In Years Past

In 1944, nearly half of the reserve officers of the U.S. Army or Navy living in Jamestown and expected to be called into federal service at any moment were either physicians or dentists, and the ranks of the two professions were to be materially depleted when they were gone. There were at present 25 reserve officers in town, several others had already entered federal service. Included in the list were 10 doctors and two dentists.

Lakewood officials and residents wanted to study ways and means to improve Lakewood and attract new buildings and residents to the village. Steps included revision of zoning and building ordinances and eliminating the industrial zone to assure the public the village would be maintained as a residential village. It was suggested approach and entry signs be placed on the main highway directing the public to the village and its proposed information bureau that would be housed in the village clerk’s office. A group was formed to finalize definite plans and a program.

In 1966, Charles E. Beckstrand and John R. Miller, Republican candidates for the Lakewood Village Board, spoke to 16 people in the home of Mr. and Mrs. Alanson Towne. Among the topics discussed were availability of recreation facilities the entire year – particularly the village beach. Costs for such a program would be minimal. They also thought a study should be given to establishing a recreational facility in the Crest area and that the are of Beechwood Park could be much improved.

Bill Berrier, manager of the Jamestown Dodgers, the Los Angeles Dodgers’ New York-Penn League team, impressed during a visit to Jamestown to speak to those behind the local baseball operation. It was Berrier’s first managerial job. “I’m sure the Dodgers will be behind me 100 percent with a very representative club,” Berrier told the directors. “We’ll do our very best.” Of concern to the directors was the addition of Oneonta as a destination. “With this added expense, we have our work cut out for us and we must start pushing our ticket sales,” said Lou Shepherd, board president.

In 2006, Saying County Executive Greg Edwards is taking credit for Mark Thomas’ work, one Jamestown legislator lashed out on Monday. Joe Trusso, D-Jamestown, released a statement blasting the county executive for “taking credit for a .25 percent sales tax cut that was enacted under the (Mark) Thomas Administration.” “When politicians try and take credit for something they had absolutely nothing to do with, you have to wonder about their moral compass,” Trusso said. “With Medicaid relief last year, we cut the sales tax. Not only did Greg Edwards have nothing to do with it, he criticized it. Now we are cutting the home heating tax and Edwards opposes that.” Edwards unseated Thomas, a two-term county executive, in November. Trusso cited a Sunday Post-Journal article in which Edwards announced his signing a resolution to lower the sales tax. Edwards said a careful reading of his press release would have shown he was applauding the legislature and Thomas with working together, not trying to take credit himself. “I wasn’t taking any credit for that, just indicating that’s example of elected officials working together,” Edwards said.

As part of a series investigating the history and future of oil and gas production in Chautauqua County. Jeremy Martin paid $126.30 for last month’s gas bill – lower than some Broadhead Avenue neighbors – because he installed 12 energy efficient windows in his half electric heated home. “We didn’t see a cost increase,” Martin said. But the windows cost him something, just as extra insulation cost Jan Legere. The Kiantone senior citizen heats with fuel oil and firewood inside his home’s shell he super-insulated for savings. Without a senior citizen heating supplement, he said he’d be strictly heating with wood. “I only go by when they fill the tank,” Legere said. “It used to cost $200 to $250, now it’s up over $600.” By his own calculations, burning that fuel oil costs him $15 a day. “A good, dried truckload of firewood (pieces) costs me $20 and lasts a week and a half,” he said.

In 2011, Granted a rare fourth attempt in her American-record bid in the pole vault, 2008 Olympic silver medalist Jenn Suhr cleared 15-feet, 11-inches Sunday in the USA Indoor Track and Field Championships. Officials determined the bar was improperly set on her unsuccessful third try, so Suhr got another opportunity and made good, upping her own mark of two years ago by an inch. Suhr, the former Jenn Stuczynski, a is 2000 Fredonia High School graduate and was inducted into the Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame in 2009.

The road to becoming an experienced and respected doctor in any field can be challenging, but Lisa Caronia, a 2003 graduate of Jamestown High School, may just have a head start. Just in her first year at The Ohio State College of Medicine, Ms. Caronia has already been published in The New England Journal of Medicine for research she conducted before she started medical school, on a condition known as Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea. Her article, titled “A Genetic Basis for Functional Hypothalamic Amenorrhea,” is based on more than two years of research she collected and analyzed during her time working at Massachusetts General Hospital, in Boston, and she is credited as the article’s lead researcher among a team of more than a dozen of already accomplished M.D.s and Ph.D.s that came together to create the article.

In Years Past

In 1941, property at 406-420 Fairmount Ave. was sold to a Connecticut man who planned to operate a Howard Johnson restaurant. Robert O. Branch expected the restaurant to open by June 1. The total cost of the restaurant was to be $75,000, with the building designed so that the wings, which doubled the seating capacity, could be added without detracting from the building’s main lines. It was expected the restaurant would employ about 40 people.

At least one City Council member was certain adequate snowplowing equipment for the municipal airport was an absolute necessity. William G. McCool was a passenger in a light plane owned by the Jamestown Aviation Club that plopped headlong into a snowbank, smashing the propeller. No one was injured in the incident. The mishap happened as a group of councilmen were studying the Municipal Airport Commission’s request for snow removal equipment.

In 2006, Judith Scheindlin, star of the syndicated “courtroom” show Judge Judy, heard a local dispute between two Celoron residents – plaintiff Charlene Heidorn and defendant Nedra Anderson. The issue: the $250 Ms. Heidorn had to pay in legal fees after Mrs. Anderson pressed charges against her for an alleged incident at the Sept. 12 Celoron Village Board meeting. The ruling: for the plaintiff. “It was the chance of a lifetime,” Ms. Heidorn said. Criminal charges filed against her after the incident – which involved an alleged physical threat toward Mrs. Anderson during what was described as an especially volatile meeting in Celoron – had been dismissed. But Ms. Heidorn wanted to get back the $250 she spent in legal fees, so she filed suit against Mrs. Anderson in civil court. In the end, though, Scheindlin ruled that Ms. Heidorn was entitled to her $250 back.

The Busti Fire Department had two special guests at its recent meeting. Gena Jenkins of Wellman Road and her dog, Gunnar, attended to express their appreciation for being rescued from a pond near Cowing Road on Feb. 11. On that day, Ms. Jenkins had taken Gunnar for a walk when he broke loose to chase some geese that were on a large pond. After getting about 20 feet onto the pond, Gunnar, a 2-year-old, 175-pound registered Newfoundland, broke through the ice. Ms. Jenkins called for help and crawled out on the pond and held Gunnar’s head up until Busti firefighters arrived. Also responding were Randy Hockenberry and Don Edwards, members of the county’s Water Emergency Team. Upon arrival, Tim Young of the Busti Department and Hockenberry donned special wet suits and entered the water and were able to help Ms. Jenkins back to shore. They then broke a path through the ice and helped Gunnar back to safety. Other than being cold and wet, Ms. Jenkins and Gunnar were in good condition and did not require any medical attention.

In 2011, New York state’s pension system was not sustainable, local elected officials said. The situation’s not a new problem though. It has been acknowledged and addressed for years now, but continues to be a cause of concern. “There’s no doubt that we desperately need pension reform,” said state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean. “Costs are driving up taxes on our local people and we need to give them relief.” Young continued on to explain that while changes have been made, such as the creation of a new tier in the pension system, the reform didn’t go far enough. The city of Jamestown alone has seen a 4,276 percent increase in its pension payment since 1999. “We all have to belong,” Mayor Sam Teresi said Thursday. “There is only one public employee pension system in the state of New York. Individual local governments cannot go out and create their own retirement benefits plan. We have to enroll our people and pay the premium in the state’s pension program.”

Appleyard has replaced some really bad apples, yielding a much-improved crop among the residential streets of Jamestown. Mike Bradshaw, executive director of the Citizen’s Opportunity for Development and Equality, said his organization invests in a mix of rehabilitating existing residences as well as creating new rental units. The management of these properties gives CODE a safety blanket of funds to refurbish these units in perpetuity. But he added that any extra revenue is lined up for CODE’s other obligation – clearing away some of the housing overstock. “Doing projects like this,” Bradshaw said as he gestured uphill from the corner of Winsor and Crescent streets, “the added benefit is that it keeps us going on the cycle of rehabilitation and demolition. The problem is there are no funds available on the state or federal level that I am aware of that allow just demolition.”

In Years Past

In 1941, the Jamestown Citizen’s Committee for Smoke Abatement was still trying to get responses from all downtown building owners about the types of fuel they used to heat their buildings. The drive to secure replies was being made in preparation of a committee meeting. Responses received indicated interest and approval of a general move to bring the smoke from heating systems under control in downtown Jamestown. Of those replying, 30 heated with coal, 31 with gas, 12 with oil, one with electricity and two had the fuel unlisted because it was up to tenants and not the building owner to heat the building. Excessive smoke was seen as damaging to the community.

Injury of a schoolboy resulted in a school traffic patrol in the Willard Street school area. A boy riding his bicycle in the area had been badly injured in a hit-and-run accident. Hugh Gillis, assistant school superintendent, suggested the patrol to Amanda Nelson, school superintendent. Nelson conferred with faculty members, who all agreed with the proposal. Harold C. White, Jamestown Automobile Club secretary, was asked to confer with Nelson to form the patrol.

In 1966, a Lackawanna man driving a tractor-trailer loaded with black-strap molasses was injured when he ditched his vehicle to avoid a collision with a car on Route 60 about 1.5 miles north of Gerry. Troopers said about 5,000 gallons of molasses oozed along the ditch, under a culvert and spread to the lawn of a nearby home. The tank trailer overturned in the ditch while the truck tractor broke loose and continued on, hitting a power pole carrying a 4,500 volt line. The wires grazed a vehicle driven by Bernice McLaughlin of Fredonia and came to rest across the trailer tank. The driver of the tractor-trailer had minor injuries.

Gov. Nelson Rockefeller protested a proposed $25 million cut in federal aid for airport development that could cost the Jamestown and Olean airports. The governor said New York’s share in previous years had been between $5.5 and $10.2 million and could be anywhere from $3.7 to $6.8 million if the cuts were allowed to stand.

In 2006, The first state-mandated snowmobile speed limit, set at 55 miles per hour, goes into effect today. And, local snowmobile clubs don’t seem too upset about it. “It’s good for the sport,” said Steve Latone, Ellery Sno-Cruisers club president. The speed limit is part of a larger piece of legislation submitted in March by Assemblyman Joseph Morelle, D-Rochester. The Legislature passed the bill in June and Gov. George Pataki signed it Aug. 30, the effective date set for 180 days later. Previously, it was unlawful for snowmobilers to operate “at a rate of speed greater than reasonable or proper under the surrounding circumstances,” according to the state Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation law.

For years, the thought of an enhanced north-south route between Warren, Jamestown and Dunkirk was nothing more than a daydream among local officials. Now, it’s still little more than a daydream. With federal funding requests submitted, county officials have taken one small step toward securing the resources needed to redesign Route 60 and Route 62 and redesign the critical north-south route. After a few years of inactivity, county officials are once again moving on what Edwards calls “a very important piece of economic development for Chautauqua County” the so-called Western New York-Pennsylvania Corridor Project. The project, currently nothing more than concepts and ideas thrown about by local officials, would consist of two parts – enhancing Route 60 and Route 62. “The basis is we need good transportation connectivity for the Jamestown area with the interstate system and the north county,” said Rose Wightman, county planning and economic development department deputy director.

In 2011, new regulations for tanning salons have some business owners worried. They are not so worried about the new regulations, but about having to pay for new permits and taxes specifically for tanning salons. Dennis Colvenvack, Sunkissed Tanning owner, said his business, which is located at 1393 E. Second St., Jamestown, already had regulations on age, training and cleanliness, but didn’t have to pay the new fees associated with the new law. Colvenvack was not alone in having his own regulations. Paula Williams, Sunshine Tanning owner, said her salon, located 707 Fairmount Ave., Jamestown, also had age requirements before the state demand.

Chautauqua County Sheriff’s deputies report 30 vehicle accidents kept them busy from midnight until about 2 p.m. Friday during a winter storm that dumped about 7 inches of snow on the Jamestown area by mid-afternoon. And, said Sheriff Joe Gerace, that count does not include vehicles in ditches. “It’s frightful,” said Gerace. He said the New York State Thruway was closed Friday morning from Angola to the Dunkirk/Fredonia exit due to a tractor-trailer accident. Although he said a driving ban had not been issued as of about 2 p.m. Friday, there were five personal-injury accidents being responded to at the same time, none he knew of that had life-threatening injuries. Gerace said motorists were being urged to “evaluate the importance of trips” and not make unnecessary ones.

