Video submitted by Jason Smith, along with the photo of the female grosbeak below.
A former state senator with a history of illegal activity while in office has filed a lawsuit against Batavia Downs and its leadership alleging that officials have engaged in "shameless and blatant corruption."
The suit concentrates on previously investigated accusations that officials at Western OTB have misused tickets to sporting events and concerts and that Western Regional OTB has improperly provided lucrative health insurance coverage to appointed board members.
George Maziarz, who represented Niagara County in the State Senate from 1995 to 2014 and was once considered one of the most powerful men in Niagara County, expressed some frustration today that none of the allegations against Western OTB, and in particular against his former political ally, Batavia Downs President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek, have led to anything more than recommendations for changes in procedures.
"Quite frankly, I'm disappointed that the Attorney General and the United States Attorney, the FBI hasn't done anything yet," Maziarz said during a press conference outside the casino on Park Road. " I keep being told over and over again that they're working on it."
Wojtaszek said that nothing more has come of the allegations -- either because corrective action has been taken or the claims of wrongdoing are not as clear cut as Maziarz represents.
From Wojtaszek's point of view, Maziarz is engaged in a vendetta against Western OTB. He said Maziarz was fired as a lobbyist about eight years ago, was passed over for the CEO position, and Wojtaszek participated in investigations that eventually led to Maziarz's own public corruption conviction.
"I think he's just a bitter individual," Wojtaszek said during an exclusive interview with The Batavian immediately following the press conference. "He has a vendetta against many individuals and the corporation itself. He's made complaints to every conceivable agency and regulatory body in New York State, and they've all turned down his requests to take action against OTB. They've all investigated and found that nothing was amiss here at Western Regional OTB.
"Whatever remedies or suggestions they had for us to improve our business, we follow them. We will continue to follow them and improve our organization. We hired Terry Connors to do an in-depth look at what was going on here at Batavia Downs. Terry is a well-respected individual within the legal community all across the state. We're very confident in his findings and his suggestions, and we've implemented his recommendations. We'll continue to work with him."
He said Batavia Downs has also hired a compliance company out of Buffalo, headed by a former FBI agent, to review its policies and procedures.
The Lawsuit
Attorneys for Maziarz filed the lawsuit in Niagara County on May 3. It alleges that Wojtaszek and board members misused and manipulated programs meant to attract patrons to the Batavia Downs Casino by using for themselves tickets to sporting events and concerts.
For example, according to records, the OTB purchased 5,800 high-end tickets to Buffalo Bills games, Sabers games, and concerts at Darien Lake, and 10 percent of those tickets, worth about $120,000, wound up in the hands of OTB officials and their friends and family members.
The suit alleges tickets were freely handed out at board meetings and were even used to provide a board member's daughter with a birthday party.
The suit also alleges that Wojtaszek failed to correctly record and report his personal use of a vehicle provided to him by Western OTB.
Western OTB board members are also accused of receiving gold-plated health insurance coverage in violation of state law and contrary to recommendations in a Comptroller's Audit Report, and a report compiled by attorneys hired by Western OTB to review the matter.
The suit states that these actions amount to Wojtaszek and board members using Batavia Downs as a personal ATM to enrich themselves at taxpayer expense with no real public oversite of the agency's policies and procedures.
"Over time, this almost honor system-like structure led to dishonor, cronyism, and shameless, blatant corruption," the suit states. "The corruption has been normalized, legitimized, and covered up by the Board and a bipartisan network of high-powered consultants and lobbyists hired by CEO Wojtaszek (again, with little oversight by the public) to prevent public scrutiny or reform."
The Response
In his interview today, Wojtaszek defended how Batavia Downs has handled tickets to events.
Batavia Downs acquires tickets as perks for high rollers and special guests, Wojtaszek said. A host from Batavia Downs typically accompanies these guests to the events. The role of the host is to ensure things go smoothly, that people get their tickets, get into the venue, receive the service expected for the event, and the host takes care of any issues that arise.
