The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce welcomed Ashley Mooney, DDS, as one of the newest businesses to open locally on Wednesday.
Mooney's new office is at 214 East Main St., Suite #1, Batavia.
Photo by Marc Tillery/WBTA
Health and wellness have always been important to family nurse practitioner Renee Marie Robbins. However, it wasn’t until a close family member became critically ill that it took on a deeper meaning.
“I was interested in it and went and did some training and really loved what I did. And then, the whole weight loss thing kind of blew up around here, and I have a personal love for it because, seeing my brother at 45 have a heart attack and almost not be with us, I've really delved into nutrition and health,” Robbins said Friday while doing last minute set-up of her new place at Batavia City Centre. “Also, just being in family practice, helping others, and then having issues with them being denied from their insurance when they really could use the help. A lot of people have been where they just need that little extra push and motivation, and to be held accountable and have someone really care about their health and their journey.”
A Batavia native and 1997 Notre Dame High School graduate, Robbins has more than 20 years of experience in the healthcare industry. She most recently worked at Oak Orchard Health, which she left one and a half years ago. She continues to work at Guler Cardiology in Batavia while debuting her Renee Marie Aesthetics and Wellness next door at 47b in the City Centre.
Robbins is having a grand opening to introduce herself and her offerings, including a Dyson supersonic raffle prize, beginning at 3 p.m. Saturday.
She first rented space at a salon in Elma and ran it for two and a half years, drawing clients from the area and her hometown. However, she said, few practitioners offered the weight loss or aesthetic services she is now bringing to Genesee County.
Those include individualized counseling, use of supplements, an FDA-certified compounding pharmacy to mix two medications together when needed, and finding alternatives when one’s insurance won’t cover a service or someone doesn’t want to go the drastic route of a gastric bypass or end up with diabetes before the insurance company might provide more coverage.
“Bottom line is, I'm willing to try to help someone with their weight loss or their health needs, we'll say, in any way that I can, whether it's through insurance, and if insurance doesn't cover weight loss, then I have alternative means,” she said. “There’s a lot that goes into it; it’s not just what you eat, it’s not just exercise, but it’s also habits. More mindful eating is what I try to teach, we need to always be conscious about what we’re putting into our bodies, about portions. And that’s, I think, where people struggle a lot.”
On the aesthetics side, Robbins has trained with the American Academy of Facial Aesthetics and keeps up on techniques with continued trainings, she said. Services include lip and facial fillers, wrinkle relaxers including Daxxify and Dysport, microneedling, glow facials, EMS body sculpting of various body parts (the abs are especially popular, she said, with electrical stimulation of the muscles to simulate doing 30,000 sit-ups in 30 minutes to strengthen the core).
Some of those body sculpting procedures can be part of a weight loss package. She offers single-session and package prices for services and is available for free Telehealth consultations.
“I hope to help others achieve their health goals. I am proud to own and operate my own aesthetics and wellness clinic, taking pride in providing exceptional service and delivering results to my clients … and how much I care to help others be more healthy, happy, have confidence and be more successful in their goals,” she said. “It’s about helping others. People were coming out to me in Elma, and I live out here and they live out here, and it was like, all right, through a lot of encouragement, I decided just to go ahead and do it, because it’s just the best feeling, it really is.
“My vision is to empower other practitioners … like massage therapists. I really would like to make it a wellness center,” she said. “There’s no better feeling than to hear ‘you’ve really changed my life.’”
Robbins works with individuals, couples, groups, people of all ages, and people with various medical conditions and provides “complete confidentiality,” she said. Hours are by appointment, Monday through Friday.
For more information, call 585-483-0038, email reneemarieaesthetics@gmail.com or go HERE.
Although groundbreakings may seem to be all about the fanfare of shovels in the ground and celebratory speeches, this spring's event for the city’s new police facility cost $10,000, requiring a budget transfer by the City Council.
City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. questioned the total amount for the event, which was conducted in the Alva Place parking lot this past May. City, county and political representatives praised the new police station project to be built in the corner lot of Alva and Bank Street in downtown Batavia.
“It seems a little high,” Jankowski said.
City Manager Rachael Tabelski detailed the cost.
“We used public relations in there as well for some of the outreach to the businesses in the area,” she said during Monday’s meeting at City Hall. “So it was public relations, planning the event and paying for the event.”
Businesses in the area didn’t respond very positively soon after the project began, with fencing shutting off adjacent parking used for patients with disabilities. Those business owners claimed that communication was lacking from the start, as they hadn’t been notified of the plan for the parking lot, and they voiced complaints for several weeks after the project commenced.
