Jeff Gillard, above, was honored as the volunteer of the year for the Business Improvement District, and Kent Ewell, owner of O'Lacy's was given the "Spirit of Downtown" award at today's BID annual luncheon.
St. Joseph School held a "Walk for Education" this morning. Grades 4 through 8 were out walking this morning from 9 a.m. to 10 a.m., all wearing St. Joseph's bright-blue t-shirts.
Today's Deal of the Day: A $50 gift certificate from Larry's Steakhouse in Batavia. The Batavian's Good Deal Price: $25 -- HALF off!
Larry's, located at 60 Main St. in Batavia, is one of the newer and finer dining establishments in Batavia. The menu offers many great items, but of course the speciality is steak. Larry's also features a full bar.
Rules: The gift certificate must be used by within 30 days of purchase. It is not valid with other offers and has no cash value. It cannot be used, by state law, to purchase alcohol.
How to Win: Purchase using the PayPal "Buy Now" button below. After the first person to hit the "buy now" button completes the purchase, PayPal will let you know that the item has been sold. Ideally, the winner will arrange to stop by my office on Main Street before 5:00 p.m. to pick up gift certificate. Mail is an option, but it would be better to hand you the gift certificate.
If you want to be notified via e-mail of future Deals of the Day, sign up for the Deals of the Day e-mail list by clicking here.
Merchants: If you would like your business featured in Deal of the Day, call Howard Owens at 260-6970.
SOLD
Nicholas A. Cinquino III, 25, of Batavia, was allegedly observed driving down the center lane of West Main about 2:30 this morning. After a traffic stop, Cinquino was taken into custody. He is charged with DWI, with a BAC of more than .18 and ticketed for improper lane usage.
Misty D. Palmer, 21, of LeRoy, is accused of trying to walk out of Wal-Mart with three DVDs. She is charged with petty larceny. Palmer was reportedly caught after the inventory control sensor was activated as she tried to walk out the front door. She was issued an appearance ticket.
The Care-A-Van Ministry Team headed out to a local widow's home this evening to
help take care of her wood pile. 10 Face Cord of wood was stacked by the team of 5.
The weather was beautiful and a great time was had by all!
A woman's arm is reportedly pinned underneath a car following a one-vehcile rollover accident at the intersection of Bloomingdale and Martin roads.
Emergency crews are responding.
A fire alarm was triggered at UMMC, 16 Bank St. Firefighters are on scene and investigating. No further information is available at this time.
Fire units are being dispatched to 6951 N. Bergen Road for a reported car fire.
Ironically, Google's "Street View" of the address puts a car right in front of the residence. We have no idea, of course, if this is the car.
When Ethan Thompson, resident of Oakfield, speaks to you, he moves you because he sees you. He looks right at you, and his words are strong like his eyes. After speaking with him you can tell his spirit is on fire for God.
How can I make my mark for God? Was a question that pushed forth his Web site youthinactionmag.com.
“Encouraging this generation to get in action,” is his drive and tagline for the site.
Thompson said the site is to encourage and give positive ideas for Christian teenagers.
Thompson went to the library once a week for a year, reading about how to build and manage your own Web site. He brings in his own income from selling things here and there on EBay.
“If I don’t make any money, then whatever,” said Thomas who continued by saying its more about the positive message he wants to send.
“I wanted to make a bigger difference in the world,” said Thompson, “I wanted to have an outlet to express my feelings and things.”
A year ago the site was basic HTML and Thompson decided to hire someone to design something new.
Thompson who enjoys web developing more than design said in a year from now the site will have more content, and more podcasting. He hopes to have a writer other than himself.
His parents are very supportive and help proofread and review the content of his articles. He gets their viewpoint and said it is always great to have different perspectives on an idea. Right now he is seeing about 50 visits a day and said when he has a new article posted the site gets much more attention.
“It’s an ever-changing process,” said Thompson, “You can never have a perfect Web site because technology is always changing.”
Thomas attended St. Paul’s and is now home-schooled. Thompson has the discipline to set aside time for his school work, and completely focus on it until it’s done
“I don’t have to worry about walking to the next class, or lunch, or study halls,” said Thompson, “Mine is all a study hall.”
