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Halloween

Halloween Haunt on Watson Avenue

By Howard B. Owens

Thelma and Rick Hall love the holidays. They decorate their home on Watson Avenue to suit the season, but for Halloween tomorrow, they've made an effort that goes beyond even last year -- new ghouls and goblins and a "chop house" where the kiddies will need to enter if they want any tricks or treats.

The whole haunted yard will be populated by Thelma Hall, left, Rick Hall, Daniel Brian, Toni Stoller, Lou Stoller, Ashley and Mike Meyers (newlyweds).

Daniel Brian and Toni will marry in 2011 on Halloween at the haunted house on Watson Avenue.

Show off your costume in the annual Holloween Parade on Sunday

By Billie Owens

The 18th annual Halloween Parade is this Sunday. Start time is 1 p.m. and participants should gather behind Batavia City Centre at Dan's Tire Shop at 12:45 p.m.

The parade will go from City Centre on Main Street down to Pontillo's pizzeria.

The Batavia High School Marching Band will kick things off and there will be treats from Oliver's Candies for the first 100 kids in costume. At the end of the parade, Pontillo's will provide everyone dressed in costume with a free slice of pizza and apple cider.

A juggler named "Gravitational Bull" will give a juggling demonstration and create balloon animals for youngsters.

The entertainment is sponsored by the Batavia Youth Bureau.

Batavia Area Jaycees are managing the event and will assist the Batavia Police Department in temporarily blocking off related street entrances during the parade.

Youth Bureau Interim Director Toni Funke says she'd like to see families take part in this fun event.

No rain date. Updates of cancellation due to bad weather will be broadcast by 11:30 a.m. on WBTA. For more information, call the Youth Bureau at 345-6420.

18th Annual Halloween Parade

By Melissa George

18th Annual Halloween Parade

 

SPONSORED BY: 
The Batavia Area Jaycees, Pontillo’s,
Oliver’s Candies and Batavia Youth Bureau

 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2010

Line Forms at 12:45pm, West Side of Genesee Country Mall/City Centre (near Dan’s Tires)

 

Small Children MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT

~Wagons or sleds strongly suggested~

 

PARADE BEGINS AT 1:00PM

Parade route begins on the west side of the
Mall near Dan’s Tires

**NO RAIN DATE, Listen to W.B.T.A.
for Cancellations by
11:30am

 

The First 100 Children 10 & under IN COSTUME ONLY
will receive a special free gift compliments of Oliver’s.

 

Pizza & Cider for kids (IN COSTUME ONLY) at end of parade compliments of Pontillo’s

 

FOR MORE INFORMATION: CALL 585-345-6420

 

Photos: Batavia Cemetery Ghost Tour 2010

By Howard B. Owens

Batavia history comes alive every October with local historians and history buffs setting up tours that focus on the past and the dead. This October is no exception.

The Batavia Cemetery Association conducted its first 2010 Candlelight Tour of the historic Batavia Cemetery on Saturday night, with another group of tours scheduled for this coming Saturday. Tours begin at 7 p.m. and continue every 15 minutes until 8:30.

On Friday, a tour called "Murder, Mystery & Mayhem" begins at 8 p.m. at the Engine House (3 West Main St., Batavia), with additional tours at 8:15 and 8:30 and again on Oct. 29 at 8, 8:15 and 8:30 p.m.

Also on the Halloween calendar, St. James Episcopal Church presents a "Special Halloween Spooktacular" at 7 p.m., Oct. 30. It will feature the silent movie "Phantom of the Opera," with accompanying organ music by Charles Bradley. Tickets are $10 and proceeds benefit the bell tower restoration.

More pictures from the Ghost Tour after the jump

Halloween in Batavia

By Ronald Burroughs

Saw these two around Batavia last night. Any idea who they are?

It's Halloween Again..

By daniel cherry

I took this a few years back with the eos canon rebel G11 35 mm film camera.Happy Halloween.Dan and Boys.

Boyce Road home continues halloween tradition with haunted barn

By Howard B. Owens

There are 215 carved pumpkins in front of the home of Julie Allein, but that's just the introduction to a haunted house that has been scaring the bejeebus out of kids and adults alike for nearly two decades.

