I think it would be interesting to learn what people feel they need to leave Batavia in order to get. To me this is the best way to figure out what the town/city is missing and perhaps there is someone one there that either knows somewhere we CAN get "it" in Batavia or we'll come up with some new business ventures for people.

Personally I feel like I need to leave Batavia to see a good movie.  I understand we have a 2 screen theater in town but the offerings are very limited - usually just big budget popcorn flicks or kid's movies. This means I have to drive to Buffalo or Rochester to see anything else - and I'm thinking pretty much everyone in Genesee county feels the same way.

The second thing is a good bottle of wine.  We have many liquor stores in Batavia but I have yet to find anything but the standard fare of mass produced wines. And to be clear although I enjoy nice wines this doesn't mean they have to cost a lot - anyone who has been to Marketplace or Premier knows you can get many excellent bottles of wine under $10 - so why can't we get this in Batavia.

So what do you NEED to leave town for?

MAMMOTH Indoor Garage Sale

Saturday, April 18th 9AM-4PM

St. Joseph School
corner of Main (Route 5) & Summit
Batavia

*  "It's a widely-acclaimed, super-enormous, ultra-gigantic quality sale!"

*  Everything from A-to-Z (clothing excluded)

*  New this year: a wide variety of quality, used furniture

Please call Kathy Stefani at 585-344-2701 with any questions.
Hope to see you there!

I know it’s early, but let's start thinking about Holiday Shopping!

The Holland Land Office Museum is proud to announce the arrival of the fourth building in the Custom Wood Gift series. On November 1, 2008 the next building, the Old City Hall / Brisbane Mansion will be available at the Museum Store inside the Holland Land Office Museum.

The 5 inch by 7 inch gift features the old City Hall on the front and a history of the building on the back.

Here is the building history from the back:

Brisbane Mansion / City Hall
Batavia, New York

The Brisbane Mansion was built in 1853 by George Brisbane, the son of Batavia’s first merchant. The Brisbane family donated the mansion to the city and assumed it would be razed for a city park.

On February 5, 1918, Ellicott Hall which was serving as city headquarters burned to the ground.

After the fire, City Council decided the Brisbane Mansion would serve as City Hall. Frank Homelius drew up plans for remodeling and the Mansion opened as the new City Hall on September 28, 1918.

In 2004, City Hall was moved from this building to the new City Centre.

The Brisbane Mansion is part of the Genesee County Historic District and was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

This is the fourth building available. The others are the Holland Land Office Museum, the Richmond Mansion and the old Genesee County Courthouse.

See the entire collection at http://www.hollandlandoffice.com/museum_store_woodgifts.htm

Call the Holland Land Office Museum at (585) 343-4727 to preorder yours today.

BUILD YOUR OWN BATAVIA!