February 13-19, 2015
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Ellicottville Times
Edward ‘Ted’ LaCroix 1940-2015 Mr. Edward ‘Ted’ LaCroix, 74, of Great Valley, died Friday, Feb. 6, 2015 at St. John the Baptist Hospice Center in Buffalo following a long illness. Born Dec. 29, 1940, in Salamanca, he was a son of the late Edward and June Fuller LaCroix. He was married Aug. 11, 1991, on the Chautauqua Belle in Bemus Point, to Amy DeTine, who survives. Mr. LaCroix grew up in Allegany State Park and competed in many interstate skiing competitions there and around the state, earning numerous medals in crosscountry skiing, downhill and giant slalom racing and 30/50 meter ski jumps, as well as combined events. Mr. LaCroix was a graduate of Randolph High School, Class of 1958. He had been employed at Holiday Valley Ski Resort in Ellicottville for 29 years, retiring in 2005 as the general manager of
food service. He previously had driven a school bus for the Salamanca City School District, was a barber at the former Doug’s Barber Shop in Salamanca, a cashier at the A&P grocery store and a bartender at the former Salamanca Moose Lodge. He served three terms as councilman for the town of Great Valley and was the deputy supervisor for the town of Great Valley. He also served on the Cattaraugus County Fair Board for more than nine years. Ted was an avid New York Yankees fan, coached Junior League All-Star baseball teams, and was a faithful Oakland Raiders football fan. He enjoyed the outdoors: hunting, skiing and golfing. In his retirement, he renewed his love of horses and became an adept trainer, especially with his own American paint horses. Ted enjoyed spending time with his family, especially his
grandchildren. Surviving besides his wife are four children, Mary Kay (Earl) Jenks of Barre, Tim LaCroix of Winston Salem, NC, Jay (Peggy Ognen) LaCroix of Ellicottville, and Suzie (Dan) Stone of Jamestown; one brother, Terry (Paula) LaCroix of Salamanca; five grandchildren, Katie Manfre of Hamlin, Jessica and Nicholas LaCroix of Ellicottville and Brianna and Bryce Stone of Jamestown; and several nieces and nephews. Funeral services were held Wednesday, Feb. 11 at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Ellicottville with the Rev. Michael Lonto, pastor of St. Mary’s Episcopal Church, officiating. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorials be made to Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo Hospice or the Ellicottville/Great Valley Recreational Trail.
‘Tinker’ M. Feldman 1955 - 2015 “Tinker” M. Feldman of Mill Valley Rd., East Otto, died Thursday, Feb. 5, 2015 at Buffalo General Hospital at the age of 59. She was born March 4, 1955 in Salamanca, NY, a daughter to Lucille (Loveless) Harris of Ellicottville and the late Arthur “Bud” Poole. She was a member of the Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Ellicottville. She enjoyed antiquing and spending time
with her grandchildren. She also loved dogs. She was a homemaker. She is survived by her husband, Dennis “Denny” Feldman, whom she married Feb. 19, 1977 in Ellicottville; her daughter Sara (Randy) Krotz of Ellicottville; two brothers, Peter (Ann) Poole of Little Valley and Bobby Poole of Ellicottville; three grandchildren, Lisa, Zackary and Katie Krotz; her brother-
in-law Paul (Carol) Bell of Frewsburg; also survived by several nieces and nephews. She is preceded in death by her father and her sister, Lisa Bell. Funeral services were held on Thursday, Feb. 12 at Holy Name of Mary Roman Catholic Church in Ellicottville. Online condolences may be offered at www. smithweismantelfuneralhome. com.