"Previously, if you were host, we provided a ticket to the host and then the host was allowed to bring a guest with them," Wojtaszek said. "At that point, they may have brought somebody from a wife, a husband, a son, or a daughter with them. We have since corrected that. Subsequent to the recommendation from the compliance company, it's just a host who takes care of whatever event, hockey game, football game, concert, and I think we're doing it properly now."
He said that the accusation that board members could just casually ask for tickets to Bills or Sabers games at board meetings and receive them misrepresents what actually took place. He said anybody, including board members, could ask for tickets on behalf of patrons of Batavia Downs. They were not, he said, asking for themselves and friends and family. However, to help improve the procedure, all requests must now be in writing and clearly state who is receiving the tickets.
According to the audit report Maziarz cites, Wojtaszek said, "there were thousands of tickets accounted for. There are a few, 100 I believe, that aren't, which equates to a reasonable amount of money but don't forget, each one of those tickets went to a host to host the game."
As for tickets being used for a birthday party for the daughter of a board member, that never happened, Wojtaszek said.
As for the use of a company car, Wojtaszek said, yes, he failed to complete the proper paperwork to record his personal use of the vehicle, and at the board's instruction, he reimbursed Western OTB $3,000 to resolve the issue. And yes, he is now receiving a transportation allowance -- Maziarz claims $7,000 -- but Western OTB was already in the process of eliminating agency-owned vehicles for staff when the issue came up. Besides potential liability, a car allowance for executives is more in keeping with standard practices in the business sector, Wojtaszek said.
As for health insurance for board members, Western OTB has attorneys working on the issue. The agency does not agree that board members can't receive health insurance coverage.
While Maziarz says that the Comptroller's Office and a legal firm hired by Western OTB say the practice is illegal, the issue doesn't appear to be that cut and dry. There is an older Comptroller's opinion that says the practice is permissible. The memo on the topic, prepared by attorneys Gabriel M. Nugent and Robert J. Thorpe for the board, cites the 1978 opinion as well as the later opinion and suggests board members no longer accept health insurance. It doesn't, as Maziarz claims, call the practice illegal.
Health insurance, Wojtaszek said, is justified because pretty much every other public benefit corporation in the state offers it, and Batavia Downs operates in a very competitive environment and needs to attract and retain the most qualified board members.
"What the board does here is some extremely important work," Wojtaszek said. "It is a multi-100-million dollar company that has performed extremely well over the last three to five years and has returned record amounts of revenue to the municipalities that it serves.
"If you're in a business that is very competitive -- which Batavia Downs is -- we have other private-sector casinos that we have to compete with here," he added. "And, by the way, we compete extremely well with them. You need to attract top-level talent to have those people serve on the board. And that's what we have here today. We have many, many excellent board members who have excellent business backgrounds and who lend a great deal to make this organization work. We say the compensation should be set accordingly. This is a competitive industry. It's not like a water district or sewer district. That is a monopoly where there is no competition going on."
The Players
In 2018, Maziarz entered a guilty plea to a misdemeanor count of filing a false instrument and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine. He also admitted to hiding $95,000 in campaign payments to a former staff member accused of sexual harassment. He was initially charged with five felony election law violations. The investigation into Maziarz's activities began with the Morland Commission, which had been formed to investigate public corruption.
Maziarz was also the subject of an FBI investigation. During the investigation, but before he was notified not to discard records, Maziarz reportedly had his staff shred campaign records going back to 1995.
During the press conference today, when asked about document shredding, he denied such shredding ever took place.
When asked today about his misdemeanor conviction, his first response was that Wojtaszek has one, too. Which is true. Both convictions stem from the same Attorney General investigation. Maziarz said both he and Wojtaszek received conditional discharges, which means the record is expunged if they avoid illegal activity for a specified period of time, usually six months.
Wojtaszek has been president and CEO of Western Regional OTB since 2016. Before that, he was the general council. He's been an attorney for 26 years and was active for years in Niagara County Republican politics, including a stint as chair of the county committee. He began his legal career as city attorney for North Tonawanda.
Wojtaszek said he and Maziarz once worked closely together.
Maziarz says the FBI is investigating Western OTB and Wojtaszek.
