Various veteran organizations in Genesee County honoring the 35 Batavians at the W.W.I. memorial in Williams Park this morning. More continued coverage throughout the day honoring fallen soldiers on Memorial Day.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
Members of the VFW Chapter 1602, American Legion 332 and Glenn S. Loomis VVA 193, met this morning at Genesee County Park to honor Vietnam Veterans on Memorial Day. The guest speaker was Dan Burling, VFW post surgeon, Alexander VFW 6239.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
Area veterans gathered at the Soldiers, Sailors, and Marines Monument, also known as the Upton Monument, in Batavia this morning for a placing of a wreath on the monument in honor of Genesee County's war dead.
It is one of several Memorial Day services today. The Batavian will have more coverage of the various parades and ceremonies.
Photos by Howard Owens
Residents from throughout Western New York gathered in Pembroke on Sunday to honor the nation's fallen heroes in a ceremony at the WNY National Cemetery.
Photos by Nicholas Serrata
The Memorial Day parade in Batavia is set to begin at 9:30 a.m. Monday, beginning at East Town Plaza. A previous time of 9:45 a.m was provided to The Batavian, and City Councilman Bob Bialkowski wants to make sure that anyone intending to participate in the parade should show up at 9:30 a.m. This is to ensure that it doesn't conflict with other ceremonies scheduled that day.
The parade is to travel west along Main Street and end at Alva Place.
The Oakfield-Alabama/Elba Boys Track team picked up a sectional title in Class B3.
OAE scored 186 points, well ahead of second-place Rochester Academy Charter, with 72 points.
In the Girls Track, Class B3, Alexander scored 90 points, giving them second place behind Geneseo with 115 points.
For full results and individual results, click here.
Photos by Kristin Smith. For more, click here.
On Friday evening, in a less than 24-hour change of locations for the Class B1 outdoor track sectional competition, the Batavia Girls finished first place by a large margin, with 172 points.
Batavia Boys were edged by U-Prep by 2.5 points in the last race to take second place.
The event was moved at the last minute to Van Detta Stadium because of a fire at the Newark High School facility, the originally scheduled host of the event. There was an electrical fire late Thursday afternoon in Newark.
Girls head coach Rich Boyce said, "I am extremely proud of this accomplishment tonight. The girls worked really hard all season. We knew we would have to have the best meet of our lives to beat HFL, and they came here today, and every single girl on this team got a PR in every event they did."
"We knew it would come down to us and HFL," Boyce said. "172 points today was just amazing by our team, which to my recollection, is the most points Batavia girls outdoor track team have scored in a sectional meet. We will celebrate this one tonight and be back to work for state qualifiers next week."
Assistant Coach Bill Buckenmeyer said, "It was an outstanding effort to a change in scenery in one day and come out on their home track and put out the performance that they did. I thought it was amazing. The boys had a great meet, too. It just shows the true meaning of being a Blue Devil to go out there, up against tough competition and perform at the highest level."
Winners for Batavia include Nate Canale in the 1600m (4:29.44) and in the 800m (1:59.41). Cody Harloff won the 3000 Steeple (10:21.67), and the boy's 4x800 Relay squad won (9:06.29).
Relay runners for the winning 4x8 were Noah Pickard, Gavin Fowler, Donavin Solis, and Ryan Dillon.
Sheldon Siverling continued his impressive spring with a victory in the Shot Put (54-3) and a 2nd place finish in Discus (136-3). Lucas Crater won the individual sectional championship in the Pentathlon (2578 points) as well.
The team finished with 142.5 points, while Uprep scored 145.
"This meet was a very gutsy performance from many of our athletes, and the Blue Devils competed hard all meet long," said Boys Coach Nick Burk. "The meet was hosted by Batavia, so all of our seniors got to have one more chance to run on the home track against the top competition. We also had a very balanced meet, getting contributions in many events throughout the course of the day. Despite the bittersweet ending to sectionals, our athletes left it all on the track and competed until the end."
Full results can be found at: https://live.yentiming.com/meets/781/events
Batavia will host the State Qualifier meet this Friday at Vandetta Stadium at 4:45 p.m.
To view or purchase prints, click here.
Photos by Steve Ognibene
Saturday was quite the sports day for Notre Dame High School with both the baseball and softball teams winning championships.
When the teams returned to Batavia, they were met in the Eastown parking lot by Batavia PD patrols and a City Fire truck and given a championship escort through Downtown.
Photos by Howard Owens.