In Years Past

In 1941, a quick jury trial was being requested for defendants of two bingo party raids conducted by Jamestown police on Feb. 22 and Feb. 24. Both raids were held at the Bingo Club on North Main Street, with more than 500 patrons chased from the auditorium on Feb. 24 when police entered and seized equipment. Michael D. Lombardo, an attorney for the defendants, expressed fear that the “police may bring over the building” unless the issue was settled promptly.

Some Lakewood residents were unhappy with a proposed service station on the Davidson property near Elmcrest Avenue. A petition signed by neighborhood residents, including the operator of one of three nearby service stations, contended there was no need for another station and that allowing another station would jeopardize the business and investment of existing stations. The Village Board told Gerald Nichols, the resident bringing the petition, that there was provision in the village zoning law that limited the number of service stations in an area.

In 1966, five cars of a westbound Erie-Lackawanna freight train derailed, tearing up siding and blocking two crossings near the Steamburg milk plant. No one was injured. One car, carrying a cargo of wine, was pierced by a section of rail and while the car remained sealed, an aroma of wine pervaded the area, according to Deputy Robert Kuhaneck of the Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Dept. Officers said the Lebanon Road crossing, used by farmers bringing their milk to the plant, could be tied up through Feb. 26.

Work on the Route 60 arterial from South Main Street to the city line on Foote Avenue would be coordinated with a new city sewer line in the area. Construction was to begin in about 2 1/2 years. The plan indicated Foote Avenue would provide one-way northbound traffic from Barker Street to Allen Street, with a southbound route from the end of the Washington Street bridge to Prather Avenue. A spur at Allen Street and Foote Avenue would It was noted the WCA Hospital parking lot, the Jamestown Boys Club, building plans for St. James Church, the Costanzo funeral home and some homes in the area would not be affected by the project.

In 2006, two well-known local public figures have shared their thoughts about R. Theodore “Ted” Smith who was an integral part of their lives for several years. Those paying remembrance and tribute to their late, long-time colleague are Joseph Gerace Sr., New York State Supreme Court Justice now serving as a judicial hearing officer; and Dr. Gregory T. DeCinque, Jamestown Community College president speaking for the area’s academic community. Gerace said he and Smith campaigned together years ago for the Chautauqua County Legislature, representing the Busti/North Harmony area.

Communication with municipalities did exist, Democrats defending the county’s vote to cut the residential energy tax said Friday. After taking heat at the legislature’s meeting Wednesday about not communicating with municipalities on how the 4 percent cut would hurt budgets, two members of the Audit and Control Committee said there was indeed communication. At the committee’s meeting in Jamestown, Legislators Chuck Cornell, D-Jamestown, and Joe Trusso, D-Jamestown, said the decision was not made “in a vacuum,” as County Executive Greg Edwards said. Instead, officials from both Jamestown and Dunkirk were notified and had a chance to talk to legislators about it. Jamestown City Councilman John Calamunci, I-Ward 4 and city council president, was present and told legislators he had read about the proposal in the paper but didn’t realize it was going to be voted on this month. “I knew about it a week or a week and a half ago, but I didn’t realize it was coming up so quickly,” Calamunci said.

In 2011, when it comes to neighborhood revitalization, there can never be too many men and women at the table. On Thursday, the Jamestown Renaissance Corporation was host to more than 30 people representing virtually every possible contributor of restoring the residential landscape of the city. This new committee included leadership among city code enforcement and public safety, local and county government, church ministers and landlords, as well as area bank executives – endorsing the plan as potential sources of funding. The outlook for 2011 included a list of activities, and he identified ways that the participation from committee would be needed.

As economic strain continues to spread through school district’s in New York state, many are coming to the conclusion that an increase in shared services between districts is not just a good idea – it’s their only option. “We have these problems that have been hoisted upon us,” said John Siggins, Southwestern Central School district board of education member, “and it’s incumbent upon the school boards to do the best we can with what we have, so it’s a good time for us to get together to see if there are things we could share that would be mutually beneficial and cost effective, maybe even increasing our districts’ services.” This was the opening comment from Siggins at a meeting Thursday night between Southwestern, Jamestown, Frewsburg, and Warren County, to discuss the possibility of increasing already-existing shared services, and creating new sharing avenues, with the goal of increasing student learning opportunities in an efficient and cost-effective manor.

In Years Past

In 1941, highway department officials reported all primary and secondary roads were opened following a week of heavy snowfall that closed some of them and forced schools in rural communities to close for several days. Plow crews spent the day widening out roads narrowed by snow drifts, taking care of rough spots and slippery areas. With no snow expected for several days, it was expected al surfaces would be placed in good condition.

The American Red Cross praised area officials for the efficient emergency mobilization conducted in Jamestown on Feb. 13. “As a result of this meeting and the very excellent publicity secured, I believe you will find that you have accomplished several things,” wrote Roy Wingate, director of disaster relief for the American Red Cross’ Eastern Area. “One of those most important is the fact that you have made your community conscious of the strength and organization of your chapter preparedness and relief plan.”

In 1966, Lakewood and Busti joined in a survey to examine water resources and distribution system costs that would include a new industrial zone where Art Metal Inc. was interested in building a new plant. The survey was to cost $6,500. The study would include resources that included Chautauqua Lake, wells adjacent to the lake and in the Stillwater Creek area, upland water supply and reservoir, construction and operation and maintenance costs.

The number of people assisted by welfare in Jamestown was less than the previous month and less than the same month in 1965. The Jamestown Welfare Department had 972 active cases, a decrease from the 1,686 in the previous month and 62 fewer than the previous January. Commissioner Leonard P. Crissey said 777 eligible families, representing 2,608 people, had shared in distribution of 29,500 pounds of surplus food. In 1965, the department had distributed more than 323,000 pounds of food with an estimated value of $119,835 – with a local cost of only $7,875. Crissey was asked to investigate adoption of a new food stamp plan in place of the present surplus food program.

In 2006, after speaking against eliminating the county’s residential heating tax, County Executive Greg Edwards said he plans to veto the legislature’s passage of the measure. The legislature voted 14-9 to pass the tax cut Wednesday amid concerns from Edwards and Jamestown officials about the effects it will have on municipalities. Some said it will cause property taxes to rise to account for the revenue loss. Edwards said legislators pushing the cut should have taken a more active role in communicating with city officials in both Jamestown and Dunkirk and they should not have expected city officials to reach out to them.

Get rid of the parking meters at the corner lot on Third and Washington streets and you’ve got a place for a ribs. It has, it seems, nearly everything Kathi Danielson’s Wild Rib Cook Off and Music Festival could ask for – plenty of nearby parking, easy water to water, electricity and not too far away from downtown office workers to draw lunch crowds. Next to that parking site, the owner of Event & Performance Management of Erie is still considering Third Street between Washington and Main streets, maybe even Brooklyn Square. But one thing’s for sure, the Erie businesswoman is staking claim to a spot soon. Tiffs in Jamestown City Council over whether to let Ms. Danielson have a permit to orchestrate a rib event the same weekend the city of Warren will have its event – June 7 to 10 – haven’t deterred her.

In 2007, Carroll residents came out in force Wednesday to tell state Department of Environmental Conservation representatives their concerns over a proposed landfill expansion in the town. Issues ranging from impacts on the Martz Observatory to wildlife, noise, traffic, property values, streams and more were voiced during the meeting hosted by the DEC to help the agency determine if there are environmental impacts of an expanded landfill. Agency officials will then decide whether or not to issue a permit for Sealand Waste LLC to operate an expanded landfill. Don and Carol Jones bought a 50-acre parcel in an agricultural/residential district in the town, with the town granting them a use variance in 1989 for the entire parcel to operate a construction and demolition debris landfill. A state Department of Environmental Conservation permit allowed them to use less than two acres for the landfill. They were later permitted to expand the landfill by one acre. The Jones-Carroll landfill, which encompassed a three-acre section of a 50-acre parcel on Dodge Road, operated from 1989 through 2004.

The winter chill can be seen on ice-capped rooftops and barely navigable sidewalks, but it is just as potent where it is not visible, beneath the city streets. For the second season in a row, the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities has been scrambling to keep up with a flurry of water main breaks. In its financial summary for the past year, the water division states there were 98 main breaks repaired in 2010 – about one every four days. But the greatest frequency occurs during the winter months, and David Leathers, BPU general manager, said since the beginning of 2011, the BPU has responded to one virtually every day. While responding to a problem incident, Mike Saar, BPU deputy general manager, said the two biggest factors are the cold and the age of the pipes. Many of the water division’s cast iron pipes are between 80 and 100 years old. The aging pipes do not hold up well when the ground is contracting and shifting around, he said, which is normal during the winter season.

In Years Past

Chautauqua Lake leaders voiced their opposition to a state plan that would ban muskie fishing for the 1941 season. Views of sportsmen and others differed on the state’s suggestion to prohibit the use of power boats and copper wire lines, with some expressing the belief compromise was a solution to the problem to improve fishing conditions on the lake. “If there is not an adequate supply of fish in the lake, let the state restock it to meet the demand,” said Mayor Emmett Eckman, Lakewood mayor, who added the proposed ban would hurt business surrounding the lake.

Jay Levi Terri, recognized nationally as the oldest living Grange member in the world, died at the home of his daughter. Terry had turned 103 years old in August 1940. In his earlier years Terry was engaged mainly in farming in Gerry, with the exception of 10 years running the Hotel at Ellington.

Plans for a proposed new county office building would be presented to the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors on March 11. It was proposed as a sub-basement, basement and five stories, rectangular at the rear and circular at the front and connected to the existing Chautauqua County Courthouse by a 35-foot passageway. The exterior would be largely glass.

Jamestown officials were trying to find a solution to the problem of the Gifford Building, a Brooklyn Square landmark whose rapid deterioration was making it a public safety hazard. Large sections of the structure’s walls bulging, and several city officials spoke of the need for emergency measures to prevent the public from being injured by falling debris. The City Council had included $45,000 in the 1966 budget to demolish the building, but the funding was removed after it was argued demolition could be postponed until the project could be included in an urban renewal project, which would bring federal aid to bring the building down.

C. Roy Christy of Lakewood jokes about setting up a lawn chair on the island just off his lake-front property and cracking open a cold one. The problem: that island isn’t supposed to be there. Christy lives with his wife, Margaret, on Front Street adjacent to the Crescent Street Canal, which draws water from inland tributaries and deposits it into Chautauqua Lake. The rushing water carries with it mud, sediment and debris which settles and eventually creates the Christy’s own personal island about half way to the end of their dock. I don’t mind the flooding, and I don’t mind the stink, Christy said. What he does mind is the danger the buildup poses to his wife, recently diagnosed with small cell lung cancer.

Pennsylvania officials are improving their half of Route 62, the primary transportation route in the Jamestown-Warren corridor. Step over the state line, however, and plans for Route 62 are murky at best. A study by Pennsylvania Department of Transportation officials is underway to determine potential improvements for the transportation route, taking future development and increased traffic flow into consideration.

County lawmakers from both sides of the aisle believe they are doing the right thing in the case of a Jamestown nonprofit. In a 3-2 vote last week, the legislature’s Administrative Services Committee voted down a proposal to refund money to CODE Inc., the Citizen’s Opportunity for Development and Equality.

Snowfall returned in the pre-dawn hours of Presidents Day, forcing the region to dig out once again. There are indications that after the first week of March the area will indeed enter its fourth month of wintry weather. Judy Levan, regional meteorologist for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, said the nearly complete ice coverage on Lake Erie has ended the threat of lake-effect blizzards. However, the recent dumping that began Sunday night was caused by moisture that accompanied a low-pressure system following a different track. On Monday, she said a repeat performance was in the works, although the Chautauqua region might be just above the leading edge as the accumulation of snow is felt across Pennsylvania.

By the end of business Monday, the tow operator for Williams Garage & Wrecker Service reported an extremely busy day. There was a great amount of people that were stuck in their driveways today, said Scott Seekins, who began answering calls at 5 a.m. He said his home in Busti is equipped with a radio that enables him to respond to disabled vehicles from his own driveway.

In Years Past

A proposal by the Chautauqua Lake Fish Council to increase the number of muskie in Chautauqua Lake prompted the state conservation commissioner to propose banning muskie fishing in 1941. The report was to be discussed further with sportsmen during a meeting in February at Washington Junior High School.

A fourth consecutive day of snow was keeping county highway crews busy. State roads were mostly open to the public, but half of the secondary system was closed, with Route 17 blocked between Bemus Point and Mayville. Some schools were still closed. The county’s $50,000 snow removal budget for the year ending Nov. 1, 1941, had already been nearly exhausted. With all 35 plow crews on duty for a 24-hour shift, as they had been all week, it cost between $2,500 and $3,000 a day to plow county roads.

