It's Maple Weekend this weekend and next weekend with open houses at:

• Randall's Maple Products, located at 10307 Smithley Road in Alexander;
• Sweet Dream Maple Farm, located at 1116 Reynolds Road in Corfu.

The open houses run from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. tomorrow and next Saturday and Sunday.

Sweet Time Farms, at 5680 Webster Road, Wyoming, is also hosting an open house this weekend.

Above, Matthew Stein, at Sweet Dream Maple Farm, explains during a tour how trees are tapped.

Al Stein at Sweet Dream Maple Farm with an evaporator.

Eric Randall at Randall's Maple Products.

Abby Snyder, 7 months, made her first visit to see the Easter Bunny today at Oliver's Candies.

Also stopping for a visit, below, is Jazmyne Green, 2, with her father Bleyke Culver.

After 20 years of service to the community of Le Roy, Sgt. Michael Hare called out of service for the last time at 7 a.m. and was saluted by his colleagues as he prepared to leave the Village Hall.

Hare started his career in his hometown of Warsaw and after five years took a job in Le Roy because the department offered more advancement opportunities.

He also said, "it’s tough working in your hometown. It’s nice to get out and not be arresting the people you went to school with."

As for retirement, he's working on getting his license to drive a bus so he can take a job driving for the Caledonia-Mumford School District.

Hare, who usually worked night shifts, said he's also looking forward to spending more time with his family.

"The most rewarding thing (about being a police officer) is just being able to help people out and being able to see the end results," Hare said. "Sometimes it’s not always the best, but you try to make it the best and it’s a great opportunity to help the public."

From the City of Batavia Police Department:

Have you ever been a victim of a crime -- such as burglary, identity theft, assault, discrimination, abuse, sexual assault, domestic violence, etc.? Do you work with crime victims? Are you over the age of 18 and speak English? We want to hear from you!

The Crime Victims Legal Network is a partnership of organizations working to create a website that will connect victims of crime with civil legal information and the assistance they need.

CVLN wants to make sure the website is easy to use, helpful, and appealing to the people who it is designed to serve, namely victims of crime and the professionals who work with them.

The network can use your help. Please come to a Focus Group from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday, March 27, at the Oakfield Town Hall, 3219 Drake St., Oakfield.

RSVP to Susan Diesel, Ph.D.: sdietzel@albany.edu

Space is limited. Light refreshments will be provided.

The Genesee Valley Wind Ensemble will perform its 2018 Spring Concert in the auditorium of Oakfield-Alabama Central School beginning at 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 29. The school is located at 7001 Lewiston Road, Oakfield.

Conductors are: Mark Flynn, guest conductor, high school band director at Akron Central School; Dan Klinczar, member conductor, elementary band director at Alexander Central School; and Philip J. Briatico, conductor and founder of the GVWE, Warsaw Central School.

Admission cost: Adults -- $10; Seniors (55+) & Veterans -- $8; Students (with ID) -- $5; Children age 5 and under -- FREE; Family Deal -- $25 -- for immediate family and children -- mother and/or father and up to four children.

These works will be featured:

• "Arabesque" -- Samuel Hazo
• "Flourish for Glorious John" -- Ralf Vaughan Williams
• "Joy Revisited" -- Frank Tichelli
• "The Chimes of Liberty" -- Edwin Franko Goldwin
• "My Fair Lady" -- Lerner & Loewe
• "Cherish" -- The Association
• The Music of Carly Simon
• "A Childhood Remembered" -- Rossano Galante
• "Prelude, Siciliano & Rondo" -- Malcolm Arnold

This program is made possible in part by the Reach Grant program administered by GO ART!

The purpose of the GVWE is to serve and to provide the Greater Genesee Valley audience with new and familiar music, to serve its membership with the opportunity to perform challenging wind ensemble literature and to creat the opportunity for the conductor and musicians to grow their collective musical talents.

Contact: geneseevalleywindensemble@gmail.com

Press release:

Call for craft artisans and vendors for the annual Picnic in the Park on July 4 at Centennial Park, Batavia. Sponsored by GO ART!

For details and application please visit GOART.ORG : Programs/ Events, Picnic in the Park applications, Art and Craft Vendors.

Batavia City school administrators and teachers presented art awards Friday evening to students at the Richmond Memorial Library in the district's annual art show. The student art will be on display at the library for the remainder of the month.

On Friday night at John Kennedy School Pack 6112 ran its pinewood derby on the city’s longest and fastest track. With nearly 50 feet of racetrack the Lions, Tigers, Bobcats and Wolfs ran the cars they made themselves in a night of racing.

The scouts were more than a little excited about the event. After the official round of racing, the scouts had fun races even running the cars backwards. 

Otto, a German Shorthair Pointer, doesn't like the cold, but he may be out there somewhere or holed up in a nice cozy home if somebody had taken him in, but his owner, Katie Grant, is devastated that he's missing.

He was last seen in the area of Genesee Street near Ellenwood Road in Corfu.

He has an orange collar.

