batavia

After spending 40 years in a career involved with people dealing with drug and alcohol addiction, John Bennett believes he has come to know those people fairly well. And after all is said and done, no matter their struggles and perceived defects, “they’re just people,” he says.

Bennett, the chief executive officer for UConnectCare, formerly Genesee/Orleans Council on Alcoholism and Substance Abuse, or GCASA, is taking some time to collect his thoughts and plans for the agency after his request for funding was turned down Wednesday by four Genesee County legislators. 

The Batavian needs to clarify two points that may have gotten lost in the fray of comments involved in the potential deal. One is that the $100,000 request was not directly from the county’s coffers or taxpayers. The money would have come from settlement funds that were the result of an opioid-related lawsuit that Genesee County was part of, along with several other counties. 

There is some $463,000 available, and a portion of the money has a restricted use that must go toward opioid-related purposes. For example, some of the opioid funding went for monitoring of wastewater to track what types of drugs are being used in Genesee County.

The second point is that while the assessed value of the motel has been cited as $293,000, the property has also been listed as for sale on LoopNet. That listing does not include an asking price; however, Realtor.com gives the estimated market value of the property as $970,343. That is how the purchase price landed at $800,000.

Aside from those two financial considerations, the legislators did not want the deal for other reasons, and those comments are what hit the hardest for Bennett, he said. 

The idea was to have a place for transitional housing to serve people in need of safe temporary housing, and it was discussed by a committee of representatives from the county, GCASA, and mental health that all seemed to agree it was a good idea, he said.

“I will say that the legislators, this group, sent a message about how they feel about people with addiction and recovery. And it's disappointing to me because I've worked 25 years in this community. And, you know, part of my mission is to help reduce the stigma of people with addiction, and I feel that maybe I haven't done such a good job,” Bennett said. “If that's the way some people in the legislature still feel about having us in the community and the people we serve … I'm trying to take a look at all that right now.”

He invites the legislators, and anyone who is interested, to take a tour of the facilities at the newly named UConnectCare, and talk to people there to learn more about what they do. 

Bennett is concerned about how people with addictions are portrayed just because they may struggle and relapse — even if it’s multiple times. Many people have such a story in their own families, including Bennett, he said. His grandfather, whom he was named after, “drank himself to death,” dying the year Bennett was born as a young man in his 50s. 

“And my mother always told me stories about what a kind man he was, that he’d give you the shirt off his back, but he had a drinking problem, and then in her infinite wisdom named me after him,” Bennett said. "I grew up going to Al-Anon meetings. And then my uncle, who was a prominent regional director for Mutual of Omaha, was also an alcoholic.”

The point being that, yes, good people can struggle with substances, he said. 

He also takes issue with any insinuation that his agency is a drain on the county. GCASA has gotten $35,000 from Genesee County in its yearly allotment. 

“We’re very appreciative of that, but that’s all we get in a $12 million budget,” he said. “So we’re not a drain on this county at all. In fact, we bring a lot of business. And the building that I sit in, we bought the building at auction. It was abandoned and dilapidated. It was empty for like 10 years. And nobody was paying taxes on it. That’s why we ended up buying it at auction,” he said.

The agency helps to boost the local economy by hiring local contractors for that work, and the 76 percent of its 200-person staff that lives and works in Genesee and Orleans counties, he said. 

“You can come come down to visit us. If you really serve in the community, come down and take a tour of our buildings, meet my staff, and meet some of the people that we service. They'll be willing to talk to you. But don't step up in public and say things that you don't really know anything about. That's my message,” he said. “Some people are there at the worst. They're down and out, and they're at the worst point of their life, and they need help. And, you know, you have to be willing to work for those people, too. So, yeah, I'm disappointed. I'm okay with making a decision not to give the money. I mean, that's not really the issue. The issue was how it was managed, the things that were said.”

Prior coverage:

• UConnect still needs to connect the dots
• In rare move county legislators vote no

Batavia High School's soccer program is hosting Super Soccer Saturday at Van Detta Stadium from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday.

