Mr. Batavia

Article by Zachary Lee, an aspiring journalist and contestant in Mr. Batavia.

It’s finally here: the Mr. Batavia contest will be held at 7 p.m. April 15th — be there.

Mr. Batavia this year will be the biggest we’ve ever had; the occupancy of the auditorium at Batavia High School is around 800 and we intend to fill that to the point the auditorium doors are bursting.

Mr. Batavia is a community charity event; each candidate selects a nonprofit organization to represent with the charity of the contest the top three winners receiving money raised. In Mr. Batavia there are five different categories, each scored by selected judges from throughout the community. They are lip sync, talent, questionnaire, swimsuit, and tux walk. The guys also do a group dance in the beginning to get the audience hyped up for the contest.

Last year’s Mr. Batavia was probably one of the best we’ve ever produced here at BHS. Whether it was Brandon Smart’s Micheal Jackson tribute or Dylan Beckman’s dramatic reading of "Anaconda" by Nicki Minaj, these performances were borderline legendary. The 12 candidates up for Mr. Batavia 2016 believe that they can do even better.

Lisa Robinson, event director and student government advisor said, “Mr. Batavia is an event where we raise money for community nonprofits. Everywhere this event gets larger and we believe this year will be easily our largest we’ve had. ”       

Here are the candidates and the nonprofit organizations they represent in the order they’ll perform:

• Tyler Hale – Michael Napoleon Foundation
• Noah Dobbertin – 25 Neediest
• Adonis Davis – All Babies Cherished
• Zachary Lee – Anna’s Wish
• Trevor Sherwood – Batavia VA
• Alex Mott – Golisano’s Children Hospital
• Michael Hughes – Habitat for Humanity
• Alex Canty – Volunteers for Animals
• Ross Chua – Organization for Autism Research
• Jake Kasmarek – Genesee Cancer Assistance
• Josh Kurtz – Salvation Army
• Dwayne Fonda -- American Red Cross

Jordan Fluker, Mr. Batavia 2015, presented a check today to Genesee Cancer Assistance for $3,055, which is the proceeds from this year's Mr. Batavia event at Batavia High School. Pictured with Fluker are Joe Gerace and Patricia Arnold.

Photo submitted by Lisa Robinson.

Jordan Fluker was named 2015 Mr. Batavia in the third annual competition at Batavia High School on Friday night.

Proceeds from the event -- $3,000 this year, a new record -- goes to the charity of Fluker's choice, which was Genesee Cancer Assistance.

The 11 contestants were Bryce Rogers, Andrew Maniace, Samir Jain, Dylan Beckman, Brandon Smart, Josh Franks, Adam Taylor, Eric DiLaura, Nick Bauer, Jordan Fluker and Ben Demare.

Tuxedos for the event were provided by Charles Men's Shop and Reed Eye Associations donated sunglasses to the 11 young men.

The competition included a talent show, swimsuits, and question-and-answer and the tuxedo walk. 

To purchase prints, click here.

The Batavia High School student government hosts its third annual Mr. Batavia Contest at 7 p.m., April 17.

Eleven seniors have signed up and picked the charities they will represent. Proceeds from the event go to the winner's charity. Last year, Mr. Batavia raised $2,200 for Habitat for Humanity.

The contestants and their charities:

• Bryce Rogers, Ricky Palermo Foundation
• Andrew Maniace, Batavia VA
• Samir Jain (not pictured), Michael Napoleon Foundation
• Dylan Beckman, Habitat for Humanity
• Brandon Smart, Volunteers for Animals
• Josh Franks, Anna’s Wish
• Adam Taylor, Care-A-Van Ministries
• Eric DiLaura, Roswell Park Alliance Foundation
• Nick Bauer, Crossroads House
• Jordan Fluker, Genesee Cancer Assistance
• Ben Demare, Boy Scouts of America National Youth Leadership Training

Hostesses for this year's event are (names not in order): Emily DiBacco, Carly Scott, Katie Kesler and Maggie Folger.

In middle school, Spencer Hubbard was bullied. Today, you can call him Mr. Batavia.

The Batavia High School senior won the title Friday night during its second annual Mr. Batavia competition.

When Hubbard's name was announced as the winner, a packed auditorium of high school students, parents and faculty let out a robust cheer and round of applause.

