Ellicottville Community Spirit on Bikes and Benches
Ellicottville Community Spirit on Bikes and Benches
From students pedaling to school to volunteers restoring downtown benches, two recent projects show the many ways Ellicottville comes together.
What does “community” really mean? Around Ellicottville, sometimes it looks like dozens of kids pedaling their bikes down Route 219 on their way to school. Other times, it looks like a group of church members with paintbrushes, giving a little TLC to the benches that line our downtown streets.
Neither is a huge, earth-shattering event. And maybe that’s exactly the point. Community is often found in the little things… people showing up, lending a hand, groups coming together to plan something new (and fun!), or an individual simply doing his or her part to make the place they call home a little better. Over the past few weeks, Ellicottville has given us some great examples of “community.”
ROLLING WITH THE EAGLES
This past Tuesday morning looked a little different for approximately 50 Ellicottville Central School students who traded the school bus and family car for two wheels during ECS’s first-ever Ride Your Bike to School Day. Students in grades K-12, along with parents, teachers, and other volunteers, gathered in the village at 7:30am before setting off on the two-mile ride to school.
The idea behind the event was simple: encourage students to stay active while giving them the experience of actually riding their bikes to school - something that isn’t necessarily an option on an ordinary school morning for ECS students.
Making the inaugural ride possible was a community effort of its own. The Ellicottville Police Department and ECS School Resource Officer Amber Graham were highly involved in coordinating the morning, assisting with street crossings and helping to keep traffic aware of the large group of young cyclists. Riders traveled from Ellicottville Town Hall toward ECS, using sidewalks before continuing along Route 219 from the Holiday Valley area to the school. And it’s safe to say, the first outing brought together quite a crew. Helmets, backpacks, bikes, and plenty of school spirit made their way to school together… not a bad way to start the day.
A LITTLE TLC FOR DOWNTOWN
Meanwhile, another community project has quietly been taking place under the pavilion at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church.
If you’ve spent any time walking around downtown Ellicottville, you’ve probably made use of one of the wooden benches placed throughout the village. There are 48 of them in total, providing spots for visitors and locals to take a break, enjoy a cup of coffee, or simply sit and watch downtown go by. After multiple summers of use, those benches were due for some attention. That’s where the congregation at St. Paul’s Lutheran Church stepped in.
The Village DPW crew began delivering benches and staining supplies to the church pavilion in mid-September, where volunteers have been sanding and staining them as a community service project. The invitation to church members was intentionally straightforward: come when you can, do what you can. Volunteers have been working their way through the benches, and once each bench is finished, the DPW crew returns it to its familiar spot downtown.
According to DPW Supervisor Mark Chudy, the benches were last stained four years ago. With Fall Festival weekend approaching (Oct. 10-11), their freshened-up appearance comes at a pretty good time, as thousands of visitors prepare to descend on downtown Ellicottville at the peak of the fall foliage. Once Fall Fest is over, the DPW will collect all 48 benches and put them in storage for the winter.
It’s a simple project, but one that will be enjoyed by a large number of people, most of whom will probably never know who put in the hours sanding and staining the bench beneath them. It’s one of those behind-the-scenes efforts that helps keep Ellicottville looking its best.