Game schedule:

• 11 a.m. - JV Boys game
• 1 p.m. - JV Girls game
• 3 p.m. – Alumni game
• 4:15 p.m.– Varsity Boys Senior Recognition
• 5 p.m.– Varsity Boys game
• 6:30 p.m. – Varsity Girls Senior Recognition
• 7 p.m. – Varsity Girls game

The boys varsity team plays Wilson/Early College.  The girls varsity team plays Le Roy.

Concessions will be open throughout the day.  

 Submitted photos.

A tow truck operator was reportedly struck by the mirror of a passing vehicle on the Thruway.

He reportedly has arm and hip pain. He is conscious and alert.

Town of Batavia Fire and Mercy EMS is dispatched to the westbound lane in the area of mile marker 385.5.

If you’ve been laying out your shanty town outfit in preparation for The Bowery’s opening this fall, there may be time for more shopping.

Property owner and entrepreneur Ken Mistler said this week that he’s been busy with other properties in New York City the past month and has in the meantime put his speakeasy venue on ice. 

“That’s on the back burner,” he said Thursday.

He has no plans to resume work on the project for quite some time, he said.

Batavia Showtime has been out of commission for a few years now, as Mistler has been renovating the downtown space. His plans for a movie theater-turned-live entertainment bowery seemed to be ramping up during a city Planning and Development meeting this past May.

He described the environment for one of his latest ventures as a gritty, edgy shanty town vibe offering live musical artists and comedy acts, reminiscent of “the oldest street in Manhattan,” with light industrial Big City shanties of the mid-1800s.

The place would include a take-out pizza shop for food service to The Bowery and whole pizzas to-go for customers. Mistler had contractors ready to go, he said, and the building had been gutted at that point. He looked forward to an opening within the next six months, he had said.

During City Council’s Sept. 11 business meeting, the group agreed to sell Mistler a portion of 6 Alva Place for $1,466 that was owned by the city. It was property within Mistler’s theater and overhead marquee also located at 6 Alva Place, known as Batavia Showtime Inc. 

Mistler intended to develop those parcels for The Bowery and had offered to purchase a small section of property at that address. Council agreed by a vote of 9-0.

Since the city's planning meeting, funding came through for the Carr’s Reborn project, which is downtown property along Main and Jackson streets owned by Mistler and partner Pete Zeliff. That is a work in progress, Mistler confirmed. 

413 East Main Street, Batavia. For lease; 1144 square feet of office space for lease is located in an ideal location, close to downtown. The office space is ready for immediate occupancy. Call Michelle today - 585-314-7269.

Walk into the Rev. Cathy Dempesy-Sims’ office, and it becomes quickly evident why she would embrace an animal blessing event at St. James Episcopal Church.

Yes, perhaps she has a deeply embedded love of God’s creatures, so it would make sense that the church leader hosted the event Wednesday to provide comfort to those with pets and offer a memorial service for the ones that have died.

But to see her terrier Louie and pit bull-border collie mix Miss Maudie running around with balls and rubber bones amidst their comfy-looking pet beds — even one perched along the window cat-style — and jewel-toned metallic bowls (not two but three, because, you know, they may need treats), you know she means business.

“Pets are members of our family, and God, at the creation of humankind, told us to care for all of God’s creatures— we were even told to name all the animals (Genesis),” she said. “So I believe that God loves our pets and especially loves the bond between human and animal; it’s a sacred bond.” 

Unfortunately, only two humans came out to the blessing, each with a canine. Dempesy-Sims thought that maybe the sun-filled day and hot temperature kept people occupied doing other things. 

The blessing has been done on the weekend before, but she thought they would try it on the actual date of Oct. 4 this year, in honor of the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi, known for his care of all creatures.

As it was, Duke, a German shepherd-labrador retriever mix, and Bella, a pit bull-hound mix who had just been rescued and was in need of healing prayers to recover from worms, showed up. 

The blessing invoked a prayer, a reading from Genesis about it not being good for man to be alone, prompting God to make him a helper as his partner:

“So out of the ground the Lord God formed every animal of the field and every bird of the air, and brought them to the man to see what he would call them; and whatever the man called every living creature, that was its name.”

Participants were asked to care for their pets by feeding them, seeking out medical attention when needed, providing shelter from the weather, and protecting them in good times and bad, and continuing to love them and all creation as God continues to love the pet’s caretaker. 

