September is National Preparedness Month.  This is an annual, month long educational program to educate citizens about emergency preparedness.  Cattaraugus County Office of Emergency Services would like to take this opportunity to sum up the top 3 valuable tips to prepare yourself and your family in case disaster strikes.

The first step in preparedness is to create an emergency plan.  This doesn’t have to be an in-depth document, but it should include a few basics that will be critical in case of emergency, such as:

The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s office will be holding its annual Santa Sheriff benefit on Saturday, September 24, 2016 from noon to 8pm at the Great Valley Volunteer Fire Hall. There will be a Chinese raffle, 50/50 raffle, chicken b-que, dunk tank, music. Some of the prizes will be a child’s playhouse, snow blower, Michael Kors purses. The Cattaraugus County Santa Sheriff program was created in 2004 when two county employees recognized the need to help needy families of Cattaraugus County with Christmas.

The Cattaraugus County Sheriff’s Office will be hosting a hunters’ education class for the gun portion only on the following dates and time: Tuesday, October 4, 2016 and Thursday, October 6, 2016 from 4:30 to 9:30 p.m.  The class will be held at the Salamanca Central High School in Salamanca, New York.

There is no charge for the class.  Participants must attend both days of instruction to receive a certificate.  It is preferable that participants be at least 12 years of age.  If a parent wants an 11-year-old to take the class, the parent must attend and sit with