(Submitted photo and story from Chapin Manufacturing, Inc.)
We do not often these days hear about lifelong employment and people who spend their entire career at one company. But, that very thing has happened here in Batavia at Chapin Manufacturing. Batavia native Ron Odessa joined Chapin in September 1965
Explore this charming 3-bed, 1.5-bath brick ranch farmhouse on 2.6 acres in the Pembroke School District! Featuring an entertainer's kitchen with an open floor plan, epoxy river/black walnut island top, farmhouse sink, and maple hardwood floors, this home is ideal for gatherings. The finished Bills/Sabres bonus room in the
The residents of Stafford are a step closer to banning all natural gas hydrofracking as well as other types of oil and gas exploration, drilling and processing.
The Genesee County Planning Board recommended approval Thursday night of a new local law for the Town of Stafford that would ban such
July 2023 File Photo of kids having some cool fun at the spray park in Batavia. Photo by Howard Owens.
And so it begins — announcements of daily air quality index reports, with New York City and the Lower Hudson Valley hitting upon orange zones of “unhealthy for sensitive groups” while remaining regions in New York State rest in the yellow moderate zones as temperatures soar into the
AIKEN, SC – ALAN GORDON TAYLOR, 90, husband of the late Val Smoter Taylor, died Thursday, January 22, 2015 at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center, Augusta, GA.
A native of Hudson, MA, Alan was a son of the late Alan Frederick and Annie Lavinia Croad Taylor. He worked in a defense factory after finishing high school until he was old enough to enlist in the Army Air Corps. He served as a radioman during World War II and taught code. He was also stationed in the Fiji Islands where he was a swimming instructor. Following the war he worked as a police officer in Hudson, MA. Alan later moved to Batavia, NY where he went to work with GTE Sylvania, retiring after 30 years as a quality control engineer. He lived in Batavia for 50 years and was a 4-H leader for 25 years. An accomplished musician, Alan played trumpet in several bands as well as leading his own band, "The Variety Kings". He was a certified instructor for the National Rifle Association and was a HAM Radio operator. Mr. Taylor lived in Tennessee for 7 years before moving to Aiken SC a year and a half ago. He was a member of Holy Name of Mary Catholic Church in East Pembroke, NY, the American Legion, VFW in Batavia, and the Pembroke Community Band.
Survivors include two daughters, Carol Austin, New Orleans, LA, Kathryn Tucker (Don), Aiken, SC; two sons, Alan Taylor (Lin), Corfu, NY, Jeff Taylor (Vicki), Watertown, TN; nine grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren; one great-great grandchild.
Services will be private at the convenience of the family. Memorials in his memory may be sent to
"Pembroke Community Band"
c/o Beverly Neeland
941 Sumner Rd.
Darien Center, NY 14040
OR
"Joint Veterans Honor Guard of Genesee County"
c/o American Legion Post 332
8960 Alexander Rd.
Batavia, NY 14020
The Genesee County Health Department receives funding from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to carry out the Healthy Neighborhoods Program (HNP). Residents in the Town and City of Batavia are eligible to participate.
The program offers free home evaluations for asthma triggers, indoor air quality
The Genesee County Health Department receives funding from the New York State Department of Health (NYSDOH) to carry out the Healthy Neighborhoods Program (HNP). Residents in the Town and City of Batavia are eligible to participate.
The program offers free home evaluations for asthma triggers, indoor air quality
By Genesee County Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Check out these highlights of Al Fresco dining locations in Genesee County. Whether it’s a quick bite between stops or a fine waterfront evening, there's a restaurant with outdoor seating for every palate. From cozy country diners to romantic dinners for two, delicious is the name of the game in
Following a police pursuit from Byron into Batavia on July 31, a subject barricaded himself in an unoccupied -- though rented -- apartment in a complex on Bank Street. The police presence drew a lot of community attention. Photo By Howard Owens. (Photo a National Press Photographers Association regional award winner).
The effort to bring back malting to Upstate New York is a multi-year process.
Working with Cornell University, Ted and Patty Hawley, owners of New York Craft Malt on Bank Street Road, Batavia, are in their third year of running trials of malting grain in Genesee County Farm fields.
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer today announced he has secured $15 million in federal funding for New York State to help install new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at over 200 locations across the state.
The funding comes from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Charging and
Frank Joe Vernon, age 91, passed away at home on June 30, 2024 , after bravely battling congestive heart failure and stage 4 kidney disease.
Joe was born February 22, 1933 in Lake City, Arkansas to Pearl Edgar (Slim) Vernon and Ona Louise Shoemaker.
He is survived by his daughter Lee Ann Patterson, (husband Robert) and his sister Mary Alice Boyer (husband Larry), their children and many nieces and nephews.
He is predeceased by his loving wife Cynthia May, his brothers, James Crawford, Edward and sister Betty.
Joe came from humble beginnings and went to school in a one-room schoolhouse in Dyess, Arkansas. His first job at age seven was water boy; riding a blind mule to the cotton fields by himself to provide drinking water to the cotton pickers. Joe made a personal decision as a young adult to escape the brutal poverty in Arkansas and make something of himself. He enlisted in the Air Force and served from 1951-1955 during the Korean War. His military training began in Tillamook, Oregon for Airplane Mechanic; then Rocket Propulsion Training in Chanute, IL and then at Cape Canaveral, FL for the First Pilotless Squadron. He was a member of NATO and was stationed in Florence, Italy and Frankfort, Germany. When airplanes needed parts or repair, he and his crew would fly to those locations in Morocco, Libya, Greece, Turkey, Yugoslavia, France & more. The barracks where he was stationed in Italy was in an ancient 50-room villa that is still standing today. He told many exciting stories including one time when the captain asked him to pilot the plane (a C119-Flying Boxcar) to Belgium and land it on a tiny grass airstrip. That was the only time he piloted a plane.
