Alexander

A motorcycle rider from Saegertown, Pa., succumbed over the weekend to injuries he sustained in an accident on Route 20 in Alexander on Saturday.

According to State Police, Frank L. Eckart, 65, was eastbound on Broadway Road and was slowing for the intersection with Route 98 when he lost control of his bike.

Eckart was ejected from his 2005 Harley-Davidson along with a 61-year-old passenger, whose name wasn't released.  

Mercy Flight transported Eckart to Erie County Medical Center where he later died as a result of his injuries.

The accident was investigated by State Police. 

Alexander fire assisted at the scene.

Submitted photo and information from Student Transportation of America:

ALEXANDER -- Bus driver Vikki Boyce Czechowicz, who works for Alexander-based Student Transportation of America, received the Heroism Award recently from the NYS Education Department.

She is at left in the photo above with her manager Tonya Phillips.

The Herosim Award is one of several honors Czechowicz has received since rescuing 17 children from a school bus that became engulfed in flames after its engine caught fire May 28 in Sheldon, Wyoming County.

According to the bus company, which provides transportation for Genesee County schools, Czechowicz, who lives in Wyoming County, was proceeding through her morning route for the Attica Central School District on Maxon Road in Sheldon when she noticed smoke coming from under her dash.

She radioed dispatch that she was evacuating the 17 students (K-12) who were on the bus. She was on her way to pick up two more students when the mishap occurred.

After the children had exited the bus, which she attributed to their prepardedness and ability to listen and obey instructions, Czechowicz went back inside to check for sleeping students. As she came to the front of the bus, she saw the flames coming from the engine area and within minutes the school bus was fully engulfed in flames and the front tires exploded. No one was injured.

“It was due to this driver’s quick thinking and school bus safety training that all the students were safely evacuated,” said Paul Overbaugh, director of Pupil Transportation, NYS Education Department.

Above, Marine veteran and former Batavia resident Jim Heatherman. Photo courtesy of Jim Heatherman.

Editor's Note: Eighteen days apart in 1968 two 1964 Notre Dame High School graduates were killed in Vietnam. Today, on the 51st anniversary of one of their deaths, their classmate and fellow Vietnam vet Jim Heatherman remembers them and wishes he got to know them better.

Story by Jim Heatherman.

It has been 50 years since I was a Marine lieutenant in Vietnam. It doesn’t seem like it but it’s true. Longer still since I graduated from Notre Dame High School in Batavia. I think of those days often. Notre Dame was a fine school but certainly not heaven on Earth.

My friends and I were by no means angels when we went to school there. I remember helping to make hydrogen sulphide in the chemistry lab, which permeated the entire school with the smell of rotten eggs and nearly caused an evacuation.

Don’t get me wrong. I am a proud graduate of Notre Dame in 1964, a college graduate later, and a Marine Vietnam combat veteran later still.

Many of my family grew up, lived, and died in Batavia. My brother, Pat, and I regularly visit their gravesites although I now live in Tulsa, Okla. My friend, Dave Reilly, has written wonder articles for The Batavian reminiscing those youthful days in Batavia.

Incidentally, we older people think in our minds and hearts that we are still young people living back in the 1960s. We try to ignore the pains in our knees...and, well, everywhere else, too.

I don’t think we spent much time thinking of the world situation including Vietnam when we were in high school. We were accepting our role as average teenagers thinking mostly of driving, girls, and sports. Since most of the girls didn’t particularly care for us we were able to focus mostly on the other two things.

Of course there were other guys in our class who were better looking, smarter, and all around cooler than we were and they got the girls. I wonder whatever happened to them. And then we had other classmates who were not members of our group and we didn’t think much about knowing them at all.

Another was Thomas Welker (inset photo, below right), who with others was bussed into Notre Dame daily from a farm community.

Like Dan, Tom was an outsider to our group and we hardly got to know him. Unfortunately that did not change through four years of high school. I’d like to think that we are now wiser than we were then. That is our blessing but it is also our curse.

Well I graduated from Notre Dame, went on to college and joined a Naval ROTC unit. When I graduated from college I was happily commissioned a Marine 2nd Lieutenant. I come from a Marine Corps family so that result was expected and inevitable.

After additional training at Quantico, Va., I got orders to WESTPAC Ground Forces. That meant Vietnam, of course. I was fortunate to survive my combat tour in Vietnam as an infantry platoon commander and battalion staff officer.

I spent several more years in the Marine Corps and then returned to civilian life. I got married and had five children. They all went to Catholic school, too, and are all college graduates.

The four boys are Marine combat veterans in Iraq and Afghanistan, later became federal agents, and one is now a United States Attorney.

My daughter is a wonderful teacher in a Catholic school in Tulsa. I go there and mostly talk about Revolutionary and Civil War battles, although the kids want to talk about Vietnam, too. I have 15 grandchildren. I go to many, many sports events. I think often how blessed I am to have that family.

Then I think of Dan and Tom -- the guys that we never really got to know in high school. When most of us were happily running off to college in 1964 they were both preparing to join the Navy.

Dan became a member of a Naval Construction Force battalion -- the Seabees -- and was eventually sent to Vietnam. People in those positions rarely die in combat but Dan was killed.

He is buried in St. Joseph Cemetery in Batavia, only 50 yards from my grandparents. I want to visit there often and leave a memento.

Tom received medical training in the Navy and became a Corpsman. Eventually he was sent to Vietnam and, of course, assigned to a Marine infantry unit.

As a Marine myself, I can tell you that no one is more revered by the Marines they serve than the Navy Corpsmen. They are always known as “Doc.” Tom was killed on a patrol with the Marines he served. He is buried in Attica.

I read in an article that his mother never really recovered from the loss of her son. I’m sure she is not alone.

