2014 Silver ADDY Award Winner
VOLUME 3 ISSUE 4
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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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APRIL 4 - 10, 2014
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Salamanca, Springville and Surrounding Communities
Calendar of Events
Whitewater Rafting Season is Here! Class 1-4 Rapids of Zoar Valley
April 5-6 Open House Huntington & Eckstrom Art Studio & Gallery Ellicottville Town Center April 5-6 Little Valley VFD Spring Sportsmen’s Show Little Valley
By Alicia Dziak
According to the calendar, spring has arrived, and adventure seekers can move from the slopes to the fastpaced action of whitewater rafting on the Cattaraugus Creek. Western New Yorkers are lucky to have Zoar Valley in their backyards, providing countless thrills and chills this time of year. “Our 32nd rafting season in Zoar Valley opened last weekend and will go until we run out of water, usually late May or early June,” said Jim Redline of Zoar Valley Canoe and Rafting Company (ZVC). People of all ages, abilities and experience can take part in rafting. “Over the years, we have taken anyone from age 6 (on the intro section) on up,” Redline said. “Physically, you don’t need to be a marathon runner or the like to participate, but it is a somewhat strenuous activity, which will require around three hours of paddling and, yes, everyone needs to paddle. It is a team-building and participation activity. You don’t need to know how to swim, as the life jacket will keep your head well above water if by chance you should go overboard! It does help, however, that you not be afraid of the water.”
April 11-13 Enchanted Mountain Music Festival Holiday Valley April 11-13 Greater Olean Area Home Show
© 2014 Keystone Designers Inc.
April 25 Arbor Day Celebration Tree City USA Nannen Arboretum May 2 Sky High Scheduled to Open Holiday Valley 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
See Whitewater Rafting page 5
ENCHANTED
June 14 Mudslide Obstacle Trail Run Holiday Valley
Bluegrass & Roots Music Festival Next Weekend! April 11, 12, 13 Get Ready for a Toe Tappin’ Foot Stompin’ Good Time! Featuring Frank Solivan and Dirty Kitchen, Nora Jane Struthers and the Party Line, Creek Bend, Paris Texas, Cornerstone...See page 6 for more details
July 4-6 Summer Music Festival Ellicottville & Holiday Valley
Voters to Consider $11.07 Million Budget $100,000+ Expenses Cut • Vote Tuesday, May 20
Summer Music Festival a Family Affair
Buffalo Philharmonic Returns to Play July 5 The most important message regarding Ellicottville’s 2014 Summer Music Festival, which takes place from July 4-6, is this … it’s a family affair. Summer Music Festival is easily one of the most affordable, family-friendly events in Western New York, with tickets for the evening headline acts (Buffalo Philharmonic Saturday night, the Gin Blossoms Sunday night) starting at $25 for adults and free for kids 12 and under. There’s also free parking, the event is wheelchair See Summer Music Festival page 3
Is Your Glass Half Full?
Here’s What You Missed • Quarterly Review by Jann Wiswall
best skiing/boarding to Western New York in years? If you’re a glass-is-half-full kind of person, you’ll remember the latter. In the weather-dependent ski industry, there is only one thing for certain each year: There’s no predicting Mother Nature. Despite the weather extremes and an average amount of snowfall for the area, both Holiday Valley and HoliMont report they had generally terrific seasons. According to Jane Eshbaugh, Holiday Valley’s marketing director, the area had a good early start in late November/December, then a few rainy Saturdays, followed by the cold and blizzards that kept “the new snow we got and the snow we had in great condition.” Once the temperatures normalized and the snow kept coming, “March turned out to be one of the strongest we’ve had in years,” she said. Personnel from MDA Consulting Engineers, Looking ahead, there was some great news for PLLC and SJB Services, Inc. prepare to stake out soil boring locations for geotechnical the ski areas from Governor Cuomo’s office. A
What was the most memorable thing about the winter of 2013-14? Was it the polar vortex — that Arctic weather system that overstayed its welcome and brought us one of the coldest winters on record? Or was it the consistently great snow conditions that brought some of the
exploration at the proposed East Tank site.
See Half Full Glass page 4
By Jann Wiswall
The board of the Ellicottville Central Schools will ask district voters to approve a budget of $11,070,000 for the 2014-15 school year. The vote is scheduled for Tuesday, May 20. In addition to the basic
budget, voters will be asked to approve the lease of one school bus at a cost of no more than $18,000, as well as $28,916 to support the Ellicottville Memorial Library. The basic budget funds “all of the educationally related services and the maintenance
of our school building,” according to the resolution passed by the board at its meeting on Tuesday, April 1. The $11.07 million budget represents a 1.3 percent increase (approximately $128,000) over the current fiscal year’s See School Budget page 9
Expansion and Improvement Plans for Holiday Valley
Investing in the Future of Fun
By Jann Wiswall
Holiday Valley has been busy all winter putting together expansion and improvement plans for summer 2014. The list of potential projects is long, as evidenced by the proposal made by Holiday
Valley President Dennis Eshbaugh and Vice President of Finance David Trahan to the Cattaraugus County Industrial Development Agency on March 18. Holiday Valley has asked the CCIDA for sales tax abatement on the taxable costs of its projects. The list presented to the
CCIDA has not yet been whittled down to an official work plan, said HV Marketing Director Jane Eshbaugh. Some items may be put off until 2015 and some may be eliminated altogether. However, several projects on the list are certain. Snowmaking and Slope See Investing in Fun page 8
Just the Facts, Please NO Dinosaur BBQ or Harley Store Coming to EVL By Jann Wiswall
Rumors have been flying since a story was published last week in another local newspaper about two new businesses opening in Ellicottville. The story claimed Dinosaur BBQ and Harley Davidson were both opening locations here. Some people are saying the story was an April Fool’s gag. Unfortunately, many other people took it to be factual.
Whatever the genesis of the story, the Ellicottville Times has confirmed that Dinosaur BBQ is NOT opening in Ellicottville, the Burger King location has NOT been leased and Harley Davidson is NOT opening a store at the old Kwik Fill location. The facts are: No Dinosaur BBQ According to Lindsay Amorese, vice president See Just the Facts page 8