If you happen to be out and about for a nosh next weekend, you may also want to check out the Nash that will be in town.

Nash Car Club of America, that is. Some 100 cars circa 1918 to 1957 are expected to roll into Batavia on July 18 and stay through the week, with a car show on July 22 at Quality Inn and Suites, 8250 Park Road, Batavia.

Press release:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce that it has updated and expanded the Barn Quilt Trail of Le Roy, in cooperation with Le Roy Historian Lynne Belluscio and the Le Roy Historical Society, by launching a new website and new self-guided trail brochure.

The original 2012 Barn Quilt Trail began as a bicentennial project for the Town of Le Roy, with the first being painted in 2011 at the annual Oatka Festival. In the following 10 months, the trail surpassed its goal of 25, with over 70 barn quilts being painted and erected.

Today, the trail features a collection of over 100 hand-painted barn quilts along four driving tours in and around LeR oy. Explore the scenic countryside while spotting each unique barn quilt that’s displayed on an array of barns, garages, homes and other outbuildings. Each quilt pattern has a story to tell, and these stories, along with full size images, can be found on the new LeRoyBarnQuilt.org website.

Barn Quilts are known to drive heritage tourism for rural communities as visitors search out authentic experiences that represent the stories and people, past and present, of the area. For Genesee County, the barn quilts have come to represent the pride shared by the people of LeRoy, a town with a rich agricultural heritage, deep appreciation of its history and immense pride in family heritage.

The Barn Quilt Trail expansion is supported through the Tourism Matching Funds program, administered by Empire State Development and I LOVE NY, New York State's Division of Tourism. 

The Chamber invites everyone to explore the trail and discover the beauty and history of the area. The brochure can be requested online at LeRoyBarnQuilt.org or picked up at the Chamber’s Visitor Center at 8276 Park Road in Batavia. This, and other local brochures, can be found in our vestibule, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It will also be available in LeRoy this spring at the Town Hall, Village Hall, McDonald’s, The D&R Depot Restaurant, JELL-O Gallery Museum and the Woodward Memorial Library. Watch for special Barn Quilts programming at the Woodward Memorial Library this spring.

Genesee County Chamber of Commerce helped the new Fairfield Inn by Marriott celebrate its opening Thursday with a ribbon-cutting outside of the new hotel.

The project was pursued by the Chase Hotel Group with assistance from local investors and project managers. Planning started four years ago but was often delayed by issues related to the pandemic. 

The hotel, at 4333 Federal Drive, Batavia, is designed to offer slightly more upscale accommodations to travelers.

The four-story hotel contains sixty-four rooms, including king and queen suites and double rooms for families. Amenities include an indoor pool, breakfast area, and fitness room.

Photos and information courtesy of the Genesee County Chamber of Commerce.

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce, acting as the official Tourism Promotion Agency for Genesee County, is pleased to announce the completion of a new Genesee County tourism website.  VisitGeneseeNY.com is the “go-to” online resource for all things tourism, hospitality, recreation and special events in Genesee County.

 The well-established site provides a digital presence for nearly 400 tourism-related businesses in Genesee County.  Each business has a landing page including business contact information, hours of operation, a description of goods or services and image gallery.  The site curates the content, so if a business is included in a blog, has events on the calendar or offers packages, the information is also displayed on the landing page – tying together all of the information that is displayed in various sections of the website. A requested custom feature on all business pages is the “What’s Nearby” filtering capability.   Users can see by distance, tourism-related businesses and filter to display the results based on type of attractions, restaurants and/or lodging.

The Chamber maintains an extensive county-wide (tourism-related) events calendar, which features over 400 events year-round, ranging from theater and arts workshops, outdoor nature programs, history-related or agritourism events, live racing and more.  A submission button is provided for area event coordinators to add their events as they become finalized.   In the coming days, the Chamber will also be announcing information on the live music section of the website (which can be easily found at JamInGenesee.com)

The site also includes information for event planners, tour operators, an in-depth collection of county-wide sports venues and more.  It was designed by Chamber member Corporate Communications located in Rochester, and replaces the 2017 site which they also created.

