Thursday, July 27th – HP HOOD DAY

• 10 AM – Exhibition Halls & Buildings Open
• 4 PM – 9 PM—MIDWAY OPEN
• 6:30 PM – 4-H Market Animal Auction Sale Begins (Main Show Ring)
• 7 PM – 10PM The Eaglez Tribute Band
• 10 PM – Exhibit Halls & Buildings Close

Daily at the Fair:

• Air Sculpture (Balloon Display Build All Day Every Day and Balloon Demonstrations 12pm & 4:45pm) (All Day Every Day)
• Pig Racing – Show Schedule (SAT 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; SUN 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; MON 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; TUES 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; WED 2pm, 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; THURS 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; FRI 2pm, 4pm, 6pm & 8pm; SAT 2pm, 4pm, 6pm & 8pm)
• Niagara Down Under (All Day Every Day)
• Wings on Wheels (All Day Every Day)
• Pony Rides (All Day Every Day)
• Chain Saw Carver (All Day Every Day)
• Fame Racing – Radio Controlled Car Racing (SAT 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SUN 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; MON 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; TUES 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; WED 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; THURS 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; FRI 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm; SAT 1pm, 3pm, 5pm & 7pm)
• CLICK HERE FOR 4-H Daily Schedule  

Events & times on the schedule and this website are subject to change. Follow us on Facebook to keep up to date with changes. Click here to see each day's schedule.

Press Release:

The 37th Annual Western New York Antique Truck Show is August 5 and 6 at the Alexander Steam Show Grounds, 10294 Gillate Road, Alexander.  The grounds are open from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on both days. 

The show features over 150 trucks, tractors, construction equipment, and a flea market. Free Admission and Parking. Saturday events include an antique tractor pull at 10 a.m. and a slow truck race at 2 p.m.  There will be a truck parade Sunday at 1 p.m. 

Kids get a chance to win a wooden truck every hour. Proud sponsor of Camp Good Days.

Press Release:

The St. Jerome Guild, Inc., selects the recipients of the annual St. Jerome Guild Health Career Professional Scholarship 2023.

Two UMMC/Rochester Regional Healthcare providers are this year’s recipients. This award is offered annually to outstanding employees who are continuing their education to support healthcare in our local community through UMMC/Rochester Regional Health.

Nicole Hopkins, RN, specializing in patient pain management is striving for a degree in Family Care Nurse Practitioner and currently attending Roberts Wesleyan. Jennifer Kula, is a patient care technician and is currently enrolled in the second year RN program at Genesee Community College.

Additional awards of $100 each were given to Mary Caprio and Vanessa Eason who are both pursuing degrees to enhance their careers at UMMC.

If you have any questions, please call me at the cell below or contact me at maredickinson@gmail.com.

 Submitted Photos

Genesee County has been granted a change of venue in a lawsuit filed by New York City in the Supreme Court of New York County.

In a decision filed Tuesday, “the Court finds that NYC has failed to establish any compelling circumstances as to warrant that venue remain in New York County” in violation of the applicable statutes that mandate the judicial proceeding or action against a county to be in the said county or in the “judicial district where the respondent made the determination complained of.”

Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the petition is dismissed as against some of the counties involved. However, a motion for a change of venue and to sever has been granted for other counties, including Genesee and County Manager Matt Landers. 

"The ruling was on a change of venue, in which we were successful in moving the venue to Genesee County," Landers said Wednesday.

In early June, New York City filed a lawsuit against some 30 upstate municipalities, including Genesee County, seeking to invalidate their executive orders barring undocumented immigrants from entering their locales.

The lawsuit claimed that those emergency orders obstructed New York City’s efforts to relocate migrants in “a manner that is explicitly permitted by law and required by a statewide emergency.”

While this doesn’t dismiss the lawsuit, it will bring the proceedings closer to home. 

If all goes to plan, there could be a brand new Burger King restaurant with drive-through service, ample landscaping, and a corner lot set-up with an adjacent traffic light in place by the spring of 2024.

That is, of course, if real estate manager John FitzGerald and his site engineers meet the qualifications of the city’s Planning & Development Committee, which so far have included a request to reduce a 17-foot bypass lane, bump up the landscaping, and consider a traffic study.

