The Genesee Chorale presents its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m. on Saturday at St. James Episcopal Church, 405 E. Main St., Batavia, featuring baritone Joseph Finetti.
Finetti is featured in the performance of "Fantasia on Christmas Carols," composed by Ralph Vaughan Williams.
The chorale will also perform "Magnificat" by Taylor Scott Davis.
Tickets are $10.
Press Release:
Health outcomes such as asthma, lead poisoning, injury, and other chronic diseases have been linked to unsafe and unhealthy housing conditions. Hazards are not only in older homes; new homes can also have hazards lurking within.
“Making homes safer and healthier can help children grow up strong, allow older adults to stay in their homes, and help people with disabilities live independently,” stated Darren Brodie, Environmental Health Director of Genesee and Orleans County Health Departments (GO Health).
In January of 2024, the Genesee County Health Department received $1.2 million in funding from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). This Healthy Homes Production (HHP) Grant addresses health and safety hazards in homes and apartments in Genesee, Livingston, Orleans, and Wyoming (GLOW) Counties. Health and safety hazards may include but are not limited to dampness and mold growth, asbestos, radon gas, pests, fall risks, and weatherization.
In order to be eligible for these funds, homeowners and property owners must meet all of the following requirements:
- Tenants or homeowners are income eligible (funds available for vacant units, call for more information)
- Existing health or safety hazards in the home
- Property is current on tax and mortgage payments
- Other requirements determined on a case-by-case basis
Rental property owners are required to match 10% of the total project costs. For example, a rental property owner would be required to pay $2,000 for a $20,000 project.
Rental properties must have four units or less. Recipients are required to maintain ownership of the residence for 5 years after the project is completed.
All work is completed by pre-approved local contractors with applicable certifications. If you would like to be added to our list of contractors, please contact the Genesee County Health Department or fill out the application on the GO Health website.
For more information or help determining eligibility, please contact the Genesee County Health Department at 585-344-2580 ext. 5555, or at Health.GOlead@geneseeny.gov. You can also visit GOHealthNY.org for more information or to apply.
Elba beat Oakfield-Alabama on Tuesday night in Girls Basketball, 71-60.
For the Lancers, Sydney Reilly scored 27 points, and Lydia Ross scored 22.
For the Hornets, Piper Hyde scored 28 points, and Allie Williams scored eight.
Photo by Debra Reilly.
The Notre Dame Lady Irish picked up the team's second win of the season on Tuesday, beating Pavilion 44-33.
Sofia Falleti scored 22 points and nine rebounds. Shirley Thompson scored 10 points, and Gianna Falleti scored 5 points.
Photos by Pete Welker.
Bruce Scofield says he has been waiting more than a decade for the right time to enter the residential garbage business.
He thinks now, after residents in Batavia have been left with only two trash collection options and two large corporations, the time is right.
He's launching a residential refuse business in Batavia at the beginning of 2025.
"So, let me tell you, this is how it happened. When my son graduated from high school in 2011 he says, 'Dad, he says, Let's start a garbage out business go house to house,'" Scofield recalled. "I say, 'No, time's not right. It's not right.' And I told him, 'Be patient.'"
In 2013, after Tyler Scofield graduated from college, he proposes going into the residential garbage business again.
Bruce, again, didn't think the time was right.
A couple of years later, Tyler brought the issue up again.
"He says, 'Dad,' he says, 'I want to start a side little business.' He says, 'We got this business.' He says, 'I'll before work. I'll go out and run around, and I'll do it after.' He says, 'I want to get into the garbage business.' And again, I told him, 'Son, the timing isn't right. Be patient.'"
They watched four or five small, locally owned or start-up businesses jump into the new market for garbage collection in the city of Batavia after the city canceled a long-time contract with Genesee ARC for exclusive garbage collection.
Bruce Scofield didn't want to compete in that market. Too many of the new businesses were run by people with little business experience. They're not educated enough, he said, to know what a profit margin is.
