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Two appointed to Chamber's Board of Directors

Two new members have joined Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce’s leadership.

At the Chamber’s Board of Directors’ Reorganizational Meeting held Friday, Daniel DeMarte, president of Jamestown Community College, and Steve Pokrzyk of Cutco Corp. were approved as the group’s newest members.

The pair was nominated for their board seats by Chamber members in a vote held in November. The vote’s results were certified and accepted by the board in December during the Chamber’s Annual Meeting.

“The Chamber is excited to welcome both DeMarte and Pokrzyk to our Board of Directors,” said Larry Sorokes, the Chamber’s CEO. “Their backgrounds and insights will be invaluable to our member-services organization as we continue to represent the greater Olean area’s businesses and pursue new initiatives to propel our community forward.

As part of the Reorganizational Meeting, board members also named Andrew Caya of Caya’s Canopies and Rentals as board president; Mari Howard of The ReHabilitation Center as vice president; Vicki Blessing of Park Centre Development as treasurer; and Jason Crisafulli of Kinley Corp. as secretary. Tim O’Keefe, the board’s immediate past president, assumed an ex-officio role on the board’s Executive Committee.

Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce, located at 301 N. Union St., Olean, has been the leading business organization in the greater Olean area since 1906. Its mission is supporting workforce development, small business owners, large corporate entities, non-profit organizations, manufacturers, and area residents.

2019 Outdoor & Rec Sports Show returns this weekend

Whether coming off the big game season, enjoying winter sports, gearing up for spring fishing or looking to spend a fun day with family, everyone will enjoy the 10th annual Greater Olean Area Outdoor & Rec Sports Show.

The Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce is hosting the Sports Show at the Daniel Carter Events Center in Allegany on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. The show features 34 vendors.

As more individuals and families travel shorter distances from home and take shorter vacations or mini-vacations, the Rec Sports Show provides an opportunity for the public to learn more about a variety of outdoor recreational opportunities close to home. Exhibits will include camping, paddle sports, hiking, cycling, all-terrain vehicles, hunting, snowmobiling, bird watching, fishing, and more.

Thirty-four vendors will be on site. They include: Pfeiffer Nature Center, WMXO, LeafFilter North of New York, WPIG HOT-FM / US Army, Sun Seasons & Spices, Hy-Haven Criations, WBRR - The Hero, Otto-Eldred Regional Youth Trap Team, Enchanted Mountains of New York, Burning Asphalt Sauces, Allegany Mountain Resort, Buffalo Bob's Wild Game Jerky and Meat Stick; Knapp's Creek Volunteer Fire Company, KR Communications, Trinstar, Adventure Calls Outfitters, Gourmet Creations by Kim, Microtel Inn & Suites by Wyndham Olean, Cattaraugus County Pistol Clerk, Gutter Logic of Rochester/Buffalo, Eagle Dream Rehab Center, Red Barn Gun Shop, Braymiller Builders, Redhouse Brook Trout Unlimited, Cattaraugus County SCOPE, Knights of Columbus, Ench Mtn Chap. National Wild Turkey Federation, Cutco KA-BAR Visitor Center, Greater Allegany County Chamber, Fins-n-Feathers, Spectacular Sports, and American Freedom Apparel.

Cutco Cutlery Corporation, Ka-Bar Knives, Red Barn Gun Shop, Microtel Inn & Suites of Olean, WPIG-FM, WBRR-FM and WMXO-FM have signed on as show sponsors.

Red Barn Gun Shop will be back for their fourth-straight year of sponsoring the show raffle. They will display product lines of guns and rifles as well as accessories. Cattaraugus County Pistol Clerk will be on the floor both days. Cutco Cutlery and Ka-Bar Knives will also return as a show sponsor and vendor showcasing their wide variety of household and hunting knives.