Duke and Bella each received the blessing of St. Francis and God by name as a loyal companion.

Both of the reverend’s dogs are rescues, Louie from Buffalo Animal Shelter and Miss Maudie — she names all of her dogs after characters in “To Kill a Mockingbird” — came from a rescue in Dunkirk. 

“I rescue dogs (and previously donkeys and goats) because every being —human and animal — deserves a second chance at happiness,” Dempesy-Sims said. “Every time I rescue an animal, I ask myself, who rescued whom? My dogs have always rescued me more than I, them!” 

194 Washington Avenue, Batavia. Looking for a professional business setting? Look no further-this is a great space and offers so much exposure in an area that is revamping and expanding! This space offers a large reception/office, waiting area, 4 private offices and 2 baths. There is also an enclosed foyer and one office has its own entrance door for possibility of sublet. Great opportunity and also possible landlord open to discussions. Cal Reliant Real Estate today, call 585-344-HOME (4663).

For the  second year on Tuesday, Batavia High School's volleyball teams, varsity and JV, hosted a "pink game" to raise money in support of Genesee Cancer Assistance.

The teams raised $2,200.

Statement provided by Sarah Gahagan:

Nick Grasso graciously accepted this donation on behalf of Genesee Cancer Assistance.  He reminded all spectators of how important it is to help out locally whenever possible. He reminded the spectators how expensive travel, treatment and other things people battling this disease need on a daily basis and how grateful our local recipients are to have events like this in their honor.

We would like to thank all of our local sponsors for donating baskets to support our team. 

To view or purchase photos, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

Three trucks were spotted at about 10 a.m. on Wednesday morning at the Ellicott Station construction project, which has stalled after developer Savarino Companies announced it was going out of business six weeks ago.

A supervisor said a work crew was on the roof completing a project. He said the work was being done because it needed to be completed and not in response to building code citations issued by the city, which The Batavian first reported about this morning.

At 11 a.m., the workers were seen departing the construction site.

There's also recently been some weed removal on the property.

After one resident of College Village in Batavia accused another resident Sept. 24 of sending a message via Facebook to her aunt, she and two other young women allegedly jumped the female victim.

The victim reported sustaining a head injury and bruised ribs.

The three suspects were all charged with assault in the second degree.

According to a deposition provided Deputy Jonathan Dimmig, who investigated the case with Deputy Nicholas Chamoun, the victim was in her dorm room at 8:05 p.m. on Sept. 24 when her roommate told her somebody was at the front door to see her.

According to police documents, the three women at the door were Diantha Danish Diarha Quandt, 19, whom the victim said she only knows as "DiDi," and Indya Denira Ford, 22, and Evedshardeny Sealliah Domacasse, 18.

All three were charged following an investigation and all three reportedly reside at College Village.

Ford claims the victim started the fight and that she and Domacasse tried to break it up.

The victim told Dimmig that she stepped outside, at the request of Quandt, to talk.  She said her statement, "DiDi kept asking me if I sent something to her aunt through Facebook. I told her no and that I didn't understand her."

At that point, the victim's roommate came out of the dorm room and the victim said she told her roommate that everything was fine and she could go back in side.

"The girls kept asking me if I sent DiDi's aunt messages, which denied," the victim stated. 

A third person reportedly told DiDi that the victim had contacted her aunt and Quandt got that person on a speaker phone and that person stated the victim did contact Quandt's aunt.

Quandt then, according to the statement, set her phone and other items on the window sill near where they were standing.

"I put my hands in my head," she said. "While I had my head in my hands, I was able to see DiDi raise her arm as though she was going to hit me.  I then felt something hit the back of my head repeatedly. When I felt the first hit, I dropped to my knees and shielded my head and neck. I felt multiple people kicking me and pulling my hair. I stayed quiet and didn't fight back.  I began to feel dizzy and then (the roommate) came back out and began to push the girls off me."

She continued, "All three girls began laughing and kicking my phone and other property."

That night, she went to ER at UMMC to get evaluated for a continuous headache, dizziness, and nausea. 

