The Young Preservationists are celebrating Buffalo and preservation at the Pan American Brewery!
Join BYP on Tuesday, December 4th from 6-9pm at the Pan American Brewery (391 Washington St) inside the Hotel @ the Lafayette for the BYP Holiday Happy Hour. The event is free! Drink specials will be available. For more information, the event info can be found here.
Donate for a good cause! The happy hour's goal is to raise money to purchase "presents" for

Did you know that last year's inaugural Feed the City event raised enough money to purchase 200,000lbs of food for those in need? That's a significant milestone, that if duplicated each year goes far towards reaching the goals of its beneficiary - Food Bank of Western New York. 
Feed the City is a benefit concert with an impressive line-up of musicians being headlined by front man Ian Hunter of legendary band Mott the Hoople (All the Young Dudes, Once Bitten Twice Shy), along with Buffalo's The Pillagers, Canadian national recording artist Ruby Spirit and

Throughout the month of December, I will be posting a number of gift suggestions that will hopefully help readers in their search for the perfect holiday presents. There will be a cross section of price ranges, and shops in order to showcase the diverse array of stores and merchandise found in the city.
After years of being unavailable due to being dropped from the manufacturer's list, Buffalo-Opoly is back! The board game is similar to Monopoly, but features local landmarks. The game is completely up-to-date with cards highlighting the National Garden Festival, Olmsted Parks,

Over the holidays we will be highlighting a number of members of Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), so that you might support them by purchasing original works of art. Thanks to Paul Rybarczyk at BSA for helping me put these together. Visit the BSA website to learn more about the institution - one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country. Next up on our list is artist Carol Case Siracuse:
Carol Case Siracuse Bio:
Carol

The monetary goal has been reached in order to bring home an original Central Terminal light fixture from an antique store in Toronto. The organization Broadway Fillmore Alive has posted on its Facebook page that the amount of $3696 was raised, which not only exceeded the initial $3100 needed, but did it in a record amount of time. 
The money was to be raised by December 24, 2012, in order to ensure that the fixture would come home. From what

The Central Terminal Restoration Corporation (CTRC) has come up with a unique way to raise money for replacing its worn out roof. As part of the largest adaptive reuse project in all of Upstate New York, the roof work needed to protect the terminal is a three phase project. The first phase will replace the areas of the roof that are in need of immediate repair. The second and third phases are not as urgent but are still of major concern in coming years. 
In order to come up with the money to replace the roof tiles, CTRC is promoting an /city/index.html

The Lyth Cottage on Harwood Place is undergoing an incredible transformation. What was once another beautiful Buffalo

Over the holidays we will be highlighting a number of members of Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), so that you might support them by purchasing original works of art. Thanks to Paul Rybarczyk at BSA for helping me put these together. Visit the BSA website to learn more about the institution - one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country. Next up on our list is artist Rita Argen Auerbach:
Rita Argen Auerbach is a nationally recognized artist represented in numerous museum, corporate, and private collections throughout the United

The University Heights Tool Library is doing its part to turn the University District into a winter wonderland. The organization is sponsoring an initiative called Light the Heights, and is setting out to decorate and illuminate several dormant shop display windows along Main Street. The project is said to be a low-cost high-impact endeavor that will help to "improve neighborhood perception and build relationships between various community stakeholders."
In order to see the task to completion, The Tool Library is asking that community members donate any unwanted

For those into the poetry slam scene, don't forget that the Pure Ink Poetry Slam is an ongoing production that takes place at Merge. Who will be the next Slam Master? Poets from all over the area come together to compete for the title - the next bout is taking place on December 12 at 9:30pm. After showcasing the slam series for one year, Pure Ink has formed a house team that represents the Queen City in such battles as the international QEW Poetry Slam* scheduled to be held at Theaterloft in Buffalo on January 5. 
Pure Ink Poetry Sam runs every second

Earlier this week, Rich Products announced that it plans to invest $18.5 million in an expansion project at its Niagara Street headquarters that will bring major improvements to its customer innovation center and could potentially lead to future growth in our region. 
According to CEO William Gisel, the state-of-the-art upgrades will make the customer innovation center here in Buffalo the focal point for Rich's customers from around the world. This facility is a site dedicated to collaboration between Rich and its clients from various restaurants and food companies

