Bird Club to meet Monday

nLake Erie Bird Club to meet Monday

1/20/2007 - The Lake Erie Bird Club will meet Monday at 7:30 p.m. at BOCES, Fredonia-Stockton Road. Terry Mosher will present a program called “What’s All the Singing About?” Using taped songs of seven common birds of Chautauqua County, the talk will focus on the beauty of their singing, the many functions of their songs, and the surprising size of their vocal repertories. All who are interested in birds are welcome to attend. Refreshments will be served.

On New Year’s Day, 22 Lake Erie Bird Club members participated in the annual Audubon Christmas Bird Count covering Northern Chautauqua County. Members observed a total of 54 species and 4,584 individual birds. Highlights of the count included 139 double-crested cormorants, 27 hooded mergansers, two ruddy ducks, one bald eagle, 24 red-tailed hawks, three rough-legged hawks, five ring-necked pheasants, 119 American coot, one Carolina wren, three golden-crowned kinglets and three red-winged blackbirds. Paul Farver and Joanne Goetz served as compilers for the count.

At their December meeting, the club members held their annual holiday raffle. Funds from the raffle are used for magazine subscriptions to “Bird Watcher’s Digest” for the Fredonia, Dunkirk and Silver Creek public libraries. Refreshments for the meeting were provided by Jeanine Smith and Margaret Braun.

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

New Bandshell on Chautauqua Lake

Celoron Completes Memorial Desi Arnaz Bandshell

By PATRICK L. FANELLI

A Gratifying Tribute From left, Terry Schrecengost, Celoron highway superintendent; Mayor Tom Bartolo; Ric Wyman, Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center executive director; and Harry Trippett pose in front of the new Desi Arnaz Bandshell in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in Celoron. P-J photo by Patrick L. Fanelli

1/16/2007 - CELORON — In 2001, a visit by Desi Arnaz Jr. prompted Celoron village officials to plan a bandshell in Lucille Ball Memorial Park in honor of his father.

Arnaz said that, if village officials held up their side of the bargain and built the bandshell, he and his band would return to Celoron and perform at the new venue when the opportunity arose.

It’s been built — a wooden bandshell located at the back of the park just a few feet away from the Chautauqua Lake shoreline. Once the finishing touches are applied and the structure is plugged in to the grid, Arnaz will have a chance to keep his promise.

‘‘He thought that was a fantastic idea — a suitable tribute to his dad,’’ said Rick Slagle, former Celoron mayor. ‘‘He said that if we built it and he had the opportunity to do it, he would come back and play in the bandshell.’’

According to Slagle, the idea of building a bandshell first came up in the summer of 2001, when Arnaz and his sister, Lucie Arnaz — the children of famed acting duo Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz Sr. — visited Celoron and Jamestown.

‘‘I met with them down in Lucille Ball Memorial Park,’’ Slagle said. ‘‘We were walking through the park talking and I mentioned to Lucie that there wasn’t a whole lot named after her father. She agreed with that.’’

They came up with the idea of a bandshell in his memory placed in the park that is dedicated to his first wife, a monument that seemed appropriate for Arnaz Sr.

‘‘Before Desi Arnaz became TV’s Ricky Ricardo, he was a musician, band leader and movie star. Back in the 1940s, you could buy his trademark song, ‘Babalu’ at any well-stocked record shop,’’ said Ric Wyman, executive director of the Lucille Ball-Desi Arnaz Center in Jamestown. ‘‘This amazing bandshell is a wonderful tribute to Desi and something our entire community will be enjoying for years to come.’’

Celoron Mayor Tom Bartolo was appreciative of Ms. Arnaz, who donated $20,000 for the bandshell during a visit to the area in October 2005, and Harry Trippett of the Chautauqua Lake Fishing Association and the Celoron Moose, who led the effort.

In addition to donations from various individuals and organizations, Bartolo also secured a $25,000 grant from state Sen. Cathy Young, R-Olean, to fund the project.