Thompson chooses to take a stand against the question he says society demands, “How can I be satisfied or entertained?”
He talked about the negative aspect to social networking like Facebook and Myspace saying the sites allow you to be someone who is viewed as cool. It doesn’t matter whether or not you as a person agree with who you are choosing to be online, because online you can be anyone.
He is very active in his youth group at Genesee Country Church. He also has his black belt and loves mountain bike riding.
He spends about 4-5 hours a day on the computer working on his site.
“Your mind thinks your working, but your not really working, your not doing anything physical,” said Thompson. So after 4 or 5 hours he will enjoy his quiet time reading the bible, or thinking about his favorite verse, Romans 3:23. The verse sets up everything he does.
What makes Ethan so true to the meaning of Christianity is his spirit to encourage others, and he is doing this in a big way, with his own Web site.
Although he loves this experience, he said he doesn’t want to get into Web design in college.
“I would want to major in Marketing or Broadcasting,” said Thompson. He likes to do tech related things and commented that he isn’t even sure if college is for him because of the costs. But the almost 15-year-old already sees the truth of the world and is doing something to encourage others is something a college degree could never teach anyways.
Our ND "seniors in the spotlight" - Jill Marshall, daughter of Paul Marshall and Maureen Torrey Marshall of Elba and Kevin Francis, son of Mark and Cindy Francis of Batavia - both recently received the prestigious Ronald McDonald Game Sportsmanship Award for their respective teams during the Saturday, March 28, 2009 Ronald McDonald High School Basketball All Star games held at R.I.T. It is a rarity that two student athletes from the same school are selected to represent their [Genesee Region] league and school in this annual showcase of local basketball talent, much less receive the same prestigious award as a result of their performance in this contest! Congratulation on jobs well done!
Kevin Francis is a very talented student-athlete and has been a stalwart member of our Fighting Irish Football, Basketball and Baseball programs throughout his high school career. He has been a member of our Section V Class D Varsity Football Championship team as a Sophomore and Section V Class D Varsity Baseball Championship team as a Junior earning Sectional [Section V – Rochester Region] patches during both of these seasons. He played a key role in the success of our Fighting Irish Baseball team last year which captured the NYS Far West Regional championship and advanced to the NYSPHSAA “Final 4” at SUNY Binghamton last June. Kevin earned a spot on this year's 2009 Section V Class D- All Star team for his exemplary play during our recently concluded season. Regardless of the sport, Kevin can always be counted on to play hard and give it his all. He consistently plays within the parameters of the rules and lets his performance on the field or court “speak for itself.” Kevin has been a very unselfish team member throughout high school and makes everyone else that much better by his presence in a line up. He was selected to receive the "Birdseye Player of the Year" in the Genesee Region by a vote of league coaches in addition to being selected to play in this year's Ronald McDonald High School Boys All Star Basketball contest!
Kevin is also the type of student who is capable of “stepping up” and taking on leadership roles. A two time Genesee Region All-Star in both football and basketball, Kevin is a leader by example both on and off the field of play. He has captained each varsity sport that he has competed in during his Junior and Senior years at Notre Dame. He is a role model for all of the younger student-athletes in our athletic programs.
An individual who enjoys spending time helping others, Kevin has volunteered to assist others through his involvement with Salvation Army bell ringing at Christmas time, reffing grade school basketball games and assisting veterans at the Batavia Veterans Administration Hospital and Home.
Kevin is considering attending St. John Fisher College in Rochester, SUNY Fredonia and D’Youville College in Buffalo and is interested in pursuing a degree in business administration. He also has aspirations of continuing his football and/or basketball career at the collegiate level.
Jill Marshall has a never-ending thirst for knowledge and exhibits an outstanding work ethic on a daily basis at Notre Dame. She is the type of student that any instructor would love to have based on her appreciation for education and willingness to work hard to achieve her goals. She is the type of individual who is not afraid to challenge herself academically having spent the second semester of her Junior year as a Page for United States Representative Louise Slaughter in Washington, DC, as well as having taken summer courses at Cornell and Georgetown Universities.
