Author: Abby Wojcik

Abby Wojcik is a student at Canisius College majoring in English and creative writing with a minor in women and gender studies. She is the Features Editor of The Griffin Newspaper and an Executive Board member of Women & Gender Studies Club at Canisius. She is also a freelance writer with The Lancaster-Depew Sun and Rise Collaborative. She is passionate about journalism, poetry, art and all things Buffalo. When not in the classroom, she can usually be found in local coffee shops drinking a chai tea latte.

Buffalo is tackling the topic of democracy this weekend at the annual Buffalo Humanities Festival, with a wide range of speakers, events and discussion opportunities. The festival has a new theme each year, and it has covered topics like migration, the environment, gender and more over the years. During the weekend of Sept. 19-21, it will discuss questions about the democratic crisis and how we can use history to reimagine a democratic future. Dr. Jennifer Desiderio, English professor at Canisius College and a Steering Committee member of the Buffalo Humanities Festival, helps plan and organize the festival and has done…

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Recently opened Gallery Frames on Elmwood provides a full range of art services, from art installations to minor art restoration, to building custom frames. In addition to these services, there is also additional space for a variety of uses, including a gallery setting for occasional events, and a display area for artwork (for sale).  Mainly, though, Gallery Frames is a custom picture frame shop. Co-owners Jeffrey Vincent and Peat Bellomo have made their number one priority customer satisfaction. They order the products, assemble the frames, cut the mats, and basically do all the work themselves. “It’s just the two of…

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A new community coffee shop opened this past March on Parkside. JAM Parkside, the newest addition to the Buffalo coffee shop offerings, provides customers a great corner café experience – to sit, enjoy a warm drink, and appreciate the diverse and charming neighborhood.  Co-owners Jesse Crouse, Amber Small, and Monica Cichon raised the money for the construction of JAM from shareholders, and have structured the business as an intrastate offering, meaning they can get investments from New York State residents. This unusual but refreshing business structure offers a community ownership stake, which is reflected within the café. “When Monica and…

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The Difference Kitchen, which opened in December 2018, is the passion project of Lucille Altieri, who has been in the restaurant business for quite some time. Her past restaurants have since disbanded, and she’d been working in education in place of that. She has decided to leave her teaching job to pursue the restaurant business again because she wants to focus full time on making a difference in the world. The Difference Kitchen gets its name from Altieri’s energetic motivation to change the world. She acknowledges that this might be somewhat cliche, but she really does want to make a…

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