‘‘The bandshell adds to the history of Lucille Ball that we have in Celoron and Jamestown,’’ Bartolo said.

According to Vickie Strong, Celoron clerk, village board members hope to begin promoting the bandshell to attract special events to the park. They also plan to host the village’s annual summer concert series from the new venue.

Lucille Ball Memorial Park is all that’s left of the once mighty amusement park — with its ferris wheel and rollercoaster, its concession stands and hotels, its trolly stations and steamship landings, and its rides and games — that drew crowds from all around the region to the tiny village.

‘‘The ballroom burned. The docks have given way to modern marinas. And where the baseball park used to be is an apartment complex,’’ area resident Lillian Till wrote in 2002. ‘‘Only the picnic area in the grove remains as a village park.’’

For Celoron, it’s an attempt to relive a small fraction of the good old days, when thousands would pack themselves in front of the amusement park’s grandiose bandshell to watch the nightly picture shows during the summer.

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

Peek'n Peak

Peek’n Peak Ski Resort to Host Next Snow Search Qualifier

News - Resorts

Findley Lake, NY - Western New York State's Peek’n Peak Resort and Conference Center will host a qualifying event for the 2007 Sports Illustrated Kids (SI Kids) Next Snow Search, a national talent search to find young athletes who best represent the next generation of extreme skiers and snowboarders. The competition, which is comprised of more than 70 qualifying events and six Super Qualifiers, is being held at ski resorts across North America.
Peek’n Peak’s qualifying event is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27, from 10 a.m. to noon, for boys and girls ages 9 to 13. Registration is from 9 to 10 a.m. Participants must have a valid lift ticket, and helmets are required. All skiers and snowboarders compete in one class. Events include a downhill gate race, terrain park features and an interview. Athletes must compete in all events. Style, attitude and sportsmanship are also considered in addition to athletic skill.
The winner of Peek’n Peak’s Next Snow Search Qualifier will represent Peek’n Peak at the Finals, held March 2-4, at Vermont’s Killington Resort, where they will compete with approximately 150 athletes for a spot on the “2007 Sports Illustrated Kids Next Snow Team.”
Peek’n Peak’s winning athlete will receive four nights of lodging at Killington, as well as four days of lift tickets for him or herself and a parent or guardian, entry into the competition, and admission to all the Next Snow parties.
“Peek’n Peak is a family friendly resort and we are thrilled to participate in an event that encourages kids to enjoy skiing and snowboarding,” said Chip Day, Vice President, Brand Management, Peek’n Peak Resort.
The Next Snow Search’s other marquee event is the SI Kids Next Snow Search “All-Stars,” which will be held at Colorado’s Steamboat Resort, February 2-3. This event brings together the elite members of the 2005 and 2006 SI Kids Next Snow Teams to compete against a select group from this year’s Super Qualifiers for the honor of being named to the SI Kids “All-Stars Team.”

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

Assessment

Gerry Hires New Assessor, Switches Plan

By PATRICK L. FANELLI

“That’s the plan for now. We’ll see how that goes and assess it after the three-year period. I think everything works out for the taxpayers.’’ — John Crossley, Gerry supervisor

1/16/2007 - GERRY — Responding to sudden and unexpected property assessment increases throughout their rural town, Gerry officials have hired a new assessor and are altering the process that determines each resident’s property tax burden.

Kevin Okerlund, assessor for Cherry Creek and neighboring Charlotte, will add Gerry to the towns he is responsible for — an arrangement Gerry Supervisor John Crossley believes is more sensible than the town’s previous one.

‘‘They are very similar towns, very similar backgrounds of residents,’’ Crossley said. ‘‘We’re rural areas, and obviously we don’t have a lake.’’

The town’s previous assessor was DeaAnna Wheeler, who also covered the towns of Ellery and North Harmony — both of which include a large share of the valuable Chautauqua Lake waterfront. Property assessments spiked in both towns last summer — 16 percent in Ellery and 25 percent in North Harmony — causing widespread resentment among residents who faced significantly higher tax bills.

