batavia

Submitted photos by Jason Smith.

With a cheerful wave and greeting of "Happy Pride," participants in Batavia's annual Pride Parade celebrated LGBTQ identity and acceptance Saturday in a stroll that took them along a route from Batavia First Presbyterian Church down Summit Street, to Washington Avenue, Bank Street to Main Street.

The parade was part of an hours-long Pride Month celebration in Downtown Batavia, organized by GLOW Out, centered around a festival in Jackson Square and on Center Street.

Photos by Howard Owens.

A structural fire is reported at 2910 West Main Street Road, Batavia.

A second alarm has been called.

East Pembroke Fire dispatched with mutual aid from Town of Batavia, Darien, Alexander, and City Fire's FAST Team.

UPDATE 2:16 a.m.: A deputy spotted a wire connected to the house arcing and sparking, which caused some smoke damage to the exterior of the structure. East Pembroke Chief Don Newton said there was a small interior fire involving fan.  He said they didn't know yet if there had been a power surge in the area but a neighboring residence did have brown-out conditions.

Press Release:

Notre Dame senior Kaitlyn Landers signed her letter of intent to continue her softball career at Keuka College today at Notre Dame High School. 

Joining her for this signing were her parents, Matt and Melissa Landers; brother, Benjamin Landers; head softball coach, Otis Thomas; assistant coach, Mikey Rapone; and Notre Dame Athletic Director Mike Rapone.

Landers was a varsity call-up in her 7th-grade season and has been a mainstay with the team ever since.

Career highlights while playing for the Lady Irish include: 

• Genesee Region All-Star – 2021, 2022, 2023 & 2024 
• NYS Class D All-State 2nd Team – 2021
• NYS Class D All-State 3rd Team - 2023
• Section V Class D1 Sectional All-Tournament Team – 2019 (as a 7th grader) 
• Member of Section V Class D1 Sectional Championship Team – 2023
• Team Co-Captain – 2024
• Genesee Region Exceptional Senior All-Star

Lander's favorite memory of playing softball at Notre Dame was winning a sectional championship in 2023.

Along with playing for the Lady Irish, Kaitlyn has played 8 years of travel softball, where she currently plays for Coach Mruczek’s 18u Edge team, and has played the last 11 summers for her local Batavia Stingers team. 

In addition to playing softball, Kaitlyn was a member of the Varsity Volleyball, Varsity Indoor Track, and Varsity Outdoor Track teams at Notre Dame. Kaitlyn plans to major either in Social Work, Psychology, or Education at Keuka College. 

The International Peace Garden Committee unveiled five new interpretive panels along the Peace Garden trail on Thursday.

The panels help explain the history and significance of the Peace Garden.

"Fourteen years ago, we had no idea what an impact this garden would have on its citizens," said Barb Toal. "This beautiful spot in Downtown Batavia brings visitors from all over the world to celebrate peace among other countries."

The intent of the garden, Toal said, is to foster peace throughout the world.

"We get visitors from all over the world," said founder Paula Savage. "Someone will be here from Germany, someone from the Netherlands, and they bring their families with them because the garden is connected to the world. That's the reason for the flags (in the garden). Every flag represents a country that has received a Peace Garden."

The panels were funded by a NYS Re-Grant program administered by GO ART!

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On Wednesday, the Genesee Country Decorative Painters presented more than two dozen hand-painted decorative boxes for staff at the VA Hospital in Batavia to hand out to patients.

Helen Ronin said that every year, the group selects one or two community projects. This year, they decided to give back to the VA for its ongoing support of the group. The VA allows the group to meet regularly in the hospital's auditorium.

"We did this to present to the veterans because e of their service and what they've done for us," Ronin said. "And they let us meet here every time we need it."

The boxes contain a couple of useful items. Veterans might receive them on their birthdays or other special occasions or just because they need a "pick-me-up."

"They just need to know sometimes, if somebody is having a really hard time, that people do care," Ronin said.

The Decorative Painters are hobbyists who paint on objects.

"We paint pictures, wood, furniture, whatever. Whatever is in our way we get rid of it by painting on it," Ronin said with a laugh.

Cindy Baker, volunteer services specialist for the Batavia VA, said the VA is grateful for the donations.

"These are beautiful," she said. "They are gorgeous. I'm happy to be able to hand these to veterans and they will be very, very happy to receive these."