What do you get when you cross a poetry reading, performance art, and a party that brings all the cool kids downtown? BIG NIGHT.
BIG NIGHT, quite simply, brings together the before, during, and after, creating a single event of multiple art forms--complete with an impressive menu by local chef and BlazeVox publisher, Geoffrey Gatza.
The brainchild of Just Buffalo Literary Center, BIG NIGHT features something for everyone: poetry for the word-nerd and bibliophile in all of us; visual art and video screenings for the art lovers; music, theatre,

A freshly painted house can go a long way in neighborhood that is trying to keep up with appearances. As our collective neighborhoods continue to make progress on different grassroots fronts, it's the basics such as planting community gardens and painting houses that will ultimately make the biggest differences. After all, a new bakery or a coffee shop moving into an area is nice, but the residential neighborhoods must continue to galvanize as well. 
The Black Rock Foundation has come up with a great way to help low income home owners to make incremental

Renowned Buffalo watercolor artist Margaret M. Martin has passed away. Margaret's studio was located on Elmwood Avenue in Allentown, identified by its vibrant floral shop windows, reminiscent of the colors she used in her works - the obscure little storefront boasted one of the area's top artistic talents. Martin was a figurehead in the Buffalo arts community.
It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing of Margaret M. Martin, a vibrant person and an exceptional watercolor artist who touched many people both locally and across the

Over the holidays we will be highlighting a number of members of Buffalo Society of Artists (BSA), so that you might support them by purchasing original works of art. Thanks to Paul Rybarczyk at BSA for helping me put these together. Visit the BSA website to learn more about the institution - one of the oldest continually operating arts organizations in the country. Next up on our list is artist Paul Alico:
BSA artist Paul Alico works in pastel, oil, and acrylic. A Buffalo native with a degree in Art Education from the State University College at Buffalo, he

Are you ready to celebrate St. Andrews Day? What if I told you that by doing so, you would be rubbing shoulders with Those Idiots and their harem of polka rock groupies? The particular performance that I am referring to is also for a very special cause. Proceeds from the show will go toward the restoration of St. Casimir's Church in Buffalo's Kaisertown neighborhood. Not only will you get to dance around to some incredibly fun music, you will be helping St. Casimir's Church Preservation and Restoration Committee to preserve and restore an architecturally significant Neo-Byzantine

It can be hard to figure out what to get a theater-lover for the holidays. What are the venues that he or she prefers? What are the types of shows that they enjoy? Are there favorite actors and actresses? Well, if that's the case with the theater-lover in your life, then there's an easy solution. Why not consider purchasing Theatre Bucks? Brought to you by Theatre Alliance of Buffalo (TAB), Theatre Bucks makes it easy to choose the perfect production. That's because Theatre Bucks can be used at 19 professional, not-for-profit theatre companies in Greater Buffalo. 
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If you're not familiar with local filmmaker Peter McGennis, click here for information on his latest film release called "Queen City".  On December 30 at 7:00 pm, there is a New Year's Film and Music Tribute planned at the The Market Arcade and Hotel Lafayette. Starting with a screening of Queen City at The Market Arcade, the evening will then continue on to the Hotel Lafayette with a "Then and Now" tribute. This aims

While paying a visit to The Foundry on Northampton Street last weekend, I came across this house located directly across the street that was in the middle of a serious renovation. The house is one of the ten houses being rehabilitated by Belmont Shelter in Masten Park with a total budget is $3.5 million (contractor is Burke Brothers). The house seen here was headed for demolition, but was eventually removed from the demo list when some pressure was applied by concerned parties. The Victorian house was in fair condition.
Mike Gainer wrote about this

The Council adopted a resolution, sponsored by North District Council Member Joseph Golombek, Jr., calling upon the National Hockey League ("NHL") and the NHL Players Association to resolve their current labor issues and approve a new Collective Bargaining Agreement ("CBA").  In addition to hurting the league, its teams, and the fans, the NHL's recent labor issues have financially impacted numerous local businesses. Since September 15, 2012, there have been no NHL games due to the absence of a negotiated CBA between NHL owners and the NHL Players Association. This lockout has resulted