Assessments also increased 8 percent in Gerry, leading many residents to believe the situation would have been different had they had a new assessor.

In the end, town officials pressured Ms. Wheeler to resign and bought out her contract, which wouldn’t have expired until September, according to Sally Carlson, North Harmony supervisor. Gerry officials had already withdrawn from the joint assessment program that tied them to Ellery and North Harmony, enabling them to go their own separate way.

Okerlund, who also works as an appraiser for Jamestown under the city’s assessor, Randy Holcomb, believes it will work out well for Gerry residents.

‘‘I’m pretty sure land values are pretty close,’’ said Okerlund, who began his career in 1990 as an appraiser in Chautauqua and became an assessor three years later. ‘‘It will be a pretty nice set.’’

According to Okerlund, Gerry will add 1,400 parcels to the 1,200 he is already responsible for in Charlotte and Cherry Creek. He also said the arrangement will enable the village of Sinclairville — most of which is in Charlotte but some of which is in Gerry — to be covered by one assessor rather than two.

Besides hiring a new assessor, Gerry officials have also switched from re-evaluating property every year to every three years, which costs the town a few thousand dollars in incentives from the state but avoids annual increases for unlucky property owners.

‘‘That’s the plan for now,’’ Crossley said. ‘‘We’ll see how that goes and assess it after the three-year period. I think everything works out for the taxpayers.’’

Ellery and North Harmony officials hired Holcomb to replace Ms. Wheeler, who is still the assessor for the town of Stockton.

Unlike the previous arrangement with Ellery and North Harmony, Crossley noted that Gerry’s contract is not through Charlotte or Cherry Creek, but directly with Okerlund, giving town officials more control over the agreement.

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

Peek�n Peak Ski Resort to Host a Jeep Terrain Park Challenge Grassroots Qualifier Event

Findley Lake, NY -

Western New York State's Peek’n Peak ski resort will host a Jeep Terrain Park Challenge grassroots qualifier event for amateur skiers and snowboarders of all ages on Saturday, Jan. 20, from 10 a.m. to noon.
The Jeep Terrain Park Challenge is a national ski and snowboard amateur series that has expanded to 75 events held across North America in 2007. Hosted by ski resorts and snow sport clubs across the country, the Terrain Park Challenge invites all skiers and boarders to show their moves on the rails, jumps and other terrain park obstacles. The top female and male ski and snowboard participants from each Jeep Terrain Park host site will advance to one of six regional competitions. The top finisher in the four categories from each regional event earns a spot in the finals, to be held in Sugar Bowl, Calif. on March 10.
“We are excited to be a part of this high-profile, national event which encourages skiers and snowboarders to show off their skills, have fun and earn bragging rights,” said Chip Day, Vice President, Brand Management, Peek’n Peak Resort.
All participants have a chance to win giveaways from Jeep, Rossignol, John Paul Mitchell, Columbia Sportswear and Scott USA. Registration is from 9 to 10 a.m. Participants must have a valid lift ticket. Helmets are required.
Donations collected at the Terrain Park Challenge directly benefit the Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis, a non-profit organization founded in 1984 by former Olympic ski racer, Jimmie Heuga. Last year, the Jeep Terrain Park Challenge raised more than $4,000 to benefit the Heuga Center. The funds help the center conduct 60 wellness programs across the country for the 400,000 people and families in the U.S. living with this incurable disease.

