"Music in Our Schools" celebrates musical education and extracurricular activities, and it features performances from Batavia students at all grade levels.

The free concert begins at 7 p.m., Thursday, March 25 in the Batavia High School auditorium, 260 State St. It will last about an hour and 15 minutes and the public is invited to attend.

Please call the Batavia City School District's Board Office at 343-2480 for more information.

St. James Episcopal Church has a fish fry every Friday during Lent. The cost is $7.50 for dinner and $2.50 for a la carte dessert. All proceeds benefit the Restoration Fund of St. James Church.

Take-outs will be available starting at 4:30 p.m., and the dining room will be open for a sit-down dinner at 5.

Free delivery for the elderly and shut-ins of Batavia is available.

The remaining fish fry dates are March 19, March 26 and April 2.

Please contact St. James' Church at 343-6802 for more information.

The Ladies' Ministry of the Batavia City Church invites the public to make Easter crafts for nursing-home residents on Tuesday, March 23.

The craft session will be held at the church, located at 210 East Main St., beginning at 6:30 p.m.

No craft experience necessary, only the desire to "have a great time with great ladies."

For more information, please contact the City Church at 343-6895.

St. Joseph's School will hold its sixth annual MAMMOTH Sale, featuring tens of thousands of garage sale items, on Saturday, April 10. Plus, there will be a new feature called "Antique Alley."

Items for sale will include antique furniture, glassware, a baby buggy from around 1800, kitchen utensils, toys, books (including the "Bobbsey Twins" series), cameras and other local antiques. Only cash will be accepted for payment.

The sale runs from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the school located at 2 Summit St. in the City of Batavia.

Admission is free and open to the public. Please contact the school at 343-6154 for more information.

The New York State Maple Producers Association invites Genesee County residents to "Maple Weekend."

Genesee maple producers will show people the many methods used to make maple syrup, and anyone who attends will get to taste the product for themselves!

The locations for this event are as follows:

Indian Acres Maple Farm, 2005 Broadway Rd., Darien

Randall's Maple Products, 10307 Smithley Rd., Alexander

The event will take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.von March 20-21 and again on March 27-28.

Contact Indian Acres Maple Farm at 547-3557, or Randall's Maple Products at 547-3596 or 734-1057, for more information.

For more details on Maple Weekend, visit www.mapleweekend.com.

The Batavia Board of Education will hold a regular meeting at the board office, 39 Washington Ave., beginning at 8 p.m. All are welcome to attend.

The board will meet in closed executive session for about an hour, beginning at 7 p.m. The public meeting will begin afterwards.

For more information, please contact the board office at 343-2480, ext. 1000.

Grace Woodworth, who served as Town Historian of Stafford for 17 years, will be honored by the Stafford Historical Society at its monthly membership meeting on Thursday, March 25.

It begins at 7 p.m. in the Town Hall on Rte. 237 in Stafford.

A DVD will be shown of an interview with her in which she recalls memories of growing up on a farm in Morganville. The public in invited to attend.

For questions, contact Phyllis Darling at 343-1928 or e-mail to: <electra@2ki.net>.

The Genesee County Clerk’s office will hold our “National Passport Day” from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday, March 26 at 15 Main Street, County Building #1.

As with “National Passport Day in the USA 2010” on March 27, it's a reminder to residents that traveling to Canada now requires either a passport card, passport book or enhanced license if the traveler is over 19 years old.

The day allows us to extend an invitation to residents to come in and apply for your passport at the clerk's office before the proposed increase in fees takes effect.

You will need to bring your certified birth certificate or other citizenship documentation and your driver's license or other acceptable form of identity. Passport photographs are available in the local office. If you are applying for anyone under the age of 16, both parents and the child need to be present.

If you have any questions, please call the clerk's office for clarification at 585-344-2550, ext. 2316. The friendly staff is there to assist in the process, and cookies and punch will be available for your enjoyment on that day. So if you are thinking about getting your passport, this would be an excellent time before the proposed fee increase takes effect!

Batavian Rich Conroy performs some energetic Irish tunes at the Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., on Friday, March 30. This event begins at 7:30 p.m. and lasts about an hour.

Conroy will perform a variety of classic Irish songs, including "Tim Finnegan's Wake" and "Whiskey in the Jar."

Please contact the library at 343-9550 for more information.

Sybil Reisch, the mother of a child with Down Syndrome, will speak in Batavia about her book  Journey with Jeff: Inspiration for Caregivers of People with Special Needs."

Reisch's message is geared toward parents, friends and professionals working with people who suffer from developmental disabilities, but all are welcome to attend.

It's from 7 to 8 p.m. at GoArt's Seymour Place at 201 E. Main St.

This event is free, but interested participants are asked to contact GoArt! ahead of time to make reservations. Please call 343-9313 or e-mail info@goart.org.

For more information, please visit the GoArt! website.

The Genesee Chorale's "Irish Celebration" concert will be performed at Batavia Middle School on 96 Ross St. at 7 p.m. on Friday, March 19.

