Westfield Music Teacher Kent Knappenburger.

WESTFIELD -A teacher from Westfield will be recognized alongside some of the biggest names in pop music during the 56th annual GRAMMY Awards Ceremony in Los Angeles this weekend.

Kent Knappenberger works with 6th through 12th grade students at Westfield Academy and Central School. On Tuesday, Knappenberger was announced as the winner of the first annual Music Educator Award; which is presented by The Recording Academy and the GRAMMY Foundation.

Knappenberger will be recognized during the awards ceremony this coming weekend in California. He will also be honored by the Westfield school district during a community reception to be held Jan. 31 from 6-8 p.m. in the cafeteria.

In the Lakewood village board race, incumbent Susan Drago and newcomer David DiSalvo were elected village trustees. Drago received 262 votes and DiSalvo gained 255. Incumbent Joe Troche lost re-election, receiving 198 votes.

In Falconer, village residents approved a measure to move the spring village election to November. The proposition received no opposing votes.

In Sherman, village Mayor John Patterson Jr. was reelected after running unopposed. Meanwhile, in the village trustee race, incumbent Brett Cook won re-election and new comer Donna Higginbortham was also elected. Incumbent William Wiggers did not receive enough votes to be voted back onto the board.

In Westfield, Michael VandeVelde won the election for mayor, unseating current mayor David Carr – who had held the position since 2005. Also in the Westfield trustee election, incumbent Robert Cochran won re-election, receiving 547 votes. Newcomer Debra Puckhaber won the other available spot, receiving 349 votes. The two other candidates who did not receive enough votes were incumbent Chris Jaynes and challenger Thomas Rackowski.

All village election results can be found online at votechautauqua.com.

The Board of Elections will act as the chief election officials for all villages this year except Sinclairville and Cassadaga.  These two villages are continuing to use their respective village clerks as the chief village election officer and will be counting votes by hand.  All other villages will vote on the county owned optical scan paper ballot system.

Villages with contested races include Brocton, Cherry Creek, Forestville, Lakewood, Mayville, Silver Creek and Westfield.

Villages with uncontested ballots include Bemus Point, Cassadaga, Falconer, Panama, Sherman and Sinclairville.

Village elections will be held at their normal November poll site for village voters who have an election, except the Bemus Point elections will be held at Bemus Point Village Hall.

All village poll sites will be open today from Noon until 9 p.m.

COMPLETE LIST OF VILLAGE ELECTION RACES