We encourage you to use bookmark VisitGeneseeNY.com as a resource for area businesses, as well as for year-round things to do with family and friends.

Press Release:

The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to announce today’s release of the 2022 Genesee County Visitors Guide. In total 80,000 guides will be distributed throughout New York State, Ontario Canada, and neighboring states, highlighting all Genesee County has to offer.

The tourism industry was hit hard by the pandemic, but the Chamber is confident that Genesee County’s 2^nd leading industry will have a strong return in 2022.  “This year’s visitor guide is a reflection of what we’ve experienced these past 24 months as a destination marketing organization,” said Kelly Rapone, Tourism Director at the Chamber. “Because of pandemic limitations and temporary closures of major attractions and large events, our messaging naturally shifted to highlighting opportunities to explore our quaint communities, experience our outdoor dining, nature parks & recreation,” she said. You’ll see this reflected on this year’s cover, which beautifully captures the essence of one of our welcoming communities - Le Roy. The main image features Farmer’s Creekside Tavern & Inn and depicts a relaxing experience that awaits in Genesee County.  Elyse VanZile is credited with capturing this beautiful picture. 

This cover is going to appeal to a broader travel market segment than what has historically been presented. To further compliment that, the Chamber will be shining a bright spotlight on our live music scene. Featured inside, you will see a page highlighting JamInGenesee.com, a new webpage that will launch in the coming weeks as part of an overall tourism website redesign.  From restaurants that feature acoustic artists, to bars and taverns with live music, local outdoor concert series and more, Genesee is in fact jamming!  The Chamber tourism staff has been working with local destinations, and area bands to promote nearly 100 live music events this year.   

Additional features this year include:

• Six Flags Darien Lake is investing in the park again this year with the addition of a massive new water attraction, Wahoo Wave, an adrenaline-packed adventure sending riders into near vertical motions to experience extended hang times and zero g-forces. Also new the park’s lodging is offering flexible stay options, with park admission being sold separately. Go from “room to zoom” at their rustic Lodge on the Lake Hotel, cabins, guest houses, RV’s or campsites. 
• A feature on Ely S. Parker’s commemoration by the United States Mint to be featured on the 2022 Native American Dollar Coin.
• Six pages highlighting our top outdoor nature assets, from the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, The Bergen Swamp and more.

The digital version of the visitor guide can be viewed here.  Visitors may request a free copy of the brochure on our website. Area residents that would like a copy can stop by the Chamber’s Visitor Center at 8276 Park Road in Batavia beginning Tuesday, March 2nd.  This, and other local brochures can be found in our vestibule, which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Warsaw -- Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties are excited to launch a new regional tourism program – “Fresh Air Adventures – New York’s Falls to the Finger Lakes.”

This is a refresh of the successful long-running Country Byways of Greater Niagara and the Finger Lakes program, which has existed for more than 25 years and has given the GLOW counties collaborative capabilities to leverage our unique rural towns and villages, collective attractions and prime location between Niagara Falls and the Finger Lakes.

The goals of Fresh Air Adventures are to encourage travel to our world-class attractions, discover our quaint towns and villages, and experience all that our great region has to offer.

The initiative includes a new comprehensive website (www.FreshAirAdventuresNY.com) designed by Corporate Communications based out of Rochester, as well as Facebook and Instagram (@FreshAirAdventuresNY) platforms.

Each of these digital tools will provide tourists a wealth of valuable information, including outdoor recreation experiences, culinary and craft beverage fare, overnight accommodations, events, adventure ideas/itineraries, interactive maps and trip-planning capabilities.

Fresh Air Adventures, as part of New York Empire State Development’s I LOVE NY program, will continue Country Byways work of marketing approximately 1,000 GLOW tourism businesses.

As we navigate the COVID-19 pandemic, our marketing will shift to NYS travelers and once the pandemic is over, we will resume marketing to national and international leisure and group tour travelers and those passing along major routes traveling to Buffalo, Niagara Falls USA/Canada and the Finger Lakes from places like New York City, Toronto, Canada and elsewhere within a six-hour drive.

