The way Hiram Kasten and Lucine Kauffman see it, Genesee County is a great place to live.
It's beautiful, there's a lot going on, and you'll meet some of the nicest and most interesting people if you just get out on the town a bit.
It's these qualities that they want to highlight in their new weekly, one-hour radio show on WBTA, which debuts Oct. 1.
"Talk of the Town" will feature talk about what's going on and some of the region's interesting people.
It's a cultural show -- arts and entertainment -- but it's more than that.
"There's a national trend toward localism," Kauffman said. "It's not just shopping local. It's living local. We want to capture that idea."
Kasten and Kauffman like interesting people, but they are, of course, interesting people themselves.
Kasten has been a professional entertainer for decades with a long resume in New York and Hollywood that included recurring roles on "Seinfeld" (Hiram and Jerry came up through the New York comedy club circuit together) and "Everybody Loves Raymond."
Diana Kisiel Kasten, Hiram’s wife, is from Batavia and operates Pinnacle Manufacturing on Harvester Avenue. She convinced Hiram to move here a year ago. The couple has a grown daughter who attends Cornell University.
Kauffman is the former town supervisor for Elba and has been active in local theater for years. She grew up in Southern California and graduated from USC. She moved to Genesee County with her Batavia-born-and-bred husband, Bill, 25 years ago. Their daughter attends Notre Dame University. Bill Kauffman is the author of nine books and the screenplay "Copperhead," which had its theatrical release last year.
"We're going to talk about the cultural aspects of Genesee County and the region," Lucine said. "It's more than just arts and entertainment. There are farm co-ops and local artisans and people who enrich life in Genesee County. It's all about quality of life and the quality of life here is very good."
Hiram said he often knows the comedians passing through Rochester and Buffalo, so that will be an opportunity to hear from nationally recognized talent, but they'll also feature the volunteers who make community theater so vital to Batavia.
"There's a lot to celebrate in Genesee County," Lucine said.
"Celebrate. That's a good word," Hiram added. "There is a lot to celebrate here."
The show will air Wednesdays from 9 to 10 a.m. on WBTA-1490.
