By Ryan Connolly: Have you watched the Olympics hoping you could have front-line seats to the action? This is your chance to view past Olympians and Olympic hopefuls as they compete the weekend of September 24 and 25 at the Outer Harbor in the Nickel City Triathlon (learn more). For many professionals competing, this is a major step to making the Olympic Team for London 2012. What’s unique about this event is in addition to the professional events, local amateurs and kids can race the same course as the pros. The entire weekend of athletic events encompasses professional, age-group athletes, kids and…
Author: ArielR
By: Michael Knott (AmeriCorps VISTA at Homeless Alliance of WNY):Ending homelessness in Western New York is no easy task, but collective thinking can put this goal on the right track. A major step to this progress is streamlining the services that combat homelessness. On September 19th, people experiencing homelessness won’t have to hustle across the city to get help–a lot of services, and a lot of caring people, will all be in one place–the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center.Project Homeless Connect is on Monday September 19th, from 10am to 4pm at the Buffalo Niagara Convention Center. This event is presented by the…
An old fashioned barn raising is happening this week at Tapestry Charter School, coinciding with the opening of the school’s new K-12 building at 65 Great Arrow. The “Experience Play and Learning Project,” an outdoor classroom, a playground, and teaching gardens was developed over a ten month period with the help of dedicated parent volunteers and staff. The school made this project a reality in record breaking time by ramping up their fundraising efforts. A significant amount of materials and labor were donated in addition to the school securing a $50,000 grand through Pepsi refresh project. The community build got under…
By Green Options Buffalo:For the last two years, a growing group of bicyclists and local food enthusiasts have gathered in a parking lot near the Scajaquada bike path on a September Saturday morning. They put on their t-shirts, grab some snacks and drinks and gear up for a 30-mile bicycle excursion visiting local food growers, both urban and rural, called the Tour de Farms.With Independent Health as its title sponsor, this years’ 3rd annual Tour de Farms is shaping up to be the biggest yet. The Tour stops at three select urban farming projects within city limits, then makes its…
By Roma Mandzyk:Are you ready to hoist a stein for Oktoberfest? Well you’re in luck. On Saturday September 24, the Ukrainian-American Civic Center in Black Rock plays host to its annual Oktoberfest celebration featuring live music by The Auslanders. Expect to see plenty of dancing and lederhosen in the club’s spacious back room, which transforms into a festive German beer hall for the occasion. Oktoberfest food will be available including pork roast dinners (with German potato salad and sauerkraut) and bratwurst. The club’s unique full-service bar and lounge features a wide variety of German and European beers and liquors. Doors open…
Buffalo Architecture Foundation, Inc. (BAF), a non-profit, 501(c)(3) public charity, announces the anticipated celebration of the organization’s first event and fundraiser, Fall for Architecture, on October 8. The event will be held at the Tri-Main Center (2495 Main Street) from 7:00-10:00 pm with live music, great food, and drinks. The evening will also highlight submissions to their Building Stories program featuring personal WNY architecture stories. All proceeds from the event will go directly to the Buffalo Architecture Foundation. “We are so excited about this event,” Board President Denise M. Juron-Borgese states, “and I am looking forward to our kick-off being…
By Derek Kane:Get ready to test your Buffalo street cred in an Amazing Race style scavenger hunt to win great prizes all while raising money for Roswell Park.Find a partner, grab a camera and sign up for the WNY Hunt for the Cure where you’ll solve clues, map your course, complete fun challenges, and discover Buffalo’s history, quirks, nooks and crannies. Perfect for everyone from young to old, walker to marathoner. Worried you won’t know the answers? You can use the internet, phone a friend, ask a stranger–whatever it takes!Take it from some past contestants that said of 2009’s event,…
In Our Write Minds – Writing in the Queen CityThis month’s topic: WE DON’T SUCK and WE KNOW ITBuffalo Rising: How do you know when a piece is finished?Alex Livingston: Concrete and measurable skills exist for writing as much as for any other kind of creative endeavor, and an analysis of the capable use of those are where the self-critique begins. I make several passes. First: spelling, grammar, etc. Second: structure, plot. Third: characterization, setting. If I have all of these things tight, the beta-readers will have nothing to say but how the piece made them feel or what it made…
By Chris Catanzaro: The recent Canalside buzz has brought some well-deserved attention to The Explore & More Children’s Museum. Their recent programming in downtown Buffalo brought droves of children down to their interactive centers of play. One might think that this is a museum of play and activity spawned over night. When, in fact, it is actually a bustling program derived from a grassroots effort in East Aurora since 1994. I had a chance to sit down with Barbara Park Leggett, program director, of Explore and More. Ms. Legett was kind enough to take us through the years of Explore & More,…
Buffalo & Erie County Public Library Staff Review by Michelle Snyder:A novel narrated by nostalgia as much as words, Ready Player One is a trip back in time, into the pop culture of the 80’s. Continual references to the music, movies, and games of that decade almost make you want to put the book down and dig out your old Rush tapes, re-watch War Games, and find some quarters for a game of Pac-Man. Set in 2044, in an impoverished, dystopian America, the only escape is a vast virtual-reality simulation game created by James Halliday, one of the real world’s richest men,…