A house fire is reported at 18 Colorado Ave., Batavia
City Fire dispatched. Second alarm for Alexander, Town of Batavia, Elba, City home monitors.
UPDATE 2:54 a.m.: The fire seems to have been knocked down.
UPDATE 4:32 a.m.: Firefighters do not believe the house was occupied. There is as of yet no information available on cause or origin. City Fire initially received a call for the smell of smoke in the area of East Main Street and Masse Place. A firefighter said it smelled like a house was burning somewhere. Then a call reported a structure fire at 18 Colorado Avenue. The house was fully involved when City Fire arrived on scene.
UPDATE: Press release:
On Wednesday, August 23, 2023, the City of Batavia Fire Department responded to a report of smoke in the area of Masse Place and East Main in the City. As crews were searching for the source, City of Batavia Police discovered a residential structure on fire at 18 Colorado Avenue. Initial fire units arrived to find fire showing from the front of a two story, single family home. Fire crews entered the home to perform searches for any occupants and extinguish the fire. Searches for occupants were negative. The fire caused significant damage to the majority of the structure, the remaining portions suffered smoke and water damage. No one was home at the time of the fire. One cat perished in the blaze.
No injuries were reported.
The cause of the fire is currently under investigation by City of Batavia Fire Department.
The City of Batavia Fire Department was assisted by the City of Batavia Police, Codes Department, and Water Department as well as the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center, the Town of Batavia Fire Department, the Elba Fire Department, and Oakfield Fire Department.
The following were arrested by the Sheriff's Office at the Darien Lake Performing Arts Center during the Nickelback/Brantley Gilbert Concert on Aug. 16.
William J. Oatman, 23, of Liberty Street, Adams, is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly hitting a Live Nation security guard.
James R. Rogers, 24, of County Road 189, Adams, is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly hitting a Live Nation security guard.
Matthew J. Morano, 28, of Harrison Street, Blasdell, is charged with trespass after allegedly refusing the leave the concert area after being told numerous times to do so.
Mitchell H. Simon, 22, of Lillyridge Drive, East Amherst, is charged with harassment 2nd after allegedly pushing another person.
Harry K. Elliott, IV, 23, of HSY 2 Troy, is charged with criminal trespass 2nd and harassment 2nd after allegedly climbing over a fence to enter the concert venue and hitting a Live Nation security guard in the chin.
Joel D. Prouty, 37, of Batavia, is charged with strangulation 2nd and assault 3rd. It’s alleged that Prouty struck the victim in the face and strangled her during a disturbance on an undisclosed date at an undisclosed location in the City of Batavia. When Police arrived on scene, Prouty allegedly jumped out of a second-story window and fled on foot. Officers were unable to locate Prouty that day. On Aug. 4, patrols were called back to the same address for another disturbance between Prouty and the same victim. When officers attempted to take him into custody, Prouty reportedly fought with them. He was additionally charged with resisting arrest and obstructing governmental administration 2nd. He was arraigned in City Court and held without bail.
Owen Charles Scouten, 22, of Batavia (no street address disclosed), is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speed not reasonable and prudent, moving from lane unsafely, and drinking alcohol in a motor vehicle. Scouten was reportedly involved in an accident at 1:16 a.m. on Aug. 20, on Lewiston Road, Batavia. Two people were injured in the accident and required transport to a hospital for treatment. Following an investigation, Scouten was arrested by Deputy Carlos Ortiz Speed. Additional charges are pending. Scouten was released on an appearance ticket.
Owen Charles Scouten, 22, of Church Street, Elba, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, speeding and moving from lane unsafely. Scouten was stopped at 7:38 p.m. on Aug. 14 on Route 20 in Alexander by Deputy Alexander Hadsall. He was released on an appearance ticket.
