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One year ago today, The Batavian became locally owned

By Howard B. Owens

It's an old tradition -- a dollar bill hung on a wall signifying the first dollar earned by a business -- signed and dated by the first customer, usually a friend or a relative.

On our bulletin board, is a dollar bill signed and dated by my former GateHouse Media boss, Bill Blevins. The date: Feb. 27, 2009.

Although this site started before last February, that's when Billie and I became sole proprietors of The Batavian.

One year ago, today.

I know there were people, even in these parts, who predicted we wouldn't last six months. I know one online wag who said I'd be out on the street in three months.

It's that kind of talk that gave me a little extra motivation. Plus, I truly love what we're doing and I don't want to stop.

Billie and I are truly grateful for all of the support and friendship we've received from so many people in Genesee County, from cops to business owners, firefighters and school teachers, politicians and college students. You've been our readers and our sponsors and our friends. Though we're not originally from Batavia, you've made us feel welcome and given us your encouragement. Thank you. We never forget that without our readers and our sponsors, we wouldn't be here.

We do love living in Batavia. We enjoy the people, the surrounding fields and hillsides, great local restaurants, the lack of crowds, affordability and having four distinct seasons. We appreciate the unique character of this sometimes belittled and battered city and the way so many residents continue to take pride in their hometown. There are a lot of good places in America. We're very happy right where we are and have no desire to be anyplace else. Thank you for letting us make Batavia, and Genesee County, our home.

Bob Harker

"I know there were people, even in these parts, who predicted we wouldn't last six months. I know one online wag who said I'd be out on the street in three months.

It's that kind of talk that gave me a little extra motivation."

In that case, I predict you won't last another 6 months, 2 weeks!

:)

Feb 27, 2010, 3:49pm Permalink
Jim Rosenbeck

Congrats Howard! Great job you are doing with the Batavian. Nice meeting you the other day outside your office!
sincerely,
jim rosenbeck

Feb 27, 2010, 3:57pm Permalink
Jason Meyer

As someone who grew up in Batavia and transplanted elsewhere, I love to keep up with what's going on by checking the site out daily. Great idea and keep up the good work!!!!!!!

Feb 27, 2010, 4:59pm Permalink
George Richardson

What would Richard and I do if we couldn't make fun of our old hometown from our new hometowns? You have no idea how much you are appreciated Howard, who else would listen to our rants. The Batavian is the pulse of Genesee County, for the people who have joined this century, and already an old friend of mine. A buddy asked me where he could get one of those Batavian Sweatshirts that are so comfy on cold mornings and nights, I told him it was a limited edition; and get lost Cowboy.

Feb 27, 2010, 6:07pm Permalink
Jennifer Keys

Congratulations! We are all very glad you made it past the first and second six months! Here's to many, many more years! TYVM for all that you do for us. This is the first place I check for updated information on our wonderful county!

Feb 27, 2010, 9:32pm Permalink
Bob Price

Happy 1-year anniversary! Thank you for bringing this online news/forum to us,the great photos and info you give. We wish you many more years here!

Feb 27, 2010, 10:22pm Permalink
George Richardson

I'll bet the Batavia Daily News wished they didn't ignore the pleas of their present and former subscribers for years and years and years. But, I'm glad they did because they would have never presented themselves in such an open format as this. There is no need to say it again but I can't shut up, thank you and Billie for filling a much needed and totally ignored (until you came to town) niche in Batavia's internet presence. The early bird gets the worm and you two are the early birds. Ten years too late for the dot com bust, thank God, but still early birds by Rural America standards. Not to say the Metropolis of Batavia is rural, because it's not. Comparitively speaking anyway. Elba is to Batavia as Batavia is to Rochester, it's all good. Peace and goodwill dudes. You know I love y'all.

Feb 28, 2010, 7:34pm Permalink
Howard B. Owens

Geoge, don't blame the people of the Batavia Daily News. Blame Johnson Newspapers. The Johnsons own, I think, seven newspapers in New York. Among the dailies, only Batavia and Watertown have any kind of real web presence (the weekly in Livingston County has a very good Web site, thanks mainly to a great local editor) (I don't have a list handy of all the newspapers they own, so I can't go and check on the other sites to see if they've improved, but as of a year ago, they weren't much).

But all of that is really beside the point to me. My bigger picture is that newspaper companies across the country have largely mishandled the Web, and they're paying dearly for it now. There's an amazing number of my professional colleagues who have jumped from the sinking ship of newspapers and into the online-only world -- people that I've known and worked with since the pioneering days of the early/mid 1990s.

I love the newspaper business, but I don't miss working for newspaper companies at all.

FWIW: I'm not really critical of the Johnson's decision to not put its print content online. I could make a very good case for why that was an extremely wise move. My chief complaint with newspapers is that they totally misinterpreted the Web as a substitute for newspapers, rather than a new medium. Newspapers continue to put all of their print content online for free, which is accelerating subscription penetration declines of their print products. That's just not smart. But the flip side is, newspapers should have developed Web-centric online news sites. The Batavian is an attempt to create a news source that is conceived for the Web, not to just an attempt to recreate the newspaper experience in a digital format.

Feb 28, 2010, 9:45pm Permalink

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