Mayville festival is the icing on the lake

Castle puts crowning touch on Mayville's winter extravaganza

Christine A. Smyczynski

(January 27, 2008) — Come snowstorm or thaw, there'll be an ice castle at the Mayville I.C.E. Festival in Chautauqua County.

After all, I.C.E. stands for Ice Castle Extravaganza. The centerpiece of the festival, a structure some 50 feet long and 12 feet high, usually is made from blocks of ice cut from Chautauqua Lake. It takes volunteers about two weeks to construct the frozen masterpiece, billed as the southernmost ice castle built in the United States.

"If the lake doesn't freeze, the castle will be made of bales of hay sprayed with water," says Melissa Balch, a member of this year's festival committee.

Whether you're looking for a family outing over President's Day weekend or a couple's getaway after Valentine's Day, you can have a really cool time at the 20th annual festival, to be held Feb. 16 and 17 at the tip of Chautauqua Lake.

As with any winter festival, some events depend on the weather: the snowman-building contest (bring your own hat, scarf and carrot nose), the huge snow slide, snowmobile rides and ice skating on the lake.

However, there will definitely be a kids' corner with coloring, face painting and other hands-on activities; pony rides, carriage rides and a petting zoo, and the hotly contested broomball tournament. Organizers have stockpiled enough snowballs in their freezers for the snowball-throwing contest. And on Feb. 16, the day ends with a bonfire, fireworks and lighting of the ice castle.

"It's something nice to do in the winter. You can get outside and get some fresh air," says Mary Dentinger of North Tonawanda, Niagara County, adding, "You need to wear lots of warm, heavy clothes and boots because it gets pretty cold outside."

Dentinger trekked to the festival numerous times when her children were little. A couple of years ago, she and her husband, Rick, went as empty-nesters and enjoyed a getaway weekend at Webb's Lake Resort in Mayville.

"We went to the festival during the day, came back to the hotel for dinner and then went back to the festival in the evening," says Dentinger. "It's really different at night because the ice castle is illuminated."

She has special praise for the snowmobiler's flare parade, which this year is tentatively scheduled for 6:30 p.m. Feb. 16.

Webb's has 52 rooms, some with hot tubs; the Captain's Table restaurant; and Webb's Candy, known for its chocolates and trademark goat's milk fudge.

Down the street, the newly opened Chautauqua Suites Meeting and Expo Center has 91 rooms, many with lake views, plus Olive's Restaurant and the Bellini Lounge. There are other bed-and-breakfast inns and restaurants in the vicinity.

Christine A. Smyczynski is a freelance writer and author of Western New York, an Explorer's Guide.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Ellicottville, N.Y. Holliday Valley, NY

Ellicottville, N.Y.

The Ski Town That Aspen Used to Be Like

Dan Cappellazzo for The New York Times

Holiday Mountain, a ski resort in Ellicottville, N.Y., 55 miles south of Buffalo and a world away from ski-town glamour.

By MELINDA MILLER

Published: January 27, 2008

WHEN the travel writer and broadcaster Lowell Thomas visited tiny Ellicottville in New York's westernmost corner some 50 years ago, he called it "the Aspen of the East," a flattering comparison to a favorite Rocky Mountain town.

Multimedia

Map

Ellicottville, N.Y.

In the decades since, the Aspen of the West became, well, Aspen, while Ellicottville stayed a quaint, rural town even as more and more outsiders discovered the wonders of its winters.

Today Ellicottville is on the rise, one of only two genuine ski towns in New York State (Lake Placid is the other). It was ranked No. 5 by Ski magazine in its 2007 list of top resorts in the East, thanks to its two growing ski areas and the Victorian-era village of gingerbread porches and narrow brick storefronts.

The 1,400-acre Holiday Valley ski resort (716-699-2345; www.holidayvalley.com), celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, and its neighbor, the equally large private ski resort of HoliMont (open to the public Monday through Friday; 716-699-2320; www.holimont.com), fan out on the flat-topped, tree-covered ridges above the village, where the slopes hold tight to the lake effect snows that blow off Erie to the west.

The skiing isn't Alpine but there's a lot of variety for all abilities. Jane Eshbaugh, Holiday Valley marketing director, says the breakdown is roughly 30 percent each for beginner, intermediate and advanced runs, and unlike resorts at 9,000 feet in the Rockies, there's a lot of night skiing, since the temperature doesn't plummet after dark.

The population of Ellicottville, about 55 miles south of Buffalo, swells by the thousands in the winter with daytrippers and weekenders from Pittsburgh, Cleveland, Toronto and Rochester, all within a five-hour drive. There is no airport. The town center has only one traffic light, and cellphone service can be dicey, but when it's time to get up the ski hill, a high-speed quad can get you there. Après-ski, several local spas offer such services as basalt hot-stone massages and herbal facials.

The village itself is in transition, with tourism and a still-thriving vacation-home market causing some angst in certain quarters. Longtime residents are experiencing property-tax sticker shock as their home values skyrocket, said the former Town Supervisor Norm Stocker, who lost his bid for re-election in November.

"That's why I'm out of a job," said Mr. Stocker, adding that the taxes haven't slowed a booming market in luxury vacation homes, many going to Canadians.

But the atmosphere in E'ville, as its friends call it, remains downright down home. The only thing like a chain store among the restaurants, boutiques and galleries is Watson's Chocolates, a family business with other shops around Buffalo.

Tim Hunter, a massage therapist, said he left New York City corporate life behind four years ago, taking over a spa called Earth Worn Body Company (9 Monroe Street; 716-699-2508; www.earthwornbodyco.com). Small-town life nurtured his sensibilities in the same way his customers unwind with a pomegranate facial scrub. "If I'm busy and someone wants a service we don't have, I send them to Oasis," another local day spa, he said. "Everyone is very supportive of each other, during the slow season especially."

Slow is not the problem this time of year. Despite a warm and nearly snowless start last winter season, the resort reported having 470,000 visitors. The year before, like this season, saw earlier snow and brought in more than half a million guests. To keep up, Holiday Valley finished nearly $3 million in improvements to its properties before opening for the current season. A new quad chairlift serves three new runs (bringing total lifts and tows to 13, with 56 runs and trails for 28 total miles of skiing). The Rail Fun Park, one of four terrain parks for snowboarders, was rebuilt, even after being ranked in the top 15 in the East by Ski magazine's readers. Its pipe has a 13-foot vertical slope and is 250 feet long; the new Fox Fire set is 1,000 feet of tables, rails and boxes, made so the growing number of boarders can move up a level.

Near the base, the Inn at Holiday Valley gave all its guest rooms decorating makeovers, with a homey, New England look. The lobby, with its soaring curved center staircase, is a cozy hangout in the evening with a fire burning and tables set up for board games near the indoor-outdoor swimming pool.

"It's not the latest technology — it's more about kicking back and hanging out with your family," Ms. Eshbaugh said, summing up the whole atmosphere at Holiday Valley, which was founded half a century ago by friends in the Ellicottville Ski Club who saw a hill that got a lot of snow and put their clubhouse in the middle of it.