IDA Business Incubator Continued from Front Page
improve its downtown and create a vibrant urban community with a “walkable” city center, partners of the incubator effort see an opportunity to support those goals by breathing “new life and a timely purpose into an historic landmark,” and by repurposing the renovated space as “a catalyst from which new services, entrepreneurs and businesses emerge.” According to the business plan provided for CCIDA board members at its Thursday, Feb. 5 meeting, the first step in the process will be to renovate the four-story building at 301 N. Union Street, site of the former Olean Business Institute. The 20,000-square-foot building, which has been vacant since 2013, requires both interior and exterior improvements, including new windows, installation of an elevator, a new HVAC system, build-out of office spaces and significant technology upgrades. Once the renovations are made, the partners expect to initially accommodate a few start-up companies, a cluster of Olean-based non-profits and anchor tenants from the private sector, along with the GOACC and the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation. Larry Sorokes, GOACC president and spokesperson for the project, noted that the building’s proximity to Jamestown Community College’s new technology center and a Start-Up NY office is one key to the incubator’s success. He said, “We’re trying to … build a more positive climate for startups and entrepreneurs to show that we’re really in the game here.” Sorokes also hopes that the
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By William Thomas
Jose Afonso Retires Doorman to the Stars I have shaken the hand that shook the hand of kings and queens, presidents and prime ministers, Hollywood stars and the world’s greatest spies. And last month I shook that cordial, soft hand for the very last time. Jose Antonio Azevedo Afonso
is retiring after 63 years as the doorman of the grand Hotel Palacio in Estoril, Portugal. I have been greeted by this man at the entrance to one of Europe’s classiest hotels on five occasions and he always makes me feel I’ve come to stay in his home, where all the staff are family. In his blue suit with a red cape and matching cap, set off by the white gloves and gold chains draped over his left shoulder, Jose Afonso wears the uniform of a doorman with pride. He has bowed to greet the most beautiful women in all the world, including Rita Hayworth, Gina Lollobrigida, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Audrey Hepburn. “Grace Kelly,” said Jose, “was very nice.” With her, he had his picture taken. Jose Afonso met Van Johnson and helped ensure Rex Harrison’s privacy when the English actor preferred to dine alone in the Grill Four Seasons restaurant. Orson Wells, Ed Sullivan, Tyrone Power and Tony Blair - Jose has something nice to say about them all. Maurice Chevalier hummed in the elevator. Jose has had a quiet word with some of the world’s greatest movers and shakers, like Henry Ford II, the Agha Khan, the Rockefellers and the Rothschilds and Indira Nehru,
later Gandhi and the third Prime Minister of India. The close-knit towns of Estoril, Cascais and Sintra formed a triangular refugee camp for the world’s rich and famous. What with World War II raging across Europe and Portugal being entirely neutral, this lush land sweeping up the mountains from the beaches of the Atlantic became a haven for deposed kings and ex-queens, as well as displaced dukes, duchesses, counts and countesses. Refugees with sprawling farms or fourstory villas and bank accounts in Switzerland. So many royalty lived in this tiny enclave, the Atlantic here was called “The Coast of Kings.” One James Bond, George Lazenby of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service not only stayed at The Palacio, but the fictional James Bond was actually born here. Ian Fleming returned to the Palacio after the war with the files of his favourite agent and friend, Dusan Popov, the Yugoslavian spy they called “The Tricycle.” Fleming wrote on the balcony of Room #521 with a view of the ocean, the park and the Estoril Casino. That’s where Popov became Bond and Casino Royale became the first of a series of 12 books that created an industry of 23 Hollywood movies. A welcoming witness to all that fame - Jose Afonso was a 19-year-old kid from a poor family when he got his first job at the hotel as a bell boy. You might not think that the job of a doorman is one to be coveted or cherished for 63 years, but this was The Palacio, the jewel of European hostelry. Amid all the pomp and circumstance, a gaffe was bound to happen. The American couple, Cindy Adams and Joey Adams, visited The Palacio in the 50’s - he to vacation, her to collect gossip. Joey was a comedian and humour writer and Cindy was one of the most successful gossip columnists of her day. The rich and famous who gathered for high tea every afternoon adorned with satin