"It's all about the fright," says Allein.

Her barn is converted into two stories of horror show, with carved up body parts, cadavers and sculls and a ghoulish funeral that features a dead Michael Jackson as a guest.

Amazingly, it takes Allein and her family only about a month to prepare for the Halloween haunt, and that includes each of the 215 carved pumpkins, gutted by her mother-in-law and cut by Allein. Each one has a unique design.

She might not start the work until early October, but "the mind's always turning" she says, and she tries to think of ways of improving on the previous year's effort.

"It’s grown throughout the years, adding a bit here in there, but probably the last five years we can’t grow any more, so we just change it every year," Allein said. "This year, we made a real casket. It’s a lot of fun."

The Allein's haunted barn is located at 8894 Boyce Road. It will be open Halloween evening and admission is free.

Top photo, courtesy Julie Allein.

Alexander Road haunted barn 'the biggest yet' in third year

By Howard B. Owens

Mark Fry started turning their barn into a horror of haunts about three years ago just to scare their kids, but as more and more people stopped by, they kept adding to the show.

"This is the biggest yet, 11 rooms," Fry said. "Everybody this year tells us, keep it going. We were going to shut it down, because last year we had about 40 (visitors) but this year we’ve probably already had over 200 come."

And those are 11 pretty scary rooms, filled with more than a dozen local actors portraying everything from ghouls to flesh-eating surgeons.

If you don't get a little jolt of fear before the tour is over, your heart isn't beating.

The haunted barn on Alexander Road (Route 98) is free, and Friday night was going to be the last show, but on the spot last night, Fry and his wife decided to open for three more hours, from 3 to 6 p.m., on Saturday.

It's hard to close a good show.

Disney Halloween at Bank of Castile

By Howard B. Owens

The staff at Bank of Castile/Tompkins Insurance on Main Street in Batavia are having some Halloween fun today. The top three floors are decorated with various Disney scenes and most of the staff is dressed appropriate to the theme on their floors. Groups of children from the YMCA are visiting throughout the day receiving treats as they visit Batavia's own Disneyland.

Haunted House a Scary Success

By David Andersen

My children and I went to the "Haunted Barn" on Hwy 98 between Batavia and Alexander last night and had a blast!  The barn has been fully converted into a haunted house with several themed rooms and many actors to enhance the experience.  I believe it will be open next Friday and Saturday nights, and I highly recommend it!  If I say any more it will spoil the fun, so go and get scared!

Historic Batavia Cemetery Ghost Walk

By Susan Kennelly

Historic Batavia Cemetery Ghost Walk, Candlelight Tour

I volunteered at the ghost walk tonight and it was a great time.  There is going to be another one next Saturday Oct, 24th at 7:00 pm. It's located on Harvester Ave.  Tickets are $10. in advance or $15. at the gate.  It's really worth checking out.  Great fun for the whole family.

Local events to keep the family occupied this weekend

By Tasia Boland

Friday Oct. 16 6-10p.m. at Darien Lake Theme Park you can experience the "spooky" side of the park. Open Sat. noon-10p.m. and Sun. noon-8 p.m.

Friday night Bingo at St. Mary's Church. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. game begins at 7:30 p.m. Split pots, progressive pot, raffles and food available. All proceeds benefit the children of St. Joseph School.

Friday night there is a Ghost Walk at the Engine House in Batavia. Learn about Batavia's dark side. Guided tours led by cloaked guides with laterns. There are two tours, 8 p.m. and 8:30 pm. Reservations required. The cost is $10-20. Call 585-344-2550 ext. 2613

Saturday there is a Halloween Candlelight Cemetery Tour at the Batavia Cemetery. Cost is $10-20. For more information call, 585- 343-0248

Saturday is the Holiday Hollow Halloween and Pirate Festival in Corfu from 11-5p.m. Click here for more info.

Saturday the 10th annual GCASA Awards ceremony is being held at the Holiday Inn at 6:30 pm. Cost is $30.

