Ellicottville News

Posted by Doug Anderson

RESPONDING TO NEEDS

The Rotary Club of Ellicottville has again responded to the local needs of the community.    Recently, the club made a contribution to the Alley Katz to help with their efforts to keep the Village of Ellicottville beautiful. The Alley Katz meet on Tuesday mornings to plant, weed, and clean out the many barrels and hanging baskets that keep our community so attractive.
Pictured, the Rotary Club of Ellicottville President James Salmone (right) presents a check to the Alley Katz.  Pictured from left to right: Janet Parenti,  Jane Hilbert. Laura Solly, Gail Grillo, Barbara Hirst, Deb Yantomasi.
 
The Rotary Club of Ellicottville also made a donation to support the Ellicottville Historical Society, continuing the club’s tradition of supporting our local heritage and history.

REIMAGINING AN AUCTION

The Virtual Auction this year was certainly a fun time for all that participated.  Bob’s presence was obvious to all for Bob McCarthy’s 15th Annual Irish Christmas re-imagined.    The auction started promptly at 7:00 PM hosted by Brooks LeFeber of Brookslefeberauctions.com with a review of the bids already made at the village businesses and online. 
 
At a frantic pace the bids started to soar and on all accounts was just a plain fun way to conduct an auction.  Current limitations did not hold back some, who made arranged friends bubble party so they could bid against each other in traditional fashion.  A small group even gathered at Silver Fox Steakhouse to ensure that they did not miss out on the great wines donated by Mike & Sally and paired with a McCarthy original birdhouse donated by Edna Northrup.  Incredibly, bids started to skyrocket as the auction went on.  An antique Charles Dickens book “A Christmas Carol”, sold for $525.00, while Hugh Dunn’s Live Edge Table brought $650.00, a bargain at that.  The Great Wooden Bow Pie Boxes created by Ed Frederickson once again were a hot item with one selling for $400.00.  The Traditional Irish Whiskey Basket donated by Cynthia & Mike, sold for $500.00 to a very thirsty family. 

 
It was obvious that many of our benefactors opened up their hearts and wallets to support Rotary’s Santa’s workshop & the Sheriff Santa program.  The auction brought in just shy of $7,000.00 surpassing expectations.  Additionally, a number of generous people chose to donate directly to the Rotary for Santa’s Workshop   These donations normally continue through the end of the year, so we anticipate being very close to equaling previous years donations.  In this crazy year, that is truly amazing.
 
This year’s event could not have happened without Ed Frederickson, who once again used his creative genius and woodworking skills to put together an array of hand-made gems in the Bob tradition for the auction.  PandaGoat Media, that is Brenda Perks and Meghan Lucarelli did a great job on bringing the concept to life with great artwork and promotional material.  Heather Sullivan of Heather J Sullivan Consulting worked her magic with the Website and Facebook and kept the event and the rest of us on track.  Brooks LeFeber hosted the auction, making it both entertaining and successful.
 
As is always the case our great local publications, The Villager and Ellicottville NOW went above and beyond promoting the event, we appreciate their unquestioned support, year after year. 
 
A special thanks to Katy Arena who worked with Ellicottville’s bakers (too many to thank) whose special desserts are done as a tribute to their friend Bob and this tradition.  We do have to mention Chef Tom Kneeland who baked three outstanding desserts.  We thank the many local businesses who hosted the auction items and promoted the event on our behalf.
 
When asked how this started, McCarthy would answer “It started with a little magic”.  To be sure the magic came in the form of Ellicottville’s residents, both permanent and part-timers who bid or donated to the cause.  The real magic is that this event is helping a number of local families have a better Christmas through Santa’s Workshop & the Sheriff’s Santa program.  Bob, we all miss you but we will continue your tradition of giving.  The Rotary Club of Ellicottville wishes all of you a great holiday season - Thank you Ellicottville.