On the slopes, lift tickets are a bargain compared with New England and the West. Prices range from $52 for eight hours on weekends to $30 to ski after 4 p.m. during the week (runs are open until 10), with rates at HoliMont generally less

Other recreation can still be a cheap date. Cross-country skiers and snowshoers have free run of the resort's golf course, Ms. Eshbaugh said, where a snowcat packs a 10K track, and they can buy an inexpensive two-ride lift ticket to reach a 4.5-kilometer ridge trail that gives trailblazers access to hundreds of acres of state forest.

There are nearly two dozen restaurants in and around the village with a handful of bars continuing the party into the night with live music throughout the week. Balloons (20 Monroe Street; 716-699-4162; www.balloonsrestaurant.com) has dancing, too.

About half the restaurants are burger, wing and salad places. At the higher end, expect what is called "casual fine dining," meaning they will serve you intriguing Mediterranean pasta and scallop salad on a paper place mat.

At the Gin Mill (20 Washington Street; 716-699-2530; www.ellicottvilleginmill.com), comfort food tops the menu, and almost all lunch dishes are in the $6 to $10 range. There's a choice of burgers, including ostrich — "People order it because they think it's healthy," according to the server — along with specials like the roasted-garlic broiled haddock. There's live music on weekends, a game room in the back for kids and a fun-house mirror in the ladies room.

Tips Up Cafe (32 East Washington Street; 716-699-2136) serves fresh seafood ($15 to $20 range) and steaks (a 16-ounce Delmonico is $21.95), although tired skiers can carbo-load on spaghetti for as little as $9. Four homemade salad dressings come in their own cruets with each salad.

Nowhere gets more in the spirit of the area than Ellicottville Brewing Company (28A Monroe Street; 716-699-2537; www.ellicottvillebrewing.com), where a sampler of five four-ounce micro brews ($5) is served on a Brew ski — a real ski.

Shopping in the village belies its comparison to Aspen, with most of the commerce tucked into four blocks, including a gas station, a grocery store and a lumber company. Although there's no furrier or Bulgari in sight, shoppers can pick up the latest boot designs from Ugg or a $300 Brighton handbag at Daff, the closest thing to a Rocky Mountain-style boutique (17 Washington Street; 716-699-2293), or objets d'art and one-of-a-kind jewelry at Earth Arts (24 Washington Street; 716-699-2169; www.eartharts.com).

There are three full-service ski shops in town besides those at the resorts, and the cluster of shops carries most necessities.

The shops and the Quality Markets grocery are an easy walk from anywhere in the one-square-mile village, which is a good thing. Holiday Valley runs a free shuttle to its Holiday Valley Tubing Company (716-699-8823) on Bryant Hill Road, and from its mountain rental properties to the resort center. Otherwise, there is no public transportation around Ellicottville.

For Aspenites accustomed to door-to-door delivery via limo or private jet, it may seem primitive. For the spiritual descendants of the Ellicottville Ski Club, who once arrived by train and sleigh, it is just keeping it real.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Friday, January 25, 2008

Chautauqua Winter Sports

By Robert Rizzuto rrizzuto@post-journal.com

Skiing Is Believing

A skier takes to the air at Peek'n Peak. The recent snowfall may be causing a headache to some travelers, but winter sports enthusiasts are finally able to get their season into full swing.

Submitted photo

1/25/2008 - It seems as if winter has truly arrived in Western New York, and although many people are probably cursing the cold air and snow, others are finding a way to enjoy it.

All three of the area's ski resorts are open for business, offering options for skiers and snowboarders alike looking for an escape from the daily routine, and a chance to hit the mountain side.

Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa in Findley Lake reports that all 27 of its slopes are open and that the season has been ''great so far.''

''Conditions are the best they've been in years,'' said Chip Day, vice president of brand management. ''In the last three days we've had over two feet of natural snow, but we're still going to stockpile as a preventative measure.''

Day said the resort had a great Martin Luther King Jr. weekend and that the rest of the week has been the same.

''People are really excited about what we've done,'' Day said, ''and what we've got coming up.''

On Saturday, the resort will host its ''Shop Showdown,'' pitting riders representing the many winter sports shops in the area against each other in a winner-take-all competition in the terrain park. Day said the event should prove challenging for the performers and entertaining for the spectators.

''The show's going to be a great time,'' he said. ''We're looking forward to hosting an epic weekend here at the Peak.''

Kristen Widger, assistant director of marketing for Holiday Valley in Ellicottville, said the facility has 12 lifts and five mountain faces open, and officials are thankful for the blast of winter the area has seen recently.

''Once that lake effect snow machine kicks up, it's just great,'' Ms. Widger said. ''We also can produce enough snow to cover more than two and a half acres with a foot of snow in an hour.''

Either way, she said, Holiday Valley is covered.

Ms. Widger described the long Martin Luther King Day weekend as a ''great success,'' and said that although many people frequented the resort over the past week, there wasn't much congestion.

''We are very luck to have the variety of terrain we do,'' Ms. Widger said. ''With people dispersed around the mountains, it keeps the lines short.''

Ms. Widger said on Saturday Jan. 26, Holiday Valley will be hosting a unique event that is the first of its kind in the area.

''Starting at 11 a.m. on Foxfire (in the main-base area) we will be hosting the Red Bull Rhythm Sections,'' she said.

She described the event as a slope-style course which is modeled after the musical notation for the AC/DC song ''Back in Black.''

''Imagine looking at the sheet of music with all the peaks and valleys,'' Ms. Widger said. ''They are building the course to reflect that.''

Cockaigne Ski Area in Cherry Creek is also up to something this weekend. Beginning on Saturday, the ski area will kick off its annual ''Beach Party.''

''It's one of our biggest parties of the year. It gets people together once they're off the hill and with their friends, and it's a lot of fun.'' said Mike Keagy, director of skiing. ''We have different contests, a lot of door prizes and we give away a pair of skis and a snowboard every year.''

Keagy also said that the recent burst of snow has been appreciated in Cherry Creek.

''It's probably the biggest range of ski-ability we've had in years,'' he said. ''You have the soft snow, the packed powder and the groomed snow, all in one trail. It's good for everybody.''

Keagy said Cockaigne has learned to turn the fact that it is a smaller resort into a strength.

''We don't have huge lift lines, so it's more personal,'' He explained. ''If you ride the lift with someone, you have time to talk to them because there's no rush to get back in line and bomb the hills. When people come here they become like family.''

Overall, he said that a lot of people have been coming to Cockaigne to get away from the daily hustle of life in 21st century America.

''I think people today with work and the stresses of the economy need some relaxation. They need to get away and not even think about it,'' he said. ''And snowboarding, skiing and cross country skiing are some ways to get out and really enjoy yourself.''

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Thursday, January 24, 2008

Red Bull Rhythm Section event to be held Saturday at Holiday Valley.

