to all, resulting in a graduation rate of 100 percent for the Class of 2016, with 97.4 percent attending college earning $4.6 million in scholarships.

The 2015-2016 academic year brought home 79^th and 80^th Sectional titles, in Ice Hockey and Softball, with 15 of 17 varsity level athletic teams achieving “Scholar Athlete” status as designated by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. This long-standing "Tradition of Excellence" continues with the most current Buffalo Business First rankings.

Now accepting applications for the ’16 – ’17 school year. Financial aid available, call today to discover the difference.

Officials are being coy with details, but the city and the Business Improvement District are apparently close to a negotiated agreement that will end a bit of a dispute over some operational issues. 

The turning point apparently came at a meeting Friday involving City Manager Jason Molino, City Attorney George Van Nest and an attorney for the BID who, up to this point, hadn't been involved in the situation.

Laurence Rubin, of Kavinoky & Cook, LLP, in Buffalo, was at Monday's City Council meeting, where Molino informed council members that progress had been made and an agreement should be forthcoming.

A public hearing on a proposed change to local law that would have affected the BID's district plan as well as required the BID board to abide by the State's Open Meeting Law and Freedom of Information Law was held, but there were no speakers.

Both Molino and Rubin sidestepped questions about the sunshine law requirements.

"We have an agreement in principle on the substantive issues," Rubin said. "I don’t want to get into the details and give you a long law school lecture, which I’m sure you don’t want to get into now, but in terms of the principles of transparency and timelines, I think there’s agreement."

Molino said, "I think both the City and the BID board are interested in the issues of transparency and that the public having access to board decisions and board meetings as well as how decisions are being made."

Rubin said he is an expert in the area of special districts and business improvement districts and General Municipal Law (GML).  

Asked if he was aware of any districts that were required to abide specifically by the sunshine laws, he said he didn't know of any, but that such districts and boards are generally open and transparent.

"I think government and the public and taxpayers do want to see transparency and I think there is a common theme about that," Rubin said. "Again, I don’t want to get into a law school lecture. The Freedom of Information Law or the Open Meetings Law, per se, is not really the issue. The issue is should there be transparency and there is absolute agreement on both sides that there should be."

At no point, has there been any specific allegation that the BID or the BID board has been anything less than transparent, but Molino raised the idea few weeks ago that to ensure transparency, the city should require the BID to abide by the sunshine laws.

In a memo to BID members last week -- property and business owners within the downtown district -- Executive Director Laurie Oltramari said the BID board objected to the sunshine law requirement not because the BID isn't transparent, but as a matter of legal precedent and principle. 

"The BID board is opposed to the City of Batavia adopting a local law imposing such as it conflicts with state law and our meetings are already open to the BID membership," Oltramari said. "For the City to implement such is creating new law for the City of Batavia, setting new precedent within NY State and discriminating against a not-for-profit corporation."

The dust-up between the city and the BID began a few weeks ago when Molino required the BID board to cut its budget to better comply with General Municipal Law, which Molino said the BID's budget had skirted for the past few years.

The BID's assessment, which is the basis for the BID's budget, is set by the city and while Molino said he has raised the issue with the BID in previous years, this year he said the city would correct the assessment to comply with GML.

Rubin repeatedly said that in his role as legal counsel for the BID on this issue, he didn't want to look back and concentrate on past history.

"We had a very positive discussion with the city administrator and the city attorney," Rubin said. "We talked about substantive issues. We set aside the history and whatever conversations may have been and we just talked about the statute and the proposed revisions to the local law. It was very constructive. I can’t really speak to what happened in the past, but going forward seems to be very constructive and very productive."

The city will receive $2 million in federal block grant money to repave six streets, Public Works Director Matt Worth told the City Council on Monday night.

The six streets will be milled and repaved at a cost of $2.5 million, and there may yet be some state money to help cover some of the cost difference.

The streets are Clinton Street, East Avenue, Liberty Street, South Liberty Street, Swan Street and Vine Street.

The city will now seek proposals from engineering firms, with the selection of the firm in the fall and then preliminary engineering work can begin. The final design would be completed in the fall of 2017 with work beginning in the summer of 2018.

City Historian Larry Barnes received his Volunteer of the Year award from the Batavia City Council at the start of Monday night's meeting at City Hall.

Barnes was named Volunteer of the Year earlier but was unavailable to receive the award.

The honor recognizes his many years of volunteer work as city historian, especially his efforts in support of the city's centennial celebration. 

