Susan Bigler

SHERIDAN — Susan Bigler is seeking election to the Town Board.

“I am running once again for a seat on the board of the Town of Sheridan. This time, I have a partner, Wendy Dunst, and we are running as a team on the Democratic line,” she said. “Our aim is to bring a more balanced government to a Republican controlled town. We are both concerned for the future of Sheridan, and as a town divided by four school districts and five postal addresses, for maintaining its identity.

“My roots in Sheridan are deep. I was born and raised in Sheridan and now live in the home where my parents raised me, after a move to Erie Pa with my husband who worked at GE. We raised our two daughters there, and after the sudden loss of my husband, I managed several Country Fair stores in the Erie area.

“In 2000, I was hired by the Postal Service and began working at the Forestville office. I moved back into my childhood home. After a career in the Postal Service clerking, subbing for postmasters, acting supervisor, window clerk trainer, in a dozen offices around the area including Sheridan, I retired from the Fredonia office. Semi-retired, actually, as I have taken care of the office work for a local Sheridan business since I retired in 2016.

“I am past president of the Sheridan VFW Auxiliary and currently serve as their treasurer, POW flag bearer and Legislative chair for the district VFW Auxiliary. I am treasurer for the Chautauqua County Democratic Committee, the Chautauqua County League of Women Voters, and also take care of the funds for the Sheridan Historical Society and the Sheridan Cemetery Association. As a member of the New Horizons Band and the Cassadaga Area Community Band, I’ve coordinated summer concerts for the town. Recently I led a campaign to have a plaque placed on the grave of Congressman Danel A. Reed, a great source of pride for the town.

“Back to my roots. In the two generations of my family before me, there was a lot of involvement in the Town of Sheridan. My grandmother had a grape farm. I loved picking grapes and driving the tractor down the rows, well before I was old enough to drive. My cousin who was a Town of Sheridan cop, back when the town had one, didn’t catch me driving underage (ha), or I would’ve ended up in front of my uncle, the town Justice. Another uncle was highway superintendent; another ran the only car dealership in town. My mother was the Sheridan postmaster and clerk for 20 years. Her father ran the Sheridan trolley car depot, which operated until 1933. A marker on Center Road commemorates the trolley station. I’m pictured in front of the marker, with the CHQ Transit trolley behind me.

“This is why I care about Sheridan and its future; I have so much of my past invested in this town.

“Now, for the past three years, the main attraction in the Town of Sheridan is the eyesore on the corner of Route 20 and Roberts Road. Wendy and I want to see that gone, and we will make sure nothing like that happens again.

“I’m not quitting!”