"I don't want to compete against somebody who's not in it to make money or it doesn't know how to make money," Scofield said. "Big corporations know how to make money. I can compete against people who know how to make money. Now, when the price is up there, we can come in and give great service, and we're not selling on price. We're going to have an attractive price, but you're going to know the owners."
A few months ago, Bruce and Tyler traveled to Florida to buy a one-year-old garbage truck for $256,000.
On the drive home, while Bruce is thinking about how to increase revenue to help cover the cost, Tyler raises the issue of residential service again.
"He says, 'I get a lot of calls' -- because my son answers 90% of the calls -- 'I get a lot of calls from people looking for residential service.' He says, 'They're about begging,' and me being the businessman, you know, I want to justify buying the truck. I said, 'You know what?' I said, 'The time's right.' I say, 'Now we'll get into it because there are only big corporations. There are no locally owned businesses, and the price is high. We can make money.'"
To start, Scofield is only offering residential service on the north side of Route 5, from Clinton Street Road in the town of Batavia on the east to Park Road on the west. Residents in those neighborhoods will receive mailers advertising the service. They can also call 585-343-3400 to sign up.
The cost, with taxes and fees, $33.37 per month.
The garbage business is tough, Scofield said, because paying customers don't feel like they’re getting something for their money. They're paying money to get rid of something. It's not like going to dinner and getting that sense of satisfaction when you pay the bill, or buying a new car or going on a vacation. It's garbage. The stuff you no longer want."
"They'll camp out in front of a store to get a new Apple iPhone and spend $1,500 but at the end of the week, there's no gratification in paying a garbage bill," Scofield said. "But garbage is expensive to get rid of. Garbage trucks are the most expensive. Everything's expensive, but when you take $33.37 divided by four, it's $8.34 to have somebody come to your house and pick up garbage."
That's about the price of a latte, he noted.
"They'll spend that every day, but they're very critical of how much their garbage bill is," he said. "That's the one problem with the garbage business. But for $8.34 you can get somebody to come to your house and haul your garbage away."
Garbage collection for all city residents -- even when service opens on the southside within the following month or two -- will be on Thursdays, so expect on the week of Thanksgiving, there will be no changing of collection days for holidays.
Stafford, Scofield's home base, will also get service starting in the new year, and eventually, more towns in Genesee County will be added.
"Then we're going to designate other towns on other days of the week," Scofield said. "We'll never be a Monday pickup service. We're going to always try to be Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday. Friday is a floating day, and Monday is our other businesses."
Scofield's total investment in the new line of business so far exceeds $500,000. He also bought a brand new, smaller truck for $250,000 that can be operated by a driver only because the tote pick-up is automated.
He's also bought bright yellow totes for every customer. The yellow totes will save his drivers time carrying a list of customers or memorizing addresses.
They simply pick up every yellow tote along their routes.
What they won't be picking up is recycling totes.
Scofield is offering a recycling program for customers, one he said will ensure customers who care about recycling will actually have confidence that they're recycling won't go to a landfill.
A big issue with recycling, Scofield explained, is that many customers may not realize that they think they're recycling but they're not, and as a result, their neighbors who put only approved material into recycling bins are also not recycling.
Most people, he said, don't really understand what can go into the recycling tote. The customers who do get cheated out of recycling by those who don't, with some companies.
"One customer might say, 'Well, I'm going to go through the motions of recycling,' but they don't do it right," Scofield said. "They might put a pizza box in there. They put a coffee cup in there. If you put a container with food left in it, so if it was a peanut butter jar, it wasn't washed out, that becomes contaminated recyclables.'
Just like one bad apple can spoil the whole bunch, one unwashed peanut butter jar can legally enable a hauler to send the whole load from a collection route to the landfill.
"That's like hitting the jackpot for a garbage company because they say, 'Well, it was contaminated. We can't control what the customer does,' so they're going to go through all the motions and say, 'Yes, we offer recyclables, ' and at the end of the day, they can landfill it."