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Notre Dame used a balanced offensive attack, flawless defense and, as always, solid pitching to pull out the 5-2 win in the Class D1 Sectional finals over Lyndonville on Saturday afternoon in Fillmore.
Notre Dame scored runs in the second, third, five, sixth and seventh innings and stopped a late rally by Lyndonville in which the Lady Tigers scored two runs in the bottom of the seventh.
Starter Loretta Sorochty fanned the last two Tigers to preserve the win. She was named MVP of the tournament.
Sorochty pitched a complete game for the Lady Irish, going seven innings, giving up five hits, two runs and had 11 strikeouts.
Lyndonville pitcher Shaffer gave up 11 hits, five runs and had six strikeouts.
Leading the way offensively for ND were Sorochty, Mia Treleaven, Sonji Warner and Anna Panepento, who each had two hits. Sorochty had a double, single, a run scored and an RBI. Treleaven had two singles and an RBI. Warner had two singles, and Panepento had two singles and an RBI. Katie Landers added a base hit, scored a run and was hit by a pitch twice. Cayleigh Havens had a base hit, and Kaydence Stehlar had a hit and a run scored.
Notre Dame now moves on to face the D2 champion Tuesday night in Fillmore.
"I couldn't be more proud of these ladies," said Coach Otis Thomas. "Between the fall league at MCC, the winter workouts and all the practices we had this spring, it is nice to see their hard work pay off. This a special group that plays for each other and I hope we can keep this momentum going a little longer and see how far we can go."
Submitted game story:
Bryceton Berry threw a gem on Saturday for the Notre Dame allowing no runs helping the Fighting Irish beat the Bolivar-Richburg Wolverines 3-0
Berry struck out 15, walked four, and scattered five hits over seven innings.
The Notre Dame defense behind Berry did not commit a single error.
Landon Barkley took the loss for the Bolivar Richburg Wolverines. The hurler allowed five hits and three runs over three and a third innings, striking out three.
In a scoreless game in the bottom of the third, Jimmy Fanara, the leadoff hitter for the inning, was hit by a pitch. He advanced to second on a Jay Antinore single and then to third when Berry grounded into a fielder's choice. Ryan Fitzpatrick grounded out to third, scoring Fanara for the game's first run. Jaden Sherwood would follow with an RBI double.
The Irish scored again in the fourth. Jordan Welker reached on a fielder's choice, and proceed to steal second and third. On his steal of third, the catcher's throw went wide of the base allowing Welker to score the game's third and final run.
Notre Dame Batavia will now face C1 champion Sodus on Tuesday, May 30, at Canandaigua Academy High School at 5 p.m. for the right to represent Section V in the far west regional against Gownada next Saturday.
Photos by Pete Welker.
Tomorrow, Memorial Day, is the day our nation honors the men and women who sacrificed their lives to help secure and protect our rights to individual liberty, to hold our own beliefs and define our own lives.
Here's a reminder of ceremonies and events taking place in Genesee County for Memorial Day:
Town ceremonies and parades:
A car has struck a bridge on Vallance Road at the Thruway overpass in Le Roy.
Unknown injuries.
Le Roy Fire and Le Roy Ambulance dispatched.
UPDATE 10:51 a.m.: Minor injuries. No need for fire service. Fire department is back in service.
It was a sunny, windless morning when Jason Smith took his morning run through DeWitt Recreation Area, and he captured this photo of a glassy lake in the park.
For the first time in a decade and the second time in program history, Batavia's softball players lifted a Section V trophy over their heads after beating Waterloo for the Class B1 crown, 7-2.
Giana Mruczek tossed a complete game three-hitter, fanning seven and going 1-3 at the plate and driving in a run. She was selected as the tournament's Most Valuable Player.
Libby Grazioplene went 4-4. Julia Clark had two stolen bases and scored two runs.
This was the third year straight that Batavia and Waterloo have clashed in sectional finals and the first time in those three contests that Batavia came out on top.
"To beat Waterloo is a big accomplishment," said Coach James Fazio. "I had a feeling that if we made it this far, it was going to be Waterloo again. And it was, thankfully, we're able to get the job done today."
A key difference this year, Fazio said, is Batavia took an early lead.
"They're such a strong hitting team from top to bottom that no lead to safe against them," Fazio said. "For once, we were able to get the lead on them, and that's been our struggle the last couple of years -- we always play from behind. But this time, we put them on their heels, and we were just able to hold on. They're a tough team, and we were fortunate enough to beat him."
Mruczek said the win felt really special because she and her teammates have worked hard and grown close.
