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VOLUME 2 ISSUE 17
APRIL 28 - MAY 4, 2017
Your Hometown Newspaper & The Official Newspaper of the Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
Art, Adventure and Outdoor Fun This May
SCA Art Crawl May 6
By Alicia Dziak
The April showers have brought May flowers and it’s time to get out and enjoy springtime in Springville and all its neighboring communities. Races, festivals, cool events and everything in between is yours for the taking this May! Get a breath of fresh air by taking a hike or bike ride around the area. Head to Griffis Sculpture Park and check out dozens of cool sculptures scattered throughout many well-groomed trails. Don’t forget your camera as there are countless photo opps. Celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday, May 14. Plan now for that special brunch or activity. The long holiday weekend with Memorial Day on Monday, May 29, is the unofficial start to summer and camping season. Book your
Upcoming Events May 6 SCA Art Crawl May 6 I Love My Park Day
stay at thousands of area camp sites and cabins. Special events are happening all month long. May is a great time to give back. On May 6, sign up for I Love My Park Day. This state-wide initiative is about volunteering at your favorite state park or other state land. Many area parks are participating this year,
including Allegany State Park, Artpark, Evangola State Park, Golden Hill State Park, Knox Farm State Park, Long Point State Park, Niagara Falls State Park, Reinstein Woods Nature Preserve, Whirlpool Park and Wilson Tuscarora State Park. Register at www.ptny.org/ events/i-love-my-park-day.
For one night out of the year, Main Street in Springville becomes an art gallery, with artwork in many businesses, music in surprising corners and interactive art activities sprinkled throughout. The Annual Downtown Springville Art Crawl is Saturday, May
Arts and Crafts Festival Season Kicks Off By Mary Heyl
See Arts and Crafts page 2
Middle School Students Make a Difference By Alicia Dziak
Connor Hughey (left) and Grant Karb are working with One World Futbols for their 7th grade KCMAD project.
It’s that time of year again when SGI 7th grade students kick it into high gear for their Kids Can Make A Difference (KCMAD) projects. These projects, chosen by the students, are a school year’s worth of research, planning and community service that culminates with a presentation later this spring. Students can work individually or in groups on the projects, but the goal is the same: to make a difference. Students Grant Karb and Connor Hughey chose to work with One World Play Project, which provides ultra-durable One World
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See Kids Make a Difference page 4
See Art Crawl page 6
A LOOK BACK: Fiddler’s Green Park
See May Fun page 3
If you’re searching for that perfect hand-made Mother’s Day gift, looking forward to a beautiful day outdoors, or interested in supporting a great cause, there’s an arts and crafts festival taking place near you in May. Find that one-of-a-kind item and celebrate local crafters and artisans right in your own community by attending any one (or all!) of these upcoming arts and crafts shows in Erie County. On Saturday, May 6 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Collins Regional Historical Society invites you to attend its 4th Annual Mother’s Day Craft Fair at the LK Painter Community Center. Located at 2355 Main Street in Collins, the community center will house 40 crafters who are looking forward to sharing their variety of gifts, from jewelry to candles to hand-sewn items. The event also includes a soup and sandwich lunch, a Chinese auction, and a baked goods sale to benefit the bicentennial fund of the historical society. All who attend are entered to win the door prize, which
6 from 5:30-8:30 p.m. with free activities for all ages throughout the National Register Historic District. To “crawl,” your first stop should be at the corner of Main and Mechanic Streets to pick up a ballot and a map
The First Baptist Church across from the public square or Fiddler’s Green Park about 1860. The wooden fence protected the park from wandering livestock. The gates were wooden turnstiles. By Derek M. Otto
Spring has sprung and there’s a lot of activity around the village. Buffalo Street is being repaved, the department
of public works removed shrubs around the soldier’s monument and the town released its concert in the park series from the upcoming year. So, it got me thinking about Fiddler’s Green Park. When Christopher Stone came to the area as the first settler in 1807, he settled on Buffalo Street. (A small cabin has been erected to remember his settlement there.) There was small natural green to the south of the settlement, and it was around this green that people erected their first homes. This included David LeRoy, a renowned fiddler that played and taught the art of music to many early settlers from miles around. Because of this, another early settler, David Stickney, named the area Fiddler’s Green, which was the first name for Springville.
May 10-June 28 Campus Series Mountain Bike Races Sprague Brook May 13 Springville Crafts Beer and Wine Festival May 20 Artisan Outdoor Festival June 2, 3, 4 WNY Dairy/Ag Festival When Stone left the area, he sold his property to Rufus Eaton in 1910. Eaton was 40 years old at the time and had settled other villages and communities in Connecticut and New York State before coming to Springville. He knew what early villages needed. He donated land for the Springville Academy, cemetery, Congregationalist (Presbyterian) Church (the property is now St. Al’s) and also gave the land that was the green to the community for a public square. Just like the
See A Look Back page 7
Campus Series Races Begin At Sprague Brook May 10
By Alicia Dziak
Mountain bikers have reason to celebrate this spring and early summer. Actually, eight reasons to celebrate. On Wednesday evenings, May 10 through June 28, the Campus Series mountain bike races will be held at Sprague Brook Park. Now in its sixth year, the race series is organized and run by Singletrackracing.com and Campus Wheelworks, with the WNYMBA offering trail support and maintenance. Greg Culver, one of the organizers, explained that, “The first couple of years, WNYMBA sponsored and organized the races. The club decided to focus on trails and trail building in 2013, and not
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racing events, so a couple of us formed singletrackracing. com.” Culver noted that the group included himself and three other avid racers. “We brought in Campus Wheelworks a couple of years ago as the lead sponsor,” he said. “Campus is very involved in the local
bicycle scene and really has a great following.” It wasn’t a hard decision to hold the races at Sprague Brook. “Sprague Brook was the perfect place for a weekday series for many reasons,” explained Culver. “One, it’s See Campus Series page 5
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