This gray squirrel found a weathered and wrinkly apple on the ground and decided on taking it back into the apple tree before gnawing away.

The red squirrel stuck with more traditional fare -- a black walnut.

A nuthatch is waiting to have a turn at the bird feeder.........it might take awhile.....

or until this gray squirrel is done gorging itself.....there has been a variety of birds coming to the feeders: cardinals, juncos, chickadees, blue jays, etc.....and quite often they all have to wait for the squirrel to finish.  

A "well-insulated" mourning dove.........

and a finch that seems to be contemplating whether or not to head South.

Madeleine Rusch, with her painting "Cat Fancy," won Best of Show in the Batavia Society of Artists 2014 Winter Art Show, on display now at the Richmond Memorial Library.

FIrst Place went to Dennis Wood for "Winter Scape," second to Kevin Feary for "Hustled Again," and Feary also got third for "Snow in November."

Honorable mentions went to Karen Crittenden, Rusch, Nicole Tamfer, Bryan Kemp, Lorraine Gluck and Ed Adams.

Beth Kemp snaps a picture of Bryan Kemp with his Honorable Mention award.

Michael Messerly, right, publisher of the Batavia Daily News, attended the event.

Joan D'Alba gets her picture taken under her painting, "Snowy Barn."

Along Main, along Ellicott Street and in the roundabout, city crews have completed installation of new centennial celebration banners.

City workers were busy with tasks Downtown today getting things ready for Christmas in the City tomorrow evening, including making sure the snowflakes on the light poles are ready to illuminate correctly.

Tomorrow's events:

4 to 8 p.m., Photos with Santa
97 Main St.

Lighting of Downtown Christmas Tree, 5 p.m.

Horse and Wagon Rides ($1), 5 to 9 p.m.
Tickets available at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle, 8 Center St. Proceeds benefit the Business Improvement District.

Trolley Rides to the Wonderland of Trees at the Holland Land Office Museum, 5 to 9 p.m.
Jackson Street Parking Lot (across from Valle Jewelers)
Trolley will continue throughout the night to bring people back and forth to the museum and Jackson Street parking lot. Trolley runs approximately every 15 minutes. The Holland Land Office Museum (HLOM) will be offering free refreshments for the event as well as gift baskets and discount sales in the gift shop.

GO ART!, Frosted Panes exhibit
The Genesee Orleans Regional Arts Council (GO ART!) is pleased to announce its annual holiday show on exhibit through Dec. 19th in Batavia. This year's theme, "Frosted Panes," exhibits 43 pieces by 14 local artists on display in two GO ART Galleries -- the GO ART! Main Gallery in Seymour Place and at the Genesee County Senior Center on Bank Street.
A FREE Meet-the-Artists Reception will be held in conjunction with Batavia's Christmas in the City.

Batavia Concert Band, 6 p.m., City Centre

Holiday Parade, 6:30 p.m.
Parade will take place on Main Street starting at Liberty Street and ending at Jackson Street. More than 40 participants will entertain you with music, floats, singing, a juggler, fire trucks, and more! Santa will choose a child from his "Nice List" to ride with him in the Horse & Wagon!

The following Downtown businesses will be hosting special events as well:

Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle -- 8 Center St.; Enjoy holiday specials, drawing/prizes, coupons, and their famous chili during the Christmas in the City festivities. Tickets for the Horse & Wagon rides may purchased inside of Adam Miller Toy and Bicycle. For questions, call (585) 343-0548.

Amy's Fluffy Friends -- 238 Ellicott St.; Have your pet's photo or group photos taken by Along Photography. Only $5 for a photo shoot! Amy's will also be offering a raffle with doggie treats. For questions, call (585) 343-0052.

Charles Men's Shop -- 200 E. Main St.; Stay warm and enjoy holiday discounts and warm refreshments! For questions, call (585) 343-2086.

City Slickers -- 59 Main St.; Celebrate the season with City Slickers' awesome deal with a Buy 1 Entree, Get the 2nd at Half Price. Sit back, relax, and enjoy a local band playing for the evening. Be sure to also purchase your "Dinner & a Movie" gift certificates as stocking stuffers! For questions, call (585) 345-6788.

Edward Jones -- 7 Jackson St.; Get out of the cold for a little while and enjoy a hot drink and cookies courtesy of Edward Jones. For questions, call (585) 345-1773.