Volunteer fire departments throughout Chautauqua County were urging the uniform numbering of properties in accordance with a system recommended by the county Board of Supervisors in 1959. A special committee studying the proposal said members felt the system “would be of great value to fire companies, utilities, retail delivery services, postal authorities, law enforcement officers, doctors, ambulance services and the public in general.” Towns that had implemented the numbering system included Charlotte, Stockton, Sheridan, Pomfret, Portland and Ellington, with Ellery carrying it out through cooperation of the Maple Springs, Fluvanna, Dewittville, Bemus Point and Ellery Center fire departments. Arkwright, Dunkirk and Chautauqua had adopted the system but hadn’t actually done the numbering.

It may be hard to believe on a normal, quiet day in Chautauqua County, but quite a few U.S. presidents have found their way here over the years. Norman Carlson, collections manager at the Fenton History Center, prepared a list for Presidents Day chronicling every president’s visit he could find evidence of. For some, the results may be surprising. A grand total of eight men who served as president visited the county after they were elected, according to the historian’s account. Of those, five, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Bill Clinton, visited during their terms in office. Rutherford B. Hayes and Gerald Ford visited after their terms in office expired. Abraham Lincoln visited only a few days before his inauguration. Imaginary paths along the Chadakoin River were dreamed up by city planners four decades ago, but are just now garnering enough funds for real work to start. U.S. Rep. Brian Higgins, D-South Buffalo, announced on Thursday, he helped secure another $150,000 for the Chadakoin Riverwalk, on top of $2.6 million he and Sens. Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., obtained in 2005 transportation act funding. That makes $2,750,000 to be used for the future Riverwalk and downtown connectors, said Jamestown Mayor Sam Teresi. This is significant because this will in addition to the $2.6 million already received. The latest grant comes from the National Park Service’s Land and Water Conservation Fund. Teresi noted local tax dollars have not been used to construct any new portion of the Riverwalk, which was begun in the 1970s when a 200-foot path was laid in Brooklyn Square next to what is now Jamestown Area Medical Associates Riverwalk Center.

“You can pay me now, or you can pay me later.” Mayor Sam Teresi recalled the marketing slogan that encourages small repairs in order to prevent a larger catastrophe. And although his financing proposal costs more than a simple oil change, he said the city’s purchase of overdue equipment and necessary capital improvement will indeed prevent larger troubles in the years ahead.

Jamestown Community College officials were looking to expand their main campus. JCC President Gregory T. DeCinque met with county legislators recently, as a resolution to approve capital projects would go before the full body. Specifically, JCC officials were looking to expand the Jamestown campus through the acquisition of property at the end of James Street. DeCinque discussed the proposal with the legislatures Public Facilities Committee last Monday, explaining that the property is the Lawson farm and that the owner has made it clear he would like to sell the land to JCC.

In Years Past

In 1941, no state highway work in Chautauqua County would be done that year, including the proposed new water level highway from Falconer to Laona or a new state highway from Stillwater to the Pennsylvania state line that would have connected with Jamestown-Warren Road. “No consideration is being given to these projects at the present time,” said Charles R. Waters of Buffalo, district engineer of the state Department of Public Works. “It would be my opinion that if they did materialize, it would be at some very distant time.”

Jamestown officially signed a lease for its new municipal stadium, prompting these remarks from Mayor Leon F. Roberts. “I regard this as one of the most forward looking steps taken by the city in a long time. It was evident during last year’s baseball games in Allen Park that Jamestown is having a baseball renaissance which has given added spark and vitality to the community that has long been needed. … I hope that next year the center can be developed further and that we may include a municipal swimming pool.”

In 2006, the developer of a major hotel proposed on the shores of Chautauqua Lake wanted to break ground in a little more than a year. During a recent North Harmony Town Board meeting, developer John McGraw discussed the proposed Hilton Hotel on the 30-acre Bootey property in Stow. The proposed hotel would be eight stories tall, with 150 rooms and 12 condominiums while costing about $15 million to build. McGraw said he would like to break ground by April 2007. In order to do that he said he needed the project to be “written in stone” by the summer. Construction was expected to take a little more than a year to complete. The hotel would be built near the Power Boat Club between Wells Bay and Stow roads.

The second through the sixth floor would be hotel rooms. The seventh and eighth floor will be condominiums. The first floor would be the “support floor” with breakout meeting rooms. One of the rooms – a 60 foot-by-90 foot room overlooking the bay into Chautauqua Lake – would be used for weddings. The hotel would also have a bar able to serve up to 200 people and a public dining room that would serve 250. The Chautauqua Lake Management Commission was working toward creating short- and long-term plans for the lake and its watershed and divided into subcommittees to address both issues. At the commission’s meeting Thursday in Mayville, members split into two groups to develop a one-year action plan and five-year strategic plan. Prior to the meeting, members had split into three subcommittees to review different aspects of the 2000 Lake Management plan. John Jablonski, Chautauqua Watershed Conservancy executive director, said the watershed committee planned to work with local and county officials to discuss stream erosion. He said the commission hoped to be involved with demonstration projects in the coming year to better control erosion. The group had set a goal of creating a fully drafted pre-plan by August 2006, said Karen Rine, president of the Chautauqua Lake Partnership. Ms. Rine, along with the other members of the group’s executive committee, met with Department of Environmental Conservation officials in January to discuss developing a lake management plan.

In 2011, there was no simple equation to describe Jamestown’s residential landscape. Terms like “housing stock, “neighborhood revitalization” and architectural drawings that accompany a pitch for new development offer only abstractions. As a member of the city planning commission, Jeff Nelson said that market-based studies paint a better picture when it came to housing projects. They take the conversation “from bricks and mortar to the human side,” he said, by suggesting the suitability of such a project as it is received by members of the local community and the desire among people who would become new residents.

The county public defender’s office was an office in change. On Jan. 3, the County Legislature unanimously voted to appoint R. Thomas Rankin as public defender, replacing William Coughlin. The change came as county Republicans started their first full year in the majority in Mayville. In a statement responding to questions posed by The Post-Journal, Rankin said he took the office of public defender aware of issues which needed addressing – such as low morale, the continuing effects of previous lawsuits against the office and uneven caseload assignments.

In Years Past

In 1941, heavy snowfall continued in the area, as Cassadaga, Sinclairville, Gerry, Stockton, Sherman and Clymer schools were closed. The Jamestown-Pittsburgh mail plane was forced to remain overnight at the Jamestown airport because deep drifts prevented the plane from taking off and resuming its southbound trip. Erie Railroad yard crews were handicapped by snow-covered switches though the railroad remained open. A number of traveling men who had planned to leave Jamestown late Tuesday stayed overnight rather than try to drive out, resuming their trips in the morning.

The 174th Infantry, which included Jamestown’s Company E, at Fort Dix would soon be moving into new barracks. The troops had been living in winterized tents during extremely cold and disagreeable weather. Each had heating facilities and electric lights. Each company occupied three buildings and each would have its own mess hall, recreation hall and warehouse.

In 1966, implementation of a proposed comprehensive sewer project for lower Chautauqua Lake could result in long-range economic benefits for the entire area, in the opinion of Dr. Lyle D. Franzen, county heath commissioner. Franzen said elimination of a major source of pollution of Chautauqua Lake could restore the body of water to its former status as a recreation area. It also could be a boon for lakefront construction of properly sewered homes in the area and make building feasible in areas not presently seen as suitable.

Holland became the first European nation to adopt use of voting machines, and Jamestown’s AVM Corp. was the firm chosen to provide the Dutch with speedy elections instead of the laborious, time-consuming paper ballots of the past. An airlift of 25 automatic voting machines left the Kennedy Airport in New York City on a KLM Royal Dutch airplane for Amsterdam, with the rest of the machines to leave Jamestown within the week. They would be used in a municipal election on March 23.

In 2006, MAYVILLE – Marty Bova, Mayville’s acting mayor, is proposing the Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department patrol the village on summer weekends. Bova put together his first proposed budget. In it, he set aside $4,000 for the village to have enhanced patrol from 7 p.m. to 3 a.m. Friday and Saturday nights.

James Kinser seems to have “slipped through the cracks.” Some feel that was as much to blame for his death as the cardiac arrest listed on his death certificate. From police to neighbors to the staff at St. Susan soup kitchen and the Union Gospel Mission, everyone who knew Kinser, the homeless man found dead last month in a patch of woods on the outskirts of Jamestown, agrees he was mentally unbalanced in the later days of his life. Worse still, he was impossible to communicate with, going by the name Bruce and reacting violently when approached. For Patricia Brinkman, Mental Hygiene Administration director, news of his death was the first she ever heard of Kinser, and that’s just what the problem is.

In 2011, residents of Sunset Bay were briefly evacuated Friday afternoon for a minor flood and later for a much larger one. The notification to evacuate the area from NY Alert came to residents at 1:15 p.m. The message asked residents to leave immediately due to flooding in the “immediate future.” According to Chautauqua County Disaster Coordinator Julius Leone, the flood waters began to recede around 2:30 p.m. and by 3:15 p.m. emergency personnel were beginning to allow residents back into their homes. Leone reported the flood to be minor, causing “minimal water crossing over Allegany Road” and little to no property damage. The flood was caused by an ice jam in the Cattaraugus Creek, which broke up and dissipated. Leone reported that some ice was expected to flow downstream from Gowanda. After flood waters receded, they began to rise once again and residents were advised to evacuate at 7:30 p.m. as flood waters rose and affected a significant portion of the area. This led to a more substantial flood that lasted most of the night and, according to Leone, would keep residents out of their homes until at least this morning.

If sub-freezing temperatures return to Mayville today, people will be able to enjoy the ice castle better than they did Friday. Because of the unseasonably warm temperatures and strong winds that were gusting to around 40 mph, the grand lighting ceremony for the ice castle scheduled for Friday evening was canceled. Matt Terrill, of Digital eXtravaganza-Kool Toonz and ice castle committee member, said the winds and the warm weather was too much for the ice castle. Terrill and Kevin Callahan, Digital eXtravaganza-Kool Toonz spokesperson, said they had the lights ready and kept trying to rebuild the castle prior to the lighting ceremony, but the castle kept falling apart with the structure’s walls and towers collapsing. Jessica Williams of Lakewood said she made the trip from Lakewood to Mayville just to see the ice castle.

In Years Past

In 1941, at least six area schools were closed as county highway departments battled wind-tossed drifts of snow that clogged rural roads and dropped 6 inches of snow. All 25 plows in the county highway department were out, with two stalled in deep drifts in Forestville and Mayville. Other plows stuck in Ellington and Centralia had been freed. So terrific was the driving snow at the height of the storm that there was practically no visibility and cars were ditched along highways. A mail plane was delayed by the storm and bus service between Gowanda and South Dayton was halted.

Ice fishing on Chautauqua Lake was at its height, with the lake surface dotted with fishermen’s shanties in all directions from Maple Springs, which seemed to be the most popular winter fishing ground in the whole region. Perch were being caught in large quantities, with rock bass caught in increasingly large numbers. The ice was about 8 inches thick.

In 1966, construction of a new sewer system to serve the area around the lower end of Chautauqua Lake, except for Jamestown, was recommended in a report presented to the Chautauqua County Sewer Agency. A permissive referendum was expected to be necessary before construction could get underway, according to Richard O. Evans, county Board of Supervisors chairman.

James Miktuk, 20, of Panama found it doesn’t pay to try to do a good deed – especially if the police had an opposing viewpoint. State Police at Falconer reported Miktuk was given a court summons after they spotted a sign on the lawn of his home along Route 474. The sign, standing about a foot high, bore a warning in red letters: “Radar Ahead.” Miktuk was fined $5 for displaying an unauthorized sign.

In 2006, in a meeting cut short by weather concerns, Sen. Charles Schumer, D-NY, told a group of Chautauqua County officials he is committed to bringing federal funding for local alternative energy projects. Schumer, speaking at the Chautauqua County Landfill, said he wants to make the county a forerunner in using methane gas to create electricity. “I want Chautauqua County and the landfill to be in the front of the line when the funding program begins,” Schumer said. The landfill has a system of wells which tap into methane deposits created when garbage decomposes. The methane was burned into the air to convert it to carbon dioxide, but the Jamestown Board of Public Utilities had proposed a plan to use it to produce low-cost electricity to Lakewood and parts of Busti. Schumer also addressed proposed cuts to the Essential Air Service funding for the Chautauqua County airport in the federal budget. He said the airport is the most reliant on the EAS funding in the state and vowed to help reinstate it.