In 2019, Batavia Downs officials denied there was such an investigation. Today, Wojtaszek said the only knowledge he has of an investigation is the claim by Maziarz that a board member has been interviewed by the FBI. He said he's aware of one other inquiry by the FBI in the past three years and that dealt with a contractor and the purchase of broadcast air time. In that case, the FBI was saying it was Batavia Downs that was getting ripped off. Wojtaszek said FBI agents have never questioned him about anything related to Western OTB.
The lawsuit wasn't Maziarz's idea, Maziarz said. He said after a story appeared in a New York Times publication, an attorney for Advocates for Justice contacted him and asked him to be the face of a lawsuit against Batavia Downs on behalf of taxpayers.
Maziarz, a man who admitted to public corruption, said Advocates for Justice specialize in fighting public corruption.
The lead attorney on the case is Arthur Z. Schwartz, the organization's president and founder. Also signing the filing is Nathan McMurray, the former Delaware North attorney who unsuccessfully ran three times for a congressional seat in the NY-27, most notably losing to Chris Collins, then under indictment himself (he eventually entered a guilty plea) for insider trading. McMurray went to work for the law firm in November 2021.
As Wojtaszek noted, Maziarz has pursued corruption allegations against Western OTB for several years.
The Batavian obtained a copy of a deposition transcript from a confidential source related to a lawsuit filed by Michael Nolan, the former COO of the OTB, that reveals some of the connections between some of the players involved in the legal maneuvering and publicity-seeking of the principals.
Nolan's suit claims he was retaliated against for responding to FOIL requests from the media and others. Wojtaszek said Batavia Downs has always been transparent and has always complained with the law on requests for public documents.
Nolan was the subject being deposed in the case in January 2021 when his attorney, Stephen Cohen, jumped in and attempted to clarify something his client had said. Cohen ended up talking at length about the connections between himself, Maziarz, and reporter Phil Gambini, who has doggedly pursued corruption allegations at Batavia Downs for several years.
In the deposition, Aaron Saykin, the Western OTB attorney in the case, attempted to uncover a possible connection between Nolan and Maziarz. Cohen provided the opening because he tried to bill Batavia Downs for a phone conversation he had on behalf of his client with Maziarz.
Cohen said he did discuss Nolan's case with Maziarz but only in the service of trying to get more information from Maziarz that might assist his client's suit. He admitted that he knew Maziarz regularly spoke with Gambini and was likely the source of information that appeared in Gambini's stories about Batavia Downs.
Saykin's questions suggested that Saykin suspected Cohen of trying to plant stories with Gambini, including a March 29, 2019 story about the supposed FBI investigation. Cohen deflects the questions and denies any interest in press coverage.
He said his only real interest was getting more information from Maziarz.
"I sought to get whatever I could out of Senator Maziarz," Cohen said according to the transcript.
Mr. Saykin: Because you knew he was pissed at Henry?
Mr. Cohen: Yes.
Mr. Saykin: And you knew he wanted to hurt Henry?
Mr. Cohen: Yes.
Photos by Howard Owens
During the first several minutes of the press conference this afternoon in the back parking lot of the former Kmart building, across the street from Batavia Downs, two Batavia Downs work trucks paraded up and down Park Road and through the parking lot (Park Road is undergoing reconstruction) and honked their horns, disrupting the press conference. Maziarz called the action sophomoric and evidence that Western OTB officials want to prevent the public from finding out what is going on at the facility. Batavia Downs President and CEO Henry Wojtaszek said when he found out what was going on with the trucks, he put a stop to it.
Oakfield-Alabama (10-2) beat Webber High School on Wednesday, 8-3.
Colton Yasses pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up three earned runs and striking out 12, to pick up the win.
He also had two hits, scored a run and drove in a run.
Kyle Porter had two hits in two ABs and a walk, also scoring once and driving in a run.
Brayden Smith was 2-3 and scored twice.
Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.
A caller reports that he was digging in the area of 3612 South Main Street Road, Pembroke, and struck a gas line.
Gas is leaking.
Pembroke Fire dispatched.