SKIING

Ski notes: Competitors strive to finish on high note

By Fletcher Doyle - News Sports Reporter
01/24/08 8:53 AM

: Derek Gee / Buffalo News; A snowcat piles up snow for a feature in a terrain park designed specially for the Red Bull Rhythm Section event to be held Saturday at Holiday Valley.

Music always has been a big part of freeskiing. At the Red Bull Rhythm Section event Saturday at Holiday Valley, it will be the course.

"This is a first-time course," event organizer Pat Morgan said of a course that will be laid out with features representing notes on a musical score. "It will have the topography of sheet music."

The tune the expected 150 riders and skiers will be playing as they navigate the 16-feature event is the rock anthem "Back in Black." Competitors will drop into the slope-style course off a stage constructed at the top of Foxfire.

The features, a mix of rails, jumps, boxes, barrels and jibs, will be tightly bunched over approximately 1,000 to 1,200 feet, according to Chris Perks, who will help build the course for Holiday Valley. This will require a great level of technical skill.

"Riders will have to keep a rhythm and keep their speed," and develop a "flow" to do well in this event, Perks said.

"This is a high-caliber event. The level of riding will not be marginal," Morgan said. "It will be an X-Games style of event with lighting on the course."

The competition has attracted some of the top amateurs from New York and Canada, some pros from the Northeast and top amateurs and aspiring pros from as far away as the West Coast. This event is the only one Red Bull has sponsored in Western New York; other Rhythm Section events have been held out West.

It will take three days to build the course, with construction starting Wednesday, at which time Foxfire will be closed to the public. The course will be dismantled right after the event and will not be available to noncompetitors.

The competitive divisions are men's 15- under snowboard, men's 15-over snowboard, men's open free ski and women's open snowboard/free ski. There will be a "Best Overall Rider" award for each division but the real prize is photo and video exposure on Web sites such as

Transworld Snowboarding and Snowboard Magazine. That can translate into sponsorship, turning an amateur into a pro.

"Events of this kind are good exposure," said KB's terrain park manager, Eric Langman. "[They can help you] do what you want to do and get paid to do it."

Registration begins at 9 a.m. in the Resort Services Center and jam sessions begin at 11. The awards party starts at 5 p.m. The cost is $45 ($25 to Holiday Valley pass holders) for competitors but is free for spectators.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Live Music This Weekend In Chautauqua County

By Nick Dean editorial@post-journal.com

From Jamestown To Mayville And Back Again

I Am Frankie Scrapmetal will play Mojo's on Saturday. Next week, the local prog rock group will release its debut full-length CD — ''The Whole Damn Thing Was A Lie.'' P-J photo by Nick Dean

1/24/2008 - The weekend's calling. Sure it's only Thursday, but already I'm craving the digital jukeboxes and dartboards of Southern Chautauqua County's finest pubs. Sounds odd, I know. But there's a certain kind of comfort in benign bar banter and having to shout to be heard over a quality rock 'n' roll band — even if it means waking up hoarse the next morning. So join me, dear readers, and hit the town tonight. Or Friday. Or Saturday. There's plenty happening all weekend long.

¯ SPOTLIGHT ON I AM FRANKIE SCRAPMETAL — Fans will be able to buy I Am Frankie Scrapmetal's debut full-length in little more than a week. However, for members of the Jamestown-based prog rock quartet, quality live shows are ultimately more important than moving merchandise.

''Right now there's this dilemma for bands,'' singer/guitarist Justin Yarbrough told Late Night Spotlight recently. ''It isn't hard to find high-profile recording equipment and a lot of people are picking up instruments. A lot of people are making music and it's not as difficult as it used to be to write an album.''

''Right now, I think the biggest emphasis for a band should be on the live show,'' Yarbrough continued. ''When people come, you've got to give them a performance. You've got to give them something that they will remember instead of just another show by a local band.''

On Saturday, Yarbrough and company will play Mojo's. The gig is the band's last scheduled before next weekend's CD release party at the Jamestown Savings Bank Ice Arena. An all-ages concert, next Saturday's Ice Arena show will also feature Phantasm, Seric and Flood the Shoreline.

Rounding out the rest of I Am Frankie Scrapmetal are guitarist Jeremy ''Bone'' Nalbone, drummer Fred ''Bubba'' Lee and bassist/keyboardist Chris Howard. For more on the band, visit MySpace.com/IAmFrankieScrapmetal.

¯ THE PLACE TO BE THIS WEEKEND — Saturday may be the last time the Mayville Shows crew holds a hardcore concert at the Hartfield Bay Cafe. ''We are in desperate need of a good turnout to lift our morale about booking shows,'' the group said in a recent MySpace posting. ''This could be the last Mayville show ever. It's sad to say, but true.'' Beginning at 5 p.m., Saturday's all-ages show will feature Bearathon, Stillframe Sky, Everything & You, Kaeolyn, Alexandria and Mighty Fine Stab Wound. Admission is $6. The Hartfield Bay Cafe is located at 6040 East Lake Road in Mayville.

¯ TEN SHOWS TO TRY TO SEE THIS WEEKEND — Plenty is happening in Chautauqua County this weekend. Just peruse the following list for proof:

10. Allergic Reaction will play the Cassadaga Legion on Friday.

9. Barefoot Sarah will play the Kennedy Grill on Friday.

8. Louisiana-based musician Larry ''LZ'' Dillon will play the Lakeview at the Docks in Mayville from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday.

7. Jack Baron will play a Friday evening show at Peek'n Peak's Regency Pub.

6. Terraplane will play Carol's Silver Dollar on Friday night.

5. The Labyrinth Press Company will have Bernice Murie on Friday and an open mic of sorts on Saturday.

4. Mari Kimura and the Chautauqua Regional Youth Symphony will perform at the Reg Lenna Civic Center this Saturday.

3. The Bogarts will play Carol's Silver Dollar on Saturday.

2. Fatal Mishap will play the Bullfrog Hotel on Saturday.

1. Two For Flinching will play the Lakeview in Mayville this Saturday night.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Peek’n Peak Resort and Spa in Chautauqua County New York

Everything open

Every slope and trail is open at Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa in western New York, thanks to its new HKD snowmaking system.

"Our new system pumps out the white stuff more than two times faster than our old system," said spokesman Chip Day. "We are the only fully open ski area in the region and we are running full bore this weekend."

The resort is 149 miles from Pittsburgh. For more information, go to www.pknpk.com or call 1-716-355-4141.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Sunday, January 20, 2008

Chautauqua County welcomes winter fun

One-Tank Trip / Chautauqua County

By Deborah Williams - SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Updated: 01/20/08 7:07 AM

: Marshall Brown; Enjoy a sleigh ride during the Currier & Ives Rally at the Chautauqua Institution.

The white swans that arrive every December have left Chautauqua Lake for warmer climes, but the skiers, skaters, ice fishing enthusiasts and those who enjoy peace and quiet in an idyllic setting are now coming to the Chautauqua Institution and surrounding regions.

