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VOLUME 6 ISSUE 11
MARCH 17 - 23, 2017
The Official Newspaper of the Village of Ellicottville, the Town of Ellicottville, Ellicottville Central Schools and the Towns of East Otto, Great Valley and Mansfield, New York
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Indulge in Maple Weekends
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, East Otto, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Randolph, Salamanca, Springville and Beyond
Fri • 2 Guys Drinkin’s Beer • 9pm Sat • Wasted Whiskey • 9pm Wed • Wagner & Winston • 8pm Thurs • Joseph & Johnson • 8pm
By Alicia Dziak
Syrup! Sugar! Suckers! Fluff! If you like maple in any of its many sweet forms, Maple Weekends are for you! Maple Weekends have become a March tradition in WNY since their inception in 1995. This state-wide event features members of the New York State Maple Producers Association inviting families and friends into their sugarhouses to experience the world of pure NY maple syrup. Located at approximately 160 farms and museums across New York State, Maple Weekend offers a delicious, fun-filled outing that has a little something for all maple-lovers to taste and experience. Join area maple farms March 18-19 and 25-26 for sugarhouse tours, samples, activities and much more. Maple Weekends are a chance for the public to come to the farm to learn about New York’s maple sugarmaking processes and traditions and to provide a chance to taste pure maple syrup in its many forms. Visitors to Maple Weekend can taste a pure and natural food product at its freshest and in its many forms. Guests will also learn how maple syrup and other maple confections are made, experience the unique family traditions of making maple syrup in New York State, celebrate New York’s first agricultural harvest of the season in a family-friendly environment, meet the producers who annually make New York the second largest maple producing state in the U.S., share in the many ways
20 Washington St • 699-2530
Fri •Strangers• 7pm Ryan Melquist and Friends• 10pm Sat • Hayden Fogle Band • 6pm Ryan Melquist and Friends• 10pm 20 Monroe St • 699-4162
Upcoming Events March 18 Pond Skimming Holiday Valley
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March 18 -19 March 25 - 26 NYS Maple Weekends March 19 Foxfire Super-G Holiday Valley March 23 Chamber Ski Day HoliMont March 30 - April 1 Ellicottville Central School High School Musical April 9 Target Closing Day Holiday Valley
Equifest, Plantasia Return Make a Splash! Pond Skimming March 18 to Hamburg Fairgrounds See Maple Weekends page 6
By Mary Heyl
By Alicia Dziak
© enchantedmountains.com
To celebrate the (almost!) end of winter and the ski season, Holiday Valley hosts their annual Pond Skimming this weekend. ON Saturday, March 18, downhill enthusiasts can brave the elements and head down the bottom of the Yodeler slope to skim over an icy cold pond. A pond at Yodeler, you ask? If you’ve never noticed it, that’s because it’s only there for this event. The pond is created from the huge mound of snow used for the Winter Carnival Snowbar. A Snowcat digs the hole, which is then covered with a tarp and the snowmaking system is used to fill it up. Since the water is cold to begin with, and surrounded by snow, the end result is an extra-chilly makeshift pond, perfect for challenging those daredevils as they head down the hill on skis and try to skim across. Pond Skimming, which began in the early
©This is Randolph Facebook © getmyperks.com
Mardi Gras King and Queen, Window Decorations, and Parade
© Indrek Kongats
King Travis and Queen Darlene Baugh
What a Winter Carnival and Mardi Gras weekend in Ellicottville! The Junior Bacchus Ball was in full swing at Madigan’s Friday night. The fun continued on the slopes Saturday, moved back to the village Saturday evening and back to the slopes for Sunday! Along the way, the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce crowned a king and queen, named winners for the window decoration contest, and had a See Ellicottville Chamber page 4
The Fairgrounds are located less than an hour from Ellicottville, and upcoming events make it worth the drive! On Saturday and Sunday, March 18 and 19, WNY EquiFest 2017, sponsored by the Western Chapter for the New York State Horse Council,
See Events at Hamburg Fairgrounds page 11
Spring and Summer at ASP
See Pond Skimming page 4
Ellicottville Chamber Announces Weekend Winners
The Hamburg Fairgounds isn’t just for the summer’s Erie County Fair. This 265-acre facility hosts a range of events and activities all year long, and there’s plenty to do, even during these last few weeks of winter.
© enchantedmountains.com © Tim Frank
Allegany State Park, just a short drive from Ellicottville, is New York’s largest state park, full of natural beauty and numerous ways to enjoy it. Mark your calendars for these great events coming up this spring and summer: 3rd Saturday Treks Beginning in April, for the third consecutive year, Allegany State Park (ASP) will be hosting guided hikes on the third Saturday of each month until October. Each month a different area within the park will be selected to explore. Check out our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/AlleganyStatePark or contact the Environmental Education/Recreation Department at (716) 3549101 ext. 236 for hike locations and times, to be determined. Arbor/Earth Day Celebration ASP’s 2nd Annual combined celebration of Arbor and Earth
Village Board Meeting to Hold Special Meeting See Spring and Summer at ASP page 11
By Caitlin Croft
In the regularly scheduled meeting of the Village Board (VB) on March 13, the Public Hearing was held regarding the 2017-2018 Village Budget. Spencer Murray and John Rounds, two members of the community, raised questions
regarding the proposed budget. All questions were about discrepancies between this new proposed budget and the 2016-2017 budget. Many of the questions were answered by Mayor John Burrell, accounting for certain See Village Board page 2