FREE! TAKE ONE! VOLUME 5 ISSUE 7
FEBRUARY 19 - 25, 2016
The Official Newspaper
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of the Village of Ellicottville, the Town of Ellicottville, Ellicottville Central Schools and the Towns of East Otto, Great Valley and Mansfield, New York
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, East Otto, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Randolph, Salamanca, Springville and Beyond
Upcoming Events
Belly Laughs at HV Waddle Over for the Penguin Paddle Feb. 20
February 20 Penguin Paddle Holiday Valley
By Alicia Dziak
Be part of an EVL tradition at the annual Penguin Paddle, Saturday, Feb. 20 on the slopes of Holiday Valley when participants hop inside black garbage bags and slide down the Yodeler slope “penguin style” on their bellies! In addition to the slide itself, this major fundraiser for Holiday Valley’s Lounsbury Adaptive Ski Program (LASP) features a silent auction, raffles, music by DJ John Barry, and a lunch tent, where you can refuel for a $5 donation. Registration for the event is only $1 at Creekside or Yodeler lodges. This year’s Penguin Paddle, which runs from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., will feature more than 75 auction items and a live radio station broadcast. Even if you’re not up for sliding down, you can still participate in the event’s other components, and watch the penguins paddle their way down Yodeler. The Paddle is fun for all ages, and broken down into the following age brackets: ages 4-6, 7-8, 9-10, 11-12, 13-14, 15-20, 21 and over and mixed doubles (two person bags). For a schedule of events, see page 5. What exactly does all this fun benefit? LASP is made up of 45 volunteer instructors who teach 225-250 lessons per year. Students have a range of physical and cognitive disabilities, but that is not the focus. The emphasis, instead, is on what the students CAN do, and the specially trained instructors work with each student individually, with
Febraury 26 Telestock Holiday Valley February 28 Aspire Ski the Valley Holiday Valley February 28 Art Roscoe XC Ski Loppet Allegany State Park
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March 3 Ski Day for United Way HoliMont March 4 Telefest HoliMont March 5 Phoenix Rise to the Challenge Race HoliMont March 11-13 Mardi Gras and Winter Carnival March 19 Pond Skimming Holiday Valley See Third in the East page 9
See Penguin Paddle page 3
Bluemont Ski Area Brings Back Memories By Eva Potter and Alicia Dziak
The overgrown slopes are still visible and many of the buildings that once made up Blue Mountain/Bluemont Ski Area are still standing, but the resort itself has been defunct since the early 1980s. Located in the northeastern part of Cattaraugus County off Route 39 in the hills of Yorkshire, Blue Mountain opened in 1959 and boasted 800 feet of vertical and eight trails, the longest being 6,600 feet. According to the New England Lost Ski Areas Project (NELSAP), Blue Mountain is often remembered for its unusual side-loading, detachable, 4,400-foot double chairlift, where riders faced sideways instead of forward. There was also a 1,600-foot-long T-bar and two rope tows. It also had limited snowmaking capabilities, giving the ski area an advantage See Bluemont page 2
Peace, Love and Teleskiing Telestock Feb. 26 By Alicia Dziak
Join other free-spirited free-heelers at Holiday Valley’s annual teleski event, Telestock, on Feb. 26, sponsored by Ellicottville’s City Garage. The event’s name was inspired by the famous Woodstock music festival, which fits well with “the free spirited way of skiing” that teleskiing was and is still known for. What exactly is teleskiing, a.k.a. telemark skiing? Telemark skiing uses a different boot and binding than is used for traditional downhill skiing, and the major difference is that the heel is free and able to lift off the ski. Telemark skiing is a versatile skiing style that allows See Telestock page 3
WestMont Expansion
Under Review by Mansfield Boards By Jann Wiswall
The town of Mansfield board met Monday, Feb. 15 and was briefed by Town Supervisor Bob Keis on the status of plans for the WestMont Ridge development at HoliMont. The town planning board, along with building inspector Gil Wiswall, engineer Mark Alianello and town planner Carol Horowitz, is reviewing
the final “Planned Unit Development (PUD) Plan” application from HoliMont for “Phase 2A” of the WestMont Ridge development’s condominium project. Phase 2A includes a new road connecting Ridge Road to the condominium area and infrastructure for the first 27 (of up to 72) condominium units along the top of the ridge on the
hill north of the Sunset area of the resort. Pending approvals, Keis said HoliMont expects to complete construction in 2016. As most people know, construction on WestMont’s Phase 1 single-family home development has been moving more slowly than originally anticipated, but Keis said he has reason to believe that See Mansfield Board page 4
Zoning Law Discussion Tabled By Town Board
By Jann Wiswall
A decision by the Town of Ellicottville’s board on Zoning Law Amendments was delayed at the request of John Zerfas, Vice Chair of the Town’s Planning Board. Zerfas addressed the board at a public hearing held during its monthly meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 17.
The amendments were drafted and reviewed by the Planning Board over several months in 2015 under the leadership of Town Planner Carol Horowitz, who has retired at the end of the year. They were intended to clarify existing language and more precisely define “Commercial
Land Uses,” including farm stands, food stands and artisan’s workshops. Amendments also were made to add some types of land uses, including micro-breweries and micro-distilleries, which were not included in the existing law. As part of that process, the See Town Board page 9
Ski for a Purpose Aspire’s Ski the Valley Feb. 28 Once again this year, Holiday Valley will be hosting a major fundraiser to benefit the not-for-profit organization Aspire of Western New York, Inc., which provides personcentered, innovative programs and services designed to give nearly 3,400 children and adults with developmental disabilities opportunities
to fully participate in their communities and bring them to their best potential. Tom Sy, Aspire’s president and CEO, notes the importance of this fundraiser to the future of the organization: “The majority of our funding comes from New York State and for the last six years that See Aspire page 7