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Featured in the Allegany County section of the November 2011-February 2012 issue of Explore New York, is information about Wellsville, Angelica, Cuba, Belmont, Friendship and Caneadea. Advertisers include: Cuba Cheese Shoppe, Willard's Country Place, Allegany County Snowmobile Trail.
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Allegany County
Our communities invite you to share in our rural heritage: historic, cultural, and scenic. You would have to look far and wide to find the amazing diversity of people, places and things which are all found right here.
Allegany County “There’s no other place like it”
The 36th Annual Great Wellsville Balloon Rally
Come experience the “ultimate flight without wings”, the 36th annual Great Wellsville Balloon Rally and Main Street Festival, July 15th through the 17th. Launches of over 40 colorful balloons will take place on Friday and Saturday evenings about 6:00 PM and on Saturday and Sunday mornings about 6:00am. Launches take place at Island Park. The Main Street Festival on Saturday begins at 8:00am and runs until 5:00pm with sidewalk sales, vendors, crafts, children’s activities and music. This is one of the few hot air balloon rallies where you can be down on the field with the pilots and balloons. Free admission and parking.
Mystic ponds in deep carved valleys, winding roads and colorful rolling hills with expansive views await you. Travel through wild life management areas and State Forests or search out that perfect antique on one of our scenic driving trails. Make your own adventure. Come for the autumn and winter experience that is Allegany County. There’s no other place like it.
As autumn ends Allegany County gears up for a great snowy winter, come and enjoy it with us. Snowmobile on 400 miles of trails, snow tube at Willard’s Country Place, snowshoe, downhill ski and snowboard at Swain or cross-country ski state marked trails. Stay in one of our Bed & Breakfasts, do some holiday shopping at antique and unique gift shops, or just enjoy a great getaway weekend experiencing life in our small towns and villages.
Relive the holidays you remember from childhood, it’s an experience you will return for year after year. The 33nd Annual Christmas Open House in Wellsville is December 1st from 6-8pm. Visit Santa as you stroll along Wellsville’s Main Street. Horse drawn carriage rides, roasting chestnuts and strolling choirs all add to a fun holiday experience for the entire family. With the backdrop of a winter night sky there will be a fireworks display at 8:15 pm.
Visit the quaint Village of Angelica on December 8th, 9th and 10th for Holly Days. The Angelica Boosters Citizens’ Memorabilia and Ornament Sale takes place in the “Little Building” which will be open special hours for holiday gift giving. The 15th annual Angel Station Postage Cancellation is on Friday, December 9th at the Angelica Post office. This event has become a favorite among collectors. Bring your holiday cards on the 10th (or anytime before that, and they will be held) for hand canceling and then posted that evening. Collectors can obtain the beautiful angel stamp for the next 30 days, and then the stamp will be destroyed. Come see Angelica Players Holiday Production December 9th, 10th and 11th at the Angelica Library. The annual luminary display takes place December 18th where candles are lit around Angelica’s historic Park Circle, setting the stage for a festive holiday evening. A Living Nativity, the reading of the Christmas Story and singing Christmas carols will take place at the Methodist Church with refreshments served in the Church Hall following the program.
For more information on experiencing the winter season in Allegany County, call the Allegany County Office of Tourism and Culture toll free at 1.800.836.1869 or visit us online at www.discoveralleganycounty.com.
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|  | | | | | | | | Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame |
Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame Planned for Belfast, New York
More than 100 years ago, John L. Sullivan, the last Heavyweight Bare Knuckle Boxing Champion of the World, trained for one of the most important fights of his career in Belfast, New York. His trainer, a celebrated and undefeated wrestler named William Muldoon, lived in Belfast and set up his Victorian barns as a training center to prepare The Great John L. for his fight against Jake Kilrain in Richburg, Mississippi, July 8, 1889.
For over a century, those training barns have been virtually untouched. Much of the original equipment is still in place, right where John L. Sullivan left it when he boarded the southbound train for the epic 75 round bare knuckle battle that redefined his place in history as the first American Sports Hero. When the brawl - which proved to be the last bare knuckle championship fight - was finished, Sullivan retained his title as Heavyweight Champion of the World.
This summer, Sullivan’s training barns will be relocated from the present location to a site just off Main Street in Belfast and opened to the public for the first time in 120 years as part of the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame (BKBHOF). “From a historical perspective, this is an amazing situation,” explained Scott Burt, Hall of Fame Coordinator. “For their age, the barns are in immaculate condition; even some of the original equipment is still there so making them the focal point of the new Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame was a natural.”
Burt is looking forward to sharing his enthusiasm for this project at the first Barn Tour, Beer Tasting, Beef, and Silent Auction on Saturday, May 16, at St. Patrick’s Parish Hall in Belfast. A limited number of tickets are now available and will include dinner, Bare Knuckle Stout Ale, a beer tasting, a souvenir glass, musical entertainment, and a free tour of the barns. “The silent auction will feature many autographed items - gloves, robes, trunks, pictures, books, posters – signed by boxing greats including Ali, Frazier, Foreman, Dempsey, Holyfield, Norton, Holmes, Lewis, Tyson, Lamotta, Leonard, Spinks, Mancini, Duran, Dundee, Basilio, Mesi, and more” Burt said. “We will also have items from Hollywood boxers like Sylvester Stallone and others.”
During the $30 a ticket event, attendees will have an opportunity to see photos of the life-sized marble statue of John L. Sullivan, which was commissioned especially for the BKBHOF. Some of Sullivan’s original equipment, as well as a replica of Sullivan’s championship belt and photos taken during that famous fight. The statue itself will be unveiled at the opening ceremonies held at the barns later this year.
The plan is to move the barns to a site on West Hughes Street and restore them, making them a featured
attraction in the Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame. “Bare knuckle boxing was really the only major spectator sport at that time and John L. Sullivan was the original sports celebrity,” Burt said. “The Sullivan-Kilrain fight was a major news event and reporters – including the famous Nellie Bly – descended on Belfast to talk to the Champ.” The barns and their contents have been discussed in a number of books as well as a 2002 Sports Illustrated article, The Outlaw Brawl That Started it All. “Prizefighting was illegal in New York State in 1889, but that didn’t stop everyone from police and judges to outlaws like Jesse James from attending the Richburg battle,” he added.
Boxing enthusiast and Belfast resident Bill Heaney is confident that the new Bare Knuckle Boxing Hall of Fame will benefit the region. “It will be a destination and we all know the first step is to give people a reason to come to Allegany County,” he said. “Once they are here, they will find many reasons to come back.” Heaney who organized a number of very successful Belfast Boxing Club events in the 1990s, is certain the BKBHOF will be well-received by both boxing fans and history buffs alike.
A limited number of tickets are available for the May event. Purchase yours in Belfast from Bill Heaney, Ace’s Country Cupboard, and the Belfast Hotel; in Scio at S.R. Burt & Sons Auctions (srburtauctions@yahoo.com); in Wellsville at Diamond Dreams; in Nunda at the Nunda Lumberyard, and via their website; www.bareknuckleboxinghalloffame.com.
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