Looking for a new home? Visit our website: http://www.chautauqualakehomes.com/

C. Rick & Julia McMahon

Broker/partners

Real Estate Advantage Realty

716-483-3300 or 484-2020

Chautauqua Lake

The 2006 Chautauqua Lake Sales statistics are now posted on www.chautauqualakehomes.com/faq.html

Local Events For 2007

1/20/2007 - NASTAR , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 1 pm Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3516

1/20/2007 - Race Sponsored by Sanko Photograohy , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3515

1/21/2007 - Race sponsored by Hollyloft Ski & Bike , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional charge. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3517

1/21/2007 - Race Sponsored by Hollyloft Ski & Bike , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3518

1/21/2007 - NASTAR , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 1 pm Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3519

1/27/2007 - Book Signing , 314 Second Ave., Warren, PA, Warren , Warren County Joe Ulrich, the author of "The Dust of Angels - WWII Memoir" will be at the Allegheny Book Mart, 314 Second Ave., in Warren on Saturday, January 27, from 11am-1pm to sign copies of his book, which will be available for purchase at the book mart. The Event is FREE and open to the public. Cost is FREE. , More Info. at: 814-726-2288. 3569

1/27/2007 - NASTAR , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am & 1 pm Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3520

1/28/2007 - NASTAR , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am & 1 pm Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional cost. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3523

1/28/2007 - Bud Beach Party with DJ Bear , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 4 - 8 pm Cost is call for further details. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3521

1/28/2007 - WPA Ski Council Ski Day , 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County Call for further details Cost is See Advisor for details. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3522

2/16/2007 - Zydeco Vacation , 1891 Fredonia Opera House, Fredonia , Chautauqua County 8 pm. It's Mardi Gras in the northeast! Virtuosic blues accordion combines with old-fashioned scrub board to create the unique Louisiana-Cajun zydeco sound. Cost is $12 General Admmission. , More Info. at: 716-679-1891, www.fredopera.org. 3277

2/17/2007 - Party with DJ , Cockaigne Ski Area 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 4 - 8 pm Cost is call for details. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3534

2/17/2007 - Jr Race Sponsored by Bavarian Village , Cockaigne Ski Area 1493 Thornton Rd , Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional charge. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3533

2/18/2007 - Race sponsored by West Side Market, Cleveland, Ohio , Cockaigne Ski Area 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional charge. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3535

2/19/2007 - NASTAR , Cockaigne Ski Area 1493 Thornton Rd, Cherry Creek , Chautauqua County 11 am Cost is $6 race fee, lift ticket additional charge. , More Info. at: cockaigne.com. 3536

2/23/2007 - Photography Exhibit , 314 Second Ave., Warren, PA, Warren , Warren County Peter Carnovale will be at the Allegheny Book Mart, 314 Second Ave., in Warren on Friday, February 23, from 7pm-9pm to present an exhibit of his photography which will be on display at the book mart. A short film is also scheduled and refreshments will be served. The Event is FREE and open to the public. Cost is FREE. , More Info. at: 814-726-2288. 3570

3/17/2007 - Irishman's Heart to the Ladies (A Celtic Celebration) , 1891 Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St., Fredonia , Chautauqua County 8 p.m. In a nod to the famous Irish song, our St. Patrick’s Day celebration features a stage full of the finest female Celtic musicians and dancers around. Cost is $15 general Admission ($12 Opera House members). , More Info. at: 716-679-1891, www.fredopera.org. 3357

3/22/2007 - A Couple of Blaguards starring Malachy McCourt , 1891 Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St., Fredonia , Chautauqua County 8 p.m. This autobiographical comedy by Frank (Angela's Ashes) and Malachy McCourt hilariously tells of the brothers' schooldays in Ireland and young adulthood in America. The Opera House performance stars co-author Malachy McCourt. Cost is $25 Reserved Seating ($23 for Opera House members). , More Info. at: 716-679-1891, www.fredopera.org. 3355

3/31/2007 - Chocolate Walk , Downtown Warren, Warren , Warren County Saturday 10:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. Cost is Limited ticket sales. , More Info. at: www.wccbi.com. 3557

