Environmental, library advocate is Batavia Citizen of Year

Virginia Babcock's work on Batavia's behalf has been kind of quiet, until now.

The Batavia Chamber of Commerce on Friday named her its 2010 Batavia Citizen of the Year.

“It was actually surprising that Ginny's work has not been brought to our attention before,” says Roger Breisch, executive director of the chamber, in a prepared statement. “She has kind of flown under the radar; quietly, but effectively, accomplishing a lot for Batavia.”

Babcock, a Batavia library trustee, will receive the award at the chamber's annual awards dinner Jan. 29.

Babcock has lived in Batavia since 1976. She is interested in conservation and sustainable environmental practices. She helped establish the Batavia Tree Commission in the late 1990s, and worked to achieve Tree City USA status for the city from the National Arbor Day Foundation.

She is involved in the Batavia Environmental Commission, Batavians for Clean Energy and Conservation and the Spiritual Green Connection. She leads the Conservation and Garden Department of the Batavia Woman's Club.

She co-founded the Braeburn Marsh Defenders Group.

“I feel absolutely guilty about leaving my grandchildren a mess of an environment,” Babcock said in the prepared statement. “I care about people I'll never see. We owe it to them to take better care of our world.”

Mayor Jeffery D. Schielke said Babcock is the “consummate community activist.”

“Virginia is a champion of causes that serve the common good,” he said in the statement. “She thoroughly researches the causes and then pursues outcomes with veracity and passion.

“She has made a solid difference in Batavia; her actions are ongoing legacies,” Schielke added. “You might call her the female Johnny Appleseed of Batavia.”

Babcock is a transportation volunteer for the Retired Senior Volunteer Program and a member of the Friends of the Batavia Public Library. She was elected as a library trustee in 2009.

She co-founded the Batavia Interfaith Food Pantry in 1980, and has been a volunteer since 1977 for American Field Service, an international student exchange program.

As a liaison between the Fine Arts Department of the Batavia Woman's Club and the Batavia Public Library, she facilitated the installation of a larger-than-life mural of John P. Falter's painting “Fox River Ice Skating” at the library. She also arranged to have art print copies of the painting, framed and presented to each Batavia public elementary school.

Babcock and her husband, Joel, have five children, 14 grandchildren and five great-grandchildren.

“I am still wondering why it is not someone else being honored,” Babcock said. “I can follow better than I can lead.”

“You don't do these things for yourself,” she continued. “You do them to make a difference in the world for others.”

The Batavia Citizen of the Year is selected by a committee of previous recipients and is based on nominations from the community. The award is given for extraordinary contributions to the community over the course of the recipient's lifetime.

Last year's honorees were Alderman Linnea Miller and her husband, William. Linnea Miller died of cancer Jan. 12, 2010.

For tickets to the awards dinner, call the chamber at (630) 879-7134 or register online at BataviaChamber.org.