Buffalo Rising Online

Sep 19th 2008, 4:23pm By Thomas Woods

You may recall from an earlier entry on this web site that the Dog Ears Bookstore and Enlightenment Literary Arts Center opened at 688 Abbott Road in April of this year. But this weekend, you're invited to their grand opening celebration, Saturday and Sunday, with lots of great activities planned to bring people in to see what's going on in the bookstore and literary arts center.

The Grand Opening celebration features hot dogs and other refreshments, face painting, balloon art, a "make your own bookmark" station, and other fun activities. There will be children's book readings at 11 AM and 3 PM both days, and at 2 PM there will be local authors in the store to sign copies of their books. Saturday night only, there is a poetry reading at 7:00.

Tom McDonnell, Executive Director, says that the people who work in or attend nearby schools and businesses have found the bookstore and are spreading the word to their home neighborhoods--as evidenced by the diverse set of ZIP codes in their mailing list--and the grand opening aims to let everyone in South Buffalo know what's going on in the bookstore and literary arts center.

"We're excited about getting what we're trying to do out there. We're making a positive impact on this community, and they have come in to support us and our unique approach," McDonnell told me. And what they're doing is a unique approach, certainly in South Buffalo, but throughout the region, because they are a literary arts center that is supported (in part) by a not-for-profit bookstore. The friendly staff will order any book you want if they don't have it on their shelves, and their online bookstore is easy to navigate if you can't go to the bookstore in person.

"We have faith in our community that they will support us, because it's a great community. People from Mercy Hospital, Trocaire College, Mt. Mercy High School, and lots of coffee drinkers stop in." The bookstore's entrance is inside Caz Coffee Cafe, and the two share a kind of symbiosis. Who wouldn't want to grab a cup of coffee on their way into one of the great programs of The Enlightenment Literary Arts center, such as the Vocabulary Enrichment program, The Adult Reader, The Latch Key Reader, and "Don't just read it... write it!" The range of programs reflects McDonnel's belief that "There's a reader in every house and a great writer on every street in South Buffalo, and the stories we have to tell are interesting and funny and worthwhile."

Confirmed for appearance at the author book signing are David Woods, author of Buffalo Snow Day, and Jeff Schober, author of Undercurrent.