When the sophomore class of Jamestown High School agreed to help raise money for the St. Susan Soup Kitchen, they decided to put together a fund-raiser to accomplish the task. Students of the Class of 2008 hosted their own Prom Fashion Show, with half of the proceeds from the fund-raiser going to St. Susans. The girls modeled this spring’s chiffon and satin gowns in stunning shades of aqua blue, yellow, hot pink and other popular styles for 2006. Students Kylie Buck, 15 and Chelsea McCreary, 15, led the planning efforts for this event, which they hope to do again next year.

In 2011, approval of a broad aviation bill by the Senate on Thursday was good news for most of the industry, but not the Chautauqua County-Jamestown Airport. A proposal by Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., to eliminate the entire $200 million Essential Air Service program, which provides subsidies to airlines that fly from small airports such as Jamestown’s, was defeated by the Senate earlier in the day. However, the bill that was eventually passed included a clause stating that federally subsidized airline service would no longer be provided to small airports that are within 90 miles of a larger airport – an increase of 20 miles from the previous radius of 70 miles. The difference of 20 miles would put Jamestown into the radius of the Buffalo-Niagara International Airport, meaning that more than $1.3 million in federal subsidies for airlines to fly to and from Jamestown would be pulled.

Jamestown Public Schools Superintendent Daniel Kathman announced Thursday night the planned closing of Rogers Elementary School after the 2011-12 school year. The announcement was made for the first time at a meeting in the cafeteria of Rogers Elementary School at which district parents came to listen to Kathman’s proposal, and voice their concerns. Information about closing the school was limited during the meeting, as Kathman said there are still plenty of logistics that need to be worked out, but moves are certainly being made in that direction. Kathman said he sees the closing as an opportunity to increase district efficiency and save roughly $1 million. “The pressing issue behind this decision is the economic decline in our state,” said Kathman.

In Years Past

In 1941, Jamestown’s electric rate was probably among the lowest in the United States, a comparison with the 1941 report of the Federal Power Commission revealed. The report, published in Washington, listed only 106 of the largest cities in the United States. The lowest rate in the survey was for Chattanooga, Tenn., and Tacoma, Wash., which charged 75 cents for 25 kilowatt hours. In Jamestown, the corresponding rate was 80 cents, but the consumer’s dividend of 20 percent brought the actual rate to 64 cents. The Buffalo rate was $1.10.

The number of retail businesses in Jamestown and Chautauqua County had increased from 1935 to 1939, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Sales during the same period had increased 21 percent over the four-year period and 31 percent when comparing 1939 to 1929.

In 1966, school enrollments in New York state were expected to increase by nearly 70,000 students a year for the next two decades – meaning that every year from 1966 through 1986 it could be necessary for schools throughout the state to provide additional classrooms, facilities and teachers roughly equivalent to those in the combined school districts of Albany, Binghamton, Elmira, Niagara Falls and White Plains. It would take 2,800 additional classrooms and 3,470 new teachers to meet the need, according to a Post-Journal analysis of various proposals to create a longer school year.

Robert M. Richmond, manager of Eckerd’s Drug of Jamestown, entered a plea of innocent in City Court after the store was charged with illegal Sunday sales in violation of a more than 50-year-old state law. Samuel P. Price, defense attorney, entered motions to dismiss the charge on grounds it was discriminatory and that the information charged the wrong corporation with the violation. Price maintained the charge was discriminatory because the law was not enforced against all stores making Sunday sales in violation of the law. The charges were filed after a Jamestown police detective purchased an electric cord at the store, located in the Southside Plaza on Foote Avenue.

In 2006, city residents looking to the city Development Department to solve the city’s housing and neighborhood problems weren’t getting any favors from the federal government. For the fifth consecutive year, Jamestown – and cities across the nation -were dealing with cuts in their Community Development Block Grant and HOME funding. The federal programs provide money to entitlement communities for housing and neighborhood revitalization activities. “Just in the last two years, the city has lost almost $300,000 in funding,” said Steve Centi, city development director. “Our department lost $55,000 plus in administration revenues. That’s the equivalent of a full-time position in a department that can’t afford to lose any positions. We’re struggling to keep our heads above water here.”

MAYVILLE – Because of alarming negative trends in the health of children statewide, each school district in the state was to have a health and wellness policy in place by July 1, 2006. To help school district administrators and board of education members better understand how the health of its students and teachers lead to a more productive school environment, the Chautauqua County School Board Association brought in Linda Finn, BOCES comprehensive health and wellness coordinator; Sunny Lindon, Jamestown Public School District health, family and consumer science physical education coordinator; Kristi Kathman, STEPS coordinator; and Kerry Mihalko, WCA Hospital eat well, play hard coordinator, to present “Health Foods, Health Kids Equals Healthy Finances” program. The program highlighted alarming harmful national trends, the relationship between positive health and student performance, how a healthier school can save money and how to coordinate school health to teach innovative ways to help students make smart choices. ?In 2011, Anyone who happened to be in Westfield on Wednesday might have thought they had gone back in time. As part of the National Park Service’s program to commemorate the 150th anniversary of President-elect Abraham Lincoln’s inaugural trip from Springfield, Ill., to Washington, D.C., Fritz Klein, a well-known Lincoln impersonator, presented to students and community members at Westfield Academy and Central School. Klein, along with members of the National Park Service, were retracing Lincoln’s inaugural route on the Republican’s way to the White House. Westfield was chosen as a stop on the journey, which also included New York City, Philadelphia, Buffalo, and Pittsburgh, because of a letter Westfield resident Grace Bedell wrote to Lincoln in 1860.

Ellicott officials expect to meet with Falconer officials to look at services they may be able to share. During a recent Ellicott Town Board meeting, a shared services committee was appointed, whose members anticipate meeting with a committee from the village, once it is formed. Cecil Miller, town supervisor, said he is “excited” about the endeavor, which is being undertaken as a way to look at how to reduce costs.

In Years Past

In 1966, the Mayville Central School board was further working to create a consolidated school district including Mayville, Westfield, Ripley and Brocton, going on record as approving a complete study of the reorganization of the four districts. It agreed to send a formal resolution to the Westfield School board, which was acting as a steering body for the plan.

Arthur Levitt, New York comptroller, visited Jamestown and issued a call for the elevation of the comptroller’s office above state politics by lengthening the term of office and having it expire at a different time than the rest of the state officers’ terms. “My responsibility is to the people,” Levitt said. “It is not to an administration or to a political party, but to those who placed me in office.” In 1961-62, Levitt spoke out about Gov. Nelson Rockefeller’s “modest surplus” by reporting the state was actually running a deficit.

In 2006, downtown Jamestown’s most coveted commercial site was an unpaved parking lot at the corner of Second and Washington streets. It could be so much more. Steve Centi remembers the days when his phone was ringing off the hook with calls from developers wanting a piece of the “hot” Jamestown development market. That said, no proposals are on the table. Centi hasn’t even received phone calls on it. “It’s a development site that’s been used for parking,” said Centi, city development director. “By default, a lot of people have been using it … for public parking.” After multiple proposed projects, ultimately, three-quarters of a city block that once housed a restaurant, a bar and a doughnut shop is a parking lot in 2006. Centi also said commercial development of some kind needs to take place to fulfill the original Downtown West End development plan for the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena and what is expected from the ongoing Jamestown Urban Design Plan.

In 2011, the Jamestown Public Schools Board of Education was proposing no tax levy increase while cutting 51 positions throughout the district in its 2011-12 budget proposal. To close a $5.3 million gap the district faced in its $73,892,975 budget year, the board planned to use $800,000 from the district’s fund balance reserve and $1 million worth of federal Jobs Funding to reduce the gap to $3.5 million. The remaining divide was eliminated through program cuts and personnel reductions, following a plan used when the district made $4.6 million worth of cuts last year.

The third round of the Appleyard Terrace building project was on the horizon in Jamestown. Members of the city Planning Commission voted to adopt both the project’s site plan and the State Environmental Quality Review. The support followed a hurdle thrown up by one member to table the project until the commission could view additional market-based figures that was narrowly defeated by a 4 to 3 margin. Discussion of the site plan initiated with issues like parking availability at the proposed site, but quickly turned to questions about the wisdom of such a project going forward in the city. The Appleyard phase 3 project would construct 35 new apartment units across the earlier development along Second Street, between the intersections of Fifth and Windsor streets. A row of ground-floor town houses would face the street, with one-bedroom units on the upper floor, and five five-bedroom units would anchor the new development – three of which would be located at the rear of the site on Sixth Street. Mike Bradshaw, executive director of CODE, defended the legitimacy of the project as well as CODE’s commitment to the new ideal for neighborhood revitalization. “I can assure you that with the market needs that are in this community right now, if we were not developing this type of project in Jamestown, it would be developed right outside of Jamestown, drawing people out of the community instead of into the community,” Bradshaw said.

In Years Past

In 1941, a survey made by the Journal showed about 300 local young men in military service, meaning that at least 1,200 other people were directly concerned. Those 1,200 persons made up a fair cross-section of the city population with every station in life from the humblest to the highest.

Mayor Leon Roberts was asking state Assemblymen E. Herman Magnuson and Carl E. Darling and state Senator James W. Riley to oppose the Gittleson Bill being debated in the state Legislature. The bill would amend the Civil Practices Act to include municipal corporations among those parties against whom proceedings for discovery and inspection could be instituted in an examination before trial. Roberts said that would permit the harassment of every public official whether or not he had knowledge of the matter to be tried and would encourage every kind of “fishing expedition” by those having ulterior motives.

In 1966, Chautauqua County representatives of the Route 17 Association returned from Albany heartened by a pledge from Gov. Nelson Rockefeller to continue the accelerated construction program of the Southern Tier Expressway. “All contracts will be let for the Southern Tier Expressway as quickly as designs are completed so there is nothing standing in the way of the completion of this highway at the earliest possible date,” Rockefeller said. Rockefeller also told delegates he planned to spend $34.5 million in 1966 to develop the expressway, including $8.7 million in Chautauqua and Cattaraugus counties.

Full tax exemptions on disposal plants and water wells in two state legislative bills would be a serious financial loss to the town of Poland, supervisor Roger Powell said. He introduced an emergency resolution before the Chautauqua County Board of Supervisors opposing the state’s proposed action. The bills would provide full tax exemption on sewage disposal plants and water wells of a municipality located in another municipality. Poland would lose out because Jamestown’s sewage disposal plant in Poland was assessed at more than $500,000, representing one-seventh of the town’s tax base. He said the plant provided $17,520 in tax revenue for the Falconer Central School District.

In 2006, a state commission that could change the face of health care services across New York was to hold a regional public hearing later in February. Local hospital leaders were taking a wait and see approach to the Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century. They were optimistic, however, that Chautauqua County has a good mix of health care services which are spread out enough to ensure the future viability of the county’s four nonprofit hospitals. Appointed by Gov. George Pataki, the goal of this commission was to reduce the number of licensed hospital beds statewide from 63,000 to 43,000, according to Richard Ketcham, president of Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk.

Bemus Point residents were giving their thoughts on a proposed condominium project in the village, with lower taxes and more customers the reason why many thought the project was a good idea. “I’m certainly for the project,” said Mary Servis, owner of Six Main Gifts. “I just think that it will enhance the village and we’ll have more people, and therefore more business. I see no problem with it at all.”

In 2011, legislators wouldn’t vote this month on a proposal to increase the county’s sales tax rate. Though legislators were ready to discuss the idea at Monday night’s meeting of the Administrative Services Committee, the resolution was pulled by its sponsor. County Executive Greg Edwards said he pulled the proposal because there is still some uncertainty with what’s happening in Albany and what it could mean for the county. It was his hope, Edwards said, that the next 60 days would bring some sort of relief for the county from state costs. Such relief could mean not needing a return to a sales tax rate of 8.25 percent, or the opposite if local costs are increased.

In Years Past

In 1966, attacking the problem of disaster emergency with a vengeance, some 65 American Red Cross workers and a larger number of Boy Scouts participated in a test mobilization under the direction of Frederick P. Rogers, chairman of the disaster preparedness and relief committee of the county American Red Cross chapter. Notified by special dispatch, delivered by Boy Scouts, the workers, who included civic leaders and scouts in the Jamestown area, met with their respective committees to resolve several types of major disasters, including a flood in Falconer, a boiler explosion in a local industrial plant engaged in national defense production, and three fires, all happening on the same day.

John A. Erickson, president of Jamestown Motor Sales, a DeSoto and Plymouth dealer, said cars could be hard to come by as the nation ramped up its war effort. “While this naturally will cut down on new car sales, on the other hand it will make for greater demand for used cars,” Erickson said.

