Pavilion

After nearly two decades of caring for unwanted equines, Mike and Chris Dodge are finding it a bit harder to carry on. Since they started their efforts, initially in Ventura, Calif., they have so far saved 400 horses.

Now in declining health and grappling with a 40-percent drop in donations, the Dodge's are still doing what they can to keep their horse rescue in Pavilion going.

Sunday, they and a group of supporters and volunteers held an open house at the rescue on Dow Road. While there were many new faces, attendance was down from previous years, Mike Dodge said.

"Donations are down because of the economy, but it's that way with every non-profit," Dodge said. "Without those donations, though, we don't have the money to do what we have to with these guys."

There are 24 horses on the ranch and it costs $125 per month -- $3,000 a month total -- just to feed them. Plus there are medical bills and other expenses associated with operating the rescue.

The pasture out back hasn't been mowed for a while because the lawn mower broke.

Volunteers help, but many of them are students at SUNY Geneseo, so when school is out, there are fewer hands to clean stables and feed and water the horses.

Dodge noted that some of his volunteers have been kids who learned to ride at commercial stables and think they might to own their own horse. What they learn in volunteering, Dodge said, is that "90 percent of the care of a horse is on the ground."

Mike and Chris started horse rescue in Ventura County 18 years ago because they thought the humane society near their home didn't do a very good job.

Mike said they would put down a horse as dangerous if it kicked up its rear legs.

"That's just a horse having fun," Dodge said.

They stayed there for eight years before moving to Pavilion so Chris could be closer to her family.

In an era when many people who thought they could afford horses, now find they can't, as many as a 100,000 horses are sent to slaughter each year -- slaughtered in Mexico or Canada, because environmental regulations make it tough to run a commercial horse slaughter anywhere in the United States.

The Dodges have two horses on their way out for adoption, which is helping to make room for one horse that can no longer be cared for by its owners.

"This little girl has been riding him every day for four years, but they couldn't find a place to board him, so we're bringing him here," Dodge said. "She's a nice little girl."

While some horses do go out for adoption, so many of the animals brought to the rescue are hard to place because they're old (one horse at the rescue is 41 years old, which is like 123 to you or me), feeble (the white horse with spots pictured below is blind, but just about the friendliest horse you'll ever meet) or too ornery for hobby owners.

"Everybody wants a horse that's easy to handle," Dodge said.

Anybody who can care for the animal, handle the $125-per-month feed bill and provide it adequate pasture and shelter, is eligible to adopt a horse.

Every horse saved is another that can be saved, and that's what keeps Chris and Mike going.

"It’s strictly for the horses," Mike said. "They can’t speak for themselves. Just like dogs and cats, they need someone to speak for them, to be their voice."

The next closest rescue in New York is in Lima, where 12 horses are boarded; otherwise, there's no other horse rescue in Western New York.

Mike said he realizes with all of the horses that have been sent to slaughter over the years, 400 rescued is "just a drop in the bucket," but it's still worthwhile.

"It sure means a lot to that one horse."

Here's a video produced by somebody in Buffalo about the rescue:

For more information, visit the rescue's website.

Billy Joe Edward Murphy, 29, of Route 20, Pavilion, is charged with criminal possession of a weapon, 4th. At 9:21 p.m. Saturday, Sheriff's deputies responded to a report of a domestic disturbance. During the investigation, a long gun was located inside the residence. Allegedly, because of Murphy's criminal history, he is not legally permitted to possess firearms. Murphy was issued an appearance ticket on the weapon's charge and then booked into Genesee County Jail without bail on a warrant for an unrelated matter.

Tiffany Leigh Brown, 24, of South Main Street, Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief, 4th, and harassment, 2nd. Brown is accused of throwing a Thermos at another person. The Thermos reportedly ricocheted off the other person then struck and broke a glass bottle sitting on a shelf.

A motorcyclist is lying in the roadway with injuries after striking a deer or trying to avoid doing so. The location is 9968 South St. Road in Pavilion, between Black Street and Telephone Road. He is conscious. He apparently "laid the bike down" in an effort to avoid the deer.

