photos

Yesterday, 5 p.m., the sky was beautiful, the sun was setting and I had just left the office on a photo hunting expedition when Billie called me and said a structure fire was reported on York Road.

Driving out to Le Roy then, I passed up what seemed like several potentially marvelous photos.

This morning, heading home from doing a follow-up story on York Road, the sky was a flat gray, so photo opportunities were scarce. 

I did like the view of this bare tree by the side of Linwood Road. The red car passing at the right time was a bonus.

After that, I found the free love seat available in front of Steve Upson's house on Bernd Road, Le Roy. I took the picture and left the seat, in case anybody else wants it.

Batavia's trick and treaters were out and about Sunday and several of them stopped by the haunted house on Watson Avenue.

One of Genesee County's great Halloween traditions returns this year -- Julie Allein and her daughter Kelsey have decorated their yard and barn with enough fright to scare the white off a ghost.

Julie Allein has been carving pumpkins and tricking out her barn at 8894 Boyce Road, Corfu, since 1997.

Saturday evening, Kelsey gave me a tour of her favorite haunts.

More pictures after the jump:

This is the sunset I found on West Main Street Road, Batavia, on Saturday evening.

While driving around town Saturday evening, I came across a group of boys playing hockey on Kibbe Avenue. Here's a few pictures from their good time.

To purchase pictures, click here.

More pictures after the jump:

At this point, most of the trees in our neck of the woods have lost their leaves. Some, though, retain their splendor, including one tree on the north side of Austin Park (Washington Avenue, across from the school district offices). It's a beautiful tree with a fascinating trunk. I took this picture late Saturday afternoon.

Saturday, the Batavia Fire Department held an open house, which included a chance for the kids to shoot a fire hose at traffic cones, a chance to get a close-up view of the fire trucks, information on fire safety, a child seat safety check (with the help of Batavia Police) and a demonstration of how the fire department can get trapped people out of a car.

The dismantling of a car was pretty fascinating and are a good portion of the pictures after the jump.

To purchase pictures from the event, click here.

There is great beauty to be found in Genesee County, but the best shots can't always be captured from public roads. Once in a while, I see a shot I want, but need to get permission to walk across private property. Today, I drove out to a house on Lewiston Road because I knew there was a barn I liked, also I've been interested in getting the best angle on the shot above. For both pictures, the best shot wouldn't come from the roadside. Fortunately, the landowner was home and kind enough to let me wander around on his property.

Paul Schlaggel stands with the giant pumpkins he's selling in front of his place on Walnut Avenue, Batavia.

I found myself awake quite early this morning, so I decided to drive out to Molasses Hill Road and see if I could catch the sunrise.

Yesterday, just after sunset, I was in all most the same spot seeing what kind of picture I could make. The result is below.

Most of the people who built Batavia are buried in Batavia Cemetery, from Joseph Ellicott and Dean Richmond to banker Trumbull Cary and writer John Yates, along with war heroes, merchants and politicians, as well as the wives, mothers and children who died too young.

The Batavia Cemetery Association provides a pamphlet for self-guided tours that plots the sites for 35 of the most prominent people buried under the giant, century-old trees that make the cemetery so photogenic.

I started taking photos for this project on Thursday with the idea of doing a post in advance of the Ghost Tour, but the overcast days weren't great for photographing fall leaves, so I couldn't finish up until Saturday morning.

More pictures after the jump:

Here are five pictures I took yesterday, after getting back into Genesee County, on my return from the Pembroke game in Holley.

The first two are in the area of Transit Road and Chapel Road, Byron. The barn below is on Towerhill Road, Byron, and the pumpkin house is on Bank Street Road. The final picture is Centennial Park, Batavia.

City firefighters were at Robert Morris School this afternoon teaching the Pre-K students about fire safety. The class time included instruction on drop-tuck-and-roll, using your "outside voice" to get a firefighter's attention, and not being afraid of the big person in the funny looking suit.

Work crews were on Ellicott Street this evening attempting to finish the repaving job through Batavia's downtown.

A worker told me that if it didn't rain, they should be able to finish by 6 a.m.

About an hour later, it did rain a bit.

He also told me that the hot asphalt is 300 degrees when it's laid down.

It's "Make a Difference Day," and as part of the effort, four Batavia High School students were in downtown this morning picking up trash on the sidewalks and flower beds. Above, Donald Fagan, a senior at BHS, patrols for litter in a flower bed on East Main Street.

Reader Amanda sent in this photo of the sunrise over Bergen this morning.

As part of Emergency Preparedness, the Town of Batavia Volunteer Fire Department held an open house today at its Lewiston Road headquarters. In addition to activities for children, tours of their fire trucks, equipment demonstrations and hot dogs, the volunteers were giving away smoke detectors.

Also, Lt. Nate Fix took me for a ride to the top of the ladder truck.

More pictures after the jump:

Another great sunset tonight. Here's a couple of shots I grabbed on Main Street.

This afternoon I had the pleasure of touring one of the businesses in the Harvester Center and when I found myself on an upper floor on the south end of the building, I was able to get a picture of William Morgan's statue at an angle we don't usually see.

If a sellout isn't enough measure of success for the inaugural Taste of Fall Wine Walk in downtown Batavia, the obvious fun all the guests and business owners were having Saturday evening, certainly sealed the deal.

More pictures after the jump (you won't see a frown or a scowl in the bunch!):