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Annual Spirit of Gowanda Awards Dinner

2019

Article follows below the photo gallery.

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On Saturday, April 13, the Spirit of Gowanda awards dinner was held at the Gowanda Moose Lodge.  The dinner is put on annually by the Gowanda-Area Chamber of Commerce recognizing members of the Gowanda community for their long-term contributions to making Gowanda the wonderful place that it is today.
    Chamber President, Nicholas Crassi, Jr. represented the Chamber on the dais. After a welcome and a few introductory remarks, Mr. Crassi introduced Father Joe Porpiglia, pastor of St. Joseph’s Church in Gowanda to give the invocation.
    After dinner, which was catered by the Gowanda Moose, the Master of Ceremonies, Cattaraugus County Deputy Sheriff Ben Shields, was introduced. Officer Shields also serves as School Resource Officer (SRO) for the Gowanda Central School District. During his preliminary remarks, Officer Shields stated the he “never really had a home” since had previously served in many parts of the state and moved frequently before coming to Gowanda over a decade ago. He added that, in the time he has lived in the village, he has become “proud to call Gowanda my home and to raise my kids here”.
    After a few more humorous quips, Officer Shields got to the business at hand, introducing the first recipient, Merritt Offhaus, Business Award winner for M.W. Offhaus & Sons, Inc. Mr. Offhaus gave a very brief thank you message expressing his appreciation to his family, customers and the community as a whole. Following that, Officer Shields stated that, from everything he had heard about Merritt Offhaus around the community, it was no surprise that the acceptance speech had been so short since everyone had said that Mr. Offhaus was a “humble and modest” man. Officer Shields added that he had also been told that Mr. Offhaus was always “helping out in the community” and doing whatever he could to help others.
    Next up was a Special Recognition Business Award winner Phyllis Lay for her business, the Teepee Bed & Breakfast. Speaking for Mrs. Lay was her son, David. Mr. Lay opened stating that his mother’s favorite one-liner was that she “was the best Lay on the reservation”. He went on to talk about the origins of the family bed & breakfast. Mr. Lay said that his parents had traveled a lot in Europe where families often had guest houses that they would rent out to travelers. It was something that added a personal connection to those families beyond the otherwise tourist-oriented activities. That experience inspired Mrs. Lay with the idea of opening a bed & breakfast here. Mr. Lay then remarked about the call he got when he was told that his mother had decided to “rent my bedroom out” to visitors to Gowanda. Then, on Jan. 1, 1985, the business opened. It seems that the name, The Teepee, was the cause of a bit of confusion. Many would inquire if the available room was in the “woods behind the house”. Most were happy to hear that it wasn’t. Mr. Lay added that his mother’s motto was “Enter as strangers and leave as friends”.  As closing remarks it was noted that, since The Teepee’s closing on August 31 of last year, it has been remodeled as an inn and is expected to reopen on May 1.
    The third recipient was the Gowanda Kiwanis Club for the Community Service Award. Representing the Gowanda Kiwanis was Jerry Greenlee. Mr. Greenlee began by asking all of the Kiwanis members present to stand briefly and be recognized. It was then stated that the Kiwanis mission was to ”improve the world one child and one community at a time”. The primary activities that the Kiwanis support in Gowanda were listed as: reading programs at local libraries, the Gowanda Recreation Coed Soccer Program, Back to School packages, a scholarship in the name of former Kiwanis member, Don Campbell as well as serving an Election Day dinner every year. Mr. Greenlee closed with his 2 favorite quotes. The first being, “aren’t small towns great” and the second was Dorothy from Kansas saying “There’s no place like home” to which he added “Thank you Gowanda for being such a great home”.
    Returning to the dais, Officer Shields added his personal story about the Kiwanis Back to School goodie bags. When he first became the school’s SRO and saw this going on, he had remarked “What are these people doing handing things out to kids”, later to be told about the Kiwanis and their project. He followed up with the comment, “You don’t see that anywhere”. It was just something else special about Gowanda.
    It was then time to move on to the final tribute of the evening, the Excellence in Youth Award to be given to Olivia Ackley. Introducing Miss Ackley was Spanish teacher, Barbara Dempsey. Before speaking specifically about Miss Ackley, Ms. Dempsey spoke about the community and local students in general. She said that, when she “first arrived in Gowanda as a Spanish teacher straight out of college”, she was unimpressed by the negative way students talked about the town, but that has changed. Ms. Dempsey continued to say that she now see the students have a “definite pride” in the Gowanda community.
    Moving on to talk about Miss Ackley, Ms. Dempsey used the phrases, “values a job well done”, “never complains” and “commitment to hard work” as her personal traits. Credit was also given to Miss Ackley’s family for their support in all aspects of her life. Ms. Dempsey closed with a comment directly to Miss Ackley that “Our school’s a better place because you’re there”.
    Much like Merritt Offhaus’ comments at the beginning of the program, Miss Ackley’s were brief and concise. She thanked the Chamber for giving her the award and for recognizing excellence in youth at all. She thanked her family and the community for all the things that made her the “well rounded young woman” she is today. She also congratulated the other winners on being selected as well.
    In final remarks, Officer Shields said “Gowanda produces really awesome kids”. The importance of families was also noted. It was a common thread throughout the night. Great families raising great kids who go on the raise great kids of their own.
    When the microphone was handed back Nick Crassi, he acknowledged the Chamber officers and board members present individually. He also thanked all of the businesses who had supported the event by buying ads in the program. Then, it was time for Father Porpiglia to be called upon again, this time to give the benediction to close the program.

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