Sunday at the Stewart Steiner Theater, "Colored girls who have considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf" by Ntozake Shange will be showing at 7:30 pm. Cost is $8 for adults, $5 for students, GCC Faculty and senior citizens $3.

"Fun"draiser Night at Pizza Hut

By Melissa George

Come support the Batavia Area Jaycees by dining at Pizza Hut from 4:00pm - 8:00pm (or take out during these hours).

Money raised from this event will be used to off set the cost of the Oct. 25, Halloween Parade.  Details on parade: http://geneseeny.entrexp.com/documentview.asp?docID=850

Its simple to do, just bring a copy of the form when ordering/paying!

Any questions, please contact the Jaycees at 585-343-5775 / batjcs@wnynet.net

Event Date and Time
-

17th Annual HALLOWEEN PARADE!

By Melissa George

 

SPONSORED BY: 

The Batavia Area Jaycees, GCASA, Batavia Youth Bureau, and Oliver’s Candies

 

SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2009: Line Forms at 12:45pm, West Side of Genesee Country Mall/City Centre (near Dan’s Tires)

 

Small Children MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT

~Wagons or sleds strongly suggested~

 

PARADE BEGINS AT 1:00PM

Parade route begins on the west side of the Mall near Dan’s Tires

**NO RAIN DATE, Listen to W.B.T.A. for Cancellations by 11:30am

 

Event Date and Time
-

17th ANNUAL HALLOWEEN PARADE!

By Melissa George
SPONSORED BY: The Batavia Area Jaycees, GCASA, Batavia Youth Bureau, and Oliver’s Candies
 
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 25, 2009: Line Forms at 12:45pm, West Side of Genesee Country Mall/City Centre (near Dan’s Tires)
 
Small Children MUST BE ACCOMPANIED BY AN ADULT
~Wagons or sleds strongly suggested~
 
PARADE BEGINS AT 1:00PM
Parade route begins on the west side of the Mall near Dan’s Tires
**NO RAIN DATE, Listen to W.B.T.A. for Cancellations by 11:30am
 
The First 100 Children 10 & under IN COSTUME ONLY will receive a special free gift!!!
 
Popcorn and other goodies for kids (IN COSTUME ONLY) at end of parade compliments of the Batavia Area Jaycees
 
FOR MORE INFORMATION: CALL 585-345-6420

Town of Oakfield Park Expansion/Halloween Party

By Melissa Haacke

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Event Date and Time
-

Ready for Halloween on Watson

By Howard B. Owens

I happened down Watson Street today and found this house and yard all decked out for Halloween. I hope this bodes well for how many trick-or-treaters we'll get in our neighborhood this year. It's been a long time since Billie and I lived in a neighborhood with a lot kids and trick-or-treaters.

Video: Rolling Hills (The Tour)

By Philip Anselmo

Here it is folks: Rolling Hills Paranormal Research Center—the tour! A three minute walk through the dank dark corridors and rooms of the old Genesee County Home. All of the sound is natural sound: audio picked up from the walk, which is why you will hear the photographer, Sonia, asking after the ghosts from time to time. As I said, we didn't run into any.

Sonia, however, picked up a few "orbs" on camera. What's an "orb," you ask. Well, orbs are supposed to be floating spirits that get picked up on camera when you take pictures. Not every floating ball of light is an orb, however. Sometimes it's just dust, says Lori Carlson, owner of Rolling Hills.

We'll leave it up to your discretion if you want to believe these blips of fuzzy light to the right here are spiritual orbs or just some dust motes that got too close to the lens.

You'll hear in the beginning of the video when Sonia says that she caught an orb on the window. That photograph is below, as well as another photograph taken a few seconds before with the orb in a different spot.

Anyhow, all orbs aside, Rolling Hills was a fascinating space, and I had no need of talking ghosts or ghost shapes to find the place eerie and disquieting and interesting, especially as an historic artifact. If you haven't already heard Lori talk about the history of the place, make sure and do that. This building has a lot of stories to tell, and you don't necessarily need ghosts to tell those stories. Some of the rooms speak well enough on their own.

Enough of my babble. Let's get to the show...

Here are those other orb pictures:

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