batavia

Deputies have been dispatched to Veterans Memorial Drive following the report of two men stealing coats from Dick's Sporting Goods.

The men reportedly fled on bicycles.

They are described as white, one wearing a black sweater, baseball cap, and jeans and the other in blue jeans and gray sweater. 

They were last seen headed toward Walmart.

UPDATE 2:45 p.m.: One suspect in custody.

Press Release:

On Thursday, Nov. 9 the Batavia High School faculty, administration, and students are planning to celebrate and honor our Veterans in Genesee County. 

We would like to invite our Genesee County Veterans to attend our ceremony to honor and thank you for your service to our country.

All veterans are asked to arrive at 8 a.m. at Batavia High School. The ceremony will begin at 8:15 a.m. in the Batavia High School Auditorium. There will be performances from our High School Band, orchestra, and Chorus, a student representative speaker, and a keynote speaker. 

After the ceremony, we will be offering a reception for our veterans in the High School Library. 

If you are interested in attending the Veteran’s Day Ceremony, RSVP the following information:

1. Name (Full Military Title)
2. Years of service
3. Military Branch

Please email or mail by Nov. 1.

Mail:

Collin Murtaug
Batavia High School
260 State Street
Batavia, NY 14020

Email: CMurtaugh@bataviacsd.org or JHaggett@bataviacsd.org. 

If you have a picture of you in uniform, please send it in with a reservation. We will return the picture on Nov. 9 at the end of the ceremony. We hope you can join us!

Press Release:

The Genesee County Master Gardeners are excited to announce that we will be collecting NEW, unwrapped BOOKS for youth, ages infant to 18 years old.  The books will be donated to the local Salvation Army for their annual Christmas gift giving campaign.

Books enhance a child’s ability to read and to communicate effectively.  The gift of a new book delivers a message of hope and instills self-confidence in children.

You can drop books off at the Genesee County Cooperative Extension office (420 East Main St., Batavia), Monday – Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  There is a collection bin set up near the reception area window.  Donations of new books can be made through Dec. 4.

The Genesee County Master Gardeners thank you in advance for your support.

Please contact Jan at 585-343-3040 x132 if you have questions.

“CCE of Genesee County is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.”

Press Release:

AmeriCorps Seniors, a program dedicated to connecting people aged 55 and older with meaningful volunteer opportunities, is thrilled to invite residents of all ages to the upcoming Volunteer Fair on Tuesday, Nov. 14. This event will be held from 10 a.m. to noon at the Genesee County Office For The Aging, located at 2 Bank St., Batavia.

The AmeriCorps Seniors Volunteer Fair promises to be an enlightening and engaging event, open to all members of the community who wish to explore the world of volunteering and community service. Courtney Iburi, AmeriCorps Seniors RSVP Director, will be available to help guide and connect people to volunteer opportunities. She is committed to finding the perfect volunteer opportunity to match your interests, skills, and passions.

What to Expect 

• Diverse Volunteer Opportunities: AmeriCorps Seniors partners with numerous local organizations to provide a wide array of volunteer opportunities. This event is your chance to learn about these opportunities and how you can get involved.
• Perfect Match for You: Finding the right volunteer opportunity that aligns with your interests and skills is crucial. At the Volunteer Fair, you will discover how AmeriCorps Seniors can help you find the perfect volunteer match that not only fulfills your desire to give back but also utilizes your talents effectively. 
• Support and Recognition: AmeriCorps Seniors offers valuable support to volunteers, including supplemental liability insurance while volunteering and various training opportunities. We also make it a point to celebrate our volunteers at an annual recognition event, acknowledging their contributions to the community.

AmeriCorps Seniors is committed to providing meaningful ways for individuals to purposefully serve their community, creating a positive impact on the lives of others. 

The first 50 attendees will receive a special gift package containing an insulated tote, notebook, and pen. A drawing for exciting prizes will also be held for every attendee who visits each attending table. For more information about the AmeriCorps Seniors Volunteer Fair or any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us at 585-343-1611.