For customers who are serious about recyclables, he will offer gift certificates to Tops, Dunkin' Donuts, or Tim Hortons if they bring their bags of recyclables to the Scofield transfer station in Stafford.
"Every time you bring it here, we're here to inspect it and to educate the people," Scofield said. "'This is how you do it.' I don't want my employees sorting out on the side of the road. So you get a punch card. Every five times you come out here, you get a $10 gift certificate to top Dunkin' Donuts or Tim Hortons."
The two big corporations that serve Batavia now are Casella Waste (which bought out all the small operators that set up shop when the city got out of the garbage business) and Waste Management. Casella claims on its website to operate a sorting facility and promises that all uncontaminated recyclables are recycled. Waste Management makes no such promise and indicates that contaminated loads are sent to landfills.
Waste Management states:
A container is considered contaminated when your recycling bin contains trash, the materials are soiled by food/liquids, or items are placed in plastic bags. For recyclable materials to have a second life, they must be clean and free from contaminants.
"I'm not going to go through the motions and tell everybody, 'Yeah, we're recycling, do it on the side of the roadside or send it to a landfill. I never want to be called out on that," Scofield said.
Any customers who have questions, Scofield said, are welcome to call him and he will explain the program further.
Scofield believes local ownership is a clear competitive advantage over big corporations.
He said he's passionate about his business. He takes care of his employees, keeps his trucks well-maintained and clean, and usually when customers call, it's him or his son answering the phone.
And if you call because you forgot to put your garbage out? If it's not a habitual problem, Scofield will send a truck back to pick it up. That's less likely to happen with the big haulers.
"You're never going to get an owner of Waste Management or Casella," Scofield said. "You're never going to get Casella or Waste Management to sponsor, like we do, the Genesee County Fair. We're big into the Genesee County Fair. When Le Roy needed an ambulance, we were right there to step up. That's the difference. We care about our community."
More than a dozen people showed up to the city’s brownfield opportunity area open house Monday, offering an overall thumbs-up for increasing the housing stock while also differing on items of concern, such as devouring too many parking spots, not considering community needs, and lack of privacy from looming apartment complexes.
After perusing the renderings for the Batavia City Centre parking lot adjacent to the Bank of America drive-through along Bank Street, Richard Beatty noted what was missing.
“Looking at the existing parking lot, I'm concerned about the public market; its location right now in the O’Lacy’s parking lot is not good. I think there's a battle between O’Lacy’s and Angotti’s and the other places for parking. And it's just really not a pleasant experience,” Beatty said during the event at City Hall. “Whereas at the market, its last year's location was all right, it was much better where the police station is now. But that's gone; that issue has flown away. So, yeah, I would like to see more focus on the public market space. I think that's a good draw to the city, good draw for vendors. So I don't see anywhere in this that takes a look at that.
“It should be downtown, somewhere, somehow. And I think that's where it draws people into the city, and they're going to go to other places when they're in downtown,” he said. “I like public markets. I think, you go anywhere around Western New York, you go to public market sites, they're popular.”
The plan is to build an apartment complex along Bank Street from the corner of Alva Place south, across from the police station. That would bring more of the urban back into the city and bring it closer to the street that urban renewal removed, said Ed Flynn, vice president of LaBella Associates and project consultant.
Flynn walked through all of the plans, beginning with Batavia Creek Side right behind the ice rink on Evans Street. There’s Concept A, with buildings closer to the water and to Ellicott Trail.
“This has the images of the concepts right here the trail is right next to where the market rate apartment would be. And then over here, this is kind of the view looking where the current gazebo is, and then there’s a space for a potential cafe as well,” he said. “Another concept (B) which has all the buildings kind of right next to them, not along the trail, and a little bit more green space. And the ice rink is a little bit to the south of the current ice rink right now, still the gazebo there, still a lot of green space.”
