“I’m a big supporter of the library,” he said.

Rain or shine, the Genesee County Master Gardeners will be hosting their annual Spring Garden Gala on Saturday, May 18, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, 420 East Main Street in Batavia.

This annual plant sale features a variety of perennials, many of which are from the gardens of Master Gardeners.  There will also be a selection of houseplants. The plant sale starts promptly at 10 a.m. No early birds, please.

Visit the Basket Auction for garden art, gift certificates, and a variety of themed baskets. Basket Auction drawing starts at 12:30 p.m. Gently used garden books will also be for sale.

Our garden shed sale was so popular last year, that we’re doing it again!  We’ll have an assortment of gently used or maybe never used, gardening items such as containers, tools, signs, and garden decor. This will be set up in the parking lot area near the garden shed.

Bring in a soil sample from your garden or lawn for a free pH test. A half-cup sample of your garden soil in a clean container is needed for the test. 

Master Gardeners will also be available to answer your gardening questions.

Don’t miss your chance to pick up some great plants at great prices, plus garden art and other interesting items.  Arrive at 10 a.m. for the best plant selection. Proceeds from the sale benefit the educational outreach of the Genesee County Master Gardener Program.

For more information contact Cornell Cooperative Extension of Genesee County, at 585-343-3040, ext. 101, or stop by the Extension office at 420 East Main Street in Batavia.

Visit our website at http://genesee.cce.cornell.edu/events for more information. Like us on our Facebook page for Gala and Master Gardener program updates https://www.facebook.com/CCEofGenesee.

The Batavia Society of Artists is having its Spring Member's Art Exhibit for the month of May at the Richmond Memorial Library, 19 Ross St., Batavia. 

Free opening reception in the Gallery Room on Tuesday, May 7 from 6:30 - 8 p.m. 

The Judge is Jill Pettigrew and the winners will be announced at 7 p.m. The Virginia Carr-Mumford Scholarship will be awarded then to GCC student Kathryn Blankenship. 

Light refreshments will be served. Please come and enjoy this Free Art Show, all are welcome! 

A better spot with more room was a strong incentive to change locations, said Ray Smith, owner of Smith's Great Outdoors, which sells most things any dedicated hunter or fisherman might need.

For the past few years, Smith's has been located at Lewiston Road and Veterans Memorial Drive, near Applebees.

Buffalo-Native Timothy Onello has been named president and CEO of Chapin International, taking over from Jim Campbell, who is retiring.

Onello is taking over a company that now has production facilities in the U.S. and overseas but was founded in Oakfield 140 years ago.

The firm is celebrating its 140th anniversary in June. 

From 2020 until February of this year, Onello was VP and general manager of ITW, a Fortune 200 company. He was based in San Luis Obispo, Calif.   Prior to joining ITW, he spent nearly 12 years with JPW Industries in Nashville, rising to the position of VP and general manager.

He has MBAs from Thunderbird School of Global Management and the University of Nevada-Las Vegas and a bachelor of science in marketing and psychology from Northern Michigan University.

He's also held positions at Hilti Tools, Positec Tools, and Irwin Industrial Tools.

Chapin manufactures sprayers, broadcast spreaders, handheld spreaders, ATV sprayers, backpack sprayers, and specialty sprayers.

Press Release:

This year Mr. Batavia 2024 raised a total of $5,200. Since 2013, the annual event has raised more than $43,000 for local organizations. 

$2,600 went to Mr. Batavia Elijah Abdella, whose chosen charity was Genesee Cancer Assistance.

$1,300 went to runner-up Harry Southall's chosen charity, which was Batavia VA.

$1,300 went to runner-up Brian Calderon's chosen charity, Suicide Prevention of Genesee County.

Submitted photos.

Press Release:

GO ART! is running a 4 week Saturday morning kids Culinary class starting May 4.

This class is tailored to students in grades 1-6. Each week we will be baking, cooking or learning about proper safety in the kitchen. All supplies will be included. 

For more informations go to https://goart.org/programming/exlporeart/exlporeart-children/, call (585) 343-9313, or
email Jodi at jfisher@goart.org.

Press Release:

Genesee County is upgrading essential infrastructure at County Building No. 1 and the Old County Courthouse to address water penetration concerns and ensure the safety of all occupants and visitors.

Project Details:

• May 3 - Protective enclosures will be installed around entrances to County Building No. 1 to ensure safety during roof and exterior masonry work.
• May 6 - Masonry work will commence on the parapet walls, followed by the roof recovery of County Building No. 1 and copper installation at the east entrance of the Old County Courthouse.
• During the project, all entrances will remain accessible.
• A protective enclosure for material storage will temporarily block off the central sidewalk, but access will still be available on both the east and west sides of the courtyard.
• The projects are expected to be completed by the end of June with a 2-week additional window for inclement weather.

Although minimal disruption to daily operations is expected, a safe working zone is of top priority, and the following safety measures have been implemented: 

• Designated areas for materials and equipment storage.
• Parking adjustments, including dumpsters in a street parking zone and coned-off contractor access to the lawn.
• Protective enclosures around entrances to County Building No. 1
• Please see the included staging plan for more details.

We appreciate the cooperation and understanding of all during this construction period.

Spring into action and mark your calendars for the 2024 Spring Consignment Auction starting May 1st and wrapping up on May 8th.