You are invited to attend a waffle breakfast on Saturday, November 11 th from 7AM to 10AM at Bontrager Auction Center in Batavia, NY! Come and enjoy all-you-can-eat waffles, sausage, coffee and all the fixin’s! Admission is $10. Non-perishable food donations for those in need are also being accepted at this event.

All funds raised at the breakfast support the Christian Missions & Relief Sale, a benefit auction planned for August 10 th, 2024. This sale is seeking to support efforts to further God’s Kingdom through two organizations: Christian Aid Ministries and the East African Initiative. Christian Aid Ministries is a organization working to provide relief and the Gospel to those in areas of crisis and need around the world. East African Initiative is an effort of Christians in Western NY to train and minister to church
leaders in growing East African Churches.

Tickets are also being sold pre-sale. For tickets or more information on this event, contact Zak Jantzi, (585) 409-7408.

Batavia's youth basketball camp, this year run by JV Coach Dave Pero, opened on Saturday.

Pero said 20 kids signed up for the camp, and 20 more showed up on the first morning, for a total of 40 boys and girls participating.

The camp is free and lasts six weeks, with a week off for Thanksgiving.

There are three sessions at John Kennedy Primary School each Saturday:

• Grades 1-2, 9 to 10 a.m.
• Grades 3-4, 10 to 11:15 a.m.
• Grades 5-6, 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.

The players work on the fundamentals of the game -- dribbling, passing, shooting.

"The emphasis is on the kids having fun," Pero said. "The goal is to introduce the game of basketball to young kids and help the older kids get prepared for their travel seasons."

Photos by Howard Owens

Heartbreaking is the best way to describe the Batavia Blue Devil's 26-20 loss to the Honeoye Falls/Lima Cougars in the Class B football semifinal on Friday night.

The boys' varsity squad was by no means guaranteed the win when the defense made a costly mistake late in the fourth quarter.

But the mistake gave the Cougars' offense new life after the defense had snuffed an apparent scoring drive in the red zone.

First-year head coach Alex Veltz took responsibility for the mental error, saying he hadn't properly prepared his team for a rare circumstance in a high school football game: a blocked field goal attempt.

The defense, apparently unaware that, unlike a point-after attempt, the ball is still live when the kick is blocked, didn't immediately scramble to obtain possession of the ball, and HFL lingered a couple of seconds, too.  When a Batavia player did pick up the ball, he tossed it away, making it a fumble, and at least one HFL player had the situational awareness to pounce on it, giving the Cougars a new set of downs and another chance to score. That TD became the difference in an otherwise evenly-matched game. 

The Blue Devils got the ball back with less than 1:30 left on the clock and couldn't mount a quick-strike drive.

"You don't see many high school field goals," Veltz said in an on-field interview with The Batavian after the game. "It's just not a situation you encounter very much. It was something we didn't prep for, so my message to the team was I took ownership of it because it was a situation we didn't prepare for, a blocked field goal, reacting to a live ball, knowing that is different and the guys weren't ready for it."

It was a big game for junior running back Zailen Griffen, who scored all three of Batavia's TDs on 20 carries for 160 yards.

Cole Grazioplene had three receptions for 25 yards, and one carry for 37 yards.

On defense, Maggio Buchholz had 13.5 tackles; Lakoda Mruczek, 8.5 tackles; and Carter Mullen, one interception.

Veltz took over a young team, and while he will lose three of his senior captains to graduation, he expects good things from the Blue Devils in 2024.

For more photos and to purchase prints, click here.

City officials have been keeping a close eye on the Bank Street property once owned and operated by Batavia Iron and Metal Company, and in more recent months, where the grounds have been the target of remediation work by the state Department of Environmental Conservation.

Although the City of Batavia no longer owns the property and will likely move to foreclose on it and devise a re-use strategy, City Manager Rachael Tabelski said she is pleased with all that has taken place there since the DEC has claimed it as a Superfund site for brownfield cleanup.