Photos by Howard Owens.

A major telecommunications company's application to erect a new mobile device cell tower is a fairly straightforward approval process for local planners, and on Tuesday evening, Robert W. Burgdorf of Rochester, an attorney representing Verizon, provided several useful nuggets of information.

It was an initial meeting in the regulatory process with the Town of Batavia Planning Board. The application must still undergo an environmental review and a public hearing, but Burgdorf was happy to discuss the process and some of the technical issues involved in installing a cell tower.

Cell towers are extremely location-sensitive because they have to be high enough to reach the neighboring towers but not so high that there is a spillover of signals into the neighboring cells.

"They've got to be placed so that they can hand off to the neighboring cells, again without interfering," Burgdorf said.

They wind up in a honeycomb-like grid, not too close but not too far apart.

Cell towers generally serve a one or two-mile area and can't be too close together or too far apart.

If the tower is under 200 feet tall—this one will be 154 feet tall—the Federal Aviation Administration does not require lighting or striping.

This down will be a matted steel gray.

"We've learned, and we've actually done studies, that this blends in with our skies in Western New York," he said.

An observation a couple of board members quipped was a depressing thought.

Oh, and 5G doesn't cause COVID.

A board member's question prompted the discussion of health concerns about cell towers. Burgdorf said federal law preempts that as a concern for local planners, which he regrets because it also preempts an opportunity to educate the public.

"This is a radio signal, that's all this is," he said. "It is an incredibly weak radio signal. We've had radio signals around since the 20s, the 30s. The only difference between this and a television or radio station is that those operated tens of thousands of watts, sometimes megawatts. So the power levels, from radio and television, just radio signal is much, much stronger than these. These are incredibly weak. They have to be incredibly weak for two reasons. One is they can't interfere with neighboring cells, which are often a mile, two miles away, and we have to be able to get a return path from the user"

He said that if anybody is concerned about cell phone signals, the first thing they should do is seek to do is shut down radio and television signals.

"The issue does come up, but anybody who looks into it, who's being rational, will see that that's not really an issue," Burgdorf said.

The tower will be located at 9300 Wilkinson Road on a 100x100-foot leased parcel. It will be fenced, and a small gravel road will connect it to Wilkinson. There will be minimal traffic to the location—maybe one maintenance worker a month will visit the site.

The board voted to seek lead agency for coordination purposes under the state's SEQR regulations (pronounced seek-ur, it stands for State Environmental Quality Review Act) even though Burgdorf informed lead agency designation for this project is not strictly required.

The board did it as a matter of course, because that is its standard practice, but board members said they will seek their attorney's opinion.

"It's not a fatal error to declare yourself lead agency," Burgdorf said, so he didn't object.

He said a lead agency is only required when there are other "involved" agencies. In this case, other agencies, such as the Genesee County Planning Board, are only "interested" agencies, so there is nothing in the SEQR process to coordinate with other involved agencies.

"Look, the SEQR regs are a pain. They really are," he said. "They're pretty convoluted and they force a lot of municipalities to really become an expert. It is a pretty intense set of regulations, so for what it's worth, if you declare yourself lead agency, that's not the process, but it doesn't make it defective, so whatever you want to do."

Press Release:

GLOW OUT! is excited and proud to announce multiple events, with the potential for many more throughout Pride Month across the GLOW region. We welcome the LGBTQ+ community, allies, friends, and loved ones to the 2024 festivities. 

This year's theme is "Be Your Passion. Be Your Pride."

On Friday, June 7 all are welcome at Eden Cafe’s First Friday Art Opening featuring Buffalo artist Janna Willoughby-Lohr and an exhibit from LGBTQ+ youth superstars from 5:30 - 7 p.m. Eden Cafe is located at 242 Ellicott St in Batavia.

Also on Friday, June 7 those 21 and over are invited for a Professional Happy Hour at GO ART! from 4 - 6 p.m. Meet your peers, make some friends, and get ready for Pride! GO Art! is located at 201 Main Street, Batavia.

Finally on Saturday June 8, join us for our Pride Parade, Festival, Vendor Fair & Story Hour. The afternoon begins with the Drag Queen Story Hour event for families in Jackson Square at 3 p.m. 