The Chamber is hosting a raffle during the show. The raffle includes a chance to win one of many prizes: GRAND PRIZE: Remington Model 7 Predator .243 Cal. (Retail Value $725); Additional PRIZEs include Kabar Becker Crewman (Retail Value $121.76); Cutco Gut Hook (Retail Value $119.00); Kabar USMC (Retail Value $104.90); Kabar Zombie Swabbie (Retail Value $96.84); and 2 Raft Rides Letchworth State Park (Retail Value $90.00).

Raffle tickets are $5 or three for $10 with a limit of 500 tickets, and can be purchased at the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and at the show in January. The raffle will be drawn on Sunday. The prizes were supplied by: Red Barn Guns, Cutco Cutlery Corporation, Ka-Bar Knives, and Adventure Calls Outfitters.

ADMISSION: Admissions to the show are $3 adults and $2 students/seniors. Only children 12 and under are free with an adult.

A look at upcoming Chamber events

Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce will hold its monthly Business After Hours from 5 to 7 p.m., Jan. 23, at Olean Public Library. Relax, enjoy fine food and beverages, converse with your business colleagues-and maybe gain new customers. This month’s attendance fund sponsor is Wright Home Realty. Please RSVP to 716-372-4433 or email info@oleanny.com.

Olean Area Young Professionals has scheduled its monthly networking event from 5:15 to 7:15 p.m. at St. Bonaventure University’s Quick Center for the Arts. Food will be provided and there will be a cash bar.

After the event, the QCA invites the group to stay for a performance of “Broadway’s Next H!T Musical” scheduled that evening at 7:30 p.m. The show is put on by an improv group where the actors take “hit” song suggestions from the audience, vote on their favorite and create a full-blown improvised musical - complete with memorable characters, witty dialogue, and plot twists. Discounted tickets for $16 will be available to the group.

RSVP here: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSdY1AKYTESLZCG7lX5EzWQ8sF4-ow1-e6U7V_vfPdABulQXAw/viewform?usp=sf_link

The Community-wide Garage Sale is slated from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., May 18. The Chamber is encouraging people to get up in their attics, basements, and garages and start sorting and cleaning. Garage sales are very well attended events. Our event has grown in number of houses participating and last year more than 250 maps were handed out. We encourage residents to hold garage sales at their homes or join with neighbors to hold block sales. For anyone who is interested in holding a garage sale at their home, they need to register their address with the Chamber and will be place on the garage sale map for a $4 fee. The Chamber will need address, and a short list of items that the home would be selling. Deadline to enter is May 15. Maps depicting the locations of the garages sales will be available on Friday, May 17 and also will be handed out at the Chamber’s office on the morning of the sales, beginning at 7 a.m.

The Corporate Challenge 5k and Walk will be held June 27 at Jamestown Community College’s campus in downtown Olean. The event was created by the Chamber with the goal of supporting companies in creating internal wellness programs. The race is open to both corporate and community teams. The challenge concludes with "Olean’s Largest Office Party" following the race complete with awards to the Fastest CEO, the Fastest Team, The Most Spirited Team, T-Shirt Design Contest Winner among other awards.

The Corporate Golf Classic is scheduled for July 15 at the Bartlett Country Club. What company foursome will reign supreme in this 6th Corporate Golf Classic? This event is in format phase, but the Chamber will invite corporates and community to partake in this golf competition that is sure to be a classic.

Also, the ever-popular StrOlean event will be back again this year – not just once or twice – but three times! The events committee set the dates as June 15, Aug. 16 and Oct. 26.

Specific details, vendor applications, participant registration forms can be found on the Chamber’s website, www.oleanny.com. For more information, please contact the Chamber by phone at 716-372-4433 or by emailing info@oleanny.com.

OCSD to showcase future chefs in competition

While healthy eating can be a challenge for kids and parents, elementary school students in Olean will use their creativity and culinary skills to make healthy Mexican-inspired recipes in the 2019 “Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge.” The national initiative, now in its ninth year, was created to get students thinking about making healthy food choices while also encouraging them to be active and creative in the kitchen.

