NOVEMBER 8 - NOVEMBER 14, 2019
FREE! TAKE ONE!
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 45
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
Ready for the holidays, Red Barn Christmas Farm begins second year in business
By Kellen M. Quigley
After 11 years in the works, the Red Barn Christmas Farm in Collins offered the opportunity for families to cut their own tree for the first time in 2018. And after a successful inaugural year, owners Kevin and Connie Ploetz are ready for round two. The tree farm, located on Dupont Road in Collins, is just a 10-minute drive from downtown Springville and offers hundreds of wellmanicured trees in five different varieties to choose from. “The trees are ready, the field is definitely ready,” said Connie Ploetz. “We just have a few things in the barn to straighten up and get ready, but we’ve got time yet.” Trees currently available include Balsam Fir, Concolor Fir, Canaan Fir,
Fraser Fir and Blue Spruce. The largest trees will be blue spruces at 9 feet and under, while many of the firs are 8 feet and under. Over the past several months, the Ploetzes have been busy planting, spraying, mowing and shearing to get all the trees looking good for this Christmas season. The roughly 6-acre field holds about 7,000 trees, several hundred of which are ready for taking home. “We add more new ones every year, and of course we sold a few last year,” Connie said. For your tree-picking adventure, hand saws will be available to use to cut your own trees. Dogs are welcome to join the adventure on leashes, but must be properly trained and cleaned up after. Sleds will be available to drag trees, or if you need
it transported back to your vehicle, there will be a pickup service. Tree baling will also be available at no extra charge. For their first year, Connie said everything went smoothly, except for the extreme weather. She said there were times with two or three feet of snow, which made it difficult to dig out the trees and haul them to vehicles. “But boy, everybody had a good attitude and was happy,” she said. “Despite the weather, people were happy because it was Christmas.” The farm the Ploetzes grew the trees on was Connie’s parents. She said they had the field and farming equipment and she and her husband wanted to do something with them. “We said, ‘Let’s do Christmas trees. How hard can it be?’” she laughed.
Photo courtesy Red Barn Christmas Farm The Red Barn Christmas Farm in Collins is almost ready for the holiday season with hundreds of trees available for families to have their own tree-finding and tree-cutting adventures.
The Ploetzes are members of the Western New York Christmas Tree Farmers Association, a group that meets four times a year and help each other, which Connie said was a big support in helping get the farm going over the previous
‘Little Women’ performances begin Nov. 14 at SCA
decade. For weed control through spraying or not spray to how they plant the new trees, Connie said they’ve learned a lot. “We’ve managed to make every mistake possible, but we’ve overcome.”
Springville Village Board holds quiet Monday meeting By Kellen M. Quigley
Photo by Alex Simmons Members of the March family, seen here Brady Bunch-style, will deliver a classic tale of the strength of women in the Springville Center for the Arts production of “Little Women.” Performances begin Nov. 14.
By Alex Simmons The March family will be spending some time in Springville this November when a production of
“Little Women” is performed at the Springville Center for the Arts. The story is “a classic tale of the strength of women and their ability to be compassionate, resilient,
supportive and loving,” Director Rick Manzone states. Set during the Civil War and written by Louisa May Alcott, See Little Women page 2
New this year is an old sleigh that the Ploetzes worked on revamping all this past year and will be available out in the field for photo opportunities. “We have a 3D bear out there and people have fun See Red Barn page 4
lane mile, for the second year it would be $4,340.14 and $4,470.34 for the third year. “We have 0.23 lane miles, so it’s like $900 each time we do it for the county,” she said. Melock also mentioned that the parking ban in the village begins Nov. 10 and lasts through April 1 and goes from 1-7 a.m. In Superintendent Ken Kostowniak’s absence, Melock updated the board on what the Department of Public Works has been up to on Kostowniak’s behalf. She said the casing for Well #1 has been installed, the building addition construction has begun and some of the walls are up. Melock said the North Street substation CCTVs have been tested. New fusing and protection parts have been ordered and the consultant is testing
The village of Springville Board of Trustees held their regular meeting Monday, Nov. 4 with a relatively quiet agenda. Village Administrator Liz Melock reported that the village’s unpaid taxes to Erie County is $79,404.39 and does not include any penalties from the village, but penalties will be applied by the county. Those who owe village taxes will have to pay them through the county. Next, the board approved a contract for the 2019-22 Erie County Intermunicipal Snow Removal and Ice Control Agreement. The rate increase is 3.5% first two years and 3% for the third year, Melock said. For this year, the rate is $4,193.37 per See Springville Village page 3
A Look Back: Veterans Day in Springville By Jolene Hawkins
Looking back over the past years and you will find where men and women of all ages fought for what they believed in: the Revolutionary war (1775 – 1782), the War of 1812 (1812- 1815), Mexican War (1846 – 1848), The Civil War (1861 – 1865), SpanishAmerican War (1898), Philippine Insurrection
(18991902), World War I (1917 – 1918), World War II (1941 – 1945), Korean War (1950 – 1953), Vietnam War (1964 – 1973), 1st Gulf War (Kuwait and Iraq 1991), Afghanistan (2000 – 2014) and the Iraq War (2003 – 2010). As these men and women come back to the states and home, there have always been groups that would support and be there for them in each time frame. From the Sons of the American Revolution to Grand Army of the Republic (GAR), VFW to the American Legion,
which was formed in 1919, to be there for the returning soldiers and to help them in all ways while providing a place for them to meet and talk to other solders. Here in Springville, the American Legion was active during the first Armistice Day celebration on November 11, 1919. The name was changed to Veterans Day in 1954 to honor all U.S. Veterans. There was a parade that first year, which had several groups participating, including GAR, sons of Veterans, Women’s Relief Corp and Fountain Hose Company (Fire Department). Floats, created by
the businessmen in town, Griffith Institute and several bands all marched and walked in the parade along with the men that had returned from the war. Dressed in uniform, over 100 men came. A dinner was furnished by the Red Cross and all men in uniform got to enjoy the meal for free. That first Armistice Day also had an unveiling of a monument that was erected on the lawn of Griffith Institute, to the Springville boys who died in the service. On that bronze tablet contained the following: 1917 — In Memorial —1918, To the boys of Concord who gave
their lives in Freedoms cause: Robert H. Bartlett, Casimer Gorski, Albert M. Castle, Robert N. Reynolds, Paul Sobota, Lynn A. Thurber, Roy O. Vail, Myron Wheelock and Cashier Cooksky. Following this speech and unveiling, there were basketball games, car shows, horse racing events and boxing
programs, and in the evening a Military Ball held at the Catholic Hall, where jazz music was played. As we approach Nov. 11, 2019, we are remembering the 100 years of service that the American Legion has been in town. Originally the post was named for See A Look Back page 2