Mercy medics are responding along with Pavilion Fire Department. State Troopers are on scene.

UPDATE 1:05 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne from Buffalo and the landing zone will be just north of the accident scene on a knoll.

UPDATE 1:09 p.m.: This is a Batavia-based helicopter than was already in the air and homeward bound when this call came in. It has an ETA of less than 10 minutes to the accident scene.

UPDATE 1:18 p.m.: Mercy Flight is on the ground.

UPDATE 1:42 p.m.: Mercy Flight is headed to a hospital, didn't catch which one. The road is reopened. All units back in service.

A 3-year-old child is suffering seizures after being struck in the head with a football. A Mercy Flight helicopter is called to Pavilion High School, where the Pavilion Fire Department is going to set up a landing zone.

UPDATE 5:26 p.m.: The patient is stabilized, so the child will be transported by ground ambulance to a hospital and Mercy Flight is canceled.

UPDATE 5:41 p.m.: An ambulance is transporting the child, accompanied by the mother, to Strong Memorial Hospital.

A fully involved barn fire is reported in Le Roy at 8029 W. Bergen Road. All available Le Roy equipment is called in, including mutual assistance from Bergen and Pavilion fire departments. Le Roy medics are also en route.

A 16-gallon oxygen tank is reported to be inside, according to the homeowner.

UPDATE 8:25 p.m.: An engine from Churchville is called to fill in at Bergen's fire hall. Monroe County Water Authority is to be notified that some of their hydrants will be used in fighting the blaze.

UPDATE 8:29 p.m.: An engine from Stafford is called to fill in at Le Roy's fire hall.

UPDATE 8:43: A pumper truck from Caledonia is on scene, too, and fire police are mustering to handle nearby roadways.

UPDATE 11:52 p.m.: Le Roy Fire back in service.

A three-car accident with serious injuries is reported at Route 19 and Perry Road in the Town of Le Roy. Mercy Flight is airborne. Extrication is required for the occupant(s) of one vehicle. Traffic police are needed.

Le Roy Fire and Ambulance Service and Pavilion Fire Department and are responding along with Mercy EMS.

UPDATE 2:38 p.m.: Mercy Flight has landed.

UPDATE 2:44 p.m.: The patient needing extrication is out of the vehicle.

UPDATE 2:56 p.m.: Mercy Flight is airborne, but we don't have the destination.

UPDATE 3:41 p.m.: All units back in service. The roadway is reopened.

Pavilion Fire Department is being dispatched to the area of 1168 Taylor Road, Town of Covington, for a one-car MVA with injuries.

State Police are on scene. Mercy EMS also dispatched.

UPDATE 11:29 p.m.: Minor injuries.

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A man on a motorcycle is now the subject of a foot pursuit in a cornfield near routes 63 and 20 in Pavilion. The incident began in the City of Batavia. We didn't hear how things started, only that he's being hunted by Sheriff's deputies.

While he was gunning his motorcycle with the law in hot pursuit, the chain on his bike broke. He ditched it, along with his helmet, and ran into a nearby cornfield. They spotted him by a hedgerow and then he disappeared into the field again.

State Troopers are on scene, too, and they are asked to provide a helicopter to locate the suspect. Pharoah, the Sheriff's Office dog, is working the scene as well. The dog hasn't located the guy yet, but did return to his handler, Deputy Brian Thompson, from the west.

The man being sought is wearing jeans and has on a black leather jacket. The motorcycle doesn't have plates.

UPDATE 7:42 p.m.: A "whole family of deer" is hanging out in one area of the search, so they are thinking he hasn't gone in that direction. The helicopter is flying above.

UPDATE 8:10 p.m.: The helicopter is continuing a sweep of the farm fields west-to-northwest.

UPDATE 8:21 p.m.: The "family of deer has been spooked from its location" and so officers on the ground are asked to scour that area. The motorcycle is being towed "to a secure location."

