The Genesee County 4-H Program proudly announces Madelynn Pimm as the recipient of the 2023 Thomas Keele Memorial 4-H Livestock Award. This award recognizes Madelynn's exceptional achievements in both the 4-H Beef and Swine Projects.
The Thomas Keele Memorial 4-H Livestock Award, made possible by generous donations in memory of Thomas Keele, aims to honor 4-H members who have demonstrated excellence and dedication in livestock projects.
Madelynn Pimm, this year's deserving winner, embodies the spirit of the award through her continuous commitment to learning and her passion for building connections within the agricultural community. Her enthusiasm for showing beef and swine extends beyond the arena, fostering new relationships and connections.
Madelynn's notable accomplishments include winning the title of Grand Champion 4-H Hog Showman at the Genesee County Fair last year. At this year's fair, she further showcased her expertise by winning her 4-H Beef Showmanship class, highlighting her consistent dedication to excellence. Her achievements are not only a testament to her hard work but also an inspiration to fellow 4-H members aspiring to excel in livestock projects.
In her own words, Madelynn expresses her favorite aspect of participating in livestock projects: "I love constantly learning and making new connections. Meeting new people and connecting with them over agriculture is what makes these experiences so meaningful."
For more information about the Thomas Keele Memorial 4-H Livestock Award or to inquire about other Genesee County 4-H programs, please contact the Genesee County 4-H Program at genesee4h@cornell.edu or (585) 343-3040 ext. 101. Genesee County 4-H is a youth development program for youth ages 5-18. New 4-H youth members, adult volunteers, and clubs are always welcome to join.
Darned that Mother Nature and her pesky nimbus clouds.
She defeated an otherwise seven-day streak to beat or at least match last year’s fair numbers with a dreary daylong onslaught of rain during the very last day.
“It was down only because that last Saturday, we were actually trending ahead. Up until Friday evening, it killed us. So we still figured about 63,000 people, down about 7,000 from the year before,” Ag Society treasurer Norm Pimm said Monday. “Our attendance, for, I think it's 13 straight years, it's been increasing. It has gone up basically double digits every year for the last 13 years. Until this year. So the crazy part is that we were still trying to do that, and Mother Nature didn't let us. All in all, a very, very good year, we look back to where we were, you know, 10 years ago from now. It's still unbelievable.
"The support we got from the community, attendance every day was up, which is really cool," he said. "Vendors all did very well. Food stands were all up over previous years. Midway was awesome.”
Saturday’s downpour meant an 80 percent drop in attendance on Saturday, he said, and the popular Enduro race was canceled. With soaring temperatures for the rest of the week, attendance also dipped a bit during the day but caught up with more people visiting later on, he said.
For the first time in fair history, there was a cooling trailer set up by Turnbull Heating and Cooling, which was a nice added bonus for those seeking some relief from the heat,Pimm said.
Records were still broken with the largest draught horse show of 11 six-horse hitch teams from across the country and Canada, for a total of about 125 horses in the show; 2,000 animals on the fairgrounds for an assortment of livestock, draught, and auction events;and 74 cars attending the demolition derby — “the most we’ve had in 20 years,” Pimm said.
There were 72 vendors, including those with food throughout the grounds — only two each of the same type of foods are allowed — and vendors inside the Exhibition building. That was a 25 percent increase from last year, he said.
It has gotten a little easier to attract those vendors than in times past, he said.
“If you look back, you know, 15 years ago, when our attendance wasn't very strong, it was hard to actually attract vendors to come to our fair, and now the vendors that we have, they're signing up before that previous year's done for them,” he said. “And then we're getting a lot more phone calls from vendors wanting to come into our fair every year because, again, word of mouth. Those vendors travel together and go from fair to fair, carnival to carnival, show to show, and I think the word spreads, you know, we did a really nice job at Genesee County, so then the next year, people want to be in on it.
“Because of our community and community support we've been receiving and the growth that we've seen, it's turning into a really nice fair that people want to go to.”
The livestock auction yielded more than 200 lots and brought in nearly $340,000, an increase of $20,000 from 2022’s record year. Local sponsorships were up, meaning businesses and organizations stepped up to help support the fair, including Bruce Scofield of Stafford, who provided trash pickup at 6 a.m. each morning to ensure a well-maintained and clean fairground, Pimm said.