It’s worth the short move from 230 West Main St., Batavia and special use permit to the corner of South Lyon and West Main Street, FitzGerald said. 

“I’d always love an approval the first time, but, you know, the board brought up some legitimate items to discuss. And we'll review those with (site engineer Patrick Mahoney) Pat, and go through those. But I think that everything I heard pretty much made sense,” FitzGerald said after Tuesday’s planning committee meeting. “As far as I know, narrowing this 17-foot lane, we can take that down a little bit, you know, the right in right out (entrance/exit), I think makes sense. Some of the other ones were kind of spitballing. And they're very, very difficult to enact.

“As far as the traffic study … we’re basically moving across the street to a safer, easier, more accessible property. So I don't know, if the state requires it, we will do it.”

FitzGerald, who manages about 350 Burger Kings for Carrols Corp., has been leasing the current site, which will be up soon. His reasons for moving are more about the new location than the one he has been in for at least a few decades.

“There’s nothing wrong with the old one, this is just a better location,” he said. “Again, it's at the traffic light. So it's safer for getting people in and out. It gives you two access points: one on South Lyons and one on Main Street, versus the one we currently have, like a double lead in and out on one side of the store, and then it's got the drive-through exit on the other side. So there's potentially conflicting movements.”

Those conflicting movements happen when motorists attempt to make either a left or right turn out of the current location each simultaneously, he said. He likes having a traffic light at the corner of the new location and stressed the safety factor of the new design. He’s not aware of his current property playing host to accidents, he said, but wants to move on. 

The biggest reason is having a traffic light to help with the flow of traffic versus being in mid-block, he said. 

“So it’s an easier movement versus the existing store. Not that this was bad, but it’s both 90-degree stalls. So there’s people kind of coming and going in different directions,” FitzGerald said. “This forces everybody to go the same direction in and around the property. And, again, two access points versus one.”

His design team, Mahoney and Peter Sorgi, did all the talking during the meeting, at some points rather pointedly questioning committee member Ed Flynn’s critiques. Flynn latched onto the 17-foot lane as a major sticking point throughout the site plan review.

“Why do you have a 17-foot escape lane?” Flynn said. Sorgi focused on the landscaping, stating that it was “more than was required” by code and the bypass lane was part of a safety measure. 

“Right now, I may be the only one talking about the 17-foot excessive lane over here, but I want more landscaping along Lyon Street. Seems like they start out with a lot to offer there. And then, of course, you make a descending (landscaping design) for some reason. The pavement lane is 17 feet, that seems like it can be reduced dramatically.”

Mahoney said that safety to the community is better served by a wider lane, and Sorgi homed in on the safety factor versus aesthetics. Flynn emphasized that his comments weren’t necessarily a consensus of the group. 

“That’s why we have more than one board member,” City Code Enforcement Officer Doug Randall said, to which Sorgi quickly replied, “thank you.”

“The design is where your talent comes in, we’re just here to express concerns of the public,” Randall said.  

Mahoney described the ideal “speckled shade” landscaping of crab apple and locust trees, greenery that could survive Western New York’s climate and Main Street’s winter road saltings. 

They discussed the parking lot size — committee member Derek Geib asked if four spaces similar to McDonald’s would suffice — the drive-through configuration, trash removal from the dumpster, and how things have changed in the way customers operate.

Mahoney said that no, four spaces would not work. As for the drive-through, there are two order points. There’s a double wide for ordering, and it filters into a single lane for the pickup at the store. 

“And then, if you look at the building, to the left of that will be the mobile order stalls. And as we were talking about that, that’s the wave of the future, people don’t want to even really park their car,” FitzGerald said after the meeting. “They just want to pull up and have somebody run out. 

"This is the way the industry is going, that's everywhere, surburban, rural, urban. People today, it's either drive-through or over their phone," he said. "We're trying to make it safer for people on the property. It's just the wave of the future." 

FitzGerald is to return with an updated site plan in September or October. His first meeting was in June, which introduced the project and plan to demolish two major current business buildings.

Tuesday at the Genesee County Fair was another full day with the annual parade, the first day of the karaoke contest, and, of course, lots of activity in the Midway.