After his service he attended college at Christian Brothers University in Memphis, TN and graduated with a Bachelors Degree in Mechanical Engineering. He met his beautiful wife Cynthia when she roomed with his sister Betty and they married in Mississippi on August 11, 1955. He had two job offers upon graduation, one with U.S. Gypsum in Oakfield, NY and the second in Seattle, Washington. He chose U.S. Gypsum and they moved to Oakfield. He became Superintendent of the Paper Mill and implemented many designs for better production and then went on to be Superintendent of the Board Plant. Toward the end of his career, he took the position of Quality Control Supervisor with U.S. Gypsum for the Northeast U.S., Canada and South America. The job required a lot of traveling troubleshooting issues for commercial and residential. He loved his career and certainly knew everything there was to know about papermaking and wallboard.
He was always worked with his hands and when he was first married, he made most of their furniture. Upon buying their home in Elba he and his wife maintained two huge gardens growing all their own vegetables. They both were very frugal and heated their home with wood we either got out of the forest behind the house or sometimes he had a semi-truck deliver logs which he chain sawed and split by himself to heat the home.
As a hobby, he enjoyed fine woodworking and started building dollhouses for his daughter. They became more intricate over time and he started to make dollhouses from actual house plans, reducing the plans from a foot to half an inch. Overall he has made about 20 dollhouses (all with custom- made furniture) including a full-scale replica of the homestead in Elba. After retirement he put a ship model kit together and that became his real passion. He started to make them from scratch (you know just glue some wood together and start sawing anything away that doesn’t look like a ship.) He has made about 50 sailing ships over the years, which are of museum quality. He had a showing at Go-Art several years ago and the Batavian produced a you-tube video titled “Joe Vernon Sailing Model Ship Building” of which he was very proud of. He showed photos of his ships and spoke of the video to just about every Dr. who took care of him at the Veterans Administration.
He loved unique and fancy vehicles and owned many over the years. He had an Izetta (made by BMW) when they lived in TN which drew a lot of attention. His latest sports car was the BMW Z3 5-speed convertible, which he bought for his wife. He loved driving it and even drove it to kidney dialysis last summer.
He was a remarkable, intelligent and gentle man who will be sorely missed. There are no prior calling hours and services will be private. He will be laid to rest alongside his wife of 63 years.
Arrangements are under the care and direction of H.E. Turner & Co., Inc. Funeral Home, Batavia. Please leave a condolence, share a story, or light a candle at www.bataviafuneralhomes.com.
Batavia's landscape is changing, with more vegetable gardens, chicken coops and solar panels, and that's a trend the city would like to see continue, said City Manager Jason Molino while showing off his family's new greenhouse in the backyard of their home on Vernon Avenue.
Batavia Downs Gaming & Hotel, through National Grid’s Electric Vehicle Make-Ready Program, has installed 16 Level 2 EV charging plugs to be used by those who visit one of Western New York’s top entertainment destinations.
For the project, National Grid’s program provided $96,000 in EV incentives that
A building at 3399 Buffalo St., Alexander, a former medical office, that has been the subject of a decade-long legal battle between the Village of Alexander and C&D Design, Build, Development, a Corfu-based business. Photo by Howard Owens.
After an adverse ruling against the village of Alexander in a property condemnation case, the village and its code enforcement officer have filed a malpractice lawsuit against the Attica-based law firm and the lead attorney who handled the case.
The suit names as defendants Dadd, Nelson, Wilkinson & Wujcik, PLLC and attorney James M. Wujcik.
Wujcik, until last week, was County Attorney for Genesee County. He served one term, which is two years.
The YWCA of Genesee County will honor four incredible local women at the 2024 Women of Inspiration Awards Luncheon on Sunday, April 28 from 12:30 - 3 p.m. at Batavia Downs. Come hear from Keynote Speaker Deanna Dewberry and celebrate our four outstanding, inspiring women!
ZZ Top’s “Raw” is as close to being an accidental album as it gets.
The album, which was released in July 2022, is drawn from a session at Gruene Hall in New Braunfels, Texas in which singer/guitarist Billy Gibbons, bassist Dusty Hill and drummer Frank Beard played versions of
The task force charged with finding ways to stabilize fire and emergency medical service in Genesee County has identified eight priority measures from a list of about 100 recommendations provided by an independent consulting firm.
County EMS Coordinator Tim Yaeger (photo at right) on Thursday said the task force is meeting regularly in an effort to implement these strategies, with a focus on developing standards that all local fire departments or companies can follow and finding efficient ways to recruit potential volunteer firefighters.
In July 2022, the Genesee County Comprehensive Fire & Emergency Medical Service Implementation Plan (Fire & EMS Plan) was finalized. Since that time, the task force received feedback on the recommendations from Municipal Resources, Inc. of Plymouth,
Track and Field Coach Nick Burk and multi-sports star Anna Varland Photo by Howard Owens.
Burk and state wrestling champion Casper Stewart. Photo by Howard Owens.
Anna Varland and Casper Stewart were honored on Wednesday evening at the Athletes of the Year by the Batavia Coaches Association at Batavia High School's annual Athletic Awards program.
Varland was a standout in soccer, flag football, basketball and softball.
Stewart won the school's first-ever state championship in