Get revved up to bid on an array of vehicles, equipment, trailers, farm implements, machinery, lawn & garden tools, power tools, building supplies, and much more! There are over 1000 lots on the auction block.

Don't miss out on the fun - hop online to bontragerauction.com to place your bids.

Swing by for a sneak peek at the auction on Saturday, May 4th, from 10 am to 12 pm. You'll find it at Bontrager's Auction Center, 8975 Wortendyke Rd, Batavia, NY.

Merchandise pick-up is scheduled from Thursday, May 9th through Saturday, May 11th.

You just never know when you’re going to make a difference in someone’s life, Sandy Wojtaszczyk says.

“We don’t always know what difference we make; no matter where you volunteer or what you do in your job, we never know. You never know what impact you have on anybody,” Wojtaszczyk said during this year’s Women of Inspiration Awards lunch at Batavia Downs. 

In her line of work in Social Services, with 15 out of 25 years as supervisor of the Child Protective unit, she had to do some of the hardest jobs by removing kids from their home situations and then wondering if she made a positive difference. 

She began her career at Genesee County Department of Social Services in 1998. In 2009, she became a department supervisor and was charged with training new workers in her unit regarding child abuse and the safety of children in Genesee County. In 2013, Wojtaszczyk received an award for her Outstanding Achievements in Law Enforcement. In 2021, she received the Leadership Genesee Outstanding Alumnus Award. 

During her career, she collaborated with many agencies, including YWCA, CASA, Juvenile Justice, Genesee County Family Courts, Genesee County schools, and law enforcement to ensure the safety of the children she served. 

“And I always hope that removing kids from a situation that's really, really bad. That is what can be done, knowing that I could have saved a child's life somewhere along the line. Will I ever know that? No,” she said. “I worked with teenagers for a period of time prior to being a supervisor. And I still am in contact with some of those girls. They sometimes call me, and they see me on the street … I still have Facebook friends, a lot of Facebook friends out there. 

“But you know, I look at that, and I don't think that I have an impact, but I did have an impact on their lives,” she said. “They were in foster care, and they didn't have good role models. And hopefully, that's what I was for them.”

She also talked about being involved in volunteer activities, from the early days of Jerry Lewis telethons and 4-H walkathons to current Salvation Army food drives to help out families at Christmas. 

It’s that giving spirit that she shares with the other recipients, including Judy Fuller, Susie Ott and Sue Gagne. 

Fuller volunteers many hours coordinating and managing My Sisters Closet for the YWCA of Genesee County. She has taken this on as her own and is always trying to come up with new ideas to help the program grow and reach more people in the community. The Closet supports and provides clothing to women in the nonprofit’s Domestic Violence program.

Fuller said that her primary role has been to help victims of domestic violence access clothing and other items “that they might not have,” she said.

“And anybody who hasn’t worked comes in for a job interview, and they get free clothes, so I help anybody who needs it,” she said. 

Ott is very active in the community, supporting many agencies and projects. She is currently the president of Batavia Rotary, chair of the United Way Day of Caring, treasurer of Batavia Job Development, board member of United Memorial Medical Center, and committee member of the Wings Over Batavia Air Show. 

She has received several awards for her volunteer work and community support, including the 2011 Leadership Genesee Outstanding Alumnus Award, the 2007 and 2022 Rotary Club Paul Harris Award, the 2015 Geneseean of the Year and the 2017 United Way Barber Conable Award.

Ott shared a quote that echoed Wojtaszczyk’s sentiments: Your impact on other people is bigger than you think. 

“Someone still giggles when they think of something funny that you said. Someone still smiles when they think of a compliment you gave them. Someone silently admires you. The advice you give has made a difference for people,” she said. “So I encourage everyone to continue giving back to the community and have fun while doing so. If you’re ever looking for ways to be involved, I have some ideas. And I’ll leave you with a quote by Les Brown: It’s in every day there are 1440 minutes. That means you have 1440 daily opportunities to make a positive impact.”

Gagne has been a proactive human service advocate, volunteer and employee for decades. She has an extensive background in mental health, criminal justice and substance use disorders. 

Early in her career, she worked at ARC and as an assistant for the Genesee County Mental Health Association, later becoming a director. She volunteered on the board of directors for NAMI NYS, The GOW Opioid Task Force and the Suicide Prevention Task Force for GOW. She was instrumental in the founding of the GCASA Recovery Station and worked as coordinator of the Recovery Station through COVID.

Gagne is currently the assistant director of Adult Services at Wyoming County Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Coordinator for Genesee County. While working, she completed her degree in nursing at GCC and received the Leadership Award. She is now furthering her education at Brockport State College.

She shared a tip that she has learned from author and speaker John Maxwell about being an inspirational leader. It has to do with performing a daily habit that includes others throughout one’s day.

“He wakes up every morning, looks over his calendar and starts thinking about who he will see that day and how he can add value to them. He’d intentional about it,” Gagne said. “In the Bible, the book of Ephesians tells us that we are God’s handiwork, and if we think about that, you might be the answer to somebody’s prayer. Remember, you have a gift to give this world.

Her final words were to encourage others, especially if anyone struggles with knowing “how special and unique you are.”

“Get around good people,” she said. “My pastor continually tells us the person you will be in five years depends on the books you read and the friends you keep. So get around people who will encourage you, value and help you grow.”

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