City resident Janice McFollins liked the first concept because the buildings were more separated and didn’t seem as crowded together. She and City Councilwoman Tammy Schmidt agreed that the rendering was more appealing, and Schmidt suggested that perhaps one row of buildings could be for tenants age 55-plus and the other set for families with children.
“I just think it is very nice looking,” McFollins said. “Very neat.”
They also liked the idea of a first-floor parking garage that would be part of the development, since nothing could be built on the first floor due to the flood zone, Flynn said.
He continued on with the tour of conceptual plans.
“And then over here we have some reorganization of the City Centre parking lot, a little bit more pedestrian friendly, a bit more efficient in terms of the traffic flow. And then potential liner buildings along Bank Street for potential apartments or more innovative retail on the first floor,” he said. “And then this is an idea for the former JC Penney site, which would also do some more housing as well, or hotel.”
The city doesn’t own the Penney’s building, and that is to go up for auction by the lender, but city officials are hoping that these concepts will help provide prospective developers with ideas and some plans to pursue, he and Batavia Development Corporation Director Tammy Hathaway said.
The parking lot is owned by the city, and there will be future discussion about the bank drive-through, Flynn said.
“So I still need to talk to the bank, have some conversations with them. The idea is they have kind of liner buildings like that between (Bank of America and the police station),” he said. “So more urban, more back to rebuilding the urban grid that used to be here.”
Taking up more parking spaces concerns RaeAnn Engler, treasurer for the GO ART! Board of Directors. She has seen how busy the parking lot can get and wonders how it would handle an apartment filled with tenants in need of parking spots.
“I’m a little concerned about that, and I'm not sure exactly what it's doing to parking space for people. I don't know if there's underground parking in these buildings the way they are over by the creek, so those people are going to need to park in that parking lot,” Engler said. “And what's it going to do to draw people downtown? A concern.”
Other aspects that people liked included:
Concerns included:
All public comments will be taken back to a committee to work out the “best use of this area, reinventing the area for revitalizing it,” Hathaway said.
“If we can incorporate them into changing any of the renderings, that's what we'll do. Then we'll change them. I would say it's going to happen in January … and then we'll probably do some sort of a press release after the public comments (to say) this is what we came up with,” she said. “It's really up to a developer, but this gives us guidance for a developer as to what the committee is determined is best use for an area.”
These latest comments will be combined with input from the county’s housing study this fall, and “we will put that all together,” she said. " All of our conversations going forward with developers will incorporate those thoughts.”
Have developers expressed interest in these projects? Hathaway takes a phone call from one at least once every other week, she said. Creek Park Batavia LLC cannot be sold just yet until the flood map and newly zoned floodway are settled and city officials have more answers from the Federal Emergency Management Agency, she said.
“So the city is waiting for answers to come back on the questions that they asked regarding the change in the floodway, how that impacts the area, if it was already in a flood zone, so developers know they've had to build a flood compliance,” she said. “But now you add on the extra engineering fees and everything because of the floodway. So we want to make sure that if there's any way that we can have something changed ahead of time, we want to do that.”
A call was put out Sunday for members of Batavia Players to rally together and attend Monday’s City Council conference session to support Norm Argulsky and Jo Coburn as they spoke on behalf of the nonprofit.
The two members wanted council to know how much the organization means, not only to Batavia Players themselves, but also to area businesses and the community at large, in light of financial troubles and owing the city back rent, Coburn says.
“I just want everyone on council … to see all the other positive things in the community that we do. We do a lot, I don’t think everybody realizes it. We are involved in every bit of it,” Coburn said after the meeting. “We’re just asking for more time to bounce back. We are just getting known on Main Street. It’s not that we don’t want to pay it. We’re limited in the ways we can raise money.”
The Players have paid $160,000 in rent from 2020 to 2023, however, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the theater was shut down and they were unable to perform and therefore unable to make money, she said. So they fell behind in rent.
“We’ve been in discussions with the city since November about rent renewal and repairs,” she said. “It came to our attention that maybe not everyone on council has the information about what we do.”