The concert will feature following performers:

Mitzie Collins, hammered dulcimer

Roxanne Ziegler, harp

Glenda dove, flute

Jim Kimball and the Geneseo String Band

McMahon School of Dance

Tickets are $10 for adults, $8 for children and seniors, and $18 for families.

Please see the Genesee Chorale website for more information -- including a list of musical selections -- or call (585) 746-2974.

The Batavia Players' 2010 "Shakespeare in Springtime" pick is "Richard III." It will be performed at the Batavia High School auditorium, 260 State St.

Showtimes are as follows:

7:30 p.m. Thursday, March 18

7:30 p.m. Friday, March 19

7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 20

Tickets can be purchased online at the Batavia Players website or at the door, and are $10 general admission and $8 for students and seniors.

World-renowned hunter and speaker Chad Schearer is the keynote speaker at First Baptist Church in Pavilion at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 9. Doors open at 5:45 p.m.

Everyone is welcome to attend "Outdoor Evening with Chad Schearer."

For more information visit <www.1stbaptistpavilion.com>.

"Wooly BookWorms" is a monthly book discussion club for students in grades 3-5 and their "favorite adult" -- be that a parent, grandparent, babysitter or other -- and will be held from 10 to 11 a.m. on Sat., March 13.

This session's selection is "My Side of the Mountain," by Jean Craighead George. Kids and accompanying adults will discuss the book and work on a craft afterward. Children should bring their own craft materials to work with. Refreshments will be served.

Adults and children should register online at www.batavialibrary.org.

Genesee Community College will host a Job Fair dedicated to careers in the health career industry on from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Thursday, March 11, at the William Stuart Forum.

The event will introduce potential new employees to employers, and also provides healthcare businesses an opportunity to present their trade and services to the local community. More than 40 local and regional health care companies will be available to answer questions, accept resumes and distribute material relating to their company.

For more information please contact the Career and Transfer Center at 345-6888.

GCC is located at One College Road in Batavia.

This Friday, March 12, the troopers from the New York State Police in Troop “A” will challenge the faculty from Byron-Bergen School District to a charity basketball game. This will be the fourth year that the two groups have squared off on the court.

The Byron-Bergen faculty won the three previous games, but the troopers hope to end that winning streak and come home with a victory this time around.

The game will take place this at 6 pm at the Byron-Bergen High School Gymnasium, 6917 W. Bergen Road, Bergen. Admission is $1 for students and children and $2 for adults. The Byron-Bergen Sports Booster Club is sponsoring the game and all proceeds will benefit the Katelin Ivision Fund.

The event is open to the public and everyone is welcome to enjoy a night of fun and laughs -- and fierce competition!

The Penny Carnival is one of the biggest fundraisers at St. Joseph's School on 2 Summit St. It is open to the public and will be held at the school from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, March 20.

The carnival features games, inflatables, food, prizes, raffles and a $1,000 cash giveway. There are also some new features this year, like the Slam 'N Jam inflatable for basketball fans, Sponge Bob Bowling, and the raffling off of an iPod TOUCH with accessories.

The following tickets may be purchased from any SJS student:

Green tickets- $1,000 Cash Giveaway. $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5.

Ivory tickets- Giant Variety Raffle, including more than 100 prizes donated by SJS parents and friends, as well as local businesses and merchants. $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5.

Yellow tickets- Basket Raffle, featuring themed baskets -- including "Baking," "Kids," "Bath-n-Beauty," "Movie Basket" and others -- put together by each SJS class; participants will write their choice down on the ticket. $0.50 per ticket or 12 tickets for $5.

Pink tickets- $100+ Lottery Raffle (for $100 worth of lottery tickets); $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5.

Blue tickets- iPod Touch and Accessories; $1 per ticket or six tickets for $5.

Advance tickets for games and food are $0.20 and will be available in the SJS main office on Thursday, March 18 and Friday, March 19; tickets purchased on March 20 will be $0.25.

Please contact the school for more information; a list of sponsors can be found on its website.

Five Batavia churches will open their doors to view and learn the history of their beautiful stained glass windows. Batavia’s Stained Glass Window Tour is from 1 to 4 p.m. on Sunday, April 11.

Tickets are $10 and include a tour book and dessert reception at 4 p.m. at St. James Church.

The churches participating are First Presbyterian, First Baptist, St. Mary’s Roman Catholic, St. Paul Lutheran and St. James Episcopal. The event is sponsored by the Landmark Society of Genesee County and all proceeds benefit the St. James Restoration Fund. 

For ticket information, please call 343-6802.

The March "Reel Discussion" starts at 6 p.m. at the Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St.

Free and open to the public, RD treats people to a feature film from the library's DVD collection. Attendees discuss the movie afterwards.

Due to the terms of the program's license, the name of the film cannot be advertised outside of the library. For more information and to find out what this month's movie is, contact RML at 343-9550.