In the winter, the Chautauqua community resembles an old-fashioned Christmas card. There's a quiet, contemplative ambience to Chautauqua during the off-season.

The New York Department of Tourism has designated Chautauqua-Allegheny as the official 2008 Winter Festival Region.

The area benefits from bountiful lake-effect snowstorms fueled by winds off Lake Erie. Cross-country skiing is popular on the grounds, the golf course and the frozen lake. Horse-drawn sleigh rides are available through the grounds of the Institution from 1 to 4 p.m. every weekend during January and February. Sleigh ride tickets are sold at the Chautauqua Bookstore, which is open year-round.

Danielle Morgan, who works in the bookstore, has a special appreciation of Chautauqua in winter.

"It is so beautiful," she said. "I don't think people realize what a jewel that the area is in the winter. Of course, I love all the seasons."

Morgan, who first came to the area as a child to visit her grandmother who lived at Chautauqua, moved to Mayville in 1987 from Los Angeles.

"This is the only place I chose to live," explained Morgan who lived around the country and world as an Air Force brat. "It is so quiet and peaceful in the winter."

The highlight of the winter season at Chautauqua will be the 28th Chautauqua Sleigh Rally at 1 p.m. Feb. 3.

The competition, free to the public, begins at 9:30 a.m. and finishes about 3 p.m. Sleigh rides are also available.

There are dappled gray horses, giant Clydesdales, Belgian draft horses, Morgans, even a couple of miniature horses pulling miniature sleighs. The melodic sound of sleigh bells punctuates the air.

The highlight of the day is the Currier & Ives parade at 1 p.m. Drivers and their riders dress in period costumes; drivers are judged on their sleighs and costumes. Dogs often ride along in the antique sleighs and leashed dogs are welcome at the rally.

Afterward, many visitors walk up to Bester Plaza to be on hand when the horse-drawn sleighs arrive. Their arrival harkens back to a time before automobiles when the sleighs provided the only winter transportation.

Snowflakes and more

Also on Feb. 3 is the Snowflake Festival at the Audubon Center in Jamestown. There's snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, sleigh rides, food, indoor arts and crafts and bluebird- house building. The event is designed for families to spend the day outside on Super Bowl Sunday.

This year there is another opportunity to step back into another century. On Feb. 2 there is a tour called the Currier & Ives Winter in Amish Country with Snowflake Luncheon. Participants meet in Cherry Creek at The Depot, an 1896 restored Victorian railroad station, which features a variety of Amish goods, handcrafts and antiques. Proprietor Patty Frost will share history and anecdotes of her Amish neighbors.

Travel by van in the township of Leon, where 75 percent of the population is Old Order Amish, a group that clings to their 19th century ways and eschew the modern world including electricity, telephones, autos, radios, televisions and computers. The simple clapboard homes and farms are distinctive for their lack of electric wires. Horse-drawn buggies are more common than cars on many of smaller rural roads in the area. Many Amish create distinctive wooden furniture and quilts that they sell from their homes and in area shops.

Stop at the Quilt Shop with hand-sewn quilts, the Top Shop with handmade wooden toys, Shaffer's Smokehouse & Sausage Kitchen and Valley View Cheese Factory.

Lunch is at the Cherry Creek Inn housed in the George N. Frost House, a beautiful Italianate Victorian built in 1864 and an ideal setting for the Victorian- themed luncheon.

The weekend of Feb. 9-10 is a favorite for chocolate and wine lovers — the Wine & Chocolate Weekend. Nineteen wineries in Chautauqua County and Northwestern Pennsylvania invite participants to travel the Chautauqua Wine Trail and enjoy wine and chocolate desserts. Everyone receives a wine glass, a packet of recipe cards and a gift.

Just a couple of miles north of the institution at the head of the lake is Mayville, home of the I.C.E. Festival that will be staged for the 20th year on Feb. 16-17. It will be held at Lakeside Park, Route 394 in the village of Mayville. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, before the days of refrigeration, ice harvesting was one of the leading industries in the county.

If weather conditions are right and there is enough ice in Lake Chautauqua, a castle will be made from ice. However, more likely because of the January thaw, there will be another kind of castle.

"We have a back-up plan which we think will work out well," explained Melissa Balch, a festival committee member. "Area farmers have agreed to provide many bales of hay and we will make a giant hay castle. It will be 12 feet high and 50 feet wide. Then the fire department will spray the hay castle each night so it will be covered with ice. There will be lights on it at night and it should look great."

The festival kicks off with a parade at 10 a.m. on Feb. 16. Other activities on Feb. 16-17 include broom ball competitions on the tennis courts, ice skating on the lake, Snowball Distance Throwing Contest, pony rides and petting zoo, carriage rides, snowmobile rides, face painting, Children's Snowman Building Contest, ice carving contests, outdoor barbecues, food vendors and a giant slide. At 6 p.m. on Feb. 16 there will be a bonfire and at 6:30 p.m. a Snowmobile Flare Parade, followed by fireworks.

The Cool Jazz Festival runs in conjunction with the I.C.E. Festival. Jazz bands fill the air in Mayville with music at area bars, restaurants and hotels on Feb. 15-16. The highlight of the festival is the Cool Jazz Snowball

at Chautauqua Suites featuring the Babalu Swingtime Band at 9 p.m. on Feb. 16.

If you go

For information on Chautauqua County: www.tourchautauqua.com or (866) 908-ILNY (4569).

Weekend sleigh rides are available 1-4 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays during January and February. Tickets are available at the Chautauqua Institution Bookstore for $3 for adults and $2 for children. Call (716) 753-2404.

Reservations are required for the Wine & Chocolate Weekend (Feb. 9-10) and no tickets will be sold after Feb. 1. Call (888) 965-4800, (800) 374-6569 or visit www.chautauquawinetrail.org. Tickets are $21.

Reservations are also required for the Feb. 2 Snowflake Luncheon and tour ($30). Call Carol Lorenc at (877) 468-5523 or (716) 962-3412. She also operates Fox Farmhouse Bed & Barn, a bed-and-breakfast. Visit www.foxefarmhouse.com. The Chautauqua Sleigh Rally is 9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Feb. 3. Admission is free. The rally is at the Hurst Parking Lot at the Institution.

Mayville I.C.E. Festival (Feb. 15-16): (716) 753-3113, www.mayville-chautauquachamber.org. Cool Jazz Festival (Feb. 15-16): (716) 753-2800, www.mayvilleevents.com. Chautauqua Suites, 216 W. Lake Road, Mayville; (716) 269-7829, www.chautauquasuites.com. Jamestown Audubon Nature Center, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown; (716) 569-2345, www.jamestownaudubon.org. Snowflake Festival, 11-5 p.m. Feb. 3.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Friday, January 18, 2008

Chautauqua Winter Wonderland

1/17/2008 - It feels like a winter wonderland again in Chautauqua County

and — for now — I think that is a good thing. I did love the warmth last week, but it felt so eerie to look at the thermometer and see 63 degrees, and then to look at the calendar and see January. It just wasn't right. I'm sure I'll be sick of snow again shortly but for now, I almost welcome it.

