By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
After 18 years as the Ellicottville Village Clerk treasurer, Mary Klahn said it is time for her to retire. Though she will miss the people, she said she is ready and very excited to spend more time with her husband, children, and grandchildren.
Klahn said that in the 18 years at her post, she worked with two different mayors who were both wonderful people. She grew up in Ellicottville and, over the years, has watched it change into the “four season resort” the town has become. Klahn and her husband live just four miles outside town and plan to stay there in her retirement.
Klahn described her day-to-day work as a “one-woman-show”. She said she did everything from billing, to payroll, to answering questions at the front desk at the office.
She learned a lot about the people in the town she worked for. She learned about their lives, their needs and wants. “If anything was happening in the village, I was the person people came to talk to,” Klahn said.
taking Klahn’s spot as
village clerk treasurer.
While looking for her replacements, Klahn said she searched for candidates that knew people. “They had to be able to work well with all people. They need to be kind,” said Klahn. Amy Hayward will be taking Klahn’s spot as village clerk treasurer and the office will be adding a new deputy clerk position that will be filled by Erica Linderman.
This term will mark eight years as mayor of Ellicottville for John Burrell. He also grew up in Ellicottville. However, Burrell has been sharing a building with Klahn for 18 years. Before becoming mayor, he was the town supervisor for the town of Ellicottville. He, like Mary, said that in his time not only working for the town but also living there, he was watched Ellicottville shift from a small industrial village to a resort village.
Just as Klahn shared that those taking her place need to work well with people, Burrell said that dealing with people was one of Klahn’s best attributes.
“She is just so great with people. She treats everybody well, even if they don’t treat her well,” Burrell said. Klahn worked well with all sorts of people, no matter who they were. Burrell said she was patient with everybody, even when she had a lot of work to do.
Though she will be missed, Burrell is just as excited as Klahn is for her retirement. Because there was no deputy clerk working with Klahn, she did a lot of work on her own. Klahn said that she did feel pressure at times in her position.
“It can be a lot of responsibility”, Klahn said. “I was the only one for a long time”. Klahn said the meetings, the paperwork, and front desk work could be a lot at times, especially for one person to handle.
Burrell said Klahn is doing a great job of training Hayward and Linderman and is hopeful they will not only feel prepared but will enjoy their new positions.
“I think they both have their own strengths and they will be able to work together nicely,” said Burrell.
Something he will miss most about Klahn is just her presence in the office. Burrell said that when you spend so much time with someone in the same office, it is inevitable that you will become very close.
“We joke and laugh all the time. It helps get through the workday”, Burrell said. The mayor shared how efficient Klahn was. In addition to staying on top of her own work, Burrell said Klahn kept him on track as well. Klahn was an integral part of the village’s inner workings and her legacy will not be forgotten.