“We got a lot of comments about how clean our fairgrounds stayed throughout the week,” he said.
Volunteers also do more than their part — from picking up litter and working the admission booth to cooking and helping at the animal stalls. There were about 100 throughout the week, he said, including kids and adults who would just show up some days and offer their assistance.
“I think a lot of the times I don't think the community realizes that everybody there is a volunteer, there's not one person paid to help put on that fair,” he said.
There are 20 folks on the Ag Society board, and “we could not put on that fair with 20 people.” They’ll all be gathering for a volunteer appreciation dinner. “It’s just a giant thank you for people who came to volunteer their time throughout the week, so we invite them to the dinner,” he said.
The board is “always open to suggestions.”
“We take notes, and when we meet, we will go over suggestions. We’re definitely going to be adding back the Enduro race. I had a ton of emails and Facebook messages and phone calls asking, are you running?” he said. “We will run that and the demolition derby again. Maybe have a couple of new bands, and some during the day, and have some daytime entertainment.”
There will be a rain date set for the Enduro, probably in September, he said. That will be publicized once it is finalized with the speedway.But then again, there’s always something to think about when it comes to the fair and the grounds out on East Main Street, he said.
“So as far as the people, the workers and all that you know, it's a lot of time all year round that we invest in keeping that for the community so the community has something to enjoy. We run the fairgrounds all year round, whether it's during the wintertime putting storage in, or fall putting storage in, and spring getting storage back out, we'd run a bunch of horse shows there, we rent the grounds out … and we generally will operate our food stands to try and generate some revenue. And mowing the lawn, doing weed eating, we’ll be able to recruit people who come in and help with that, so it doesn't weigh on us,” he said. “But in the grand scheme of things, you want to make sure that place is viable for future generations to enjoy and, specifically, the kids coming in having a really good time, they're running around having fun, going on the rides, seeing the animals, being able to pet the animals and get up close to the animals, or even going into the showroom themselves. And when we do stuff like that, you just see the kids light up, you know, and how much fun and how much excitement they have.”
Plans have already been percolating for next year, he said. Actually, “We already started a few weeks ago,” he said. We try to make it a little bit better each year.”
“Next year, we're gonna ask Mother Nature to cooperate a little bit better. 75 and sunny,” he said.
A nearly perfect week — at least in terms of no rain clouds to disrupt outdoor fun at Genesee County Fair — ended with a continuous downpour Saturday, muddying the parking lots and puddling the stage for the 2023 talent show.
The weather didn’t dampen the competitive spirits of nearly two dozen contestants, however, including Batavia’s Aria Fox, who was concerned that her hard work might have been for nothing.
“She really likes performing,” her mom Karla said. “She was so excited. She saw the rain, and she goes, ‘I’m so glad they didn’t cancel it.’ I watch her try new things and be comfortable.”
Mom was speaking on behalf of the 6-year-old later Saturday because she had earned a visit to her grandmother’s after her performance. Aria played “Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star” on piano.
There were several piano entries, plus mostly kids and a few adults playing the flute, violin, dancing, singing, and leading a cheer.
Isabella Danahy, 12, performed a solo cheer routine, and her younger sister Marilyn played the classic “Fur Elisse” on piano.They also played a duet of“Mary Had a Little Lamb” with Isabella on flute and 10-year-old Marilyn on piano.
“I was nervous. I didn’t really like doing stuff in front of people,” Marilyn said, explaining why she pushed herself to participate. “So I can get over that fear.”
Both girls take band at school in Cheektowaga. They knew about the talent show through their teacher and show organizer, Laura Kauppi of Corfu.
"I think it makes me more confident,” Isabella said.
Sabrina Sanner of Pembroke was looking for those signs of confidence and other winning attributes while scoring as the single judge for the event since 2019. With two degrees in music education, having taught full orchestra and band in school and teaching private music lessons in voice and piano, she brings it all to the table when each contestant walks up on stage.
First, it depends on what they’re performing, she said.
