Stories from

A Public Hearing will be held by the Town of Batavia Planning Board regarding the application of Larry Abaire, 3282 W. Main St. Rd., for a Special Use Permit to operate a motor vehicle sales, service, repair and impound yard. This district is zoned Commercial, Tax Map #11-1-62.1.

The hearing will be held at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 15 at the Batavia Town Hall, 3833 W. Main St. Rd., Batavia. All interested persons will be heard. A copy of the application is on file at the Town Hall for review. Written comments will be accepted prior to that date.

Roberts Wesleyan College in Rochester is pleased to announce the following students were named to the Dean's List for their outstanding academic performance for the fall 2010 semester.

Shavaughn Bartz, of Byron, received Honors.

John Blevins, of Batavia, received High Honors.

Allison Dembowski, of East Bethany, received Highest Honors.

Jewelyn Fregoe, of Bergen, received High Honors.

Taylor Goodman, of Corfu, received Honors.

Alannah Heale, of Bergen, received Honors.

Katherine Kovatch, of Le Roy, received Highest Honors.

Brandon Luce, of Batavia, received Honors.

Emily Maniace, of Batavia, received High Honors.

Marinna Ostrowski, of Batavia, received High Honors.

Alyssa Pike, of Batavia, received Honors.

Katherine Rudman, of Le Roy, received High Honors.

Bethany Salvia, of Bergen, received Honors.

Michelle Salvia, of Bergen, received Highest Honors.

Byron Sass, of Byron, received High Honors.

Tyler Sass, of Byron, received High Honors.

David Stacy, of Bergen, received Highest Honors.

Molly Stokes-Riner, of Batavia, received Honors.

Andrea Zinke, of Batavia, received Honors.

Honors, grade-point average ranging from 3.5 to 3.69

Higher Honors, grade-point average ranging from 3.79 to 3.89

Highest Honors, grade-point average ranging from 3.9 to 4.0

About Roberts Wesleyan College

With an enrollment of nearly 2,000 students and a tradition of excellence since 1866, Roberts Wesleyan College is a leader among liberal arts colleges with a Christian worldview.

For more information, visit www.roberts.edu <http://www.roberts.edu>.

The Batavia Area Jaycees will be collecting nonperishable items at the upcoming Home Show and everything collected will be donated to Stephen’s Table in Batavia.

Any patron that brings in a food item will also received $1 off admission price. (You can bring in more then one food item, but it will only be $1 off the $4 admission price!)

The Home Show is scheduled for March 19-20 at the Batavia Downs. Hours are Saturday from 10 a.m. – 7 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.

There is still room available for vendors!

Contact Cathy at 343-5775 or e-mail at bajhomeshow@yahoo.com <mailto:bajhomeshow@yahoo.com> for more details.

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce will present Social Media for Your Organization on March 15.  Kevin Manne, the Genesee Community College new media specialist will be the speaker.

Facebook was the No. 1 most visited Web in the nation last year. Twenty-five billion messages were sent on Twitter last year. All kinds of people -- from potential customers to long-lost cousins or classmates -- are talking with each other and the world through social networks.

This presentation will explain what social media is, what the major platforms are and how they can be leveraged for marketing, customer service, media coverage, or just plain good fun. Manne will explain how to measure the effectiveness of your efforts.

This event will take place beginning at 7:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 15 at T.F. Brown's restaurant, located at 216 E. Main St. A continental breakfast will be provided.

The cost is $10 for chamber members and $15 non-members. Space will be limited to the first 15 people, so you don’t want to miss out. Please contact Melissa at the chamber of commerce to register.

Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, 210 E. Main St., Batavia

343-7440, ext. 27

e-mail to chamber@geneseeny.com

Abbey Scalia, of Batavia, made the Dean's List at Marist College for the fall 2010 semester. She is majoring in Communication.

Marist is an independent, comprehensive, liberal arts college founded in 1929. Its 150-acre campus is located in Poughkeepsie. It offers 34 major fields of undergraduate study and 12 graduate-degree programs.

A special event called the "Cabin Fever Vendor Blender" is being held from 12:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Sunday, March 6 at St. Joseph's School Cafeteria.

