LITTLE VALLEY — Thanks to a Community Revitalization Grant awarded by Cattaraugus County, Little Valley is going big and making it possible for dedicated residents to revive the look of their community.

Spokesperson Brad Lockwood, who wrote and applied for the grant on behalf of the Little Valley Beautification Committee, said the county Department of Economic Development, Planning and Tourism awarded the $5,000 grant to the village’s Beautification Committee. He said both the village and town contributed matching funds of $2,500 each, bringing the total to $10,000.

“The village and town were incredibly receptive and we thank them,” he said. “Here’s the beautiful part — in reality, on top of that, we have almost $5,000 additional funds that other entities, including Cattaraugus County Bank and the Little Valley Fund, have stepped up and offered to put forward.

Lockwood said the bigger focus is thinking big. He said the beautification committee is amazing at planting flowers and doing other seasonal things, but Little Valley has bigger issues that they were able to thoroughly think through and identify for the grant to get the county’s approval to do them.

Director Crystal Abers said the county Department of Economic Development, Planning, and Tourism is so happy to provide this opportunity for a grant for the village of Little Valley. She said the department’s program is designed to support local municipalities in making positive changes to their main streets by providing grant funds to help cover the cost of supplies.

“This grant gives the community a meaningful opportunity to revitalize its downtown — the heart and soul of the area,” she explained. “A vibrant downtown supports local businesses, encourages growth and strengthens the spirit of the entire community.”

Little Valley’s Beautification Committee has been on a mission to make the village more attractive and appealing to visitors. With community pride, the group has been joined by other residents and businesses working hard to make that a reality.

Members include, but are not limited to: Sue Koch, retired town clerk and member; Anita Williams, president of the group; Karel Hamilton, co-secretary with Cathy Johnson; Linda McCubbin, treasurer; and Nancy Shinners, vice president.

Lockwood said volunteers started with the gazebo located downtown at the intersection of Erie and Fair Oak streets. He said the gazebo has been fully restored with donated materials from Sixt Lumber and painted by dozens of volunteers. A huge attached banner went up on June 4. New American flags, lights and decorations are up, and lovely flowers have added a finishing touch.

“There was a lot of work done at the gazebo, including the facia, scraping and priming before painting,” he said. “We started at the gazebo to show the local public, ‘This is happening.’ It’s a very tangible thing.”

Little Valley residents take great pride in their “Village of Knives” as it’s now known. A municipal utility crew recently installed a large banner depicting the late Tint Champlin with the “largest fork and knife in the world.” He co-founded Cattaraugus Cutlery with his father, the late John B.F. Champlin. Shown are Brad Lockwood, crew member Louis Szabo, John Burrell of Ellicottville and crew chief Larry Imhoff.

THIS GRANT ENABLES the residents to spruce up their village in time for the second annual Village of Knives event coming July 11 and 12 to the county fairgrounds.

Lockwood said the inaugural event last year was an eye-opener to him. He said the event brought in at least 4,000 people from around the world — some with rare knives that were made in Little Valley. We expect double that number of people who are coming this year.

Lockwood said a large banner depicting the late Tint Champlin with the “largest fork and knife in the world” has been installed on the side of the yellow, brick building at the corner of Rock City and Main streets, courtesy of owner Jon Mowry. Tint co-founded Cattaraugus Cutlery with his father, the late John B.F. Champlin. He said they also plan to do a huge, beautiful banner to celebrate the county fair, using images from vintage posters found a few years ago.

“The Village of Knives group, John Burrell and myself, who are Case cousins, donated the banner and other money,” he said. “It’s been an all-hands-on-deck project. This is our chance to make Little Valley shine.”

According to Lockwood, there is a lot more to come. He said they are doing an open call to talented artists from all over the region to create at least two big murals on two large buildings around town. If they get enough talent, they’d love to do three murals. There will be cash prizes and the committee would like them to be done by September.

“I think the biggest message with these murals is we’ve had private business owners and private building owners step forward and say, ‘Use my space.’ They are even donating the materials,” he said.

Artists interested in creating murals for Little Valley should make inquiries at lvbeautification@gmail.com.

President Anita Williams said the Beautification Committee is excited to have the opportunity to bring public art and other immediate improvement projects to the village as a result of the Cattaraugus County grant.

“We would like to send a huge thank you to Cattaraugus County, the village of Little Valley, the town of Little Valley and so many members of this community volunteering to help bring our goals to life,” she said. “From flowers to flags, decorative lights, murals and historic educational banners, this is only the start.”