This visitation is critical to our area economy and the sustainability of our small business community. Tourists spend more than $238 million in the GLOW region each year, which translates to $28 million in sales tax dollars, over $15 million of which remains local so the GLOW counties can improve the quality of life for residents.

Along with the Fresh Air Adventures moniker, includes a new logo that features earth-tone colors, adventurous fonts, the profile of New York State to give visitors a sense of location/place, and clever touches like a bird in flight and a waypoint marker dotting the “i” in AIR – adding to the explorative nature of the brand.

The tagline, “New York’s Falls to Finger Lakes” adds to the intrigue, playing on internationally renowned outdoor landmarks like Niagara Falls, the major waterfalls in Letchworth State Park and the Finger Lakes.

“Fresh Air Adventures tells tourists exactly what they can expect when they visit our region,” said Eric Szucs, Wyoming County Tourism director. “We have a spacious, safe, and beautiful natural setting, so the GLOW Counties collaborated to build this incredible program supported by a comprehensive website and social media platforms.

"In doing so, we can share the outdoor experiences and uniqueness of our rural villages and the small businesses that make up our communities. It’s an incredible way to connect so many outdoor landmarks like Lake Ontario, Letchworth State Park and the Finger Lakes.” 

“In 2020 people were forced to rethink their travel plans,” said Dawn L. Borchert, Orleans County Tourism director. “Many had to forfeit air travel to exotic locations and be creative with road trips.

"Fresh Air Adventures is a great tool to plot out a stimulating excursion off the ‘beaten path’, especially while driving from the metropolitan area of New York City to Niagara Falls. They will be pleasantly surprised as to the family friendly towns and villages along the route, as well as the wide open spaces that Letchworth State Park, the Erie Canal and Lake Ontario have to offer.”

“The Genesee County Chamber of Commerce is pleased to continue the long-standing collaboration between our tourism offices in promoting our great region." said Kelly Rapone, Genesee County Tourism Marketing director.

"Each county has a unique set of offerings that once packaged together offer visitors a wide range of activities to experience all within a one-hour radius. Working together, we are also able to enhance our individual marketing reach.”

“A regional collaboration connecting ‘Falls to the Finger Lakes’ stands to benefit the hundreds of small businesses through the region that cater to and delight tourists year-round,” said Laura Lane, president & CEO of the Livingston County Chamber of Commerce.

“Travelers looking for Fresh Air Adventures will surely delight as they make their way throughout the GLOW region counties and enjoy the multitude of experiences coupled with an array of complementary shopping, dining and indoor explorations. Livingston County appreciates working with our neighboring counties to truly connect New York’s Falls to Finger Lakes -- creating a memorable vacation experience.”

Fresh Air Adventures is a regional tourism program between Genesee, Livingston, Orleans and Wyoming counties official tourism promotion agencies, dedicated to promoting our rich tourism assets, while working collaboratively to create an environment that leads to the success and economic prosperity of the GLOW Region through visitor spending.

For more information, please call (800) 622-2686 or visit the website at:   www.FreshAirAdventuresNY.com

Submitted image and press release:

Oswego -- New York Sea Grant (NYSG) is providing New York State's freshwater marine industry for-hire boating sector with a series of six decals to encourage public compliance with boating-specific COVID-19 safety precautions.

The outreach is part of the 2020 edition of NYSG's nationally recognized Discover Clean and Safe Boating campaign. 

The decals will adhere to boat surfaces to note "Mask Required," "Use Sanitizer," "Wear It" with a life jacket symbol, and "Keep Personal Belongings Personal"; others have a blank line to write a name with an erasable marker to designate person-specific areas aboard the vessel for each individual's fishing pole or diving gear.

There is no cost for the decals for qualified for-hire boating businesses.

The captains or business owners of charter services, boat rentals, tour boats, and boats for-hire for leisure cruising, fishing, or diving in New York State may request decals by emailing business name, postal address, and telephone number to sgoswego@cornell.edu. Details will be returned on the number of each style of decal available while supplies last.