To view or purchase prints, click here.

Photos by Steve Ognibene

The New York Sire Stakes will be on hand at Batavia Downs for opening night of the 2023 summer/fall season on Wednesday (July 26) when seven 2-year-old trotting colts and geldings line up for a big payday of $106,300. With only a handful of starts among this relatively even group, it could be anyone’s race to win as these fast-developing freshmen can throw a big mile at any time from week to week.

The oddsmaker’s choice is the two-for-one entry of Bargain (Chapter Seven-Batoutahill) and Keep Asking (Chapter Seven-Sensibility).

Bargain has two wins and a second in three starts this year while showing versatility over three different-size tracks. One of those wins was a victory in the $77,300 NYSS at Yonkers in his first career outing in 1:59.1. The following week, he lowered his lifetime mark of 1:56.4 at the Meadowlands, closing in: 27.3 in the $20,000 event. His current earnings of $62,525 have him listed as the sixth richest 2-year-old male trotter in North America, and he is poised to add to that total in this race. Bargain likes the front end and, leaving from post four, should definitely be in charge of this group from the start.

James McDonald will steer Bargain for trainer Nancy Takter.

Keep Asking has yet to win in two starts but recovered nicely after an early break in his first start to finish second in the NYSS at Yonkers and then bounced back with a fourth place, 1:56 clocking at Tioga Downs where he was parked for the better part of the mile. Post-seven may be a tough task.

Jim Morrill Jr. will be in the bike behind Keep Asking for trainer George Ducharme.

A big threat will be looming from Situationship (Chapter Seven-Meegan Hall), who made a big three-wide move at three-quarters last week in the NYSS at Tioga, where he finished second in 1:55.1 off a: 28.4 final quarter. Situationship has displayed extreme closing speed in two 2-year-old non-betting events this year at Meadowlands and will be stalking the leader in the last stages of this race.

Trainer Ake Svanstedt will also be driving Situationship.

There are also three $20,000 Excelsior divisions in races two, four, and six.

Post time for the first race is 6 p.m. The races can be viewed free and live at the Batavia Downs Facebook page and free full past performance programs can always be downloaded for every live race card from the Batavia Downs website (bataviadownsgaming.com) under the live racing tab.

Things did not go the Muckdogs way against Niagara Power on Tuesday, but Batavia managed to retain a slender lead in the Western Division of the PGCBL.

Batavia lost 9-2, giving up 16 hits and committing two errors.

Ty Woods was down 3-0 when he was lifted after three innings, having given up two earned runs on nine hits and two walks. 

Ben Weber was tagged for six runs and seven hits.

Thomas Blaydes stopped the bleeding with three hitless innings to close out the game.

The Muckdogs, with four games left in the season, are 25-14 with a half-game lead over Elmira (25-15).

Batavia has clinched a playoff spot for the post-season.

The Muckdogs travel to Niagara tonight. The team hosts Newark on Thursday at Dwyer Stadium at 5 p.m.

Press Release:

Le Roy Ambulance Service has announced its latest fundraiser. A search is underway looking for 12 dogs to be featured in a 2024 Dog Calendar. Owners may enter their dogs in the contest for a $5 entry fee. Entries will be accepted through noon on August 11.

There will be a live drawing on VIP K9 Facebook page at 6 p.m. on August 11 which will determine the 12 lucky winners. Winners will be asked to submit a photo of their dog or you can ask to have one taken. 

This idea presented to the ambulance board by Le Royan Nancy Crocker of the Empire Realty Group was enthusiastically approved. Nancy has partnered with Cindy Lee of VIP K9 to organize this unique fundraising event. Calendars will be available for purchase in September for a donation of $10. 

100% of the proceeds from contest entry fees and calendar sale proceeds will benefit the Le Roy Ambulance Service.

To enter provide:

• Your dog name
• Owner’s name
• Phone number
• $5 entry fee

You may enter by stopping at VIP K9 at 70-72 Main St. Le Roy, text 585-326-4112, email vipk9training@gmail.com, or contact Nancy Crocker at 585-314-7982 or Crocker@Rochester.rr.com.

The 4-H beef show at the Genesee County Fair was held on Tuesday.

