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AUGUST 9 - AUGUST 15, 2019
VOLUME 4 ISSUE 32
CAR. TR. MKTG MAIL US POSTAGE PAID PERMIT NO. 244 BRADFORD, PA
L I L V E G SP RIN TIMES
The official newspaper of the Town of Concord, and the Village of Springville. Serving Springville, the surrounding communities and Springville-Griffith Institute Central Schools
Executive director of Love INC retires By Alex Simmons Wendy Cocca, the executive director of Love INC of Springville, has retired after many years of service. “Working for a nonprofit organization is exciting, challenging and sometimes scary,” Cocca said, reflecting on her time with Love INC. Cocca got her start in 1997 where she was an office volunteer, she said, and eventually moved on to staff in 2007. After her few years as a staff member at Love INC, Cocca moved into the position of “Executive Director, in 2010, immediately after I completed a degree at Houghton College,” she said. Cocca is a member of the First Presbyterian Church in Springville, saying “our church is very mission-
oriented.” She felt that Love INC was a good way to “serve Christ’s church,” she said, while over time, it “turned into a vocation.” Love INC, or Love In The Name of Christ of Springville “is a local affiliate of a national movement,” Cocca explained. Love INC “opened in 1996 in the basement of Joylan Theater,” she said. “We are a network of 17 Christian churches within a 15 mile radius of Springville.” The organization’s mission is to “connect people with churches — to help meet needs with resources that are available within our network of churches.” “There are some restrictions on our funding and activities because we are a faith-based organization,” Cocca said. “However, those don’t outweigh the privilege and
responsibility we have to share our faith, and to love and care for one another.” With Cocca’s retirement from Love INC, the Board of Directors is accepting applications for the position of Executive Director. “The position is 30 hours per week,” and you “must be active in the Love INC church network and willing to lead and grow this local ministry,” she said. Applications are available on the Love INC website at www. loveincspringville.com. Anyone interested must submit their resume and application by Aug. 15. You can submit your resume to Jen Shearer, board president, at jenshearer4@yahoo.com. Applications should be mailed to Love INC at 62 East Main St. Springville, NY 14141.
Submitted photo Wendy Cocca, executive director of Love INC of Springville, has retired after more than two decades of service to the local nonprofit organization.
Springville’s Art’s Cafe partners Erie County Fair’s 180th year runs through Aug. 18 with NYS preservation organization
By Kellen M. Quigley Dubbed “The Best 12 Days of Summer,” the Erie County Fair’s 180th year is now underway, running daily through Aug. 18. The Erie County Fair has many ties to Springville, even being held here in 1867 and Springville-Griffith Institute graduate Jessica Underberg as the current
fair manager and CEO, but it’s been a summertime tradition in Hamburg for the past 151 years. Although some aspects of the event have changed with the times, the idea of having one place for people to gather annually for 12 days of attractions and fun has remained steadfast. Erie County Fair runs daily from 9 a.m. to
11 p.m. daily through Aug. 18 at the Hamburg Fairgrounds, 5600 McKinley Parkway in Hamburg. Tickets cost $12 for adults and $9 for seniors, but kids 12 years and younger get in for free. This year’s main grandstand attraction is Kane Brown, a 25-yearSee Fair page 2
Times file photo
A renovation project in Springville called Art’s Cafe has been utilizing some unusual financing, providing community members and businesses the opportunity to support the project and receive tax credits in return for their investment. Now with a loan from The Preservation League
of New York State, the tax credit program has gotten even easier to participate in. Art’s Cafe acquired a collapsed historic Main Street building and is transforming it into a small performance space, art workshop, two artist residencies and a public green roof centered around a
bakery-cafe. Spearheaded by the nonprofit Springville Center for the Arts, Art’s Cafe will expand art and educational opportunities in the area with a variety of new programs and the mission of the cafe is to build community See Art Cafe page 2
A Look Back: Strates Shows at the Erie County Fair
By Jolene Hawkins
Looking back to when kids and adults would wait anxiously for the train to show up with all the equipment for the rides and sideshows for the fair or carnival. Were you one of them? The train still comes to the Erie County Fair in Hamburg. James E. Strate still comes back every year. Strates Shows is America’s only railroad carnival. It travels the United States for the seven-month season, going from fair to fair. It transports personnel
and equipment with around 60 cars and 34 trucks. Traveling with the show are some 400 employees and families who operate the many rides, games and concessions. Strates Shows has a history dating back to 1923, when James E. Strates, a Greek immigrant, began his first show. Mr. Strates came to America in 1909, and like so many others, he worked odd jobs here and there. In 1919, he joined the Lee Schaefer’s carnival athletic show as a wrestler, under the name of “Young Strangler Lewis” taking on all challengers. The circus
we had that came to Springville in 1937 had such a wrestling match. By 1923 he and two partners, Nick Bozinis and W.L. Platt, and had acquired the Southern Tier Shows. The first show consisted of a merry-go-round, Ferris Wheel, an athletic show, 15 concessions, three sideshows and five hard rubber tire trucks. Times were hard that season so Strates bought out his partners the following year. During the Great Depression, he like other businesses struggled to stay afloat. In 1927, Strates purchased an old plant near Elmira in order to help facilitate
equipment maintenance. He grew his show into 11 major acts, traveling the area with 18 trucks. In 1932, he changed its name to the James E. Strates Shows. Beginning in 1934, he purchased his first flatbed railroad car to haul equipment, eventually operating 40 cars. He bought smaller companies over the next few years to enlarge his business. On Dec. 22, 1945, a fire engulfed a barn holding all of Strates’ midway equipment, which was being stored for the winter in Mullins, S.C. His train was the only useable piece that remained. Luck was
on his side as he was
See A Look Back page 3