Barnes said the award was really a shared award and recognized the many people and organizations who have helped him throughout his tenure as historian.

Story updated with more information at 10 a.m.

One of Genesee County's most widely respected and prominent attorneys has been arrested for allegedly stealing $75,000 from an elderly client over a period of two years.

Randolph Zickl, 81, is charged with one count of grand larceny in the second degree.

Det. Todd Crossett said this morning that the investigation began in September with a complaint from a family member of the alleged victim. Crossett said the family member noticed some bank transactions "that didn't look right."

The alleged transactions, transferring funds from the elderly person's account into Zickl's account, were carried out during a period in which Zickl was not representing the client and should not have had access to the bank accounts, Crossett said.

Until a few weeks ago, Zickl was in charge of the county's Office of Legal Assistance. The office is in charge of handing out assignments to defense attorneys on cases that can't be handled -- usually because of a conflict of interest -- by the Public Defender's Office.

Ray Cianfrini, chairman of the County Legislature, said the Legislature received a letter of resignation from Zickl several weeks ago, but Cianfrini was not made aware until this morning that there was a pending legal case against Zickl.  

The Legislature appointed Mike Rivers to replace Zickl.

Zickl is the father of two attorneys in the District Attorney's Office, Robert Zickl and William Zickl.

The prosecution of Randolph Zickl is being handled by the Erie County District Attorney's Office and he was arraigned on the charge by a judge from Erie County.

Andrew L. Kosiorek, 44, no permanent address, Batavia, was arrested at 1:46 a.m. on June 20 as the result of an investigation into suspicious activity (an individual looking into vehicles) in the area of Ross Street, Manhattan Avenue, and Farwell Drive. He is charged with criminal possession of stolen property, 5th, and jailed on $5,000 cash or $10,000 bond. He was scheduled for City Court on June 23. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Matthew Wojtaszczyk, assisted by Officer Eric Foels. The defendant subsequently received an additional count of criminal possession of stolen property, 5th, after another victim reported that property was stolen from her vehicle on Ross Street in the city. In this count, Kosiorek allegedly possessed perfume and grooming products belonging to the victim. He was issued an appearance ticket for Batavia City Court on June 28. He is currently incarcerated in Genesee County Jail on similar charges. He was previously arrested after allegedly being found in possession of a large amount of property that had been stolen from several vehicles throughout the city overnight. The latest case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Jason Ivison. In another arrest report, he is charged with fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property after allegedly being found on Elm Street in possession of multiple stolen items. That case was handled by Officer Wojtaszczyk, assisted by Officer Thad Mart.

Paula G. Pierce, 24, of Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with second-degree harassment and endangering the welfare of a child. She was arrested following an incident at 3:30 p.m. on June 23 in which she allegedly forcefully pulled a 9-year-old child from a vehicle parked on Wood Street. She allegedly did so because of comments the 9-year-old reportedly made toward her child. She is due in City Court on July 12. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Chad Richards, assisted by Officer Mitchell Cowen.

David M. Ross, 47, of Franklin Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th, and second-degree harassment. Ross was arrested following a dispute over the ownership of a vehicle. At 2:06 p.m. on June 20, Ross allegedly physically removed the victim from the vehicle and damaged a window in the process. He was arraigned in City Court June 21, then released. The case was handled by Batavia Police Sgt. Dan Coffey, assisted by Officer Jason Ivison.

Daniel Wayne King, 23, Nickolas Andrew Marotta, 19, Kyle Lee-Maddison Michaels, 18, Madison Alyssa Scheuerlein, 18, all of Batavia, and 18-year-old Salvatore Michael Schwable, of Oakfield, were arrested at 3:30 a.m. on June 25 following the investigation of a trespassing complaint at the Rolling Hills Asylum in East Bethany. They were all allegedly trespassing on the grounds of the asylum. They were issued appearance tickets for Town of Bethany Court on July 19. The case was handled by Sheriff's Deputy Chad P. Cummings and Deputy Eric J. Meyer.

Joshua Herman Worrells, 29, of Dewey Avenue, Rochester, is charged with driving while intoxicated, aggravated driving while intoxicated, failure to stop at a stop sign, and moving from lane unsafely. At 1:54 a.m. on June 26, Worrells was stopped on Sumner Road in Darien for allegedly failing to stop at a stop sign and moving from the lane unsafely. Following an investigation, the defendant was arrested for driving while intoxicated and for allegedly operating a motor vehicle with a BAC of .08 or higher, in addition to the traffic violations. He was released on appearance tickets for Town of Darien Court on July 12. The case was handled by Sheriff's Deputy Ryan Young, assisted by Deputy Jason Saile.