Richard A Demmer, 30, of Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant issued by City Court. Demmer was initially arrested on May 29, after he allegedly attempted to rob the 7-Eleven, on East Main Street A warrant was issued on July 12 after Demmer allegedly failed to appear for a court appearance. He was arrested on that warrant on July 13. Another warrant was issued on July 27 after he again allegedly failed to appear in court. Demmer was located by Batavia Police on Aug. 3 and arrested. He was arraigned in City Court and remanded to the Genesee County Jail on $10,000 cash bail, $20,000 bond, or $40,000 partially secured bond.
Crystal A. Mounts, 46, of Batavia, was arrested on a bench warrant issued by City Court. Mounts was initially arrested on April 9, 2022 after allegedly stealing property from a local church. A warrant was issued on April 29, 2022 after she allegedly failed to appear in court. She was arrested on that warrant on May 14, 2022. Another warrant was issued on Sept. 19 after she again failed to appear in court. She was arrested on that warrant on July 29. She was arraigned and released.
Lance D. Beals, 53, of Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief 4th and criminal tampering 3rd. Beals was arrested after an investigation into an incident on East Main Street where he allegedly damaged to an apartment building. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Kavyia A. Spencer, 24, of Batavia, is charged with petit larceny. Spencer was arrested after an investigation into an employee theft from Kwik Fill on Jackson Street, Batavia. It’s alleged that she stole merchandise from the store on two separate occasions. She was issued an appearance ticket.
Patricia M. Anderson, 38, of Batavia, was arrested on on Aug. 9 on an arrest warrant issued by City Court. Anderson was initially arrested on April 9 after allegedly stealing merchandise from 7-Eleven on East Main Street in Batavia. A warrant was issued after Anderson allegedly failed to appear in court. Anderson was arraigned in City Court and released on her own recognizance.
Edmund J. Sobresky, 54, of Batavia, is charged with DWAI Drugs. Sobresky’s arrest is the result of a traffic stop on April 11. He was charged on Aug. 8 following an investigation. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Patricia A. McCarthy, 29, of Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd and public lewdness. McCarthy was arrested after patrols responded to Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, on Aug. 6 for a report of two people fighting. It’s alleged that McCarthy engaged in a fight with another person. During the fight, McCarthy became disrobed. She was issued an appearance ticket.
Jason Howard Heerdt, 27, of Hilltop Drive Elma, Ryan Thomas Budziszewski, 32, of Northseine Drive, Cheektowaga, and Carlie Marie Budziszewski, 25, of Northseine Drive, Cheektowaga, are charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. Heerdt is accused of taking a golf cart at Darien Lake Theme Park without permission on Aug. 6 at 9:25 p.m.. They were issued appearance tickets.
Joseph David Johnson, 53, of State Street, Mumford, is charged with robbery 3rd and harassment 2nd. Johnson is accused of using force to steal property from an elderly victim while inside Batavia Downs Casino at 1:26 on Aug. 10. He was held pending arraignment.
Christopher James Parker, 34, of Batavia Elba Townline Road, Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt 2nd. Parker is accused of violating an order of protection at 10:37 a.m. on Aug. 11. He was held pending arraignment.
Steven Albert Barraco, 53, of Edgewood Drive, Batavia, is charged with harassment 2nd. Barraco is accused of shoving another person by the throat during an altercation on Aug. 10 at 5:31 p.m. at a location on Edgewood Drive. He was held pending arraignment.
Brian Michael Tracy, 35, of Horseshoe Lake Road, Stafford, is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child, criminal contempt 2nd, criminal mischief 4th, and harassment 2nd. Tracy is accused of getting out of a car and striking another person in front of two children on Aug. 11 at 4:10 p.m. at a location on Horseshoe Lake Road. He was processed at the Genesee County Jail and held pending arraignment.
