Gowanda Small Town Times

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.

A Gowanda student was named to the Dean’s List at Rochester Institute of Technology for the spring semester of the 2022-2023 academic year. Noah Vogtli is in the software engineering program.

Jamestown Community College has announced the names of the full-time students who have earned Dean’s List honors for academic excellence during the spring 2023 semester.

Two Gowanda students are among those named for Dean’s List honors. They are Mary Denea and Rosalee Royce.

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.

Andrew Musacchio recently earned a degree from Grove CIty College on May 20, 2023. Musacchio earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology and General Science Secondary Education Certification. Musacchio is from Gowanda. In addition, he was named to the Dean’s List for the spring 2023 semester. He is a 2019 graduate of Gowanda Central School and is the son of Mr. and Mrs. James Musacchio (Brenda) from Gowanda.