Karen's Yarn, Paper, Scissors -- 39 Jackson St.; 10% holiday discounts on scrapbook paper and yarn! After the parade, stop by Karen's to get a free balloon animal courtesy of Jason the Juggler.

Marchese Computer -- 220 Ellicott St.; With coupons and refreshments, learn more about their holiday specials including computers starting at $349.99! For questions, call (585) 343-2713.

Sweet Pea's Cupcakery Cafe -- 23 Jackson St.; Offering free samples of cookies. Perhaps you'll want to come back to purchase some for Santa for Christmas Eve? For questions, call (585) 344-5627.

T-Shirts, Etc. -- 111 Main St.; T-shirt coloring for kids! Holiday specials include a Buy One, Get One at 50% off. Also, be sure to visit their guest vendor, Butterfly Studio. For questions, call (585) 345-1993.

UMTOO -- 317 Ellicott St.; Will be open until 9 p.m. and will have Christmas refreshments, Christmas stories (traditional and historical), and Christmas songs by local singers who will engage people to join in singing. For questions, call (585) 993-2325.

Valle Jewelers -- 21 Jackson St.; Will be offering holiday specials for that evening only. For questions, call (585) 343-3372. 

For the second year, the Christmas Crew was erecting the annual Christmas tree at the corner of Main and Lake streets in the Village of Le Roy (the former Wiss Hotel lot).

Doing the work today were Andrew Lathan, Ed McDonald and Michael Glazier.

Lathan Tree Service donated the 30-foot tree a year ago.

The tree will be lit this year in part with the help of donations from National Grid (new utility pole) and Humphrey Electric (new electric installation).

There will be a tree lighting ceremony at 6 p.m., Saturday, at the close of Winterfest.

Michael Glazier

It's become an annual holiday event for Terry Hills Golf Course -- a great buffet lunch with musical accompaniment from Serendipity Swing, and Terry Hills had another fine turnout today for this year's lunch and show.

Phoenix is missing somewhere in the Brookville and Hunn roads area of Alexander. She was last seen at home about 5:30 p.m. but got out of the house somehow.

She is sick. She has breast cancer and it is spreading to her lungs. She needs medication daily.

Phoenix is 9 years old, an English setter that is black and white. She is very friendly.

If found, contact Edna at (585) 813-2997.

A business simply called The Farm, that featured antiques and locally handcrafted items, was destroyed this morning when a fire broke out inside.

The cause hasn't been determined but an early guess, officials said, is that the fire started in a chicken coop area were heat lamps were used.

Owner Renee Franclemont lives in the house next door and a deputy had to stop her from going inside once the fire was already well involved because she wanted to save the business's financial records.

The alarm for Corfu fire was sounded about 5:45 a.m. 

Chief Dean Eck said when he arrived on scene there was still only light flame from one end and one window, but the black smoke was heavy. The fire spread fast inside the old 19th Century-era barn.

Mutual aid departments included East Pembroke, Pembroke, Indian Falls, City of Batavia, Alabama, Darien and Alden. 

Previously: Locally grown and locally made items featured at new store in Corfu

New York Times: Protests After Grand Jury in Eric Garner Chokehold Case Doesn’t Indict Officer

Some of you may have already noticed -- there are a couple of sponsor's ads on the right side of the page that if you mouse over the box, it flips over to reveal a secondary message. 

This is a new concept in online display advertising and locally, it's only available on The Batavian and the Wyoming County Free Press.

To help kick off the introduction of Flip Ads, we're going to run a contest on four days next week (four days between Monday and Friday). Will will randomly pick an ad on the site and make it a Flip Ad, but the secondary message will be a secret code. The code will go up at some unannounced time during the day and stay up until we have a winner. The first person to e-mail me, howard@thebatavian.com, with the correct code, will win $25 cash. (We'll post a reminder Monday morning about the contest.)

After the first week, we'll run the same contest once a week.

Easy to win: mouse over ads and find the Flip Ad with the secret code, like an Easter Egg hunt.

Can you find the two ads running now that are Flip Ads?

Sponsors: Interested in Flip Ads? Contact Lisa Ace, lisa@thebatavian.com, or (585) 250-4118, to sign up.

The thing you'll notice about the Notre Dame Girls Basketball Team this year is they're going to have some big players crashing the boards.

Shea Norton is 6' 2". Rebecca Krenzer is 6' 1". Taylor DiMartino is 6' 2". Michelle Martinucci is 5' 11".

