Gowanda Small Town Times

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.

Photo courtesy of GCS Athletics Dept. The Gowanda Varsity softball team got together for a group photo after winning the 2023 NY State Championship in Moriches, NY.

On Saturday, June 10, the Gowanda Varsity played in the NYSPHYAA Class C Championship game against S. S. Seward Institute. The game was played on Long Island at Moriches, NY. For the second time in two days of finals competition Gowanda was designated as the home team.

It was everything you would expect a State Finals game to be, a low-scoring contest where every mistake would be significant. In the early going the pitchers were in full control of things keeping the game scoreless up to the bottom of the 2nd inning. Gowanda opened their half of the inning with a Jada Geiger double and an Ella Luther single before the first out was registered. Both runners came home on a Hailey Christopher single just over he pitcher’s head into centerfield. That gave Gowanda an early 2-0 lead. Two more scoreless innings followed before Seward made its big move. The 5th inning saw a defensive slump by Gowanda that allowed a Seward rally. Two walks and four singles set up Seward to pull in front 3-2. They would move that to 4-2 before Gowanda rallied back in the 6th inning. Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens led off with a single. She advanced on a sacrifice fly before Geiger blasted a shot into centerfield for a single. A walk put Luther on 1st loading the bases with one out. A Holland Browning resulted in a failed attempt to catch the runner going home followed by an overthrow of 2nd base. That allowed two Gowanda runs to score. Browning later scored on a Kailyn Farner single. That brought the score to 6-4 with Gowanda in the lead heading into the 7th inning. The Gowanda defense got two of the final three outs quickly before a last gasp effort for Seward. A walk and single put the potential tying runs on base. That was shut down quickly with a hit to Lily Bobseine at 1st base for an easy final out.

Leading the Gowanda ofense were Jada Geiger (2 runs, 3 hits including a double), Ella Luther (2 runs, 1 hit), Holland Browning (1 run, 1 hit, 2 RBI) and Hailey Christopher (1 hit, 2 RBI). Also figuring prominently were Kailyn Farner (1 hit, 1 RBI) and Gao:Wisa:S “Wassy” Stevens (1 run). Pitching for Gowanda, Addison Kota gave up 6 hits and 6 walks while securing 7 strikeouts.

Photo: Screen capture from the NFHS Network stream of the June 9 NYSPHSAA Class C Semi-Final softball game. Addison Kota slides into home base to put Gowanda up to stay 3-2.

The Gowanda Varsity softball team was on Long Island in Moriches, NY for a New York State semi-final game in Class C. They faced Thomas A. Edison high school in the game. Since Randolph knocked the team out of a 1st Place divisional title in the regular season, Gowanda has been on a tear in the playoffs. The team grabbed Gowanda’s first ever Section 6 softball title and have continued to roll on from there. On this night, it would be “lights out” for Edison in a very close contest.

In the 1st inning, Gowanda retired the first three Edison batters in order. While they managed to get runners to both 3rd and 4th base in the bottom of the inning, Gowanda came away empty leaving the game scoreless after one inning. In the 2nd inning, Edison grabbed a 1-0 lead with a walk and a misplayed single into left field. That lead held into the 4th inning.

Gowanda shut down Edison in the top of the 4th inning before making their biggest offensive surge of the game in the bottom of the inning. Gowanda’s 1st two batters, Jada Geiger and Ella Luther, both singled to start things out. Then a Holland Browning double scored Geiger tying the game at 1-1. Bases were loaded with no outs as Hailey Christopher was walked. Luther scored when a hit by Lani Farner was initially bobbled by the Edison pitcher for an RBI single. With Gowanda in the lead 2-1 the game moved into the 5th inning.

A hit misplayed by Gowanda turned a single into a triple. That runner scored on a sacrifice fly. The game was tied at two going to the bottom of the inning. Gowanda pitcher, Addison Kota led off with a single into left field. Two outs would be registered before a Holland Browning double deep into center field scored Kota. Gowanda was up 3-2 heading to the 6th inning. The 6th inning went scoreless as both teams tightened up on defense. That led to a final inning where Edison batters were retired in order giving Gowanda the 3-2 sending them to the state Class C Championship game.

In a unique experience for the Gowanda community, the Hollywood Theater held a watch party for the game. A very vocal outpouring of the Gowanda community was on hand at the theater watching the play-by-play as the game progressed. Midway through the game, the announcer on the stream gave a shout out to the crowd at the Hollywood Theater prompting a huge reaction from the spectators.

Photo: A black bus carrying the Gowanda Varsity softball teams heads down West Main Street in Gowanda on the way to the New York State Class C Championship games. The bus was escorted through Gowanda by an entourage of fire vehicles from a variety of area fire departments.

On June 7, the Gowanda Varsity softball team left for Long Island to play in the final 2023 NYSPHSAA Class C games of the season. They will meet Thomas A. Edison Senior High at Moriches, NY for a semi-finals Class C Game. That game to be played at 6 PM on Friday, May 9, will be streamed on the NFHS Network.

The black bus carrying the softball team was escorted through Gowanda by a large assortment of fire vehicles from various area fire companies. Starting at the high school shortly after 3:00 PM, the procession made its way down West Main Street to Buffalo Street. It then followed Buffalo Street to Caroline where it cut over to Aldrich Street allowing it to pass by the Elementary School.

Moriches, NY is located deep into Long Island, approximately 70 miles past New York City.