Printable templates of the decals are available to download for print-on-demand atwww.nyseagrant.org/marina.  

"This new outreach for 2020 is aimed at maintaining the opportunity to be on New York's fabulous boating waters for both the public and the marine industry that is an essential economic driver for our coastal communities," said New York Sea Grant Coastal Recreation and Tourism specialist Dave White. "This project draws inspiration from a marine industry theme from the 1990s that fits today: 'Boating in New York is good, clean fun... let's keep it that way.' "

For additional information on boating in New York in 2020, with CDC and New York State COVID-19 guidelines, and a link to the Marine Retailers Association of the Americas' Guide to Operating Your Boat Business Safely during COVID-19, visit www.nysgrecreation.org.

Press release:

Darien Center -- In anticipation of safely reopening at the appropriately deemed time, and following the direction outlined by civic leaders, State Officials, health professionals, epidemiologists, and industry experts around the world, Six Flags Darien Lake, the Thrill Capital of New York, is currently seeking qualified individuals to fill more than 1,000 positions in various departments as it prepares to reopen for the 2020 season.

An official reopening date for Six Flags Darien Lake is to be determined.

Six Flags Darien Lake has established cleanliness, health, and safety standards that meet federal, state, and local guidelines.

“We have taken necessary precautions to ensure everyone who comes to work this season can feel safe while providing the thrills and joy families have come to love here at the park,” said Park President Chris Thorpe. “We have made many changes to our operation to reduce touch points, ensure social distancing and reduce risk of contamination or transmission.”  

Team Member Care & Health Screenings

• Each employee will receive a health screening before entering the park, including temperature checks and individuals will be asked if they are healthy and will be required to acknowledge the company’s health policies;
• Frontline team members will go through extensive COVID-19 training;
• All employees will be issued Team Member Action Packs which will include: a safety face mask, safety glasses, and disposable gloves;
• Regular cleaning and wiping down of team members workspaces.

The above procedures will be constantly evaluated to ensure compliance with state recommendations.

The park will be conducting virtual interviews with qualified candidates. You must be at least 14 years old to apply.

Candidates can apply online at sixflagsjobs.com to schedule an interview.

Available positions include:

• Admissions & Guest Relations
• Food Services
• Ride Operators
• Human Resources
• Park Services
• Games
• Retail
• Marketing & Sales
• Accommodations/Lodging
• Lifeguards
• Emergency Medical Technicians (EMT)
• Maintenance
• Security
• Warehouse
• Cash Control

One of the largest employers in Western New York, Six Flags Darien Lake offers competitive pay, free admission with your employee ID, free tickets for friends and family and more

First, it was the trade war, now it's novel coronavirus knocking down tourism dollars just a bit in Genesee County.

It's not a huge impact, but Chinese tourists passing through the area as they travel between New York City and Niagara Falls have helped fill up hotel rooms and generate local dining and shopping revenue. 

In 2019, that changed as the trade war meant fewer travel visas were issued to Chinese citizens. In April, there were 5.4 percent fewer rooms booked in local hotels. In May, there was a 7.4 percent drop, 12.3 percent in June, and a little less than 2 percent in July and August. In September, there were 14.1 percent fewer rooms booked.

Many tour companies consider Batavia an attractive location for an overnight stay because the room rates are lower than closer to Niagara Falls, said Kelly Rapone, director of tourism for the Chamber of Commerce.

With fewer visas issued, there were a lot fewer buses stopping outside the Chinese restaurants in Valu Plaza and the BJ's plaza.  

There was also a drop in guests at the visitors center on Park Road.

"We did not see as many Chinese taking pictures in our yard," Rapone told the Ways and Means Committee on Wednesday during a department review.

In February, hotel bookings are already projected to be down 20 percent as tour cancellations mount because of the outbreak of coronavirus in China.

"It's funny how something on the other side of the world, such as this coronavirus, could affect us in little old Genesee County," said Chamber President Tom Turnbull.