Andrei P. Sliker, 25, of Liberty Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, and criminal possession of a hypodermic instrument. He had an active warrant out of the City of Batavia for failing to appear on vehicle and traffic law violations. On June 21, he was observed by Officer James DeFreze on Ellicott Street and taken into custody without incident, at which time he was allegedly found to be in possession of a hypodermic needle. While at BPD Headquarters, he was also allegedly found to be in possession of a controlled substance. Silker was arrested on the new charges at 10:59 a.m. He was jailed on the bench warrant in lieu of $300 bail. He is scheduled to be in City Court on July 21. The case was handled by Officer DeFreze, assisted by Officer Frank Klimjack.

Shawn M. Twardowski, 33, no permanent address, Batavia, is charged with trespass and resisting arrest. The defendant was arrested on June 21 following an incident at 218 State St., Room #3. Twardowski had previously been advised by poluice and the property manager at that location that he was not allowed to be there and if he failed to comply he would be subject to criminal prosecution. He allegedly went there despite the warnings and police responded and allegedly found him on the premises. As officers attempted to take him into custody, a struggle ensued and the defendant allegedly made several attempts to pull away from the officers. He was jailed in lieu of $1,000 bail and was due back in court on June 23. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Chad Richards, assisted by Sgt. Christopher Camp.

Cindylou Oppel, 60, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with obstructing governmental administration. On June 21 at 8:23 p.m., Batavia PD responded to 218 State St. for a report of trespass in progress. They arrested Oppel when she allegedly obstructed police from affecting the arrest of Shawn M. Twardowski. Oppel is due in City Court on June 28 to answer the charge. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Arick Perkins, aasisted by Officer Chad Richards.

Jennifer L. Stack, 30, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with first degree criminal contempt. On June 26, Stack was arrested following an investigation wherein she allegedly violated an order of protection on June 24. She was put in jail and was due in City Court this afternoon. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Arick Perkins, assisted by Officer Mitchell Cowen.

Nicholas D. Martino, 35, of Main Street, Alexander, is charged with aggravated unlicensed operation. He was arrested at 9:27 p.m. on June 24 following a traffic stop on South Main Street in the city. He was found to be allegedly operating a vehicle while his NYS driver's license was suspended. He was jailed with bail and was due in City Court this afternoon. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Mitchell Cowen.

Noah David Herrick, 19, of Fairlea Drive, Rochester, is charged with trespass. Herrick was arrested at 8:40 p.m. on June 23 for allegedly trespassing at Buttermilk Falls. He was issued an appearance ticket for July 18 in Le Roy Town Court. The case was handled by Sheriff's Deputy Ryan DeLong, assisted by Deputy James Diehl.

Amanda R. Traynor, 28, of Eagle Street, Mt. Morris, is charged with failure to appear. She was located by the Geneseo Police Department during a traffic stop. She had an active warrant for failure to appear on previous traffic offenses. She was turned over to Batavia PD, jailed and released after posting $300 bail. She was issued an appearance ticket for City Court on July 5. The case was handled by Batavia Police Officer Felicia DeGroot.

Press release:

Attention all golfers! The Batavia Blue Devils Football program will hold its 4th Annual Golf Tournament on Saturday, July 23rd, at the Batavia Country Club. Alumni are encouraged, but anyone who likes to golf can get a foursome!

The cost is $80 per golfer and it includes 18 holes of golf, cart, lunch, dinner, beverages, goodie bag and T-shirt.

Tournament registration time is between 7 a.m. and 7:30 a.m., with a shotgun start at 8 a.m.

Those interested can send their team members' names, T-shirt sizes, and money to:

Blue Devils Touchdown Club
306 South Jackson St.
Batavia, NY 14020

Checks made payable to: Blue Devils Touchdown Club.

You just be 21+ to play. Registration deadline is July 8th.

Any further questions you can call or text 585-409-5557.

Press release:

Starting this Friday, July 1st, the Jackson Square Concert Series is set to begin with St. Joe’s of Batavia Brass Ensemble as a celebration of their 85^th Reunion. Concerts are in Jackson Square every Friday through August from 7-9 p.m. If you’d like to attend, be sure to bring a chair to relax or bring your dancing feet for some great fun Downtown.