She was told she sustained a closed head injury and bruised ribs. 

After she returned home, she tried to sleep in a temporary dorm room but when she laid down, she realized she couldn't lay her head on her left side due to pain in her left ear and neck. 

"The following day, my body felt sore all over. I still had a headache, and I was still suffering from nausea and dizziness," she wrote.

According to police documents, Ford told Dimmig that she and her friends were playing Uno when "DiDi" looked at her phone and started crying and ran out the door. She and Domacasse followed her, according to the statement. She said they tried to calm her down. 

"She just kept saying, 'I wanna have a conversation with her,'" according to the document.

Ford reportedly told Dimmig that Quandt and the victim were talking and that for "30 seconds I was froze," and then, the victim, she said, jumped at Quandt. 

"In a blink of an eye, they were fighting."

She claimed that she and Domacasse tried to break up the fight.

Quandt, Domacasse, and Ford were arrested the following day. All three were arraigned and ordered held on bail.

Press Release:

Join Richmond Memorial Library staff from 11 a.m. - 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 14 to watch the partial Annular Eclipse! We will have our Sun Spotter telescope available for viewing, and science stations to learn about citizen science and how you can help record data for NASA. 

The event will include lawn games and Genny the Cow from the Chamber of Commerce will be on hand for pictures. Each registered participant will receive a free pair of eclipse glasses, too!

An Annular Eclipse occurs when the Moon obscures all but an outer ring of the Sun. For this reason, glasses must always be worn for viewing, even in areas that are in the direct path. 

GeneSEEtheEclipse commemorative ISO-certified-safe eclipse glasses will be given to each participant. When you look up, do NOT remove eye protection at any point. The moon will partially cover the sun. Looking directly at the sun can cause serious damage to your eyesight or blindness.

This event is free to attend, but please register at batavialibrary.org/calendar. Richmond Memorial Library is located at 19 Ross Street in the City of Batavia.

Press Release:

Arc GLOW will be holding its annual Arc GLOW Fall Basket Raffle on Nov. 10 and 11.

Currently, Arc GLOW is seeking theme basket and gift card donations, with a starting value of $25. They can be dropped off at Arc GLOW Community Center, located at 38 Woodrow Road in Batavia, Arc GLOW’s Genesee County administrative office at 64 Walnut St. in Batavia, or at Arc GLOW’s headquarters at 18 Main St. in Mt. Morris.

Funds raised from the basket raffle help support Arc GLOW’s programs and services for children and adults with developmental disabilities and their families across the agency’s four-county service area.

The basket raffle will be held at the Arc GLOW Community Center on November 10 from 4 - 6 p.m. and November 11 from 10 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. with drawings immediately following.

For questions, please contact Tracey Jones at TJones@ArcGLOW.org or (585) 343-1123 ext. 1735.

Visit our Facebook page for more information or order online here.

Press release:

Graham Corporation (NYSE: GHM) ("GHM" or the "Company"), a global leader in the design and manufacture of mission critical fluid, power, heat transfer and vacuum technologies for the defense, space, energy, and process industries, today announced that it shipped the last of the first article units related to the Columbia Class submarine and Ford Class carrier programs. While the Company expects to continue to have first article programs in its backlog as it wins new programs and applications, the amount as a percentage of total backlog should be reduced moving forward.

Daniel J. Thoren, President and CEO commented, "Completing the first article U.S. Navy projects and delivering the final units this month on schedule was a great testament to the team we built at our Batavia facility. Without their dedication and commitment to our customers, we would not have been able to achieve this milestone. I would like to thank each and every one of them for their hard work. We built this team by committing to training welders in house, partnering with academic resources, and improving our operating processes in support of our strategic U.S. Navy programs. These investments in our people and operations have paid off given our recently announced strategic investment from a major defense customer to expand our capacity for future projects and we believe demonstrates our customers confidence in GHM as being a critical supplier to the U.S. Naval Nuclear Propulsion Program."

During fiscal 2022, the Company chose to make significant investments to ensure it could deliver these and previous units on schedule and were the main source of the losses incurred that year.

City residents may recall a number of years ago when code enforcement officials tamped down on all things unsightly, from overgrown grass and garbage cans left by the curbside to missing address numbers on homes and other property maintenance issues gone awry.