“Re-use of the site will be dependent on the level of clean-up.  If the site has been cleaned to unrestricted, residential and/or commercial activities would be allowed there,” Tabelski said.  “The work the DEC has done at this parcel is truly amazing, and on behalf of the City, I would like to thank the members of the site cleanup team, from the engineers, construction, monitors, trucking, etc. and DEC for the leadership and prioritizing community health. Any time a brownfield site in our city is cleaned up, either by the DEC or a private developer, it is an accomplishment we should celebrate.”

The city threw that celebration online recently with some photos of the work-in-progress at the site that sits between Dwyer Stadium and private homeowners.

Photos from City of Batavia online post

Back then
After nearly 50 years operating as a metal recycling business and then sitting defunct for another dozen or so years next to Dwyer Stadium, Batavia Iron and Metal has been on a slow track for cleanup, and the next phase to get it back on the tax rolls began more than a year ago, Jeff Wernick of New York State Department of Environmental Conservation said previously.

DEC put out a call for bids to conduct remediation of approximately 50,000 tons of PCB-impacted soil for off-site disposal, backfill and restoration, Wernick said in response to The Batavian’s inquiries in 2022.

“DEC received four viable bids,” Wernick said. "The bids are associated with the remediation efforts under the State Superfund program. Work is being performed under a self-implementation agreement with the United States Environmental Protection Agency. DEC’s role for future use is limited to the completion of the cleanup activities and the release of the remediated site for residential or commercial use in accordance with local zoning ordinances.”

The winning bid award is expected in the fall, with work to start in the spring of 2023, he said. The scope of work is estimated to cost $15 million to $20 million. Remedial activities include the removal of PCB-contaminated soil, temporary water treatment, backfill, and restoration, including the transport and disposal of non-hazardous and hazardous soils. 

The site at 301 Bank St., Batavia, earned special attention from the Department of Environmental Conservation more than a dozen years after it went defunct and was abandoned. Cleanups had been initiated for neighboring properties and the business site from 2013 to 2018.

And now
Since then, DEC has been overseeing the comprehensive cleanup that, once complete, “will be fully protective of public health and the environment,” DEC Assistant Public Information Officer Denis Slattery said Friday. “Remedial work at the site is moving forward as scheduled with the transport and disposal of 65,000 tons of impacted soil and debris to off-site permitted facilities, as well as backfilling, and restoration of wetland areas. 

“Areas suitable for fall planting and seeding will be restored before work shuts down for the winter in December,” he said. “Site activity will resume in the spring with the restoration of paved areas and permanent fencing.”

Work is projected to be completed by summer 2024, he said. The site is anticipated to be restored for commercial use under an easement in accordance with local zoning laws. 

“DEC will continue to coordinate with the city as the project moves toward completion,” Slattery said.  

A DEC fact sheet from 2018 states that, based on the April 2013 Record of Decision, the cleanup included removal of contaminated soil and debris and from on-site and parcels located near the former facility. The Site operated as a metal recycling facility from 1951 to 1999.

Batavia Iron and Metal aftermath
Batavia Iron and Metal also purchased and handled electrical transformers on the property. Two furnaces operated at the facility from the early 1970s until 1994 for the purpose of reclaiming wire and smelting white metals. Prior to the use of the furnaces, the facility utilized open burning in Dumpsters in the yard to remove insulation from the wiring.

DEC took charge of designing and implementing this cleanup to remove the contaminants that have migrated from the site onto City property, the Fact Sheet states. As part of the remedy, the installation of sub-slab depressurization systems at three residences near the site was completed in 2013. In addition, a cleanup involving soil removal at three residences was completed in 2014.

Further work included soil removal and restoration activities along the rear property boundary of 299 Bank Street and 301 Bank Street. The goal of the cleanup effort was “to ensure the effective removal and proper disposal of contaminated soil and to restore the property with clean soil.” At least one neighbor — who lives next door to the defunct business — had complained about potential health issues from toxins leaching into his water system and how his trees would not grow in the contaminated soil.