5/18/2007 - David Mallett - Folk Music , 1891 Fredonia Opera House, 9 Church St., Fredonia , Chautauqua County 8 p.m. The award-winning folk singer/songwriter from Maine "has the warmth of a flannel shirt, the comfort of a quilt and the heart of a poet." Cost is $15 general Admission . , More Info. at: 716-679-1891, www.fredopera.org. 3356

Looking for a new home? Visit our website: http://www.chautauqualakehomes.com/

C. Rick & Julia McMahon

Broker/partners

Real Estate Advantage Realty

716-483-3300 or 484-2020

100 Years Ago

The Big News Of 100 Years Ago 12/31/2006 - As easy as it is to recount the top news events of the past year, we cannot measure their historical significance. We are too close to the mirror to have any perspective. What we believe to be of great significance to us today — the Democrats’ ascendancy in Washington and Albany, for example — may not even be noticed by historians a century hence. And, undoubtedly, events that went unnoticed and unremarked this year will be highlighted in future years as having great historic importance. Still, on this last day of 2006 we perhaps can understand a bit of how historical perspective will affect the way the big news of this year will be viewed by looking back to the year that was closing exactly 100 years ago today. And so, consider that in 1906: ¯ Finland became the first country in Europe to give its women the right to vote. Within a year, women would be elected to the Finnish Parliament. ¯ American suffragist Susan B. Anthony died. In America at the time of her death, four states — Wyoming, Colorado, Idaho, and Utah — had granted women the right to vote. ¯ SOS was adopted as a universally recognized warning signal by the first conference ever to be held on wireless telegraphy. ¯ Reginald A. Fessenden became first to broadcast music — he played a violin — over radio. ¯ Theodore Roosevelt was president. ¯ Czar Nicholas was in the midst of a ruthless, brutal campaign to suppress dissent across Russia. ¯ Leonid Brezhnev was born. He would take over the top leadership of the Soviet Union in the mid-1960s and, as such, would be a central figure of the Cold War for the next 18 years. ¯ Esther Damon, the last widow pensioner of the War of the Revolution, died in Vermont at age 92. ¯ The British launched the battleship Dreadnought. It was the first of an entirely new class of warships equipped with all-turbine engines. ¯ Earthquakes occurred in California, Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, Arizona and New Mexico in the United States and in Nicaragua, Colombia, Formosa, Chile and Puerto Rico. The devastation included San Francisco, where a thousand people were killed and half a million left homeless. Here at home, the largest mortgage ever recorded in Mayville was received at $12 million for the Buffalo and Lake Erie Traction Co. to acquire the line between Buffalo and Erie from New York Trust Co. as trustee. An editorial writer at the time was prompted to comment that in Chautauqua County, ‘‘The past year was eventful in many respects and will furnish much material for the historian. It was a year of high prosperity... and the crops were bountiful ...’’ This same writer had commented at the beginning of the year that 1906 might be the year the North Pole would, at last, be reached. ‘‘Undismayed by the fate of S. Andree, who sought the north pole in a balloon and was never heard of afterward, Walter Wellman, the well-known newspaper correspondent, and Santos Dupont, the aeronaut, propose to reach it in an airship,’’ local news accounts reported at the beginning of 1906. ‘‘If their calculations are realized, they will get there long ahead of Peary and other explorers who are painfully crawling northward over the ice. The fact that an airship can be guided to some extent gives it an immense advantage over a balloon, which is at the mercy of every wind.’’ Neither Wellman’s party nor, for that matter, Peary’s made it that year, but the attempt sparked imaginations and prompted the judgment from the editorial writer that ‘‘We appear to be on the eve of aerial navigation.’’ Whatever difference a century of progress and historical perspective make in judging the significance of events, the year’s concluding thoughts of that long-ago editor sum up ours as well: ‘‘Mankind,’’ he wrote, ‘‘is struggling upward and each year records fresh steps.’’ For more information on Chautauqua Lake Real Estate & Living visit: www.chautauqualakehomes.com

�Godfather Of Soul�

Former Falconer Resident Recalls Recording With ‘Godfather Of Soul’

By NICHOLAS L. DEAN

Brown’s Jazz Man James Brown performing with the the Dee Felice trio and others in the early 70s. Frank Vincent, pianist and member of the Dee Felice Trio, was a Falconer native.