Jason Michael Babbitt, 49, of Perry Road, Pavilion, is charged with 46 counts of aggravated harassment 2nd. Babbitt is accused of calling the Emergency Dispatch Center 46 times, including calls after he was instructed to stop. According to the Sheriff's Office, his calls were not placed to request the services of police, fire, or EMS. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Jose Efrain Velz-Torres, 42, of Sobieski Street, Rochester, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance 7th, speeding, aggravated unlicensed operation, operating a vehicle with improper plates, and driving without insurance. Velz-Torres was stopped at 1:19 a.m. on Aug. 14 on Clinton Street Road, Bergen, by Deputy Ryan Mullen. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Mark Louis Frongetta, 53, of Park Road, Batavia, is charged with disorderly conduct. At 6:14 p.m. on Aug. 14, Deputies responded to the Best Western Inn Suites on Park Road after receiving a report of a disturbance. Frongetta is accused of standing in the lobby yelling obscenities and of throwing the hotel's phone. Frongetta was held pending arraignment.
Dennis Edward Biggins, 48, of Franklin Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .18 or greater, and driving too slow (impeding traffic). Biggins was stopped at 4:15 p.m. on Aug. 14 on Route 237 in Stafford by Deputy Nicholas Chamoun. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Lorriance Marie Nelson, 61, of Hillcrest Street, Newfane, is charged with driving while impaired by drugs, speed not reasonable and prudent, and moving from lane unsafely. Nelson was reportedly involved in an accident at 12:51 a.m. on May 25 on Ellicott Street. She was arrested on Aug. 18 following an investigation by Deputy Mason Schultz. She was issued an appearance ticket.
Joseph Albert Boisclair, 58, of Knowlesville Road, Oakfield, is charged with DWI, speeding, driving left of pavement markings, and failure to keep right. Boisclair was stopped at 1:35 a.m. on Aug. 19 on Lewiston Road, Batavia by Sgt. Mathew Clor. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Angel Eliseo Colon, 41, of Grant Street, North Tonawanda, is charged with harassment 2nd. Colon is accused of spitting on another person while at the Genesee County Jail at 7:02 p.m. on Aug. 16. He was issued an appearance ticket.
Akeem Rashaad Gibson, 33, of West Main Street Road, Batavia, is charged with reckless endangerment and unlawful fleeing a police officer 3rd. Gibson is accused of fleeing from a deputy in the Town of Byron at 3:31 p.m. on July 30. He was arrested on the charge on Aug. 15. He was held pending arraignment.
Joseph Jerome Kostanciak, 33, of Genesee Street, Pembroke, and Shannon Leah Smith, 46, of Genesee Street, Pembroke, are charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Kostanciak and Smith are accused of possession of drug paraphernalia at 5:30 p.m. on Aug. 18 at a location on Genesee Street, Pembroke, including an uncapped needle that was accessible to children who are under the age of 17. Both were held pending arraignment.
John Joseph Wojtkowiak, 56, of Attica Road, Attica, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and drinking in a motor vehicle. Wojtkowiak was reportedly involved in an accident at 6:44 a.m. on Aug. 1 at the Totempole Gas and Smoke Shop on Ledge Road, Basom. He was arrested following an investigation by Deputy Kevin McCarthy. He was released on an appearance ticket.
A vehicle and a semi-truck are turned over in the area of 10386 South Street Road, Pavilion.
Possible series injury.
Mercy Flight out of Buffalo on in-air standby.
At least one person is entrapped in the vehicle.
Pavilion Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched. Mutual aid from Le Roy Fire requested.
UPDATE 2:32 p.m.: A first responder on scene reports there is no entrapment.
UPDATE 2:34 p.m.: Le Roy Fire can stand by in quarters.
UPDATE 2:37 p.m.: Mercy Flight can go back in service.
UPDATE 2:38 p.m.: All Mercy ambulances can go back in service. Le Roy Ambulance will handle the scene.
UPDATE 2:45 p.m.: DEC has been notified. Unknown if they're going to respond. The scene commander reports 100 to 150 gallons of diesel fuel on the ground between the two saddle tanks.
A recent Ghost Riders lineup: Jimmy "Steel" Duvall, Bill McDonald, Kay McDonald, Bill PItcher, and Bob Norton. Submitted photo.
There were some sharp elbows involved, says Bill McDonald, and Bill Pitcher's brother didn't expect the partnership to last when the two "Wild Bills" of the local music scene came together in Batavia 30 years ago to form the band that became the Ghost Riders.
