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 Lake Living

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Chautauqua County Visitors Bureau

Monday, January 28, 2008

I.C.E. Festival in Chautauqua County.

Saturday, January 26, 2008

Ellicottville, N.Y. Holliday Valley, NY