Photos by Debra Reilly.

Editor's Note: The Batavian has a booth at the fair in partnership with WBTA as part of the official Genesee County Fair Media Center. Stop by to say hello and enter our eagle-drawing contest in the Exhibition Building. We are an exhibitor and are providing coverage of the fair all week long as a proud supporter of the county fair, 4-H and the dedicated volunteers of the Ag Society. 

If you appreciate our fair coverage, as well as all of our coverage of Genesee County, you can help us continue news coverage by signing up today for Early Access Pass.

The former Genesee County director on the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board today explained the reasoning behind the approval of multi-year contract extensions to 18 high-ranking employees just days before Gov. Kathy Hochul and the leaders of the state Senate and Assembly dismantled the board.

Contacted by phone this morning, Richard Siebert, who served on the board for 29 years, said that on April 27, during an executive session at Batavia Downs Gaming, neither he nor any of his colleagues were aware of what was going to happen in Albany.

Less than a week later, it was announced that all the directors were being fired and that the board’s voting system was being changed from one-county, one-vote to a weighted format based on population.

“At that point, no one seemed to be able to tell us what was in the legislation that was going to be passed when Hochul passed her budget,” said Siebert, who actually resigned his position when he found out about the changes. “We didn’t know what was in there – and I actually found out (through the media) that I was being removed as a director.”

When asked about the two- and three-year contracts, Siebert admitted that this “was different” from what was done in the past.

“We had consultants that told us that it was in the best interest of our board to have three-year contracts – with a lot of other stipulations like they couldn’t leave and compete against us with another vendor, whatever,” he said.

Siebert also said the board was worried about the status of President/Chief Executive Officer Henry Wojtaszek’s job.

“I think we were all concerned about the stuff we kept hearing about the fact that they were gunning for Henry, who we felt was doing a great job, as well as the other officers. So, it was a good way to be more efficient by having the contracts and, in my own mind, it was a way for us to protect people from being removed for political purposes,” he said.

“Now, if there was something in the employee’s merit that would warrant them being removed from their contract, so be it. But we felt it was in the best interest of our board to be more responsible with contracts and also to make sure people who are doing a great job had the opportunity to continue without political interference.”

Wojtaszek confirmed that the board was advised by attorney John Owens, who was recently hired as the board’s associate general counsel, to enter into the contract extensions. Also contacted this morning, Wojtaszek said he didn’t want to speak publicly about the contracts because they are personnel matters but did offer to provide the information to The Batavian.

“I’d be happy to send you these contracts,” he said. “There’s no secret about it.”

Actually, the specifics of the contracts were acquired by the Niagara Gazette through the state’s Freedom of Information Law earlier this month, and the newspaper did make those salaries public.

As expected, Wojtaszek tops the list at $272,000, which is about $7,000 more than what the board had approved for his 2023 salary. The other members of the leadership team are Chief Financial Officer Jacquelyne Leach ($222,000), Chief Operating Officer Scott Kiedrowski ($165,168), VP/Administration William White ($160,000) and VP/Operations Sean Schiano ($131,000).

All of their contracts now run through December 2026, and they are still eligible for annual raises, Wojtaszek said.

Employees granted two-year contract extensions are as follows:

Ryan Hasenauer, director of marketing, $108,638; Cindy DeCarlo, controller/Batavia Downs operations, $104,187; Steven Haigh, internal auditor, $101,129; Thomas P. Balk, director of building and grounds, $100,900; Jeffery Magee, IT director, $99,008.

Jake Rak, controller, OTB operations, $89,918; Andrew Fedele, director of surveillance/video gaming operations, $83,574; Daniel Wood, director of security, $83,137; Danielle Fleming, director of human resources, $80,017.

Dona Beane, director of food and beverages, $78,249; Dina Pane, general manager/OTB operations, $76,585; Barbara O'Rourke, sales manager, $75,358; Megan Glor, director of purchasing/real estate, $74,089.

The former board’s unanimous vote is being criticized by local politicians, with the Niagara Gazette reporting that Erie County Comptroller Kevin Hardwick called the salaries “obscene” and state Assemblywoman Monica Wallace, D-Lancaster, terming the timing of the action as “highly suspect. Both are calling upon the new WROTB board to take a closer look at the contracts and the approval process.