Work done in 2017 was performed by Nature’s Way Environmental of Alden, with oversight and inspection provided by DEC. Soil identified for remediation was to be excavated and disposed of off-site. All areas that were disturbed during the removal were also to be restored, and the same for any City of Batavia-owned roads, utilities, or other infrastructure impacted by the cleanup activities.

DEC and the New York State Department of Health approved a Community Air Monitoring Plan that required continuous air monitoring during all excavation and backfilling activities to ensure no additional contamination was released to the environment or adjacent properties during the cleanup.

The project is being funded and conducted pursuant to terms of the State Superfund program, intended for “Brownfield” areas that are contaminated with toxic waste and in need of remediation for safe future use.

A native of Rochester who has lived “everywhere” before settling down in Batavia eight years ago, Eric Zwieg could easily be described as a journeying artist.

Zwieg, who has more recently racked up academic degrees with no stopping in sight, spent his childhood in his grandmother’s cultural Chautauqua Institute surroundings, where he saw great jazz legends, later pursuing music performance in college before quitting after a year to indulge in the real thing — hitting the road for the next several years, forming his own bands, writing songs, recording albums, and scoring acting gigs for Indie movies. 

“I really wasn’t getting out of it what I wanted. My mother had been an opera singer in college, so she really wanted me to get the schooling, but it wasn’t meant for me. I’d rather hang in the bars,” Zwieg said during an interview with The Batavian. “I worked really hard. I was very industrious,” he said, adding the piece that most aspiring artists can relate to. “I was a personal trainer, did restaurant jobs, gallery jobs, I used to light shows for galleries, anything to make a buck here and there. And it all added up to put food on the table and pay rent.”

He dabbled in writing by drafting his own audition scripts for the theater “to help me stand out a little bit, you know, instead of the same old, same old stuff they hear.” 

“So I was always trying to be creative in that respect. That got me the Indie film parts," he said. "They didn’t pay anything, but you’re working, and you’re doing what you really want to do.”

Since all of that, for the last seven years, he’s been in school full-time, earning a bachelor’s degree in writing in 2016 and his master’s in writing four years later. And “that’s where my writing really started to take on some importance in my life,” he said.

He then obtained his master’s in fine arts at Goddard College this July, which is when he completed the thesis he is using as the basis for his staged reading of “Passenger: A Billion Little Pieces.” It debuts at 7 p.m. Nov. 9 at GO Art!’s main gallery, 201 East Main St., Batavia.  

“It’s a fully hybrid memoir, which is important that people understand that, and it’s based on postmodern writing disciplines and elements, and postmodern literature, having started after World War II … I’m using all the literary elements, I really wanted to pull a card trick off here, not only on my mentors but on the readers,” he said. “I really want to fill it chock full of all this stuff that, it’s aesthetically beautiful to read, but they don’t know what’s going on. And so it kind of takes one to know one. So there’s so much hidden, but it’s stylistically very academic.”

This presentation was made possible with Zwieg’s fifth Ripple grant award through GO Art!

“Passenger: A Billion Little Pieces—postmodern reflections in an attempt at several literary sensibilities, attitudes, and genre” is a hybrid of prose, poetry (Haiku, prosaic, anaphoric, repetition, lyric, narrative), definitions, quotes, lists, font variations, cut-and-paste, liberal punctuation, foreign language, dramatic and film dialogue insertions, homage, pastiche, text colorization, watermarks, absurdum, images, page breaks, use of whitespace, academic annotations, object blocks, postmodern concepts (metafiction, unreliable narration, intertextuality, anti-authorism, rejection-embracement of high and low culturalism, nonlinear storyline), embedded dramaturgical direction, irony, metaphor, existential thought, epistemology, naïve realism, philosophical skepticism, parody-satire, unrealistic narratives, paradox, sarcasm, humor, multiple POVs, dreams within dreams, stories within stories, nonuse of page numbers, contractions, quotation marks, and a bit of memoir, be it faux, pragmatic or idealistic.