"I think it's very heartfelt," Mruczek said. "This team has worked so hard for these past two years, and this team (Waterloo), they've always come for us. This was the third year playing them, and I think that we really wanted it so bad. This one is just what everyone deserved. I think it's great."
Clark said there was something special about beating Waterloo, given the history between the two teams.
"This means everything," Clark said. "We've fallen so many times to this team, and we don't see him in the regular season. So it's really this game or nothing. So we always have to put our all in."
The win was also special, Clark said, because of the decade between championship trophies for the softball team.
"We haven't won it all in a very long time," Clark said. "We're always division champs and stuff like that. But to finally win a sectional title for our school means a lot."
Other performance highlights:
Next up for Batavia: The Class B consolidation game against either Wellsville or Haverling on Tuesday at 5 p.m. at Honeoye Falls-Lima HS.
Photos by Howard Owens. To view more photos, click here.
Press Release:
The City of Batavia Police Department is currently investigating a serious motorcycle vs. passenger vehicle accident that occurred May 26, 2023 on West Main Street at the Tops Supermarket intersection.
The motorcycle, operated by Gregory Vigiano (age 34), of Batavia, was eastbound on West Main Street at the Tops intersection when a passenger vehicle being operated by Rebecca Santiago (age 32), of Stafford, made an illegal left turn colliding with the motorcycle.
The victim sustained serious injuries and was transported to Strong Hospital in Rochester via Mercy Flight and is currently listed in guarded/critical condition. The driver of the passenger vehicle was ticketed for making an illegal left turn and operating with a suspended drivers license. The accident remains under investigation and anyone with information is asked to contact Officer Sam Freeman at (585) 345-6350 or submit a tip at www.bataviapolice.org.
Photos by Howard Owens.
The Oakfield Hotel and Bowling Lanes has new owners.
Batavians Tom Fluker, a Pepsi account executive, and Patrick Wester, owner of A to Z General Contracting, have teamed up
to purchase the bar/restaurant and 12-lane bowling center.
The facility had been owned since 2019 by Cory Paris, also a Batavia resident.
Prior to that, the Scopano family owned the business – known as the Oakfield Hotel and Scopano’s Paradise Lanes -- for more than 50 years.
Speaking by telephone to The Batavian this morning, Fluker indicated the duo has an ambitious plan to increase the entertainment options at the South Pearl Street location.
“We’ve got a lot of ideas. There’s really five aspects to the place,” Fluker said, rattling off the following areas that need to be addressed – rooms for rent, outdoor pavilion, bowling lanes, interior renovation and the bar/restaurant.
He said there are eight one-bedroom apartments, plus a loft and a two-bedroom unit upstairs.
“Over the course of time, we want to keep the loft and the two bedroom and then we want to take the eight apartments and make two or three one-bedroom apartments and have some for office space,” he said. “We’d like to rent out some office space for meetings, or maybe a lawyer or somebody wants to come in.”
Fluker said he and Wester eventually want to utilize the huge outdoor pavilion for summer activities such as horseshoes, volleyball and cornhole.
“The biggest issue is there is such a big walk from outside to go inside to get beer and food or whatever. So, we're going to put some coolers and some grills outside for the players to have quick access to their drinks and for something to eat,” he said.
Bowling has always been a large part of the operation, but there haven’t been any certified leagues there recently. Fluker said that he and Wester aim to rectify that situation.
“We’re going to go through the lanes – pinsetters, scoring and the oil machine – to make sure that things are running the way they need to be to have league bowling,” he noted. “We’re looking at this in three phases, over the next three to four years, with the goal of making it a high-end bowling center.”
He said they are looking at upgrading the scoring, adding flat screens, purchasing glow house balls and installing black lights and specialty lighting for cosmic bowling on the weekends or for birthday parties. Fluker, who served as president of the Genesee Region USBC for several years, said he also wants to restore the youth bowling program in Oakfield.
Once up and running, the lanes will be called Strike Force Lanes, he said.
As far as the bar and restaurant are concerned, Fluker said they are looking at a train theme, tipping their cap to the history of the railroad that ran near to the building.
“If I’m looking at the picture correctly, the railroad ran about 40 to 50 feet away from the building, and I think across the road, kind of diagonally, was the West Shore (Railroad) depot,” he offered. “I’ve been getting some West Shore memorabilia and will also incorporate some old pictures from the Oakfield Hotel from back in the day. And, for sure, we’ll be adding some lighting and getting rid of the taxidermy that has been there forever.:”
Fluker said the kitchen will be remodeled to increase efficiency and TVs will be added in the restaurant area, which eventually will take on a sports theme. The partners also are looking to add about 20 arcade games, separate from the bar area, and will keep the big room off of the bar for extra seating and for larger gatherings.