Katie can be reached at 585 297 0721 or 716 939 0330

She said he will seek out people and try to get inside homes to escape the cold.

"Bring my baby home," she said. "He's never been lost before."

UPDATE March 19: Reader Rick Hensel informs all that the dog is home safe and sound.

After looking over the final $15 million in grant-request projects Batavia will submit to the state for its Downtown Revitalization Initiative prize, Councilman Al McGinnis said he was pleased and excited about the prospect for the future of the city.

"I think we’re lucky enough to be around here in five or six years, it will be a revitalized Batavia that we won’t recognize and we will wish we had it earlier," McGinnis said. "It’s only going to impact us in a positive way. It’s just too bad it didn’t happen 20 years ago."

Looking specifically at the public market and at Batavia Players' plans for a downtown location for what is now Theater 56, McGinnis said that one project is just a single example of how all of these ideas have a chance at making downtown a better place for residents and businesses.

"This is great stuff," McGinnis said. "I mean, we don’t have the money for this. If the state can give us this money and we can do most of these things, there’s no downside to this. There is none. It’s all positive. I just wish the State could give us $5 million more."

The state's prize is to award $10 million worth of local projects. A local committee of community members made the first cut -- $15 million worth of projects -- from the batch of applicants, but the state gets the final say in whittling down the choices to $10 million in grants.

The local committee's final choices were presented to the public Thursday night during an open house at City Hall.

Interim City Manager Matt Worth said he liked what he saw.

"Some of the discussions have been about downtown being a real neighborhood and I think some of the projects lend themselves to that," Worth said. "It’s really encouraging seeing some of the momentum the City has. There’s more interest in what’s going on downtown than I’ve seen in an awfully long time, so that’s very positive."

Victor Gautieri has the dual perspective of a longtime downtown leader as president of the Business Improvement District and as an applicant for a grant for his project on Ellicott Street (the Save-A-Lot building).

 He's hoping the state will prioritize projects that might not otherwise be viable without the assistance.

"There are a lot of very nice projects that are here," he said. "I think some are more appropriate than others. I am a believer that the grant money should be going to those that really need it in the private sector.

"We’re very hopeful we’re going to be able to get our grant because that is what is going to make the project," he added. "That’s the only way we will ever able to do what we want to do with that property."

Looking at the projects as a whole, Gautieri thinks we won't even recognize Batavia in a few years.

"If several of these projects get the green light and are awarded a grant, it’s going to transform downtown," Gautieri said. "It’s going to look like it never has before, especially on the Southside, the Ellicott Street side. That is where we need, I think, the most help."

Here's a summary of the projects being submitted to the State:

• Build Ellicott Station: Savarino Companies, 40-52, 56-70 Ellicott St.; project cost, $23 million; DRI funding, $425,000;  
• Build Newberry Place Lofts: AGRV Properties, 109-111 Main St.; project cost, $350,000; DRI funding, $175,000;
• Revitalize Carr's and Genesee Bank Building: Kenneth and Andrew Mistler, 97, 101-103 and 105-107 Main St.; project cost, $5.3 million; DRI funding, $1.2 million;
• Develop Ellicott Place: V.J. Gautieri Constructors, 45-47 Ellicott St.; project cost, $2.5 million; DRI funding, $1.15 million;
• Develop Healthy Living Campus: Genesee YMCA/UMMC, 207-213 E. Main St.; project cost, $22.5 million; DRI funding, $5 million.
• Activate Batavia Innovation Zones: Batavia Development Corp; project cost, $400,000; DRI funding, $200,000;
• Construction Theater 56: Batavia Players and City of Batavia, 35 City Centre; project cost, $901,750; DRI funding, $701,750;
• Construct Downtown Public Market: BID and City of Batavia, Alva Place parking lot; project cost, $2.5 million; DRI funding, $1.5 million;
• Create a Building Improvement Fund: BDC; project cost, $800,000; DRI funding, $600,000;
• Upgrade City Center: City of Batavia; project cost, $1.5 million; DRI funding, $1 million;
• Renovate 206 E. Main St.: Just Chez Realty, 206 E. Main St.; project cost: $675,000; DRI funding, $405,000;
• Enhance Jackson Square: City of Batavia; project cost, $750,000; DRI funding, $750,000;
• Upgrade Masonic Temple: David E. Howe, 200 E. Main St.; project cost, $750,000; DRI funding, $500,000;
• Develop Branding, Place Making and Wayfinding: Business Improvement District; project cost, $250,000; DRI funding, $200,000;
• Enhance GO ART! Arts and Culture Center: GO ART!, 201 E. Main St.; project cost, $1.3 million; DRI funding, $1.225 million.

Information provided by the Western New York Maple Producers Association.

This weekend and next weekend (March 17-18 & 24-25) is Maple Weekend as the sweet tradition continues. Two of the many maple producers in the region are in Genesee County and will be participating from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. They are:

• Randall's Maple Products, located at 10307 Smithley Road in Alexander;
• Sweet Dream Maple Farm, located at 1116 Reynolds Road in Corfu.

