Blast from the Past :Who Remembers Gladys?
The “Lady” in Pink (Give Skip a Wink)

By Carol Fisher Linn

    In the earlier days, when Ellicottville was getting her legs under her some of our inhabitants and even our businesspeople marched to a very different drummer. Some of you old timers may remember the dry-docked old boat that sat in the parking lot of the old Telemark (now Pour Tap Room and Lincoln Boutique Motel) at the intersection of 219 and Holiday Valley Road. The free-spirited owner of that restaurant at the time (1970’s), Alpine Pete Chudzik, had great live music and allowed patrons on the dancefloor in ski boots. It is fondly remembered that he always had an old railroad tie sticking out of the fireplace so it could be continuously fed. After Chudzik sold the property to Jim and Janet Tekavec in the ‘80’s they kept the name but upscaled the food. They eventually leased out the property – there was even a cowboy place at one time. Then came the Tekavec/Zerbian partnership (circa 1994) of Cadillac Jacks.  Enter Gladys, the Pink Cadillac.

    The story goes that the 1955 pink Cadillac was once owned by none other than — The King, himself, Elvis! The “story” goes that Elvis heard about a new ski area called Holiday Valley. Being a spontaneous kind of guy, he headed North with Gladys to have a look and a try at this crazy sport of sliding downhill on boards. Simply put, he was “way over his skis.” The poor guy was mortified. Pete helped him out by feeding him and put him up in the old boat for a few nights while his body and ego healed. It is reported that Elvis was so grateful that he gave him a gift – Gladys. He grabbed a Bluebird bus in front of the old Main Street pharmacy (in disguise) and headed to Memphis. Now, you may think that Gladys lives at the Elvis Museum in Graceland, but if Chudzik were here, he would swear on a stack of horserace tickets that the original lived on in Ellicottville in the parking lot of Cadillac Jacks right next to the ski rack in the center of the parking lot.

   Old Gladys became as much as a celebrity as she might have been had she remained with Elvis. Aside from skier photo ops, and news articles, the visiting kids did incredible artwork of Gladys that hung all over the walls. Her legacy was insured. The final tribute was her ice sculpture, which was located across the road from Cadillac’s, on Sunrise. Would that it could have been preserved forever, but all good things must come to an end. And so it was that Gladys, after one last hurrah with Elvis and his Gladettes at Mardi Gras (oh, how she loved the crowds cheering for her! She won second place that year), was wheeled away to her retirement. Cadillac Jack found a lovely resting place at his home, under a shady ever-green tree.  He visited Gladys often, polished her pink coat, and told her stories about her time with Elvis and her time at Cadillac Jack’s restaurant.

    Now, before you think that Gladys was a “one-off” let me give you some tidbits about other places around town. The words Rusty Nail (50’s-60’s) should bring crazy memories to some of you. Jason’s bar was run by colorful guys Lennon, Howard and Calabrese. Greg Widger and his Handlebar Restaurant (and moustache) had local fame. Who can forget Smileys (then PeeWees) situated over the creek across from the old Ford dealership (now Katy’s), or Patty Ford playing the trombone behind the bar at Madigan’s. Folks still talk about Louie Earl riding his horse into the Gin Mill with his dog in sunglasses who sat at the bar drinking a beer with him. Who could forget the upside-down Christmas tree hung from the ceiling at The Depot, or their February pool party, sand, baby pool and HV Lifeguard chair. We had unique characters like the legendary Pete Seeley and Big Paul Haouk whose drooping pants always fought with the 76 keys he carried on his key chain. We sang Irish music led by Bobby McCarthy and fed ourselves from the kitchen at Holiday Haus which burned and revived itself as Whole Hog Café without the sloping floors which were always a challenge to navigate after a few beers. We still miss Joey D and his musical spoons, the quaint checked tablecloths at the Harness Shop and the mystery salad dressings at Tips Up. Sure, for balance, there were a few individuals who suffered no fools like Mary and Les Fox at The Barn and Jack Mason who had stories to tell but didn’t tolerate a lot of buffoonery.

–Got any stories to share?

Thank you to The Zerbians, Vicky Brown and Todd Lindell for their input for this piece.

PHOTO CAPTION: Belated thanks to the unknown Holiday Valley ski lift attendants (were you one of them?) who created this treasure of a snow sculpture pink Cadillac decades ago. Note the name on the license plate – a hat-tip to Skip Yahn.