No one is exempt from this policy, and Sam Savarino of Savarino Companies has apparently made the unkempt list for his parcels at 40 Ellicott St. that have apparently been abandoned by the now-defunct Buffalo-based company.

The developer of the stalled Ellicott Station apartment complex received a list of code violations in September, City Manager Rachael Tabelski says.

Code Enforcement Officer Douglas Randall sent a letter to Savarino informing him about the violations.

“After visiting the Ellicott Station project site, the Bureau of Inspections has determined that defects in the building envelop may result in weather deterioration of the wood frame structure and freezing damage to plumbing and/or mechanical systems that may contain water used to test newly installed piping.  We encourage you to take all precautions to winterize the residential building,” Randall said. “Please be aware there are building materials scattered throughout the grounds that present an attractive temptation for passersby and habitation opportunities for rodents and other animals. Access openings into the existing masonry building are unsecured and will likely attract unwanted intrusion through the fencing and onto these properties.”

A list of violations was attached that included cleaning up weeds, plants, grass, rank vegetation in excess of 8 inches, and other debris on the premises, and the need to perform some building site work to make sure the property is secure during the lapse in construction. 

Examples of needed work include “the exterior walls into the interior, the exterior finish system is incomplete, and the roof system in unsecured and loose along the top of the walls in various areas. The wood structure of this building must be protected from weather deterioration,” one violation stated. 

"Exterior walls shall be free from holes, breaks, and loose or rotting materials; and maintained weatherproof and properly surface-coated where required to prevent deterioration," another citation states. 

Yet another stated that “Vacant premises, structures and portions thereof, or vacant land shall be maintained by the owner in a clean, safe, secure and sanitary condition as provided herein so as not to cause a blighting problem or adversely affect the public health or safety.” Corrective action was recommended, given that the interior of this masonry building under reconstruction is open to the public and adverse weather, that the exterior doors and windows of this structure must be secured to prevent unauthorized entry and protect the building from further deterioration.”

Deadlines for taking corrective action began Sept 26 and continue into October, with fines starting at $250 for the city to take care of the necessary maintenance.

To her knowledge, those items have not been taken care of yet, Tabelski said.

“The clean-up has not been satisfied,” she said to The Batavian on Tuesday.

When asked if Savarino has been getting hit with fines, she said: "not yet."

"(It) has not gotten to court yet," she said.

Ellicott Station is a low-income housing development on the city’s Southside. Due to financial entanglements, company owner Sam Savarino announced earlier this summer that he was closing his company, which meant the ceasing of construction at Ellicott Station soon after. 

More recently, tenants who were selected for housing in the 55-unit complex received emails notifying them to consider alternate housing since there was no guarantee they would be getting a new home at Ellicott Station.

Tabelski has also been remaining in contact with other agencies, including the state Office of Homes and Community Renewal, which had contracted with Savarino for low-income housing tax credits upon completion of the apartment complex.

She has not heard back from HCR recently, she said, and has “no new information at this point.” The Batavian plans to provide periodic updates on the status of the four-story project as it sits idle on the sidelines of a busy Route 63. 

After some delay from waiting to hear about their major funding source for the city's new police station, city officials finally received word this week, City Manager Rachael Tabelski says.

The new police facility already approved for the corner of Alva Place and Bank Street parking lot will begin the process of going out for bid, with a final destination of completion for summer 2025, Tabelski said Tuesday.

"My good news for today is we are authorized to go to bid by USDA. And we'll be doing the bid process very soon; it’s about a six- or seven-week process, with the hopes of awarding the bids in January or February  … and then starting construction of the new police station as soon as winter breaks next year,” Tabelski said to The Batavian. 

In April, City Council voted to seek funding from the USDA Rural Development Community Facilities Program as a potential funding source for the new police facility. The city had already been awarded a $2.5 million congressional grant, which is to be applied toward the cost of the facility to “address capacity concerns, building limitations, improve handicapped access and ensure quality police protection services now and into the future.”