The city had asked Batavia Players for a five-year financial projections plan, and one was submitted without enough detail, Coburn said. Another one is being drafted to include more of what happens at the theater — newly built and celebrated at Batavia City Centre — such as open mic nights, civic organization meetings, education sessions, dance recitals, college productions, stage combat lessons, the recent Hometown Christmas festivities, a scavenger hunt collaborating with other city businesses, Halloween trick-or-treating and tours, and live performances.
About eight members of the Players, including their attorney Ted Graney, showed up to the council meeting. “We just want the city to know how deep the support goes,” Coburn said.
She understands the city’s position, and officials have been patient and supportive, she said. She hopes that they will “please continue so that we can be the flagship live performance” venue for downtown. She doesn’t want it to get contentious and hopes that both sides can work something out, including leaks that have erupted from the green room ceiling.
Batavia Players will be celebrating a 100-year existence in 2032, Argulsky said, and Batavia is "very, very luck to have a group" like it that performs 12 productions a year and brings a "cultural-plus" to the city.
The Players can only raise so much money and sell so many tickets, though, he said, and it's quite an expensive endeavor to operate a theater, and he wanted city leaders to keep that in mind. He and his fellow troupe members hope a friendly solution can be found. They are having a fundraiser specifically to raise $25,000 for the back rent through donations and sponsorships.
City Manager Rachael Tabelski said that the theater owes approximately $27,000 in back rent. The Batavian asked what the city's next steps would be, and if it would take legal action against the organization.
“We are awaiting an executive summary and five-year financial projections of the Players' plan moving forward,” she said.
City Council members said they have nothing against the theater, but that there are expenses involved in operating City Centre and unpaid bills fall on taxpayers to cover.
Press Release:
Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel has announced that tickets are now available for several indoor concerts in the Park Place Event Center on Thursdays throughout the upcoming Winter and Spring months.
All events will have General Admission tickets, and some will have VIP tickets. All tickets include $10 back in Free Play to be redeemed at Player’s Club. These shows will all begin at 7 p.m.
“As Batavia Downs continues to grow with weekend events, we’re excited to introduce a brand new Thursday night concert series that stretches from mid-December to mid-May, “ said Byron Brown, President & CEO of Batavia Downs. “With a wide range of musical acts, including Polka, Rock, Comedy and Country, we’ve got something for everyone.”
On December 19, Batavia Downs welcomes Terry Buchwald as Elvis Presley. This acclaimed musical experience showcases Terry Buchwald's talents, as he has done for many years, performing “The King” Elvis Presley’s greatest hits throughout the ‘50s, ‘60s, and ‘70s. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.
On January 9, WBBZ’s Polka Buzz returns to Batavia Downs. Listen to polka music from the New Direction Polka band while Ron Dombrowski hosts WBBZ’s weekly show. You may even see yourself on TV. This show will have $10 GA seating.
On January 16, “Band on the Run Live”, a Tribute to Sir Paul McCartney, will rock the Park Place Event Center stage at Batavia Downs. Take a trip through Paul’s music throughout his iconic and award-winning artistic career with the Beatles, Wings, and as a solo artist. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.
On February 27, Jason Ostrowski will return to Batavia Downs to perform the greatest hits of piano-rock legends Elton John and Billy Joel! Enjoy back-to-back hits from the Piano Man and the Rocket Man live inside the Park Place Event Center. This show will have GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.
On March 13, 2025, Batavia Downs welcomes Frank Spadone's comedy. Frank has been featured at comedy festivals in Australia and South Africa and is a regular face at the prestigious Just For Laughs Comedy Festival in Montreal, Canada. His movie credits include “Harold and Kumar Go To White Castle,” and he has appeared in several television series. This show will have both GA ($10) and VIP ($15) seating.