“Some of it is the difficulty level, like the person who won the tiny tots category. She did two hands, stayed in time, had all of her things in the right place. She did very well. And it was more complicated than the other pieces that were played. So like, obviously, she did something harder. And she did it very well,” Sanner said. “When it comes to things like judging dance against music, it depends on how well they do the dance versus how well they play their song. I did learn from the back, when we used to have a panel, how to judge dances and stuff like that because I'd asked them questions on how they were doing. And it's how well they're smiling, you know, where their movements are with the music, how much impact it has on you watching them, which is a very kind of hard thing to judge. So I've learned a lot from the other past judges that we've had on how to do this.”
This was the first year she’s had to judge a cheerleading routine, but she also brought some experience for that task too.
“I used to do cheerleading, so I also know about that. It is hard to cross-judge them. But as I said, it's the difficulty. So I do know a lot about the difficulty levels of everything that they were doing and has to do with how well they're doing. You know, with cheerleading, it's like how straight your limbs are; there were a lot of her jumps where her legs are still bent or something like that,” Sanner said. “And with music, it's like, if you pause while you're playing, you're not supposed to do that, or if you hit a wrong note, and I don't think anybody really had any wrong notes this year, which was impressive also. But stuff like that. So you kind of just see where people are kind of missing things in their performance, and then go by which ones are bigger, like with dancing, it's smiling is a really huge one. So if they're not smiling, you get a lot off for that.
“But I've been doing this for a while. I judge other things too. So other events. Yeah, the studio I work for and teach privately for they do a competition every year,” she said. “And I've obviously like gotten kids ready for music competitions and stuff for years and years now.”
One new challenge this year was the unrelenting rain. The talent show is under the yellow and white entertainment tent, yet still — water pooled on the ground around the stage and on top of it. Sometimes a judge has to take Mother Nature’s effects into consideration when rating a performer, she said.
“I don’t think it's ever been this bad. I do think it rained a few years ago, but it's definitely never been on the stage like this,” she said. “The three dancers … the middle girl who had that solo, her flags got all wet when they were sitting on the floor. So I did take that into consideration that their flags weren't moving the way they were supposed to because they were weighed down.”
Kauppi was very pleased with the turnout, not only the number of kids but the quality of their skills, she said.There were several winners, and everyone received a goodie bag for participating.
“The students are all extremely talented people, they’ve worked really hard this year. I know some families started their work on this year's (talent show) at the end of last year. So people were really excited to perform. And it was amazing to have everybody come out despite the rain and the challenges that the rain brought technology-wise,” Kauppi said. “I ended up grabbing a new speaker this morning because I wanted a speaker that was absolutely waterproof. And that (pointing to the one she chose) is super waterproof.”
And the winners were:
Tiny Tots
1st - Emma Snyder, piano
2nd - Chelsie Kho, piano
3rd - A tie between Aria Fox, piano, and Azalea Sieczkarski, piano
Mini
1st - Chelsie Kho, piano
2nd - dance with Chelsie Kho, Maisie Kho, Charlotte Jin
3rd - Keyon Thomas
Honorable Mention - Isabella Danahy
Maxi
1st - Trevon Byrd, vocal
2nd - Seren Byrd, piano
Adults (Top photo)
1st - Vee Owens, vocal
2nd - Steve Kho, Chelsie Kho and Maisie Kho, family band
Racers found slick conditions when they were at last summoned for the 24-lap championship of the Genesee County Fair RC Racing event on the north end of the fairgrounds.
Eight cars were sponsored by local businesses, and race fans tried their skills at the oval track multiple times a day throughout the fair. Each winner received a small trophy and an invitation back to the final race on the final day of the fair on Saturday.
There were two semifinal races and then the final championship run, which came shortly after a bit of drizzle began to fall.
It was a damp day on the final day of the Genesee County Fair on Saturday, but on the Midway, the show must go on, and as the fair wound down, photographer Nick Serrata took one final look at the fun and games to be had at the Midway.
An eagle drawing by Tylin Torcello, of Batavia, received the most votes during two days of voting at the Media Center at the Genesee County Fair from readers of The Batavian to earn the People's Choice Award. The prize is a harmonica.
To see all 20 of the staff favorites that were finalists in the People's Choice Award, click here.
To help support The Batavian's commitment to the community and help ensure we continue to provide the news coverage Genesee County needs, please sign up today for Early Access Pass.
Rounding out the musical portion of the Genesee County Fair was a booth in the Exhibit Hall set up by music teacher Jonathan Jaeger, who, on Friday evening, brought in a group of his students for a jam session.