Photo by Frank Capuano
It would be nice to say, "come rain or shine" there will be baseball at Dwyer Stadium this weekend.
But Batavia Rotary Club's annual baseball tournament has never had that luxury. If there's rain on Saturday, there is no tournament.
The inaugural tournament was in 1999, and on the intervening 23 years, there have been 18 tournaments played. Three years were lost to rain and two to COVID.
"The reason the rain-out happens is that it's so late in the season for these teams, and they have sectionals, and they have to qualify to have enough games in for sectionals, so it's been almost impossible to have a rain date for the tournament," said Tom Turnbull, tournament organizer of Rotary since 2004. "So if it doesn't get played on Saturday, chances are it won't be played at all."
The good news is, there is only a chance of scattered rain on Saturday. Turnbull expects all four games scheduled that day to be played.
The first game is at 10 a.m. and pits Le Roy (9-4) against Notre Dame (11-0). At 1 p.m., Attica (7-4) takes on Batavia (8-6). The consolation game is at 4 p.m. and the championship game is 7 p.m.
"The teams that are playing are all very good teams," said Notre Dame Coach Rick Rapone. "They've all got very good records. They all play baseball the right way and the way you're supposed to play. And most importantly, it's good to just be back doing it. The two years with COVID had been very, very, very tough on the boys."
All four coaches told Rotary members on Wednesday that their players were excited about the tournament.
"It's exciting to play at the Dwyer facility to play against the teams that are there," said Attica Coach Shawn Fromwiller. "Good competition only gets you better. It only gets us ready for sectionals playing against the teams that are in a tournament. I know the guys are excited about it. They've been asking, 'what time are we playing? And who are we playing?'"
Le Roy's head coach, Leon Koukides, thinks so highly of the tournament that he wrote a letter to Rotary asking that his team be invited this year.
"I really wanted to be a part of this," Koukides said. "We've not been able to be a part of it for many years, and I just wanted to give my athletes an opportunity to be in this forum, to play at Dwyer Stadium and get recognized by some of the other community members."
James Patric played in the first two tournament games in 1999 and 2000 as a member of The Batavia Squad. Now he's the team's head coach, and between coaching in Oakfield and in Batavia, he's been a part of the tournament every year except 2001, 02, 03, and 04.
"It's a great tournament, great competition," he said. "It's always exciting."
Top Photo: Ty Strollo, Le Roy, Jesse Reinhart, Batavia, Gavin Schrader, Notre Dame, and Dan Bialek, Batavia.
Photos by Howard Owens
All of the seniors from the four teams that attended the Rotary meeting.
When the mask mandate was first lifted for students in public schools, the number of COVID cases reported amount the Le Roy Central Schools population was low to non-existent, Superintendent Merritt Holly told school board members at Tuesday's meeting.
But like the rest of the community, case numbers have been rising, he said.
"It's just something that is just hanging here as we get into the spring," Holly said. "I think as you've seen, flu numbers are still up. The two haven't gone away. We had a good stretch where we went a couple of weeks with no cases at all and since we've come back from break, we've had three or four (cases), five on a day. So they're up a little bit from where we were."
What Le Roy is seeing in cases mirrors what is being reported in the county as a whole, though in the past week, the number of new cases has leveled off.
There were 283 new cases reported in Genesee County for the week ending May 10, which is down slightly from the 286 cases reported the week before.
As for flu, there were 14 cases reported in Genesee County in the last week of April, according to the state's flu tracker web site. There were 19 flu cases reported the week before and five the week before that.
Cast members of the Le Roy production of the Musical Newsies competed recently in a "Stars of Tomorrow" competition hosted by the Rochester Broadway Theater League and two of them are still in the running for a possible trip to New York City, Principal David Russell told the Board of Education on Tuesday.
Stars of Tomorrow is a workshop and competition open to high school musical performers from throughout the Greater Rochester Area.
Evan Williams and Nate Yauchzee were selected to participate in the next round, which broadway professionals judge at RBTL on May 26.
"If they are moved on from there, they actually win a trip to New York City, where they will have a great experience with the Broadway performances that go on down there," Russell said.