It's too soon to say how much revenue from the bed tax will drop for 2019, but Rapone said today it could be from 1 to 3 percent.

One wild card is hotel and cabin stays at Darien Lake, which accounts for a third of the county's bed tax. But Darien Lake isn't part of the national industry reporting system the Chamber uses to track hotel occupancy (which is a leading indicator for projected bed tax because that revenue won't be collected and tabulated for a couple of months yet).

"(2018) was so high that a small drop (in 2019) isn't going to seem that bad," Rapone said.

Only once in the past 20 years, Turnbull said, has the county failed to hit its bed tax target.

The drop in Chinese tourists could have an even bigger economic impact throughout the state. Chinese tourists tend to say longer and spend more than many other international travelers. Turnbull noted that the Chinese are only allowed to bring $10,000 in U.S. currency and they are intent on spending every last penny of that money during their visit.

April's hotel occupancy rate was also hurt when a weekend soccer tournament was rained out.

In other tourism developments:

• The state is reducing "I Love New York" grants to local tourism bureaus by $500,000, which will mean about $9,000 less for Genesee County. 
• The restoration of the Thompson Rocket Car is nearing completion. The Chamber continues to work on trying to find a temporary and a permanent home for it once the work is done. Rapone expects it to be a tourist attraction for auto enthusiasts. There are plans in the works to take it to an auto show in Syracuse this summer.
• The chamber's golf package continues to sell well, with Canadians buying more than 90 percent of the golf packages. The new hotel at Batavia Downs has become popular with golfers. Batavia Downs offers free shuttles to golfers to all of their golf courses. It's a good deal for Batavia Downs, Turnbull said. "Think about it -- the sun has to go down sometime and they have the restaurants, the racing, and the casino right there."

Photo: Kelly Rapone shows members of the County Legislature a mock-up of the next edition of the tourism guide.

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Genesee County is set to welcome 150 members of Blue Knights New York IV, who will converge on Batavia over the Columbus Day weekend to attend the Blue Knights International Convention and the Tri-State Conference.

While in the area the group is working with area businesses to provide food, drink and entertainment to the attendees. They are returning to Batavia for the first time since 2014 and their event will leave an estimated $40,000 economic impact to the area.

Blue Knights New York IV was founded in 1986 by a small group of NYS Corrections officers from Groveland Correctional Facility in Sonyea in Livingston County. Since that time, NY IV has grown to become a vibrant part of the Blue Knights organization.  

The current members come from all facets of the law enforcement community consisting of active and retired members from city, town and village police, county sheriffs, New York State Police (including BCI), New York State Parole and State Corrections. These officers have ranks all the way from chief of oolice to entry level officer.  

With a general 50-mile radius of the original Groveland -- Sonyea Charter address, NY IV stretches along the Interstate 390 corridor from the shores of Lake Ontario to the Southern Tier. Their area covers Allegany, Genesee, Livingston, Monroe, Orleans, Ontario, Stueben, Wayne, and Wyoming counties.

Their activities and accomplishments equal that of much larger chapters. Throughout Blue Knights lifetime, New York IV has organized or participated in charity events for the American Cancer Society, United Cerebral Palsey, the Kali Poulton Research Foundation, Ronald McDonald House, the Association for Retarded Citizens (ARC), Strong Memorial Hospital's Children's Center, and for Lifetime Assistance Inc. 

NY IV was also a sponsoring chapter of the Attica -- 9/11 Memorial Ride conducted by NY 8 for five years, which memorializes those slain corrections officers from the 1971 Attica Prison riot and all those officers killed in the line of duty throughout the country and in particular at the Sept. 11th tragedy in NYC. 

Following the termination of the Attica Ride event, NY IV was then a sponsoring club for several years of Operation Patriot. This event honored all law enforcement, firefighters, EMS and military and was held on the 9/11 Weekend. In the past, they have supported the Genesee Valley Chapter of C.O.P.S. and a Christmas in July Toy Ride to benefit the Golisano Children's Center at Strong Memorial Hospital. This event brings hundreds of toys to the hospitalized children at a time of year when many are forgotten.