Gowanda Small Town Times

On Sunday, August 25, the annual Ducky Derby event was held at Gowanda’s Gateway Park. Te Gowanda-Area Chamber of Commerce has now announced the following winning entries:

1st Place $200 Jim G - Duke
2nd Place $150 Helix V - Stitch Jr
3rd Place $100 Peg S - Milo
4th-6th Place $50
4. Mavis L
5. Kathy S - Doozy
6. Colten B
7th-10th Place $25
7. Katlyn H - Fred
8. Harvey O
9. Cypress V - Stitch
10. California Crassi - Brett
Congratulations to the winners!
Thank you to everyone who supported the Ducky Derby this year!

[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.

[photo] Volunteers wait at finish line in the Cattaraugus Creek for the 2023 Ducky Derby. Photo courtesy of Gowanda Area Chamber of Commerce

On Sunday, August 27, at 2 P.M. the annual Ducky Derby was held on Cattaraugus Creek. For the second year, the Gowanda Area Chamber of Commerce event was held at Gateway Park with the finish line in front of the amphitheater. Top prizes were $200, $150 and $100 for 1st, 2nd and 3rd Place finishes, respectively. Additionally, there were prizes of $50 for places 4-6 and $25 for places 7-10.

With congratulations the Chamber has announced the derby winners. Along with their ducky’s number, the winners were Deb Winship (1st Place, #298), Sharon LeRoy (2nd Place, #598), Allie Reid (3rd Place, #700), Delilah Goodemote (4th Place, #303), Michelle Twoguns (5th Place, #243), Lola Neu (6th Place, #383), Brenda Clabeau (7th Place, #735), Cameron Nagel (8th Place, #315), Kelly Booth (9th Place, #329) and Cindy Freer (10th Place, #376).

Photo: This float from Ensering Hopes & Dreams captured 1st Place for floats in the Gowanda 175th Anniversary Parade.

Over the weekend of August 11-13, 2023 Gowanda celebrated the 175th Anniversary of the village. Featured among the numerous weekend events were a social gathering at Gowanda’s Hollywood Theater, a time capsule ceremony, a grand parade and musical performances at Hillis Field.

The event, named “Gowanda Alive - After 175”, was coordinated by the Gowanda Area Chamber of Commerce. Leading off the celebration on Friday night was a Spirit of Gowanda Cocktail Soiree held at the Hollywood Theater. With a background presentation of vintage Gowanda photos and videos, the soiree featured food, drinks and a basket raffle. There was even a champagne toast to Gowanda Past, Present and Future.

Saturday morning found a small gather at Gowanda’s Chang-Hu Park for a time capsule ceremony. Several well known individuals from the Gowanda area spoke of their memories of growing up and living in Gowanda. That was followed by a ceremonial “burial” of a time capsule to be opened during the Gowanda Sesquicentennial in 2048.

After the time capsule ceremony, a Grand Parade with slightly under 60 units made its way down West Main Street. Special recognition was given to parade participants in several categories. Gowanda American Legion #409 took 1st place for marching group with Collins Correctional taking 2nd. The parade featured many impressive floats. Taking top honors among them was Enserling Hopes & Dreams (pictured above) with a Roaring ’20s theme. The 2nd Place float was from Perrysburg Baptist Church. The Gowanda Hollywood Theater had the 3rd Place entry despite having a float replica of the theater entrance complete with an animated marquee. There was also a category for classic vehicles in the parade. Gaining top recognition among these were Norri Luther - ‘62 Corvette (1st), Dan Gernatt Jr. - Antique #1 (2nd) and Matt Smuda - ‘64 Dodge Truck (3rd). The Gowanda High School Marching Band claimed 1st Place in the Arts & Entertainment category. A group of dancers from Danza Performing Arts took 2nd Place followed by a group of Gowanda Kiwanis Club sponsored Irish Dancers from the Rince Na Tiarna school. The name of the Buffalo-area school is Gaelic for ‘Lord of the Dance’. Top prizes for fire trucks were scattered among the local fire departments. Those honors went to Gowanda Fire Department Truck #1 (1st Place), Collins Fire Department Truck #4 (2nd Place) and Versailles Truck V-7 (3rd Place). Recognized with a 1st Place award in the Farthest Distance category was the Mighty St. Joes Drum & Bugle Corps. from Canada.

The Saturday night capper event was a program at Hillis Field. Following up their parade appearances with longer performances were the the GCS Marching Band, the Mighty St. Joes Alumni Drum & Bugle Corps. and the Danza Performing Arts dancers. Also appearing at Hillis Field were the White Pine Singers & dancers performing traditional Native American dances.

Photo: The scene at Gowanda VFW Post 5007 on July 15 gives one view of their car show that day. Photo courtesy of VFW Post 5007 via Facebook.

Saturday, July 15, was a big day for car enthusiasts in the Gowanda area. Two local groups held car shows that day. It was a busy day for both the Gowanda VFW Post 5007 and the Collins Regional Historical Society.

For the VFW post, it was their 1st Annual Car & Motorcycle Show. The following winners have now been announced:
* Commander’s choice - Car/ Dick Bradigan; Motorcycle/Larry Miller Jr.
* Board members choice - Car/Mike McCarthy; Motorcycle/Debi Weber
Gowanda VFW Post 5007 expressed thanks to everyone that came out and participated.

Meanwhile the Collins Center Town Park was the scene for the Collins Regional Historical Society’s annual car show. The event, one of two primary fundraisers for the historical society, is traditionally held on the third Saturday in July every year. The only recent exceptions were 2020 and 2021 due to Pandemic restrictions.

With two cars shows on the same day this year, the Collins Regional Historical Society was particularly thankful to those drivers that went above and beyond to support their effort. That included drivers making several trips to bring multiple vehicles to the show. There was also a vehicle which originated in Collins Center that John & Betty Swanson brought up from Tennessee for the show. It was reported that cars from Collins, North Collins, Gowanda, Chaffee, Silver Creek, South Dayton, Blasdell, Lackawanna, Randolph, North Otto, and Cattaraugus were on hand for the show.

The following winners were announced:
* ANTIQUE CLASS: Robert Natwora of North Collins, NY with his 1955 Studebaker.
* MUSCLE CLASS: Dave Kota of Gowanda, NY with his 1969 Chevy Nova.
* ORIGINAL CLASS: Gerry Edwards of North Collins with his 1955 Chevy Belair (this vehicle has had an ALL MATCHING NUMBER RESTORATION!)
* KID’S CHOICE: Eric Edwards of Collins, NY with his 1951 Chevy 3100

Finally, the Collins Regional Historical Society expressed special thanks to the following local businesses that contributed to the basket raffle: McCormick’s Hardware, Tim & Bonnie’s, Peace of the Pie, Creekside Market, and Rolling Hills.