Clancy likes his job, he likes his team, and he likes his town.  Late November before “The Valley” is open is still the off-season, and on the drive to the village in his Ford Bronco, we don’t pass a single car.  There hasn’t been more than a dusting of natural snow yet, and the ground is frosty and hard.  We duck into The Gin Mill which is long and empty, save three people at the end of the bar.  Clancy orders a beer.  The bartender is Penny Meyers, wife of Holiday Valley’s IT guy, Joe.  Once, in late spring, I watched Penny as she checked an ID, popped the cap off a bottle and handed it across the bar.  “It’s good enough,” she said, winking. 

Ellicottville has 472 year-round residents and 13 bars.  One is a microbrewery with a sleek marble countertop.  Another, Dina’s, serves mostly martinis.  The Gin Mill is outfitted with cracked stools that have stuffing blooming out of their red plastic covers.  It serves the best chicken wings south of Gabriel’s Gate in Allentown.