Then the Pride Parade will line up at Batavia First Presbyterian Church, with marchers assembling at 4 p.m. and stepping off at 5 p.m. 

The route will cross Main Street, turn left onto Washington Avenue, and again onto Bank Street, finishing at Jackson Square for the Pride Festival, featuring family-friendly drag performances from 6 - 10 p.m. While waiting for the parade, enjoy the vendor fair on Jackson Street from 4 to 8 p.m. featuring eclectic artisans, local non-profits, and a variety of food trucks!

Press Release:

YWCA of Genesee County is growing! Executive Director, Jamie Rada, announces several new board members carefully chosen to meet the needs of the agency.

“Our community has some incredible resources, agencies, and people. Our goal is not to reinvent the wheel but to work with community members to fill in gaps and assure that there is an intersectionality of services and support for the people we help. We have an amazing team of staff and an incredible, dedicated board," says Jamie Rada, Executive Director.

The Executive Board includes:

• Board Chair - Georganne Mott-Lang, Community Integration Specialist for Lifetime Assistance, Inc.
• Vice President - Emily Marling, Certified Financial Planner for Merrill Lynch
• Treasurer - Shannon Ford, Service Director of Communications and Development for Uconnect Care

Board Members include:

• Dr. Emily Fraser Branche, Pediatrician and Practice Owner for Three Little Birds Pediatrics
• Cassandre DiPiazza, Licensed Clinical Social Worker for Veterans Health Administration
• Chris Fix, retired
• Laurie Pfaff, Senior Manager of Marketing Support for Liberty Pumps
• Lisa Smith, Senior Employment and Training Counselor for Genesee County Job Development Bureau
• Lauren Casey, Financial Assistant for the Genesee County Economic Development Center
• Ashlee Reigle, Human Resources Manager for Liberty Pumps 
• Anita Strollo, Coordinator for Genesee County Business Education Alliance

“Each of these women brings an incredible and unique skillset to the table, allowing us to enter into a period of agency and program growth and development in order to expand our reach and support more people”, says Rada.

Press Release:

Assemblyman Steve Hawley (R,C-Batavia) is once again partnering with Sunnking Sustainable Solutions to offer free electronic device collection and recycling for the community. Collection day will be Saturday, June 22 from 8:30 a.m. to noon at the parking lot at 5130 E Main Street Rd. in Batavia. Pre-registration is requested of all attendees at the website https://form.jotform.com/Sunnking/eo-batavia---june-2024.

“Recycling is a small but impactful way we can help keep our communities clean and I’m grateful to the good people at Sunnking Sustainable Solutions for partnering with me for another year of work,” Hawley said. “Anything from cell phones to computers to TVs can be recycled, so please, register today and help keep our communities clean!”

Press Release:

The Friends of the Batavia Peace Garden have commissioned five beautiful interpretive panels that are scheduled to be unveiled at the Batavia Peace Garden during a special ceremony on Thursday, June 6 at 1 p.m. 

The public is invited to attend. A reception will follow with light refreshments at the Holland Land Office Museum.

The interpretive panels were designed by local graphic artist, Matt Steinberg.

These panels were made possible through the generous support of GoArt! and the NYS Community Regrant Program.

These beautiful panels complete phase one of the Batavia Peace Garden. Phase two is a work in progress located behind the Genesee County Court House.

We invite the public to visit the Batavia Peace Garden and enjoy the ongoing display of beautiful seasonal blooms and artistic displays. We have an amazing story to tell and now that the panels are installed, visitors will have the opportunity to learn about our fascinating history.

The Batavia Peace Garden is made possible and maintained by a dedicated group of volunteers. Volunteers are always needed and welcome to assist in the many activities of maintaining this beautiful community garden.

Please visit our website at Bataviapeacegarden.com for more information.

Press release:

The City of Batavia Fire Department will flush fire hydrants on Tuesday, June 4, 2024, Wednesday, June 5, and Thursday, June 6, from approximately 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. in the general area North of E. Main St. and East of Bank St. Homes and businesses nearby will be affected.  

These tests may result in a temporary discoloration of water in that area.  As in the past, please do not attempt to wash any clothing if your water appears discolored.  If you do experience a discoloration of your water, run cold water for about five minutes or until clear.