Let's embrace winter for now; and in a week or two, let's start complaining about it again.

WINTER FUN!

Here are a few fun things you could do to embrace the season:

• Free open skating is at Steele Hall from Friday through Monday from 7:30 to 9 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday, from 10:45 to 11:45 a.m. If you don't have your own skates, it's $3 to rent a pair, and free for students, faculty and staff.

Best of all, you'll get to say hi to my little sis, one of our fine citizens who dutifully mans the ice, doling out skates or blowing her whistle at the mischievous kids who upset the order of the rink. She comes armed with a red mesh vest emblazoned with the title "Rink Guard" and a shiny new whistle, and tells me, "I don't take no nonsense." Apparently most kids completely disregard the authority and operate in sheer disorder on Fridays and Saturdays. Kids today, I tell you!

• Every weekend in January and February (through Feb. 24) from 1 to 3 p.m., go for a sleigh ride through Chautauqua Institution. Purchase tickets at the Chautauqua Bookstore; adults are $3 and kids under 12 are $2. If there's no snow, they use wheels instead.

• Hit the slopes! Cockaigne in Cherry Creek and Peek'n Peak in Findley Lake are in full swing, and they usually have something going on. This weekend at Peek'n Peak they're having a Jeep Terrain Park Challenge Grassroots Qualifier Event from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, slope-style with rails, boxes and big air. Call 355-4141 or visit www.pknpk.com for more info.

WHAT'S HAPPENING THIS WEEKEND

This weekend at the Badd Kitty Club … just kidding! How funny that Dunkirk/Fredonia is now complete with its own swingers club and strip club — or, at least, it was nearly complete, until the zoning board got involved. Wasn't the controversy over Club 35 getting old? We need a new business establishment to get into an uproar over! It keeps the town abuzz with quality gossip.

Anyway, this weekend:

• Live music by Bogus Otis at 41 West from 9 p.m. to 1 a.m., voted best classic rock band in the WNY People's Choice Music Awards. There's Bud Light and wing specials during all Sabres games; the Sabres play the Atlanta Thrashers Friday, the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday and the Phoenix Coyotes Monday.

• Admission to participating Jamestown establishments is free as part of Open Door Jamestown on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Check out the Jamestown Audubon Center and Sanctuary, Fenton History Center, Robert H. Jackson Center, JSB Ice Arena, Lucy-Desi Museum and the Roger Tory Peterson Institute. At the ice arena on Saturday, the WWE Raw Live event will be held at 7 p.m.; call 484-2624 for more info.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Jamestown New York museums, attractions to open doors for free this weekend

1/17/2008 - JAMESTOWN — The third annual Doors Open Jamestown, a free day at local museums and attractions, happens Saturday.

"Teaching our children about their hometown and building a sense of pride about Jamestown will make them think about moving back home after college or later in their career," says Ann Mason, board president of the Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce.

The Jamestown Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting the event, along with the Fenton History Center, Jamestown Audubon Society and Nature Center, Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center, Robert H. Jackson Center, Roger Tory Peterson Institute, Reg Lenna Civic Center and Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame.

Each of the museums and attractions is holding drawings and contributing to a grand-prize basket that will be raffled off at the end of the event. Doors Open focuses on encouraging local residents to take advantage of their area attractions. The museums are also offering discounts in their gift shops.

At the Audubon Center and Sanctuary, visitors can get nose to beak at the Window on Wildlife. As the birds come to the feeders, you can see and hear them while you stay warm inside the Audubon Center. The whole family can learn about the many different types, or species, of animals and plants found in Chautauqua County in the Biodiversity exhibit. A separate local animal pelt exhibit allows you to touch the winter coats of foxes, raccoons and even a black bear. Find out how some native plants and animals are affected by introduced species from all over the world, and what we can do about it. Dress to go outside, so you can look for tracks in the snow along the trails. The Audubon is located at 1600 Riverside Road, on Route 62, heading toward Warren.

When you enter the newly renovated Reg Lenna Civic Center lobby and inner lobby, you will see the fully restored 1878 Buffalo Bill Cody Billboard in the restored 1923 theater. The billboard is the oldest known extant billboard in the country. The center, located on East Third Street, will be open from 1 to 5 p.m. Visitors may enter to win a pair of tickets to an upcoming Reg Lenna event.

The Robert H. Jackson Center at 305 East Fourth St. is housed in the 1860s Italianate structure known as the Alonzo Kent mansion. The Jackson Center advances the legacy of Supreme Court Justice Robert H. Jackson. Come see the mansion "dressed" for the holidays by local florists C Rosiez for Flowers & Gifts, Francesca's Floral Design, Garden of Eden Florist, and Lakeview Gardens. The recently renovated state-of-the-art theater and the gallery, where "Perpetrators," an exhibit of large-scale prints by artist Sidney Chafetz that depicts the men who carried out the atrocities of the Holocaust, is on view. Western New York Business First Brick by Brick awards recently recognized Habiterra Architecture and Landscape Architecture as a finalist in the Best Historic Renovation Project category for their work on the recent renovation of the center's theater and gallery spaces. Docents will be on hand for guided tours and light refreshments will be served.

The Roger Tory Peterson Institute, located at 311 Curtis St., offers a tour of the galleries and natural history library. The institute was founded as a legacy to Roger Tory Peterson, world-renowned artist, educator, naturalist and creator of the Peterson Field Guides. The current exhibit is "Rare & Elusive Birds of North America," which features photography by William Burt. The photographs are from the remote habitats of the most elusive birds on the continent. Several of Roger Tory Peterson originals from the Peterson Collection are on exhibit also.

Memories — nostalgic and newly made — are waiting for everyone at the Fenton History Center. The "Deck the Halls" exhibit's last day is Saturday. The exhibit fills the four floors of the 1863 Fenton Mansion located on Washington Street. The mansion is "decked" out in fresh greenery, blossoms and berries. An exhibit on loan from the Chautauqua County Historical Society of antique dolls, "Living Dolls," showcases dolls dating back to the early 1800s. Dan Warren of WHUG will be broadcasting live from the Fenton History Center from noon to 2 p.m.

Visitors to the Lucy-Desi Museum at 212 Pine St. will see a porcelain coffee service of Lucille Ball's from her daughter-in-law, Amy Arnaz; the green recliner that was part of the décor of Desi's Desilu Cahuenga office in the early 1950s; and costumes designed by five-time Emmy Award winner Ret Turner. The Desilu Playhouse on the corner of Third and Main streets features exact replicas of the "I Love Lucy" television studio sound stages, a life-sized wall mural of the original studio audience, a "Vitameatavegamin" opportunity, "I Love Lucy" memorabilia, original costumes and props and more. The Lucy-Desi Museum and Desilu Playhouse will be open 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

The Chautauqua Sports Hall of Fame is filled with stories about family, friends and neighbors and their athletic accomplishments. Located at 15 W. Third St., the hall features accomplishments in baseball, football, motor sports, marksmanship, boxing and more. The Hall of Fame members will be selling tickets to the Feb. 18 banquet, at which former Buffalo Bills and Pro Football Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly will be the guest speaker.