Looking back now, I think of two things. As a very fortunate head of a family of 27 people today, I think of the void and unfulfilled promise that was cut down for Tom and Dan and so many others in Vietnam. The wives, children, and grandchildren that never were. Also, as a wiser and a bit more humble person now, I think that just being the goofy teenagers we were in those days should not have been an excuse for not knowing and appreciating our Notre Dame classmates, Tom and Dan, more.

Yet I’m sure we are not alone either. Wouldn’t it be nice after all these years to have a do-over?

Inset photos courtesy of Dave Reilly.

The Department of Environmental Conservation called the Genesee County Dispatch Center to report the possibility of tires being burned on Railroad Avenue in Alexander. A first responder checked it out and found the location to be 3543 Railroad Ave.

Alexander Fire Department was called to respond, but the first responder on scene says he spoke to the homeowner who said he would put the fire out.

"He's just got a small fire burning here and he's going to put it out now," the first responder says.

No police response warranted, but DEC will follow up for a report tomorrow.

UPDATE 4:53 p.m.: Fire is out. Assignment is back in service.

Call Lynn Bezon today & list your property with Reliant Real Estate!

A deputy advises dispatch that he used one shot to put down a diseased racoon behind 10262 Alexander Road in Alexander.

Road Closure

The Genesee County Highway Department announces that Railroad Avenue between Route 98 and Sandpit Road in Alexander is closed starting today, Aug. 13, through Aug. 27^th. Detour signs will be posted.

The public will be notified when it reopens.

Photo and information submitted by Paul Judkins, of Bonita Springs, Fla., formerly from Alexander.

The Alexander Central School Class of 1955 celebrated its 64^th reunion on Aug. 7^th, in a luncheon held at the Terry Hills restaurant in Batavia.

In attendance were nine of the known 18 surviving members of the class, along with three spouses of deceased members of the class. These were Wayne Keller, husband of the late Sharon Werner Keller; Marcia Brown, wife of the late Harold Brown; and Peggy Kelsey, wife of the late Bob Kelsey.

Pictured, in front: Carol Hirsch Janes, Annette Roth Lund, Joanne Gerould Hyde and Joyce Pestlin Sciarrino. Back row: Jerry George, Carl (Golanski) Gerard, Dean Wright and Paul Judkins. Attended reunion but not pictured: Bernice Greiner Wight.

This home has two large first floor bedrooms as well as first floor bath and laundry for those that don't do stairs real well! There is an oversized bedroom upstairs -- perfect for large bedroom or rec room.

Fully enclosed front porch area that adds a lot of additional space perfect for all your extras -- coats, shoes, pantry, etc. Home has attached garage and nice yard, off the beaten path definitely worth a look. Priced below assessment and priced to sell. Click here for more information on this listing.

New Listing; 3374 Church St., Alexander: Look no further, this home checks all the boxes! 3 Bedroom, bath and a half ranch on great village street. Updated, neutral and clean with awesome attic and basement space if you really want to expand your space!

This home is great and definitely should be seen. Easy to get into at anytime, just call! Click here for more information on this listing. Call Lynn Bezon at Reliant Real Estate today and list with us!

Submitted photos and press release:

TOWN OF BATAVIA

• William J. Allen Jr. 
• Josh K. Boyle
• Thomas M. Garlock 
• Clayton A. Gorski 
• Thomas E. Marlowe 
• Bryan A. Moscicki

EAST PEMBROKE

• Matthew N. Allen 
• Samantha M. Cavalieri

One of five modules required to earn  the Fire Officer 1 certification, the Company Training & Community Risk Reduction course covers the basic responsibilities of the fire officer as they relate to community relations, company-level building inspections and community risk reduction.

Additionally, this course provides potential fire officers with the basic knowledge of how to determine company-level training needs, teaching from a lesson plan, documentation of training activities, and different methods to conduct company-level training. 

Updated, neutral and clean with awesome attic and basement space – if you really want to expand your space!

This home is great and definitely should be seen. Easy to get into at anytime, just call Lynn Bezon at 585-344-4663 today or click here fo rmore information on this listing.

Here's some of the action from the Alexander FD Tractor Pull last night. The pulls resume at 7 p.m.

A railroad employee reports a "large herd of cattle" near the railroad crossing at Molasses Hill Road in Alexander. The caller said they "appear to be unfenced." A deputy is responding.

Submitted photo and press release:

SENECE FALLS -- Apache hideaway. Hippodrome. Death drag. Shoulder stand. Back bend. These are some of the daring moves that visitors to the 2019 Empire Farm Days will see demonstrated by 14-year-old, award-winning trick rider Courtney Jean Schum.

The teenager, who lives in Alexander, is known as “Courtney Jean, the Trick Riding Machine” (in photo above) and she will make her first visit to the agricultural and rural living event at Rodman Lott and Son Farms in Seneca Falls on Wednesday, Aug. 7.

Her shows will be at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. in the Runnings Round-Up live horse demonstration ring.

Courtney Jean has thrilled crowds at the International Plowing Match and Royal Agricultural Winter Fair and at rodeos in Canada and New York State. Courtney Jean won an Ontario RAM Rodeo Tour Finals Champion Buckle in 2017.

Next January, she will compete in the trick riding competition at the International Professional Rodeo Association Finals in Oklahoma.

Courtney Jean, who is also an accomplished barrel racer, is part of Tanglefoote Stables LLC, operated by her mother Sue Dominesey-Schum at Alexander and in Sheldon.

The Runnings Round-Up live horse demonstrations at Empire Farm Days feature a different presenter each day. (Emma and Jack Minteer and their wild-to-mild American Mustangs will be the featured presenters on Tuesday, Aug. 6. On Thursday, Aug. 8, meet volunteers and equines with Begin Again Horse Rescue (based in Lima)).