FREE! TAKE ONE! NOVEMBER 20 - 26, 2015
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 47
The Official Newspaper
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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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Winter Arts Festival Nov. 21-22
Upcoming Events November 21-22 Winter Arts Festival Holiday Valley
Art, music, crafts and more collide this weekend at the first annual Winter Arts Festival, presented by the Cattaraugus County Arts Council (CCAC). This weekend-long event will be held at Holiday Valley’s Main Lodge, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 4 p.m. on Sunday. Get your holiday shopping started and finished by browsing two floors of original paintings, prints, photographs, pottery, jewelry, baskets, woodcarving and fiber arts. Add to the fun by checking out a variety of live music throughout the festival. Saturday will feature Chordiac Arrest at 11 a.m., Ade Adu at 3:30 p.m. and Luke Yerpe & Charlotte Stock at 5 p.m. Sunday features the Honey Punks at noon and the trombone group Let It Slide at 1:30 p.m. Kids are welcome! Children can make two holiday ornaments from noon to 5 p.m. on Saturday and noon to 3 p.m. on Sunday. If you’re feeling lucky, purchase tickets and take your chance to win baskets from Hog Shed Studio, Studio 4 East, The Critter Ranch, Four Mile Brewing, John Harvard’s Brew House, Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, A. Jason Clemons Salon, a knife set courtesy of CUTCO, and tickets to Olean Community Theater’s performance of “Love, Loss and What I Wore” at the Palmer Opera House. Finally, visitors are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to donate to the Ellicottville Food Pantry. Support the local arts movement and enjoy this funfilled event!
November 27 Christmas in Ellicottville begins November 27 Tentative Opening Day Holiday Valley
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November 28 Small Business Saturday Shop local in Ellicottville! December 3 Senior Citizen Dinner at ECS December 4 Irish Christmas December 5 Christmas Stroll & Living Nativity December 19 Demo Day Holiday Valley December 31 New Year’s Eve Party & Torchlight Parade Holiday Valley
See Third in the East page 9
Christmas in Ellicottville Not Just a Day, But a Season
Ellicottville Salt Cave Celebrates First Anniversary By Alicia Dziak
By Jann Wiswall
The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce has begun actively promoting “Christmas in Ellicottville” as a season-long event to all of its thousands and thousands of followers. But don’t worry. All your favorite celebrations and activities will continue. “This is a way to effectively communicate a whole month of activities – whether sponsored by the Chamber or other organizations – to our guests,” said Brian McFadden, the Chamber’s executive director.
The holidays are busy, fun, exciting and...stressful! When you want to get away from it all, Ellicottville has just the place for you—The Ellicottville Salt Cave, which is celebrating its first anniversary this month. If you haven’t checked it out since it opened in November
See Salt Cave page 2
Does the Route 219 Extension Have a Chance? Regional Leaders Renew Push for Funding, Action
See Christmas in EVL page 6
McAndrew Defeats Burrell
By Daniel Meyer
Four Votes, One Winner
The proposed extension of the Route 219 Expressway between Salamanca and Springville continues to be identified as a key piece
By Jann Wiswall
Matt McAndrew has won the election for Ellicottville Town Supervisor by four votes. The Cattaraugus County Board of Elections confirmed the news on Tuesday, Nov. 17 after counting the 25 absentee ballots that kept the results of the Nov. 3 general election in limbo. The final count was McAndrew 217, Burrell 213. Both McAndrew and Burrell thanked their supporters for their votes. McAndrew, a Democrat who has worked for the county’s Department of Public Works for 36 years, observed that “the town was really divided, but apparently there were enough people who thought it was time for a change. In the end, there was only one winner.” Burrell, the Republican incumbent who had sought a third term, said he is “grateful to have served as your supervisor for the past eight years. I look forward to serving the community in the future on the See EVL Town Supervisor page 7
2014, this weekend is the perfect time to do so, as they will be holding an open house on Saturday, Nov. 21 and Sunday, Nov. 22. “A year ago this was just a vision,” said owner Tracy Draper. “Today I have been blessed to meet friendly clients who come from all over to
of the puzzle to improving transportation in the region while providing better commuter access and greatly improving public safety. Elected officials and other major stakeholders in the community are expressing optimism that the project will See Rte. 219 Extension page 8
Town Board Creates New Highway Dept. Structure Passes 2016 Budget with No Tax Increase By Jann Wiswall
After many months of work and planning, the Town of Ellicottville’s Board has created a new position of ‘Working Supervisor’ in the highway department. The position was
offered to acting highway superintendent Loyd Hovey. The board also has offered the job of highway superintendent to Mark Alianello. Neither Hovey nor Alianello have yet accepted the offers, which would take effect Jan. 1, 2016. The board formalized these actions and made the offers
in executive session during its meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 18 and reported them to the public after resuming the regular meeting. In Nov. 2014, Ellicottville voters approved a proposal to change the elected position of Ellicottville highway superintendent to an appointed See Town Board page 9