Chamber Membership Meeting
Chamber Membership Meeting
10-01-20
Wingate By Wyndham
9:00am
The Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce hosted their monthly membership meeting Thursday morning, Oct. 1, 2020 at the Wingate By Wyndham to discuss a special holiday project and the non-Fall Festival.
CHRISTMAS WREATH CONTEST
Barb Pump, Project Development Manager of the Chamber, started the meeting with an idea that was presented to the Chamber by Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE). Carrie Busekist of CCE was in attendance to explain the project. A Christmas Wreath Contest and Auction would invite local businesses to decorate a fresh pine wreath provided free by CCE. The decorated wreaths would hang on the doors of the businesses from Thanksgiving through Dec. 10th. All the wreaths would then be auctioned off via the CCE’s Facebook page. The top 3 wreaths with the highest bid would receive a “Holiday Spirit” award.
Money raised from the wreath auction would help support CCE programming and other services that their organization provides to the community.
“With the County Fair being cancelled this year, along with many of our other traditional fundraising opportunities, we thought this might be a fun way to get businesses and organizations involved and help us recover some of the funding that we lost as a result,” said Busekist.
Pump commented, “Not knowing what is going to happen with this year’s Christmas in Ellicottville festival, this could provide a fun alternative for our merchants and get everyone into the holiday spirit.”
A sign-up sheet was available at the end of the meeting for those interested in participating.
FALL FESTIVAL
According to Pump, there has been a lot of concern regarding Columbus Day weekend (what would have been Ellicottville’s Fall Festival). Although the event has officially been cancelled, Ellicottville is still expecting an influx of visitors over the 3-day period, prompting Village officials to take precautionary measures.
Pump shared with members that the Chamber has been diligent in their efforts to get the word out about this year’s festival being cancelled. These efforts include commercials airing on Entercom radio stations, an interview with Channel 2 News, and changing all of the welcome signs coming into Ellicottville to read: “Fall Festival Cancelled”.
Brian McFadden, Executive Director of the Chamber has notified all tour bus companies that there is no bus parking in the village, and no parking or camping will be allowed in the Signore lot.
Ellicottville P.D. Don Auge and Jim Bouchard were in attendance to inform merchants that the local police department will be in full force that weekend, and both County and State police will provide additional support and will be stationed outside the village boundaries.
On behalf of the Ellicottville Village Board, Doug Bush outlined a list of regulations and restrictions that the Board has applied to the weekend formerly known as Fall Fest, which he shared with the group:
The Village Board has extended the date of Sidewalk Cafe permits through 10/25/20, except for Oct. 10-11. Outdoor seating and dining will not be allowed on village property during these dates. In addition, the use of sidewalk area and tree lawns will not be allowed for seating, merchandise, or entertainment. This includes sandwich boards, clothing racks, etc. Bush’s explanation of this is that due to the anticipated influx of people, removing outdoor seating/dining will allow for more space for pedestrians. Carrie Busekist, who also attended the membership meeting on behalf of the Winery of Ellicottville, posed the question about a hostess station located just outside a business’ entry door. Bush commented that hostess stations would most likely also be restricted, but he would verify this with the Village Board.
Vendor, food truck, yard sale, and off-premise business permits will not be issued.
Short Term Rentals are currently not permitted within the village due to the moratorium enacted by the Ellicottville Village Board.
Tailgating, camping, campfires, and fireworks will not be allowed on private or public spaces.
Open Container and Noise Ordinance will be strongly enforced. An emergency moratorium has been placed on alcohol in village parks. Bush noted that the Ellicottville Village Park will be locked at dusk.
Bush reminded businesses that Covid Occupancy and Open Container posters should be displayed at entrances of establishments. “Code and law enforcement will be aware of these occupancy numbers,” he said. “The Health Department and SLA have a history of being in the village, so be sure to abide by all rules and regulations.”
Mark Chudy, Village DPW, said at the meeting that his department will be making the rounds Friday, Saturday and Sunday handling the garbage receptacles, and McFadden informed meeting attendees that the Chamber has ordered wash stations and port-a-johns to be placed in the lawn area next to the M&T Bank driveway and in the alleyway next to the 1887 Building. Each port-a-john will be equipped with disinfectant which will be serviced three times each day.
A question was asked, “What activities does Holiday Valley have going on?” in which McFadden deferred to Katie DiDonato (Holiday Valley). “Holiday Valley will be offering chairlift rides on both Mardi Gras and Spruce,” she said. “No dogs, backpacks or coolers are allowed on the chairlift, and people are encouraged to purchase their ride ticket in advance online. There will be a cookout at the top of Mardi Gras, but no alcohol will be served and there will be no live music. Sky High is running, although we are already sold out on Saturday. And there will be a Tent Sale in front of the Holiday Valley Lodge.”
McFadden shared with the group that HoliMont informed him that they have cancelled all events until the start of ski season, “so there will be nothing going on up there Fall Fest weekend.”
Nick Pitillo (Villaggio) expressed that Ellicottville’s #1 priority is to “make sure that our staff and visitors are safe”. He shared with the group that he had Dan Aldrich and his crew sanitize his restaurant earlier that morning, and that businesses may want to look into bringing Dan into their establishment to do the same. Bill Finnerty (Finnerty’s Tap Room) agreed that pushing the safety aspect is key for our visitors. McFadden invited anyone interested in getting a hold of Aldrich to contact the Chamber for his number.
A question was posed asking which restaurants are doing reservations only during the non-Fall Fest weekend. Pitillo responded that he’s been taking reservations since they opened, and he’s never seen so many no-shows than this past Saturday night. “I’m at half capacity, we go to fill it up, and so many tables didn’t show. I would definitely encourage having a wait list to fill it up.”
“We try to do both,” said Finnerty. “We try to do 80% reservations and the rest available for walk-ins.”
Frank Maduri (Monroe St. Brick & Brew) asked if there was a list of all the restaurants’ opening and closing hours for that weekend. “I’d like to be able to gauge what I should do with my place.” Pump said she does have that list and will be happy to mail it over to restaurant owners.
Pump closed out the meeting by thanking everyone for their attendance. Any additional questions regarding the Columbus Day weekend can be directed to the Chamber, 716-699-5046. Those merchants that are interested in participating in the CCE Christmas Wreath Contest but were not present at Thursday’s meeting can sign up by calling the Ellicottville Chamber office at 716-699-5046 or emailing barb@ellicottvileny.com.