In 1966, firemen were probing the cause of a fire that destroyed the First Methodist Church, an 85-year-old building in Olean. Olean Fire Chief Fred B. Page said the flames may have originated in a basement boiler room. No one was injured, but firefighters had to flee a tumbling brick chimney and a 60-foot-high bell tower collapsed into the center of the building. An estimated 3,000 people watched in a rainstorm from smoke-filled downtown streets as firemen fought the blaze for two hours.

Abraham Lincoln’s letter in reply to a little girl who suggested he grow a beard. George Billings, a Minneapolis businessman who owned the letter along with his two brothers. Their grandmother, Grace Bedell Billings, wrote Lincoln from Westfield saying the presidential candidate would look better if he would let his beard grow. “You would look a great deal better, for your face is so thin,” Bedell wrote. Four months later, the bearded President-elect traveled by train through Westfield and, when a crowd greeted him at the station, asked for Grace. He kissed her, she later told her grandsons, and said, “You see, I let these whiskers grow for you, Grace.”

In 2006, the battle began on the fields of Fallujah when a rocket attack killed Celoron native Sgt. J.C. Matteson on Nov. 12, 2004. But it ended Monday night in Celoron Village Hall after village officials and the fallen soldier’s father James Matteson, who fought each other for months over the memorial that is meant to honor J.C., decided to go their separate ways. The Celoron Veterans Memorial Committee recommended the monument stay exactly the way it is, which included the battle creed Fiddler’s Green. Village officials were uncomfortable with Fiddler’s Green appearing on a public monument due to the controversial nature of the creed. “We wanted to hear an impartial group. We’ve agreed to everything but we don’t want that poem on there. It’s very offensive,” said Tom Bartolo, Celoron mayor. “As a parent I can’t imagine going through losing a son. But that memorial is for all veterans.”

With Senior Associates, LLC failing in its bid to gain a Certificate of Need necessary to re-open the former Manor Oak nursing home, Chautauqua County was moving forward to sell the property to another buyer. At an Administrative Services Committee meeting Monday, legislators passed a resolution allowing the county to terminate the contract and return $115,000 of a $140,000 down payment.

In 2011, Chautauqua County Family Court has been chosen to participate in a pilot project that aims to assist children in foster care. Chautauqua County Family Court will serve as the test site, which if successful, will be instituted statewide and nationally. The pilot project is called “Integrating Trauma Informed Solution Focused Strategies in Family Court.” A two-year project, through a partnership between State University of New York, New York State Child Welfare Court Improvement Project and Chautauqua County Tapestry, will examine the everyday and long-term decision making points throughout the life of a child welfare case and provide ongoing technical assistance and intensive case specific training to each of the adult professionals who are involved with a family along the continuum.

County officials came away from the NYSAC Legislative Conference in Albany this past week with more questions and concerns than they went in with. Both County Executive Greg Edwards and Legislature Chairman Fred Croscut, R-Sherman, said the three-day conference of the New York State Association of Counties was a success – though it made clear there’s much more work to be done. “Things are just not well,” Croscut said of the issues facing New York state. “I learned a lot, but the thing that we really walked away with is more questions now. We probably got some answers to some questions, but we really have more now than we did before we went in. And we have a lot more concerns.” Specifically, Croscut pointed to the state’s deficit and the ways in which New York’s new governor, Andrew Cuomo, is proposing to address the deficit in his first budget. Both expressed disappointment in the governor’s absence from the convention, which Edwards said was a let down for many in attendance.

In Years Past

In 1941, the Jamestown Transportation Club was launching a drive for a proposed improved highway from Falconer to Route 20 near Laona. It was estimated the new road would save $186,000 a year in vehicle operating costs. The proposed route was known to pioneers of Chautauqua County as the water level route, eliminating all of the cumbersome hills and winding roads used to drive through Gerry, Sinclairville, Cassadaga and Laona and over which Squire E. Fitch, county highway superintendent, estimated 6,000 vehicles traveled each day. The project would cost about $4.22 million.

Southern Chautauqua County men who wanted to enroll in industrial training were to notify their school principals so they could take tests. Defense training courses would begin March 1 and be given in Mayville Central School, where workmen were remodeling basement rooms for a workshop that would be used for training. Applicants had to be American citizens, enrolled at a public employment bureau, be between 17 and 24 years of age and take an intelligence and aptitude test. Courses would include metal working, welding electrical work. auto mechanics, related mathematics, English, blue print reading and citizenship.

In 2006, Karen Livsey of the Fenton History Center was telling the tale of the area’s African-American history as part of Black History Month, including Robert Alexander Carter, Jamestown’s first lamplighter. Carter’s second wife, Melissa Green King Carter, was born about 1835 in Busti. Her father’s name is unknown, but she went away and returned to Jamestown with Carter sometime after the Civil War and after he returned from Haiti. “He went to Canada, got married, went to Haiti where his first wife died,” Ms. Livsey said. “Whether they went with the American Colonization Society trip to Haiti, we don’t know.” During the 1850s and 1860s, American politicians, including Abraham Lincoln and former U.S. Secretary of State and New York Gov. William Seward, pushed for forced colonization of black Americans out of the “white” U.S. and back to Africa – Liberia, present day Panama and Haiti. The 450 slaves and free blacks sent to that tropical island were ravaged by smallpox. A few survived.

Carter might have been one of them. Carter enlisted in the U.S. Army’s Civil War N.Y. 10th Regiment Colored soldiers based in Ellicott. When he eventually returned to Jamestown, he took Melissa for his wife and they lived at 626 Spring St. in the city until they died of old age. “They had no descendant, no children. Just nieces and nephews,” Ms. Livsey said. Digging deeper, the historian has uncovered a whole life story full of friendships and relationships. Just imagine, she says, Carter, standing on his horse’s saddle – the horse always remained calm and chomped its bit – while he lit the city’s oil street lights and put them out. He must have known everyone. “I’m finding an extended family network between areas, not just in Jamestown, but throughout New York in other African-American communities,” she said. “For me, personally, it’s just a challenge to uncover all this. It’s like being a detective.”

In 2011, In words of John Hertlein, the local school officials who gathered in the Chautauqua Lake Central School auditorium that Saturday were “united by numbers. “It’s up to us to find ways to give a quality education and a valuable education to students, said Hertlein, Brocton Central School superintendent. “It’s about partnership. We’re in this together.” Hertlein, along with the superintendents of Westfield, Ripley and Chautauqua Lake Central Schools, gathered with their respective boards for a joint meeting where district officials could discuss current budget and state aid challenges, review a Local Government Efficiency Grant the district had been trying to obtain, review a past shared services study and discuss current and future shared services and what next steps the districts could take to provide a quality education to students.

In downtown Jamestown, business vitality meant finding the right niche. The city Strategic Partnerships and Planning Commission hoped to revive plans for a summit to explore untapped niches and opportunities for future success. Recent research by the Downtown Jamestown Development Corporation provides some ground work as a tally of the downtown business landscape and was charted in January. DJDC Executive Director Lee Harkness said the inventory was completed by means of a personal, street-by-street survey. There is room for new “yes, we’re open” signage downtown – the DJDC reported 36 ground-floor properties were vacant. Those empty windows represent 13 percent of the 298 total storefronts and offices. But as Harkness stated in the survey, “While it is OK to dream about having this business and that business, we also need to be realistic and figure out not only what businesses would fit but can they also ‘make it’ financially. Arranged in numerical prominence, there are 45 retail stores, 36 attorney offices, 35 foundation and nonprofit agencies, and 33 restaurants. A smaller tier consists of banks, tourist attractions, medical offices, city government and churches. The remaining balance include hotels, mass media companies, hair salons and fitness centers, among others that are few in number.”

In Years Past

In 1941, blasting out a 20-foot section of a wall and shattering hundreds of windows in the Allegany-Ludlum Plant in Dunkirk, an oxygen tank exploded in the electric melting room. There were no injuries. Damage to the plant was estimated at $5,000. The roar of the blast was heard as far as Fredonia and calls flooded police headquarters and local newspapers. A small oil fire started the explosion and did little damage, though it took three Dunkirk fire companies to extinguish it.

A photo on Page 1 showed Lt. William J. Stahley pointing to a map of Jamestown’s highway system that showed dangerous points on city roads. There were 20 accidents during 1940 at the intersection of Winsor and East Second streets, for example, while another cluster of pin heads showed accidents at the intersection of East Second and Buffalo streets. “It is interesting to observe that there are traffic signal lights at both these points,” Stahley said, indicating to Stahley the need to switch from pendulum signals to post top signals as a way to reduce accidents.

In 1966, Ivory Baptist Church would hold a formal dedication of its new facilities, which included an enlarged sanctuary, hardwood floors, carpeting, new pews and Communion table and a new choir loft. The congregation approved the project in May 1965 and began the project in October 1065. The Rev. George Huffman, former pastor of the church, would be the guest speaker for the dedication.

The Greater Jamestown Package Store Dealers and the executive board of the Chautauqua County Restaurant Liquor Dealers Association were asking Assemblymen A. Bruce Manley and Jess Present as well as state Sen. James Hastings to introduce legislation giving the county Board of Supervisors the ability to impose a moratorium on new liquor licenses because there “were more than enough liquor stores and taverns in Chautauqua County at the present time.”

In 2006, MAYVILLE – Greg Edwards was reflecting on his first couple of months in office as county executive. “Many people have lost confidence in our institutions, our leaders and, worst of all, ourselves,” Edwards said. During his time in office, Edwards hoped to change that perception. He started with Truck Lite. The company, which recently purchased a plant in Eastern Europe, has its headquarters in Falconer. Such an opportunity for expansion and growth is one Edwards doesn’t want the county to pass by. “We need to do a better job of recognizing the opportunities we have with a world headquarters for a major business here in Chautauqua County,” Edwards said. Among his other immediate priorities, Edwards cited a need to enhance funding for the County Home, which is currently siphoning money due to an out-of-date Medicaid reimbursement rate. During a recent trip to Albany to attend a meeting of the New York State Association of Counties, Edwards met with others in the same situation to discuss a common strategy.

Proposed changes to a state law that dates back to 1912 is bringing uncertainty to area school district administrators. In January, Gov. George Pataki proposed repeal of the Wicks Law that requires the awarding of separate prime contracts for electrical, plumbing and heating, ventilating and air condition work on school construction project exceeding $50,000. The remainder of the work is normally covered under a fourth prime contract with a general contractor. According to the New York State Association of School Business Officials, the Wicks Law increases school costs between 15 and 30 percent while sometimes leading to unnecessary litigation and construction delays. The state Legislature has already amended the law to provide Wicks Law exceptions for New York City and Buffalo school districts.

In 2011, long-term financing provides a way to enable large-scale capital improvement without exhausting or inflating a series of annual city budgets. The city administration says now is the time to pull the trigger. “This is third leg in a continuing effort to make capital investments in equipment and also into our facilities and infrastructure,” Teresi said, and he added it corresponds to a long-term strategy that saw similar bonding in 2004 as well as a smaller initiative in 2008.

Two water main breaks Friday on Hunt Road were the latest casualties of recent freezing weather that have kept Jamestown Board of Public Utilities crews busy. A third break was reported after 8 p.m. in the evening on Falconer Street near Dunn Avenue. The crews have faced about a break a day this February, reports Rebecca Robbins, communications coordinator for the BPU. She said cold water causes the ground to shift, which results in it banging into pipes and causing them to break.

In Years Past

In 1941, the criminal record of Angelo Cardinale of Falconer cost him citizenship in the United States. Cardinale’s application for final papers was denied by Frank A. James, state Supreme Court Justice in Buffalo. It was reported to the court that Cardinale had served time in both state and federal prisons and had been arrested for several misdemeanors. James said, in issuing the final papers, it was time when all should understand that admission into the United States, and admission into citizenship, are not matters of right. “They are privileges. And such privileges may be granted only to those who show they are willing and able to benefit not only themselves but also to benefit the country.”

Prospects for construction of a Howard Johnson’s on Fairmount Avenue seemed bright. No opposition to a required zoning change was voiced, and the proposal was automatically tabled for two weeks as was required by the city charter. A public hearing would be held in two weeks.

In 1966, Sixty-five people were evacuated from Sunset Bay near Lake Erie as an unseasonably warm three-day thaw melted snow and sent rivers and streams to near flood stages. Fredonia police said about 12 people chose to remain in the Sunset Bay community, where water overflowing from Cattaraugus Creek had reached a depth of about four feet. In Silver Creek, another major flood threat area, high water was reported in the western section of the village.

State Sen. James Hastings of Allegany introduced legislation in the state Senate that would prohibit serving alcohol to a minor without prior written consent of the parents. Violating the law would be a misdemeanor. The amendment proposed by Hastings spelled out what had been termed a gray area in the law by disallowing anyone but the parent or guardian to give anyone under the age of 18 alcohol. The home therefore would no longer be considered a privileged area for the consumption of alcohol by minors except within the actual family itself.

