FREE!TAKE TAKE ONE! FREE! ONE! OCTOBER 5 - 11 , 2017
VOLUME 2 ISSUE 40
JULY 28 - AUGUST 3, 2017
Your Hometown Newspaper & The Official Newspaper of the Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
The Best Things to Do Columbus Day Weekend
Last Weekend of NIGHT LIGHTS
By Alicia Dziak
The first long weekend of the school year is here, and if you’re looking for a memorable way to spend it with the kids, you have your pick! Celebrate the 20th Annual WNY Earth Science Day at Penn Dixie on Saturday, Oct. 7 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., rain or shine. The first 200 visitors will receive a free fossil collecting bag and a copy of The Geology and Paleontology of Eighteen Mile Creek by Amadeus Grabau, the foremost guide to fossils in the region. Learn about Western New York’s natural resources and our planet through interactive exhibits and demonstrations in a family-friendly setting. The exhibitor tent will include The Buffalo Zoo, Botanical Gardens, Bookmobile, Reinstein Woods, SUNY Buffalo Geology, Earth
Upcoming Events WednesdaysSaturdays through Oct. 8 NIGHT LIGHTS at Griffis Sculpture Park Oct. 6-8 Letchworth Arts and Crafts Festival
Dimensions, Past & Present Rock Shop, and many more. We’re happy to have Lloyd Taco Truck back as our lunch vendor this year. Stay the whole day and enjoy the free 6:30 p.m. astronomy program offering stunning views of three planets and distant bodies like open star clusters. For more info, visit
penndixie.org/wny-earthscience-day/. As the leaves begin to change, it’s the prefect time to explore our area’s state parks, and it’s hard to argue that Letchworth State Park offers some of the best scenery around. If checking out the trails and waterfalls isn’t enough of a lure, how about See Holiday Weekend Fun page 2
Ellicottville Fall Festival Oct. 7-8
By Alicia Dziak
Don’t miss your chance to check out the awe-inspiring collision of arts, light and nature that is NIGHT LIGHTS
at Griffis Sculpture Park. This annual event has been held the past several weekends, with this weekend being the final for the season. See NIGHT LIGHTS page 5
A LOOK BACK The Original Town of Concord
The Townsend Hotel on Genesee Road where Townsend road meet. Photo is circa when the WIser Family owned it. The original wood portion was known as the Townsend Hotel and served as a major gathering place in the early days of the Town of Concord, even holding town meetings. The building suffered a major fire in the 1940s. By Derek M. Otto
With the talk of comprehensive plans and a town supervisor election coming up next month, it’s funny to think the town was planned out the way it exists today. Erasmus Briggs wrote
See Fall Fest page 6
SGI Community to ‘Pink Out’ Pop Warner Field Oct. 13 October is breast cancer awareness month, signified by the color pink. On Oct. 13, SGI football players, cheerleaders, and fans will be wearing pink, as the SGI Griffins take on Olean in the last SGI home football game of the season. It’s all part of the Pink Out Western New York Sports event, sponsored by AdPro, the ECMC Foundation, the Buffalo Bills, and Channel See Pink Out page 5
Oct. 9 Columbus Day Oct. 13 SGI Pink Out Football Game Pop Warner Field Oct. 14 Night at the Derby SYI Fundraiser
By Alicia Dziak
If you’re one of the thousands who celebrate Columbus Day weekend with a visit to Ellicottville for the annual Fall Festival, your wait is over. This weekend, Oct. 7-8, EVL’s biggest and oldest festival of the year is back, complete with music, races, rides, food, arts and crafts and endless fall fun. Started in 1975 as a way to bring people into the budding ski town of Ellicottville as the winter merchandise arrived in stores, Fall Festival has evolved into one that brings in countless people for many different reasons, and this year’s festival promises to carry on the tradition of non-stop entertainment. Head to Washington Square and let the kids get their thrills on the carnival rides from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. each day. Grab a bite at the Jefferson Street food court, or stop in one of the local restaurants who will be serving up their signature dishes. Get a jump on holiday shopping at the arts and
Oct. 7-8 Fall Festival Ellicottville
the History of Original Town of Concord in 1883. Looking back, its strange that the town didn’t have a major comprehensive plan and certain events changed the outcome of how the town formed.
Oct. 21 3rd Saturday Trek and Music by the Fireside Allegany State Park Oct. 28 EVL Half and 5K Oct. 31 Happy Halloween
See A Look Back page 7
The Fall Bucket List
Pumpkin Patches
By Jennifer Weber
It’s pumpkin season in Western New York! All around town you can find pumpkins at just about every roadside stand and grocery store, yet there’s something to be said about the pure joy that comes from picking out your very own pumpkin right from the patch. Whether you prefer a twopound, 20-pound or even 200- pound pumpkin for your front doorstep, these farms not only provide fields filled with options to choose from, but also fun fall activities for the whole family to enjoy. Get out there and start picking! But save the long, tall oval ones that look
like Bert (not Ernie) for me— those are my favorites. Pumpkinville, located at 4844 Sugartown Road, Great Valley, NY 14741 has partnered again this year with Universal Studios to make 2017 the year Curious George visits the 200-
acre farm. Curious George who is celebrating his 75th anniversary is featured in the six-acre corn maze sponsored by WYRK radio. There will also be Curious George merchandise available at the Gift Shop.
See Pumpkin Patches page 5