A very well rounded individual and member in good standing of the National Honor Society, Jill served as her Class President during her 9th, 10th and 11th grade years at Elba. She is currently a contributing member of our Notre Dame Environmental Club, as well as our ND Mission Club and SADD organization during her senior year, as well as a member of the Genesee County Youth Court, a position to which she was appointed in December 2008.
A very talented student-athlete, Jill has been an integral part of our highly touted Fighting Irish Varsity Girls Cross Country and Basketball teams during the 2008-2009 school year. She has received numerous individual Genesee Region honors in Basketball and Soccer, as well as Section V NYSPHSAA All Star recognition in both Cross Country this past fall and in Basketball twice - once at Elba and this season at ND. She [like Kevin Francis] is the consummate team member, sacrificing individual recognition for the success of a team victory and was a fitting representative to this year's Ronald McDonald High School Girls All Star game from the GR league. She makes everyone better just by being in the lineup. She is a leader by example and has achieved prestigious NYSPHSAA student athlete status (minimum 90% team average) during each varsity sports season she has played during her combined high school career at Elba and Notre Dame.
Jill plans to continue her education at Cornell University while pursuing a degree in the area of nutritional science next fall.
The Notre Dame Family is proud to salute Kevin Francis and Jill Marshall as our spotlighted seniors for the month of April 2009 and wish them the best of luck next year at the collegiate level!!!
Pictured: Jill Marshall ‘09 and Kevin Francis ‘09
Today, we have a special Deal of the Day -- three gift certificates offers in one day.
Rules: Gift certificates must be used within 30 days of purchase. People who have won a gift certificate in the past 30 days cannot win a gift certificate from the same business again. State law prohibits using gift certificates to purchase alcohol.
Process: Purchase your gift certificate through the PayPal button below. There is only one gift certificate available from each business. The first completed purchase wins. PayPal will notify you if the gift certificate has been purchased and is out of stock. It's best if you're able to stop by The Batavian office and pick up your gift certificate prior to 5 p.m. today, however mail is an option.
T.F. Brown's ($12.50):
SOLD
Adam Miller ($12.50):
SOLD
Batavia Downs ($12.50):
SOLD
As Matt Novak, Matt McCracken and Brandon Brummert were driving back from the NCAA Basketball Tournament in Memphis, they started talking about a way to have some fun talking sports with their friends.
The trio of Oakfield-Alabama graduates decided that starting a blog was the best way to accomplish this. That was when GC Watercooler was born.
Novak created the site that night (March 30) and it went live on Friday of that week, with links being posted on Facebook and Section 5 Talksback.
Novak currently attends Syracuse University and is a big basketball fan. He is also the top poster on Talksback.
McCracken attends SUNY Geneseo and specializes in NFL and Brummert is a junior in college and writes about college football.
The site has more than just the three writers.
Steve Huber - who is a graphic designer that graduated from Attica - is a baseball analyst and fellow Attica grad Don Busch writes about college football.
O-A grad Travis Klotzbach writes about the NFL and current Oakfield-Alabama student Ben Cherry writes about soccer and wrestling. Casey Call - another O-A grad - writes about basketball.
Elba's Collin Stucko and Sonny Giuliano both write about college and NBA basketball while Notre Dame's Christian Bochicchio writes about college football and Shea O'Connor writes about the NFL.
These young writers are a talented group and the site offers a lot of humor to go along with news and opinions. You can check it out here.
After the public hearing last night, Dan Fischer of WBTA and I spoke with Tom Mancuso, of Mancuso Development Group, about the Masse Gateway Project. Mancuso has been on vacation, so the public has not yet heard from him on the proposal, so this video represents the full interview.
Maybe it was the time, as one speaker noted, but for as controversial as the Masse Gateway Project has seemed, the turnout at tonight's public hearing was disappointing. Only five people got up to speak.
Below are videos of each of the speakers. Note that I didn't necessarily capture the entire speeches of each person, though in some cases I did.
There may be a theater, possibly a dinner theater, in the future of the former Carr's Department Store location, if owner Ken Mistler can line up appropriate funding through the BID.
Mistler does not have many specifics on the proposal at this time, but has been working on putting together the project for several weeks.
In response to an e-mail, Mistler said:
I do not have any exact plans until the Engineers get back to me... Engineer hopes to give me my plans/answers early next week.
