Dozens and dozens of people turned out to Go Art tonight for the release of Jim Nigro's first novel, "Tapestry: A Life Walk Among Friends."
When Nigro was at best about half way through signing copies of his book, he said his hand was getting tired. When I arrived, the line out the door was at least 20-people deep. When I left, it was still at least 20-people deep.
For more about the book and Jim, click here.
It was Pink Hatters Night at the Holiday Inn this evening. The event is an annual breast cancer awareness program.
It included a Chinese auction, dinner, Dr. Nina Strollor as a speaker and a comedy variety show hosted by Nels Ross.
Jerry Arena is planning to open a new bar at property he owns on Park Road. He will call it The Ten Cent Millionaire Tavern. He intends it to be a relaxing, affordable environment for a couple of drinks and maybe some chicken wings or a burger.
He's already bought an attractive curved -- and very long -- bar for inside and is working on remodeling now.
There are some permits to secure from the Town of Batavia and he will add more space on the back of the building.
If everything goes to plan, he expects to open in the spring. More realistically, he said, he will likely open later in the summer.
Ray England is 70 years old and lives in Albion. He cleans windows for a living and has a handful of clients in Downtown Batavia.
He was on Main Street this afternoon in his top hat and green scarf taking care of some shop windows when I met him.
He uses a contraption that he built himself. It's quite ingenious. One metal poll with a cleaning wand at the end. A tube is connected to the wand and an air-pressure garden sprayer on a pull cart. England can spray water up the tube and onto the window.
One advantage of the system, he said, is that his hands never get wet, so he can easily clean windows in winter.
The squeegee he uses to wipe the water off the windows has a swivel head so he can handle any shape, including rounded edges, of a window.
The idea for the design came to him after he was seriously hurt in an auto accident.
“My arm was broken in three places and split at the wrist," England said. "For two years I couldn’t use this arm. It was dead meat. That’s when the great Lord above, the great engineer, He designed the universe, showed me this idea. I put it together and I’ve been using it ever since."
England claims to have a patent on the design and would like to find a U.S. manufacturer to build it and sell it so Americans could be put to work, but he claims a German company stole his idea and is building the same system out of cheap plastic.
"Mine is made with steal and copper and I sell it for $600," England said. "They sell theirs for $1,700 and if you drop it, it breaks."
Another great sunset tonight. Here's a couple of shots I grabbed on Main Street.
A disabled tour bus is adding to rush hour traffic congestion at Ellicott and Main.
The bus is sitting, with its four-way emergency lights blinking, on westbound Ellicott Street near the old courthourse.
This afternoon I had the pleasure of touring one of the businesses in the Harvester Center and when I found myself on an upper floor on the south end of the building, I was able to get a picture of William Morgan's statue at an angle we don't usually see.
The Pratt Road bridge over the Tonawanda Creek will be closed for repairs starting tomorrow, according to County Highway Superintendent Tim Hens.
The closure is expected to last a week.
Two steel girders will be reinforced.
The repairs will enable the county to remove a load restriction placed on the bridge following inspections this summer.
The $10,000 expenditure comes from the 2010 Bridge Capital Improvement Project, which is funded with state highway aid.
William George Horner, 59, of Bank Street Road, Batavia, is charged with theft of services and harassment, 2nd. He is accused of refusing to pay a driver of Batavia Cab Company following a taxi ride and then allegedly punching the driver. The alleged incident occurred at 2:40 a.m. in the area of 8013 Bank St. Road.
John M. Parker, 58, of 1302 Phelps Road, Pembroke, is charged with felony DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or higher, driving with no headlight, failure to use turn signal, no seat belt and avoiding traffic device or intersection. Parker was stopped at 10:26 p.m., Tuesday, by Officer Richard Retzlaff of the Corfu Police Department on Route 33 just east of the village. Parker was allegedly found to have a BAC of .21.
Nadine M. Jackson, 48, of Le Roy, is charged with grand larceny, 3rd. Jackson was arrested by State Police for an alleged crime reported at 9:05 a.m., Aug. 15. No further details were released.
A car has reportedly sheared off a fire hydrant at Putnam Road and E Road, Town of Batavia.
No water leak reported at this time.
UPDATE: Reader submitted photo.
The Democrats are in the mall, across from Sunny's, next to the north side entrance. The Republicans are at 5 Jackson St., Batavia.