For more information, phone any of the participating locations or visit www.fentonhistorycenter.org.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Chautauqua County Music Scene

By Nick Dean editorial@post-journal.com

The Cab Drivers will debut at the Grill in Sherman on Friday night. The new band is a combination of the Porcelain Bus Drivers and the Velvet Caabbies. Submitted photo

1/17/2008 - There are parties-a-plenty in Chautauqua County this weekend. Thrill-seekers should have no trouble finding a rock show or other celebration in most any municipality.

Whether it's the Lakeview's anniversary in Mayville, the Cab Drivers debut in Sherman or the countless rock shows happening in the greater Jamestown area, don't miss what's sure to be a memorable weekend because being a couch potato requires less effort.

¯ SPOTLIGHT ON THE CAB DRIVERS — A side project of a side project, the Cab Drivers will debut this Friday night at the Grill in Sherman.

Though seemingly new to the local music scene, the Cab Drivers includes members of both the Porcelain Bus Drivers and the Velvet Cabbies — which itself is an offshoot of the Porcelain Bus Drivers.

''Jamie Smith and I have been doing the Velvet Cabbies for about a year and a half now,'' said former Porcelain Bus Driver Andy Conti in a recent e-mail to Late Night Spotlight. ''It's a good time and you get personal with the audience because you're right there and it's quiet. However, once in a while I get an itch to be plugged in and loud again, so that's where I proposed the Cab Drivers.''

An acoustic act, the Velvet Cabbies are known for playing intimate venues like the Pub and the Good Time Saloon. Inversely, the Porcelain Bus Drivers have developed a dedicated following as a party band during the last six years and continue to play large clubs in the area regularly.

Joining Conti and Smith as Cab Drivers will be Porcelain Bus Drivers members Mark Scapelite on drums and Chris Raffa on bass.

''The Cab Drivers is more like the Porcelain Bus Drivers in the early days. It's classic rock on the pop side, with a few originals sprinkled in,'' Conti said. ''From the Beatles to Weezer, there is quite a variety that we do — as we have been playing together for more than 10 years and know countless songs.''

¯ THE PLACE TO BE THIS WEEKEND — Chautauqua County residents have two chances to see a genuine Nashville star this weekend, as Dunkirk native Sean Patrick McGraw will play Mojo's in Jamestown tonight and the Lakeview in Mayville on Friday.

A 1989 graduate of the Fredonia School of Music, McGraw has been making a living as a singer/guitarist and bandleader in recent years. In 2004, McGraw made it to the semifinals as a contestant on the USA Network's ''Nashville Star'' and more recently, his work caught the attention of Country Music Television — which made him the focus of the short-length documentary ''Ten Days On Tour'' in 2006.

Though a regular at places like the Lakeview this past summer, McGraw is playing new venues throughout Chautauqua County. Tonight's show at Mojo's will be his first time playing the East Second Street bar.

''It's kind of a weird venue for us because they certainly don't think of themselves as a country bar,'' McGraw said about Mojo's. ''But they absolutely do think of themselves as a place for original music, so we're going to go in there and play two hours of my music without all the country covers.

''We play venues as often as we can that aren't country venues,'' McGraw continued. ''We're not especially alternative county. I like to think that we're a little bit more mainstream than that, but we're not the lowest common denominator either. People who just like any kind of good rock 'n' roll or good pop are going to like what we do.''

Both tonight's show at Mojo's and Friday's show at the Lakeview will feature McGraw's full band. For the Lakeview, McGraw's Friday performance is only one in a series of performances celebrating the hotel, restaurant and bar's second anniversary. Kicking off the weekend with a performance by Bill Ward tonight, the Lakewood will have sets by DJ Felony throughout the weekend, McGraw on Friday and That 80s Hairband on Saturday.

¯ METAL AT THE MOOSE — Five area bands will play the Falconer Moose Lodge on Saturday. The all-ages show begins at 3:15 p.m. and will feature Mighty Fine Stab Wound, First Step Fall, Kaeolyn and Everything & You. Admission is $5 or $3 with a canned good donation. The Falconer Moose Lodge is located at 11 South Dow St. in Falconer. For more information, visit MySpace.com/TheAviators69.

¯ FIVE MORE THINGS FOR THIS WEEKEND — In need of entertainment ideas for the coming weekend? Dig the following suggestions:

5. Two For Flinching will play the Bullfrog Hotel on Friday. 4. New Orleans musician Larry Dillon will play the Docks in Mayville from 6 to 9 p.m. on Friday. 3. Midas will play Yesterday's in Lakewood on Saturday. 2. Pressure Sensitive will play Carol's Silver Dollar on Saturday. 1. Lazlo Hollyfeld will play Mojo's on Saturday.

¯ MOVIE(S) OF THE WEEK — The Reg Lenna Civic Center will show ''Lars and the Real Girl'' at 8 p.m. on Saturday, while the 1891 Fredonia Opera House will screen ''August Rush'' at the same time.

Written by Six Feet Under scribe Nancy Oliver, ''Lars and the Real Girl'' stars Academy Award-nominated Ryan Gosling as a loveable introvert unable to fully embrace life. When he confuses a blow up doll with a real woman, his friends and family play along.

Starring Keri Russell and Jonathan Rhys Meyers, ''August Rush'' is a modern fairy tale of sorts about two lovestruck musicians separated by a disapproving parent and reunited by their wunderkind offspring.

A second screening of ''August Rush'' will be shown in Fredonia at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday. The 1891 Fredonia Opera House is located 9 Church St. and can be reached by calling 679-0891. The Opera House Cinema Series with ''Lars and the Real Girl'' on Jan. 26 and 29. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.

Other films to be screened at the Reg this winter include ''For the Bible Tells Me So,'' ''Hunting Part,'' ''Gone Baby Gone'' and ''Bella.'' For specific dates and times, visit www.reglenna.com. Movies at the Center is a series sponsored by J.W. Reality & Development. To contact the Reg Lenna, call 484-7070.

¯ DELICIOUS DRINK(S) OF THE WEEK — Three Olives Vodka comes in a variety of interesting flavors (chocolate, watermelon), but bar none the best is its grape — which is best when mixed with Sierra Mist and cranberry juice.

However for a shot, try chilling the vodka and mixing with a Splash of triple sec, a splash of lime and a splash of cranberry. In terms of proportions, the vodka should outweigh the three other ingredients combined in a three-to-one fashion. So, if you and three friends are going to try the shot, combine three full shots of the vodka with a shot of triple sec, lime juice and cranberry combined.

