'Ashes to Go' mark Ash Wednesday at Geneva train station

Battling frigid temperatures Wednesday morning, a few brave souls from St. Charles Episcopal Church

were offering "Ashes to Go" at the Geneva commuter station.

For the fifth time in as many years, the Rev. Bill Nesbit and parishioners greeted people hustling off to work during their morning commute.

"This is awesome, and it's great to see this out in the community," said Erin Kofron of Batavia after she stopped to receive a smudge of ashes on her forehead, then hurried to make the 6:54 a.m. train.

The cold-weather crew from the church gave ashes to commuters for about 1.5 hours - the time it took for five trains to leave the station.

Ash Wednesday marks the first day of lent. The ashes typically are made from blessed palm branches from the previous Palm Sunday. They are sprinkled with holy water and then burned to collect the ash.

Many choose to wear their ashes for the remainder of the day, which commemorates the beginning of about six weeks of sacrifice leading up to the Christian celebration of Easter.