As for payment of the remaining $13 million, the USDA resolution allowed the city to pursue funding of loan and/or grant funding extended to the city by the federal agency. Council also approved financing the cost of project construction of the police station with bond anticipation notes for the project with a maximum estimated cost of $15.5 million.

There will be a related presentation to City Council during its Nov. 13 meeting from Wyoming County consultant Rick Hauser. He had previously performed a reuse analysis of the current police station, the Brisbane Mansion, with suggestions and recommendations for what it may be best suited for. 

Tabelski said the city is considering either apartments or a boutique hotel, and given the Main Street site’s age, it probably would qualify for historic tax credits.

“So that’s good. Savvy developers know how to use those types of tax credits, and we’re hoping we do get some interest in the Brisbane,” she said. “I’ll be laying out the city’s potential process to RFP that building for a developer to come in and turn it into either apartments or a boutique hotel. And with that, keeping the historical elements of the mansion is one of the main goals of the reuse analysis.”

Hearing from the USDA about grant funds and long-term financing was the signal the city was waiting for to go out to bid on the police station, she said, which it did on Tuesday.

Google "most important living artists," and Cindy Sherman is on that list.

In fact, in 2013, she was touted as one of the six great living artists.  

Some of her works have sold for millions, setting records for photographic prints. 

That notoriety helps make Sherman interesting to Gerald Mead, who has acquired 23 of her pictures, but that's only, at best, half the reason he collects her work. Mead's interest in Sherman is both parochial and personal. Sherman and Mead both attended Buffalo State University (though about a decade apart), and Mead's passion and specialty is collecting the works of Western New York artists.

He has more than 1,700 pieces in his collection.

"She's really kind of an icon in Buffalo," Mead said. "Her name is known far and wide as one of the most significant photographers, and she has that connection to Western New York. I was really familiar with her whole body of work, and because I was a curator at the Burchfield Penny, we had her works in our collection. It just became a special interest of mine when I first started collecting."

Over the next six weeks, art lovers from the area won't need to travel to London, Paris, Venice, Amsterdam, Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York City, or even Buffalo, to see examples of Sherman's work. They can just take a little trip to GO ART! at 201 East Main St., Batavia, to see a portion of Mead's collection on display.

The show's run starts today (Wednesday) and concludes on Nov. 25, with an opening reception from 5 to 8 p.m. on Oct. 19.

The show is a real coup for GO ART! said Mary Jo Whitman, education/SCR director for the arts council. She wrote her master's thesis on Sherman.

"I'm very excited to get to know a lot of people in this area who don't always get to travel out to the bigger museums to see this kind of work will get to see it," Whitman said. "It's exciting to be able to bring these works to people, essentially."

Whitman said Sherman's work is important to her because it speaks to her in a personal way, because in her work, Sherman presents herself as a chameleon, taking on different roles as the main subject of most of her photos.

Sherman started her rise in prominence with what is still probably her most famous body of work, Untitled Film Stills. 

The series was created mostly between 1977 and 1980, mostly in New York City, with the city as a backdrop, or in her apartment. The black and white prints mimic the kind of studio publicity shots that were once produced for film noir or French avante-garde movies. Sherman conceived of the shots -- only a few directly inspired by actual movies -- created the costumes, did her own makeup, and created the pose that seemed to capture the movie's star at a pivotal plot point. 

"I felt this immediate connection with her," Whitman said. "I think it's really this idea of, you know, the constructed identity that you can be so many different people. You're in social situations, you're in professional situations, and that kind of really dictates who you are at that moment and really how many different people you can be. I know, for myself, I feel that way. I grew up in a very small town as a country girl, and I went on to be an artist, I can be a crazy hippie at times, and I can be in galleries like this as the pretentious curator. So I play a lot of different roles. I think that I just kind of felt a kinship with her after seeing her work.

After Untitled Film Stills, Sherman moved on to other series that, again, feature her in various roles and characters, such as Fairy Tales, Disasters, Centerfolds, History Portraits, Clowns, and most recently, Instagram Portraits

Mead, whose collection started with "Letraset Art Sheet #1," a collage Sherman made from British clip art in 1966, which he won as a door prize at an afterparty in 1995 for the 20th Anniversary of Hallwalls Contemporary Art Gallery (which Sherman co-founded while at Buffalo State), said his goal has been to collect something of Sherman's from each of her eras and from each decade of her career.