sashes and glittering jewels were rich fodder for Cindy’s writing. The interview that Cindy drooled over was a one-onone with a frequent visitor to the hotel, the King Umberto of Italy. He was addressed at The Palacio as Sua Excelencia Rei, pronounced ‘Ray.’ For weeks Cindy hounded The Palacio public relations director to set up the meeting. With little time left in her visit, the PR guy finally made the royal connection. He was standing in the lobby next to the King of Italy when Cindy entered with bundles of handcrafted souvenirs and gifts for the folks back home. Excited, she was showing off her purchases to the staff when the PR man finally got her attention and said: “Your Excellency, may I present Cindy Adams. Cindy, this is Rei Umberto.” Bubbly, as was her nature and still not quite focused, Cindy cheerily replied: “Hello Ray, what did you say your last name is?” Cindy had stopped just short of asking him to help her with her parcels. Kings don’t have last names. Cindy didn’t get the interview and Joey Adams, a stand-up comedian, was likely crushed by being upstaged by his wife. Please understand - I do not have the means to live in the lap of luxury, but once in awhile, like a curious cat, I like to jump up there to see what goes on. Thank you Jose, for showing me around. Adeus Jose Afonso! You have earned a peaceful retirement in your beloved city of Braga. The stories you tell your great grandchildren will sound like fairy tales, except they’ll all be true. For comments, ideas and copies of The True Story of Wainfleet, go to www.williamthomas.ca
Eagles Sports Roundup By Todd Palmatier
Olean Chamber President Larry Sorokes (third from left) describes a business incubator for the CCIDA board.
project will help to reverse another issue facing the community. “One of our biggest problems is the outmigration of our younger people.… If we can engage students and get them involved in business development,” he said, “hopefully they can identify with this community as home.” The project, which is estimated to cost up to $2 million, has already received a $400,000 grant through the state’s Regional Economic Development Council. CCIDA Executive Director Corey Wiktor said that the project is consistent with CCIDA policy and IDA legislation and is also “an opportunity to address a criticism IDAs often face — that we don’t spend enough time on small businesses,” Wiktor said. “This project allows us to deliver adaptive reuse” of a vacant building that will immediately go back on the property tax rolls “while at the same time supports small businesses and gives them the opportunity to grow.” The application to the IDA is for sales tax abatement, Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) and, potentially mortgage recording tax abatement for the building’s adaptive reuse.
Mike Kent benefit • Photos by Jennie Acklin
Sorokes and Wiktor both noted that this project is still in planning stages and that the CCIDA board was not being asked to make any decisions yet. However, the board did pass a resolution stating that it is considering the project and will request public input through a public hearing. It also agreed to begin the State Environmental Quality Review process for the IDA’s internal purposes. In other business, the CCIDA board approved an application for sales tax abatement, PILOT and potential mortgage recording tax abatement for the purchase and renovation of a vacant warehouse by Premo Limousine Service of WNY, LLC. Premo is purchasing the warehouse at 117 S. Fourth St. in Olean to house its fleet of charter buses and other tour vehicles, purchase additional vehicles and hire more drivers. Premo’s business, with main offices at 301 S. Union St. in Olean, has been expanding over the past few years and is adding more tourism services. The estimated cost of the expansion is $500,000. The next meeting of the CCIDA board will be held on Tuesday, March 17 at 11:15 a.m. in the IDA offices at 3 Washington St. in Ellicottville.
