Easily more than 200 people gathered at the Batavia Party House last night for the Batavia Muckdogs Booster Club's annual hot stove dinner and auction. There were plenty of laughs and people expressed a lot of excitement about the coming season, which could be a critical year for drawing enough community support to keep the team in Batavia.
At the podium, Brian Paris honors "The Voice of the Muckdogs," Wayne Fuller, for his many years of service to the team as the public address announcer and official score keeper. Fuller stepped aside from those roles after the 2009 season. But his voice won't be far from a microphone during the upcoming season; he'll serve as color man on WBTA's broadcast of games.
More pictures after the jump:
Todd Jantzi, left, and Patrick Weissand chat during the silent auction.
Brian Paris, left, and Ryan Gugel chat with a fan who drove to the dinner from Greece.
Board member Bill Kauffman gets a gift from the board honoring his service to baseball in Batavia.
Gretel Kauffman is in the foreground. Immediately behind her is local artist John Hodgins, watching the bidding progress for his winter landscape painting. It fetched $255, well above any other auction item.
Auctioneer Todd Jantzi makes a sale.
Daily News photographer Mark Gutman goofs when the camera gets turned on him for a change. Writer Alanna Stage gets a good laugh.