UPDATE 8:27: The motorcycle is a 1990 GST Suzuki with an expired registered out of Belmont. The manhunt has yielded no results. The helicopter is returning to base.

UPDATE 10:14 p.m. (by Howard): Photo, Deputy Thompson and Pharoah. Deputies and troopers cleared the scene about about 9:30 p.m. with the suspect still at large. The chase started when Deputy Joseph Graff performed a traffic stop on a motorcyle that didn't have plates. After Deputy Graff exited his vehicle to approach the motorcyclist, the rider took off at high speed.

A front porch carpet fire, believed to be out at this time, is reported at 11133 Saint Mary's St. in Pavilion. A person there suffered burns to the legs trying to put out the blaze. Pavilion Fire Department and Mercy EMS responded. They are checking the site with an infrared camera to ensure the blaze is out.

The victim is reportedly a 14-year-old who was playing with matches. A Sheriff's deputy is requested to the scene because of concerns of child endangerment.

UPDATE 8:10 p.m.: Those at the scene ask the deputy to "step it up."

UPDATE 8:26 p.m.: Mercy medics are en route to Strong Memorial Hospital with the burn victim. The Sheriff's deputy is back in service.

UPDATE 8:33 p.m.: Pavilion fire is back in service.

Out on Starr Road in Pavilion, on 125 acres of farmland with a view, Randy Starr farms his way.

He's not making a political statement, riding an organic trend -- Starr Farm is not organic -- or trying to reach for some idyllic, romanticized agrarian lifestyle. He just farms according to his own idea of how farming should be.

It's a little bit old school, a little bit high tech, and without the headaches that go with larger operations, but still all the frustrations of a two-person farm using older equipment.

“Once in a while I’ll have somebody say, ‘hey, if I was ever going to be a farmer, I’d be a farmer like you,’' Starr said. "And I think, 'Yeah, but you ain’t doing it, are you?'"

Starr was born to be a farmer. It's all he's even known and what he went to college to study. He's never given a second thought to doing something else.

As the fifth generation to plow and plant the hills along Starr Road, Randy is just pursuing the family tradition.

The farm was started by Noah Starr, Randy's great-great-great grandfather, a Dutch immigrant who bought 270 acres in what's now Pavilion from the Holland Land Office in 1818.

Noah built a log cabin high atop a ridge, married four women during the course of his life (three divorces, one death) and fathered 10 sons.

One of Noah's sons built the first version of the house (about 1890) that Randy and his wife Cindy live in, and it's been added on to and taken away from so many times over the years that now "it's just an old house," according to Randy.

Randy and Cindy both attended Pavilion High School (Cindy was four grades back from Randy) and met when Randy's older brother married Cindy's older sister.

Starr graduated from Alfred College with an agricultural degree in the late 1960s. He said of the couple hundred ag students in his class, only a handful became farmers.

"For some foolish reason I wanted to be a farmer all my life and now here I am. I’m 61 years old. Was that the right move or not? Who knows?"

The Starrs married in the early 1970s and moved into the farmhouse in 1974.

Son Chris, 37, and daughter Sarah, 33, are also farmers. Chris and his wife own a farm on West Middlebury Road, Wyoming County, and Sarah and her husband own a farm off Route 63 in Pavilion. Both Chris and Sarah also work other jobs, and both have children who might some day become farmers.

The Starr Farm sits on rolling hills above Pavilion with a clear view far into Wyoming County. The farm's white house, red barns, glistening silos and well used farm equipment could fit on a picture postcard depicting agricultural life in Upstate New York.

Starr said his son Chris has an even more picturesque farm, but like Chris told him one time, he said, "You can't pay your bills with a view."

No doubt about it, the Starr Farm is a working farm. Cindy helps out as do Chris and Sarah, but Randy does most the work.

On the 125 acres, Randy grows wheat, barley, hay, oats and black beans. They also run about 80 head of cattle -- mostly steers bought as calves from a neighboring dairy, and sold for meat after 18 to 22 months of raising.

