batavia

The DiSalvo's Christmas light display is always a showstopper. Cars line up and down the length of their property on Fargo Road in Batavia, slowly driving along the shoulder.  People come from all around the county to make sure they get a glimpse of the lights at least once before the end of the season.

Here are some photos to enjoy the decorations at home.  But, if you're looking to fully capture that Christmas spirit and holiday atmosphere, the trip is worth the drive.

For a year or longer, I've wanted to buy a John Hodgins painting.  It's been a matter of money as well as finding the right painting.  When I happened past the Edward Jones office on Jackson Street during Christmas in the City on Friday night, I knew this was the painting I wanted.  Later that night, I ran into John in the Mall.  We came to a quick agreement on price and I picked it up today.   I understand this painting depicts the old newsstand on Jackson.  I like it -- local art by a local artist of a local scene.

DPW reports there is a water main break on Richmond Avenue between Union and Redfield in Batavia.

Repairs are in progress.

A Medina teenager who died in a car crash over the weekend was a student at Images of Dance in Batavia, according to the Democrat and Chronicle.

Jenna Pratt, 17, is described in the article as somebody who took on all challenges and dance was “kind of her release,” said her father, John Pratt III.

Pratt was killed in a single-car accident in Shelby. Investigators have yet to determine the cause of the crash. Her boyfriend, who was driving, Joshua J. Stockwell, 18, of Medina, was not injured.

Clifford Leo Regimbal, 31, of 30 S. Main St., Oakfield, is charged with criminal mischief and unlawful possession of marijuana. Regimbal is accused pulling a phone box from the wall outside 36 South Pearl St., Oakfield. Regimbal allegedly possessed marijuana at the time of his arrest. He was jailed on $500 bail.

Amber Fallon Waleski, 22, of 30 S. Main St., Oakfield, is charged with assault in the second degree. While at 36 South Pearl St., Oakfield, Waleski allegedly struck another person in the head with a bear bottle, causing a cut. She was jailed on $500 bail.

Howard M. DeCarlis, 52, of 415 Ellicott St., upper, Batavia, is charged with assault in the third degree. DeCarlis allegedly punched his girlfriend in the face several times during an argument. She was treated and released at UMMC. DeCarlis was jailed on $1,500 bail.

Jacob J. Camerera, 18, of 335 S. Jackson St., Batavia, is charged with criminal contempt and unlawful possession of marijuana. Camerera allegedly violated an order of protection by sending text messages to a woman he was ordered not to contact. At the time of his arrest, he was allegedly found to possess marijuana. Camerera was jailed on $750 bail.

From the State Police blotter:

Patrick R. McFadden, 25, of Batavia, is charged with criminal mischief. McFadden was allegedly involved in an incident at Kmart.

David W. King, 52, of Batavia, is charged with criminal possession of a controlled substance. He was arrested in Bergen.

This evening I wandered around downtown a bit and took some pictures of some of the businesses that have decorated for the holidays.

It's a good thing Santa is from the North Pole, because it's darn cold in Batavia today and he is serving as greeter today for an event at the Go Art! building on Main and Bank.

Last night I went to Christmas in the City and brought along my video equipment. I interviewed around 50 people, which gave me around 45 minutes of footage. So for the next few weeks I'll be posting a new video every seven days until Christmas. On Christmas day I will post one or two longer videos. So I hope you enjoy the first installment of the "Countdown to Christmas" video series.

Thank you to all the wonderful folks that took the time to talk with me and allowed me to interview them.

Joanne Mistler serves me my first The Batavian smoothie -- strawberry, banana with chocolate shavings. Manager Rob Crede tells me it's been a big hit so far.

A lot can happen in 10 years, when you give your life to help others. Pictured above is the orignal Care-A-Van motor home that Paul and Bridget Ohlson used at Christmas  in 1999 to start delivering Christmas to others. Fast forward to 2009 to the beautiful bus that nows go forth to give hope to others.

With loving to write of the ministry and being given the opportunity through Howard and The Batavaian, we are able to share with all of you the wonderful blessings and how God uses the Care-A-Van Minstry to give hope to others.  We were recently approached by Chrissy Siggee , Manager - Australian Bureau of   The Cyrpess Times, an online Christian newspaper out of Texas to share of the ministry. Who would have ever thought, God would  have us sharing in this way!

Please check out the article to see how Paul and Bridget followed the call including him quitting his full time job of 27 years to where their life and the vision of Care-A-Van Ministries is now.

http://www.thecypresstimes.com/article/Faith/Ministry/WHAT_IS_CAREAVAN_MINISTRIES/26095

May you all have a Merry Christmas!

Keep the Light On!

Robin Walters, PR Director Care-A-Van Ministires

By my estimation, twice as many people came out to Christmas in the City this year as compared to last, and the smiles were also about twice as bright.

In other words, it was a great evening. 

Thank you to all who stopped by our booth in City Centre.

More pictures below, and several more after the jump.  Merry Christmas!

UPDATE: I inadvertently left one photo out last night which I've added to the bottom of this post -- it's of our long-time reader Dan Cherry taking a picture of his boys outside Valle Jewelry. 

Holland Land Office Musuem stopped by the Care-A-Van bus to sing

Our friends from City Church blessed us with their music as well

Pastor Matt LePiana on far left and his brothers from the Sons of God  of Leroy stopped by to announce the opening of their church - Church In the Wind. The church will be opening January 3rd at 7 PM in Leroy.