But the partnership has thrived, producing some great music and some great memories for all involved as the Ghost Riders prepare for their 30th Anniversary celebration show at Batavia County Club at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Aug. 27.
By the time 1993 rolled around, both McDonald and Pitcher were veterans of the local music scene, with McDonald even venturing well beyond Genesee County's borders to pursue a musical career.
When he returned home, it was with the intent to take care of his family in their new home in Darien. Then a friend suggested he needed to start a country band.
He found a guitarist, and they started inviting in established musicians they knew who would fit into the hardcore country style they were after.
After a few rehearsals, they lined up a first gig and then the bass player had to hightail it to Florida because of some legal issues to resolve there, and then the lead guitarist quit to join an established gigging band in Buffalo.
At the same time, Pitcher's band Bullseye was running its course. The pedal steel player decided it was time to retire, and another member moved to Buffalo and another to Florida.
"So my band was dissolving right at the time that Bill needed a bass player and guitar player, so we kind of morphed into a good group of guys," Pitcher said. "We had all the elements we liked."
But still, no name for the band and gigs already lined up, including gigs originally booked for Bullseye.
Also, part of that original lineup was Jimmy Duval on pedal steel (Duval has played with McDonald for 40 years), Larry Merritt, and Jimmy Symonds.
The first gig was a long-gone tavern, Confetti's, located on property now occupied by City Centre.
"We played on a Saturday night, and it went over great," McDonald said.
"We’re hardcore country, country with a twang, with steel guitar and lead guitar, and we sang harmonies," Pitcher said.
McDonald said they drew on influences such as Merle Haggard.
"We wanted to keep real country alive," he said.
It was a few gigs into the band's career before they came up with a name.
One evening, the band was booked at the South Byron Fire Hall, and they decided to hold a band name contest. They invited fans to write new suggested names on a card. Then the band reviewed about 20 submissions and narrowed down the field to three "we could live with," McDonald said.
They read the names off to the crowd, and Ghost Riders, taken from the name of a song they played, and suggested by Fred Ferrell, was the overwhelming favorite.
"It may not be the most unique name, but it stuck," McDonald said.
In those early months, the Ghost Riders were a cover band even though McDonald was an established songwriter. The original songs would come later.
"It just was so hard to put all that together in a short period of time," McDonald said. "Everybody knew all the other songs (the covers), so it just made it easier. We learned (the originals) as we went into the studio to record an album. Then we practiced all of the original songs that we had. That's when we did our rehearsing, right in the studio. Yeah, that was pretty cool."
The Ghost Riders, in their career, have released five studio albums. None, of course, were big sellers, but they kept the fans happy, and there were always plenty of fans.
Pitcher remembers that on the first CD, the band included Ghost Riders in the Sky. They had to pay royalties -- eight cents for each CD sold. He ended up sending a check for about $3 to the publishing company in New York.
The band has also released another four live CDs, mostly compiled by Pitcher. There is a collection of songs recorded over a three-year period at the Stafford Carnival. There is another set recorded at a venue in Buffalo through the sound system onto a cassette that Pitcher said has just amazing fidelity considering the available technology.
Rarely, over the past 30 years, has the band traveled much beyond Western New York, but there have been gigs in Pennsylvania and Virginia.
"We never got a national booking agency involved with the band," McDonald said. "We had some chances to do it, but we booked our own stuff. We were getting up there. As I said, I was 30 when we started the band. He was 40. So we weren't a couple of youngsters."
McDonald had had his time on the road. As the frontman of Slim Chicken and the Midnight Pickers, McDonald toured throughout New York before moving the band to Texas (with a year at the end in California).
He even had his shot at a major record deal. One snowy winter night, his band was booked into the Cafe Espresso in Woodstock. That was a place favored by Bob Dylan and The Band at one time. The place was dead because of the winter storm. There was one customer, a man sitting by himself shuffling papers and just not leaving.