Wojtaszek said the salaries are proper in light of industry standards.

“What I would say is that if you look at the industry – the numbers within the industry – it’s clearly an appropriate amount based on the gaming industry. I think it’s (the criticism) is very politically motivated,” he said.  “And when you look at the performance of the corporation, things are going extremely well here. And we're going to try to make sure that continues. We have great personnel, and we are delivering the customer service that’s necessary to bring people back.”

Calling it “a significant overreach of our Home Rule,” Genesee County Legislator Chair Rochelle Stein said the legislature is fully invested in legal action to overturn a decision by New York State lawmakers to restructure the Western Regional Off-Track Betting Corp. board of directors.

“In our minds, this is a significant overreach of our Home Rule, and we counties must protect our constitutional rights in New York State,” she said today. “We cannot allow for that to be overwritten by an action of the government.”

Stein confirmed that Dennis Vacco, former state attorney general and federal prosecutor, has been hired by Genesee County and other Republican-leaning counties in Western New York that benefit from WROTB, which is based in Batavia.

“This is definitely a joint effort,” she said, adding that the cost of litigation will be shared by the counties involved.

The Batavian reached out this morning to County Attorney James Wujcik and to Vacco’s office in an effort to determine which counties are participating in the lawsuit and to find out more details about the cost-sharing agreement.

In late June, the Genesee County Legislature passed a resolution supporting legal action and the desire to participate with other rural counties.

All 17 director positions, except Schuyler County, have been reappointed since action by Gov. Hochul and other lawmakers in Albany to dismantle the WROTB board.

The latest to join is James A. Wilmot, who will represent Monroe County. The board is scheduled to meet at 10 a.m. Thursday at Batavia Downs Gaming on Park Road.

For the second year in a row, Genesee County Legislator Chad Klotzbach apparently drew the short straw when volunteering to man the Chuckwagon at the county fair Tuesday. 

After all, he was positioned in the hottest spot in the house — at the fryer. While his colleagues took orders, served drinks, flipped burgers and hotdogs on the grill and handled the incoming cash at the front, Klotzbach dropped baskets of fries into hot steamy vats of oil.

“I have no idea what I’m doing,” he jokingly said. “If it’s still frozen, then it’s not cooked enough, and if it’s burnt, then it’s overcooked.”

The group of legislators participated in the fair parade and then marched off to their designated corners to hustle up food for hungry fair-goers. The lines never seemed to slow down during their shift from 7 to 10 p.m.

Every now and then, Legislature Chairwoman Shelley Stein would yell out “ding, ding, ding” when a patron stuffed a tip into their jar, which was full of dollar bills. 

County Clerk Lisa Casey was busy crushing Doritos and adding lettuce, tomatoes, meat and sauce. “I’m taco in a bag,” she said of her role, and “nachos.”

While the group was raking in the dough during the evening, it wasn’t going into their own pockets.

“We do this to support the fair and the organization that makes money for programs for Genesee County agriculture,” Legislator Marianne Clattenburg said, answering The Batavian’s question of who works the hardest out of their group.  “I have no idea who works the hardest. I think Chad has the hardest job. We're all one big well-oiled machine this year.”

With about 90 minutes down, and 90 more to go, she could attest to it being “busy and hot like it was last year.” It was more difficult to get a few words out of Legislator John Deleo, as every few moments, he received orders for drinks, mostly chilled Gatorades and a few Blue Lights.

In assembly line fashion, someone next to the cooler — an increasingly familiar face in Western New York — grabbed the drinks and handed them off to Deleo, who then delivered them to the front-end workers. This group just wanted to help out the fair, he said.

“It’s kind of our contribution to help out, to keep the pressure on, and if you notice every year it's getting better and better,” he said, interrupting his train of thought for more drinks, one being recommended that goes good with the fried dough.  “There's a lot of volunteers here, which really helped the community and everything. So if you notice, it used to be the churches they don't do that. So now this is the big community get-together. But it's good to see a lot of people here that you do know, and it's always good.”

