thebatavian

Running from yesterday, into today, we had a Flip Ad contest running.

The winner is Elizabeth Geuss, of Batavia. She flipped the correct hidden code: John Gardner and was the 15th person to respond.

Watch for another Flip Ad contest some time next week.

Here's a link to all of the photo galleries we published in 2014. Order a print from this collection of photos before Jan. 4 and get 10-percent off on your order. Use the coupon code: 2014sale.

We ran a Flip Ad contest on Thursday, but unfortunately, I got really busy over the next couple of days, so sorry for not announcing the winner sooner.

The winner is Elizabeth Downie, of Batavia. Downie correctly identified the Flip Ad code phrase of "Centennial Park."

We'll run another contest this week.

We're a little behind in putting together our 2015 calendar of Genesee County photos. We'll take orders up until Monday morning. It will be difficult, but we'll try our best to get them in the mail by Jan. 1.

The price this year is $15.95, plus tax, plus $4 for shipping and handling.

To order individual prints of the photos contained in the calendar, click here.

Purchase via PayPal using the button below, or mail your check (must be received by Monday's mail) to The Batavian, 200 E. Main St. #5, Batavia, NY 14020.

To order by credit card, call our office either today or tomorrow only, 585-250-4118.

Order Calendar via PayPal:

It's still important to us that you join The Batavian Club. As I've said before, every membership is important to us. We appreciate the support. It goes a long way toward helping us meet all the expenses associated with The Batavian (expenses that are growing all the time).

This isn't just about us, however. It's also about you. You receive valuable savings at local businesses for an amount far exceeding the cost of the membership, and if you enjoy getting your local news from The Batavian, you are helping to sustain that effort.

So many people every day tell me how much they love The Batavian. All we're asking is for those loyal fans to make a small financial contribution to help support and sustain our news coverage and in exchange we'll send you gift certificates worth a lot more than the membership price.

NOTE: If you've joined in the past two months (a handful of people have, even without prompting by a post like this), we will send out your membership get with the batch generated by our effort over the next three weeks to invite more people to join. Sorry for the delay, be putting together the kits is a time-intensive process, so we do them in batches).

TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.

Annual Single Membership - $50 per year (a recurring annual payment)

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual membership, one-time payment of $60

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

The winner was Dave Olsen, of Basom.

Dave was the 12th person to find the secret code, flipped under the Alli's Cones & Dogs ad, which was "Dean Richmond."

We'll play again on one day next week.

Reminder: To win you must correctly identify the secret code word. I received a half dozen e-mails this morning before we even put the contest up. Each e-mail was idenifying an existing Flip Ads. That's not how the contest is played.

When playing, remember to include your full name and address to qualify for the prize.

There won't be another code up until some time tomorrow.

Katie will be sent a check for $25.

We'll run another contest tomorrow.

We'll play again tomorrow. A code like the one to the right will be visible under a randomly selected ad that will flip when you mouse over it. 

We've received numerous e-mails just telling us which ads are currently running as flip ads -- Reed Eye and Kreative Kitchen -- but that's not how you play the game.

At an unannounced time, we'll pick an ad at random and turn it into a flip ad and put a secret code like the one in the sample in this post.  

Today, we made it the first person to e-mail us. When I was a kid and radio stations did contests like this they would say a different number caller each time -- the 7th caller, the 8th caller, the 12th caller. We got enough people responding today, that should work for this contest, too, so tomorrow's flip ad will say which number person to e-mail the correct secret code will win.

Happy hunting!

It's still important to us that you join The Batavian Club. As I've said before, every membership is important to us. We appreciate the support. It goes a long way toward helping us meet all the expenses associated with The Batavian (expenses that are growing all the time).

This isn't just about us, however. It's also about you. You receive valuable savings at local businesses at an amount far exceeding the membership cost, and if you enjoy getting your local news from The Batavian, you are helping to sustain that effort.