In 2006, casual on-lookers at the Reg Lenna Civic Center on Friday were as excited as can be for the unveiling of a partially restored 128-year-old Buffalo Bill Cody billboard. But seeing it through the eyes of John Y. Nelson’s descendants makes the event take on a different luster. “It’s really significant. We only see pictures of him as an old man,” said Troy Lynn Star Yellowwood, a great-granddaughter of Nelson – who traveled with Cody in the early years of the entertainer’s famous Wild West Shows. Nelson’s visage is prominently placed in the 1878 billboard for a show in Jamestown. His portion of the billboard is now permanently on display in the Reg Lenna Civic Center in downtown Jamestown. The Arts Council for Chautauqua County – the organization which has led the preservation of the six-panel 26-by-10 foot billboard found on the inside of a crumbling brick wall in 2002 – hosted two events Friday which gathered more than 150 people and several media outlets.

For years, Carol Faison worked in the background helping organize a program enabling children to play music. On Friday, the children’s instruments stood silent in tribute to Mrs. Faison. A scheduled Infinity concert on Friday was canceled to allow Infinity officials to join with family and friends at Mrs. Faison’s wake. Mrs. Faison, 62, died Monday. “This is not a hard call to make and I am sure everyone will understand,” said Ron Graham, Infinity director, in an e-mail to Infinity members and volunteers. “Infinity is first and foremost about family and we have lost a valued member of the family. Carol’s spirit will always be alive in the pursuit of our mission.” For Sue Blake, a longtime friend of Mrs. Faison’s, it is her relationships with people that stand out – late-night phone calls to say, “‘Hi,’ ‘I love you, sister,’ or just ‘hang in there.'”

In 2011, county residents and municipalities alike can’t say they weren’t warned. Legislators will discuss a proposal this month to increase the county’s sales tax rate and eliminate the ‘Hold Harmless’ payments made to towns, villages and cities. The county’s sales tax rate dropped to 7.5 percent from 7.75 percent in 2010. With a budget deficit on the horizon, county lawmakers made several attempts throughout the year to change the county’s sales tax rate – from increasing it to 8.25 percent and maintaining it at 7.75 percent to swapping it with the state for Medicaid costs. Now a proposal to increase the county’s sales tax rate to 8.25 percent and eliminate the ‘Hold Harmless’ obligation is on the Monday agenda of the Administrative Services Committee. As written in the pre-filed agenda, which is available online at www.post-journal.com, the proposal would increase the county’s sales tax rate effective. Dec. 1.

Despite calls to work together, Seneca Nation of Indians and Salamanca representatives can’t help but accuse one another of how each is handling situations. After spending Tuesday publicly disagreeing about insurance claims relating to a recent fire in the city, Seneca President Robert Odawi Porter released a letter to Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Wednesday aimed at working out a way to pay the city money it usually gets for hosting the Seneca Allegany Casino. That money is currently tied up in a state and nation dispute relating to the nation’s casinos. Also on Wednesday, Salamanca Mayor Jeffrey L. Pond Sr. gave his State of the City address, reporting the city “welcomes a cooperative relationship with the Seneca Nation.” But, he alleged remarks by Porter about the city are disturbing. “It is time we put the notion to rest that the city, the services it provides, the assets it holds, and the people it employs are possessions of the Seneca Nation,” he said during the State of the City address.

In Years Past

In 1941, F.J. Harrison, representing the Bingo Club, 310 N. Main St., presented a letter to G. Harry Nelson, Jamestown police chief, questioning the legal basis for Nelson’s request that bingo clubs cease operation because the case the city was citing as the basis for action had actually been decided in favor of bingo game operators. “You may be interested to know that the county judge made the following statement after the jury returned its verdict,” Harrison wrote. “‘Laws against gambling were made for crooks and not for the decent and respectable men and women. My interpretation then was and still is that gambling laws were aimed at professional gamblers and not at decent and honest citizens.'”

Improvement in local business conditions in January 1941 as compared with January 1940 was indicated by statistics released by the Jamestown Chamber of Commerce. Industrial payrolls increased 14.2 percent and outbound carloadings increased 25.8 percent from the previous year. Retail sales were about the same while electrical industrial power sales increased 25.4 percent.

In 1966, the Hotel Jamestown received a stay in its foreclosure and receivership actions as long as the present management of the hotel continued a successful operation. Seymour Minsker, hotel president, said he provided evidence of the hotel’s successful management during a hearing in Buffalo.

The Jamestown Airport Commission continued its study of having neighboring towns help meet the cost to maintain and operate the Jamestown airport. Peter Kote, commission chairman, cited data on use of the facility by area residents and said if they were to share in the $16,000 annual cost it would involve no heavy financial burden. In proportion to use, Jamestown would pay $9,300 a year, Ellicott would pay $2,400, Busti would pay $2,080 and Ellery and Chautauqua would each pay $1,100.

In 2006, There’s only one place in Chautauqua County that’s home to lions, tigers, bears – even a black panther named Jinx. And this weekend, JNK’s Call of the Wild Animal Sanctuary in Sinclairville will be opening its doors to the public for an all-ages Valentine’s Day event. There will be food and prizes, but best of all JNK’s three lions, 12 Siberian and Bengal tigers, and an assortment of other animals from bears and a black leopard to wolves and foxes. The sanctuary, a not-for-profit corporation, is operated by Ken and Jackie Wisniewski of Sinclairville and their two children, and though its roots go back farther than 1993 when the family acquired their first exotic animal, a lion named Big Foot, that was certainly a start. “We’ve always wanted to do something like that,” said Wisniewski, who made a living building machines for airplane manufacturer Boeing.

By comparison, Chautauqua County’s Republican party might make the Jerry Springer Show look like a quiet family picnic right about now. One day after Chautauqua County Legislator Jim Caflisch, R-French Creek, suggested the county make its Election Commissioners part-time positions, County Republican chair Jack Glenzer blasted the idea and Caflisch himself in what has become ongoing bickering regarding accusations against Republican Election Commissioner Terry Niebel. In a written statement released Thursday, Glenzer said the proposal shows “how out of reach Caflisch is with what is actually going on in county government.” Caflisch’s idea is part of an ongoing investigation into the Chautauqua County Board of Elections, particularly Republican Election Commissioner Terry Niebel.

Earlier this month, Caflisch and Comptroller Dennis Goggin released the results of a year-long investigation that showed Niebel allegedly falsifying time records and conducting personal business on county time. According to Glenzer, it would be foolish to make the positions part-time now when the county is facing major changes in its voting requirements.

In 2011, “It makes sense to build the courthouse here.” These were the words County Legislator Larry Barmore spoke Wednesday in Mayville, as he drew inspiration from the fateful decision of Chautauqua patriarch Matthew Prendergast and his town of Pomfret counterpart, Philo Orton. Once again history was in the making, and county residents descended on the political – if not geographic – heart of the county to celebrate 200 years since its founding. “We had no idea how many people would come, and I think the number that came shows there is an interest and enthusiasm for the county’s history, and that’s wonderful,” said Michelle Henry, county historian. Before the festivities began, the bicentennial committee had tables set up for the audience and prepared to sell a handful of Passports to History. They quickly had to set up more chairs, and by the end of the night, more than 220 passports were sold. The crowd included local politicians, including County Executive Greg Edwards and many current county legislators.

For the past six months, a group of students have been working hard five days a week to learn the basics of the English language – with the goal of becoming better integrated in the community. Wednesday morning, a graduation ceremony was held at Immanuel Lutheran Church to honor 17 adult learners of Hispanic backgrounds who have become much more fluent in English. They have done so through their enrollment in the Live and Learn English Program, sponsored by the Joint Neighborhood Project. Samantha Ellis, program coordinator, said the class has been in existence for six years and works to solidify its participants’ understanding of the foundations of the English language.

In Years Past

Attorney General Robert H. Jackson said the major objective of foreign agents in the United States “is to influence broad industrial and labor policies as to interfere with production.” Such agents often were well-known figures operating openly, seeking to incite capital against labor, labor against capital, labor against labor and all of them against the government.

A runaway horse collided with one of the city’s new taxi cabs – and it was the machine, not the horse, that came out second best. Frank Campbell of North Main Street Extension was driving a horse-drawn plow near West Fifth and Washington streets when the horse took fright and started galloping down Washington Street. Campbell was dragged several feet before he was separated from the horse and plow. As he lay unconscious in a snowpile, the horse collided with a taxi cab which had stopped at a stop sign. The horse fell and skidded under the cab while the plow crashed into the cab. The horse was extricated from under the cab and appeared to be little worse for the wear.

The new isotope equipment at the Jamestown Municipal Laboratory was to be the subject of a special exhibit at the annual sessions of the state Medical Society in New York City. The display, “Small Community Nuclear Medicine,” was to illustrate the usefulness of diagnostic isotope facilities in small cities. The isotope was acquired and placed into service in August 1964. Dr. Irwin A. Oppenheim said it was the firs time, to his knowledge, such a scientific exhibit originating in the Jamestown area had been presented to a major medical audience.

Dunkirk police planned to serve a third-degree burglary and petit larceny detainer against Roger Brightman of Cassadaga. Brightman had been arrested in Warren as a suspect in the attempted holdup of the Try-M Finance Company and allegedly was also responsible for breaking into the Lake Shore Sporting Goods store in Dunkirk.

A burning mattress gutted a house at 57 Fairmount Ave. early Tuesday morning. Jamestown Battalion Chief Chet Harvey said 11 men, two fire engines and a ladder truck battled the blaze which was called in at 3:39 a.m. Two couples, each with one infant, occupied two of the three apartments in the home. They are being cared for by the Jamestown Chapter of the American Red Cross. One man had minor burns, but refused treatment.

For 20-plus years, the Junior Guilders had delighted the Jamestown area by tap-dancing and singing their way into our hearts. They are now getting ready to embark on a new trip, one of many they have taken over the years. On Friday, Feb. 17, the Guilders are leaving on a 24-hour bus trip to Orlando, Fla. and will perform for the first time, on the brand-new stage at Universal Studios. Approximately 40 of the Guilders would perform a 25-minute concert for the

Stars event. We’re anxious, said John Paul Westerlund, 14. It’s fun to be in the spotlight. According to Helen Merrill, director and co-founder of the Guilders, they have won great acclaim throughout the United States. The group is filled with local youth talent, ranging in age from 7 to 16 and have a demanding schedule including folk, jazz, blues and rock ‘n’roll singing including choreographed numbers. The Guilders rehearse downstairs at Lucille Ball Little Theater in their own practice area. Lucille Ball was also the other founder of the group.

Volunteer crews working to construct the 25th ice castle in time for its Presidents Day weekend debut were building more than a structure, as community pride, camaraderie and the anticipation of watching children in awe are also part of their work. The ice castle in Mayville is all part of the Presidents Day Weekend Winter Festival, which will be held Feb. 18-20. The annual winter event began in 1987. Jack Berkemeier, who helps run a drive-in during the summer but has time in winter. He has worked to help build the castle the last four years. It’s an impressive event to be involved with, he said, adding he used to reside in Ohio, and contacts from there and Pennsylvania are interested in the castle. Not only does the completed structure draw them, he said, but the camaraderie and fun amongst those constructing the structure keeps him coming back too. Bob Barnes is in his third year of helping, which he started doing after retirement. It’s fun, he said, adding he likes to be outside and feels a sense of accomplishment helping. There isn’t a bigger joy, said Tom Przepiora about how he works on the castle in order to watch the look on the faces of youth, who come to see it and are in awe.

In the world of snowmobiles, riders always seem to want to upgrade to the biggest and the fastest. For one day each winter, however, riders in the Cherry Creek area turn back the clock to a time when horsepower and mile-per-hour figures were drastically lower. Rodgers and Sons hosted its seventh annual vintage snowmobile ride on Sunday, with riders from as far away from Hamburg, Springville and Pennsylvania bringing in their old-time sleds and riding the 12-mile loop through the town of Cherry Creek.

The vintage ride began six years ago with just four antique sleds, Kenny Rodgers said. ‘I bought one at a silent auction to restore, and we were joking about it one night, saying it would be interesting to take it to town, said Rodgers, who does service work at the Ski-Doo dealership owned by his parents, Clyde and Jan Rodgers. A couple weeks later, we had four of them here and we went to Cherry Creek and back. More than 60 old snowmobiles took part in the ride Sunday, marking the second consecutive year the ride surpassed that number. Honestly, its all been word-of-mouth, Rodgers said when asked how the event has managed to grow so much. People just have these old sleds and want to do something with them, more than just run around the yard.