Tabelski further explained the groundbreaking and other costs that required a total transfer of $132,779 from the Contingency Fund. One of those costs included money for renovations to curbs and sidewalks in an effort to help and appease those business owners with alternate ways for their patients to reach their offices more safely.
"There are times where certain expenses are in excess of budgeted amounts set in April," Tabelski said in a memo to council. "The six-month budget review is a financial process that assists the City Council and city manager when reviewing the status of the budget and in making transfers as necessary.
"The city hosted a groundbreaking and media event for the new police facility, and expenses were charged to the city manager's account. I am recommending increasing the city manager-professional fees account by $10,000," she said.
A breakdown of the remaining additional costs included:
The total of $132,779 will come from the city’s Contingency Fund.
On Saturday, the Business Improvement District hosted its annual Fall Wine Walk in Downtown Batavia.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Money was committed, a state Department of Transportation grant obtained, TY Lynn International was hired, and a Walkability Study literally laid the groundwork and surveyed pedestrians last fall to find out how people felt about landscaping, bump-outs and painted pavement along Bank Street from Main Street to Washington Avenue.
A tentative plan was unveiled Monday to complete the city’s mission to slow down traffic in that area of downtown Batavia. Much of the plan unfolds as painted pavement for bike lanes, decorative crosswalks, bump-outs, benches, and tree and perennial landscaping.
“So project objectives, basically, the ultimate goal is to provide a safe and comfortable, pedestrian- and bike-friendly community along Bank Street, from Main Street to Washington,” TY Lin Project Manager Nate Buczek said during the presentation at City Hall. “It does include a little bit of Alva Place, not a lot due to the funds of the project, but it does include at least the intersection a little bit to the west.”
The project's objectives are to provide traffic calming with streetscape enhancements, curb bump-outs and ramps, new decorative crosswalks with flashing crossing signs, improved street accessibility, dedicated bike lanes and complement the new police and YMCA facilities in progress on the east and west sides of the Bank.
A focus is to improve the pedestrian experience via more seating and planters as part of the infrastructure, he said. Perhaps some Honey locust, serviceberry, black-eyed Susans and Salvia Blue Hill.
At issue is that Bank Street is too wide, and “the wider the lane width, the faster they want to go,” Buczek said.
How to improve it? Dedicated five-foot-wide bike lanes that may be painted green, moving landscaping out toward the street as bump-outs, moving the senior center crosswalk north a bit and make it stand out with lights and fluorescent signage and adding a second crosswalk near Alva Place near the new police station.
There would also be a bus lane in front of the senior center to accommodate a bus that regularly drops off and picks up seniors for outings, he said.
A member of the audience who drives the bus was concerned with the available space for a bus with bump-outs, an adjacent bike lane, and especially during winter when snowplows have to get around.
One answer was that there shouldn’t be as much congestion since children will be dropped off in the parking lot off the street toward the back of the new YMCA entrance. But that concern should be checked out, and the recommended plan should be verified before moving forward, City Council President Eugene Jankowski Jr. said.
“There’s a lot of pavement in the roadway, a lot of pavement and more concrete within the sidewalks. So we’re looking to break that up, add some green space, similar to Main Street,” Buczek said.
Jankowski asked if the design team had considered actually doing what was done on Main Street and adding a median down Bank Street instead of bump-outs on the side. Buczek wasn’t certain why it wasn’t proposed, but thought it had to do with cost. He was asked to keep the design within an $800,000 budget, he said.
“It’s going to be much safer for pedestrians,” Buczek said. “The bump-outs are going to provide, basically, or close off or make the driver sense that they need to slow down to become aware of the area. And then we’re going to have pedestrian LED signs at both crosswalks,” he said. “Basically, you’ll walk up, push the clocks in and we’re going to look at automobile versions or sensor versions when there’s someone waiting to cross. We also are going to relocate the access driveway into the city parking lot west side of Bank Street as part of the project.”
City Manager Rachael Tabelski has said the city committed more than $1 million to help reduce the street’s girth and slow down the hustle of motorists, with $944,943 coming from the state TAP grant. The streetscape project is targeted for a fall 2025 completion.
There are still some questions and concerns to address, however, it seemed as though GO Art! Executive Director Gregory Hallock summed up the general consensus of the project.
"I think all of this is going to make people slow down," he said.
