American Advertising Awards 2014 Silver ADDY Award Winner
VOLUME 4 ISSUE9
The Official Newspaper
FREE
of the Village of Ellicottville, the Town of Ellicottville and the Towns of East Otto, Great Valley and Mansfield, New York
www.EllicottvilleTimes.com facebook/theEllicottvilleTimes
MARCH 6 - 12, 2015
Your Hometown Newspaper Serving Ellicottville, East Otto, Great Valley, Little Valley, Mansfield, Olean, Randolph, Salamanca, Springville and Beyond
HoliMont Introduces a New Bar
Calendar of Events March 6 Telefest at HoliMont March 7 Ken Brown 700 Club Fundraising Party at Holiday Valley
Choose Green for Safety By Eva Potter
In Ellicottville, you can take your pick from a number of bars, but HoliMont General Manager Dave Riley is hoping you’ll pay close attention to the newest one. Safety has always been a top priority at the largest private ski area in the United States. HoliMont also has a solid reputation for using cuttingedge technology, whether it involves making snow or installing new ski lifts, and it’s this kind of forward thinking that propelled Riley to install new red and green light bars at the top of HoliMont’s chairlifts. Last year, while on a trip to Swiss and Austrian ski resorts to look at lift technology, he noticed the light bars at the lift unloading ramps. The Austrian’s philosophy is to get chairlift riders with the safety bar down until they are very close to ramp. The ski areas Riley visited consistently had signage that told the rider not to open the safety bar until they saw the green lights. Riley said, “I was told that the concept is a national law and every ski area must use the technology. The Austrians keep impeccable records, and the statistics have shown that if a child falls out of a chair, 90 percent of the time it happens when the safety bar goes up too early and the child scoots forward to prepare to unload.”
March 14-15 Mardi Gras and Winter Carnival Holiday Valley and the Village Annual Maple Weekends March 21-22 and March 28-29 March 22 Northwind Super-G Race at Holiday Valley March 28 Pond Skimming Holiday Valley
© 2015 Keystone Designers Inc.
April 17-19 Greater Olean Area Home & Garden Show April 19 Taste of the Southtowns Springville April 25-26 Maple Festival Franklinville May 2 I Love My Park Day Allegany State Park May 2 Adventure Run Allegany State Park
See Chairlift Safety page 4
ECS Senior Calum Watt Signs to Play Football at Ashland Univ.
Calum Watt (seated, right) poses with (from left) sister Ainsley, brother Liam, parents Kevin (seated) and Kim, and ECS football Coach Chad Bartoszek at the signing ceremony Monday, March 2. Photo by Jennie Acklin
Celebrate Maple Syrup! NYS Maple Weekends March 21-22, 28-29
By Jennie Acklin
By Jann Wiswall
On Monday morning, March 2, Calum Watt, the Watt family, Coach Chad Bartoszek, along with Principal Bob Miller and Superintendent Mark Ward gathered at ECS during the morning newscast as Watt signed a letter of intent to play football at Ashland University in Ohio. Watt, a senior at ECS, said that “this has been a dream since I first put on shoulder pads. And now, to be able to play football for a Division 2 university team as defensive end or linebacker is incredible!” “Ashland University is a perfect mix of a small-town atmosphere (like Ellicottville) and a larger city. I really liked the feel of the campus. From an academic standpoint, I am
New York State is the second largest maple syrup producer in the United States, behind Vermont, and it produces some of the best quality syrup in the world. So it makes sense that the state’s Maple Producers Association sponsors Annual Maple Weekends each year during peak production weeks to promote the growing industry and its delicious products. While it’s big business for some, maple sugaring — the process of collecting sap and making syrup — is a popular hobby in the state, too. Many local residents in
See Calum Watt page 9
West Valley Sports to Merge with ECS By Jann Wiswall
the 2015-16 school year. The ECS Board West Valley Central Schools’ of Education voted unanimously at its student athletes will join meeting on Wednesday, March 4, to approve Ellicottville’s interscholastic West Valley’s request to partner with the sports teams beginning with
See Sports Merger page 2
Sprague’s
See Maple Weekends page 10
Local Equestrians Featured at EquiFest 2015 Vendors, Exhibits, Demos & Clinics March 14 -15 By Jennie Acklin
The fifth annual EquiFest 2015 becomes a two-day event for the first time, with more than 100 vendors, clinicians, demonstrations and discussions. The event will be held at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, 5600 McKinley Parkway in Hamburg, NY. Doors open at 10 a.m. both Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15, with just a $1 donation at the door for those 13 years and older. See EquiFest page 8
Mardi Gras/ Winter Carnival March 14-15
Ellicottville is preparing for next weekend’s Mardi Gras/Winter Carnival – the last major event of winter! You’re guaranteed a great time all weekend-long at Holiday Valley, where you’ll enjoy the Dummy Downhill race, snow sculptures, a costumed-skier parade, pancake breakfasts, cookouts, the infamous Snow Bar and so much more. Be sure to head to the Village Saturday evening for the wackiest Mardi Gras parade this side of New Orleans. Come in costume or just wear lots of beads and cheer for your favorite floats. It’s a great time for the entire family!
Odyssey of the Mind 2015 By Mary Heyl
Things are heating up next weekend in Randolph as Randolph Central School (RCS) prepares to host the 2015 regional Odyssey of the Mind competition on Saturday, March 14. Odyssey of the Mind (OM) is an international educational program for teams of elementary through college students to solve problems using creative thinking, brainstorming, teamwork and problem solving skills. The program is designed to teach the concept that “a group is a more powerful thinking force than an individual.” Although OM is more than 30 years old, this See Odyssey of the Mind page 9