12/29/2006 - Nearly four decades after recording with the ‘‘Godfather of Soul,’’ Frank Vincent recalls being James Brown’s jazz man with much pride and appreciation.

In addition to playing piano on two studio albums in the late 60s, the Falconer native toured as part of Brown’s backing band and has nothing but positive memories of working with the late entertainer.

‘‘He was a great gentleman,’’ Vincent said Thursday from his home in Cincinnati. ‘‘He was a lot of fun to be around and he took good care of us.’’

Introduced to jazz music in Jamestown, Vincent took up playing the accordion in high school and moved to Cincinnati with his band shortly after graduating in 1955.

‘‘I was interested in the music and always hung around the Fairmount Grill to listen to the local jazz guys play. I was always fascinated with it,’’ Vincent said. ’’One of those guys was a drummer and he got a little group together and was going out on the road, so I went with him. We played around New York state and I never really did come back after that. One thing led to another and I ended up in Cincinnati.’’

Upon arriving in Ohio’s ‘‘Queen City,’’ the band broke up and Vincent found himself in the company of Dee Felice — a drummer with whom Vincent spent much of his career.

Without a place to live at first, Vincent stayed with Felice and was encouraged to pursue piano as an instrument by Felice’s mother.

After four years studying at the city’s Conservatory of Music and several additional years of practice, Vincent’s dues were paid. By 1970 the pianist was accompanying singers such as Mark Murphy and Mel Torme, touring widely as part of Dee Felice’s Mixed Feelings and appearing on television with James Brown.

Assessing Vincent’s career in a 1982 article, Cliff Radel, a music critic for The Cincinnati Enquirer, wrote that Vincent had become ‘‘the creme de la creme of the city’s jazz piano players’’ and argued that he was better than a lot of the top players in both New York City and Los Angeles.

In the end, Radel wrote, all roads for Frank Vincent led back to Cincinnati.

‘‘Our trio was playing at a restaurant in Cincinnati when we met James Brown for the first time,’’ Vincent said. ‘‘Of course, it made sense. King Records was based here and this is where he did all his recording.’’

Releasing multiple albums each year throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Brown became known as the ‘‘Hardest Working Man In Show Business.’’ Moving from fairly straightforward gospel-inspired R&B compositions to the innovative funk he is best known for, Brown became a massive success in 1965 with hits like ‘‘Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag’’ and ‘‘I Got You (I Feel Good.’’

By the late 60s, Brown began to show an interest in pursuing different sounds. With Frank Vincent and the Dee Felice Trio, Brown recorded ‘‘Gettin’ Down To It’’ in 1969 for Polydor and ‘‘Soul On Top’’ in 1970 for Verve. Noted as a deviation in many accounts of Brown’s recorded history, ‘‘Gettin Down To It’’ featured standards such as ‘‘Strangers in the Night,’’ ‘‘It Had To Be You’’ and ‘‘That’s Life.’’ Allmusic.com compares Brown’s style at this time to Frank Sinatra and stresses that the album is not strictly mellow.

‘‘The only thing I can surmise is that he wanted to branch out and do some other types of music,’’ Vincent said of Brown’s foray into jazz and classic standards. ‘‘A lot of rock stars have tried it, tried going into the standard repertoire. Neil Diamond just recently did it. Rod Stewart did it. Linda Ronstadt did it. So, that’s what his thinking was. He wanted to record some of the standards.’’