Both campaign headquarters are decorated with candidate signs.
Chris Charvella announced on behalf of the Democrats that they will have a grand opening at 6:30 p.m., Thursday.
No word from the Republicans on their plans.
UPDATE: The GOP open house is now scheduled for 11 a.m., Saturday. Steven Hawley and Mike Ranzenhofer are expected to be on hand.
Willie Lamar Ervin, 18, of Bonica Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawfully dealing with fireworks. Deputy Brian Thompson responded to a report of M88 type fireworks being set off in the parking lot of College Village at 3:15 a.m., Sunday. Ervin was issued an appearance ticket. Also charged was Jerrod Malcolm Scott, 18, of Ridgeway Avenue, Rochester, and Armekco Davante Austin, 18, of Terrace Park, Rochester.
Anthony Willie Wagner, 19, of Bruce Street, Syracuse, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Wagner was at 4:49 a.m., Sunday, following an investigation into a report of fireworks being set off in the College Village parking lot.
Clark Tyrell Canty, 20, of Lenox Street, Rochester, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Canty was arrested by Deputy Brian Thompson at 11:12 p.m., Sept. 29, following a report of the strong odor of marijuana coming from a van parked in the parking lot of College Village.
Kimberly Ann Doyle, 20, of Watson Street, Batavia, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. Doyle was stopped at 1:04 a.m., Sept. 30, by Deputy Brian Thompson at College Village after dropping off a resident there. Doyle was allegedly spotted with a banned person in her vehicle. Upon investigation, with the assistance of K-9 "Jay," Doyle was allegedly found in possession of marijuana.
Ashley Evette Mercado, 20, of Watson St., Batavia, is charged with trespass. Mercado was arrested at 1:04 a.m., Sept. 30, by Deputy Brian Thompson for allegedly entering College Village and remaining there in violation of an alleged ban on her presence at College Village.
Sharnice Shantell Gibson, 18, of Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd. Gibson is accused of being on Walmart property at 11:04 p.m., July 23, in violation of a ban against her being on Walmart property. Gibson was issued an appearance ticket to be arraigned in Town of Batavia Court on Oct. 21.
Tyrone N. Thigpen, 33, of 9 South Lyon St., Batavia, and Robert L. Williams Jr., 20, of 25 Harvester Ave., Batavia, are charged with disorderly conduct. Thigpen and Williams are accused of fighting on Pringle Avenue at 3:10 a.m., Saturday.
Paul D. Barth Jr., 19, of Cohocton Road, Pembroke, is charged with petit larceny. Barth is accused of stealing merchandise while employed at Kmart. The alleged thefts occurred between July through September.
Lynn Ann Hertweck, 42, of Reed Road, Churchville, is charged with a felony count of DWI, aggravated DWI (driving with a BAC of .18 or greater) and improper left turn. Hertweck was stopped in the area of 30 Hunter St., Bergen, at 1:54 a.m., Sunday, by Deputy Howard Carlson.
Richard J. Kubus, 30, of 25 Vine St., Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Kubus is accused of attempting to steal a grocery cart full of merchandise from Tops Market in Le Roy. The total value is reportedly $401.69.
Trevor D. Cliff, 19, of Avon, is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana, operating a motor vehicle without an inspection certificate and speeding. Cliff was stopped by State Police at 8:28 p.m., Saturday, on Townline Road in Alabama.
Donald I. Wagner, 61, of Pavilion, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater and failure to use designated lane. Wagner was stopped by State Police at 10:55 p.m. on Court Road, Covington.
A 17-year-old from Attica is accused of petit larceny from a location in Alexander. The youth was arrested by State Police at 1:39 p.m., Thursday. No further details released.
Follow up to an accident we reported Friday: Injured, Nikkolas M. Bruner, 52, of Basom.
Follow up to "wanted" post for Deborah Compton: Compton was taken into custody Saturday at her residence and released on $1,500 bail.
From the files of unsolved murders and mysterious deaths:
Bill Fickel, 2005: Chief Deputy Jerome Brewster believes he has a suspect, but needs more evidence to make a case. Brewster is looking for a second person he believes was outside Fickel's Oakfield home when Fickel was shot to death. Brewster's potential suspect is Steven Patrick Rebert, a former Oakfield resident who is a suspect in a double homicide in Pennsylvania. Brewster is hoping the second person will come forward and provide the additional information investigators may need to make the case.