Those are a lot of varying elements. Given the academic basis of the reading, and you say so much is hidden, will the audience get it? 
Maybe not. They might not fully understand the big picture, he said, but will get the vignettes. 

“They’ll get the chapters, and they’ll see this guy Henry Grace’s character,” Zwieg said. “He’s an everyman. He’s kind of an island.”

As Zwieg described Grace, and his own existence over the last number of years, one might wonder if there’s also some autobiography in here as well. There is some loneliness. 

Passenger is a professional reading with paid performers featuring Richard Ferris, Stephen VanValkenburg and Zwieg. While there are no costumes or sets, and perhaps because of that, it’s the words — their nuance, their lilt, their palpable meaning, their pronunciation and embrace as delivered by the performers — that make this show, Zwieg said.  

He pays homage to his favorite authors, Kurt Vonnegut, David Foster Wallace, and poet Lawrence Ferlinghetti, who founded City Lights Bookstore in San Francisco. 

“I love these writers so much, you’re paying homage to them,” he said. I’m not trying to compare myself to them. I have my own twist on it too.”

Vonnegut is an American writer well known for his “Slaughterhouse-Five,” which Zwieg specifically referenced, and Foster Wallace is a postmodern novelist. His other muse, if it can be called that, was rock band Television’s album “Marquee Moon,” of which he painstakingly rifled through all eight tracks to pull references, quotes and footnotes that have significance for him. 

“There's a section when Henry falls in love with music as a teenager, right? And he goes to see that live band for the first time. So that's where this concept comes from Television. Unless you're a real music nerd, not a lot of people know about it. But this was at CBGBs in the mid-70s, which blew up with Blondie, The Ramones, Talking Heads, Television, on and on and on. It was just, that was the passion of music,” he said. “And so that's the connection to music for me. So the eight chapters, you know, See No Evil, Marquee Moon, whatever on down, are the track listings on that album. And there are quotes. There are footnotes throughout … there are seven or eight pages of footnotes that relate back to the photos, quotations, movie quotes, movie dialogue, all that stuff. 

"So I give credit to all those people. But there are a number of quotes from the lead singer and main songwriter on Television, who actually passed away just this year, Tom Verlaine. And so that's that energy I was trying to, you know, that element really means a lot to me.”

While working on each chapter, he would key in on one song and listen to it, he said, some 20 times in a four-hour period, to “define and pick a line out here that I can include in my prose texts somehow to make it that more of a convoluted postmodern type of experience.”

So there’s a lot going on, he said. An easy understatement. However, that’s the beauty of art and poetry and words, as Passenger’s own script states:  

You. You are. You are you. You have been.

You are. You will be forever. Breathe deeply. Listen. Allow life to be. Simple as a moment.

Fulfilling. The end is what you make it. Who are you? but existence without answers surrounded by suffering. 

Reaching for clarity in all things. Survival dependent upon the balance of randomness, choice, and the process of process. 

Journeys yet unfulfilled.

There will be a second show at 2 p.m. Nov. 11 at Pub Coffee Hub, 56 Harvester Ave., Batavia. There is no admission fee, and it is suggested for mature audiences only of age 17 and older. 

Press Release:

On Friday, Nov. 17, the Genesee County STOP-DWI Advisory Board will sponsor their 7th annual STOP-DWI Awards Luncheon at Terry Hills Restaurant & Banquet Facility. Nine young people from districts in the county will be honored for their commitment to the community for entering the STOP-DWI Poster Contest. 

There are 1st -3rd place winners in each category, 6th - 8th grade hand drawn, 6th - 8th grade Computer Generated Art and 9th -12th grade Computer Generated Art. There is also a Grand Prize Winner.