It will benefit the Learning Center at St. Patrick's SUCCEED Academy, which is a new inner-city Catholic elementary school in Sacramento, Ca., where Megan Brenner serves as a Jesuit volunteer.

She's a 2006 graduate of Batavia High School and a 2010 graduate of Canisius College.

Megan and her mother, Mary Brenner, will be hosting the event. It will offer a wide variety of items for sale, including jewelry, home decor, purses, greeting cards, handmade quilts, and arts & crafts, including some "very cool" artworks made from silverware.

Chuck "the pie guy" Brenner will have toothsome pies for sale, including apple, cherry, pumpkin, three berry and more.

There's also a bake sale, beverages, a Chinese auction and Batavia's Original pizza.

The school is located at 2 Summit St., Batavia.

St. James Episcopal Church in Batavia will host fish fries for six Fridays in a row from March 11 through April 15.

Take-outs begin at 4:30 p.m. and eat-in seating begins at 5 p.m.

The menu is haddock -- batter-dipped and fried or seasoned and baked -- French fries or baked potato, cole slaw or applesauce, assorted breads and butter.

Beverage and dessert are extra. Free delivery to seniors and shut-ins
within the City of Batavia. The church is located at 405 E. Main St. Phone is 343-6802. All proceeds benefit the Tower Restoration Fund.

Ask yourself. Do I feel ducky?

Well, you're in luck. It's nearly time again for the Ducky Derby Fundraiser at Genesee Community College to benefit the United Way.

The third annual race will be held at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, March 10. Students will be selling duck tickets until the day of the race.

Students in Rick Dudkowski 's Professional Sales and Advertising classes and the Business Forum Club were given the assignment of creating a fundraiser to increase giving to the United Way.

The Ducky Derby was what they came up with. It's modeled after a similar race held a few years ago in the Tonawanda Creek as a fundraiser for youth activities at the old Royal Rink (now Falletti Ice Arena).

Ticket purchasers will be assigned to a numbered rubber duck. The ducks will then be "set free" in the Olympic-size pool at GCC in Batavia. With the help of a "current" created by the college's Swim Team, the first duck to make it to the end of the swimming pool wins.

The prize will depend on what each person paid for his or her ticket. Students are selling the tickets in one-dollar increments from $1 to $5. Participants win a percentage of the money raised based on how much they paid for the ticket.

For example, if a $1 duck wins, the winner will receive 10 percent of the funds raised. If a $2 duck wins, the winner gets 20 percent, and so on, up to 50 percent for a $5 duck.

The students' goal is raising more than $1,000 to beat -- or at least match -- the amount students raised last year for the United Way.

"We really hope to exceed our goal this year," said Kristyna Jaquin, Genesee student and a member of the Rubber Duck Promotion Team. "Since this is the third year of this race, we hope more people will support our efforts because they know they can have a chance at winning some money while helping other members of our Genesee community who will benefit from our donations."

Ducks will be available for purchase at the Batavia campus in the forum, up until the start of the race. For further information or to purchase a duck, please contact Rick Dudkowski, Business faculty member, at 343-0055, ext. 6390 or at  <http://mrdudkowski@genesee.edu.>.

Here's a news release from Assemblyman Steve Hawley's office:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley proudly hosted more than 150 4-H participants from the 139th Assembly District and various other regions of New York during a visit to the state capitol in Albany.

The assemblyman relished the opportunity to explain the way that government affects everyday life and he encouraged the young visitors to become involved with their local representatives.

“As an elected official, there are few ventures more gratifying than sharing your love of public service with young people,” Hawley said. “The young adults that I had the privilege of meeting have limitless potential. To be given an opportunity to speak with them about the positive role that a truly representative government can play in the lives of each and every citizen was an immense honor."

All of the young people in attendance are active in 4-H, a national organization that prepares America’s youth to become community and world leaders. The 4-H features more than 54,000 volunteers that work with more than six million young people across the nation. In attendance at the event were participants from Genesee and Orleans counties.

“The 4-H organization does phenomenal work across the country, and the results are no different here in Western New York,” Hawley said. “Having an opportunity to meet with the future leaders of my own town and community was a riveting experience. The positive role that 4-H plays in the lives of our community’s youth cannot be overstated."