For more on the competition, click here, where you can also cast your vote for "fan favorite."
Photos: File photos by Howard Owens.
Nate Yauchzee
Evan Williams
Arc GLOW is apparently set to sell its garbage collection and recycling business to Casella Waste Systems.
The Arc board has not yet approved the transaction, and the terms of the sale are not available.
The Batavian made multiple attempts to reach Martin Miskell, the CEO of Arc GLOW, for comment.
Joseph Fusco, a vice president with Casella, said, "We don't comment on rumors or reports of rumors."
Casella is a publicly-traded company, and Security and Exchange Commission regulations can prevent people with direct knowledge of acquisitions and mergers from discussing such transactions. There may also be non-disclosure agreements in place.
The Batavian spoke with multiple Arc-connected sources about the sale of the trash business to confirm that a deal is in the works.
According to a source, Arc GLOW listed the business for sale some time ago and fielded multiple offers before settling on Casella.
Arc of Genesee (which merged this year into Arc of Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties) was the exclusive garbage collection service for the City of Batavia for nearly 30 years until in 2013, when the City Council agreed to allow, or require, city residents to contract individually for waste and recycling collection.
According to sources, Arc has lost money on its trash and recycling business for several years.
Arc provides services, including multiple employment opportunities, for people with disabilities.
One source said Arc employees are worried that Arc clients employed by the trash business will lose their jobs once the transaction is final.
"There are multiple people in the trash/recycling (business) worried about losing their jobs," the source said. "Arc is supposed to be an inclusive employer with the goal of servicing the community."
Fusco was given an opportunity to address that concern during a phone interview and declined.
The source also said employees have other worries:
There's no information available on when the Arc board might be asked to approve the deal or when the sale might be final.
Casella acquired two local trash haulers in 2019, Trash Away and PSI Disposal.
Waste Management is the other trash hauler with a significant presence in Genesee County.
Top photo: File photo of Arc garbage collection from 2013.
Photos by Howard Owens
The Arc Recycling Center, 3785 West Main Street Road, Batavia.
File photo. Interior of the recycling center.
File photo: Protest at City Hall in 2013 over the proposal to end the trash contract with Genesee Arc.
File photo: A packed City Council chamber for a discussion in 2013 of the Arc contract.
A controlled burn is reportedly out of control at 4491 Old Ford Road, Elba.
A volunteer firefighter called in the fire.
Elba Fire dispatched.
The burn ban is in effect until Saturday.
Kimberly A. Brodsky, 30, of Rochester, is charged with unauthorized use of a motor vehicle. Brodsky was arrested on a warrant issued in connection with an incident reported on April 13. Brodsky is accused of using another person's car without consent. Rochester Probation located and turned over Brodsky to the Batavia Police Department for processing. She was arraigned in Batavia City Court and released under supervision to reappear on May 25. The incident was investigated by Officer CJ Lindsay and Officer Nicole McGinnis with the assistance of Monroe County Probation.
Ronald E. Brown, 63, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with two counts of harassment 2nd. It is alleged that Brown spit at an individual and threatened to kill another individual. He was arraigned in City Court and released to appear on May 19 for further proceedings. Officer Peter Flanagan investigated the incident.
Rufus G. Johnson, 28, of North Chili, is charged with failure to appear on a larceny charge in March of 2022. A warrant was issued for his arrest. He was arraigned in City Court and released pending a new court appearance date. Officer John Gombos investigated the incident.
John W. Murphy, 49, of Hutchins Street, Batavia, is charged with DWAI/Drugs following a traffic stop on May 7. Murphy is accused of refusing to submit to a chemical test. He was arraigned in City Court and scheduled to reappear at a later date. The incident was investigated by Officer John Gombos and Officer Kevin DeFelice.
Loretta L. Baer, 50, of Wood Street, Batavia, is charged with failure to appear on a pending harassment charge. She was arraigned in City Court and released. The incident was investigated by Officer Wesley Rissinger and Officer Stephen Quider.
Brian M. Raphael, 34, of Fisher Park, Batavia, was arrested on April 3 on a bench warrant for the charge of petit larceny related to an incident reported in March 2022. Raphael is accused of failure to appear. He was arraigned in City Court on the warrant and released. The incident was investigated by Officer Peter Post.