Bands are booked by the BID Executive Director Laurie Oltramari. Many people ask how bands are chosen. Price and sponsorship are always factors. However, last year, the new director had a table at every concert to ask people what bands they like and if they wanted any new. She asked on the radio, walked around to several businesses, asked her board members, and asked on Facebook. And of course, bands contact her at the beginning of the year to see who will be chosen. Bands were booked based on price, availability, genre, and returning bands vs. new bands.

“I tried to mix it up, and of course, you cannot please everyone," she said. "We are especially grateful for M&T Bank as always being the title sponsor to bring such a wonderful event Downtown.” 

The lineup for this year:

Friday, July 1st -- St. Joe's of Batavia Brass Ensemble (85th Reunion)
Friday, July 8th -- Fat City (Soft Rock)
Friday, July 15th -- Ghost Riders (Country)
Friday, July 22nd -- Universal Mind (Rock)
Friday, July 29th -- The Fibs (Rock/Reggae/Funk)
Friday, Aug. 5th -- Stone Row (Celtic Rock)
Friday, Aug.12th -- Midnight Cruisers (Rock)
Friday, Aug. 19th -- It's My Party ('50s and '60s)
Friday, Aug. 26th -- Josie Waverly Band (Country)

For any questions or concerns, please contact Laurie Oltramari at (585) 344-0900 or email LOltramari@DowntownBataviaNY.com.

A vehicle has reportedly struck a house 5049 Main Street Road, Batavia. Town of Batavia fire and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 2:31 p.m.: A man who was in the parking lot of the Town & Country restaurant told responders he put the car in gear to leave the parking lot and the accelerator stuck, sending the vehicle careening into the corner of the house on the adjacent lot. He was not seriously injured and medics transported him to UMMC for evaluation.

When Marilynn Palotti, a retired art teacher, traveled to Alaska two years ago, she had no idea it would unleash a flurry of creativity when she returned, but it did. She's painted dozens of pictures capturing what she saw and experienced while on the trip.

Speaking even now about the trip, she's still filled with wonder.

"It’s such a unique place," Palotti said. "It’s so isolated in places. The people are so fiercely independent, yet are so willing to help each other. It’s very hard to describe to someone else what Alaska is, all its idiosyncrasy. It has only 12,000 miles of paved roads and it has millions upon millions of acres of national parks and refuges that are so isolated that you can’t get into them except by flying."

Palotti's show is on display now at the Richmond Memorial Library. The show runs through July and the opening is Thursday, July 7th from 6 to 9 p.m.

A graduating class of 164 students received their diplomas from Batavia High School yesterday in a ceremony held at Genesee Community College.

Superintendent Chris Dailey said 74 percent of the class is pursuing higher education, including 41 going directly to four-year schools, 80 to community colleges and 31 students are entering the workforce already with jobs, plus seven students are going into the military.

"That is college and career ready," Dailey said.

Of the 164 graduates, 142 are receiving regents diplomas.

"For a small city school, that's outstanding," Dailey said. "We'll put that up against anywhere else in New York State."

Burton Howell, a science teacher at BHS for 28 years, delivered the keynote speech, emphasizing the tough love students got as they made their way through their educational  journey.  Starting on Sunday, they are no longer subject to the rules and discipline of school, but the rules and laws of society, subject to due process.  It's up to them, he said, to make the right decisions through the rest of their lives. He spoke about Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle. You can know an object's position, or you can know it's velocity and direction. If you know an object's position, you don't know where it's going or how fast.  He told the students that we know where you are now, but we don't know where you're going.  That's up to each student to decide.

Valedictorian Alexis Vasciannie noted that the Class of 2016 was an accomplished class, with success in academics, the arts and athletics. She challenged students to enter life now and find their own paths to success.

Salutatorian Ross Chua closed his speech by singing an original song. Chua, named Mr. Batavia earlier in the year, also participated in the Genesee Symphony Orchestra's performance of his own composition; he plans to attend Syracuse University. His goal is write a symphony that will be performed by a major, world-renowned symphony, or write the scores for major motion pictures. These are big dreams, he confessed, but he would be equally happy if someday he owned a music store, because there he might sell a first instrument to a future top-40 recording artist or the shoes to a future prima ballerina. Those accomplishments would change the world. He reminded his fellow graduates that even the small things they do in life will have a big impact on the world. They should go out and try to make a difference. 

Chua received the Quincy Jones Award for his musical accomplishments at the school. Awards and scholarships were handed out to more than a dozen students.

Kayla Burns receives her diploma from Dailey.

Malachi Chenault is congratulated after receiving his diploma. 

Zach Lee celebrates graduation while waiting his turn to receive his diploma. 

To purchase prints, click here.