So many people every day tell me how much they love The Batavian. All we're asking is for those loyal fans to make a small financial contribution to help support and sustain our news coverage and in exchange we'll send you valuable gift certificates that greatly surpass the price of the membership.

NOTE: If you've joined in the past two months (a handful of people have, even without prompting by a post like this), we will send out your membership get with the batch generated by our effort over the next three weeks to invite more people to join. Sorry for the delay, be putting together the kits is a time-intensive process, so we do them in batches).

TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.

Annual Single Membership - $50 per year (a recurring annual payment)

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual membership, one-time payment of $60

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Reposting the announcement below as a reminder that our contest starts today.

Some of you may have already noticed -- there are a couple of sponsor's ads on the right side of the page that if you mouse over the box, it flips over to reveal a secondary message. 

This is a new concept in online display advertising and locally, it's only available on The Batavian and the Wyoming County Free Press.

To help kick off the introduction of Flip Ads, we're going to run a contest on four days next week (four days between Monday and Friday). Will will randomly pick an ad on the site and make it a Flip Ad, but the secondary message will be a secret code. The code will go up at some unannounced time during the day and stay up until we have a winner. The first person to e-mail me, howard@thebatavian.com, with the correct code, will win $25 cash. (We'll post a reminder Monday morning about the contest.)

After the first week, we'll run the same contest once a week.

Easy to win: mouse over ads and find the Flip Ad with the secret code, like an Easter Egg hunt.

Can you find the two ads running now that are Flip Ads?

Sponsors: Interested in Flip Ads? Contact Lisa Ace, lisa@thebatavian.com, or (585) 250-4118, to sign up.

It's still important to us that you join The Batavian Club. As I've said before, every membership is important to us. We appreciate the support. It goes a long way toward helping us meet all the expenses associated with The Batavian (expenses that are growing all the time).

This isn't just about us, however. It's also about you. You receive valuable savings at local businesses at an amount far exceeding the cost of the membership, and if you enjoy getting your local news from The Batavian, you are helping to sustain that effort.

So many people every day tell me how much they love The Batavian. All we're asking is for those loyal fans to make a small financial contribution to help support and sustain our news coverage and in exchange we'll send you valuable gift certificates worth well above the membership price.

NOTE: If you've joined in the past two months (a handful of people have, even without prompting by a post like this), we will send out your membership kit with the batch generated by our effort over the next three weeks to invite more people to join. (Sorry for the delay, be putting together the kits is a time-intensive process, so we do them in batches.)

TO JOIN: Use PayPal buttons below, or to pay by check (annual only) or credit card, click here to download form. Or call (585) 250-4118 to pay by credit card.

Annual Single Membership -- $50 per year (a recurring annual payment)

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

Annual membership, one-time payment of $60

Includes membership card, bumper sticker, one package of gift certificates to local businesses.

We've not done a post like this in a long time, but with the holidays coming on fast, it is important to remind readers of the importance of shopping locally as often as possible.

When you support the businesses that are owned by people in our local or regional community, you are helping to support your local community. As much of 70 percent of every dollar spent at a local business stays in the local community. That has a ripple effect of benefits locally, from employment to donations to local charities to more spending power for everyone.

At The Batavian, supporting local business and family owned business isn't something we do just once in a while as part of an advertising supplement. It's what we do every day. Our home page is a daily reminder to support local businesses.

Please remember not only to shop locally first, but please also be sure to frequent the sponsors of The Batavian and let them know you appreciate their support of independent local news.