This annual testing is essential to maintain the community Class III Insurance Services Office (ISO) public protection classification and to assure that fire hydrants are operating efficiently for fire protection purposes. Along with maintaining the fire rating, the test monitors the health of the city's water system, identifies weak areas in the system, and removes material that settles in the water lines. Checking each hydrant improves fire department personnel's knowledge of the hydrant locations.

If you have any questions or should notice a hydrant in need of repair, please contact the fire department at 585-345-6375.

Press Release:

On May 18 Genesee Community College celebrated its 56th annual Commencement Ceremony with a group of 15 students from area high schools and homeschools deserving special mention. They completed their GCC degree requirements concurrently with their high school diplomas or New York State High School Equivalency. Nine of these graduates participated in the sixth annual cohort of the College's Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Enrichment Program through GCC's Accelerated College Enrollment (ACE) Office.

These high-achieving individuals include the following: Jason Anstey (Albion), Finnegan McCue (Albion), Meganne Moore (Albion), Lucy Rivers (Albion), Jacqueline Santiago Garcia (Albion) and Isabella Thom (Holly). 

The following graduates took part in the STEM Enrichment Program: Alexander Balaban (Medina), Cash Domes (Attica), Connor Domoy (Oakfield), Kaylynn Green (Oakfield), Nicholas Martinucci (Batavia), Zachary Narowski (Perry), Benjamin Stone (Batavia), Kara Tobolski (Oakfield) and Samantha Werner (Warsaw).

The STEM Enrichment program began in 2012 allowing the students to start their college studies as early as the seventh grade. In addition to their traditional schoolwork, they enrolled in college level coursework each year taking advantage of many academic opportunities and successfully completing all of the rigorous challenges of an associate degree.

"We are extremely proud of these 15 exceptional students who have not only earned their high school diplomas but also completed their GCC degree requirements. Their dedication and hard work demonstrate the power of early college enrollment and the opportunities it provides. They are truly an inspiration to future generations of students," said Ann Valento, director of Accelerated College Enrollment programs at Genesee Community College.

Kaitlyn Harloff, STEM/EXCEL program coordinator at Genesee Community College, added, "This program highlights the remarkable achievements of our students and their ability to excel in demanding academic environments. Their success is a testament to the effectiveness of the STEM Enrichment Program and the commitment of our faculty and staff to support and guide them."

Genesee Community College's 56th annual Commencement Ceremony was held at the Richard C. Call Arena and featured special guest Keynote Speaker Dr. James M. Sunser, President of Genesee Community College. To view the ceremony, please visit: https://www.genesee.edu/commencement/.

For more information contact Vice President, Development, Admissions and External Affairs Justin Johnston at (585) 345-6809, or via email: jmjohnston@genesee.edu.

Post-game fireworks for the Batavia Muckdogs home opener on Saturday were set up in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the ninth inning when the home team erased a 3-2 deficit to win 4-1 on a squeeze bunt with the bases loaded.

The Elmira Pioneers had high school senior Bryce Mashanic making essentially his baseball debut at the collegiate level to start the ninth, after he entered the game with two outs in the eighth inning. 

Mashanic faced adversity in the inning early after second baseman Tim Haftl made a bad throw on a routine grounder for an error, allowing Anthony Greco to reach base.  Greco advanced on a wild pitch to Sean Mindas, who would get a free pass on the next pitch. Mindas then stole second, and Pioneers issued an intentional walk to Caleb Walker. 

Greco scored on a sacrifice fly by Cooper Romich, tying the game.

That brought Travis Hammond to the plate with one out and Walker on third.  Walker inched down the line as Mashanic went into his wind up, dashing toward the plate and scoring standing up after Hammond laid down a perfect bunt down the first base line.

The walk-off sacrifice improved Batavia's record on the young season to 2-1.

DH Trevor Dutra, a sophomore at Lafayette College and from Rye Brook, was 2-3 with a walk. He had the only multi-hit game on the night for the Muckdogs.

Josh Livengood, a senior attending Center College and from Lexigton, Ky., got the win in relief, going 3 1/3 innings giving up no hits or runs and fanning six Pioneers.  It was his first appearance of the season.

Starter Gavin Chandler went four innings, giving up two runs on four hits and fanning three. Chandler is a sophomore at Marion Military Institute and is from Alabaster, Ala.

Photos by Nick Serrata.