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Oliver's Candies

Starting Friday, a special two-week Easter Egg Hunt begins, courtesy of Batavia Kiwanis Club

By Press Release

Above, a clutch of gleaming Golden Prize Eggs, each containing a special note inside.

Photos and information from Matt Landers:

The Kiwanis Club of Batavia is excited to offer a modified version of its annual Easter Egg Hunt for the community to come together and enjoy.

Due to COVID-19 restrictions, the typical Easter Egg Hunt could not be safely run, but the Kiwanis members couldn’t stand the thought of canceling the event outright for a second year in a row due to coronavirus.

So this year’s event takes one of the fun aspects of the annual event -- the coveted Golden Prize Egg -- and makes it the focus of the hunt.

Starting on Friday, March 19th, there will be one Golden Prize Egg hidden each day in Centennial Park for the kids to look for. One egg will be hidden each day through March 31st.

The eggs will be hidden at different times to allow for families with different schedules to walk the park looking for the eggs. Each egg will entitle a child to an Oliver’s Chocolate Bunny as with past years' winners.

There will be a note inside each egg with instructions on where to gather for a picture with the Easter Bunny and to collect the prize chocolate bunny.

Winners must bring this note with them to collect the prize chocolate bunny. There will be a limit of one Golden Prize Egg per family.

The Kiwanis Club is very happy to provide this safe and healthy activity for families to participate in over the course of two weeks.

We encourage the whole family to come out and spend time together in the park, but since this is an Easter Egg Hunt for kids, prizes will be restricted to kids 12 and under, just as in the past. That’s not saying a big brother or big sister can’t help though!

Happy Hunting!

Below, the bewhiskered Easter Bunny with some Golden Prize Eggs.

Below, Batavia Kiwanis Club members and their furry, big-footed pal with some Golden Prize Eggs.

Sweet! Tompkins donates Oliver's Candy Bars to frontline workers at Rochester Regional Health

By Billie Owens

Submitted photo and press release:

In an effort to brighten the day for local frontline workers during the COVID-19 pandemic, Tompkins Bank of Castile, Tompkins Insurance Agencies and Tompkins Financial Advisors donated 3,400 Oliver’s Candy Bars to the Rochester Regional Health Staff.

The sweet treat will be handed out to all employees as a way to say "Thank You!"

Pictured from left are: Steve Beardsley, senior vice president, Commercial Banking regional manager, presents Jim Creighton and Gina Burden-Rambert of Rochester Regional Health with 3,400 candy bars to distribute to their staff.

Video: 30th Annual Decision Makers Ag Tour visits local wineries and cideries

By Howard B. Owens
Video Sponsor
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For the 30th year in a row, the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, along with Cornell Cooperative Extension, the Genesee County Farm Bureau, and the Soil & Water Conservation District conducted the Decision Makers Ag Tour.

The tour started off at the fairgrounds with a talk by Bill Schreiber, CEO of O-AT-KA Milk Products Co-Operative Inc. Then the group visited Autumn Moon Farm Winery, Black Creek Cidery, and Sweet Life Country Store, which included representatives from Circle B Winery.

Landmark Society Awards, Oliver's Candies, Adaptive Re-use

By Howard B. Owens

Award text:

Oliver's Candies is a Batavia and Genesee County institution, has been making candy and confections since 1932. It is a destination for many folks from the area and from far away. Over the last few years, cramped conditions at the Batavia operation sent co-owner Jeremy Liles searching for a solution to the problem.

"We've been busting at the seams in Batavia for a couple of years now and we've talked about building onto the existing building (in Batavia)," Oliver's co-owner and Vice President Jeremy Liles said. "We looked at expanding at Main Street location, but the Tonawanda Creek was problematic and the option was just too expensive."

Liles said, "We didn't choose Elba, Elba chose us."

Oliver’s owned commercial properties in several locations in Genesee County. They looked at property in Le Roy and Corfu, but the drive time didn't work. The Elba option was only a six-minute commute from Batavia, and although it required an extensive overhaul, Liles said they acted quickly to seize the opportunity.

"It called to us, and we acted fast," he said. "It had a cute barn for the store, loading docks, smooth concrete. We converted the inside; insulated it; added central heat and air-conditioning, put in steel walls that are easy to clean, new hoods for the ovens. Redid the roofs, which were pretty worn. It's nice."

The structure was built as a warehouse around 1920; it has served as a produce stand and an ice cream stand and a barn sale site.

The conversion of an old and long unused warehouse presented lots of challenges. Liles said that the building cost "more than I ever wanted to pay" but the location was perfect for the growth potential of the candy operation.

"It's very scary -- I've got to sell a lot of candy now," Liles said. "It's a huge change, huge growth, but a lot of opportunities there."

Liles said they are providing a large catalog company with private-label candies and are growing sales in Virginia, North and South Carolina, and are looking at an opportunity in Georgia.

Liles said "I love doing all this. It's fun, exciting but also very scary."

The Landmark Society of Genesee County presents the 2019 Adaptive Re-use Award to Oliver’s Candies.

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