Jagged Edges Salon
Jay E. Potter & Sons
Jim Saraceni - Prime Lending
John's Service Station
Karen's Yarn Paper Scissors
Ken Barrett
KleenAll
Kreative Design Kitchen & Bath
Larry's Steakhouse
L&L Transmission, Inc.
L.C. Mosman
Lamb Family Medicine
Lambert's Design Jewelers
Le Roy Counseling
Le Roy Hearth & Home
Lucky Ducky Daycare
Main St. Pizza Company
Matteo & Mullen, CPA
Max Pies
Millennium Computer
My Saloon
Nature's Best Hydro-Garden Center
Next Level Fitness
O'Lacy's Irish Pub
Oakfield Fitness
Oliver's Candies
Optique
Parmenter Tire, Auto & Truck Services
Pellegrino Auto Sales
Pembroke Family Medicine
Precision Lawn Care
Pudgie's Lawn & Garden
R&D Outlet
RW Vapors
Radley's Auto Detailing
Ray Station Coal & Stoves
Reed Eye Associates
S.C.O.P.E. of Genesee County
Santino's Pizza
Scooter's Restaurant (Le Roy)
Select Collision
Settler's Restaurant
Sloat's Tire
Smokin' Eagle Brew & BBQ
Southside Deli
Spirits
Stella Collision
Sweet Ecstasy Bakery & Bistro
T.F. Brown's
The Finishing Line
The Insurance Center
The Mane Attraction
The Manor House
The Rack Shack
Tomaszewski Funeral & Cremation Chapel
Trash Away
Turnbull Heating, Air Conditioning & Refrigeration
Valle Jewelers
Viking Valhalla/Rose Garden Bowl
Vinyl Sticks
WNY Fireplace Outlet
Watch Your Kitty
West Main Wine & Spirits
Western Regional Off Track
William Kent, Inc.
Woody's Deli
YWCA
Yasses Construction
Yngodess Shop
Yume Asian Bistro

Press release:

In an effort to enhance awareness of critical issues across the Rochester/Finger Lakes Region, WHAM-TV and WUHF-TV announce the formation of a new partnership with The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press.

13WHAM News, Rochester’s broadcast news ratings leader, is joining forces with the online news sites The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press to provide enhanced coverage of Genesee and Wyoming County news. The partnership involves an exchange of news content and other informational resources to better serve the needs of families and businesses in those counties.

“The impact of community coverage is best relayed by the professionals who cover these beats every day,” says Matt Malyn, WHAM and WUHF news director. “It is for that reason we are excited to welcome The Batavian and Wyoming County Free Press to the 13WHAM News team.”

"Since the earliest days of The Batavian, we've enjoyed a strong cooperative relationship with the news team at 13WHAM," said Howard Owens, publisher of The Batavian and the Wyoming County Free Press. "We've shared news tips, exchanged leads and cooperated on stories in a way that has helped both news organizations serve their audiences better. The news team at 13WHAM is one of the best in the WNY region. We're excited to join forces in a more formal arrangement to help improve news coverage for the communities we serve."

Malyn added: “Over the years Howard Owens and his team have proven their commitment to the good people of Genesee County and we’re excited to join his recent efforts to expand his news operation into Wyoming County. Those are both communities that the 13WHAM News team has served for more than five decades.”

The Batavian continues to enjoy a solid news partnership with WBTA AM 1490 radio, which it officially joined forces with more than five years ago.

The Batavian was founded by Howard Owens in 2008 as an experimental project for a national news chain and eight months later, Howard and his wife Billie became sole owners of The Batavian. In six years, Howard and Billie have taken the audience of The Batavian from a few hundred daily readers, to between 10,000 and 14,000 daily readers, and 120,000 monthly, making it the most widely read news source in Genesee County.

The Wyoming County Free Press was launched two months ago and its audience continues to grow. Julia Ferrini is the site's editor.

I've boarded a plane in Buffalo. I'm heading to San Diego to attend to family matters. 

Billie will be running the site the next few days. As usual our news partner WBTA will help us with news coverage as will Alecia Kaus from Video News Service. 

I'm most disappointed that I'll miss Batavia and Le Roy play for Section V titles. The pursuit by both teams is a great story. I wish I could be there to tell it. But we have made arrangements for coverage. Good luck to both teams. 

Tune in at 9 a.m. to WBTA-1490 for "Talk of the Town" staring Hiram Kasten and Lucine Kauffman.

I'll be their guest this morning.

The show can also be heard live streamed on WBTAi.com and WBTA's smartphone app.