"I kept saying to the guys, why won't they close the place up and let's get the hell out of here?" McDonald said. "The owner said. 'We've still got a customer.' And he sat there all night. At the end of the night, after we played our last song, he came up to me and he told me, 'What are you guys doing tomorrow morning? Busy? I ask him who he is, and he says, 'I'm Harley Lewis. I'm from RCA Records in New York City."
He was an A&R man, and he wanted Slim Chicken and the Midnight Pickers in the studio in NYC the next morning to cut a three-song demo.
The band was in the studio and cut the demo, but the deal didn't come through.
McDonald said RCA decided to sign Pure Prairie League instead.
McDonald started his musical journey in Batavia with some friends and the band T&T and the Explosions, followed by Lookout Bridge and then Beethoven's Dream Group.
Pitcher’s musical journey began when he was five years old. His dad was a guitar and harmonica player who attached his harmonica to his guitar, not on a rack around his neck like Bob Dylan would popularize. As Pitcher and his brother, known locally as Uncle Rog, were growing up, their dad mostly played house parties, maybe six or 10 couples at the parties, maybe two or three times a week. He was a school teacher who drove truck in the summer.
When the Pitcher boys -- from Pavilion -- got older and had a band of their own, Dad would sometimes sit in.
"He never took a nickel for playing ever because he loved to play."
Then they formed a family band, Family Plus One. That band included another Pavilion boy, Charlie Hettrick, and Pitcher's mom, who bought her own Git Fiddle, which was a wire connected to a stick and a bell on top. She would hit the floor on the downbeat and pluck the string. Uncle Rog played drums.
By then, Pitcher was playing a little melody on guitar, which would give his dad a break on harmonica.
Most of the time, they played in Fulton County, where both of Pitcher's parents had extended family.
They would go into a bar and ask the bartender if they could play a bit.
"We had a good time in the bar," Pitcher said. "You know, in a half hour, 45 minutes, people would gravitate in. Somebody would make a couple of calls or something, and we would end up playing for two or three hours."
Before Bullseye, Pitcher was the leader of The American Countree Four. He was known as Wild Bill.
And McDonald, in Slim Chicken, was Wild Bill.
For years, fans would get them confused, both McDonald and Pitcher said.
"People would start talking to me, and I would figure it out -- 'oh, they mean a gig that Bill played,' and I'd tell him, and then he'd go, Yeah, somebody talked to me at a wedding reception, he thought that he was me," Pitcher said.
That's one reason Pitcher's brother didn't think these two guys used to leading their own bands would be able to put away the sharp elbows long enough to make music.
The first compromise was Pitcher, a few months older than McDonald, became "Mild Bill" while McDonald remained "Wild Bill."
Over 30 years, the Ghost Riders have played a lot of gigs. Most of them paid. There was a time when a good local gigging band could make a living in the warmer months playing lawn fetes and carnivals and picnics and parties. Every community had at least one annual event back then that needed live music.
Now it's much harder to find enough gigs, McDonald said. The band has also started other projects. McDonald and his wife Kay (who is also now a member of the Ghost Riders), for example, also tour as The Old Hippies. Pitcher has a few side projects, including a bluegrass musicians collective in Pavilion. Still, the Ghost Riders have some of the same gigs they play every year and have for 20 years.
One thing they've always done is play for free in support of good causes.
"We did a lot of civic stuff," McDonald said. "We thought when we started, we wanted to do what we could for the community for no money. You know, just do whatever we could do."
All along, the Ghost Riders have been all about the love of the music, both musicians said. That's the real secret to keeping the band going for 30 years.
"We just, we'd enjoy it," McDonald said. "We love playing music. And this is what gave us the opportunity."
Pitcher added, "My answer to why we're playing is because that's what we do. We love it. It's part of us. It comes from the heart."
All photos courtesy of the Ghost Riders.
The Ghost Riders Play at Batavia Country Club on Aug. 27 from 3 to 6 p.m. The current Ghost Rider members are: Gene "Sandy" Watson, Bill McDonald, Kay McDonald, Bill PItcher, and Nino Speranza.