Dubbed ''Whiff of Grapeshot'' by my most-trusted mixologist, Dan the Man, the mixture takes its name from a high school history lecture about Napoleon. In 1795, Bonaparte was serving in Paris when royalists and counter-revolutionaries organized an armed protest against the National Convention. He repelled the attackers, later boasting that he had cleared the streets with a ''whiff of grapeshot'' — which is a type of anti-personnel ammunition used in cannons. Instead of solid shot, a mass of loosely packed metal slugs is loaded into a canvas bag. Grapeshot can also be improvised from chain links, shards of glass, rocks and other items. There's really no relation to it being an alcoholic drink.

¯ COMING NEXT WEEK — Next Saturday may be the last time the Mayville Shows crew holds a hardcore concert at the Hartfield Bay Cafe. ''We are in desperate need of a good turnout to lift our morale about booking shows,'' the group said in a recent MySpace posting. ''This could be the last Mayville show ever. It's sad to say, but true.'' Beginning at 5 p.m., next week's all-ages show will feature Bearathon, Stillframe Sky, Everything & You, Kaeolyn, Alexandria and Mighty Fine Stab Wound. Admission is $6, The Hartfield Bay Cafe is located at 6040 East Lake Road in Mayville.

¯ QUESTION(S) OF THE WEEK — Tori Spelling played nerdy girlfriend Violet Bickerstaff on what late 80s and early 90s sitcom about high school students? Or name the ''Golden Girls'' cast member who was born on this day in 1922. In answer to last week's questions, Bill Kirchenbauer played Coach Graham Lubbock on ''Just the Ten Of Us'' — a late 80s ''Growing Pains'' spin-off. And Pat Benatar celebrated her birthday last week, born Jan. 10, 1953 as Patricia Mae Andrzejewski.

///

Nick Dean is a staff reporter at The Post-Journal. Comments on this column can be sent to ndean@post-journal.com. Suggestions and items for submission can be sent via e-mail or by calling the newsroom at 487-1111, ext. 251.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Chautauqua Lake Hotel & Condo Project Move Forward

Referred to as ''the Bootey Bay Resort Hotel Project'' by Walters, the hotel proposed Monday differs greatly from the project first proposed in February 2006.

Initially proposed by McGraw as an eight-story hotel with 150 rooms and 12 condominiums, the hotel is now slated to be a 10-story building with 156 hotel rooms and 24 condominiums. When asked about the change, Walters said McGraw had included more floors and more condominiums because the cost of building the complex has gone up — specifically from the recent decision to run sewer lines from Ashville to Stow along Route 394.

In addition to condominiums on the eighth, ninth and tenth floors, the hotel and resort would also house a large banquet facility, conference rooms, restaurant, pub, fireplace lounge, spa and fitness center, two pools and a sauna — as well as offer such outdoor activities such as tennis, hiking and skiing.

''There will be docks for residents of the condos, there will be docks for users of the hotel and there will be docks for the Summer Wind and the Chautauqua Belle,'' Walters said. ''We will also be maintaining the docks for the Power Boat Club, which are currently at the site. I think John has worked fairly aggressively with his architect to try and come up with a theme that works on Chautauqua Lake, and they're going with a Victorian appearance.''

http://post-journal.com/articles.asp?articleID=23837

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa.

FINDLEY LAKE, N.Y. -- Crisp winter weather freckled with snow conjures up images of skiers enjoying a downhill romp through powdery drifts.

It's a good thing local ski resorts don't totally rely on Mother Nature, said Chip Day, brand-management vice president of Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa.

Day said all 27 ski slopes at the Findley Lake, N.Y.-area resort are open and ready for skiers despite mild weather this season.

He said cold temperatures in December gave the resort the opportunity to build a thick snow base with snow-making equipment, which can be used when temperatures hit 28 degrees.

Day said business slowed during the January thaw, but it was due more to people's assumptions than conditions.

"If people don't have snow in their backyards, they think conditions won't be good," Day said.

Skiers and snowboarders can check conditions on the resort's Web site, www.peeknpeak.com, which shows live images of the slopes. He said the resort has learned to prepare for mild weather.

"It's not an economic strain because it's budgeted in," Day said. "Snow-making is part of the equation."

The Peak will be making snow for the next week to 10 days in order to get conditions to "pristine," as they were before the January thaw, Day said.

He said he is pleased with the number of guests, but he is hopeful for bigger crowds.

"It brings more people into the region. ... It brings money into our economy," he said.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Monday, January 14, 2008

Chautauqua Lake Eatery & Entertainment

The Lakeview in Mayville will celebrate its second anniversary under the ownership of Rick Newell this weekend.

Submitted photo

1/14/2008 - Lakeview To Celebrate Second Anniversary This Weekend

By Nicholas L. Dean, ndean@post-journal.com

MAYVILLE — Despite having a history that dates back to the early 1880s, the Lakeview in Mayville will celebrate its second anniversary this weekend.

Purchased and renovated by Rick Newell two years ago, the Lakeview has fast become one of Chautauqua County's primary spots for food and live music.

''It has always been the kind of local establishment that's open every day from 11 a.m. to 2 a.m.,'' Newell said. ''It was always a very popular place for the locals to have dinner on Friday and Saturday nights, and so we wanted to keep that going.''

Along with Newell, the Lakeview is owned and operated by Sandi Mitchell and partner David Cass. In 2007, the group bought the neighboring building — the Docks — and plan to run two simultaneous bar, restaurant and entertainment spots throughout 2008.

A math professor by trade, Newell said he, Mitchell and Cass have been involved in everything from construction to day spas over the years. Having dinner at the Lakeview one night, the trio decided to purchase the hotel and restaurant, renovate it and run it the way area residents have come to expect.

''It has been exciting,'' Newell said. ''I feel like we're continuing a tradition with both restaurants, continuing on in the capacity that they've been operating in for all these years.''

Marking the Lakeview's second anniversary will be a series of concerts this week. Beginning Thursday with a performance by Bill Ward and guests, the Lakeview's anniversary will continue on into the weekend with the Sean Patrick McGraw Band on Friday and That 80s Hair Band on Saturday. DJ Felony, the house DJ, will also perform.

''By the time we got a hold of the Lakeview and renovated it, we were a little late to get much entertainment for the first year,'' Newell said. ''Especially in the last year though, we have really stepped up the entertainment.''

Already booked through 2008, the Lakeview — as well as the Docks — will have dinner hour entertainment from 6 to 9 p.m. on its outdoor patio — weather permitting. Additionally, the Lakeview hosts such acts as the Porcelain Bus Drivers, Big Leg Emma, Two For Flinching, Smackdab and others after 10 p.m. on its indoor stage. A full list of coming acts can be found online at www.lakeviewatthedocks.com and www.myspace.com/lakeview14757.

''We now have a lot of local entertainment as well as popular entertainment from out of town, and we're working on some nationally known bands to bring in periodically,'' Newell said. ''We're just really looking to help improve the waterfront, to help do what Bemus Point is doing — but in Mayville. There are a lot of great things around here and we have a great working relationship with other area business owners.''

The Lakeview's History

Opened in the late 1870s and early 1880s, the Lakeview is rumored to have been two former railroad barracks — brought together to form a business.