"This is the biggest team I've ever had," said Head Coach Dave Pero.

It's still a young team -- there are only three seniors on the squad and all of the bigs are juniors -- so the girls still have a lot to learn, but they're showing progress, Pero said. 

"I like what we have. We have a really, really nice group of girls. They're working very, very hard."

The goal, as always with Fighting Irish basketball, is to dominate on defense and make points on transitions.

"We always want to keep teams in 40s. If we can keep teams in the 40s, 45, we've got a chance to win."

The three seniors are Krysta Tomaszewski (currently injured), Emily McCracken and Emma Francis.

McCracken and Francis are both guards, team captains, and Pero said they are good shooters who should help score some points.

He said the team is eight or nine players deep. Also expected to contribute are Hannah Bowen and Callie McCulley.

McCulley is a familiar name, of course, to Notre Dame hoops fans and the youngest McCulley (who is 5' 10") to make a varsity roster. She shows a lot of promise, Pero said, even as an eighth-grader.

"When you bring up young players, you're going to live and die with the good things they do and the bad things they do, but we think she's ready and we expect her to come off the bench and give us a hand."

The Notre Dame roster, on paper, looks strong. When the team opens its season at 7 p.m., Dec. 10, in Oakfield, we'll get to see how all those big numbers translate to points on the board.

A group of Le Roy residents who once tried to save the Wiss Hotel with a unique community-based investment structure have found a new target for their revitalization efforts: 24 Main Street.

Le Roy New York, LLC, is looking to raise the funds necessary to refurbish the now vacant mixed-use building, which was most recently Java's Coffee Shop.

"Our goal is to create three beautiful residential apartments on the second and third floors and create a vibrant commercial establishment on the ground floor," said Bob Fussell, one of the organizers.

The group needs to raise $250,000, and already has $177,000 toward that goal, mostly from contractors who are contributing labor, equipment and expertise as their primary investment.

A minimum investment in the project is $1,500.

A similar structure for community investment in a revitalization project, led by Rick Hauser, has been used in Perry to help transform that community's downtown.

Hauser, now the mayor of Perry, was a consultant to the group on the Wiss Hotel proposal, which eventually fell short of the group's goal to buy the building and restore it rather than see it demolished.

For more information, visit 24mainleroy.org

The building will be open for tours during Winterfest this Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Press release:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is celebrating its 43rd Annual Awards Ceremony on Saturday, Feb. 28, at the Clarion Hotel, Park Road, Batavia. This is the County’s premier event that honors businesses and individuals for achievements in business, community service and volunteerism. Tickets are $50 per person or a table of 10 for $450.

The evening begins at 5:30 with hors d’oeuvres, entrée tables & cash bar (no formal sit-down dinner is to be served). The Award Program starts at 7 where dessert and coffee will be served. 

This year’s honorees are: 

• Business of the Year -- Applied Business Systems, Inc.  
• Industry of the Year -- Müller Quaker Dairy
• Agricultural Business of the Year -- Corcoran Combining & Trucking  
• Innovative Community Contribution of the Year -- Merrill Lynch
• Special Service Recognition of the Year -- Genesee Cancer Assistance, Inc.
• Geneseeans of the Year, “Peggy” Margaret Lamb, of Oakfield, and William “Bill” Schutt, of Basom

Via The Batavian's news partner, WBTA:

That proposed rally behind police everywhere announced by Ward Six Batavia Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian for Saturday night in Downtown Batavia has been called off. Christian told WBTA news this morning she had talked with some law enforcement officials who said it was the right idea but the wrong time. Councilwoman Christian says as a politician and a citizen she supports all law enforcement officers. Earlier she had said she is disgusted by the disregard for law enforcement that became evident in Ferguson, Mo., and elsewhere in recent weeks.

Come down to T-Shirts Etc., 111 Main St., during Christmas in the City and have your kids color their own Christmas T-shirt! Shirts are $3 each and can be colored anytime from 5 to 9 p.m. during the event. All proceeds to benefit Don Carroll’s Toys for Kids toy drive.

• Free basket raffle entries;
• Huge Clearance Blowout with T-shirts priced at 3 for $10, sweatshirts are 2 for $20;
• Buy One Get One 1/2 off on TE24 limited edition apparel line. Some new designs include Batavia Blue Devils, Cancer Sucks, Notre Dame, Le Roy, Pembroke, Batavia New York;
• $10 personalization on any Christmas stockings brought in;
• Butterfly Studios, a local vendor, will also be on site offering pottery for sale!

