Announcements

Gray skies and cool temperatures didn’t stop 36 four-person teams from hitting the Terry Hills course Wednesday for the Mercy Flight Golf Outing.

The foursome of Mike Sassone, Nick Galante, Rhone Wallace and Chris Rickard finished first in the tournament, but the big winner was clearly Mercy Flight of Western New York. More than $7500 was raised for the Batavia site of the independent, not-for-profit provider of emergency air medical transport.

The outing was the second fundraiser sponsored by Batavia Downs Casino in the past three weeks that benefited Mercy Flight. A Family Fun Day at the harness track on Aug. 30 also raised over $7500.

Tournament chairman Fred Hamilton said, “We are thrilled with the great turnout and generous support of the sponsors and golfers in our first attempt at staging a quality golf outing. We look forward to the challenge of topping this year’s event next September.”

Don "Clarky" Vescovi is the LeRoyan of the Year.

American Legion Post 576 announced the selection this morning, honoring Vescovi for his contributions to the community.

Among his volunteer contributions: T-Shirt League, Little League, Babe Ruth Baseball and American Legion baseball, and he also served as commissioner of the Le Roy Softball League. He's also be involved in volunteer efforts on behalf of veterans and has been an active member of Post 576 for 51 years.

Vescovi and his wife Chris have been married for 40 years. Vescovi has six children and 13 grandchildren.

A dinner honoring Vescovi will be heldat 6 p.m. Oct. 3. Tickets are $15 and available at the American Legion Home, local banks and from previous LeRoyans of the Year.

Cornell Cooperative Extension will be offering its popular coffee-and-dessert series again this fall.

"Hands on with the Harvest" participants enjoy a cup of coffee or tea along with desserts homemade by the Master Gardeners. This season programs will run from 6 to 8 p.m. at the Extension Center on East Main Street in Batavia and will include:
 
September 28 – Putting Your Garden to Bed. Your gardening tasks do not end with that killing frost. There are many things you can do in your garden to assure gardening success next spring.  Let Maud Charpin, a certified Master Gardener, share her knowledge and tips with you.
 
October 14 – Creating a Back Yard Habitat. Join birding expert Jan Beglinger as she shows you the basics of creating a backyard habitat and helps you to create the right conditions to invite a host of birds, butterflies and other species to your backyard.
 
October 28 – Growing Culinary Herbs at Home. Would you like fresh herbs through the winter?  Find out how to grow them on your windowsill. Master Gardener Paul Saskowski will also be covering what herbs are good for cooking and how to incorporate herbs into your landscaping.
 
Cost is $10 per class and limited to 15 participants per class. Pre-register by stopping by the Extension Center located at 420 East Main Street in Batavia, visit the website at www.genesee.shutterfly.com <http://www.genesee.shutterfly.com/> , or contact Amy at 343-3040, ext. 106.
 

Local animal lovers are competing for a big grant and need your vote in order to win.

The Animal Rescue Site, along with Petfinder, launched the $100,000 Shelter + Challenge on Sept. 14.

The Animal Rescue Site is awarding $100,000 in grants to eligible Petfinder.com member rescue organizations to help animals. The grand prize is a $20,000 grant, and there are many other prizes!

Visit the link below to vote - it only takes a minute. You don't have to register, and voting is free. Support Volunteers For Animals and vote every day!  Thank you!

Shelter Name: Volunteers For Animals
State: NY
City: Batavia

Then hit Search to vote.

Thank you for your help and please ask your friends to help out by voting each day. Together we can make a difference.

Click here: Vote for Volunteers For Animals @ The Animal Rescue Site <http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3&amp;link=ctg_ars_shelterchallenge_from_home_sidetabs>


Thanks,
The Cats and Dogs at the Genesee County Animal Shelter


 

GO ART! will host the ninth annual Community Arts Awards at 6 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 3.

"Harvest Moon" will take place at the Batavia Party House, located at 5762 E. Main St. Road (Route 5) in Stafford.

This year’s honorees include Rick and Deb Porter, Gary Simboli and Bill Pitcher. 

GO ART! Board of Directors Awards will be presented to The Batavia Club, Roger Triftshauser, Lynn Browne, and Norris and Sarah (Sally) Webster, posthumously. Each year, GO ART! recognizes the extraordinary contributions in art and culture made by individuals and organizations in the Genesee-Orleans region at this unique event.
 
