Saint Nicholas Social Club president Michael Rimmer wrote a letter to the editor in The Daily News in early December saying that he planned on the club remaining open for another 65 years.

But, after many decades of being a meeting place for friends and a place for social groups to gather, St. Nick's will be closing its doors for good on Monday.

Rimmer expressed concern but said the club was trying its best to stay open in a June 5 story on The Batavian. He talked about how the poor economy has hurt many local businesses.

The rumors that have been passed around for many months are finally becoming true, adding yet another sad chapter that is the current state of Batavia.

St. Nick's will stay open for Monday night's Lions Club meeting and then will be shutting down. The Lions have been meeting at the club for many years and are searching for a new meeting place.

     I will keep this short and to the point. My hats off to the staff at Denny's Restaurant  in Batavia today.  I could not believe how well they survived the overwhelming crowd that formed early this morning and continued through the day.

     One of the ads for the Super Bowl announced that between 6am and 2pm you could receive a free Grand Slam Breakfast meal at Dennys.  After searching the internet to confirm this, I decided that I would give it a try. I loaded up my two toddlers and headed out.

     When we arrived at Dennys I thought for sure that I had made a mistake. The lot was full. Total strangers were helping to direct traffic. The waiting area was full to beyond capacity. The crowd was calm and patient. The staff took names and the number of people in the party. We waited about an hour. I didn't think that was too bad for the crowd. The staff was better then some fine quality restaurants I have eaten in.

     Thank you to my waitress Lori, The busboy that would play peekaboo with my son,  the lovely Mom/Son (Sue) group that ate with us, and everyone in the kitchen. I applaud the job very well done.

     By the way, we did not know Sue and her son when we entered Denny's. I offered to have a couple join us in order to make room for another group at another table. It was a great experience. It was a delight for my kids to have someone elses attention for awhile too. Thank you.

Earlier today, The Batavian was informed that South Beach restaurant in Batavia had abruptly closed over the weekend, and the former employees—about 30 or so—were coming by to pick up their final checks. We spoke with some of the staff as they came and went. You can see our earlier post for those details.

Gail Giuliani phoned us a little while ago to say that her brother-in-law, Alex Giuliani, the restaurant's owner, "had to close" the business the way he did, without notifying the employees, for fear of theft. Gail told us that Alex has already moved back to his home in Florida and was likely not able to comment on the matter at this time.

"The reason they were not told was because Alex was advised not to tell them," she said. "Because when you tell people like that, they will steal from you."

One employee who went in to pick up her check today even said that had she known that the place was closing, she would not have "rung up" the meals. Jason Giuliani, Alex's grandson, was handing out the paychecks at the restaurant this morning when he overheard that comment, she said. Jason had worked as a manager at South Beach.

"Alex wrote a very very nice note to his employees and it says: 'To all my employees, today is a very sad for me.' And he went on and told them how he had to do it. And he left this letter on the bar when Jason went in today to give the employees their paychecks."

Alex and Barbara, his wife and co-owner of South Beach, were at the restaurant Sunday cleaning up, according to Gail, who was helping out. They were not there to "empty the place out," she said. "All the furniture is there. Everything is still in the building."

"One of the barmaids went by when we were cleaning that place," she continued. "We were there from eight o'clock in the morning to six o'clock at night. We scrubbed every cooler, every stove. I went back, cleaned all the bathrooms, cleaned all the rugs. We didn't want to leave it any other way. We had to take bags of food out of the place. This waitress happened to go by and saw all this stuff.... So she started text messaging everybody around, and before you know it... Jason's phone was ringing off the wall."

Gail says that she understands the workers might feel a little resentment, but that Alex had no choice in the matter. She said: "If Alex wasn't forced to do this, he would have never done this."

"It just irritates me," she continued. "The employee's are angry, but let's face it—bartenders and waitresses—is that a career? I'm sure they can find another job.... If you put yourself in that position: what would you do? Would you tell your employees that next week is going to be your last night? He was advised not tell his help. They just made it like my brother-in-law just up and left and he's a real rat. But people who know him, know that he's not like that. He's a charming man and a gentleman." 

I'm writing this simply because I'm surprised someone hasn't beaten me to the punch.  Wondering perhaps if it is as much as a surprise to people in town as it is to the employees that were sprung with the news that they'd no longer have a job, when South Beach abruptly closed Saturday evening. 

Perhaps it was just too much to get into, trying to open a restaurant again in town with business going the way it was for everyone.  Or perhaps it just wasn't worth the time and energy.  But either way, one would think that there would be some sort of notice to people that the restaurant was closing.  Another Batavia business down unfortunately.  I suppose there were reasons for why they closed, but its a shame things don't seem to last around Batavia. 

Sad news for local gastronomes: Sallome's Deli in Batavia is dark. The Oak Street eatery has been closed up since at least last week. A sign on the door simply reads: "Closed until further notice," and a number is given where customers are encouraged to leave a message. We called that number and left a message. Anyone with a gift certificate is encouraged to call the same number (201-7300) and leave an address where a refund can be mailed.

Sallome's opened up this past summer.

We will keep you informed of any updates.