In fall 2023, members of a county health committee had set up displays of potential future curbing, lights and artistic license to demonstrate ways to help slow down traffic and make crosswalks a more viable way to cross over from the east and west sides of Bank Street at three points between Main Street and Washington Avenue.
Ninety-four people gave positive feedback during the nearly four hours the Genesee Orleans Health Department staff surveyed walkers.
There’s an expected surge in traffic on Bank Street with the impending new police facility right on Bank and Alva in the next year, and the Healthy Living campus on the opposite side behind where the current YMCA is now, to be completed by the end of 2024. City officials have an infrastructure project planned to coincide with the developments, at which time there would also be upgrades to the streetscape layout.
A spot of rain didn't send everyone scurrying from Jackson Square following the open mic in Jackson Square on Friday evening.
A couple of dozen people stuck around to dance to the beats and take in the vibes of DJ Scotty D (Scotty D'Martino of Batavia), Esdee Entertainment.
See also: Ramble weekend kicked off on Friday with open mic and open art in Jackson Square
Photos by Howard Owens
A new event that many who attended, including the organizers, hope will return in future years premiered in Jackson Square on Friday night, the night before the Ramble Music and Arts Fest.
It was an open mic for local musicians and an open art session for local visual artists.
More than 200 people attended, and more musicians than time available signed up to sing and play.
Jo David Arts and Iburi Photography presented the event.
Jo David Arts is a partnership between local artists Mary Jo Whitman and Brian Kemp. Iburi is a photography studio on Jackson Street that started hosting increasingly popular open mic sessions about five months ago.
"We're excited to bring this event to Jackson Square," Whitman said. "This is a great opportunity for local performers and artists to showcase their work and connect with the community in a fun and supportive environment."
The open art night is an extension of the First Fridays Open Art event at GO ART!, which was created by Kemp, who compared the event to a pick-up game of basketball.
"You just get together," Kemp said. "Like, I never got together with anybody and done art before until I had this idea, 'Well, I play basketball with other people, why can't I do art with people?' We're all working on our own thing, but sometimes we'll do collabs where somebody works on something that somebody else works on the same thing."
The Ramble started at 10 a.m. on Saturday and runs until 10 p.m., with music on two stages -- Jackson Square and Jackson Street. There will also be art and artists, activities, and food and beverages.
For a lineup of musical acts playing the Ramble this year, click here.
To view or purchase photos, click, here.
The Business Improvement District's Cider Walk returns to Downtown Batavia on Saturday, June 22.
The second annual walk starts at 3:45 p.m. with registration at Tonawanda Valley Federal Credit Union on Jefferson Avenue. Registration ends at 5:45 p.m. and the walk continues until 8 p.m.
Paid participants can stop at 18 different downtown businesses to sample a variety of ciders as well as shop at local retailers.
Tickets are available at YNgodess Shop, TVFCU, and Eventbrite.
Ticket sales are limited to 300.
Participants must be 21 years of age or older. The BID asks "no children, please."
"Come Downtown, taste great ciders, meet new people, see old friends, and create memories while you shop small and support your local businesses," said BID Director Shannon Maute.
With a cheerful wave and greeting of "Happy Pride," participants in Batavia's annual Pride Parade celebrated LGBTQ identity and acceptance Saturday in a stroll that took them along a route from Batavia First Presbyterian Church down Summit Street, to Washington Avenue, Bank Street to Main Street.
The parade was part of an hours-long Pride Month celebration in Downtown Batavia, organized by GLOW Out, centered around a festival in Jackson Square and on Center Street.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Registration is now open for the Boxcar Derby, sponsored by the Business Improvement District, and to be held at Centennial Park on Aug. 17.
The first opportunity to register is today at John Kennedy Intermediate School, 166 Vine St., Batavia, during the Mud Run, which starts at 6:30 p.m. and goes until 7:30 p.m.
There are 32 positions available. The entry fee is $20 per racer. There will be a BID Boxcar Derby booth at the Mud Run. The race is open to children ages 7 to 10.
“We encourage our racers to show their talents, personalities, and dedication,” Maute said. “My Cut Barbershop and our BID leaders do that daily in their businesses and our community, and we applaud them for sponsoring one of our great racers this year.”
“We encourage our racers to show their talents, personalities, and dedication,” said BID Director Shannon Maute. “My Cut Barbershop and our BID leaders do that daily in their businesses and our community, and we applaud them for sponsoring one of our great racers this year.”
Additional forms will be available by request to Maute at director@downtownbataviany.com.
