the fantastic place and wonderful caring and kind people that I could have met. thanks to them I…read morehave changed my life around for the better.

I was finally able to attend a wreath making class hosted by the wreath barn. It was a blast and I…read moregot to take home a gorgeous wreath. What an fun way to spend a morning before the Bills game and get into holiday mode. I'd absolutely recommend this class to anyone who like crafts or wants to try something new. Everything you need is supplied for you on site and there even some extra upgrade ornaments available for you to purchase if you would like your wreath to be extra. The class was well run and pretty easy to follow. Making a wreath was a little more time consuming than I'd anticipated but well worth the effort. You might want to bring some gardening gloves to protect your hands. Check their Facebook page for class dates before the holidays. They also have a retail location and are at local craft fairs if you want to buy a premade wreath or centerpiece.

Please check to see if this company knows the rules for your county before wasting your money. They…read moreadvertise that they train for Orleans County NY but had no clue that a different document needs to be filled out and notarized there. The one they supply IS NOT VALID!! I sent them the one I needed to have filled out and notarized and they ghosted me. I wound up taking and paying for the concealed carry course again at another company (High Caliber Services).

My father doesn't use the Internet, so I'm posting this on his behalf. Jim was incredibly helpful…read morenot only in teaching the course, but also in providing follow up assistance in filing paperwork out of state. Jim went above and beyond what was paid for!

I recently visited Mission Meadows for a quilt retreat. This review is specifically about the…read moregrounds, facilities, and staff, not about the retreat which was organized by a private group. The camp is beautiful. It's located directly in Chautauqua Lake. They have cabins with bunk beds and bathrooms, a few large buildings for big gatherings, including a dining hall with a full kitchen. There is also an activities building with a beautiful pool and hot tub. All of my experiences with the staff were exceptional. I have some dietary restrictions and the cook who prepared our meals was extremely accommodating and checked in on me throughout the weekend to make sure I was getting what I needed. The director and all other staff members were extremely kind and accommodating. They seem to run their own camp in the summer months, but also seem to rent out the camp for different events during the off season. My retreat was in March. March in WNY is not always the warmest, and all the accommodations were great. I never felt too cold or anything. Definitely consider camp mission meadows if you have any need for a group destination, overnight or not.

Mission Meadows is a great Christian camp. I have been to many camps as a leader or speaker and…read morethey all have their own uniqueness. What I love about Mission meadows, besides the beautiful view, the amazing chapel, and the above average camp food, is the mentality behind the camp. I have been a speaker here twice and have two more events booked in the next year. I love to come here because they are not a camp just for church kids. The camp is one of the most diverse camps I have visited, and the permanent and yearly staff love on the kids from ALL walks of life. The staff themselves are great people and I enjoyed getting to know them and working with them the last few years, Having stayed once in the regular cabins, I hate the mattresses, but everything else is nice and comfortable. One of their features is an indoor pool, rock wall, and gym that are available in the winter to rent out for the weekend, day, or afternoon when they are not being used for regular camp activities. If you have a chance, stop by and walk the grounds of the beautiful Mission Meadows.