Additionally, the luncheon will recognize three Top Cop Awards. The following young people will be recognized for their STOP-DWI poster submissions:

6th - 8th grade winners: Alyssa Bailey, Jameson Hargrave, Deborah Heineman, Taylor Louis and Peyton Gay. 

9th - 12th grade winners: Taelynn Bragg, Savannah Meyer and Aiden Vallett. 

The Grand Prize Winner whose artwork will appear on a billboard in Genesee County in November and December is Marley Santos, a 10th grader from Batavia High School.

Batavia Police Officer Joseph Weglarski, Genesee County Sheriff Deputy Zachary Hoy and Village of LeRoy Police Department Officer Jordan Wolcott are receiving the Top Cop Award for going above and beyond with DWI arrests during a twelve month time period. They are also being honored for their dedication to keeping our community safe.

Registration will begin at 11:30 a.m. The program and luncheon will begin at 12 p.m. Seating is limited. If you are interested in attending the luncheon, contact Theresa Osborn at the Genesee County Youth Bureau at (585) 344-3960 no later than Nov. 9.

A 60-year-old Batavia man was struck and killed by a vehicle while he was attempting to cross the road on foot in the area of 4077 West Main Street Road, Batavia, at 6:55 p.m. on Wednesday, according to the Sheriff's Office.

The victim has been identified as Robert M. Schryver.

The location is roughly between Delre's Greenhouse and the former Dibble Family Center, west of Colonial Boulevard. 

According to the initial investigation, a 27-year-old Akron woman, Brittany Hill, was driving a 2020 Gray Volkswagon SUV westbound when Schryver reportedly crossed the road ahead of her vehicle.

Schryver sustained serious injuries and was transported to UMMC, where he succumbed to his injuries.

The accident investigation is continuing by the Crash Management Team and deputies.  Town of Batavia Fire, Batavia PD, State Police, and Mercy EMS assisted at the scene.

A pair of teenagers from Rochester are accused of stealing two unlocked vehicles that were left running in the driveways of Batavia homes this morning.

The first theft was reported on Lacrosse Avenue in Batavia. It was later located on Cherry Avenue, where another vehicle that had been left unlocked and running was stolen.

A short time after the theft was reported, a Le Roy patrol officer spotted the vehicle and attempted to conduct a traffic stop. 

The driver fled, leading to a chase into Monroe County.  The Monroe County Sheriff's Office assisted with the pursuit once it was in the department's jurisdiction.

The chase ended in North Chili, where one occupant was taken into custody without incident.  

A second occupant fled on foot but was taken into custody a short time later.

A 17-year-old male and an 18-year-old female, whose names are not being released by Batavia PD, were charged with two counts each of grand larceny 4th.  They are also facing charges and traffic violations in Le Roy.

The pair was issued appearance tickets and released to their guardians in accordance with state law.

Batavia PD said in a statement that it wishes to thank the Village of LeRoy Police Department, the Genesee County Sheriff's Office, the Genesee County Emergency Dispatch Center and Monroe County Sheriff's Office for their assistance. 

"We further would like to remind residents to secure their vehicles and not leave them running while unattended," the department said in a statement.

Andrea Clattenburg, whose legal career has taken her from a prosecutor's position in the County Attorney's Office to a defense attorney position in the Public Defender's Office, is now a part-time City Court judge.

Clattenburg took the oath of office Wednesday in Batavia City Court in a courtroom packed with family, friends, fellow attorneys, elected officials, and assorted dignitaries.

City Council appointed Clattenburg to the position in August following the resignation of Thomas Burns.  City Court judges, state-mandated positions, are elected to six-year terms. Clattenburg will be on an election ballot in November 2026, prior to the expiration of the term Burns vacated. That term expires on Dec. 31, 2026.

Full-time City Court Judge Durin Rogers administered the oath.

