Community

Dinner Canceled

The Chautauqua Community dinner scheduled for this Wednesday is canceled due to weather.

Quilts Of Valor Group To Meet Saturday

LAKEWOOD – The Chautauqua Region Quilts of Valor group will meet Saturday at Quilters’ Haven at 10:30 a.m. One item on the agenda for this general meeting is discussion on when the next quilt presentation will be made. The group always welcomes new members and individuals wanting to learn more about us. Quilters’ Haven is in the Jamestown Mattress Plaza at 135 E. Fairmount Ave., Lakewood.

First Lutheran

To Host Musical Service Sunday

First Lutheran Church will have one combined service Sunday at 10 a.m. Music will be provided by the Sacred Fire Team with Kim King as worship leader and coordinator of contemporary worship and Gail Espinoza on the 1870 Andrews Tracker Action Pipe Organ in the church parlors. The Rev. Mark E. Swanson will preach and will preside at the service of Holy Communion. The church’s annual meeting will follow the service. The public is welcome to attend.

Mental Health

Initiative

Available To County Residents

New York state’s recent mental health initiative, Be Well NY, is available to county residents. “I am pleased to share that Chautauqua County residents now have another layer of mental health support available to them through the Be Well NY initiative,” said Carmelo Hernandez, county Community Mental Hygiene Services director and county social services commissioner. “This program will offer critical resources that help remove the barriers to care, providing people with the tools they need to live healthy and fulfilling lives.” The Be Well NY website provides information aimed at managing stress and addressing trauma. The site also highlights access to 24/7 National Suicide and Crisis Lifeline, 988. For more information about the Be Well NY initiative visit bewell.ny.gov. For more information about Chautauqua County’s Department of Mental Hygiene, visit chqgov.com/mental-hygiene.

JCC To Offer VanderMolen Scholarship

A new Jamestown Community College scholarship honoring a noted Chautauqua County entrepreneur will be awarded to a rising second-year Business Administration student starting in 2026. The Caryl VanderMolen Scholarship was recently established with the JCC Foundation by VanderMolen’s daughter, Nancy VanderMolen, as a way to remember the woman who founded Lakewood Furniture Galleries in the late 1950s and moved it to its current East Fairmount Avenue location in the 1960s. VanderMolen also owned two gift shops at the Chautauqua Institute during the 1970s. VanderMolen provided interior design expertise throughout her adult life, owning, renovating and restoring more than 50 houses in Chautauqua County, several of which had historical significance. VanderMolen was the first female member of the Lakewood Village Board and the Chautauqua Lake Yacht Club and was honored as a Woman of Achievement of Chautauqua County. VanderMolen died in 2018 at the age of 91. The scholarship will be given annually at JCC’s spring awards ceremony beginning in 2026.