Well, it's been a long time since I was a student here, back in the late 70's and early 80's. I was…read morea student here from third through fifth grades. I can say I received a pretty rigorous education here. Back then, thing were more laid back education-wise, as there was no Common Core, but the teachers made sure we knew out arithmetic, could read and spell, and had neat hand-writing, including cursive. Everyone was grouped in the same class, regardless of academic level, except for reading, where we were divided into three levels. There were two classrooms in each grade with about 25 students per class. For third grade I had Miss Claire Dunham, for fourth grade, I had Mrs. Grace Hassett, and for fifth grade I had Mrs. Delores Westling. Our principle was Robert Block. At the end of our third grade year,, I volunteered to cleanup the science kit for Miss Dunham. She was grateful and actually sent me a thank you note to my home address that summer. I felt special. For fifth grade, Mrs. Westling had a reputation as a strict and academically focused teacher, as opposed the other fifth grade teacher, Mr. Bruce Ford, who was know to be fun and easy going since he was younger. Regardless, I liked Mrs. Westling, who was really a nice teacher and wanted to ensure you succeeded academically. She was also fun once you got to know her. As for Mr. Ford, there was a rumor among the students at that time that he was dating Miss Lynn Lamattina, a young fourth grade teacher year. I took at as a mere rumor at the time and brushed it off. Well, when I look the teachers up a few years ago online, I see that they were married, lol. I guess we students knew things back then despite our age. Mr. Ford was a good guy who taught us well too, including a bottle cap game he used to play as a child in New York City called "skully" or "scully". I also designed the route for him for his ice cream truck, which he did in the summer and after school for extra income since I new all the city streets as I loved studying maps. I even volunteered once or twice in the truck as he rode around town. In fifth grade in 1980, I got to write a letter for our city's centennial anniversary time capsule, which was to be sealed in the cornerstone of city hall and to be opened in 50 years, and then again in 100 years. Artifacts from the time were placed in the time capsule. It will be exciting to see the contents again if I can be there in 2030. There was also a student-run project for lunch period called "Penford" (named after Mr. Ford and another teacher who was no longer there), where fifth graders sold ice cream to the other students in the lunch room/gym. We had fudgesicles, strawberry shortcake ice cream bars, drumsticks, and vanilla ice cream cups, ranging from $0.15 to $0.25 each. One time Mr. Ford called us in and reprimanded us because someone (not me) left ice cream in the freezer cart after we packed it up after lunch. He also reprimanded us when he drove us after school to a bank to open an account for the ice cream project, since none of us said thank you after meeting with the banker. But he wanted to ensure we were responsible, and was a good teacher. We had a ceremony at the end of our fifth grade year to celebrate us graduating from elementary school. We each received a dictionary with our name printed in it. All the parents were there. We spent much of the day playing games at various stations in the school. Looking at the school from Google Maps Street View, much has changed since my time there, with new handicapped accessibility for the building, a pull in area for parents to drop their kids off and a parking lot in the back (it used to be just a large play area for the students). I remember fondly my time at this school.

I went to this school from 1981-1984. The principle at that time was Terry Wolfenden…read more It used to be called Dunkirk Junior High School, but they changed the name a few years before I went to emphasize the middle school years were a separate stage of child/student development, worthy of its own name, and not just a high school but "junior". All in all, I can say that I received a somewhat rigorous education here, with some exceptions. Students of all abilities were grouped into the same class. It didn't compare to more wealthy school districts or to boarding/day schools, but for a small, rural town, it was good. And of couese, it doesn't compare to schooling nowadays, where younger and younger students are taught more advanced concepts. We were still doing arithmetic in seventh grade and didn't fully start a foreign language until eighth grade. I am a little miffed now that lunch breaks back then were only one-half of a period, so 20 minutes. We really had to rush to line up and then eat our lunches, especially if you were at the end of the line. Another time, the lunch supervisor made the entire lunchroom (about 100 students) stay after school to punish us because just a few students were being unruly. This was not fair to us, and I missed a student council meeting because of this. All of us also all were required to attend vocational classes like metal shop, sewing, cooking, and woodshop even in the eighth grade, even though some were in the college-bound track. This is what the classes were for college-track students: 6th grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (I forget what) Math (arithmetic) Science Reading Vocational (woodshop, metal/plastic shop, art, sewing, cooking, library skills) Spelling (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period 7th Grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (local history: NY State, Chautauqua County, and City of Dunkirk) Math (advanced intensive arithmetic) Science/Health Reading/tour of German, Spanish, and French to see what you liked best Vocational (art, either woodshop or metal/plastic show, either sewing or cooking) Spelling (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period 8th Grade (9 periods of 40 minutes each): English Social Studies (American history I think) Math (pre-algebra) Science one of the three: Spanish, French, German for high school credit Vocational (art, either woodshop or metal/plastic show, either sewing or cooking) Spelling/other areas of the class' choice (called "Achievement")/Lunch Music/P.E. Activity period As for sports, there weren't many, unlike today. The was intramural after-school basketball in all grades, but for boys only. And there was an extramural eighth grade boys basketball team (by tryout only). Major Title IX violations here! Back then, there was not a sports field on campus and no parking lot for teachers and staff. Don't believe me? Take a look at the website Historic Aerials (https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer) to see what it was like in the 1980's. I'm jealous of today's students! :-)

My daughters danced here for 16 years but the teacher is their Mother. They loved dancing with/for…read moreher.