By Delainey Muscato
St. Bonaventure University
Business development manager, Jessica Wallace, at the Ellicottville Chamber of Commerce remembers rushing out to see the Mardi Gras parade to collect beads and candy when she was little. The parade has been running for decades and eve-ry year, it ignites the community and creates a certain magic in the air. Wallace said, “It’s just this time of year when everyone is ready to celebrate the successes of another Winter season with friends and family”. This year the parade will start at 6:30pm right in the village on Washington Street on Saturday, March 11th.
This micro parade is so unique as floats, costumes, and walking groups do their best to create something they’ve never done before. “Most local businesses come up with their own theme different from years past. Keeping us on our toes!” Wallace said. I asked her what floats stand out. She said, “That’s a hard question to answer only because they’re all so unique and so great. I don’t think I can pick a favorite. The energy in town is just great that weekend. Last year our Holiday Valley Rang-ers took first-place! It’s always fun to see what both Holiday Valley and Holimont put together”. Another float to be excited about this year is the float from Villaggio. This year they’ll have a brass band on their float as the parade moves through town. The band is The Brass Machine who were named the “Best Funk Band” in Western New York.
Wallace emphasized how this parade brings the town together. She said, “Every-one is just so happy to be In Ellicottville, on and off the slopes, enjoying their time. It’s a weekend full of live music and fun outdoor activities.” The camaraderie of the community in Ellicottville is always fun on the weekend, but especially during the parade. As the town celebrates the close of a successful and busy season, they al-so look forward to a few weeks of downtime before business picks right back up. “Our local workforce looks forward to mud season especially after a busy winter. Everyone can breathe for a few weeks before it gets busy again” Wallace men-tioned.
An important addition to the parade this year is that they are accepting entries on day of. Wallace says you’ll be able to register just before the parade starts, “We are accepting day of registration to allow people the opportunity to enter prior to the start of the parade”. If your float isn’t quite ready now or you need to pull a few more friends together for a walking group, you’ll have some extra time this year. If you’re interested in late entry for the parade this year, head to Katy’s Café around 5:15 pm to register and get in line to walk!
I was also fortunate enough to speak with a former president of the Groundhog Club and former handler of Punxsutawney Phil, Bill Deeley. Deeley is still a mem-ber of the Groundhog Club and spoke with me about Punxsutawney Phil being the Grand Marshall of the parade. According to Deeley, Phil has been the Grand Mar-shall four or five times over the last 20 years. Though Phil has led many a parade, this one is still special to him and the club, “We want to bring some fun to El-licottville. We’ve had a horrible winter and we want to predict six more weeks of ski-ing!”
Both Wallace and Deeley are excited for the parade. Wallace commented, “It many not be a long parade, but it’s certainly the zaniest, craziest parade in our vil-lage. People typically flock the streets around 6:15pm, right before the start of the parade”. Mardi Gras Weekend in Ellicottville is packed with a lot of energy and end-less fun! You won’t want to miss it.