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JUNE 14-20, 2019
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 24
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
L I L V E G SP RIN TIMES
The official newspaper of the Town of Concord, and the Village of Springville. Serving Springville, the surrounding communities and Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
Springville students love ‘Drive Your Tractor to School Day’ By Ely Schosek Student Reporter It’s clear that Springville is a rural community especially in our schools. Many students live at least twenty minutes away from school and some even live on farms. Last week, the WNY Dairy/Agricultural Festival was held in the area, which celebrates the community’s agricultural background. At Springville High School, students were given the opportunity to drive their tractors to school June 7, an annual tradition always scheduled to coincide with the first day of the Dairy Fest. “I think it gives our students an opportunity to celebrate our rural
Photo submitted Last week, to help kick-off the 30th annual Western New York Dairy/Agriculture Festival in Springville, students at Springville High School drove their tractors to school to help celebrate the area’s agricultural history.
culture,” said James Bialasik, high school principal. “While, of
course, not everyone who goes to Springville High School lives on a
farm — although some people may think that — agriculture and farming
Springville Mayor addresses maintenance of Pop Warner trail By Kellen M. Quigley At the June 3 meeting of the Village of Springville Board of Trustees, Mayor William Krebs updated the board and public on the maintenance of the Pop Warner Rail Trail, the portion of the Erie Cattaraugus Rail Trail (ECRT) in the village. According to Krebs, the village had been receiving questions and complaints concerning the condition of the ECRT in recent months, specifically the lack of mowing the grass, as well as some branches fallen on the trail not being removed. “The answer is very simple: the village of Springville does not have a right of entry agreement or contract approved by
ECRT,” the mayor said. “We cannot legally enter this private property.” Krebs said that the trail is owned by the Buffalo Pittsburgh Railroad (BPR) and is leased to ECRT, which has the development rights. He said the agreement is between those two parties and was approved in August 2018. “They have been informed since last summer personally by me and by meetings with the board that we need a contract,” Krebs said. The proposed 27mile trail will span from the town of Ashford in Cattaraugus County to Orchard Park and also connects the towns of Aurora, Colden and Concord. The Pop Warner
Trail in Springville is already open. “We received a contract from the (BPR), a right of entry contract, to design our trail, to build our trail and maintain our trail in 2015,” the mayor said. “This village got the public’s support, we signed the legal contract.” According to Krebs, village groups raised the money and the community built the trial using village resources. But since last summer, ECRT has not given the village the go-ahead to do the maintenance of the trail. “Since last summer, members of the ECRT … have assured me that we will get a contract,” he said. “The last we heard from See Mayor page 11
play an important role in our area.” Some of the students
who participated and drove tractors to school were happy to share their thoughts after the fact. For instance, Timmy Blesy mentioned that he enjoys “being able to do something different and promote agriculture at the same time”. As Bialasik said, “The agricultural community is a component of Springville’s economy and it is all part of recognizing the importance that agriculture plays in our community.” Many of the upperclassmen who participated this year have participated in past years and plan to in coming years. The same can be said for the freshmen who participated for the first time this year. See Tractor Day page 2
Parading for the 30th annual Dairy Fest
Photo by Alex Simmons A John Deere tractor pulls a train of kids in barrels decorated to look like Minions down North Buffalo Street during the 30th annual Western New York Dairy/ Agricultural Festival parade Saturday in Springville. See full photo gallery inside.
A Look Back:
ck
a B k o o L A
Looking back in our genealogy files and you will see a vast number of last names. It is always fun to find out what your ancestors did, where they lived and where did they come from, but what about their surname? Where did it come from? What does it mean? Tracing the origins of surnames can help us gleam more insights into the lives of our ancestors. Early last names were often linked to occupations, geographical features,
What’s in a last name?
By Jolene Hawkins nicknames maker of wheels; and or even a Miller, Cook or Baker combination of as a last name, is pretty their mother’s and self-explanatory. father’s names. Way back, there was Some names are easy not always last names to figure out. Jackson, and you were known son of Jack. Williamson, just by you name, Jack son of William. Mac or Sally, and the town or and O’ are from Galeic area you were from. If and mean son and you were an indentured grandson of. If your laborer, you might take family is Irish, Ni means the last name of the daughter. person you worked for. With Smith as a last Some names were name, it could be a name changed because of for a worker in metal — possible discrimination. a blacksmith, tinsmith, After the world wars, etc. With Cooper as a some of the German, last name, a trade of a Polish and Russian Jews barrel maker; Chandler, changed their names so a candle maker or dealer they would sound more of supplies for ship; American. In some cases Taylor, someone who they simply translated is a tailor, Wheeler was their name in to English someone who was a and thus that was their
new name. All this is a nightmare for people doing genealogy, especially when only part of the family changed their names while others in the same family kept
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their original name. So how do you get past this to research? You could start in a family Bible, which will have dates and names when baptized, married, graduation and
death. Public records, ship passenger list, old newspapers, church records, cemetery records and old maps all can help you get started. Websites like ancestry. See A Look Back page 3