Olean City School District students are joining over 2,700 other students representing more than 1,400 Sodexo-served school sites in 30 states nationally. Olean’s Future Chefs Challenge is slated from 5 to 9 p.m., March 13, at the Olean Intermediate Middle School. The community is invited to attend.

Twenty-three Olean elementary school students submitted healthy Mexican-Inspired recipes and the 15 best were selected to participate in the district-wide finals event. Finalists will prepare and present their creations before being assessed on criteria including originality, taste, kid friendliness and use of healthy ingredients. Olean CSD joins 266 other school districts across the country holding Future Chefs events throughout February and March. The winning student from each participating district will be considered for 40 regional finalist awards, and the selected regional finalists will vie to become one of five national finalists competing for the public’s vote on SodexoUSA.com.

“According to the American Heart Association, about one in every three American kids and teens is overweight or obese,” said Stephen Dunmore, CEO North America, Schools, Sodexo. “This staggering statistic demonstrates why it is more important than ever to engage youth to become advocates for their own health.”

Sodexo, the school nutrition partner to over 425 school districts throughout the U.S., is renowned for its work advancing childhood nutrition, health and well-being. In November 2016, Partnership for a Healthier America (PHA) named Sodexo “Partner of the Year” based in part on early success on elements of its commitments for increasing healthier food options in the K-12 schools it serves; providing healthier meal options for children at zoo, museum and aquarium locations served by Sodexo; and for its commitment to serve 17 million additional free breakfasts to K-12 students by 2018, which Sodexo met two years early. In addition, the award recognizes Sodexo’s efforts beyond its PHA commitment including how it has created a culture of health across its extensive network of clients, customers, vendors and employees.

The Sodexo Future Chefs Challenge is just one of the many ways that the company shares its health and well-being expertise with the clients, customers and the communities it serves.

Have a say in the 2019 Santa Claus Lane Ornament

Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce is looking to the community for ideas for its 2019 Santa Claus Lane ornament. Through the ornament sales, holiday lights are funded and can be lit in Olean from November to early January. The ornament will be the nineteenth in a series created by artist Kathleen McDonald.

Every year, the Santa Claus Lane committee chooses the landmark to be designed on the 3 1/2 inch circular resin ornament. The artist sketches the layout from photos provided by Chamber officials and a prototype is created. Once the prototype is approved, work begins with the process of pouring and hand-painting each piece. The ornaments arrive in Olean, individually boxed and numbered, with a brief description of the ornament.

Below is a list of several buildings that have been suggested to be an ornament: Archbishop Walsh; Bartlett Country Club; Beef n Barrel; Christopher Columbus Lodge; Dal Tile Plant; Downtown Deli; Governor Higgins Mansion; Lincoln Diner; Olean House; Paul's Steakhouse; PickUps; St. Mary's School; Thatcher Plant Factory and Warner's Pizza.

Past ornaments include the Olean Municipal Building, the Fannie E. Bartlett House, St. Mary of the Angels Church, Olean High School, St. Stephen’s Church, St. Bonaventure University, a depiction of Santa Claus Lane, the Olean General Hospital, Olean Post Office, Community Bank, Ivers J. Norton, the Castle Restaurant, St. Francis Hospital, Chuck Wagon Restaurant, Palace Theater, Boardmanville Elementary, Red’s and Trudy’s, North Union Street streetscape (1st hundred block west side) , Olean Class Cars, Cloud 9 Amusement Park, Bradner’s Stadium, and Henry H. Hill.

Please submit ideas to GOACC no later than Jan. 25 by calling 716-372-4433, emailing info@oleanny.com or on facebook at facebook.com/OleanNYChamber.

2019 squirrel calendars available

Woodland in the City and the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce have released the 12th edition of the Woodland in the City Squirrel Calendar for 2019.

This year, the calendar features local families who turned in photos with their relatives appearing with the squirrels throughout Olean.