Everyone had a grand time on the Care-A-Van bus. We served 450 Brownies and cups of hot chocolate. Everyone had a grand time! Thanks to the city for hosting a great event! See you next year.. the famous brownies will be back! 

The motto of Feary-Cohen Realty  -- "Sold Mine, too" -- took on a new meaning in recent weeks when owner Howard Cohen sold his office building, sold his home and closed the business so he and his wife could move to Hilton Head, South Carolina.

Cohen, a lifelong Batavian, said he and his wife vacationed in South Carolina and have talked for years about moving down there. When the opportunity came along to actually make the move, the pieces just fell into place too easily to pass up the chance.

"We're very excited," Cohen said. "I'm of course doing real estate down here. I'm not retired by any means. I'm associated with a very good firm, so I'm very happy."

It's one of the rare times in Cohen's life he hasn't been self-employed. Besides owning Feary-Cohen for the past 13 years, Cohen previously owned Triangle Liquor on East Main Street and Minor's Appliance on Court Street.

As for this move, Cohen said that with his daughter ready to start high school (two sons are in already college) and an unexpected buyer for his house, it seemed like the timing was right.

"It was just another sign (selling the house) that it was just time to do it," Cohen said. "If we waited another six or seven years, I'd be 67 or 68 and we would probably never leave then."  

He added at the end of the conversation, "Life is short, so you want to enjoy it to its fullest."

Another business owner purchased Cohen's office building, but is not ready announce his plans.

Come on downtown and check out all of the Christmas displays in store windows, such as this one at Adam Miller Toy and Bicycles. The displays will be judged tonight as part of a contest tied into Christmas in the City.

The annual event promises to be a good deal of fun. Dozens of businesses are participating, plus there will be live music, horse-drawn wagon rides, Santa and food (Steve Mullen will be roasting chestnuts outside Larry's Steakhouse).

Stop into one of the local businesses and pick up a program for the event, which contains a schedule of entertainment as well as coupons for 14 businesses.

Walk into Batavia Downs and you don't necessarily hear the cash register ringing, but you can certainly hear the cha-ching of video gaming.

And it's a good thing. It turns out that harness racing may be fun to watch, but it isn't profitable for the race track.

The historic facility is again projecting a loss for living racing, but will more than make up for it off of slot machines.

"I think everybody in the harness racing industry statewide understands that without video gaming, harness racing would no longer be in existence," Michael Kane, vice-president of Western OTB, told WBTA (mp3). "You need harness racing to have video gaming. It's a cost of doing business."

Kane added, though, that Western OTB works very hard to reduce its losses in racing.

Harness racing is expected to lose $1.3 million dollars, but overall Western OTB is projected to turn $5 millions in profits, thanks to those dinging, donging, clanging, light-flashing machines on the second floor of the Down's building.

A year ago today, a large black plume of smoke cast a dark shadow over the City of Batavia, alerting many residents to the fact that there was a big fire some place. It turned out to be at My "T" Acres/Call Farms, on Lewiston Road in the Town of Batavia.

Today, the large barn that was destroyed is being rebuilt.  Phil Call said it's been a challenging process to get the barn rebuilt, but that it made the most sense to rebuild on the same location on the original foundation. Otherwise, he said, it isn't the Calls way to make a big deal out of such a thing and declined a more detailed interview.  He said they were just glad to be rebuilding.

UPDATE: Nate Fix, a lieutenant in the Town of Batavia Fire Department, sent the following pictures he took the day of the fire.

Sandy Konfederath, from Genesee ARC, arrives at Ken Barrett Chevrolet this morning with an armload of toys to donate to the annual toy drive sponsored by WBTA and several local businesses.  The toy drive continues until 4 p.m. today.

A Silver Springs man is accused of distributing cocaine and marijuana in Pavilion and Batavia after allegedly selling drugs to an undercover agent.

Mark A. Washburn, 20, of 31 East Duncan Ave., Silver Springs, was taken into custody by members of the Wyoming County Drug Task Force on the Genesee County warrant.

Washburn is charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance, criminal possession of a controlled substance, criminal sale of marijuana and unlawful possession of marijuana.

The investigation was conducted by the Genesee County Local Drug Enforcement Task Force.

He is being held in Genesee County Jail pending arraignment.

Brian T. Rushing, 23, of 127 West Park St., Albion, is charged with one felony count of grand larceny. Rushing, operating under the DBA of B&R Roofing and Siding, allegedly was paid $5,500 to perform home repairs for a residence in Bergen, but never completed the work and allegedly never purchased the necessary materials.

Rushing was released under the supervision of Genesee Justice. The investigation was conducted by Deputy John Baiocco, Investigator Timothy Weis, Sgt. Greg Walker and State Police Investigator Mike Notto. Rushing's name also shows up in today's State Police blotter on another charge of grand larceny in Albion with a value of less than $3,000.

Natalie A. Catuska, 27, of 37 Prospect St., Batavia, is charged with DWI, driving with a BAC of .08 or greater, and failure to keep right. Catuska was observed by Deputy Christopher Parker allegedly crossing the center line after making a turn from Route 33 onto Wilkenson Road at 1:47 a.m. today.

Allen Leonard George, 51, of 101 Harvest Road, Fairport, is charged with criminal contempt. George is accused of calling his ex-girlfriend in violation of an order of protection.