One incarnation of the Ghost Riders: Jimmy "Steel" Duval, Bill McDonald, Brian Graz, Bill Pitcher, and Bob Norton.
The Ghost Riders can often be seen participating in local parades, picking their songs on a flatbed trailer.
Bill Pitcher, Batavia, Jimmy "Steel" Duvall, Waller Tx, Jim Sweet, Buffalo, Bill McDonald, Batavia, Bob Norton, Union City, Tennessee.
CDs released by The Ghost Riders during their 30-year career.
At the completion of the ninth hole relay race, Mark Napoleone takes the picture of Richard Francis, Lexi Henderson, Jessica Weibel, and Tom Scott. Photo by Howard Owens.
The Michael Napoleone Memorial Foundation billed it as “Not Your Average Golf Outing," and the nine-hole event at Terry Hills Golf Course on Saturday evening lived up to the billing.
There were holes where golfers took shots from a ski before dancing around a mat in a musical-chairs type of game that would determine the club they would use on every shot on that hole, and a horse race to dolls to determine where the group would tee up their balls, and a relay-race (time was scored, not strokes) that involved shooting eight baskets, doing a hula hoop in a tutu and then trying to make a putt from about five feet.
Of course, it was all for a good cause.
"It's just shenanigans on nine holes of golf," said Laurie Napoleone. "We've got great sponsors and great volunteers. It's a good day. It's a lot of fun."
If you were tooling around Batavia late Saturday and noticed a lot of classic cars passing through town, they were apparently here for a classic car rally in the parking lot of Tompkins Bank of Castile on East Main Street.
Dispatchers have received an iPhone crash indicator on the Thruway in the area of 379.4 in the eastbound lane.
There is no voice contact. No answer on callback.
Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance dispatched.
UPDATE 7:25 p.m.: It doesn't look like a crash. A vehicle is on the shoulder with its four-ways on. Two men are out of the vehicle, walking. The ambulance is canceled.
UPDATE 7:29 p.m.: The occupants had apparently lost a phone. They found it. Le Roy Fire is back in service.
With an opening date of Aug. 26 drawing closer, Rochester Regional Health celebrated the completion of its new medical campus in Batavia on Friday with a brief ceremony that included a ribbon cutting and a first look inside the building for a few dignitaries.
Many of the medical offices and services offered by United Memorial Medical Center and RRH at St. Jerome's and other medical buildings are moving into the new medical campus, making it more of a one-stop shop for area residents receiving out-patient medical care.
RRH invested nearly $45 million in the 95,000-square-foot facility.
Hospital officials describe the facility as "centrally located right off the Thruway, in a convenient place both for local residents and those coming from around the region."
There will be more than a dozen specialty services all under one roof, including primary care, pediatrics, orthopedics, otolaryngology, plastic surgery, vascular surgery, neurosciences and Sands-Constellation Heart Institute cardiologists.
Lab services will also be offered at the campus.
The campus will also offer urgent care seven days a week.
A motor vehicle has struck a utility pole in the area of 6591 North Bergen Road, Byron.
The pole is sheared and behind held up by wires, but there are also wires down in the roadway.
No report on injuries.
Byron and South Byron fire departments, along with Mercy EMS, dispatched.
UPDATE 6:32 p.m.: Mutual aid requested from Bergen Fire.
UPDATE 6:30 p.m.: Responders can slow to non-emergency, a chief on scene tells dispatchers. National Grid requested to the scene.
UPDATE 6:35 p.m.: Patient is expected to be a sign-off. He seems to have "a very, very minor injury on his wrist."
UPDATE 6:42 p.m.: Bergen Fire is re-routing from Byron's call to a report of wires down in the village, between Rochester Street and the library.
UPDATE 6:57 p.m.: On the call in Bergen: The lines down appear to be communication lines. Spectrum to be notified. Bergen Electric does not need to respond.