Once again, this edition includes information all the squirrels in town. It also showcases National Squirrel Day, National Squirrel Awareness Month, and many “nuts” days – peanut, almond, etc. A map depicting locations of all squirrels is included. The calendar, sold at the Chamber’s office, sells for $6 or two for $10 with limited copies (150) are available.

In other squirrel news, the Chamber has many squirrel items/memorabilia for sale. The Chamber has “peace love and squirrel” tees, plush squirrels, a squirrel ornament, Woodland squirrel bookmarks, and the third printed edition of Woodland in the City Squirrel Guide Book. Item prices range from $1to $15.00.

The Chamber’s regular hours are 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday to Friday. For more information on the squirrel retail items, visit the Chamber’s office at 301 N. Union St., Olean, or call 716-372-4433.

City declares snow event

Bill Aiello, mayor of the City of Olean, has declared a Snow Event in anticipation of the predicted storm. The Snow Event is effective Jan. 19 at 12:01 a.m. The Snow Event designation restricts and prohibits parking on specific streets during snowfalls to allow for City snowplows to effectively clear City Streets.

Parking of motor vehicles on primary streets shall be prohibited between the hours of 3:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. Parking on sub-primary streets shall be prohibited between 12:00 midnight and 7:00 a.m. The parking of motor vehicles on secondary streets shall be prohibited between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.

Primary streets are: North and South Union; East and West State.

Sub-primary streets are: Alder from Seneca to Spring; Buffalo; Clark; Clinton, North and South; Constitution; Delaware from Union to Barry; Eighth, North, between West Sullivan Street and Wayne Street; Elm, East and West; Euclid, Fifteenth; First, South from State to Irving; First, North; Forest, North (200 and 300 blocks); Fourth, South (200 block); Fourth, North from Wayne north; Franchot Boulevard (east of Union); Franklin; Front; Genesee; Green, West; Hamilton; Henley West; Higgins; Highland Terrace; Homer; Indiana Avenue; Irving; Johnson; King; Laurens; Madison; Main; Nineteenth, South; Oregon; Oviatt (east of Main); Pine; Prospect; Queen; Reed from Third to Thirteenth; River; Seneca; Seventh; South; Spring, East; Spruce; Stardust; Sullivan, West, from Union to Fifteenth; Sunrise, from Stardust to Van Buren; Terrace; Third, North (300 block); Twelfth; Twenty-first; Twenty-fourth; Times Square; Union Street, North Extension; Van Buren; Washington; Wayne; York.

Secondary Streets are all streets other than those identified as Primary or Sub-primary streets.

During a Snow Event, an owner of a motor vehicle who resides at a premise that does not have a driveway is permitted to park their vehicle in any city owned public parking lot free of charge during the Snow Event.

The fine for any violation is $50.00 and will be imposed on the registered owner of the vehicle. The fine is in addition to any costs for removal and storage payable to any towing company engaged to remove a vehicle under this section.

The Snow Event will remain in effect until further notice.

Home Show set for mid-April

The Greater Olean Home Show is where to go for the latest in products and services for your home.

Each year, in one location, business experts gather with everything from kitchen and bath appliances to windows and siding. Hundreds of homeowners will walk through the doors of William O. Smith Recreation Center looking for ideas and trends designed for their biggest investment- their home. A jam-packed event complete with exhibitors and giveaways, homeowners will find everything they need all in one weekend.

The Greater Olean Area Home Show, presented by Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and its 35 Corporate Sponsors, is your all-access pass to home specialists offering all the expert advice; solutions and inspiration for whatever home project you have planned this year. The show will be held April 12 to 14 at the Smith Center.

“Business owners can reach many customers in the three day event, and their customers can see, touch, compare and buy your product. Vendor booths are now available for the annual home show, held at the William O. Smith Recreation Center in Olean,” Meme K. Yanetsko, the Chamber’s COO, said. “At least 80 of the area’s leading businesses are expected to exhibit their wares and services at the upcoming show. The Home Show is a unique marketplace to shop, compare and save on a total selection of home-related products and services for building, remodeling, gardening and decorating.”

