Gowanda Small Town Times

The first Varsity sports action in October came on Tuesday the 3rd. Two games were on the schedule, both taking place at Pine Valley. In both cases, Gowanda-connected teams came out on top.

The Pine Valley Varsity girls volleyball team hosted Gowanda. Gowanda got off to a slow start in Game 1. Frequently tied, the game was very close in the early going with neither team holding an advantage of more than two points. From a 9-all tie, Gowanda went on a 4-point spurt that put them ahead 13-9. Eventually, Pine Valley worked their way back into a tie at 18. That prompted a pivotal timeout. Gowanda took the next point bringing Ella Luther up to serve. Starting with an ace, Gowanda ran up six straight points to win the game 25-18.

In Game 2, the teams split the first four points evenly. Then, Addison Kota had her own run of six service points and Gowanda was up 8-2. With the score at 9-3 it was Aubrie Heron up to serve. With Heron serving, Gowanda went on an 11-point streak that included 3 aces. The score was 20-4 and Gowanda coasted to a Game 2 win. The final two points came with Jillian Gernatt serving with that last point being an ace that hit the top of the net before dropping down on the Pine Valley side. That 25-6 win put Gowanda up in the match 2-0.

Game 3 was hard fought with Pine Valley battling their way into an early 9-3 lead. Gowanda clawed their way back. Down 11-7, Holland Browning racked up nine straight service points beginning and ending with an ace giving Gowanda a 16-11 lead. Pine Valley was unable to close that gap as the game progressed to an eventual 25-19 Gowanda win to take the match 3-0.

Once again, numerous Gowanda players figured into the game statistic. They are listed below:
Aubrie Heron 7 kills, 6 aces, 4 digs
Elizabeth Green 6 kills, 3 aces
Corrina John 4 kills
Addison Kota 4 kills, 3 aces, 13 digs
Holland Browning 3 kills, 5 aces, 6 digs
Lauren Kelly 2 kills
Jillian Gernatt 21 assists, 2 aces, 5 digs
Ella Luther 3 aces, 9 digs
Sydney Smith 2 digs
Tessa Kohn 2 digs
Madilyn Pawlak 1 dig

Shortly before the girls were busy playing volleyball, the Pine Valley/Gowanda Varsity boys soccer team was hosting Salamanca/Cattaraugus-Little Valley for what would be a highlight game for the team. After a scoreless 1st Quarter, Salamanca got the first point in the game mid-way through the 2nd Quarter. Pine Valley reached halftime down 1-0. A huge 3rd Quarter followed for Pine Valley/Gowanda. Nine minutes into the period, Rafael Meurant scored tying the game at 1-1. Sawyer Bradigan was credited with an assist on the goal. Three minutes later, Pine Valley had the lead as Bradigan scored at 52:00 with assist by Jack Sheldon. Sheldon followed with a pair of goals at 54:00 and 57:00 with assists from Bradigan and Warren Butcher. The remaining 3 minutes of that quarter and the whole 4th Quarter passed without any further scoring. With only a few games left in the regular season, the Pine Valley/Gowanda boys got their first win by a 4-1 score.

[photo] Pictured is Gowanda Free Library director, Heidi Khawam, with the library’s 1st Place scarecrow, Spongebob Square Pants.

The end of September means the annual Scarecrow Contest in Gowanda. This very popular local event is one that both locals and former Gowanda residents look forward to. Voting was done on paper ballots over the weekend as well as online in the “You Know Your From Gowanda” group on Facebook, where likes for the photo of any scarecrow counts as a vote.

While the Gowanda Free Library has a new director this year, they still took 1st Place for the 2nd year in a row. The library entry, “Spongebob Square Pants” attracted 250 online votes towards a vote total of 250 including paper votes to gain the 2023 title of “Gowanda’s Favorite Scarecrow”. In 2nd Place was “Fisherman Floyd” created by Sue Trewer with a total of 192 votes. The top vote getter for a Gowanda business, and 3rd Place overall, went to Gowanda’s K&L Lanes for “Trixie Berger” with 131 votes.