"It shows how far we've come as people that a gay student can become Mr. Batavia," Hubbard said during his acceptance speech.

Hubbard was tops in a field of 10 in a competition that included lip syncing, a talent contest, a Q&A and a tuxedo walk. Five judges from the community awarded points to the contestants and a committee tallied up the points to pick the winner.

More than $2,200 was raised for the winner's charity. In this case, Hubbard picked Habitat for Humanity.

"I feel like it's a basic need, that people need homes," Hubbard said. "A lot of people are homeless who don't deserve to be. They really need that help."

Hubbard is planning to attend the University of Tampa on a $25,000 scholarship. He will major in journalism.

BHS Principle Scott Williams praised Hubbard as a bright student and talented actor.
As part of the competition, Hubbard performed a self-written satire of a Target clerk that had more funny lines than a Saturday Night Live skit. 

Hubbard said he thinks his acting talent and his self confidence, especially during the swimsuit competition and lip syncing, is what helped sway the judges in his favor.

Last year, Lee Johnson won the contest, in its first year, and Johnson returned Friday night to entertain the crowd while the judges' ballots were tallied. It was a regular stand-up routine, but as he began to run out of material, Williams stepped in to help entertain the crown, including setting up an Ellen-like, Academy Awards selfie.

Competing this year were Adam Weaver, Charlie Williams, Blake Carter, Jake Paine, Tim Martin, Mathew Gabriele, Kenny McMaster, Casey Grice and Michael DiBaccco.

During his acceptance speech, Hubbard praised his fellow competitors and thanked them for being so supportive of each other throughout preparations for the show.

The fact that Johnson is so different from Hubbard, Hubbard said, shows the competition is valuable to the community.

"It shows different people can win," Hubbard said. "Last year Lee won, and he's really different from me. He runs in a different crowd. He was straight and I'm gay, and that was probably a really big thing, too. I said that in my speech as well. It shows how far we've come as people."

A lot has changed for Hubbard, he said, from middle school to his senior year.

"The award means a lot because in middle school I was bullied and now, look how far I can come," Hubbard said. "I think the big thing was I was just myself when I got to high school. I didn't really care what people thought. I didn't try hard to impress people."

Hubbard being congradulated by his fellow contestants.

Mike DiBacco sings Frank Sinatra's, "I've Got the World on a String."

Hubbard performing his sketch, a satire of a clerk from Target.

Sydney Loria, Ashlee Yasses and Haley Case were hostesses for the competition.

Matt Gabriele at the front of the stage during the tux walk.

Lee Johnson, last year's winner.

Principal Scott Williams during an Ellen/Oscar-inspired selfie with the cast and crew of the Mr. Batavia competition.

To purchase prints of these photos and the photos in the slide show, click here.

For the second year in a row, students at Batavia High School are putting on a Mr. Batavia contest aimed at building relationships between the high school and the community, particularly local nonprofits.

There are 10 contestants this year representing 10 different charities. Money raised will go to the winner's charity.

"We weren't sure how it was going to go last year and we raised $1,700, so we're hoping to exceed that this year," said Lisa Robinson, one of the faculty advisers for student government.

Along with the 10 boys competing, 15 girls are putting together the show (not everybody participating was available for a picture late this afternoon).

The contestants begin the show with a group dance, followed by a lip-sync contest, a talent contest, a swimsuit portion and then the boys come out in tuxedos donated by Charle's Mens Shop for a question-and-answer period.

Nine of the 10 charities have committed to having displays set up in the cafeteria for the evening.

The show starts at 7 p.m., Friday, March 21. Tickets are $7, $5 for students.

Congratulations to Lee Johnson, who won the first-ever Mr. Batavia contest held at Batavia High School last night.

Nine young men participated in the competition with any proceeds from the event going to the winner's charity of choice.

Johnson's charity was Genesee Cancer Assistance.

The other participants were Trey Abdella, Dennis Alton, Ryan Warner, Mike DiBacco, Matt Gabriele, Casey Grice, Tim Martin and Adam Weaver.

The group competed in dance, lip syncing, talent, swimsuit, tux walk and Q&A.

NOTE: None of the organizers ever contacted us about this event, otherwise we might have had more coverage. Thanks to Tammi Ferringer for telling us about Lee's win and sending in the picture.