From left are Mike Lauria, Vern Saille, Steve Pribek, Bill Carrigan, and Dot Carrigan.
For anybody interested in music lessons, Jaeger can be reached at jonathan.a.e.jaeger@gmail.com.
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 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.
After five days of entries, narrowing down the pool to staff favorites, and a final random drawing at the Genesee County Fair, The Batavian finally had its winner for the guitar giveaway contest.
And on Thursday, the luck-winning artist, 14-year-old Colton Smith, who has been visiting Genesee County from West Virginia this week, received his prize during The Eaglez concert at the fairgrounds in Batavia. Colton had drawn one of the best eagles for the contest, and he walked away Thursday evening with a white polished Harley Benton Big Tone Trem guitar with gold-colored hardware.
Meant as a source of inspiration for young musicians and as a token of appreciation to the community for all that it has given us in terms of fantastic musical entertainment, the guitar was purchased by The Batavian's publisher, Howard Owens. His hope is that someday we will all be seeing Colton up on stage rocking out or otherwise reaping wild enjoyment out of some musical genre.
Don't forget to stop by The Batavian's booth on Friday to cast your vote for the People's Choice Award: the Top 20 staff favorite eagle drawings. The winning artist will be announced Friday evening and will receive a harmonica.
We will also be announcing the 18 and older prize of a $100 Red Osier Landmark Restaurant gift certificate on Friday, so remember to check back and see who won these great prizes!
Sitting in the entertainment tent at the Genesee County Fairgrounds on Thursday evening, if you closed your eyes, you could be forgiven if you thought you really hearing Don Felder, Glenn Frey, Don Henley, Bernie Leadon, and Randy Meisner
The musicianship was that precise, and the harmonies that tight as a group of veteran Buffalo-area musicians, now performing at the Eaglez Tribute Band, ran through 28 hits of the Eagles over three hours of music.
The Eaglez are, in reality:
Randy Barnard, Lead Guitar/Keyboard
Dennis Makowski, Guitar/Vocals
Bob Brummitt, Bass Guitar/Vocals
John White, Rhythm Guitar/Vocals
Mike Nierenberg, Vocals/Percussion
Micky Judware / Rich Keigley, Drums
Paul Vanacore, Sax/Keyboard
Note: Sadly, and unknown at show time, Randy Meisner passed away on Thursday. An original member of the Eagles, he was 77. Glenn Frey, another founding member, passed away in 2016.
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 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 Karaoke Contest, Genesee County Fair's version of American Idol or The Voice, held its finals of a two-night competition on Wednesday evening.
Here are the winners for 17 and under:
1st: Carly
2nd: Hannah
3rd: Jesse
And, 18 and over:
1st: Melissa
2nd: Laura
3rd: Jim
Photos by Howard Owens.
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.
Graham Manufacturing is currently looking for welders, and Justin Deleo might be a good candidate for one of those openings if he was just a little bit older.
The Byron-Bergen sophomore won a welding competition at the Genesee County Fair under the supervision of William Muoio from Graham.
Justin loves welding, but perhaps, unfortunately for Graham, he also loves farming.
He's thought about welding as a career, "but I really would just like to learn how to weld and then use that in running my own farm," Justin said.
He got his start welding by helping out his grandfather on his farm, Forest Lawn, at the bottom of the hill by Genesee Community College.
"I like building things," Justin said. "I have worked on my grandpa's farm, and I helped him weld hay wagons, and ever since then, I've been interested in welding."
For first prize, Justin had his choice between a set of torches and a mask or an auto shade helmet, and he picked the helmet, said Todd Hofheins, Future Farmers of America advisor.
Hofheins said the welding competition and a tractor skills competition are organized by FFA and 4-H and supported by sponsors who provided more than $3,000 in prize money and prizes.
In welding, second place went to Michael Jewart, a student at Pioneer, and third place went to Cooper Harkins, from Pavilion.
In the tractor competition for junior category:
Cooper Harkins
Evan Winspear
Justin Deleo
In the senior competition:
Carson Warner
Ian Keberle
Michael Jewart
Colton Yasses
Photos by Howard Owens
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.
There was a lot of fun and excitement on Wednesday in the Exhibit Hall at the Genesee County Fair with the annual Small Fry Tractor Pull.
Photos by Howard Owens.
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.