In Years Past

In 1941, formal approval by the Jamestown City Council was all that was needed for a Howard Johnson’s to locate on Fairmount Avenue opposite McDaniel Avenue. Plans called for a $75,000 building and development of the surrounding 14 acres of land into a garden spot. The city needed to designated the area as an isolated commercial zone to allow the project to move forward. Development could begin within a few weeks of such a decision.

A story by E.B. Briggs recalled the 1890s opening of an entertainment enterprise called “Wonderland” on the west side of Main Street, just below the Erie railroad tracks. The business, opened by Joe Girard, had two large adjoining halls. In one the arrangement was much the same as that of the average circus sideshow tent, described by Briggs as featuring “the usual assortment of circus and museum wonders, including the fat lady, the albino family, the sword swallower, the strong man, the bearded woman, the snake charmer, along with several special attractions secured from time to time at enormous expense on the part of management …” The big hall was fitted up as a theater.

In 1966, most Jamestown businesses anticipated an increase in business in 1966, according to a Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce study. The outlook for greater investments in new and expanded facilities and equipment for 1966 was also bright. Questionnaires had been sent to chamber members, with a summary of the results released. In industry, 97 percent of respondents predicted improvement, while 89 percent of service trades and retailers anticipated having a good 1966.

State Assemblyman Jess Present announced he would follow through on Jamestown’s request to have the state Legislature enact a law creating a Municipal Urban Renewal Agency. Present received the request from Mayor Fred Dunn, who had also sent a request to Senator James Hastings. The matter of urban renewal was an issue in Dunn’s campaign for mayor against Republican Alpine “Piney” Johnson, who said the city was dragging its feet on urban renewal.

In 2006, after Jamestown City Council members said Monday there is nothing they can do to rearrange a rib cook-off slated for the city, the best thing to do is watch the situation simmer for a while. A rib cook-off proposed by Kathi Danielson, owner of Erie-based Performance and Event Management, is getting flak from people like Councilwoman Dr. Lillian Ney, R-At Large, who say the June 7 to 10 program shouldn’t conflict with a nearly identical event Warren is sponsoring the same weekend. Leanne Tingay, Warren’s Main Street coordinator, made a special appearance before council’s work session Monday to say several of the ribbers with whom she’s spoken could work in Jamestown the third week in July. Regardless of the other details, she just wants to Jamestown rib cook-off moved.

Stephen N. Kimball is a fifth generation dairy farmer at Kimvale Farm. That traces back to 1847 when Ezra Kimball homesteaded on about 700 acres on the Dry Brook Road, Falconer. The present Kimball said it’s considered a hillside farm comprised of a narrow valley with steep hills on each side. The farm and its large old barn and outbuildings are home to about 300 milk cows and 280 head of young stock, mostly Holsteins, a few crossbreds and three linebacks. Right now Kimball is in the process of transforming the farm’s long tradition of producing high quality raw milk to a product qualifying as organic milk and requiring major changes in long-accepted farming practices. “There’s some economic incentive,” the farm owner said. “It is easier on the environment and it’s ecological but I have nothing against conventional approaches (to dairy farming) either.

In 2011, retirement happens, but should the city search for new employees or ask the current workforce to do more? Joe Bellitto, city comptroller, explained that hiring additional firefighters pays off in the long run, even with the prospect of retirement packages – which can be $100,000 or more for senior officers – combined with new salaries introduced in the same year. Bellitto said even for a regular-grade firefighter’s income, time and a half could exceed $40 per hour.

The 12th annual Chautauqua Winter Games figure skating competition concluded at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena on Sunday afternoon, and according to event chairperson Mary Handley, it was a great success. In fact, Handley said this year was better than last, and last year even better than the year before that, so it seems that after more than a decade of history in the Jamestown area, the Chautauqua Winter Games are showing no signs of letting up as the event continues to improve from all angles. “I really think that everything is better,” said Handley. “We’re in this fabulous arena now, while we started out at Allen Park Ice Rink, and that transition has been incredible in itself. And we’re incredibly grateful to the community for the arena. It has a reputation far beyond the borders of Jamestown.”

In Years Past

In 1941, operators of eight different bingo games in Jamestown were told to stop operating or face probable arrest. The operators received letters signed by G. Harry Nelson, Jamestown police chief, telling them the games were being conducted in violation of a section of city law dealing with lotteries. Nelson was following the advice of city attorneys. John M. Barrett, assistant corporation counsel, said recent court decisions had held that bingo games were a direct violation of lottery laws, though they were relatively harmless.

The Chadakoin River dredging project was nearing completion and had virtually eliminated the possibility of serious flooding along river banks in the spring, according to Charles Strandburg, city public works director. The dredging project was carried out between the boatlanding bridge and the Warner Dam. “The problem now is to keep the lake at a safe level by proper regulation of Warner Dam,” Strandburg said.

In 2006, an 11th-grade English project led two Panama Central High School students to make a visit to the set of Inside Edition on Saturday. A limo arrived at the home of 16-year-old Vincent Fye taking him to the airport where he caught a flight to New York City. Matthew Swanson, 16, would meet him at CBS Headquarters. The two students participated in the filming for Inside Edition that could appear on TV. The two 11th-grade students from Panama received an unexpected call Jan. 31 when a CBS official told Swanson he and Fye were invited to appear on the show. “It definitely came as a shock,” Fye said. “I would have never expected it to go this far.”

It sits on the edge of the Southwestern Central School District football field. It’s simple – a huge stone surrounded by American flags and flowering plants patiently waiting for spring to bloom, flanked by two benches and decorated with a plaque that reads, “In loving memory and honor of Sgt. J.C. Matteson.” For Joyce Reynolds, J.C.’s mother, it’s the only memorial she gives a damn about. “If you want to see the meaning behind what my son is about, go to the monument at Southwestern,” Ms. Reynolds said. The memorial was set up by some of J.C.’s friends while James Matteson, J.C.’s father, battled with village officials over the memorial planned for Lucille Ball Memorial Park – fighting over every detail from where it would go to what it would say. It’s a battle that was still raging, nearly 15 months after J.C. was killed in Fallujah, Iraq. Village officials hoped the conflict would soon be resolved by an impartial committee they asked to review the situation.

In 2011, hospitals perform all sorts of services. They administer treatments to save lives, they help patients recover from injuries and illnesses, and if the situation calls for it, they will even host weddings. Just ask newlyweds Sheridan Smith and Maggie Evans, a local couple wed in the auditorium of WCA in2011 so that Sheridan’s recently hospitalized grandmother, Lucille Swenson, could be present for the service. Sheridan says the presence of his grandmother was an absolute must regardless of where the wedding would have to be, and that he and Maggie wouldn’t have had it any other way. “We visited my grandparents in November, and they were living in Florida at that time, but were unfortunately in ill health,” said Sheridan. “Grandma is 93, and grandpa was 89, so Maggie went to them and said. ‘Please come to New York and live closer to us. If you do that, we’ll move up the wedding.'”

In Years Past

In 1941, only 3.4 percent of Jamestown’s 13,765 housing units were vacant on April 1, 1940, the date of the last dicennial census, according to data released by the federal Census Bureau. The state’s vacancy rate was 7.3 percent. Similar figures were also shown in other Chautauqua County communities.

The Jamestown Retail Merchants’ Association was planning several programs for the coming year, including continuing Rural Good Will Tours to local sugar bushes, dairy farms and poultry farms; a dollar day and a Jamestown day. William S. Hake, retiring association president, asked the city’s merchants to support the new president, Arthur R. Smith, and to help promote a program to increase local retail business and cement further the relationship of merchants and the buying public.

In 1966, Pfc. Wayne J. Mailhoit of Cattaraugus was named the outstanding recruit of his Marine platoon during recruit graduation ceremonies at Parris Island, S.C. He was pictured with his senior drill instructor, S. Sgt. R.E. Bashline. Mailhoit was meritoriously promoted to his present rank and won the Leatherneck Magazine dress blue uniform award.

Ways of fostering patriotism, school spirit and worthwhile projects were discussed by representatives of the Student Councils of Jefferson, Washington and Lincoln junior high schools. It was an informal meeting to initiate similar joint sessions to discuss common interests. Kay Sandberg, Lincoln council president, and Patrick Hoyt brought out the importance of fostering patriotism in each school and that each student should take part in saluting the American flag and knowing what it stands for.

In 2006, internal changes were helping the Johnson Machine and Fibre Products Co. reverse more than five years of declining sales. The 142 Hopkins Ave. company was founded in 1945 but experienced a major sales reduction beginning in 2000. Its workforce of more than 60 employees in the 1990s dropped to 11. Johnson Machine and Fibre Products has been under its current family ownership since 1992 and now has 20 employees. The company head said that in the past year it produced about 4.5 million parts with a first pass quality rate of 99.8 percent, virtually eliminating customer rejects, with the scrap rate cut to 3.7 percent and projected to drop to less than 3 percent by the end of last year.

James Kinser’s Jan. 20 obituary said he died in his residence. His residence was a forest on the outskirts of Jamestown. His roof was the sky and a canopy of tree branches that probably did little to keep out the rain. There are few places like it in the city – quiet, peaceful, isolated; a tiny patch of woods west of Lister Street just off the Western New York and Pennsylvania Railroad tracks. This was Kinser’s home – maybe two football fields’ worth of trees, hills and rough terrain. His belongings – nothing more than some old clothes, a pair of black sneakers and a dirty black tarp – were scattered haphazardly about the crown of a small but steep hill enclosed with yellow police tape. There was no sign of the makeshift tent he is said to have used as a shelter.

In 2011, Happy. Fortunate. Great. Super. Lucky. These were the words of Jack VanScoter, Cockaigne Ski Center owner, as the ski center re-opened on Friday afternoon. Or, if Van Scoter had to sum it up in one word: gemutlich. As staff members scrambled to finish putting the floor down in the tent, patrons and those who count themselves part of the family at Cockaigne prepared to head down the slopes. There was a festive air of excitement and expectation – almost like a holiday. In fact, for some, it was a holiday, as at least one young boy and one gentleman, who asked not to be named, left school early and took the afternoon off from work to be among the first to ski Cockaigne once more.

Education reform in New York state continues to move forward. The state Board of Regents had recently announced its approval of “Common Core Learning Standards” in English language arts, literacy and mathematics curriculums for pre-kindergarten through 12th grade. The new standards have been developed over a period of time, and a large amount of public feedback from educators and administrators went into their creation during the past six months. Jessie Joy, director of curriculum, instruction and assessment for the Jamestown Public School district, said the district took part in providing the state with some of that public feedback.

In Years Past

In 1941, An agreement for leasing out the new municipal baseball stadium to the Jamestown Falcons baseball club would yield the city 20 percent of admissions, which city officials figured could total about $5,000 based on a conservative attendance estimate based on other PONY League teams. The team, meanwhile, would have control over concessions and fence advertising. Harry Bisgeier, team president, said Jamestown help would be employed in concessions and fence advertising, all food and other merchandise to be sold would be purchased from Jamestown businesses and Jamestown merchants would be given first opportunity to advertise on the stadium fence.

The new Geer-Dunn company store on West Third and Cherry streets was thronged at its opening, the latest in a long history for the store in Jamestown. Clifton Geer came to Jamestown in 1907 and was employed by the E.H. Ketchum company operating a stationary and paper store at 24 Main St. After seven years of work, Geer opened his own store in 1914 before partnering with Clair M. Dunn, then a manager of the Bergwall Printing Co. A retail store was established at 320 Cherry St. before the Geer-Dunn opened a larger space at 18 W. Third St. and, eventually, the bigger space at Third and Cherry streets.

In1966, A lone gunman’s trip to the Try-M Finance Co. in Warren was futile when William H. Dyke, the company’s manager, convinced the gunman there was no money in the office. The man left empty-handed. The man had what was believed to be a .32 caliber revolver and told a clerk and Dyke to give them their money. Dyke showed the man an empty cash register, and the gunman told the couple to sit still with their hands on their desk for five minutes before fleeing down a rear stairway.

Baseball Hall of Famer Bob Feller was to visit the Jamestown area for the fourth time in recent years. Feller would speak as part of Covenant Youth Week at First Covenant Church. He had also visited Lakewood in 1965 to dedicate a Little League field, attended the Men’s Club Sports Dinner several years ago and had one speaking engagement.

In 2006, Lynn Trathen remembers what Chautauqua Avenue was like when she was a child. Shops, restaurants, barbershops and crowds, from Fairmount Avenue all the way to the beach – the bustling business center of the Village of Lakewood. Though 30 years and the shift of the village’s commercial center to the Fairmount Avenue corridor have taken its toll on the historic lake-side center, village and business leaders are continuing the effort to revitalize Chautauqua Avenue and restore it to some of its former glory. “It’d be nice to have more people come here,” said Trathen, owner of the gift shop Fabulous on Chautauqua Avenue. “I’d love to see it thrive again.” The first phase of the project included the thorough renovation of Chautauqua Avenue completed just four years ago. But according to Lakewood Mayor Tony Caprino, there’s still more to be done. “Chautauqua Avenue isn’t finished yet,” he said.