Wait a minute, was that George Borrello (R, C) representing the 57th Senate District, slinging chuckwagon grub behind the counter and helping to serve cold drinks from the cooler? Yes. He came here for the parade, to see some 4-H kids, livestock and other fairgrounds action.

“And I thought I'd jump back and help out the county legislators here, and I'm a public servant. I can also serve french fries and hot dogs. Obviously, agriculture's there as well. First of all, not only am I the state senator, but I'm also the ranking member of the Senate Agriculture Committee. So agriculture is the biggest industry in New York State,” he said. “And fairs like the Genesee County Fair help highlight agriculture and the importance it is to our economy. So, I think it's great to be here. There are a lot of people that come to the fair that may not have a chance to go to a farm or to understand what it's like to raise animals to care for animals. 

“You know, people don't know where their food comes from. So something like Genesee County Fair really teaches people a lot about the food chain and the important standard culture of our economy,” Borrello said.

All of the proceeds from the legislators’ work, including that fat stuffed tip jar, will go to the Genesee County Ag Society. There was one more important question for the evening, though. How’d they do? Did it pass the muster of hungry appetites?

Doug and Sharon Houseknecht are regulars at the fair — they’ve been going for nearly each of their 49 years of marriage, mostly to see the parade and animals; some friends have cows there, and “we come to support them,” Sharon said. 

They sat underneath the green and white food tent next to the Chuckwagon after just finishing their meal. There were fries left in Doug’s container, and he questioned that they were supposed to be a "small." So serving size? Generous. 

How about taste?

“We eat at the same spot every year,” Sharon said as Doug answered how their dinner was. “It was great.”

Editor's Note: The Batavian has a booth at the fair in partnership with WBTA as part of the official Genesee County Fair Media Center. Stop by to say hello and enter our eagle-drawing contest in the Exhibition Building. We are an exhibitor and are providing coverage of the fair all week long as a proud supporter of the county fair, 4-H and the dedicated volunteers of the Ag Society. 

If you appreciate our fair coverage, as well as all of our coverage of Genesee County, you can help us continue news coverage by signing up today for Early Access Pass.

The Marshall Tucker Band, along with openers Alyssa Trajan and JB Aaron, rocked the Downs this past Friday night.

Photos by Nick Serrata.

At one point during an early May phone interview, Paul Doucette of Matchbox Twenty considered the longevity of his popular band. “It’s hard to stay together for 30 years,” he said. “That’s why a lot of bands don’t do it.”

To be completely accurate, Matchbox Twenty won’t hit their 30th year as a band until 2025, but the guitarist knows a thing or two about how difficult it can be for a band to remain intact for so long.

In Matchbox Twenty’s case, there have been several periods where the band went inactive – usually involving times when singer Rob Thomas was making and then touring behind one of the four solo albums that have made him a major star in his own right.

Those projects had idled Matchbox Twenty in 2005 and 2006, 2009 and 2010, 2015 and 2016 and in 2019. In the early years, things were busy mostly good, as Matchbox Twenty became one of the most popular bands going. The 1996 debut album, “Yourself or Someone Like You,” sold some 12 million copies and yielded four hi singles, including the chart-topping “3AM,” “Push,” “Real World” and “Back To Good.” The 2000 follow-up, “Mad Season,” added four more hits, including the multi-chart-topping “Bent,” and 2002’s “More Than You Think You Are,” included the top 5 hits “Unwell” and “Bright Lights.”

But then Thomas, who has gained individual fame for co-writing and singing on the monster Carlos Santana hit “Smooth,” in 1999, launched his solo career. And since then, Matchbox Twenty has released only three albums – including 2007’s “Exile On Mainstream,” which combined 11 hits with seven new songs. The most recent release was “North” in 2012.

Doucette admitted Matchbox Twenty’s sporadic schedule had created points where the group could have split up. Guitarist Kyle Cook, in fact, left the band briefly in 2016 before rejoining in time for a tour the following year that seemed to put the band back on solid footing.

And Doucette reached a point where he had concluded Matchbox Twenty were done making albums. He, Thomas, Cook and bassist Brian Yale would tour from time to time, but that would be the extent of the band’s activity. It was not a notion he welcomed.