"City courts were once described to me as the emergency room or the emergency department," Rogers said. "Many times you don't know what you're gonna have. In City Court, you'd have a traditional vehicle and traffic matter. And for all my former colleagues and for the attorneys, and obviously the judges, you know, that you could have a very serious criminal matter brought into court during vehicle and traffic or during housing, and you have to be able to switch hats. And so you need a keen sense of triage. You need a keen sense of knowledge. And, most importantly, I think judicial temperament, and I'm very excited that we have somebody of Judge Clattenburg's caliber to join us on this team."

Clattenburg thanked her colleagues and family for their support over the years, particularly her father James Clattenburg and her husband Michael Szymczak.

"I grew up in Batavia," Clattenburg said. "I've lived here my entire life. I've worked in Genesee County, in Batavia, my entire life, and I am so thrilled to be able to serve the city of Batavia in this capacity."

During introductions by Rogers, the two newest members of the court staff were also introduced.  Kelly Randle is the new chief clerk and Amy VanSplunder is the new deputy clerk.

The trick-or-treaters were out all over Genesee County.  We stopped at the haunted house on Bank Street, Lincoln Avenue, Ellicott Avenue, and Redfield Parkway in the City.

Photos by Howard Owens.

Isabella Walsh: Section V Class A Player of the Year
Isabella Walsh, #11 on the Batavia Blue Devils Girls Soccer team, loves playing defense. She always has.

"I've played defense since I was little," Walsh said. "I like the one-on-one battles and making big saves. I enjoy it."

She's also the team's primary direct-kick specialist (taking kicks following a penalty from outside the penalty box).

These two contributions to Batavia's 14-win season are a big part of why she was named Section V Class A Player of the Year for Girls Soccer.

"I'm really honored to be singled out for this award," Walsh said. "There are so many great players on my team and the teams we compete against. To be a defensive player and to win this type of award is really a great recognition, but this is truly a team award because it's my teammates around me every day in practice and games that make me better and make me want to play harder for them and our team's success."

Batavia's head coach, Roger Hume, said Walsh, now a senior, is a four-year starter at center back, and he doesn't believe she's missed a start in her career.

"She's like the center of our entire defense at this point," Hume said. "She is gonna be a big loss for us."

On the field, Walsh directs the defense when the opposing team has a direct kick or corner kick, and that had a lot to do with Batavia's success in 2023.

"We were at the lowest goal-against total we've had in the last 15 years that I've been here," Hume said. "We had 12 goals against."

Roger Hume: Section V Class A Girls Soccer Coach of the Year
Fifteen years ago, Roger Hume took over a soccer team that needed new direction.  That first year as coach was rough -- no league wins and only a 4-12-1 record on the year.  The team scored only 12 goals and gave up 50.

In 2023, he coached the team to a 14-2-1 record, with a team that gave up only 12 goals and scored 73 (The team's previous record for fewest goals against was 17 in 2020 (when the team scored only 15 goals, and the highest goal total was 45 in 2022).

After such a successful season, Hume has been named the Section V Class A Girls Soccer Coach of the Year.

The award isn't just a credit to him, Hume said. It's the entire group of people involved in Batavia Girls Soccer.

"Well, for me, I think it's a combination of all the parents and players that have put the time in, and all of the volunteer coaches and assistant coaches I've had through the years," Hume said. "There's a multitude of parents that had their daughters come up through who helped me from modified all the way up to Varsity. It kind of justifies that we did all that hard work, you know, and it took a while. I mean, 15 years before we had the team -- this has been one of the best teams that we've had, you know, record-wise and group-wise and just the way they are a team together."

Hume now has 111 career wins as a varsity coach.

His soccer career started with his oldest daughter getting involved with soccer when she was four. She's now 32. He became a coach in Batavia Youth Soccer, became a board member, and after a few years, then Athletic Director Mike Bromley asked him if he would coach girls modified soccer for Batavia.  After a few years, he moved up to junior varsity and then, 15 years ago, varsity. 

The team's biggest improvements have come since the opening of the new Van Detta Stadium with the artificial turf on Woodward Field.