According to the Maple Producers Association, maple syrup has become a powerhouse crop for New York State farmers. In the last decade, production of syrup has tripled, while the crop value has quadrupled.

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, NY Maple Producers manufactured 760,000 gallons of maple syrup last year, the highest production rate ever. It's an increase of 7.5 percent from the previous year.

The 2016 crop in New York was valued at $31.3 million, with an estimated economic impact of almost $141 million. The value for the 2017 crop will be released in June.

There's plenty of room to expand production because the U.S. Forestry Service data shows that more tappable maple trees are in New York than any other state in America.

The 22nd annual Maple Weekend is family friendly and free to the public. Take a tour and learn about tree tapping and boiling, see displays and best of all -- taste some of America's greatest maple syrup.

A complete list of participating sugarhouses, site maps and more information about Maple Weekend can be found here.

How Sap Becomes Syrup

Syrup is produced as the sugar maple holds starches in storage during the winter, which change to sugars as spring approaches. These sugars are released into the tree sap.

When a tree is tapped, a clear liquid runs out. When that liquid is boiled down, approximately 44 gallons of the sap produces a gallon of maple syrup.

Techniques vary from producer to producer -- some use state-of-the-art methods while others are traditionalists.

During Maple Weekend, many maple producers also offer additional activities including horse and wagon rides, snowshoeing, guided walks in the woods and kids' corners. And across Western New York, all-you-can-eat pancake breakfasts will abound over the next two consecutive weekends.

Did You Know?

Also, there's more to maple syrup than its delicious taste. University of Rhode Island researchers recently found 20 compounds in maple syrup that possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties, which have been shown to help fight cancer, diabetes and bacterial illnesses. Other established health benefits of pure maple syrup include its calcium and potassium content -- a quarter cup of maple syrup has more calcium that the same amount of milk and more potassium than a banana.

New York is the second-largest maple producing state in the nation, with 2.65 million taps, producing 760,000 gallons of syrup, and accounting for 18 percent of the maple syrup in the United States in 2017.

Besides pure maple syrup, products that contain maple syrup include: maple cream, maple sugar, maple candy, maple jelly, maple mustard, maple tea, maple coffee, maple cotton candy, maple oatmeal bread, maple apple butter, maple walnut fudge, maple suckers and maple butter.

Submitted photo and press release:

A car versus tree accident with two people injured is reported at 6742 Lewiston Road in Oakfield. Oakfield Fire Department and Mercy medics are responding.

UPDATE 3:26 p.m.: Traffic control is called to Macomber Road to stop traffic at Lewiston Road. A second ambulance is called to the scene. The accident location is between Macomber and Bliss roads.

Press release from the Genesee County Sheriff's Office:

At about 6:24 a.m. today the Genesee County Sheriff's Office responded to a report of a head-on motor-vehicle accident with serious physical injury in the area of Route 5 and Clipnock Road in the Town of Stafford. Preliminary investigation revealed that a 2007 Chevrolet pickup truck being driven by Thomas J. Manzella, 24, of Batavia, was traveling westbound on Route 5 when he lost control of the vehicle on snow-covered roads.

The pickup truck spun counterclockwise, sliding sideways as it crossed into the eastbound lane and into the path of a 2006 Mack roll-off container truck being operated by Curtiss L. Mallory, 32, of Buffalo.

Following the impact, both vehicles traveled off of the south shoulder of Route 5 where they came to rest. Mallory immediately called 9-1-1 prompting the response of Sheriff's Office patrols along with ambulances from Mercy Emergency Medical Services and responders from the Stafford Fire Department.

Manzella was extricated from the vehicle and transported via ambulance to United Memorial Medical Center in Batavia, where he succumbed to his injuries sustained in the crash.

Weather conditions including blowing snow and poor road conditions are believed to have been contributing factors in the crash.

A minor fuel spill from the Mack container truck was addressed at the scene by the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation.

Route 5 in the area of the accident remained closed for several hours while the accident was being investigated.

The accident investigation is being conducted by deputies Nati, Andre, Wilson, Erion, and investigators Diehl and Parker, and the Genesee County Sheriff's Office Crash Management Unit.

Assisting at the scene were Mercy EMS, the Stafford Fire Department, NY State DEC, and the Genesee County Office of Emergency Management.

GO ART! hosted the opening of its annual juried art show Thursday night at Seymore Place in Batavia.

Top prize this year was awarded to Alex Sergovia for his painting (top photo) Celestial Blues. Sergovia could not be present at the opening last night.

The work displayed was selected from numerous entries by the jury, which also selected the winning entry.

Above sits Artist David Burke. His three paintings are the tree on the left, and the two paintings above him on the right.

Batavia City Schools Superintendent Chris Dailey reads to students at Jackson Primary School on Thursday night during the school's reading night, part of its annual Parents as Reading Partners Program.

This year's theme is "Wild About Reading at the Jackson Primary Zoo."

Molly Corey reading.

Linda Conway reading.

Students and parents playing Zoo Bingo.