''There were about 2,000 men housed in town when the railroad was built,'' Newell said. ''And from doing renovations, you can see there's definitely two buildings when you're in the attic. There are two different floor heights on the second floor.

''Both the Lakeview and the Docks have been hotel and boarding houses since that period of time,'' Newell continued. ''The waterfront back then was major, with piers out into the lake for steamboats. It was a major commerce center. The steamboats and railroad all terminated here. It was originally bigger than uptown Mayville. It was a thriving waterfront.''

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Lets See This on Chautauqua Lake

FLOATING GAZEBO

January 10th, 2008

Greetings,

This is going around the Internet recently. More rules and regulations coming to a lake near you?
Regards,
-LakeAlicious

=========

Greetings,
Have you seen this on Mille Lacs?

FLOATING GAZEBO

I was going to build the Gazebo on the edge of my dock down by the lake but I thought ….I might just as well build the deck with floats on it and I can then take it out fishing too. Has 15,000# capacity.
The deck is 18ft x 18ft with 12 plastic foam filled dock floats that are 4ft x 4ft by 18 inch. high.and the Gazebo is 10 ft. Hexagon with a table and chairs inside. Under the table is my trolling motor so I can take it out to my favorite fishing hole. The trolling motor is remote controled wireless so I can be fishing outside and operate the motor. On the top of the table I have a LOWRANCE Fish-Finder with depth sounding sonars and temp gauge. I have 2 electric winchs with 40# anchors. I have also built in a water pump so I can clean the fish right on the spot. Now I can relax and fish while my wife can sit and relax.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Holiday Valley Ellicottville, NY

Ellicottville, New York: Red Bull Rhythm Section rocks its way to Holiday Valley Resort on January 26, 2008.

Red Bull Rhythm Section represents the ultimate fusion of Rock'n'Roll and Snowboarding, challenging riders to hit up a course that is constructed around the notes of a classic Rock anthem. The16 feature course includes a stage dive drop in, jumps, rails, boxes, barrels, spines, and a wall ride. Music is such an intrinsic part of the Snowboarding scene, and buzz is building as riders are stoked at the chance to perform on a Rhythm Section course for the first time. Open registration will be at the Resort Services Center starting at 9am. Divisions include: men 15 and under snowboard, men 16 and over snowboard, men open free ski, and women open snowboard/free ski. Registration fee is $45.00 (proceeds going to the mountain) and includes a lift ticket, Holiday Valley pass holders is $25.00. Course inspection will be at 10am, with jam sessions for each division starting at 11am. Awards for best overall rider in each division following the jam sessions, and finals at the Cabana Bar. DJ Annalyze will be on hand spinning live on the Red Bull Rhythm Section course. Red Bull Rhythm Section's partners include Holiday Valley, Skull Candy, Phatman, Smith, and the Boardroom. For more information about the event contact Pat Morgan at 716-983-9935.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Friday, January 11, 2008

Peek'n Peak Resort Chautauqua

Peek'n Peak has 27 slopes open for skiers

Published: January 11. 2008 6:00AM

FINDLEY LAKE, N.Y. -- Peek'n Peak Resort and Spa announced Thursday that it has 27 ski slopes open and ready for the public to use.

Chip Day, brand management vice-president of the Findley Lake-area resort, said new snow equipment produces snow twice as fast as their older system did the previous winter.

Day said the investment allows the Peak to offer full ski services despite the recent warm weather and a lack of snow.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

A NEW LOOK FOR ELLICOTTVILLE

DOESN'T THIS PLACE LOOK GREAT?!

January 8, 2007 - The question has been posed about Ellicottville more than we can count… "Doesn't this place feel great?!" It sure does, and now it looks great! Mellon & Co. and the Ellicottville, New York Chamber of Commerce have enthusiastically unveiled the newly designed look and feel for the village's web presence today.

After months of intense marketing research, planning, and design, an image that communicates Ellicottville's relaxed and funky, yet elegant atmosphere, is open for the public to see at www.EllicottvilleNY.com. With this new layout, visitors will find comprehensive information, as well as some really great scenes of the village in action during ski season, as well as the warmer months in Western New York.

The main focus has been, and will remain, to show the world Ellicottville's versatile and unique nature. Ski Magazine said it best, as you'll find on the welcome page, "Ellicottville's funky community, two ski resorts, deep ski history, and quaint downtown combine to create and eastern gem in Western New York."

The team at Mellon couldn't agree more, and look forward to being by the chamber's side as they enjoy success in their marketing endeavors. See the finished product at See for yourself at www.EllicottvilleNY.com.

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Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Chautauqua Lake Real Estate 2007 Sales Statistics

We will be publishing the Chautauqua Lakefront home Sales Statistics for 2007 on or before Jan 15, 2008

You can find them by clicking on www.chautauqualakehomes.com/faq.html

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Monday, January 07, 2008

Holiday Valley

Milder Temperatures a Treat for Some Skiiers

YouNewsTV™

Story Published: Jan 6, 2008 at 11:13 PM EST

Story Updated: Jan 6, 2008 at 11:13 PM EST

By Sharon Osorio

Watch the story

The lawns of many Western New Yorkers may be green today, but there's plenty of snow at ski resorts like Holiday Valley in Ellicottville.
Jane Eshbaugh from Holiday Valley says the resort prepared for the milder temperatures by churning out as much snow as possible last week when the weather was bitterly cold.
Some skiiers hit the slopes today without gloves or hats, and some even ditched their jackets for sweatshirts.
While many people enjoyed the warmer temperatures, one skiier says he experience some rougher terrain through the woods, but he also says it was nice to ski without experiencing frostbite.
Eshbaugh says manmade snow is more dense than natural snow, so it does not melt as quickly.
She says ideally, there would be no increase in temperatures, but the resort usually experiences a warm-up in January.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Monday, January 28, 2008

Saturday, January 26, 2008

The Ski Town That Aspen Used to Be Like

Multimedia

There are nearly two dozen restaurants in and around the village with a handful of bars continuing the party into the night with live music throughout the week. Balloons (20 Monroe Street; 716-699-4162; www.balloonsrestaurant.com) has dancing, too.

Friday, January 25, 2008

Thursday, January 24, 2008

SKIING

Ski notes: Competitors strive to finish on high note

By Fletcher Doyle - News Sports Reporter 01/24/08 8:53 AM

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Sunday, January 20, 2008

One-Tank Trip / Chautauqua County

By Deborah Williams - SPECIAL TO THE NEWSUpdated: 01/20/08 7:07 AM

Friday, January 18, 2008

Thursday, January 17, 2008

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Monday, January 14, 2008

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Friday, January 11, 2008

Wednesday, January 09, 2008

Copyright © 2007 Mellon & Co.

For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

Tuesday, January 08, 2008

Monday, January 07, 2008

Milder Temperatures a Treat for Some Skiiers

By Sharon Osorio

By Fletcher Doyle - News Sports Reporter
01/24/08 8:53 AM

By Deborah Williams - SPECIAL TO THE NEWS
Updated: 01/20/08 7:07 AM