2014 Silver ADDY Award Winner
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 3
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THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE VILLAGE OF ELLICOTTVILLE AND THE TOWNS OF ELLICOTTVILLE, GREAT VALLEY AND MANSFIELD, NEW YORK
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MARCH 28 - APRIL 3, 2014
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Salamanca, Springville and Surrounding Communities
Calendar of Events
What Do You Know About Maple Syrup?
March 28 Pond Skimming HoliMont
Sugar Shacks, Farms and Pancake Houses Welcome Visitors to Maple Weekend
Mar 29-30 Maple Weekend WNY
By Eva Potter
April 5-6 Little Valley VFD Spring Sportsmen’s Show Little Valley
The second of two Maple Weekends is taking place all over the countryside this Saturday and Sunday, March 29–30, and admission is free. More than 100 maple producers across the state will open their sugar shacks, farms and pancake houses to welcome visitors eager to taste the sugary nectar used to create all things maple including syrup, candy, doughnuts, cotton candy, salad dressings, jack wax and more. You can look forward to tours, activities, demonstrations, horse-drawn wagon rides, tree tapping demonstrations and a variety of foods including some mighty fine pancake breakfasts (at an additional charge). Maple Weekend takes place snow, rain or shine, so please dress accordingly as some of the attractions are outside. Activities take place from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., both days. How It’s Made As the second largest maple producer in the U.S. behind Vermont, New York state has a reputation of producing some of the best quality syrup in the world. Randy Sprague, co-owner of Sprague’s Maple Farms in Portville, has been sugaring — making maple syrup — for more than 40 years. When you take a ride to Sprague’s for some amazing pancakes and waffles, you can see the stateof-the-art production process through open windows in the long hallway leading to the restaurant.
April 11-13 Enchanted Mountain Music Festival Holiday Valley
© 2014 Keystone Designers Inc.
April 11-13 Greater Olean Area Home Show April 25 Arbor Day Celebration Tree City USA Nannen Arboretum May 17-18 Routes to Art Tamarack Lodge May 30 - June 1 Geobash Allegany State Park June 6-8 Cycling Weekend Holiday Valley June 7 Relay for Life Ellicottville Central School June 8 Dirty Duathlon Holiday Valley June 14 Mudslide Obstacle Trail Run Holiday Valley July 4-6 Summer Music Festival Ellicottville Holiday Valley
See Maple Syrup page 5
HoliMont’s Lexi Crotty Selected as ‘Spotlight Athlete’ for Prissy Tomboy Athletics
By Alicia Dziak
Thirteen-year-old Lexi Crotty, an eighth grader at Hamburg Middle School, who competes on HoliMont’s FLITE team, has a lot to celebrate these days. Not only did she place first in her age group for overall combined (Moguls-Aerials-
Lexi Crotty of HoliMont’s FLITE Team
Slopestyle) female in the Eastern Division recently, but she has also been selected as a Spotlight Athlete for Prissy Tomboy Athletics. “Prissy Tomboy Athletics is a lifestyle brand with the mission of promoting athleticism and a place for young girls to feel empowered, recognized, and supported through sports,” said Tracey Pearson, Founder of Prissy Tomboy Athletics. “We want to bring a new dynamic to the world of girls’ athletics, and help young girls find their passion for sport and adventure.” In turn, Prissy Tomboy offers a range of fashion forward athletic wear, playful accessories and beauty products geared towards the active girl, and also partners with athletic professionals to introduce a new sport in a non-competitive, non-intimidating environment. These clinics and programs are exclusively for pre-teen to teen girls. “Our mission as a brand is to send the message to teen girls that being athletic and competitive See HoliMont’s Lexi Crotty page 8
Lofty Mountain Homes Phase 2 Underway FIRST FOUNDATION DUG AT RAINBOW BRIDGE, EAST OTTO By Jann Wiswall
Mike Incorvaia remembers hiking Bailey Mountain in East Otto, N.Y., with his dad and
Families can reconnect with deeper rhythms of life at Lofty Mountain Homes
uncle when he was a teen. It was an inspirational place at one of the highest points (1,800 feet above sea level) in Cattaraugus County. From certain spots on certain days, you can even see Lake Erie. So, it’s no surprise that as soon as he got the chance as an adult, he and his partner in the project, Donald Matre, bought 300 acres on the mountain. After several years of careful thought and research, the partners decided to develop it. But it wouldn’t be just any development. It would be geared toward families who wanted to live and/or vacation in a secluded, peaceful, natural setting with easy access to Ellicottville, Holiday Valley, HoliMont, Griffis Sculpture Park, state parks and all the other attractions the area has to offer all year round. To that end, Incorvaia has created a See Lofty Mountain Grandeur page 2
I Ski NY Bus Program Taking Shape Holiday Valley and HoliMont to be Included in Routes By Jann Wiswall
On March 6, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced a plan to start an I Ski NY bus program to provide charter bus transportation to New York state ski resorts from New York City and Toronto. The goal of the program is straightforward. As
Governor Cuomo stated in his announcement, “New York is home to some of the best winter resorts in the world.... We want New Yorkers to know they should stay in New York and out-of-state visitors to feel welcome to partake in all that [the state] has to offer.” The only details known for
certain about the program right now is that buses will travel from New York City to various locations in the Hudson Valley, Adirondacks, Catskills and Central New York. Another program will target skiers/ boarders in Toronto to bring them to Western New York See Ski Bus Program page 13
STW Gears Up for Spring Trainings Auditor Recommends Additional Signator By Jann Wiswall
The Southern Tier West board of directors met for its monthly meeting on Thursday, March 20 at the Center for Regional Excellence in Salamanca and welcomed Norman L. Marsh as its newest member, replacing Joseph Eade who resigned for health reasons. Marsh is chairman
of the Cattaraugus County Legislature and is a Republican representing legislative district 3 (the Towns of Coldspring, Conewango, Little Valley, Napoli, Randolph and South Valley). STW Executive Director Richard Zink reported that President Obama’s requested budget for fiscal year 2015
for the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) of $68.2 million represents a reduction of $12.1 million, primarily due to cuts of $10 million for a highspeed broadband deployment program in West Virginia. The president’s budget request for the Economic Development Administration remains See STW Trainings page 10
Thermal Imaging Camera Purchase to Benefit Little Valley Volunteer Fire Department SPRING SPORTSMEN’S By Jennie Acklin
SHOW APRIL 5-6
The Little Valley Volunteer Fire Department Spring Sportsmen’s Show will take place April 5-6, 2014, at the Cattaraugus County Fairgrounds. Event Chairman Jim Miller said the show has been held for 24 years and is a fundraiser for the Little Valley Volunteer Fire Department. Miller, a member of the fire department, explained the
importance of holding the event. “We use proceeds from the show to go towards equipment,” Miller said. This cost of equipment includes both the maintenance and replacement of old equipment. Miller has been compiling the proceeds from the 2014 spring and fall Sportsmen’s Shows to purchase a thermal imaging camera, an estimated $10,000 expense. See Thermal Camera Purchase page 10