Playing on grass meant playing a slower game, but it also meant, despite all the hard work of the grounds crew, playing on a field that could be a bit uneven.

"When it gets into October, it's tough because it's raining out all the time or it's snowing out all the time," Hume said. "Being able to get on the turf as much as possible has helped to speed up our game a lot. We've really been able to ratchet up."

The proof is the past three years of play against a top Class A team, Pal-Mac.  Two years ago, Batavia lost 6-1.  Last year, 4-0.  This year, in the Class A semifinal, 2-0.  That's a measure of progress, even if the Blue Devils haven't yet cleared the hump of beating Pal-Mac.

And the progress doesn't seem to have peaked, Hume indicated.

"We have a great JV group that came up, and I had girls that were freshmen and sophomores that could have been on varsity and would have been on varsity previous years, like five, six years ago, but we didn't have the room for them," Hume said.  "They would be playing and I don't want them to sit on the bench if there's no value to it at that point."

Hume acknowledged that as much as it might recognize the success of the program in 2023, it also recognizes the progress of the program.

"I think it is a recognition of what we can do and that we are competitive," Hume said. "We can compete now several teams in our group. Aquinas is in our group, and Pal-Mac is our Class A. Like I said, we did Class A for nine years, and we won four games all the time, or five games all the time, so, you know, I think we're proving we can compete."

Students at Jackson Primary and John Kennedy Intermediate schools went for a trick-or-treat in costume on Tuesday morning, getting treats from police officers, firefighters, bus drivers, and city public works personnel.

The kids at Robert Morris visited a petting zoo, picked out a pumpkin from a pumpkin patch, and enjoyed a snack of doughnut holes and apple cider.

Photos by Howard Owens.

It’s not too late to register for a free kids’ hockey trial program this weekend, organizers say.

The Try Hockey For Free program, sponsored by Genesee Amateur Hockey Association, is for boys and girls aged four to nine, and runs from 10:40 a.m. to noon Saturday at the David McCarthy Memorial Ice Arena on Evans Street, Batavia.

Organizers encourage participants to bring equipment if you have it. If you don’t have any equipment, do bring loose-fitting sweat or snow pants, a pair of hockey, mittens or winter gloves, a helmet (hockey or bike) and a smile.

Rental skates will be provided for free, courtesy of the ice arena. Hockey sticks will be given out for use, and must be returned upon the end of the session. A USA hockey jersey will be given to each participant.

The on-ice experience will include plenty of coaches on hand to give your child a great youth hockey experience, organizers say. “They will get an opportunity to learn the basic skills of youth hockey,” organizer Bob Gray said.

Registration is now open. Go to: tryhockeyforfree.com (zip code 14020).

For more information, contact svgray@rochester.rr.com

The indoor winter soccer program started on Monday at the YMCA in Batavia, coached by Batavia girls Varsity coach Roger Hume.

He calls the program "club soccer."

It is open to soccer players from third grade through 12th, and it's never too late for a parent to get a child started in the program.  Hume said as long as a class has room, the class is open at any time of the winter, November through March, and there is an open registration time again in January.

JV and Varsity players practice and train on Mondays, junior high on Wednesdays, and elementary school kids on Thursdays.  On Saturdays, all grade levels participate at different times of the day.

Since many of the JV and Varsity players often play other winter sports, the Monday classes tend to thin out once those seasons start, Hume said.

The session starts with some warm-ups followed by skill work, ball handling.

"We want to do a lot of group stuff, too," Hume said. "Then they'll do some scrimmaging at the end. We try to work on teamwork, try to work on passing, receiving. Indoors is good for more skill work and then some passing, the physicality of the game. But you know, you can't mimic what you're doing outside. I mean, I wish we had turf. Yeah, I always say I wish we had turf, but we don't have turf. So we take advantage of what we have."

In February and March, club players typically participate in tournaments. Batavia, Attica, Keshequa, and Byron-Bergen are among the locations of indoor tournaments.

Photos by Howard Owens