tuesday september 20th 2005
Marilyn Rodgers is mad about the West Village
queenseyes
The West Village is Buffalo's oldest, continually-resided in neighborhood. It is home to some of the most beautiful houses in the city. The people that own property there are professionals, artists, parents, and community activists. And the neighborhood can literally be observed (looking west) through the windows of City Hall.
The West Village can be seen as a litmus test as to how the rest of the neighborhoods surrounding City Hall are faring. At the moment, Johnson Park (Buffalo's first park) and the surrounding streets that make up this neighborhood (which happen to be on the National Register of Historic Places) is thriving. Homeowners and tenants alike have taken it upon themselves to rid the neighborhood of urban blight over the last few years. They have made the right phone calls. They have worked with the Buffalo Police. They have planted community gardens. They have stood…
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queenseyes
Nick Kotrides, owner of Toro Restaurant and Faherty's Bar on Elmwood, looked on today as the basement of the new Empire Grill on Hertel was being dug out. The neighborhood is very excited to see progress on the new build, which is located across the street from North End Trattoria on Hertel Avenue. Winsome White, proprietor of Bella (another new addition to Hertel Avenue), can't wait for the project to be completed. Her new dress shop sits just opposite the site. Winsome keeps late hours hoping to attract the busy dinner crowd, and from all accounts the Empire Grill should attract new customers from around all of Western New York. Toro, Elmwood's tapas bar and restaurant, has seen unusually large crowds this summer, and Nick hopes that his new venture on Hertel will be just…
queenseyes
The concept of creating a sports hall of fame for Buffalo had been suggested and discussed many times over the years. It was brought to fruition in the fall of 1990 when local businessman John Kapelewski got things moving. Several years earlier, Kapelewski, the manager of Associated Insurance & Financial Group's Buffalo office, had helped create the Syracuse Sports Hall of Fame. Following his transfer to Buffalo, he discovered the Queen City was without a sports hall of fame of its own.
Shortly thereafter, Kapelewski began recruiting a board of directors, a group of local businesspeople and diehard Buffalo sports fans, all dedicated to reaching their goal -- the creation of the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame.
monday september 19th 2005
Metaphoric Power of Art
queenseyes
Join Manya Fabiniak and Tony Billoni for an engaging art gallery experience that will allow you to use the metaphoric power of art to expand your own creative power by engaging your mind and heart. Manya will begin the evening by exploring several dynamic works in the current Extreme Abstraction exhibition at the AKAG. Drawing your attention to various details, she will illustrate that the very challenges we experience in our lives are totally similar to the process of creating a thoughtful work of art. Tony will then lead participants in a deliberate process that will transform a tour of the art museum into an opportunity to discover fresh new ideas that can serve a personal challenge. To conclude all participants will gather together with Manya and Tony to share experiences and outcome…
queenseyes
The International Cooking Club (ICC): A Story of How It All Began. A Story to Whet Your Appetite.
When I first moved to Buffalo, I was struck by the vast number of cultural festivals the City had to offer: everything from the small and traditional Puerto Rican Grease Pole and Lebanese festivals to the larger scale Juneteenth and Italian festivals. As an iout of towner,i I was captivated by these events. In the past five years that I have lived here, I have attended most, if not all, of the festivals the City has to offer.
Yet, despite all of the rich, diverse culture that the City has to offer, I have also observed how segmented each of these ethnic and raci…
Tatonka
It was the end of professional basketball in Buffalo right? Wrong. The Buffalo Rapids have found a home in the city. Not only is it the return of professional basketball, it's the continuation of a great history of the game right here in our own backyard. Let me put it another way... Ball is Back!
The rapids are bringing basketball home, along with great players that were born and raised in WNY, such as Tim Winn of St. Bonaventure and NBA veteran Trevor Ruffin of the Phoenix Suns, as well as nationally ranked collegiate players Carlton Brown of Texas A&M and Brad Buddenborg of Oakland. Then you've got NBA players like Jean Paul Afif of the Sacramento Kings, and internationally ranked players like Shaban Badran, a 7'1" Power Center who was the captain for the Egyptian National Team. …
sunday september 18th 2005
I love Buffalo's four seasons
buffalorising
We went to the zoo today because my three-year old daughter was on a mission for a "few more rides on the merry go round before they put it away, Mommy!" I'm not sure exactly when zoo staff stow it for the fall/winter, but I know it made her day that it was still available today.
Our visit got me thinking about all the things that people are desperate to do during the last few calendar days of summer. Although many of our favorite summer attractions remain available throughout the year, the fact that we associate them with sunny days means that we tend to put them aside when temperatures drop.
queenseyes
This incredible show features Michael Gelen's posters that he designed for the Irish Classical Theatre Company from 1998 to 2005.
Mike has been an illustrator and designer for eleven years. He is the owner of Inkwell Studios, located in Buffalo. Mike has also illustrated a children's songbook for Running Press and is currently working on a kid's card game for Workman Publishing. Mike's influences include Disney and Warner Bros. Animation, comic books, Pop Art and advertising illustration from the thirties, forties and fifties.
iInkwell Studiosi is in fact the alias of Buffalo-based illustrator Michael E. Gelen. Notoriously private, Gelen provides little in the way of personal detail. This much is known: he received degrees in literature and …
queenseyes
The latest Women Build project was recently completed, and today marked another milestone for everyone involved on this inspirational project. In four months, 400 determined women have built a simple, decent house for a local mother (photo) and her family. Huge efforts have paid off and many details came together this week. Appliances arrived, landscaping was completed and a great cleanup crew kept busy getting ready for the house dedication, which was today at 2:30.
This latest Women Build 2005 family is headed by Darlene Johnson (photo) and includes her two sons, Durell Harris and Jalin Harmon, ages 19 and 12. Darlene works as a nurseis aide in the hospital at Wende Correctional Facility. Her older son is a full-t…
queenseyes
The latest Women Build project was recently completed, and today marked another milestone for everyone involved on this inspirational project. In four months, 400 determined women have built a simple, decent house for a local mother (photo) and her family. Huge efforts have paid off and many details came together this week. Appliances arrived, landscaping was completed and a great cleanup crew kept busy getting ready for the house dedication, which was today at 2:30.
This latest Women Build 2005 family is headed by Darlene Johnson (photo) and includes her two sons, Durell Harris and Jalin Harmon, ages 19 and 12. Darlene works as a nurseis aide in the hospital at Wende Correctional Facility. Her older son is a full-t…