In boys basketball, the Eagles 5/6 Grade team took to the courts in the Hill-Warner Double Elimination Tourney held at Genesee Valley Central School in Belmont, NY. The Eagles finished 2nd overall out of 11 teams. The Eagles began the tourney with a dominant performance over the CubaRushford team, leading from beginning to end with a double digit win. Leif Jimerson and Hayden Rust led the scoring while Harrison Newark led the Eagles with double digit rebounds. The Eagles next took on Immaculate Conception School of Wellsville, where Clayton Rowland and Wyatt Chudy shut down ICS’s two big men and led the team in scoring. Xander Ireland, Emilio Chavarria and Jameson Caldwell chipped in valuable points and rebounds. The Eagles then took on the Allegany Gators in the winners bracket and lost a 34-33 game in the last seconds on a layup at the buzzer. In the fourth game of the day, the Eagles again took on ICS and dominated the game from beginning to end. The Eagles were led by Braedyn Palmatier and Liam Jimerson. That win over ICS took the Eagles into another match up with the Allegany Gators. The Eagles took the lead in the first half and held a 9-point lead going into the final minutes of the game, but after battling back and forth, they lost on a lastsecond basket by the Gators. Coaches Phil Jimerson and Todd Palmatier praised these young men for their fight and told them that their hard work is paying off. The ECS basketball community has a lot of positive players coming into the school’s programs. Coach Palmatier said after 10 grueling hours of basketball, these boys were champions in our hearts. The Eagles move on to the Coudersport tourney on Feb. 28. The Eagles varsity boys’ basketball team finished the week with a 1-1 record,
winning a league match up over the Pine Valley Panthers on Saturday morning. Leading the way was freshman Elliott Bowen with 24 points and 14 rebounds and junior Jonas Hurlburt chipped in 7points for the Eagles. In Monday night’s match up with the Forestville Hornets, the Eagles played a back and forth game that saw both teams turn the ball over more than 25 times. The Hornets won a close 51-49 battle. The Eagles were led by Bowen 22 points and 16 rebounds and Griffin Chudy with15 points, 3 rebounds and 2 assists. The Eagles are now 11-7 overall and 6-3 in league play. The varsity team next takes on North Collins to finish out the regular season on Thursday night in North Collins. The Eagles boys’ JV basketball team lost both games this past week to Pine Valley and Forestville. In the Pine Valley game, freshmen Deric Leiper, Noah Stuve and Evan Palmatier led the Eagles in scoring, while in the Forestville game the Eagles were led by Austin Whitmer, Brennan Finn, Mitchell Sexton and Robert Neumann. The boy’s modified basketball team won its fourth game in a row, defeating AlleganyLimestone 38-32. The whole team put in its best defensive effort in the upset win. Leading the team in a strong rebounding game were Griffin Haley with 21 rebounds, Thomas Hackett with 9 rebounds and Steven Rowland with 8. Rowland led the scoring attack with 18 points. Griffin Haley added 8 and Thomas Hackett chipped in 6. The modified team defeated Portville Friday night 4128 for its fifth straight win. Leading the scoring for the Eagles was Rowland with 20 points. Jordan Grinols had 7 points and Mitchell Gregory added 6. In the dominant rebounding game, the team was led by Haley’s 17 rebounds. Rowland added 8 and Brenden
Chudy, Nik Logel and Thomas Hackett all added 5 boards in the win. The Girls’ varsity basketball team had another good week 3-0 on the court as they beat West Valley on Friday night 5726, Hinsdale on Monday night 49-26 and Forestville on Tuesday night 59-27. This puts the Eagles 11-7 overall on the season and 7-3 in league play on the season. The Eagles were led offensively by Marissa Hamilton, Alexis Woodin, Evelyn Cortez and Linnea Jimerson, while the defense was led by Cheyenne Maybee, Caitlyn Golley and Courtney Charlesworth. The girls next take on North Collins Friday night which is also Senior Night. The Ellicottville Youth Grapplers were in action over the weekend in Bradford, PA, with Noah Morlock coming home with a 1st place finish on Saturday. Simon Clark finished 4th in his weight class and Zac Clark, who did not place, had a very good weekend and was said to have wrestled his hardest matches of the year. Simon Clark returned to Bradford on Sunday and finished the day 4-0 to win his weight class. The ECS Alpine Ski team has a meet this week to see which skiers will compete in the NY State Championships. In youth football news, the Ellicottville Little Eagles’ Pee Wee head coach Brad Hurley retired after serving for 17-years in the role. As coach, he won the Super Bowls in 2006, 2011 and 2012 and also had three undefeated regular seasons. Hurley will now assume the role of President of the Cattaraugus County Midget Football League. The Little Eagles and I, personally, would like to thank Hurley for all his hard work, dedication and commitment to Youth Football in Ellicottville. The Little Eagles are planning a retirement party for Coach Hurley in the near future. Again, thank you Brad, and good luck.