“We’re excited to host another great day of fun, family-friendly activities as we celebrate the skills and sportsmanship of our racers,” Maute said.
My Cut Barbershop hosted a kick-off event recently.
Press release:
Advanced Podiatry Associates PLLC is making every effort to accommodate our patients during the construction of the city police station. We Sincerely appreciate your loyalty and patience during this time. Dr. Canzoneri is currently attempting to secure a new temporary location for his practice with plenty of handicap accessibility and ample parking for the next two years. We are doing everything we can to facilitate your continued trust and confidence in the care we provide.
At Thursday's annual meeting of the Business Improvement District at Center Street Smokehouse in Batavia, My Cut Barbershop was honored as business of the year and Sara Tenney was named the BID's volunteer of the year.
My Cut is located on the first floor of the Masonic Temple building, 200 E. Main St., Batavia.
Eli Fish Brewing Company celebrated its sixth anniversary with a fun relay race, plenty of craft drinks and frozen fish this past weekend in downtown Batavia. The relay took runners around a block from Jackson Square onto School, Center and Jackson streets and back again to the Square, where a DJ was entertaining participants and spectators alike.
Billy Buckenmeyer's team won their heat in the event, and befitting of the Main Street establishment's name, real fish were used in place of the more traditional baton that passed from runner to runner for the relay. Each team received eight drink tokens and the winning team won a grand prize of four Mug Club memberships for the 2024 season.
Several Downtown businesses were packed on Saturday evening with a parade of beer tasters who signed up for the Business Improvement District's annual FeBREWary events.
Photos by Howard Owens.
As baby boomers, the Mancuso and Dipson theaters were essential to our childhoods.
A Saturday afternoon in the 50s and 60s would be spent at one of these theaters. If we took our pop bottles to your corner store and redeemed two cents for every bottle, you could save enough money to afford the .50 needed for admission to a movie.
We first had to check the Legion of Decency, a list of films nailed to the back door of our Catholic Church stating what movies were appropriate for our ages. Disney movies were at the top of the list of acceptable movies.
In the 70s, I remember exactly where I sat when I saw "Jaws." I can still remember the fear I felt when the great white shark opened its jaws and the screams I heard in the theater, including mine.
Theaters in Batavia have a very early history. Imagine, in 1874, an Opera House on Main Street. It had seating for 1,000 with a stage that could be converted into a dance hall. A balcony and seating boxes on either side of the stage were reserved for courting couples. John Dellinger built the Dellinger Opera House, the center of local entertainment for over 50 years. Most people saw their first live performance on the stage at the Dellinger. Road companies stopped in Batavia regularly in the 1880s and 1890s. Amateur shows could be performed on this stage one day, and the next day, you could watch professional acting companies take the stage.
In 1900, a store on Jackson Street was the site for the first showing of motion pictures. Later, silent pictures were shown in Ellicott Hall on Court Street. To make the silent picture more exciting, sound effects such as train whistles, blank gunshots, and the noise of crashing cars were added.
Batavia’s first theater was called the Lyric Theatre, located at 49 Main St. It had 36 seats fastened to the inclining floor. Other theaters, such as the Dreamland on Court Street and the Orpheum Theater at 122 Main St., were places to see “moving pictures.”
Two new moving picture theaters opened in 1913, the Grand at 72 Main St. and the Family Theatre on Jackson Street. The Grand could seat 584 patrons, and the Family Theatre could seat 600. A pianist or violinist could be heard while showing a moving picture, adding excitement to the movie.
A group of local businessmen financed the Family Theatre. It was considered to be one of the prettiest theaters in this area. The furnishings were from New York City and consisted of seats made of oak, 12 chandeliers, and a stage curtain that could be opened to show a stationary picture screen made of plaster.
Nikitas Dipson came to this country from Greece in 1909. He was interested in movie theaters, which began in 1913 when he lived in Jeanette, Pennsylvania, where he managed a small motion picture theater. He later moved to Batavia and managed The Family Theatre.
In 1914, he temporarily bought the theater on Jackson Street until he could build a new modern theater on Main Street. He purchased two buildings at 36 and 38 Main St. They were not big enough for his new theater, so he closed the Family Theatre and moved the films, screen, and pianist to the Grand Theatre.
The New Family Theatre could seat 700 people and reopened in 1923 with a high domed ceiling lighted with radiant light and a 21-foot-deep and 43-foot wide stage. The orchestra seats were sitting from the other seats by a walnut rail. A console organ was in the pit, and a fireproof curtain could be lifted mechanically to the roof. The sides of the auditorium were decorated on either side with mural paintings.
