Bank to Sponsor Thursday Night of Olean's Annual Rally in the Valley

OLEAN – Community Bank, NA is proud to be the Thursday night sponsor of the 9th Annual Rally in the Valley. The Rally in the Valley, to be held August 25-28, is a motorcycle fundraiser event, which benefits a host of local organizations. Community Bank is a wholly owned national banking subsidiary of Community Bank System, Inc. (CBSI), and is the second-largest commercial banking franchise headquartered in Upstate New York. It is a full-service financial institution, offering complete consumer, business, and financial services.

Community Bank will be the sponsor of a new day with the Rally; Thursday’s Banking on a Good Time Street Dance. The dance, a family affair, will be located downtown on Laurens Street at North Union Street. The band, Wildfire will entertain throughout the dance with hours 7 – 10 PM. This year marks the first year the rally will expand into four-days. In 2008, the event went to three-days.

“We’re proud to be involved in the addition of a street dance during the Rally in the Valley,” said Dick Heidrick, SVP at Community Bank. “The Rally is a family-focused event and what better way to show off downtown but with this new event in the heart of downtown.”

This year marks the 9th anniversary of the event hosted by the Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce and the Olean Motorcycle Enthusiasts. Rally in the Valley was introduced to the area by local business leaders who saw what other communities have done with similar events and wanted to bring that same type of experience to Olean. They knew the event would draw many people from outside the area and the longer they ran the event the larger it would grow. In addition, they knew there were many bikers in this area that would love an event like this that was close to home. Since 2003, the event has grown: in terms of number of days held (2-4); number of dice run participants (149 - 683); number of contests (3-6); and spectators (2,500 - 6,230).

“We have gone to great lengths and take great pride in the fact that our Rally in the Valley continues to be an event that all members of the family can attend. We get a great feeling just seeing little kids walking with dad and mom looking at all of the motorcycles. It is a great feeling to be able to take a hobby that we are so passionate about, and use it to make money for some very worthy people around Olean. We are very thankful for the continued support we receive from the great people of Olean and the Chamber of Commerce,” stated the chairs of the Rally event, Dennis Jones, Randy Langdon, Dan Jordan, Larry Penman, and Alan Roth.

Through the 8th annual Rally in the Valley, we have been able to give more than $116,000.00 to local charities,” said Rally Co-Chair Dennis Jones. The charities that will benefit this year include the Southern Tier Child Advocacy Center; the ReHabilitation Center; the Dempsey Club; Olean Airport Support Group; Mercy Flight; and Southern Tier Military Support Group. For more information on the Annual Rally in the Valley, call Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce at 716-372-4433 or email rally@oleanny.com.

Pictured, from left, Dan Jordan, Rally Co-Chair; Dick Heidrick, SVP, CBNA; Dennis Jones, Rally Co-Chair; and Brian Donahue, CBNA
Courtesy of Meme Yanetsko