Elba residents Dan Starowitz and Brian Shuknecht got started in lumberjack competitions while in college. Yesterday, along with their friend Nick Agoglia, they put on a demonstration of a competition at Cedar Street Sales and Rentals in Batavia.
The new Daniel A. Van Detta Stadium officially opens tonight with a game between Batavia and Livonia at 7 o'clock.
There will be a ribbon cutting at 6:30 p.m. and the public is invited.
Back in May, I decided to make a documentary about the Upton Monument to coincide with its centennial. The initial deadline for finishing it was the rededication ceremony in August. Obviously, I missed that deadline, so then I tried for the end of August. Still, wasn't done.
Finally, it's done.
Thank you to Ryan Duffy, Michael Eula, Larry Barnes, Jim Neider, and Bill Kauffman for their help and interviews, and Dan Fischer for his narration, and to Billie Owens for reading the poem by Bessie Chandler.
I imagine more than 100 hours of work went into making this. I hope you like it. I thought it important to create something documenting and celebrating the history of our community's most significant landmark.
Chances are, everybody who watches this will learn something new about either the history of the monument, the life of Emory Upton, and the context of the times in which it was built.
NextEra Energy Resources held an open house at the South Byron Fire Hall on Wednesday, giving area residents an opportunity to learn more about a proposed 1,500- to 2,000-acre, 280-megawatt solar energy project in the Town of Byron.
Project Manager Keddy Chandran discussed the project with The Batavian during the open house (video).
Union Street has been plagued by water main breaks over the past few years but that should be a thing of the past with a new water line in place.
As part of a $2.3 million project, the city has replaced the water mains on Union Street, South Main Street, and Brooklyn Avenue, as well as replacing sidewalks and repaving the streets.
The cost of the project is covered primarily by grants and funds from the federal government, called Community Development Block Grants.
The project also included storm drain improvements at Williams Park.
The contract for the work was awarded in March to Randsco Pipeline Inc.
Today, Union Street was milled in preparation to lay down new asphalt.
Muckdogs fans have taken notice of outfielder J.D. Orr's unique base-running style.
Once Orr reaches base -- and he reaches base a lot, leading the NYPL with a .469 on-base percentage, Orr likes to hop back and forth, trying to time a hop just right to give him an extra step in a potential stolen base attempt.
The technique, which he said he learned from his college coach, has proven successful. Orr's 29 stolen bases is second in the league and he often gets free bases -- making a dash from first to third -- on wild pitches and passed balls when his movement gets inside the heads of the opposing battery.
Orr was a 10th-round draft pick by the Miami Marlins this year from Mount Vernon, Ohio.
In the video, Orr discusses his technique.
See also:
A couple of years ago players throughout the New York Penn League complained about the field at Dwyer Stadium and League President Ben Hayes wasn't happy with the situation.
On Wednesday night, less than two years after the Muckdogs hired Cooper Thomson as the team's new head groundskeeper, recruiting him from Australia, Hayes was on the field before the Muckdog's first post-season game since 2010 in an absolutely poetic mindset about the state of the field today.
"That's what makes baseball so special," Hayes said before Batavia's opening playoff series game against Lowell, which Batavia won 4-1. "When you see it on TV and you see how beautiful the outfield looks and how beautiful the infield looks, you know the beauty of that is an art and it's hard to find an artist like that."
Hayes announced to the fans before the game that Cooper, his assistant Joe Mogavero, and the rest of the crew were being credited with maintaining the NYPL "Field of the Year," and that Cooper was being named Groundskeeper of the Year.
"The guy has been president for a very long time and we talked early on in the piece about this field then the need for change in this field," Thomson said. "He's ecstatic with the changes and I'm glad that I can bring it to him and the team and make sure that Batavia isn't at the bottom anymore and we're setting the standards."
Previously:
It's a big step moving from fourth grade to fifth grade when Batavia students enter middle school and find they must now manage getting themselves to multiple classrooms and taking care of their books and belongings in a locker.
To help with the transition, Batavia Middle School hosts Connect Day on the day before classes officially begin, when teachers and eighth-graders help the new kids learn about their new school.
Local artist Jill Pettigrew designed and is overseeing a community art project, a mural that depicts the history of Batavia on a wall on Bank Street behind the GO ART! building.
GOW Counties Overdose Awareness event at Austin Park in Batavia.
See also: Overdose Awareness Day highlights work of peers, need for more support for recovery
Chris Jacobs was in Batavia today and this morning he stopped by The Coffee Press for an interview with The Batavian.
Community Action of Orleans & Genesee sponsored a children's carnival at Lambert Park on Friday.
Thursday, three art shows opened at GO ART!, including a show for the Batavia Society of Artists, Patience Wnek, and Kenneth Brant.
The Child Advocacy Center has completed phase I of its $250,000 renovation project and on Thursday held an open house, which was attended by Rep. Chris Collins.
RIck von Kramer shared with us this quick video of new spans that have been delivered for installation over the Tonawanda Creek for the new Pratt Road Bridge.
Here's a video we did previously about the project:
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