The New York Press Association has served as a membership organization for community newspapers in the State of New York for 161 years.

Today, The Batavian became the second member in the group's history that publishes news exclusively online.

The first was RiverheadLocal on Long Island.

We're proud to become members of NYPA, which has a distinguished history of serving the needs of news publishers in New York.

Here's a statement from NYPA about our membership:

The New York Press Association is delighted to welcome Howard Owens and The Batavian as our newest online-only member. 

“The Batavian is a highly respected news organization which provides relevant local content to its readers,” said executive director Michelle Rea.“Readers should be able to access quality news content wherever and whenever they choose. Content and relevancy are the key, and The Batavian excels at both.  

"NYPA has a proudly supported New York’s community news organizations for more than 160 years, and as news organizations evolve, so do NYPA’s programs and services. NYPA continues to introduce best practices and new business models for print and digital platforms. We’re thrilled to have The Batavian join the conversation.”

We're pleased this morning to announce the launch of the Wyoming County Free Press, a new sister publication of The Batavian covering Wyoming County.

Just as The Batavian is all about Genesee County, the Wyoming County Free Press will be all about Wyoming County. The news will be Wyoming County news and the businesses who sponsor it will be locally or regionally owned with locations in Wyoming County.

The news will be free, just like it is on The Batavian, and we won't disrupt your news reading experience with pop-up ads, animated ads or require you to answer survey questions. (We'll also respect your privacy by not gathering personal data to distribute to multinational media conglomerates for so-called "targeted advertising.")

We will endeavor to provide wide-ranging coverage of Wyoming County so that people in Wyoming County both have a good idea of what's going on in their community, as well encourage greater community involvement and interest.

We're optimistic about this new venture. The feedback from the people in Wyoming County that we've spoken with so far has been fantastic (look at all of the local businesses that have already agreed to help support our effort).

The feedback has confirmed there is a need in Wyoming County for a news site that covers all of Wyoming County and just Wyoming County. There's no other news service meeting that need.

We're optimistic because we believe six years into The Batavian that our model of news and local business marketing is popular with readers and local business owners. The Batavian has become the most popular news source in the GLOW region and is supported now by more than 150 local businesses.

We're also heartened and encouraged to venture out by the success of Orleans Hub. Tom Rivers has done a terrific job of bringing community news to Orleans County and he and his publishing partner have been rewarded with strong support from the local business community. That helps prove there is a real hunger in all communities for online news that is timely and comprehensive.

Thank you to all the readers and sponsors in Genesee County who have supported us, making it possible to continue to grow as a business. If the Wyoming County Free Press works as well as we anticipate, it will help us do more to serve both communities better.

Please tell your friends about the Wyoming County Free Press and ask them to support our sponsors.

Meet our Wyoming County Editor - Julia Ferrini

Julia is a mother and resident of Eagle in Wyoming County. A native of Western New York, Julia has lived in the area for 16 years since returning from Delaware.

She has worked in a few other fields over the years, but says, "While I dabbled in other career choices, I kept coming back to the one that I just can’t escape, telling the stories of a community through photographs and writing."

Julia can be reached at julia@wyomingcountyfreepress.com.

Thanks to Lucie Ann Griffis for all of her hard work over the past six weeks lining up our initial sponsors for the Wyoming County Free Press. Lucie will continue to traverse Wyoming County, meeting with small business owners, as we work to build the necessary support for the Free Press to be an ongoing success. Lucie can be reached at lucie@thebatavian.com.

Of course, none of this would be possible with the always hardworking and dedicated Lisa Ace, our sales and marketing coordinator. Lisa can be reached at lisa@thebatavian.com.

Our office number is (585) 250-4118.

Visit: the Wyoming County Free Press.

Like us on Facebook.

Sorry for the slow flow of news on our homepage today.  I was not expecting to be tied up in court just about all day for a Frost Ridge hearing (and it's a pretty good bet, based on his comments, that Judge Noonan wasn't expecting it to take as much time as it did).

So there's a story coming on that, and I have at least one other post to write.