Any Chautauqua people here?

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

Moving there. Need recommendations for the best wings and pizza in the county 

[T&C]

12 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

Moving there. Need recommendations for the best wings and pizza in the county 

You would move somewhere without this important information?!

 

 

Hope the move is a smooth one... 

[billsfanmiamioh]

North or south? It’s a hole in the wall / a bit out of the way, but French Creek Tavern in Findlay Lake (bout 1-2 miles from peek n peak) has fantastic wings. 

[jayg]

Coppolas in Beamus Point was pretty good. 

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

6 hours ago, billsfanmiamioh said:

North or south? It’s a hole in the wall / a bit out of the way, but French Creek Tavern in Findlay Lake (bout 1-2 miles from peek n peak) has fantastic wings. 

 

North, like Fredonia/Dunkirk/Silver Creek 

[RichStadiumGuy]

On 10/8/2025 at 3:45 AM, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

 

North, like Fredonia/Dunkirk/Silver Creek 

Stock up on snow removal equipment soon!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

24 minutes ago, RichStadiumGuy said:

Stock up on snow removal equipment soon!

 

First purchase is gonna be a snowblower.

 

[RkFast]

The old boy is going home (sort of). Next time Im in Ellicotville Ill hit you up. 

Edited Friday at 07:52 PM by RkFast

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

21 minutes ago, RkFast said:

The old boy is going home (sort of). Next time Im in Ellicotville Ill hit you up. 

 

Sort of. I was a southtownie when we left. Just a little more south.

 

[Turf Toejam 34]

Fredonia---Mary's pizza!

[SoTier]

On 10/10/2025 at 3:07 PM, RichStadiumGuy said:

Stock up on snow removal equipment soon!

 

Dunkirk/Fredonia isn't as bad as the Southtowns.   

 

Chautauqua County gets lake effect mostly from the north/northwest winds, so the Chautauqua Ridge -- areas like Arkwright, Cassadaga, and Sherman -- tend to get the really heavy lake effect because of the rise in elevation forces the clouds to drop their snow load on the west side of the Ridge.  The lake shore communities and the towns east of the Ridge (like Jamestown)  get lots of snow but not nearly as much as the towns on the west side of the Ridge. 

 

The Southtowns sit at the northeastern end of Lake Erie, which means that southwestern gales come up the longest fetch of the lake sucking up moisture from the warmer lake like vacuum cleaners all the way from western Ohio before dumping their massive snow loads when they hit the shore from Angola north to Blasdell.  This is why Hamburg, West Seneca, Blasdell, and even South Buffalo can pick up multiple feet of snow in a day or less.

Edited 13 hours ago by SoTier

[ExiledInIllinois]

3 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Dunkirk/Fredonia isn't as bad as the Southtowns.   

 

Chautauqua County gets lake effect mostly from the north/northwest winds, so the Chautauqua Ridge -- areas like Arkwright, Cassadaga, and Sherman -- tend to get the really heavy lake effect because of the rise in elevation forces the clouds to drop their snow load on the west side of the Ridge.  The lake shore communities and the towns east of the Ridge (like Jamestown)  get lots of snow but not nearly as much as the towns on the west side of the Ridge. 

 

The Southtowns sit at the northeastern end of Lake Erie, which means that southwestern gales come up the longest fetch of the lake sucking up moisture from the warmer lake like vacuum cleaners all the way from western Ohio before dumping their massive snow loads when they hit the shore from Angola north to Blasdell.  This is why Hamburg, West Seneca, Blasdell, and even South Buffalo can pick up multiple feet of snow in a day or less.

Much like the Tug Hill Plateau gets absolutely hammered from the prevailing west-east winds along the fetch of Lake Ontario (which never fully freezes, even in the harshest winters).

 

On Lake Erie, just pray for early cold, hard freeze that shuts the lake effect off by early January.  Cold 🥶 is good!

 

Interesting fact about the Blizzard of '77... Only about 10" of system snow fell.  Lake Effect was shut off with an early freeze on Lake Erie... But lots of snow was sitting on the ice from previous snowfalls... The arctic winds blew it off!

[Pine Barrens Mafia]

11 hours ago, SoTier said:

 

Dunkirk/Fredonia isn't as bad as the Southtowns.   

 

Chautauqua County gets lake effect mostly from the north/northwest winds, so the Chautauqua Ridge -- areas like Arkwright, Cassadaga, and Sherman -- tend to get the really heavy lake effect because of the rise in elevation forces the clouds to drop their snow load on the west side of the Ridge.  The lake shore communities and the towns east of the Ridge (like Jamestown)  get lots of snow but not nearly as much as the towns on the west side of the Ridge. 

 

The Southtowns sit at the northeastern end of Lake Erie, which means that southwestern gales come up the longest fetch of the lake sucking up moisture from the warmer lake like vacuum cleaners all the way from western Ohio before dumping their massive snow loads when they hit the shore from Angola north to Blasdell.  This is why Hamburg, West Seneca, Blasdell, and even South Buffalo can pick up multiple feet of snow in a day or less.

This is great information!

[SoTier]

18 minutes ago, Pine Barrens Mafia said:

This is great information!

 

Don't buy a house up on the hills east of Lake Erie ... or buy a really big snowblower.   If you're a few miles from the lake, and you can look west out of a window or off a deck/porch and can see the lake, you are probably on the Ridge.  

 

The Chautauqua Ridge is the shore of the much larger old glacial lake that once covered much of WNY.  It's like the Niagara Escarpment in Niagara County. Take a drive on Rte 394 from Barcelona towards Mayville or Rte 39 from Dunkirk/Silver Creek towards Gowanda, and you will recognize when you leave the lake plain and  go up the Ridge. 

 

There's a great spot to see how sharply the ridge rises above the lake plain at Luenesman (sp) Overlook Park outside of Dewittville, which is just northeast of Mayville on Rte 430.   It's a great view in the fall.