It's a far cry from the tempo of just a couple of weeks ago. Road crews furiously working to scrape snow off the streets are now reduced to mindless endeavors to pass the time. (At the moment at least.)

They just aren't needed the way they were in the thick of winter, if a scanner conversation a few minutes ago is any indicator.

"Whatcha doin'?"

"One's watchin' TV, one's playin' cards. Watcha got?"

"Oh about 1 p.m. if you could go out and make a few passes -- there's a little mess on Griswold, by the woods."

"Right out there by the farm?"

"Yep...may be cleared up by 1 though." (Here's hopin' ... or not.)

"Okay."

Genesee Community College has named Lauren Cummings its February Employee of the Month. She s a highly motivated employee working to enhance the effectiveness and profile of The BEST Center.

She has led the center's goal of developing a fresh, new Web site and online presence and she was a key team member in creating the center's new promotional brochure and online program flier.

Cummings has helped increase efficiencies in processing registrations and payments by working closely with the Records and Business office staff members. Following the resignation of one of the center's staff members, she willingly took on extra duties to assist in keeping contract programs running smoothly. She was also instrumental in training and orienting the new person hired to fill the position. Her strong technical and customer service skills help keep The BEST Center's partners and clients engaged.

Cummings began working at Genesee in 2005 on a part-time basis as a clerk typist in the Human Communications and Behavior department and then in the Arts Department. In June 2007, she became a business training specialist in The BEST Center. As a business training specialist, Lauren provides administrative and technical support for the workforce and economic development effort in the GLOW region.

She coordinates and schedules all noncredit courses, creates and updates courses in the college's Banner system, updates and maintains The BEST Center Web site and social media sites. She also develops new, and supervises current, online training program opportunities. In addition, she coordinates and administers the Microsoft Office specialist testing center.

She assists The BEST Center Director Ray Chaya with the Academic Skill Builder program at the Albion Correctional Facility. Through this program, The BEST Center offers evening noncredit classes exploring a variety of high interest academic disciplines in the Albion Correctional Facility. The classes are designed to keep inmates current, informed and better prepared to achieve in future academic or vocational programs.

A resident of Batavia, Lauren earned an associate's degree from Genesee and then transferred on to SUNY Brockport where she earned a bachelor's degree in Business Administration. She is married to Patrick Cummings and is the daughter of Jim and Marilyn Dickinson and sister to Marissa Dickinson Benzing. When not working, she enjoys spending time with her family and friends.

Genesee Community College will host two Open Houses this spring to help potential students and their families understand the application process and financial aid opportunities, as well as to explore a wide range of different academic and career options.

They can also tour the college campus and/or housing at College Village. Interested visitors are encouraged to pre-register by going to  <http://www.genesee.edu/OpenHouse>.

Open Houses will take place at the following dates and times at the Batavia campus:

• 9 a.m. Saturday, March 5 (held in conjunction with CoolKids Catskill Puppet Theater)

• 9 a.m. Saturday, May 7 (held in conjunction with GCC's Trek the Trail Walkathon)

Also, there will be College Visit days at the Batavia Campus on a series of Fridays through the spring. These are less formal, but more up-tempo alternatives to Open Houses. Potential students will get an introduction to admissions and find out about the application process and financial aid. In addition, students will have the opportunity to sit in on an actual college class.

• 9 a.m. Friday, March 4
• 9 a.m. Friday, March 25
• 9 a.m. Friday, April 8

For more information, contact Admissions at 585-345-6800 or email at Admissions@genesee.edu <http://Admissions@genesee.edu>.

"A Taste of New York" will be presented again this year at Holy Family School in Le Roy. It is for adults only, from 7 to 10 p.m. on Saturday, March 26.

Sample several great beers, New York State wines and local specialty foods and enjoy live entertainment. There will be raffle prizes all evening.

Tickets are $20 per person, and $15 for designated drivers. Proper ID required, must be 21 to attend.

For tickets and information, contact Sue Bobo at 768-6543. The school is located at 46 Lake St.