Tickets are $25, with tables of 10 available for $225. Enjoy fabulous foods of the harvest, while local band Buffalo Road Show with Bill McDonald provides musical entertainment and GO ART!’s Silent Auction and other drawings are available all evening. Reservations are required. For more information, call 585.343.9313 or email info@goart.org.

The Genesee-Orleans Cornell Club is hosting the Cayuga's Waiters Thursday October 15th beginning at 7:00 pm at O'Lacys Irish Pub.  The Waiters are a 14 person, all-male acappella group singing familiar contemporary music along with a few traditional Cornell songs.  The event falls on Cornell's "Spirit of Zinck's Night" which is a long-standing night out for the entire Cornell community for both students and alumni.  Observers of the the annual Zinck's Night will be found in more than 90 locations around the world.  You may be thousands of miles from Cornell, but on Thursday, October 15, you can feel just steps away from the Hill by attending the Spirit of Zinck's event!  No r.s.v.p. required, but a donation is requested.  

The following information is from the Farmer’s Market Federation of New York:

Beginning in 2001, the NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets and the Farmers' Market Federation of New York partnered for a pilot project to test wireless handheld Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) terminals for use in open-air farmers' markets. The pilot proved that the wireless technology, although in its infancy, was effective in capturing food stamp sales at farmers' markets in urban settings. The pilot also documented the need for farmers to accept food stamp benefits at farmers' markets, due to customer demand for their products.

As demand for wireless service grew and as the technology evolved, the farmers' market wireless EBT project continued to expand to new cities and more farmers. In 2005, the pilot changed focus from providing terminal access to individual farmers to providing terminal access to market managers.

Under this new paradigm, markets are authorized under FNS to be food stamp agents. They are able to "sell" EBT tokens (specially designed wooden tokens) that can be used with any vendor in the market selling food stamp eligible products. Farmers are able to accept the tokens, same as cash, but with no change back, and then redeem them with the market manager at day's end. Additionally, farmers markets can choose to accept debit and credit transactions on their market’s wireless EBT terminals.

The goal of the program is to increase the demand for locally grown fresh foods at farmers markets among food stamp customers, increase the usage of food stamp benefits at farmers markets and change dietary habits of food stamp customers to include more fresh fruits and vegetables from local growers by helping to change shopping habits over time.

Check with your local farmer's market to see if they participate in this program. For more information on New York's Farmers' Market Wireless EBT Program contact Diane Eggert at (315) 637-4690.

The Elba Town Board will be having a town hall meeting at 7:30 PM on the 15th in the Elba Central School auditorium. 

The town board will be there to answer questions from the community and get residents' input on the 2010 budget. Specific topics will include the transfer station, highway maintenance and the shared court facility. Other topics include the county water project. 

For more information contact Town Supervisor Lucine Kauffman at 757-9921. The school is located at 57 S. Main St.

Northeast berry growers can learn about the latest production techniques and integrated pest management practices from university experts in a series of online web seminars this fall and winter. The first of the dozen interactive, hour-long Œwebinars‚ is scheduled for September 9 and will focus on growing strawberries on plastic and in high tunnels.  The berry IPM webinar series is hosted by the Cornell University Department of Horticulture and funded by the Northeastern Integrated Pest Management Center.
 
The webinars are free, and participation is easy for anyone with a web browser and a high-speed internet connection.  (Pre-registration is required.)  If you can‚t participate from your home or office computer, group viewings are being organized at selected Cornell Cooperative Extension offices around the state and other sites across the northeast region.  Webinars will be recorded and archived for later viewing.
 
Webinar speakers will make their presentations live, and respond to questions and comments that participants type into an online chat box. 
 
The webcasts are divided into 3 mini series focusing on major berry crops: strawberries, brambles, and blueberries/cranberries. Four presentations on each crop group comprise a mini series. 
 
Alternative Production Methods for Strawberries will kick off the strawberry mini series when it airs live September 9th, 2009 at 12:45 PM. Featured speakers for this webcast are Dr. Lewis Jett, West Virginia State University, and Ms. Kathy Demchak, Penn State University. Dr. Jett will be speaking on growing strawberries in high tunnels. Ms. Demchak will be speaking on northeast approaches to growing strawberries on plastic.
 