On April 10, 2025, following their acclaimed set during the Rockin’ the Downs Summer Concert Series, Tiny Music Band will grace the Park Place stage to perform a standing-room-only show. This tight, talented group will showcase their skills playing crowd-pleasing party hits throughout the night. This show is FREE. There will NOT be seats, but an ADA-seated section will be available for those who need it.
And finally, on May 22, 2025 the popular Zach Brown Tribute Band (ZBTB for short) will close out the Thursday concert series with a bang, playing a mixture of Zach Brown Band hits alongside country and rock classics. Known well throughout the area, this band is sure to please music fans of all genres. All tickets for this show are $15. This show will NOT be seated (ADA ticketed seats will be available).
General admission tickets are now available on BataviaConcerts.com, and the Lucky Treasures Gift Shop is located in the lobby of the main entrance of Batavia Downs. VIP tickets will be available exclusively at BataviaConcerts.com. Hotel Specials for select events are available on the Hotel Deals tab on BataviaDownsGaming.com.
Batavia Downs’ Summer Concert Series announcement will take place later in December.
Press Release:
The Batavia City School District is proud to announce that John Kennedy Intermediate School has earned recognition as one of U.S. News and World Report's "Best Elementary Schools" for 2025.
John Kennedy Intermediate School ranked in the top 40% of elementary schools in New York State. The ranking is based on student performance in mathematics and reading on state assessment tests, with additional consideration given to achievement in the context of socioeconomic demographics.
"This prestigious recognition from U.S. News and World Report is a testament to the extraordinary work happening every day at John Kennedy Intermediate School," said Superintendent Jason Smith. "Our students, teachers, staff, and families work together to create an outstanding learning environment, and this honor reflects their collective dedication to educational excellence. We are incredibly proud of the John Kennedy community."
"Our hardworking students and dedicated staff make John Kennedy Intermediate School a truly special place," said Principal Paul Kesler. "Every day, I witness the determination of our students and the unwavering commitment of our teachers and support staff to create an engaging, supportive learning environment. We look forward to celebrating this extraordinary achievement with our entire school community and sharing our continued success story with everyone who has helped make this recognition possible."
According to U.S. News and World Report, schools were ranked based on their students' proficiencies in mathematics and reading, as measured by state assessment tests. Half of the ranking formula was based on the results themselves, while the other half considered these results in the context of socioeconomic demographics. The rankings included more than 47,000 public elementary schools nationwide.
By Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge
After a brief but concerning setback, the Cayuga marsh bald eagle pair and the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge nest camera project are back on track.
Two weeks after the nest camera, funded by Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (FINWR), began streaming on Oct. 19, disaster struck when high winds knocked down the cottonwood tree that the eagle nest had been perched in.
Since that time, the eagle pair has been busy building a new nest – fortunately within range of the new eagle nest camera.
The new nest cam project has been more than a year in the making.
In November of 2023, FINWR started planning to install a live camera at an active bald eagle nest on the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge in Basom.
“We determined almost from the start that history and location were very important factors,” said outgoing FINWR President Garner Light of Gasport, who was instrumental in developing and implementing the project. “Based on those factors, the Cayuga marsh nest was our first choice. That location has been used for most of the last 25 years by bald eagles. It was also more accessible than the next best nest site. No other site on the refuge met both requirements.”
FINWR consulted with the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service from the start to ensure that its plan complied with environmental regulations.
FINWR also found Bill Powers of the Pittsburgh area, who runs the Pixcams website, https://pixcams.com, which hosts numerous wildlife cameras nationwide. Powers offered invaluable advice and technical expertise, and Pixcams offered a ready home for the nest cam streaming.
The FINWR board approved the nest camera plans during the summer months, and the proper equipment was ordered.
The group’s target for installation was early to mid-October, and it eventually settled on October 18, which turned out to be an ideal fall day. Plan A was to climb the nest tree, uninstall a camera that had been inactive for over 20 years and install the new camera in its place. The plan had to be altered when it was determined that the tree with the nest was not safe to climb. This prompted plan B, which was to install the camera in a tree near the nest.