"If we're going to get a conviction, we need more than a belief that this is the person who did it," Brewster said.
Kisha Sullivan, 2002: We spoke with Brewster about the Sullivan case in July, and Brewster said the eight-year-old cold case had recently become active He said there was a person identified who could be Sullivan's killer. Not much has changed since July. There is a man in Rochester that Brewster suspects killed Sullivan. He has reportedly told associates he did it, but nobody will come forward and help investigators put together a solid case. "Everybody is afraid of him," Brewster said. The Rochester police are aware of the suspect and the investigation and doing what they can to help.
Deborah Maniace, August 2010: Maniace's body was found next to the train tracks under the Route 33 bridge in Stafford. We asked Brewster about rumors that Maniace had information about meth dealing in Batavia and that this may be tied to her death. He laughed and said, "(Rumors) are just that." The rumors were checked out, Brewster said, and came to nothing. As recently as last week, investigators questioned Maniace's boyfriend, whom Brewster described as cooperative and somebody investigators are still looking at.
If a sellout isn't enough measure of success for the inaugural Taste of Fall Wine Walk in downtown Batavia, the obvious fun all the guests and business owners were having Saturday evening, certainly sealed the deal.
More pictures after the jump (you won't see a frown or a scowl in the bunch!):
Elba/Byron-Bergen's strong defensive line was able to bottle up the middle of the field against Fighting Irish on Saturday, containing Notre Dame's powerful running game and limiting the home team to 190 total yards.
Notre Dame's only score came at the end of the first half, when the Lancers botched a field goal attempt and senior Mike Pratt scooped up the loose ball and raced 75 yards for the touchdown.
The Lancers moved to 3-2 with the 19-7 win. The Irish are now also 3-2.
Dylan Bordonaro continued to set the pace for the Lancers, rushing for 162 yards on 25 carries and being a force on defense.
Bordonaro scored for the Lancers on runs of 16 and 27 yards. Elba/BB's other touchdown came on a six-yard pass from Eric Kowalik to Cameron Fonda.
Nate Jonathan had seven tackles for the lancers, plus two sacks and a forced fumble. Brandon Shuknecht notched 12 tackles and made a fumble recovery.
In other Genesee County football action Friday and Saturday:
With Holley's win over Baker, three teams in the Genesee Region, including Pembroke and Attica, now have identical 4-1 records.
This coming Friday and Saturday's games: Batavia will be at home at 7 p.m., Friday, for seniors night against Bishop Kearney; Cal-Mum brings a 4-1 record into Le Roy at 7 p.m., Friday, for what is traditionally an exciting game against two big rivals; also on Friday at 7 is Notre Dame at Pembroke and Holley at Alexander. On Saturday, Oakfield-Alabama is at Elba/Byron-Bergen.
More pictures from Elba/BB vs. ND after the jump:
Jim Nigro didn't set out to be a writer. In fact, when he was a kid, he didn't even really like stringing words together.
But with his love of nature and a life path that put him in a position to try some new things, Nigro just sort of fell into telling stories about hunting, fishing and observing what he found around him out in the wild. As for writing, it turns out, he really loves it.
The Batavian's outdoor columnist, in fact, has just published his second book -- a novel called "Tapestry: A Life Walk Among Friends."
The story revolves around two friends growing up in a small town much like Batavia, starting in the 1950s and going through the 1970s.
Nigro said though it's fiction and most characters are at best composites, about 90 percent of events in the book are drawn from his experiences or those of friends.
"Anybody who grew up here in the '50s, '60s or '70s will recognize their hometown," Nigro said.
Nigro's love of nature began when he was a small child visiting his aunt and uncle's house on Old Creek Road.
"I was knee-deep in mother nature at a very early age," Nigro said.
That love of nature and the friendships that grow from enjoying the outdoors together is the backdrop for Nigro's story.
Regular readers are aware of Nigro's outdoor adventures, which has taken him to various parts of the United States, including Alaska and such exotic locales as the Bahamas and the Sea of Abaco.
Along the way, the 60-year-old Nigro said, he's made some good friends and like anyone in life, had some rough patches.
In 1968, Nigro was about to embark on a military career -- all he needed to do was sign the contract -- but one afternoon, just after he had bought a sausage at the St. Joe's Lawn Fete, Nigro spotted a young woman walking by. Nigro dropped the sandwich right in the trash and walked home. He told his mother he was abandoning his military plans and going back to school.