The show dates and times are: April 12, 5 to 9 p.m.; April 13, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.; and April 14, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Area businesses are encouraged to make booth reservations as soon as possible. Chamber members will receive discounts on booth space.

For more information on the Home Show or other Chamber events and activities, please call the Chamber at 716-372-4433 or email member@oleanny.com.

Community Fund grant supports Stop the Bleed program

Community Fund grant supports STHCS/Mercy Flight Stop the Bleed program

Very few people outside the medical field expect to encounter a situation where they must provide life-saving trauma care – but every day unsuspecting bystanders have to do just that.

A recent grant from the Community Fund at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation supporting the Stop the Bleed program will help ensure significantly more people would be prepared and adequately trained should the need ever arise.

The Stop the Bleed program became a nationally backed concept in the aftermath of the Sandy Hook school shooting, with the goal of providing training and kits with necessary tools to help civilian bystanders become “immediate responders” capable of providing potentially life-saving care to bleeding trauma patients.

Southern Tier Health Care System’s local Stop the Bleed campaign was launched in November 2017 and has already locally trained 332 individuals, according to STHCS President and CEO Donna Kahm. Training sessions are hosted by certified instructors from both STHCS and Mercy Flight of WNY.

Mrs. Kahm stressed that the training provided through the program could save the life of a person at any time, not just in the case of a large-scale catastrophe like a mass shooting.

“Numerous risks for catastrophic bleeding events exist everywhere from our own kitchens, garages, farms and hunting camps to schools, government offices, factories and other public spaces where we used to feel safe,” Mrs. Kahm said. “People must be prepared, educated and equipped to react in an emergency.

“Most who arrive at a hospital emergency department for a life-threatening bleeding event don’t arrive via ambulance under the care of trained professionals,” Kahm added. “The sad reality is the vital responsibility of first aid often rests on a family member, friend, passerby or even the injured person themselves.”

According to a 2015 pilot study by Academic Emergency Medicine, only one in five people with no medical training were able to correctly apply a commercially available tourniquet to a manikin’s leg in less than 60 seconds.

Providing instruction to those individuals more than doubled the rate of successful placements.

CRCF Executive Director Karen Niemic Buchheit said the Foundation’s board of directors agreed that this education for community members was vital, and so approved a grant of $1,983 from its Community Fund.

Mrs. Kahm said the grant will allow the program to leverage match funding for additional emergency kits. For example, members of an organization could complete the training and receive five bleeding-control kits based on need in exchange for agreeing to match with the purchase of an additional five kits.

“We already have several municipal governments, schools, colleges and other organizations willing to take that step,” Mrs. Kahm said. “Of course, we are willing to work with agencies that may not have the capacity to match. But our hope is this program will inspire participating agencies with the incentive to invest in their own safety and well-being with proper training and equipment. This will take CRCF’s initial investment in our program and exponentially expand its impact throughout the region.”

Not only did CRCF’s board of directors see the importance of financially supporting the project, but a number of board and committee members decided to undergo the training themselves, Buchheit added.

“The Community Fund is our board of director’s vehicle for responsive grantmaking,” said Buchheit. “While none of us hope to ever have to use this training, our board saw it essential to support making this program available to more agencies in our community and participate in it ourselves.”

Already 32 Stop the Bleed emergency kits have been purchased for locations that undergo training.

Kahm expressed excitement that CRCF’s backing will allow more wide-spread impact for the program in the community.

“I can’t thank our good friends at the Cattaraugus Region Community Foundation enough for recognizing the need for a strong Stop the Bleed campaign in our region,” said Kahm, “It’s wonderful that we live in a community that so generously supports programs that make our area a better, safer place.”

Donations can be made to the Community Fund at CRCF, 301 North Union St., Suite 203, or online at cattfoundation.org.ing things that can happen when our community embraces the spirit of giving.”

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