Jamie A. Dutton, 22, of Buell Street, Batavia, was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on petit larceny charges. Dutton was arrested after being found hiding in a bathroom of a residence on Thomas Avenue. Dutton is charged with three counts of petit larceny. Dutton was also wanted by the Sheriff's Office on a grand larceny warrant out of Rochester and for traffic violations. Dutton was jailed on $2,500 bail.

Edward White, 19, of Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. White was arrested by a Le Roy police officer for allegedly possessing brass knuckles.

Matthew Herman, 22, of Rochester, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .08 or greater. Herman was reportedly involved in an accident at the intersection of Route 5 and Route 19, Village of Le Roy, leading to his arrest.

Nicholas Bowden, 19, of Le Roy, is charged with petit larceny. Bowden allegedly stole an iPhone and laptop and attempted to sell the items. He was jailed on $500 bail or $1,000 bond.

Didier Asne Antoine, 20, of Manhattan Avenue, Batavia, is charged with criminal trespass, 3rd. Antoine is accused of trespassing at College Village.

Demetri C. Stewart, 22, of East Main Street, Batavia, Stewart was arrested on a warrant for alleged failure to appear on endangering the welfare of a child and unlawful dealing with a child charges. Stewart was charged in connection with an alleged underage drinking party on Halloween.

Terry E. Smith, 37, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged harassment, 2nd. During an argument, Smith allegedly flipped a couch while another person was sitting on it, causing the person to fall to the floor. Smith was held on $750 cash bail.

Deborah R. Blatt, 53, of East Main Street, Batavia, is charged with DWI and driving with a BAC of .18 or greater. Blatt was stopped at 10:36 p.m. Saturday on Law Street, Batavia, by officer Mitchell Cowen following a complaint of an erratic driver on Route 98.

Teshawn A. Lang-Smith, 18, of Dellinger Avenue, Batavia, is charged with two counts of endangering the welfare of a child. Lang-Smith is accused of striking younger siblings during an argument.

Vanson L. Warner, 66, of Vine Street, is charged with harassment, 2nd. Warner allegedly aggressively grabbed an employee of UMMC while at the hospital at 10:25 p.m., Monday. Warner was jailed on $500 bail.

The State Police conducted a DWI sobriety checkpoint on Route 63 in the Town of Batavia on Friday night and into Saturday morning. A total of 173 vehicles went through the checkpoint. Seven tickets were issued for traffic violations.

Arrested were Ronald M. Market Jr. (previously reported) and Tomy L. Velasquez, 21, of Warsaw. Velasquez is charged with unlawful possession of marijuana. During the checkpoint, troopers detected the odor of marijuana. A search of the vehicle resulted in troopers locating a plastic baggie allegedly containing a small amount of marijuana. 

Steven M. Geyer, 21, of State Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal impersonation. A vehicle was stopped by Attica PD for alleged no plate lamps. Geyer was a passenger in the vehicle and allegedly provided police with a false name, reportedly to avoid being arrested on a warrant out of Rochester. He was wanted for alleged unlawful use of a motor vehicle. He was jailed on $15,000 cash bail or $30,000 bond.

Councilwoman Rose Mary Christian sees all the protests on TV from around the country of people with hands up and thinks the protesters are being unfair to cops.

"The police risk their lives every day," Christian said. "It's not an easy job and we all know that, that's why I'm standing up for them."

Christian is calling on those in the community who support law enforcement to join her at City Hall at 6:30 p.m. Saturday for a march down Main Street.

"I'm looking to support our law enforcement," Christian said. "I think it's tragic what's happened all over the United States. I think they need our support and to know that we're behind them."

She thinks the Ferguson, Mo., protests are misguided in their complaints about police officers.

"It's not about race, number one," Christian said. "They're using it for a civil (rights) movement and it's not. The fact is you protest, you protest in an orderly fashion. What did they accomplish by burning down business and having all the destruction they've had? Looting stores, what did that accomplish? What did that accomplish? Nothing! OK."

Local artist Brandi Bruggman this week is recreating two Christmas works by Norman Rockwell on the windows of Steve Hawley's Insurance Center on Main Street. The festive windows will be among those Downtown displays in the BID's annual Christmas window display contest.