The Lafayette Theatre, built just to show films, stood facing the Family Theatre for over 40 years. In 1947, the Lafayette Theatre, the property of Nikitas Dipson, closed.
Nikitas Dipson finally could build his theater on 36 and 38 Main St. The theatre opened on April 17, 1947. The inner lobby was decorated with mural paintings depicting scenes from Genesee County’s early history. Floral designs covered the walls. After the house lights went out, the floral lights would glow softly for a few moments. This air-conditioned theater could seat 1,400. This theater would alternate with the Mancuso Theatre, housing the graduation exercises from Batavia High School and later Notre Dame High School. Dipson’s beautiful theater eventually fell victim to Urban Renewal in 1973.
Mancuso brothers decided to build a theater at 212 East Main St. It opened on June 4, 1948. The theater was as large as Dipson’s and advertised as modern as any theater in the country with “power enough to light a city.” It had excellent acoustics because of the construction of the walls and ceiling. The side walls were decorated with flat sculptured figures. It was considered at that time to be one of the most satisfactory little theaters outside New York City. On opening night, 1,600 people filled every seat for the showing of "The Emperor’s Waltz." Today, that theater saved from the wrecking ball is currently the home of City Church.
Nikitas Dipson dominated the motion picture business for 40 years, owning or operating all the motion picture theaters in the county at one time or another, including the two drive-in theaters on East Main Street Road and Clinton Street. Under an arrangement with the Mancuso Brothers, he ran the Mancuso Theatre, the Dipson Theatre, and the Family Theatre. Eventually, the two main theaters were ultimately divided into Cinema I and II.
In mid-1979, William Dipson and Mancuso Brothers asked the McWethy Construction Company to build two mini theaters on the northwest corner of the mall. The theaters opened in 1980 as Mall I and Mall II. After 33 years, the theater closed.
Over the years, Batavia has lost many buildings and businesses. In June 2013, Ken Mistler, a local businessman who owned several downtown businesses, purchased Mall I and Mall II Movie Theater. He remodeled the Batavia Show Time Theater and showed first-run movies for many years. He's currently renovating the theaters into a new entertainment venue.
It seems sad that all we have left from these beautiful historical buildings are memories and pictures from old postcards and newspaper clippings.
Photos courtesy Genesee County History Department.
Rows of glass windows are being installed as part of what officials have described as the open-air feel of the new Healthy Living building in downtown Batavia.
The site that will merge Healthy Living programs with YMCA received some hoopla in a beam-signing celebration at the end of November, and crews have been working towards sealing up the exterior in preparation for inside work on the 78,000-square-foot facility.
Once completed, there will be a children’s Adventure Room, indoor playground, intergenerational room filled with interactive games, a large upstairs track, a swimming pool equipped with underwater benches for swim lessons, a splash pad, and wheelchair and walk-in access.
There will also be universal pre-kindergarten, morning daycare, and after-school classrooms, plus supervised childcare with options, expanded hours, and universal standards to bring everything to beyond the Americans with Disabilities Act code, officials have said.
The medical and wellness facility is to include state-of-the-art exercise equipment, a teaching kitchen, 22 exam rooms and two medical procedure rooms for primary care, telemedicine appointments, behavioral health and crisis intervention support, cancer prevention, chronic illness, and community education services.
The new campus is to be completed by sometime this fall.
Photos by Howard Owens
Photos by Howard Owens.
Press release:
Join us in the holiday spirit at the annual Christmas in the City celebration on Saturday, Dec. 2, from 2 to 6 p.m. with the Downtown Holiday Parade starting at 6 p.m.
Christmas in the City activities include pictures with Santa, holiday crafts, cookie decorating, chili, hot cocoa, face painting, sleigh rides, family portraits and more! Several downtown businesses will be offering activities, crafts, and in-store specials. For a full listing of activities, go to www.bataviabid.com.
The parade begins promptly at 6 p.m. at Wendy's and makes its way down Main Street east toward Liberty/Summit Streets.
Join us in our scavenger bunt bingo throughout Downtown, exploring and and supporting our small businesses. Bingo begins at Iburi Photography at 35 Jackson St. and ends at GO ART!, 201 East Main St. There are 22 business bingo stops.
For more information on Christmas in the City, see The Batavian's previous story: Snow is here, December is coming, it must be time for Christmas in the City
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