Cindy takes care of the hogs, which also go to market.

“Divide that into 125 acres -- we don’t have a lot of anything."

Irrigation is rainwater, so when it was too wet in May, it was hard for Starr to plant, but for the past few weeks, he's been praying for rain.

Life on the Starr Farm certainly has its frustrations.

Just about all of the farm equipment Starr runs is decades old, some of it he bought decades ago (or his dad bought), some of it he finds at auction.

Starr's father, who died 22 years ago, taught him that equipment may become obsolete, but if well maintained, it will run forever.

What Starr needs to buy, he said, he can get at a pretty good price. The equipment he needs is too big for the hobbyist looking to tinker with old farm machinary and too small for the mega-operations.

“It’s an area where you can find things sometimes that nobody else wants. My combine is a good example. It's got a 12-foot grain head and 3-row corn head. It’s a good little combine. I picked it up for $1,400. Sometimes if you’re at the right place at the right time you can get the equipment I need at a reasonable price."

The big operations, of course, are spending $150,000 to $200,000 on a single piece of farm equipment. The plowers and planters are guided by GPS to make perfectly straight rows over dozens of rows.  

Big or small equipment breaks down and it's just a different kind of headache.

"My tractor breaks down and their tractor breaks down, theirs is maybe a $50,000 fix and mine is a piece of baling wire and something I can keep it going with."

Why does he farm the way he does? Can't really say. His operation just kind of evolved that way.

When he was young, he said, it seemed like any time he bought a bigger truck or bigger piece of equipment, something would go wrong.

"I can’t be real specific, but it just seemed liked any time I’d jump ahead, I’d got slammed against a wall. It was like, ‘OK, slow down and do it my way.'"

He also watched some of his fellow farmers try to take on too much and it often didn't work out well for the farmer or their suppliers.

He's never going to get rich farming his way, Starr admits, but he'll also be able to keep farming.

"Nothing ventured nothing gained, perhaps, but that’s the way I’ve always been," Starr said. "I’ve seen people go too big too fast and the people they did business with got hurt financially. They file for bankruptcy and these people who put their trust in these farms, building, equipment, whatever it would be, and they lose it all."

Starr's way isn't a complete rejection of technology. He owns a new hay baler because they're now easier to get supplies and parts for, and he grows, for example, genetically modified corn to help control pests and disease (which keeps the farm from being certified as organic).

The reason Starr doesn't spray his crops with a lot of chemicals, has nothing to do with trying to be organic, he usually doesn't see much of a need.

If there was a need, he says he would spray.

He doesn't spray for weeds in his wheat, for example, because the wheat grows so fast, it smothers out the weeds.

As for insects, he tells a couple of stories about what he's learned about using pesticides.

First, there is the story of the army worm.

"A few years ago the alert went out, look out for army worms, and the guys, they had their sprayers and were just flying, but we didn’t spray," Starr said. "I went out looking to see if I could find army worms. I went through all my fields – I had a grand total of I think 40 acres of wheat that year – and I found one little army worm about a quarter of an inch long. It didn’t do any sort of damage at all. We didn’t need to spray."

The second story goes further back and is about a salesman visiting the Starr Farm.

"I had a guy come in years ago and say, ‘I went through your field’ – and I didn’t even know he’d done that -- and he said, ‘Oh, man, have you got insects. We’ve got to spray.’  

"Now this was years ago," Starr said, "and I said, 'How much will that cost?' and he said, 'How many acres do you have?' I told him. He said that will probably cost you $3,000 to $4,000. I said, 'Oh my gosh, I haven’t got that kind of money.' I said, 'What would happen if I don’t spray?' He said, ‘Oh, by the time the frost comes, it will kill them all and it won’t be a problem.'”

Starr laughs and adds "He almost got me."

Typical of Starr's demeanor, he's quick to add that he's not criticizing the salesman for trying to make a living or the farmers who think spraying for insects is necessary. He just does it his way for his own reasons.