Call it a five-year test drive. The Audit and Control Committee voted Wednesday to authorize the purchase of two gas-electric hybrid vehicles so the county can begin to judge whether it will be cost effective to phase more hybrids into the fleet. Given legislature approval, the vehicles will be purchased for the Social Services Department along with three regular vehicles. A resolution to approve an extra $900 for the entire purchase came before the legislature last month but was tabled so the possibility of buying hybrids could be discussed. George Spanos, interim Public Facilities director, said the county needed more concrete direction with how to proceed with hybrid vehicles. Legislator Maria Kindberg, D-Jamestown and co-author of the county’s policy on renewable and green energy vehicles, said actually having the cars would give the best direction. “It seems to me should direct a hybrid to be purchased so we can begin to collect the data we need,” Mrs. Kindberg said. Mrs. Kindberg said the resolution is likely to garner some discussion at the legislature meeting Feb. 22, but she expects it to pass by a large majority

In 2011, freezing temperatures and cold steel have begun to take their annual toll on the pavement of the city’s streets. Heading downtown on Fifth Street, the left lane was riddled with stripped-away sections of asphalt, exposing the old brick surface once again. Jeff Lehman, director of public works for the city, said although the effort to keep major thoroughfares smooth is a constant challenge, the quickly crumbling situation of relatively new pavement is not what he expected. In the instance of West Fifth Street, the surface was repaved as part of the Washington Street Bridge project. The milling of old asphalt and overlay of fresh pavement was performed by the state Department of Transportation in the autumn of 2009, as detailed in its comprehensive project description. “It was repaved because that street was going to be one of the detours for the bridge,” Lehman said. “Unfortunately, with their timing they did it late in the year.”

Gov. Andrew Cuomo reiterated his intention to collect taxes on goods sold to non-Indians on Native American territory by including $130 million in tax receipts from Indian tobacco sales statewide in his budget. The state said it has a right to collect the tax on non-Indians on the sales, putting in place regulations for tax-free sales to Native Americans. Indian nations, including the Seneca Nation of Indians, have opposed the notion, with the matter headed to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals for judicial clarification. Although arguments have not yet been scheduled, Cuomo has included tax collections as revenues in the budget he proposed this week. “His position is absolutely clear, he intends to collect taxes on Indian reservations,” said Josh Vlasto, gubernatorial spokesperson. “This is nothing new, and nothing has changed,” said Seneca President Robert Odawi Porter.

In Years Past

In 1941, fire damage to the Nypso Milk service, 410 Fairmount Ave., totaled several hundred dollars. E. Winfield Ross, plant operator, discovered the fire after returning to his office from lunch. He tried to put it out himself but found no water. He then raced to a nearby store and called the fire department. The fire started near a stove in the office of the milk bottle exchange. Many of the bottles were destroyed and several valuable pieces of antique furniture stored on the second floor were badly damaged.

A three-month-old puppy was the hero of an apartment house fire at 610 E. Second St. Fire broke out in the kitchen of a basement apartment. The puppy, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Roy Hoyt, woke up the Hoyts and 10 other occupants of the building shortly after 3 a.m. Hoyt then went to the kitchen to rescue the puppy, but flames and smoke forced him back. The dog perished in the fire.

In 1966, the proposed establishment of an industrial district in the northwestern section of Busti that would clear the way for a new Art Metal plant was the subject of a two-hour public hearing conducted by the Busti Town Board. Most at the hearing approved of plans to build the plant. Lakewood Mayor Roland C. Rapp strongly endorsed the plant, urging the board to consider the economic impact to the entire Jamestown area of the proposed site were made unavailable to Art Metal, a decision that would force the company to look to another area in the country to expand. The change was approved.

Members of the Cecil Harrington family found themselves unexpectedly in the restaurant business when they provided breakfast and lunch for 35 passengers stranded at the Snow Ridge Motel by a recent blizzard. The Harrington home was on Portage Road near the motel. Harrington said three sons with different tastes calls for a variety of cereals, and these were supplied with plenty of coffee and toast for breakfast. For lunch Harrington prepared beef steak, goulash, corn and other foods. Among those who made themselves at home with the Harringtons were a doctor, attorney, teachers, truck driver, skiers and businessmen from three states. The family declined to charge the travelers, but Harrington admitted to finding money in the strangest places after the guests had left.

In 2006, what a ladies’ night out. Donna Emo’s first concert at the Reg Lenna Civic Center saw her sandwiched with friends in the back of a jumpin’ and jivin’ sold-out house packed for Big Time Production’s “Come Fly With Me.” They laughed about how crowded the Prendergast Library benefit concert was – but after all – that’s what brought her and five friends out Thursday night. “I know we’re supposed to say the library – I think it’s terrific,” one of the women chuckled. “But I wanted to see Angelo – the big band sound. If it had just been rock n’ roll we wouldn’t have come.” Ed Shults Auto Group, The Post-Journal and 36 other area businesses sponsored Thursday’s event at the Reg, which drew an estimated 1,260 people downtown for hours and attracted thousands of dollars for the library and downtown businesses. Restaurants on the Third, Main and Spring street blocks surrounding the civic center told of packed houses right up until the show’s 7:30 p.m. start time.

All across the United States, American families adopt from Asian countries. In Chautauqua County alone, one child a year is adopted from our neighbors in the Far East. For those families looking to adopt, or have adopted and still want their children to grow up with the cultural enrichment of their homeland there is the Panda Club, a local organization in Jamestown. The club is a group of 31 families within a 50-mile radius that get together for play dates and activities with their adopted children. The mission statement of the Panda Club is to provide cultural enrichment for our children and in the region. The club is also pending nonprofit status from the State of New York. If status is granted, then the club will hold fund-raisers and activities to help area families wishing to adopt and help give their own children the culture they were born to. “We want our kids to discover diversity,” said Katie Pellerito, whose adopted daughter, Libby, was 2 when the story was written. “We’re a melting pot,” Mary Indriolo said, who is also a founding member and has two of the older children. Her daughters, Emily and Elizabeth are 10 and 8.

In 2011, after a documentary about Chautauqua Institution aired across the nation Monday, officials at the cultural center expected to see a large uptick in interest. According to George Murphy, the institution’s chief marketing officer, the data is holding true to that prediction. Google Analytics data reports on Chautauqua Institution’s website, www.ciweb.org, have shown an eightfold increase in the average number of daily visits to the site since the documentary aired, Murphy said Wednesday. “Up until the 31st (of January), we were averaging about 1,500 visits per day,” Murphy said. “For Monday and Tuesday, we’re over 12,000 a day.” The documentary, “Chautauqua: An American Narrative,” showcased both the history of Chautauqua Institution and its modern-day story, highlighting each of the four pillars of Chautauqua – arts, education, recreation and religion – in the process.

Fans tuning in to Super Bowl on the radio may have heard a familiar voice. Westwood One’s broadcast of the big game will feature a special rendition of the song “Git Yer Cowboy On” by recording artist Sean Patrick McGraw, a Dunkirk native. McGraw was signed to Little Engine Records and was planning to release his third studio album, My So-Called Life, in April. McGraw said that it was an unlikely source that connected with him Westwood One – the Seattle Seahawks’ cheerleaders. The radio network’s program director was attending a Seahawks game about a month ago when he saw the cheerleaders do a routine to McGraw’s song. “I didn’t even know where they got it from, but he was in the stands and they were doing this routine when he heard the song, he supposedly said to himself, “Wow, that song would be great for our Super Bowl coverage,” McGraw said in an interview with The Post-Journal. “He came home from the game, Googled the song, and sought me out on the Internet.”

In Years Past

Police made a surprise raid on a “big time” crap game in a second floor apartment at 623 E. Second St and arrested 12 men, many of whom police said were professional gamblers. According to police chief G. Harry Nelson, the raid included seizure of several pair of dice, a green baize cover for a pool table on which the crap game was being played, a “rakeoff” box, a money rake and a small amount of cash.

Dorothy Flanders, 21, of Cheney’s Point, had her first clear view of the world after two years of blindness and expressed her reaction to the novelty of it all to Dr. John S. Hickman, who fitted her with a pair of glasses after removing the bandages from Ms. Flanders after a mid-January cataract operation. “Gee, you look funny,” Flanders said. Flanders was born with cataracts over both eyes. She could see imperfectly as a child but still learned to read. Her limited sight decreased gradually until she was able to distinguish only between light and dark. Hickman said the girl’s vision should be 100 percent normal within a few weeks.

Mountains of snow were photographed piled up on Shadyside Road in Lakewood, a typical scene after a blizzard on Jan. 30-31 left area residents shoveling out and every piece of available snow removal equipment in the county pressed into service to clear area roads. Some 8,000 area students saw schools closed and about 100 people from the Cleveland area had to spend the night in the Hotel Jamestown after the blizzard closed all the roads. Some areas of the state saw as much as 90 inches of snow over a four-day period.

The Jamestown City Council’s Parks Committee was proposing development of a temporary athletic field on property owned by the city along the eastern bank of the outlet. Councilman Benjamin Spitale urged that an area of land acquired for the future Chadakoin Park be graded and filled so that it could be used during the summer for baseball games.

Dr. Deann Nelsons lawsuit against the Jamestown Public School District and superintendent Raymond Fashano for the right to read Individualized Education Plans was dismissed from federal court Friday, but the fight isn’t over yet. On Tuesday, Joseph Pawelski, Jamestown Board of Education president, and Martin Idzik, board attorney, announced the decision from U.S. District Court Judge John. T. Elfvin. Dr. Nelson filed the lawsuit in May 2005 because of a resolution the board passed in September 2004 that stated no single board members was authorized to review IEPs of district students. Prior to the resolution, Dr. Nelson had reviewed copies of student IEPs to analyze the district special education program. Dr. Nelson claimed the resolution was against State Education Department law and severely obstructed her from performing her duties as a board member, which violated her constitutional rights to free speech. Judge John T. Elfvin held that the resolution didn’t prevent Dr. Nelson from representing the interests of her constituents, Pawelski said. He pointed out that the resolution did not prevent her from attending meetings, expressing her views, voting on IEPs and other matters, and otherwise serving as an advocate for her constituents.

The Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center was granted control of the first Hollywood contract signed by Lucille Ball in 1933. The July 11, 1933, agreement between Lucille Ball and Samuel Goldwyn Inc. Ltd. was recently discovered by William and Mary Rapaport of East Amherst. The Rapaports are major donors to the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center and Ms. Rapaport is a member of the center’s board of directors. The contract guaranteed that Lucy would receive railroad transportation including lower berth from New York to Los Angeles and $60 a week for a role to be selected by the producer in a photoplay to be designated by the producer. That role turned out to be a showgirl in Eddie Cantor’s Roman Scandals.

Jamestown has tallied 14 consecutive Gus Maker Tournaments since 1996, and it appeared the final buzzer has sounded. The national tournament’s website has posted a prospective schedule for 2011, and the local city’s usual placement during the first weekend in June is absent. On Monday, Gus Macker co-founder Scott McNeal confirmed the contract for a tournament stop in Jamestown will not be renewed at the request of the local host. The Resource Center has sponsored the Gus Macker event in downtown Jamestown each year. However, McNeal said the charity group informed him via phone call last Friday that it will decline its participation for a 15th season. Steve Waterson, community relations director at The Resource Center, declined to provide details about departing from its annual sponsorship, citing only recent contemplation on the subject. While its collaboration with the Gus Macker brand will cease according to the national network, he said his local group is definitely planning to continue with a basketball tournament in downtown Jamestown.

There would be no tent arriving at the Cockaigne Ski Center after all. In a series of developments occurring over the weekend, the tent that was expected to arrive Monday morning will not be arriving at all, due to government legalities. The government bureaucrats got in the way, said Jack VanScoter, owner of the ski facility on Thornton Road in Cherry Creek.

It’s a very fluid situation here right now, he said. Things are changing by the minute. But we are committed to re-opening on Wednesday. It’s a go. It’s going to happen. The main lodge of the ski center burned to the ground last Monday night in a spectacular blaze that involved fire companies from the entire surrounding area. Cherry Creek Fire Volunteers were on the scene until Tuesday evening, then were called back to the scene for a rekindling. The collapse of the arrangements for the tent’s arrival left the staff downhearted and disappointed, but VanScoter was undaunted in his enthusiasm and his devotion to his staff, and the ski family that is the spirit of Cockaigne.

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