While the number of entries has been modest in recent years, this year’s contest did attract an increased number of entries. In 2023 there were 8 scarecrows entered in the contest, up from 5 the previous year.

Michael and Barb Luffred of Gowanda celebrated their 64th wedding anniversary Sept. 26.

Football 3-2, 1-2

Friday, September 29

Wilson at Gowanda
- Homecoming -
Gowanda 30, Wilson 49

Girls Volleyball 8-2, 7-1

Monday, September 25

Silver Creek at Gowanda
- original scheduled for Sept. 14 -
Gowanda 3, Silver Creek 0
25-14/25-13/25-14

Tuesday, September 26

Gowanda at Salamanca
Gowanda 3, Salamanca 2
25-14/24-26/25-22/18-25/15-8

Wednesday, September 27

North Collins at Gowanda
Gowanda 3, North Collins 0
25-18/25-7/25-18

Cross Country

Tuesday, September 26

Gowanda at Salamanca
boys
1st CSP
2nd Gowanda
3rd Silver Creek/Forestville
Salamanca incomplete

girls
1st CSP
2nd Gowanda
Salamanca & Silver Creek/Forestville incomplete

Saturday, September 30

McQuaid Invitational [over 100 schools]
Varsity A-2 Small School results
boys Gowanda Top 3
Cashis Montour 67th 17:29.60
Jayson Twoguns 76th 17:35.00
Dustin Mohawk 169th 18:45.10

girls Gowanda Top 3
Calie Hudson 17th 19:22.40
Autumn Pupo 92nd 21:29.30
Alhanna Gabel 263rd 24:41.80

Boys Soccer 0-12, 0-6

Tuesday, September 26

Randolph at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 0, Randolph 8

Thursday, September 28

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Cassadaga Valley-Falconer
Pine Valley 0, Cassadaga Valley 8

Saturday, September 30

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Dunkirk
- non-league -
Pine Valley 0, Dunkirk 7

Girls Soccer 2-8-2, 2-5-2

Monday, September 25

Pine Valley/Gowanda at Ellicottville
Pine Valley 0, Ellicottville 8

Wednesday, September 27

Randolph at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 1, Randolph 2

Friday, September 29

Catt.-Little Valley at Pine Valley/Gowanda
Pine Valley 2, Cattaraugus 1

[photo] Pictured are the 2023 GCS Homecoming Court and Royalty along with their class affiliation (from left to right) Evan Fort (2024), Aubrie Heron (2024), Michael Horth (2024), Alivia Capozzi (2024), ‘King’ Aiden Ackley (2024) [in effigy], ‘Queen’ Ella Luther (2024), ‘Prince’ Chase Bolen (2025), ‘Princess’ Cadence Luther (2027), Kierra Moses (2025), Carter Capozzi (2026), Brair Bartlet (2026) and Kyan Austin (2027).

Spirit Week in Gowanda annually is the run-up to Homecoming. Highlight events include the annual Spirit Parade and the Homecoming Coronation ceremony. For 2023, Spirit Week took on a fairy tale theme. The week kicked off with a very unique event as a new scoreboard was installed at Hillis Field in Gowanda on Monday, September 25.

The Spirit Parade took place on Thursday, September 28 featuring a number of elaborate floats created by various classes and groups in the school. Prizes of $200.00 each are awarded for Most Creative, Best Entertainment, Best Craftmanship and Most Spirited. An Additional $300.00 award goes to the Grand Champion float with all of the above categories being considered. The 2023 winners included Class of 2026 (Creative), Class of 2024 (Entertainment, JV Volleyball (Spirited), Class of 2025 (Craftsmanship) and Class of 2027 (Grand Champion).

On Saturday, the last day of September, It was time for the Homecoming Dance. It was the first social event to be held on the newly high refinished school gym floor. Music for the dance was provided by ‘The Wedding Guys 716’ with DJ Mike also acting as MC for the coronation ceremony. Doing the crowning honors was Student Council member, Alaina Kazmarsic. Senior Class member was only present in effigy after being sidelined with a broken leg. That didn’t prevent him from being named Homecoming King. A complete listing of the Homecoming Court & Royalty is above with their photo.