Your Weekly Community Magazine
|
Week of May 2, 2014
|
Vol. 7, No. 18 – FREE
former Chautauqua star S
editor releases “Lost Places
of Chautauqua County”
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bOOk LOOkS AT FASCInATIng PLACES In COunTy’S PAST
Special to the Star
Editor’s Note: Patricia Pihl
was the editor of the Chautauqua Star for much of 2012 and
2013. Her insights and passion for writing spawned many
great features in the paper, and
encouraged an lasting excellence
in production and content.
Mayville author and
personal historian Patricia
Pihl announces the release
of her book “Lost Places of
Chautauqua County.” The
book is a compilation of articles, adopted from months
of interviews with town
historians, which explore
less-known, but fascinating
places in the county’s past.
The series originally ran
as a weekly column in The
Chautauqua Star.
“Lost Places” covers such topics as Chautauqua County’s
link to the Underground Railroad; how Dewittville’s “Poor
Farm” was stressed by the new
wave of immigrants and its
link to the present day county
home; the three World War II
POW camps; the “islands” of
Chautauqua Lake, and other
places from the county’s recent
and distant past.
According to Pihl, the book
The cover of recently released “Lost Places of Chautauqua County.”
also sheds light on interesting residents as well as
former social, economic and
medical realities.
The idea for the series was
spawned when Pihl and her
husband David, stopped
while snowmobiling near the
Chautauqua Gorge. Looking across a 200-foot ravine,
David pointed to the site
where Eagle Ridge Ski Resort once stood. A popular
spot with area teenagers, the
resort would ultimately close
due to the untimely death of
its owner, Tony DeMambro,
on its slopes. “The story
intrigued me,“ Pihl stated,
“and I wondered how many
more of these forgotten or
barely known places existed
in the county?”
Pihl would track down Eagle
Ridge’s Austrian ski pro,
Hans Auer, now in his eighties, to record his memories of
the resort and its short, but
successful stint as Westfield’s
winter haven. From there, she
continued interviews of local
historians, writing about other
forgotten places of the past.
John Paul Wolfe, Curator
of the Chautauqua County
Historical Society, says the
series “covers areas throughout the entire county, creating interest for residents and
tourists alike.” Wolfe adds,
“it has been an enjoyable
challenge to find information
for Patricia in the archives
for the next article. The
amount of research which
needed to be done each week
was amazing.”
Continued on PG 8
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