In a comment on The Batavian, Mislter acknowledged that he paid only $10,000 for the Carr's building, but has spent a good deal of money renovating it.
In another comment, he said:
I offered Old Navy 4 years free rent on a 7-year lease. After 4 attempts they finally replied. They are not currently seeking any type of retail location in your (our) demographic. Now I will look toward entertainment.
The plane ride into the Northwest Territories revealed a barren wilderness interspersed with pristine lakes and brawling, turbulent rivers. As the plane descended for landing we had a birdseye view of the local terrain. Visible through the windows of the twin engine Otter were endless rolling hills studded with boulders, some the size of small houses. We had flown just beyond the fringe of the North American tree line, into the home of the barren ground caribou, ptarmigan and other tundra denizens. The few trees that do grow here are stunted spruce and willow, the ground carpeted with caribou moss and lichen.
The lakes and rivers here teem with lake trout, grayling and very few northern pike. Not surprisingly we failed to hook a northern during our week long stay. Not that it mattered. Our tent camp was located at Nueltin Narrows. As the name implies, “the Narrows” is a bottleneck in 135 mile long Nueltin Lake.
It was the third week of June, 1982, and much of the lake was still locked in ice, including a large bay in close proximity to our camp. The remaining ice was honeycombed, and I’ll never forget the sound it made whenever a breeze picked up – like ice cubes being swished around inside thousands of crystal drinking glasses.
Because the water was deep and clear, we could look down into the lake depths, sometimes able to see the shadow of a large fish swimming by – probably a big lake trout. But the fish weren’t all that cooperative to start with. We caught lake trout, but not a great number. That would change once the cold front passed through. Gray skies and chilly air temperatures required warm clothing – goose down and wool – and thermoses filled with hot liquid, usually cocoa or chicken broth.
After three days the sun returned, and the lake trout action heated up. They provided great sport on light tackle, and one evening they put on an aerial display – very uncharacteristic of lake trout. It was close to ten pm when we found a small bay full of six to eight lb. lake trout. They went crazy for yellow and red wobbling spoons called Five of Diamonds. I don’t know how deep a one ounce spoon can sink in three seconds, but that’s where the fish were. We began reeling after a three count and the lakers wasted no time attacking the spoons. Within seconds they were on the surface, jumping, rolling and just giving a good account of North Country forktails. By 1:30 a.m. we were feasting on broiled lake trout. After dining on all that fresh fish it was hard to fall asleep – we were wired on protein!
We found a great set of caribou antlers while hiking and saw a number of ducks including scoters, eider and several ptarmigan. One afternoon a solitary otter persisted in following us. He gave us a wide berth, staying thirty yards or more behind the boat. Once we began trolling, the aquatic mammal had no trouble keeping up and followed us for a quite a while.
In the short sub-arctic summer only the top few inches of earth thaws. For this reason camp food is kept in a small underground chamber and cooled by the perma-frost. Our hosts had stocked the food locker with pork chops, chicken, etc. That didn’t stop us from dining on lake trout whenever possible.
During the sub-arctic summer the sun sets late at that latitude and we never experienced darkness. Lowest light was between 2 and 3 in the morning, a dusk-dawn setting. Today Nueltin Lake is no longer part of the Northwest Territories. In 1993 a new territory called Nunavut was formed. In Inuktitut -the language of the Inuit - Nunavut means “our land”, essentially any Canadian land north of the tree line. On April 1, 1999 Nunavut officially became separate from the Northwest Territories.
The Carnival is coming to town. Work crews are busy now on Jackson Street setting up 10 rides for kids of all ages (so long as they're at least 36 inches tall). The carnival opens Friday afternoon.
Today's lunch was at Mother's Chicken and Fish on Ellicott. After our meal, owner Tim Chugg and I started chatting.
He's pretty upset that the new brick bench across the street from his store, outside the Pok-A-Dot, remains unfinished several months after the project was started. There's been no sign of progress all spring.
I checked with Don Burkel at the BID, and he said there's an unresolved issue the DOT holding up the entire Ellicott Street project.
"We're anxious to get it finished, too." Burkel said. "We hope to have the entire project finished by late spring."
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