“The New York State Department of Transportation is demolishing a vacant structure located within our State Route 63 right-of-way in the City of Batavia that had previously housed Louie’s Barber Shop. The decision to demolish the structure — which has been located in our right-of-way since the 1970s — was made after the building’s previous operator communicated his plans to retire and terminate his occupancy. NYSDOT had no further use for the structure and will pave the property at a later date. NYSDOT’s agreement with the nearby Pok-A-Dot restaurant remains unchanged.”
During a drive down Byron Road, you might spot a group of low-slung buildings and figure it's some small ag-related business, maybe even a dairy farm.
You would never guess that it is a sophisticated manufacturing plant producing high-tech farming equipment that generates $65 million in annual sales.
Not bad for a company that started out repairing pallets a half-century ago.
Assemblyman Steve Hawley paid a visit -- and invited the press -- to Oxbo International's plant Thursday, and the company's first location, to highlight the importance of agricultural-adjacent businesses in the 139th Assembly District and in New York State.
"There are many different types of enterprises that highlight the fact that agriculture is not only the number one industrial employer in this area and ag-related businesses like this, not just farming, are critical to our economy," Hawley said.
Plant Manager Chris Chadbourne provided Hawley and reporters with a history of the company before escorting the group on a tour of the facility.
The original pallet repair company became Byron Equipment after filing for a patent on a corn head -- a mechanism to attach to the front of a combine that picks ears of corn off of stalks, leaving the stock behind.
The company then grew through mergers and acquisitions.
In 1998, Byon Equipment acquired a competitor in Wisconsin, and the new management team settled on the name Oxbo, after an oxbow that yolks and ox team together, to symbolize the concept of the new two integrated teams pulling together.
Both plants stayed in production.
In 2003, Oxbo acquired a pea-picking combine company in Illinois and moved that manufacturing operation to Byron. Oxbo is the only manufacturer of a pea-picking combine in the U.S.
In 2004, Oxbo acquired a fruit company in Washington state, and this past June, the company acquired another company in Wisconsin.
One of the biggest mergers came, however, in 2009, when Oxbo merged with its largest customer in Europe and the company's headquarters were moved to the Netherlands.
The company also operates plants now in Brazil, the United Kingdom, and France.
In total, Oxbo employs about 1,200, with 700 employees in the U.S. and 140 in Byron. Gross annual revenue exceeds $400 million for the entire company.
"And one of the founders still lives in the same house he's lived in forever, right up here," said Hawley, pointing to a house on property adjacent to the plant. "Richard 'Lefty' Glazer."
Chadbourne explained that working for Oxbo takes more than a bit of brawn to tighten bolts. The equipment the company makes is sophisticated, exacting, and high-tech. Oxbo needs employees educated enough and smart enough to do the job right.
"The equipment we make is simplistic and what it does, but it's not simplistic and how it acts and what it does on the shop floor or in the field," Chadbourne said. "We need high-quality people that are technically savvy, that can understand and read schematics and understand how things function and work together. It's not just, 'Hey, there's a lever and a clutch' in here anymore. 'We're going to bolt three parts together.' There's a lot of tech that goes into these machines."
Oxbo has been fortunate, Chadbourne said, to have good partners in Genesee County and throughout the region. BOCES and other institutions provide a pathway for students to learn the necessary skills, and they can participate in job training and job shadowing. There's a welding program at Alfred State that helps supply workers.
Employees for Oxbo come to Byron from through the GLOW area and Erie County but Chadbourne thinks the company needs to attract more talent from Monroe County.
"We have some really phenomenal schools in Western New York, and as we continue to grow, we need more of those technical guys," Chadbourne said. "We've got great colleges and universities in Rochester. We need to pull from there."
A $12 million project to restore and remodel the former Oakfield High School, which has been used as low-income housing since the 1970s, is underway.
The project is mostly privately funded and has also received $1.1 million in state and federal aid.
School House Mannor currently has 27 apartment units for people age 62 and older or disabled, regardless of age. All units are one bedroom.
"It is a historical renovation, and after the renovation is done, the former Oakfield High School will be on the national register of historic places," said Emmett Ogiony, principal with ODS Property Management.
