Author: Thomas Tarapacki

Back in the days when women’s combat sports weren’t widely accepted, the first woman to be publicly recognized as the women’s boxing champion was named Hattie Leslie, and she was from Buffalo. Hattie Leslie was a theatrical performer and a wrestler as well as a boxer. She sometimes performed an act on the vaudeville circuit in which she sparred with her husband, John. Hattie was once described by the Buffalo Express as “a well-built woman with a strong pair of arms,” with looks that were “far from homely.” Some Buffalo men came up with the idea of crowning a women’s…

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If you’re looking for a T-shirt that’s attractive, unique, and let’s everyone know how much you love Buffalo, visit CityLove at 830 Elmwood Avenue. Tony Maggiotto has a clothing shop that reflects the owner’s love for everything Buffalo. It seems that everyone in WNY likes a Buffalo T-shirt, and CityLove certainly has those. Whether you want to show your support for a local sports team, offer an opinion on a community issue, or simply express your pride in being a Buffalonian, the collection at CityLove is for you. The T-shirts have innovative designs that proclaim things like, “I LEFT MY…

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Pretend, for a moment, that we were to play the word association game. As you know, the one and only rule is that you’re to blurt out the first word that comes to mind as soon as you hear the subject given. Ready? And… “Influential Rock Icon”! Do you have your answer? Good. Now imagine having this person or group suddenly playing for you and 25 others in your living room… It’s quite a striking thought, yes? Such was the case for local musician Michele Buono this past 23rd of September, when she hosted singer-songwriter Kristin Hersh in her home,…

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As we in Buffalo know very well, there is frequently a close connection between politics and sports. After all, some of the biggest names in local politics first rose to prominence through athletics: former Congressman Hank Nowak, former Buffalo Mayor Tony Masiello (both one-time Canisius College basketball stars), former Congressman Jack Kemp, and former Erie County Executive Ed Rutkowski (a pair of ex-Buffalo Bills), to name just a few. Sports, politics and TV came together in a big way Monday evening, as the half-time show on the Election Eve “Monday Night Football” game featured a pre-taped segment in which presidential…

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A Buffalo tradition returns for the 113th year as the YMCA Turkey Trot will again be held on Thanksgiving morning, Thursday, November 27, beginning at 9AM. Established in 1896, this race will mark its 113th start on Thanksgiving morning, making it the oldest continually running footrace in North America. That’s right, it’s even older than the Boston Marathon, which started a year later. Registration forms are available at all local YMCA branches, Wegmans Stores, and Dick’s Sporting Goods. An entry costs $20 up to November 22nd. You can also register online at www.ymcabuffaloniagara.org, Proceeds from the event are used to…

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It’s a little strange at first–when you walk into a yoga studio on the Elmwood strip on a Monday evening you expect to see a group of people practicing a savasana or a tadasana. Instead, you see people flying around the room, swing dancing. Back in January BuffaloRising.com reported on a series of lindy style dances that were being launched at Shakti Yoga at 220 Lexington Avenue. Well, “Lindy Fix” on Monday night is going strong, and you’re invited to grab your dancing shoes and stop down. It starts off with a lesson at 8:00 PM, followed by an hour-and-half…

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On September 12, my peers and I made a trip to Cradle Beach in Angola to kick off this year’s Youth Leadership Erie County (YLEC) program* with an orientation retreat. While a major component of the retreat was developing friendships and skills that will last throughout the nine-month program, it was also a time to showcase the ability and enthusiasm of the next generation of leaders in Western New York (WNY). This year’s class, which includes students from 33 area high schools, spent the two-day retreat learning valuable leadership skills that we can apply in our schools and neighborhoods. The…

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Albright-Knox Director Louis Grachos joined our weekly Buffalo Rising Roundtable with Mark Scott in WBFO’s studio this week to discuss recent and upcoming activities at the Albright-Knox Art Gallery. More often than not lately, the AKAG fits in our City tab almost as much as Art (and YUM!) as Grachos and his staff implement a wide range of events that fall under the canopy of community. Fresh out of Music is Art, in which Robby Takac of the Goo Goo Dolls was invited by Grachos to use the Knox as a venue for his displaced yearly music series, we discussed…

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Marcos Vargas has had a slew of restaurant locations around the West Side of Buffalo in his 24 years of doing business here, but the latest move to Niagara Street has got to be the best yet. Vargas hails from Puerto Rico. Before Buffalo, he had restaurants in New Jersey and on 57th Street in Brooklyn. This is a family business, and customer loyalty is built in, which is one of the reasons Vargas manages to keep his prices so low. You can get your salty/sweet and crunchy craving fix at Vargas for well under $10. I had never had…

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With the future of the Buffalo Creek Casino hanging in the balance, the Seneca Nation has released results of a Zogby poll that addresses their role in the community in terms of the region’s economic development. The Nation, in advance of a legislative bill in Albany that would attempt to tax wholesalers who supply Indian businesses, set out to measure approval in the four counties where people strongly support Seneca Nation enterprises: Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus. The telephone poll, conducted from August 19-22, 2008, with 907 participants, summed up opinion as follows, according to a Seneca Nation release: Eight…

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