While ‘‘Gettin’ Down To It’’ was recorded at King Studios in Cincinnati between December 1968 and March 1969, Brown and the band went to California to record the follow-up, ‘‘Soul On Top,’’ in late 1969. Though closer to his familiar funk sound, ‘‘Soul On Top’’ is an ‘‘intriguing detour into jazz-minded big-band territory’’ according to Allmusic.com

‘‘We did some traveling with him after that and appeared on the Mike Douglas Show, the Steve Allen Show, The Merv Griffin Show and a number of those talk shows which were on during that period,’’ Vincent said. ‘‘We traveled with him to do just those shows and we didn’t do too many, but it was fun and he was a wonderful gentleman. He was very much a gentleman with us . Over the period of a year or two we played those shows and in between we would go back to Cincinnati to work. Then his agency would call and tell us to meet him in whatever town the show was going to be in. He still his rock band at that time and they were out touring all the time.’’

Mentioning many names, cities and venues, Vincent reflected on a career which includes many stars in addition to James Brown — who died Monday at the age of 73.

‘‘We were lucky and we played with some nice people,’’ Vincent said. ‘‘A lot of years have gone by and I’ve remained friends with local musicians from Jamestown like Stu Sneider. I used to watch his quintet at the Fairmount Grill and the Max Davis Trio at the Hotel Jamestown. Stu is still living and he was probably one of the first bands that I went to hear at the Fairmount Grill. A lot of years have gone by since then and I’ve been very fortunate as far as the people I’ve met and the places that music has taken me. I really do consider myself very fortunate in that respect.

Self-described as semi-retired, Vincent still performs two nights each week at The Celestial in Cincinnati. Providing pictures for this story, Vincent’s sister Sylvia, who lives in Bemus Point with her husband Craig Fuller, said one of her favorite artifacts from the period is an autographed inscribed by Brown with the words — ‘‘Sylvia, your bro is too much.’’

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

Chautauqua Lake Management Commission

CLMC To Hire Lake Manager

By PATRICK L. FANELLI

12/24/2006 - After securing $567,000 in county funding for next year and an additional $200,000 in state grants, the Chautauqua Lake Management Commission is on the lookout for someone to manage it all.

By March, CLMC members are hoping to have a full-time lake manager not only to implement the organization’s 2007 Action Plan to improve Chautauqua Lake and the watershed, but also set the stage for the future.

‘‘We’re looking for somebody with an academic background in a field related to the management of a fresh water lake, and also have appropriate experience in doing this,’’ said Bill Evans, CLMC chairman. ‘‘We approved a job description and preferred qualifications, and are in the process right now of placing ads in various newspapers and different institutes of higher learning.’’

The $567,000 the CLMC requested from the county was strictly for individual projects in the lake and the watershed, such as increased weed removal operations and environmental studies. CLMC members previously indicated they knew the county would not approve a new staff position, so they left the lake manager out of the request. Instead, a $149,000 state grant enabled CLMC members to pay for the position.

‘‘We also spelled out a lot of specific goals we would like to accomplish with this person, including the implementation of the 2007 Action Plan both in the watershed and the lake, and also taking on the task of preparing us for 2008 and beyond,’’ Evans said.

That includes identifying revenue sources that would help the commission function well into the future, he added.

To develop the idea of a single person charged with managing Chautauqua Lake, as well as how the CLMC will operate after the position is filled, members have been looking at other lakes in the state, many of which have a governing entity charged with managing them.

‘‘Some do, some don’t,’’ Evans said. ‘‘It depends on the level of interest and the types of problems they’re facing. The Finger Lakes has an institute that pretty much attends to a lot of the issues, and Lake George has a rather sophisticated organization. So we’re trying to learn from them.’’

Chautauqua Lake does have its own unique challenges, he said. For instance, Chautauqua Lake is much shallower than many of the Finger Lakes — but the lake’s underlying importance to the community is the same.

Evans doesn’t expect to find a lake manager until as late as February or March. Until then, CLMC members are likely to continue debating how the organization will function in the future and how to implement the 2007 Action Plan.

‘‘We’ve got a good financial foothold for 2007,’’ Evans said. ‘‘Now, it’s up to us to get the job done.’’

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