In addition to the facade restoration, a lower-level former gym will be converted into apartments and the former library in the back of the building, which was once the residential unit of the complex's former owner and operator, will become apartments.
In all, the developer, which is now the owner of the building, will add eight new apartments.
The USDA funded the school's conversion to affordable housing in the 1970s.
"It's the biggest property in Oakfield, and I think the funding is important just to maintain the structure and what it does for the community," Ogiony said. "It is the only source of affordable housing in the Oakfield-Alabama area so it is a big help to rural people who want to stay close to where they grew up. Without this project, Oakfield would lose an important part of its community."
Photos by Howard Owens.
An architectural rendering of School House Manor once the facade restoration and new landscaping is completed.
Thursday's Ribbon Cutting at Alleghany Farm Services. From left, Brian Cousins, president of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, Chad Klotzbach, Dianne Klotzbach, Drew Klotzbach, Harriett Klotzbach, Morgan Wagner, and Craig Wagner. Photo by Howard Owens.
"Hard work and a good wife" is the answer that quickly came to mind to Drew Klotzbach when asked why a company he founded 40 years ago with a backhoe and a bulldozer is still going into its second generation of ownership.
Now Alleghany Farm Services uses the most advanced equipment in the business to precisely install farm field drainage systems, laying more than five million feet of pipe a year, and now employing more than 30 people in the Town of Alabama and in Delaware.
Located at 7342 Alleghany Road in Basom, Alleghany Farm Services celebrated its four decades in business with a party, equipment and history displays, a back-hoe "certification" practice for kids, and an adult backhoe competition, along with a catered lunch and ice cream.
The company remains a family venture.
"We bring my 94-year-old grandmother out," said Chad Kotzbach, Drew's son and now the managing partner. "She does a lot of our mailers, and that keeps us busy."
The other big secret to success, Drew said, is the customers.
"The customer base too, and especially agricultural customers, are great people to work with," Drew said. "Yep, that's really what's made us grow is a great customer base," Chad added, "It's about relationships. This is a relationships business."
Chad Klotzbach with some of the historical artifacts related to Alleghany Farm Service and drainage tiles. Photo by Howard Owens.
Chad Klotzbach shows off an old drainage tile. Drainage tiles were introduced to the U.S. from Scotland at a farm in Seneca County in 1838. They were once made from fired clay, with the pipes shaped around a worker's calf (which Klotzbach is explaining). Installing clay, and later concrete, drainage tiles, was labor intensive. Nearly 60 years ago, plastic, corrugated pipe was introduced, which can be laid in long layers, and now are placed precisely in farm fields with GPS technology. Photo by Howard Owens.
Children who visited Alleghany Farm Services on Thursday could operate a backhoe with the assistance of an experienced adult. Photo by Howard Owens.
Photo by Howard Owens.
The adult backhoe competition involved removing basketballs from the top of traffic cones, dumping them in a bucket, and then trying to place the balls back on top of the cones. Photo by Howard Owens.
The tax rate in the Pavilion Central School District for 2023-24 is final, and the numbers are in alignment with budget projects from earlier this year, Donald Childs, school business official, told the Board of Education on Monday.
The board approved the tax warrants for the academic year.
The tax rate in the Town of Pavilion will be $16.68 per $1,000 of assessed value, a decrease from $16.73 this school year.
The rate for Bethany will be $19.06, up from 18.19; for Stafford, $16.34, down from $16.73; and, in Le Roy, $20.93, up from $20.16.
Outside of Genesee County, the towns of Covington, Middlebury, Caledonia, Leicester, and York also all contribute to the total tax levy.
The total tax levy is $5,788,283, which is a $85,396 over 2022-23.
The total assessed value of property in the district is $324,875,934.
The total spending plan for the 2023-24 academic year is $18,869,393, which voters approved in May. The approved budget is 3.18 percent higher than 2022-23, for a total increase in spending of $582,042.
At the time of the budget vote, district finance officers can only estimate the tax rate because town assessments are not always final. Once the total assessed value within the district is known, school districts can finalize the tax rates.