"I've been able to do that over the course of 35 years," Mead said.

Sherman's work appeals to him, Mead said, for that same chameleon character that inspired Whitman to study her work.

"She's used herself as the subject, but she's converted and transformed herself into personalities, personas, characters," Mead said. "She doesn't consider them portraits of people generally because she's the subject of all of them. I think it can be fascinating to see how a person can use their own appearance and alter it to have such a wide spectrum of, again, personalities, personas characters."

Also, Mead said, each photo tells a story that also allows the viewer to help fill in the narrative.

"What's interesting about her work, too, is that it's meant to sort of evoke a response or a reaction because the person in it -- they're all actors or actresses, right? Is just being caught mid-performance. So when you're looking at it, you have to get out it, 'what happened before? What's going to happen right after?' She's telling the story. The interesting thing is, a lot of times, I think people sometimes look to see what the title is to figure out what exactly is going on, but they're all untitled. She intentionally has no title on them because she wants you to bring your own understanding and your own kind of reaction to it."

It's that nuance of story and character that is one reason people should come to see Sherman's work while its on display at GO ART!, Whitman said.

"It's just really cool," Whitman said. "She's got a great idea that's really unique. I mean, she plays all the roles. She is the artist. She's the model. She's the makeup artist. She's creating the work all based on herself. There's all these different guises that she has. It's really fascinating when you kind of break it down to what it took to make each individual work. You're gonna come in, and you're gonna see what looks like a portrait to you, but when you kind of break it down, like okay, this is her in every single portrait, and you will be able to tell it's the same person. So, it's just impressive."

Press Release:

The Jerome Foundation is seeking nominations for the Health and Humanitarian Award of Genesee County. This will be the 38th year the award has been presented. 

The first award was presented to Dr. Sydney McLouth. Award winners for the past four decades have included healthcare workers, builders, teachers, and many community volunteers.

The award recognizes outstanding men and women whose volunteer efforts have improved the physical, emotional or spiritual well-being of the greater Genesee County area. 

“We are fortunate to have many caring and committed volunteers devoted to the sick or to those in need, and helping build a stronger, healthier community for all of us”, said Justin Calarco-Smith, president of The Jerome Foundation.

Nomination forms are available online at www.thejeromefoundation.org or by calling 585-356-3419. Organizations or individuals may nominate candidates. Consideration will be given to actual accomplishments achieved through volunteer service and subsequent improvements to quality of life. 

Nominations should be submitted on or before October 13. The 2023 award winner will be honored at a luncheon on Friday, December 1 at Terry Hills Restaurant.

131 Oak Street, Batavia. Solid and spacious ranch home that has much more room than appears from the road! 3 good size bedrooms and full bath on first floor and 1 additional room with full bath in basement if needed-or could make great work/man cave! The living room is very inviting with tongue and groove wood walls and cozy gas fireplace!! Kitchen is bright with lots of great cupboard space and breakfast bar for food on the run! Basement also has secondary huge finished room that would make great play space or hobby room-definitely loads of possibility offered here for the money!! Location is perfect for quick work commutes, within a minute of thruway or Main Street and within walking distance to eating, shopping, Schools, parks and Stadium! Back Yard is partially fenced in back but will surprise you how deep it goes-almost park like and with BEST VIEWS of games and entertainment at Stadium!

5484 Horseshoe Lake Road, Stafford. Solid and well maintained country ranch! Located on pretty rural road but close to everything you need-shopping, restaurants, and quick access to all major routes for quick commutes! Also located in Batavia School System and minutes from College. This 4 bedroom 2 bath brick ranch will sure to please and surprise you with its spacious layout and great homeyness! The kitchen is updated with great cupboard space, first floor laundry at your fingertips and large but cozy family room with wood burner overlooking private pretty backyard. There is also an enclosed 3 season back porch for peaceful evenings as well as sunny and welcoming front porch with trex decking to welcome your guests! There is a deep attached garage as well as 8x10 back shed for all your extra storage needs. This home is ready for immediate occupancy and is easy to slip in and see!