THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF THE TOWN AND VILLAGE OF ELLICOTTVILLE, NEW YORK THE OFFICIAL NEWSPAPER OF GREAT VALLEY, NEW YORK
VOLUME 1 ISSUE 42 FREE www.EllicottvilleTimes.com
Merry Christmas!
© 2012 KEYSTONE DESIGNERS
FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012
NFSC Hosts Gold Team Only Top Ski Racers Selected
by Jennie Acklin
At Holiday Valley, ski racers are mentored and coached by a caring group of dedicated coaches, but a handful who make the elite Gold Team get a special chance to take it to the
next level. Miguel Azcarate, a former professional ski racer for Spain and Gold Team chairperson, provides this group of top Western New York athletes,
an Olympic-style ski camp with specialized training through the Niagara Frontier Ski Council (NFSC), which is composed of Holiday Valley,
ECS Expresses Sorrow
Taking Steps to Improve Security By Jann Wiswall
The ECS Board of Education met briefly on Tuesday, Dec. 18, 2013, for its regular meeting and then adjourned to attend a scheduled meeting See Azcarate/Gold Team page 5 with the architects and financial consultants involved in the proposed school building renovation project (see Capital Improvements, page 9). Tuesday was the second
day of school following the tragedy in Newtown, Conn., and both Superintendent Mark Ward and Elementary School Principal Connie Poulin relayed to the board that it had been an emotionally challenging couple of days and the subject had been all consuming. “We can’t control everything and everyone,” said Ward, “but there are some actions we can
take, and we will take them. I want parents, children and our staff to know that we’re being vigilant in keeping them safe.” Poulin said that parents and colleagues have been understandably anxious and upset. She visited all of the grades 4-6 classrooms to talk about the tragedy and let students express their concerns. See ECS Sorrow page 8
Championship Snocross Comes to Salamanca Nationally Televised by CBS Sports
A few of the NFSC ski team members with coach MIguel Azcarate and Marth Buyer
January Heats up with Winter Blues Festival
by Sue Whistler
Santa has returned to the North Pole, you’ve cleaned up the confetti and Champagne corks and sung your last chorus of “Auld Lang Syne” for the
season. Now what? Don’t start singing the blues. Instead, head on down to Ellicottville for the 13th annual Winter Blues Weekend and let some of the
best blues bands in Western New York do the singing for you. Beginning Friday night, Jan. 4, 2013, Ellicottville’s hot spots See Winter Blues page 4
Fact Or Fiction:
L.L. Bean Is Coming To Town?
property. Research to verify this That’s the word around town – L.L. Bean is coming to rumor led to the discovery of Ellicottville and is being built a sales web page that strongly at the site of the former Signore suggested Iskalo Ellicottville
by Eva Potter
Holdings, LLC, owner of the old Signore site located at 5557 Jefferson St., is ready to begin developing the property. See Coming to Town page 8
Photo by Wayne Davis
There will be snow this February in Salamanca, N.Y. Even if it feels like spring outside from Feb. 22–24, crews will turn one million gallons of water into snow over a football-field-sized plot of land immediately east of Seneca Allegany Casino & Hotel. It will include snowmobile tracks with wicked twists and turns, as well as ramps that will send vehicles flying dozens of feet into the air. It’s all part of the excitement that will take place when the AMSOIL Championship Snocross Series comes to Western New York for the first time ever. The series of weekend events are designed for the whole family and will make spectators’ hearts pump fast. More than 200 See Snocross page 6