Jessica L. Holtz, 38, of Williams Street, Batavia, was arrested on May 1 on two bench warrants issued by Batavia City Court for alleged failure to appear on two charges of petit larceny. She was arraigned and released. The incidents were investigated by Officer CJ Lindsay, Officer Wesley Rissinger and Officer Stephen Smith.
Le Roy PD is looking for information leading to the arrest of a suspect in multiple car break-ins that occurred in the early morning hours today,
Surveillance video obtained by Le Roy PD from local residents and shared with The Batavian shows a male subject in a white hoodie and wearing a black backpack attempting to open the doors of vehicles parked in residential driveways.
Chief Greg Kellogg said investigators are asking area residents to check their own camera video to see if they captured any suspicious activity and share the footage with Le Roy PD.
There may be more than one person involved.
The suspected criminal activity took place between 1 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Anyone who may have witnessed any suspicious activity, has video or can identify the suspect in the home surveillance camera footage is asked to contact the LeRoy Police Department at (585) 345-6350 or info@leroypolice.org
After a closed-meeting interview Monday evening, Thomas A. Sanfratello was selected by the Alexander Town Board to fill a current vacancy.
Sanfratello replaces Carol Wolfley, who resigned on April 13. Her resignation letter was ambiguous as to whether she is merely dissatisfied with her own job performance or with something related to the town board.
"This decision hasn't come lightly," she wrote. "Over the last few months, I have been thinking if I have been serving the Town of Alexander taxpayers with their best interest. After Monday's meeting and giving another 36+ hours thought to this, I am not!"
Wolfley refused to answer questions about her resignation.
Sanfratello said no particular issues prompted him to seek the open seat.
"I just wanted to get involved in the community and see how it works and do the best I can," Sanfratello said.
This is not a retirement job, said Sanfratello, who works for the Genesee County Sheriff's Office as the civil sergeant. He said retirement is still a few years away.
The other candidate for the post was Jerry Krupka.
Photo: Thomas Sanfratello signs the town's ledger book after taking the oath of office, administered by Supervisor David Miller. Photo by Howard Owens.
A two-car motor vehicle accident is reported in the area of 1031 Ledge Road, Basom.
One person has a hand laceration.
Alabama Fire and Indian Falls Fire dispatched along with Mercy EMS.
St. Paul Lutheran School will hold its annual auction on May 21 at 31 Washington Ave., Batavia.
Browsing starts at 10:30 a.m. Bidding begins at 11 a.m.
Photo: Addison, Cooper, Caleb, Emma, and Jacob.
The dandelions are in bloom at Centennial Park.
Bria Chaquan Carson, 30, no street address provided, Rochester, Chas Westley Burgess, 36, street address redacted, Rochester, and Robert Earl Wyche, 49, street address redacted, Rochester, are each charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance 3rd. Each was allegedly found in possession of fentanyl and cocaine at a location on Oak Street in Batavia at 3 a.m. on May 7. The case was investigated by Deputy Jeremiah Gechell and Deputy Morgan Ewert. All three were arraigned in City Court. Carson was released on his own recognizance. Burgess and Wyche were ordered held on no bail.
Mikhail Eric Lundberg, 32, of State Street, Blasdell, is charged with DWAI/combined drugs and alcohol. Lundberg was arrested on a warrant stemming from an incident at 9 a.m., Dec. 29, on Main Street in Corfu. He was arraigned in Town of Pembroke Court and released on his own recognizance.
Kevin Brown Goodenough, 65, of Stone Road, Rochester, is charged with sexual abuse 1st. Goodenough was arrested in connection with an incident reported at noon on Oct. 8, 2017, on Lincoln Avenue in Le Roy. He was arraigned in Town of Le Roy Court and ordered held on $10,000 bail, $15,000 bond, or $40,000 partially secured bond.
Kayla Jean Nicolucci, 30, of Ridge Road, Elba, is charged with petit larceny. Nicolucci is accused of shoplifting from Walmart at 4:59 p.m. on May 7. She was released on an appearance ticket.