The first presentation will be offered at a variety of group session locations throughout NYS including CCE Albany, CCE Chautauqua, CCE Clinton, CCE Jefferson, CCE Oneida, and CCE Suffolk counties. Some of these group sessions may include an additional on site speaker or other berry-related event following the webcast, so please contact individual CCE offices for more information.
 
Tuesday, September 22nd, 2009 will be the 2nd webcast in the strawberry series, also airing at 12:45 PM. Dr. Greg Loeb, Cornell University, will speak about managing strawberry sap beetle and tarnished plant bug;  Dr. Richard Cowles, University of Connecticut, will help growers better understand strawberry vine weevil and its management.
 
Wednesday October 7th, 2009, 12:45 PM. Dr. Michael Ellis, Ohio State University, will speak on managing strawberry root diseases; Dr. David Gadoury, Cornell University will speak on strawberry powdery mildew management. 
 
Friday October 30th, 2009, 12:45 PM. Dr. Robin Bellinder, Cornell University, will give an overview of strawberry weed management products; Dr. Marvin Pritts, Cornell University, will speak on cultural approaches to strawberry weed management.
 
There is no charge for webcast participation, but registration is required. Email with URL connection details is only sent to people who have registered. Connection details are sent about two days before the webinars. Please be connected by 12:45 PM.
 
Connections for each webcast are limited to 70 participants so register now by contacting Laura McDermott, lgm4@cornell.edu or calling 518-746-2562.
 

Check the web site for additional program and group viewing location details: www.fruit.cornell.edu/webinar <http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/webinar>  <http://www.fruit.cornell.edu/webinar> .
 
For more information contact Jan Beglinger, Agriculture Outreach Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, at 343-3040, ext. 126, stop by the Extension office at 420 E. Main Street in Batavia, or visit our website at htttp://genesee.shutterfly.com <http://genesee.shutterfly.com/> .

 The Genesee County Planning Board meets Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in County Building #2.

Agenda (PDF)

Minutes from previous meeting (PDF)

The Genesee County Legislature meets Wednesday, 7 p.m., at the Old Courthouse.

Agenda (PDF)

Resolutions (PDF)

This fall, Genesee Community College is offering tai chi ch'uan lessons and Mandarin Chinese lessons. Tai chi ch'uan lessons will be on Monday and Thursday evenings and Mandarin Chinese lessons on Monday and Wednesday evenings. Both are at the Batavia campus and open to all.

Tai chi ch'uan, translates literally as "supreme ultimate fist," and is commonly known as tai chi. It is a "soft" or "internal" Chinese martial art, an ancient discipline followed by millions of people all over the world.

The college in conjuction with the Red Dragon School of Martial Arts will offer classes on from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. on Monday and Thursday starting Sept.14 and running through Dec. 17. The cost for this 26-session class is $286 and registration can be made through the Records Office at Genesee.

Tai chi is a system of exercises with both physical and mental benefits that everyone can practice regardless of age and physical abilities. Through these classes, students work according to their ability and within their natural range of movement. The movements are extended, natural, gentle, graceful and relatively simple and easy to learn. Tai chi is also a martial art, where embodied within the slow, gentle movements are powerful vigor and force. Tai chi can also be used to improve health and wellness and has been shown to reduce stress, depression, pain, inflammation and blood pressure. It also has been known to improve flexibility, balance, strength, circulation and mental outlook.

The college will also offer free Mandarin Chinese lessons on from 6 to 7 p.m. Monday and Wednesday starting Sept. 21, in room B360 at the Batavia campus. The lessons will focus on integrating speaking and listening as well as reading and writing skills.

Mandarin Chinese is taught by Genesee student Aiwen Yang. Aiwen was born in China and attended Chinese schools until moving to Spain. While in Spain, she studied Spanish and French and taught Chinese to members of the business community. She is currently a resident assistant at College Village, the on-campus student housing.

"Tai chi and Mandarin lessons are great examples of the multi-cultural learning opportunities Genesee Community College regularly offers to our students and our community," said Karin Kovach-Allen, dean of Human Communications and Behavior at Genesee. "We're especially pleased that one of our own students has offered to share her culture and language with the community."

For further information about Tai Chi and Mandarin lessons, please contact Nina Mortellaro at 585-343-0055 ext. 6228.