Treeman Tom LLC and his crew donated their time and expertise to safely install the camera and secure the cables. The new camera went live on October 19th. The bald eagle action was amazing right from the beginning, and the camera gave a front-row seat.
“For two weeks, we watched, learned and engaged in wonderful conversation on the live camera chat,” Light said.
But on Nov. 1, after several days of high winds, the old nest tree blew over.
“We were heartbroken,” Light said. “The bald eagles largely disappeared for the next two days.”
But within four days, the eagles attempted to place branches in the tree right next to the old nest tree. Since then, they have worked diligently to build a new nest, which is almost the same size as the old nest.
The original camera, which hadn't worked in 20-plus years, was so popular that visitors to the refuge were still asking to watch it.
“This is a dream come true for FINWR. We are looking forward to increasing awareness of this beautiful place called Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge,” said new FINWR President Richard Moss of Medina. “We are currently working on designing a nest cam display with a large screen TV for the visitor center.”
He added that the FINWR website, https://FINWR.org, is also undergoing a redesign that will prominently feature the nest cam.
“Special thanks to refuge manager Tom Roster, Bill Powers, Treeman Tom and his crew, DEC’s Region 8 wildlife biologist, FINWR’s Emma DeLeon and the rest of the FINWR board,” said Light.
Friends of Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge, Inc., has about 150 members and is a nonprofit corporation organized by volunteers dedicated to supporting the Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge (INWR) via fundraising, education, enhancement and preservation of the refuge and its wildlife.
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Press release:
Despite an unexpected shift to a one-day event due to weather, Northgate Church’s Vintage Christmas celebration was a heartwarming success this past Friday night! Families enjoyed plenty of cookies, bowls of delicious chili, and steaming cups of hot chocolate as they walked through the beautifully lit nativity scene in the woods. Thank you to everyone who joined us and helped make this event possible. We’re grateful for the opportunity to share the joy of Christmas with our community.
Submitted photos
The long road to completing a five-minute film about a scary kitty that was shot in Batavia this past year reached the milestone of a public screening at GO ART! on Saturday night after the Christmas in the City parade.
The film isn't online yet. Producer, director and screenwriter James DiLullo said the short will be entered into a number of film festivals and those festivals typically want exclusive access, so it will be a little while before you can view the film on YouTube (embedded below).
DiLullo hosted a discussion with two of the lead actors who were able to attend the screening, Aurora Callery, and Roselyn Kasmire.
An audience member asked Callery what she drew on to inspire her character and the child actor said, "I just thought about my little sister, who loves cats. I just pretended I was my little sister."
At one point during filming, the cat playing "Kitty," Bunny "Kitbull" Buzzkill, scratched her, making a scare that looks like a smiley face, which she likes.
"She's very fat so she thinks my fingers are little hot dogs," she said.
Callery asked Kasmire, who plays a teacher, what she thought about while doing her scenes. Kasmire, who actually is a teacher in Buffalo, said in this case she didn't have to dig deep. As animated as she is as a teacher in the movie, that is how she is with her students in real life.
For previous coverage, click here.
More than 70 people who spent their final days at Crossroads House in Batavia were remembered in a Love Lights Luminaries Ceremony in the garden outside the house.
Debbie Paine, executive assistant, led the brief ceremony.
Photos by Howard Owens.
On Saturday evening, area children could visit Santa and Mrs. Claus in the First Presbyterian Church of Batavia and then pick a plush toy or some other day. The event was hosted by The Little Free Pantry.
Photos by Howard Owens.
Photos by Howard Owens
Fillmore won the Warsaw Kiwanis Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday, beating Pavilion in the final 73-38.
In the consolation game, Byron-Bergen lost to Warsaw 50-47.
Liam Campbell and Landon Stoddard each scored eight points in the final for the Gophers. For Fillmore, Jonah Blakek scored 31 points.
In the consolation game, Cody Carlson scored 17 points, and Cole DiQuattro scored 11 points.
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