“When I sort of got to the point where I was like ‘Yeah, I think that we’re done making records,’ I legitimately grieved that process. Like that was a loss to me,” Doucette said. “But once I went through that process, I could look at it differently. I could look at it and be like ‘You know what, we can go out and we can play. We’re ridiculously fortunate to be able to do that and people will still come.’ And I have all these other things that I can do and I can concentrate on doing this (scoring). And maybe that’s not so bad.”

So Matchbox Twenty remained together, and after Thomas finished his solo tour in 2019, plans were formed for the band to return to touring. But of course, the pandemic hit and tours for 2021 and 2022 were pushed back once more to this summer.

But there was a major silver lining to the second delay. With the schedule cleared for 2022, Matchbox Twenty made a new album, “Where the Light Goes,” which arrived on May 26.

For “Where the Light Goes,” the four musicians reinvented their process for writing music. Where on past albums, the band members tended to send each other acoustic solo versions of songs and build out the arrangements together, Doucette, Thomas, Cook and Yale worked separately on the songs for the new album – a process necessitated by the pandemic and the fact the four band members live in different cities. 

Doucette said the band found that by working separately and e-mailing in-progress tracks back and forth to each other (as well as to producer Gregg Wattenberg, who was heavily involved in helping the band members to complete the songs) they were able to explore song ideas more thoroughly and in some cases, fully realize songs that might have been abandoned in the past if the song hadn’t come together quickly either in the writing/demo stage or when the four musicians gathered to flesh out the acoustic demos of songs.

The new approach to songwriting, though, didn’t alter the core pop-rock sound of Matchbox Twenty, and “Where The Light Goes” features a fairly even mix of concise and catchy uptempo tunes (“Friends,” “Don’t Get Me Wrong” and the title track), and richly melodic ballads (“Hang On Every Word,” “Warm Blood,” “One Hit Love”).

This summer’s twice-delayed tour will feature some songs from “Where The Light Goes,” Doucette said, but he noted that some fans held onto tickets purchased in 2021 and 2022 expecting a greatest hits show, and the band will play a good mix of new and older material.

“It’s a longer set than we’ve done on the past couple of tours,” he said “That gives us the advantage of being able to play a solid two hours a night. So we have more time, which is great. And we think we’ve got a good balance of it.” 

Matchbox Twenty will be performing at Darien Lake Performing Arts Center on Tuesday.

• Wednesday, July 26th – KID’S DAY & WONDER WINDOWS DAY
  10 AM – Exhibit Halls & Buildings Open
• 12:30 PM – Small Fry Tractor Pull (Exhibition Building) 
  Sponsored by Upstate Niagara Cooperative, Genesee County Pamona Grange, and Duane Schmigel & Family
• 1 PM – 9 PM—Midway Opens, Kids 16 & Under Ride for $15/wristband from 1 PM-5 PM
• 3:30 – Ice Cream Eating Competition (Lugias Ice Cream Truck)
   
• 7 PM – 10PM Karaoke (Entertainment Tent)
• 7 PM—4-H Alumni Master Showman Contest (Main Show Ring)
•  10 PM – Exhibit Halls & Buildings Close

22 Bennett Avenue, Oakfield. Solid 3 bedroom, 2and 1/2 bath home located on prime village street. This yard is the fun yard! Fully enclosed and private backyard with large sunny open deck, awesome extra large playset and plenty more yard space for entertaining and games!! Stepping inside you will be greeted by large and bright kitchen with so much space and cupboards plus an oversized pantry closet for all the supplies! There's also conveniently a large 1/2 bath and laundry room for your guests and you right as you walk in to catch all the mess! There is a great spacious layout between the formal dining room and oversized living room and front foyer and all three rooms boast hardwood floors and beautiful unpainted woodwork and even a set of beautiful wooden and glass pocket doors! Upstairs there are 3 large bedrooms -the master is roomy and bright with a sunny connected bath that everyone will want to use! There is also a large attic for all your storage needs and a full basement that once upon a time was partially finished off and could be again! There's a lot here for the next owner to enjoy so make it yours today! Delayed negotiations until Monday July 31 at 5:00. Call Reliant Real Estate 585-344-HOME (4663) today to see this listing.