“We’re going to get in there in July and take a look at the situation,” he said. “Get into the walls and ceiling to see what’s going on. Obviously, we’re going to take a look at the roof over the bowling lanes. If you don’t have a (solid) roof, you don’t have bowling. Plus, we're going to make it handicapped accessible."
The business is currently closed.
A May 19 entry on the Paris Oakfield Hotel Facebook page read as follows:
As many of you have heard we have sold the hotel. We as a family have decided this was in our best interest. We would like to thank everyone from the bottom of our hearts who have supported us these last five years. We will miss all of our regulars and all the relationships that were built. We appreciated the opportunity of being a part of this community. We wish the new owners nothing but the best!
Our last day open will be tomorrow 5/20, come on down for one last drink at the Paris Oakfield Hotel!
To help a friend with a project, I needed to head out to Oakfield to take some landscape photos, and Friday evening seemed like perfect weather for such an excursion.
Photos by Howard Owens
To help a friend with a project, I needed to head out to Morganville in Stafford to take some landscape photos, and Friday evening seemed like perfect weather for such an excursion. I also stopped by the Stafford Country Club.
Photos by Howard Owens.
As Memorial Day weekend was creeping closer on Friday, Rev. Tom Tharp was already getting his fill of fresh air and sunshine.
No, he wasn’t prepping the grill for a weekend barbecue or mowing the grass to host picnic guests. Rather, Tharp, leader of Emmanuel Baptist Church in Batavia, was up to his elbows in coconut chips, mixing them with water to combine with soil for garden plots behind the Oak Street church.
What prompted the church to build its own community garden?
“We were building it because they were housing all of the homeless population in the town of these two hotels over here. But then that didn't really work out. The hotels were condemned and shut down … but we still thought that there was a need, that the community is nearby the neighborhood, especially down Gateway, Noonan, etc., Oak Street, that people might want to partake of growing their own food,” Tharp said. “And we might meet some of the additional costs that are coming up, over and over, at the grocery stores. It's not like we can provide eggs, though. But the good thing, the price of those has gone down.”
Thanks to a grant and donations of goods and volunteer time, there are 20 garden plots, soil for planting, a 1,000-gallon water tank, donated by Norton Dairy, assorted vegetable seeds, and tools for people to use. The garden is protected by a locked fence, and anyone who buys a plot will receive a key for 24/7 access.
There wasn’t going to be a charge for those that filled a garden plot themselves. However, no one showed up Friday to do that, Tharp said, so he was spending his Friday filling the boxes and testing his own green thumb abilities (he claimed not to have any) by putting in roma tomato plants for a couple of his wife’s plots.
People have so far reserved 11 plots, which means that nine remain available for purchase. They are $20 each. Everything is included, such as seeds for tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peas, different kinds of peppers and other veggies, water, soil and a periodic lesson on gardening how-tos.
“At least you'd be able to get enough for a family, if you have the means of, you know, freezing the stuff and then keeping it for a while. I am not a natural gardener. So I don't know exactly how much we'll get out of this," he said. "We have some people from the church coming out who are going to be planting, and some people in the church who are just donating plants from their gardens to put in. And if we have stuff that doesn't get used, it will go to a local food pantry."
There’s certainly plenty of space for the garden, with about six acres behind the church. Parishioners — church membership is about 45 people — at one point wanted to revamp the softball field so they could begin a softball league during COVID.
The church received a grant, and there was interest, but, because it was COVID — they couldn’t get any contractors to do the work, Tharp said. So they had to return the grant and moved on to another project. “It would have been nice,” he said. “We’ve got the space, and we want to use it.”
For now, though, there is the community garden, and anyone may participate.
“If you have even the slightest bit of green thumb, you can come out and pretty much grow your own vegetables for free here,” Tharp said. "We've got everything that you need to get started. And we'd love to have you."
For more information, or to reserve your plot, call 585-343-4905.
A motor vehicle accident involving a car and a motorcycle, unknown injuries, is reported in the area of 390 West Main St., Batavia.
In front of Tops.
City Fire and Mercy EMS dispatched.
UPDATED 6:18 p.m. by Joanne Beck: The patient is being transported by Mercy Flight, and the landing zone is being set up at the VA Hospital.
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