Jerome Wayne Amesbury, 56, of Gilbert Road, Bergen, is charged with harassment 1st and stalking 4th. Amesbury is accused of stalking and harassing a victim on Gilbert Road in Bergen at 9:52 p.m. on May 7. He was arraigned in Bergen Town Court and released on his own recognizance.
Jimmy L Moore, 45, of Oakfield, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. He was stopped by state police at 4:34 p.m. on May 7 in the city of Batavia. He was released on an appearance ticket.
Life is a journey, and where we wind up often depends on the roads we choose, hence among the most memorable words ever written come from Robert Frost, "Two roads diverged in a yellow wood ..."
Paths taken, and those not taken, is the theme of the next Genesee Chorale program to be performed at 4 p.m., Sunday, May 15, at Elba Central School, 57 South Main St., Elba.
In the performance, the Chorale tells the tale of the Traveler in the coming of age story of the "Prodigal Son," the traveler in the Monomyth, the "Hero’s Journey Quest Story." The traveler appears in stories of discovery and adventure. The traveler also trods the journey within, reflectively traveling a path to find love, peace, and spiritual fulfillment in the "Winding Road of Life."
Musical selections for this performance also include some well-known favorites like "The Impossible Dream" and "You'll Never Walk Alone," recognizable hits from "The Greatest Showman" and "The Lion King," as well as new choral works by John Rutter, Ysave Barnwell, John Leavitt, and others.
"This concert will take the audience on the journey of life," said publicist Janine Fagnan, "from when we first step out onto life's path, through all the moments and experiences that it can throw at us until we finally come home and can reflect on the journey."
Tickets are $10 and can be purchased from any Genesee Chorale member, on the website at geneseechorale.com/box-office, or at the door.
This program is made possible with funds from the Statewide Community Regrant program, a regrant program of the New York State Council on the Arts with the support of the Office of the Governor and the New York State Legislature and administered by the Genesee-Orleans Regional Arts Council.
Photo: File photo from 2018
Photos and article submitted by Mike Cintorino
This year in Genesee Region Varsity Golf there seems to be more girl golfers than ever before.
Roughly three-quarters of the teams have at least one female golfer on the team, with some squads filling rosters with multiple girls.
During the spring season, which is the boys golf season, these young ladies play alongside the boys from the white tees.
Earlier this season, the league's coaches decided to try and put together a unique event for these young ladies -- a golf tournament for just the girls, allowing them to play from the red tees and against their fellow female competitors.
On Saturday, May 7th, Batavia Country Club hosted the inaugural Genesee Region Girls Golf Invitational. Five young ladies accepted the invitation to play in what hopes to be the first of the annual event: Judah MacDonald (Notre Dame Senior), Maggie Woodruff (Notre Dame Senior), Grace Mileham (Notre Dame Junior), Aerianna Cintorino (Elba/OA Freshman), and Jada Fite (Elba/OA 8th Grader).
While it was a little cool and windy, the sun shined down on these ladies as they made their way around the front nine at Batavia Country Club. At the end of the day Elba 8th grader Jada Fite earned the medalist honors with a round of 54 on the par 36 course.
Elba/OA’s Aerianna Cintorino took second place with a round of 63 while Notre Dame’s Maggie Woodruff rounded out the top three with a round of 70. For some of these ladies, it was their first time competing and a great opportunity to play competitive golf.
Top Photo: Jada Fite, Aerianna Cintorino, Maggie Woodruff, Judah MacDonald, Grace Mileham
Jada Fite putting to finish her round of 54, Aerianna Cintorino looking on
Maggie Woodruff
Jada Fite
Aerianna Cintorino
Grace Mileham
Judah MacDonald
A barn fire is reported at 6029 North Byron Road, Byron.
Byron and South Byron fire departments are responding.
UPDATE 3:42 p.m.: The fire reportedly started with a "controlled burn." The seasonal burn ban is in effect until May 14. Law enforcement has been requested to the scene.
UPDATE 3:45 p.m.: Elba requested to the scene.
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