"I always thought the old-timers knew what they were doing. Work hard, keep your nose clean and you’ll be all right. This is just the way we go. It’s the way we do it. I wouldn’t recommend it to anybody else in the world, but it seems to work for us all right.”

One light is staying red at Route 63 and Route 19, while the other light changes from red to green and back, according to a report to dispatchers.

Traffic is backing up.

Law enforcement is dispatched.

A car reportedly drove into a pond at 12035 Perry Road in Pavilion. Unknown if occupants are inside. Pavilion Fire Department is responding. It's north of Route 20 and on the east side. East Pembroke and Wyoming water rescue teams called to the scene.

UPDATE 7:43 p.m.: Responders are having some difficulty finding the scene. A State Trooper is there. The pond is on the left side of the property, which is located down a winding driveway. No one is inside the vehicle, which is now partially out of the pond. Wyoming is cancelled. East Pembroke is continuing as a precaution.

UPDATE 7:48 p.m.: Pavilion fire is told to stand by in its hall. The site is "...the new house that's up on the hill."

UPDATE 7:51 p.m.: Mercy medics are en route. Pavilion is told to stand down.

UPDATE 7:53 p.m.: East Pembroke's water rescue team is cancelled.

UPDATE 7:58 p.m.: Medics will be put back in service after getting a sign off.

UPDATE 8:05 p.m.: A tow truck is called. The vehicle is out of the pond.

Callers reported seeing smoke in the area of 7450 Boyd Road, Covington, and Pavilion chiefs responded to investigate. Upon approach, they spotted a large column of smoke and an orange glow. Once on scene, the first chief confirmed it is a fully involved garage fire.

The fire has spread to the house.

Besides Pavilion, Alexander, Le Roy and Stafford are responding along with the City of Batavia Fast Team. Mutual aid is also requested from departments in Wyoming County.

UPDATE 12:22 a.m.: City of Batavia's Fourth Platoon requested to stand by at the fire hall.

UPDATE 12:44 a.m.: The fire is pretty much knocked down. Crews checking for extensions and interior firefighters preparing to enter. It is believed all occupants are out.

UPDATE 12:50 a.m.: Red Cross requested to the scene to assist two adults.

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A teenager from Pavilion who was reported to State Police as missing on July 9 was located about 30 minutes ago, according to Trooper Holly Hansel.

Hansel said 17-year-old Brittany Hackett is fine and she is safe. The case has been closed.

An orange tractor sits in a field recently cut and baled along Ellicott Street Road in Bethany.

A barn off Mayne Road near Ellicott Street Road, Bethany.

Rolled bales of hay off Bethany Center Road, Bethany.

Two tractors on a farm on Cook Road, Pavilion. The top three photos were taken on Wednesday. This photo was actually taken on Monday.

Family members are very worried about the whereabouts of Brittany Hackett.

The 17-year-old Pavilion girl has been missing since Saturday.

She may be in the Batavia area.

Brittany is described at 5' 5" tall, 120 lbs., with brown hair with blonde highlights and brown eyes.

In an e-mail, a family member says, "Any information you have would be greatly appreciated as her siblings are mourning over her disappearance."

Anyone with any information at all is asked to call either State Police at 344-6200 or Tammy Hackett at 261-1816.

As of yesterday, the bridge on Route 20 over Oatka Creek, Pavilion, has been closed for repairs. 

The closure is apparently part of a $2.8 million NYS DOT project to repair several bridges in Western New York.

We called the DOT today to try and get more information, but have not received a call back.

No word on when it will reopen (though, yesterday at 6 p.m., traffic was still going over the bridge, even though there were "road closed" signs at Texaco Town.

Mercy Flight has been requested to the scene of a motocross accident in the Town of Covington, Wyoming County.

The location is within the Pavilion Fire District, and Pavilion volunteers are on scene on Brownell Road.

The rider lost consciousness, then regained consciousness, but was not entirely alert initially. He is now reportedly alert and has an arm burn.

UPDATE 5:21 p.m.: Mercy Flight in route to Strong. Pavilion back in service.