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FEBRUARY 01-07, 2019
LOCAL
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 5
SPORTS
ENTERTAINMENT
Andrew Collins Trio to preform at SCA on Feb. 8th ....see page 2
"Love is in the Air" Valentine's Day Celebration Guide ....see page 4
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
Griffins score top-three finish in Erie county small-school meet ....see page 11
Empire State Winter Games torch relay travels through Springville area
By Kellen M. Quigley
On its way to Lake Placid for the opening ceremony to the annual Empire State Winter Games (ESWG), the ceremonial torch began its severalhundred-mile journey earlier this week in Western New York. Heading out from Holiday Valley in Ellicottville on Sunday, Jan. 27, the torch passed through Springville Monday on its route to Kissing Bridge before heading up to the Buffalo area. At about 4 p.m., Ryan Grady, Torch Relay Director for the ESWG, ran the ceremonial game torch up to skiers at Kissing Bridge who then took it on the ride of its life down one of the slopes. The torch was handed off to Jack Schleyer, of Springville, who was accompanied by several of his fellow skiers in the Kissing Bridge Alpine Club. Six Alpine Club members will be at the Empire State Winter Games this weekend, one of whom current ranks #1. Earlier in the day, the torch arrived at the Gowanda Elementary School after visiting the Jamestown area. A group of elementary students ran the torch from the school district's bus garage on Panther Drive. From there, students representing the Gowanda Middle School carried the torch up Panther Drive and on to Prospect Street. With a stop at the front circle of the high school, the torch was passed to student representatives of the high school for the final leg of Gowanda’s part of the
Photos by Alex Simmons Members of the KBAC (Kissing Bridge Alpine Club) head down the slope at Kissing Bridge Monday with one skier holding onto the torch. Six members are going to the Empire State Winter Games this weekend, one of whom current ranks #1. Image on right: The Empire State Winter Games torch was handed off to Jack Schleyer, of Springville, at Kissing Bridge Monday as part of the annual torch relay across the state.
relay. Traveling from Prospect Street up West Main Street, the torch finally arrived at Community Bank in Gowanda. There
everyone in attendance was served hot chocolate and coffee by bank employees. The final Community Bank stop also provided a photo opportunity for friends,
family and Empire State Winter Games officials. Accompanying the torch through the relay was an ESWG representative, faculty representatives from the school group running that leg and escort by both state and local police departments. The torch began its journey at Holiday Valley Sunday, Jan. 27, when snowboarder Grace Dalton had the honor of taking the torch from Grady before carving down one of the slopes with torch in hand as the kick off to the relay. The Empire State Winter Games is a multi-day sports event that is used to bring together winter sports athletes from across New York state and beyond. For 39 years the Empire State Winter Games have offered a platform for more than 2,100 athletes of all ages to compete in over 30 winter sports events. Some events include alpine, luge,
See Games page 2
Springville, Concord officials respond to AIM funding cuts By Kellen M. Quigley Many municipalities across the state could lose thousands in aid under the proposed state budget. Gov. Andrew Cuomo earlier this month released his executive budget proposal, which eliminates funding from the Aid and Incentives to Municipalities program (AIM) for towns and villages where the funding accounts for less than 2 percent of the municipal budget. Cities like Buffalo and Tonawanda — which receive far more aid than other municipalities — would be unaffected, according to the released figures, but would remain at roughly the same level seen since 2011. For local towns and villages like Concord and Springville, it’s a different story. “That makes no sense to me,” said Springville Mayor Williams Krebs. “It seems to me the communities with the least AIM funding should maybe get more, especially rural villages.” Krebs said this funding has been in the state budget for decades, and recently municipalities have been receiving the same amount each year. Springville received about $36,000 in past years, he said.
“Every year, villages would like to see that increased and it hasn’t been,” he added. The proposed cuts would eliminate funding for 24 of 25 towns in Erie County and 13 of the 15 villages. Only the town of Alden and the villages of Kenmore and Sloan are unaffected by the proposed cuts, as well as the cities in the county. For the town of Concord, Supervisor Clyde Drake said they would lose about $48,000 in funding. “It’s a sad state of affairs, but it’s something that crosses both sides of the aisle,” he said. “It’s a solid voice going back to Albany.” Drake said the money goes into the town’s general fund but can be used in many different departments — “you’re talking a lot of town services in the general fund,” he said — as well as the salaries for town officials, legal or engineering fees, public safety and even dog control. “It goes on and on,” he said. “It even goes to mowing the cemeteries.” Rural municpalities like Springville also offers services to residents beyond only those in the village, Krebs said. Departments such as public safety — fire, police, code enforcement — and street services are partially done with the village’s general fund.
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a B k o o L A
William Krebs Springville Village Mayor
Clyde Drake Concord Town Supervisor
“It’s used in our general fund, so that’s a hit to our general fund,” he said. “That’s $36,000 we don’t have in revenue, and when we go into budget you’ll see how that affects it.”
Krebs said the blow that lack of funding does to village services negatively impacts all the residents unfairly. See Funding page 2
A Look Back:
The history of Groundhog Day
By Jolene Hawkins The first mention of Groundhog Day Looking back that I could find was in a Pennsylvania to the history of Groundhog Day and you Newspaper dated February 1841. So why did they choose a groundhog? will read about the German Well, in 1723, the Delaware Indians settlers who arrived in the 1700s and settled Punxsutawney, Pa., as a campsite brought traditions with them. halfway between the Allegheny and the One of them was Candlemas Day, which was also a pagan celebration of Imbolc (lamb’s milk), so known Susquehanna rivers. The town is 90 miles northeast of Pittsburgh, at the intersection because the lambing season had begun. It came at the mid-point between the Winter Solstice and the Spring Equinox. Superstition of Route 36 and Route 119. The Delawares considered groundhogs held that if the weather was fair on that day, the second half of honorable ancestors. According to the winter would be stormy and cold. original creation beliefs of the Delaware For the early Christians in Europe, it was the custom on Indians, their forebears began life as Candlemas Day for clergy to bless candles and distribute them animals in “Mother Earth” and emerged to the people in the dark of winter. A lighted candle was placed centuries later to hunt and live as men. The in each window of the home. The day’s weather continued to be important. If the sun came out on Feb. 2, halfway between winter name Punxsutawney comes for the Indian See A Look Back page 5 and spring, it meant six more weeks of wintry weather.
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