That young lady was Claudia. They married in 1971 and have been together ever since.
After getting married, Jim got a chance to get a good-paying job in construction, so he wound up in that trade for about 20 years. Then he was offered a job -- through a connection of his father's -- at the Meadowlands, so he moved his family to New Jersey.
While Jim said he made some good friends there, it wasn't necessarily a good time.
"Ten years of staring at the New York City skyline, I grew to appreciate where I came from," Nigro said. "I was really homesick. I missed the little simple things like a ride from here to Elba or from here to Oakfield and all of those wide-open spaces."
The Nigros came home and Jim went to work at the Trojan factory and was there until it was sold to foreign investors and closed.
After that, Nigro decided to take advantage of a government program for retraining and returned to Genesee Community College to get a degree in commercial art.
After graduating, he had some scholarship offers, but not enough to pay for him to get a higher degree, so he had to go back to work and wound up in the landscape business, which he really enjoyed for about eight years.
Nigro started his writing career almost by accident. During his first year at Trojan, the Batavia Daily News was advertising for a part-time sportswriter and Jim applied. He didn't get the job because he didn't yet have a degree. The sports editor at the time figured maybe the job should go to somebody with a degree who didn't have a job.
A couple of years later, that editor was in JC Penney buying an engagement ring and Claudia mentioned that he knew her husband. They struck up a conversation and that led to Jim and the editor getting back in touch.
The editor wanted somebody to write a series of five outdoors articles.
That series became eight years of outdoors writing for the Daily. It also became fodder for Nigro's first book, "Dear Sam: Remembrances for My Grandson," a collection of true outdoor adventures and lessons Nigro wanted to share with his first grandson.
Ater the eight-year writing stint, Nigro and the Daily parted company and he came to really miss writing those columns. When The Batavian came along, Claudia contacted the online-only news site to see if there would be space for an outdoor column. Of course there would.
About this time, Jim decided that he really needed to write this novel, but he couldn't get it done while working full time. He and Claudia talked it over and decided they could get by if he quit his landscaping job to write.
"We decided to trust God," Nigro said, who with Claudia had by this time raised a son and a daughter (they now have four grandchildren).
And it's worked out fine, Jim said. And he got his book done.
Besides writing the book, Jim also drew many of the illustrations (there's also two photographs and one drawing by Claudia).
The book release party will be at 6:30 p.m., Thursday, at GoArt!, located at Seymour Place, 201 E. Main St., Batavia. The first copies of the book will be available and Jim will be there to sign personalized copies.
In our pursuit of covering a wide variety of local high school sports, we took in a Batavia High girls volleyball game on Friday.
The Blue Devils (3-6) dropped the match to Brighton 25-23, 25-22, 25-23.
More photos after the jump:
An individual was arrested on Main Street a few minutes ago. He was apparently wanted on a warrant out of Wyoming County. There is no further information available at this time, and Officer Eric Hill said the department does not usually put out press releases on out-of-county arrest warrants, so there may be no further information available.
Adam W. McGill, 32, of Medina, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance, 7th, criminal use of drug paraphernalia (scales), 2nd, and unlawful possession of marijuana. McGill was arrested by State Police in the Town of Batavia at 10 p.m., Wednesday. Arrested at the same time and charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance (cocaine), 5th, was Dianne M. Gallegher, 41, of Shelby.
Ann K. Pokornowski, 50, of 520 Ellicott St., Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th. Lauren K. Pellegrino, 28, of 129 Jackson St., Batavia, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Pokornowski and Pellegrino are suspected of becoming involved in a dispute over a mobile phone. Pokornowski allegedly damaged Pellegrino's phone and Pellegrino allegedly pushed Pokornowski.
Donald F. Stillwagon II, 25, of 142 Pearl St., Batavia, is charged with felony assault, 2nd, obstructing governmental administration and harassment, 2nd. This list of charges is a correction issued by Batavia PD on a report from yesterday.
David W. Wells, 21, of Bergen, is charged with DWI, aggravated unlicensed operation, moving from lane unsafely, failure to stay in designated lane, speed in excess of conditions, violation of a conditional license. Wells was arrested by State Police at Strong Memorial Hospital for the alleged violations that reportedly occurred at 2:26 a.m., Sept. 17, in the Town of Byron. No further details were released.
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