saturday july 12th 2008
Remember the Buffalo Braves?
Thomas Tarapacki
I do, and I have many good memories about Buffalo’s eight years in the National Basketball Association. One thing that still bothers me, however, is the impression that many people seem to have that the Braves left town because Buffalo didn’t support its NBA team. That, in my opinion, is just not true.
A few news items led me to ponder the demise of the Braves 30 years ago. Just last week US Senator Charles Schumer proposed that the NBA Toronto Raptors return the NBA to Buffalo by playing a few regular-season games here. The Raptors responded that they might play some pre-season games in Buffalo, but would keep all of their regular-season games in Toronto. It was also reported recently that two minor league basketball teams in two different leagues, the Buffalo Sharks and the Buffalo Dragons, will play this season. Coincidentally (I think) it was also recently announced that, after 41 years in the NBA, Seattle SuperSonics were moving to Oklahoma City.
The Sonics had been purchas…
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Eli George
Algonquin Studios has been a Buffalo-based professional services firm providing customized IT services, software development, and business consulting since 1998. According to Tom Garigen, they donated $75-100,000 back to the community each year, and it wasn’t until Garigen came along that they started Algonquin Sports for Kids.
Garigen says that the owner of Algonquin Studios liked to donate money to the community to help with various organizations, but found it frustrating that he didn’t get to see first-hand the difference his contributions made. Garigen is a soccer expert who has played for Canisius College and who was the former associate director of coaching for the Buffalo Premier Soccer Club and the former director of coaching for the Buffalo United Soccer Club.
With a lifetime history of soccer, he was looking for some way to remain involved with soccer. After a co…
Jennifer Lawandus
Buffalo's own Crowley Webb and Associates brought home Best of Show and two Gold International Awards of Excellence (IN-AWE Awards) from the Healthcare Communication & Marketing Association's annual conference, held in Dallas earlier this month.
Crowley Webb won Best of Show and a Gold award for their business-to-business marketing campaign Have Patients! that they created for Praxis Communications. Praxis Communications is a patient recruitment firm for medical research studies in Brentwood, Tennessee.
"The agency earned a second Gold award for one of the campaign’s individual direct mail pieces, which was a six-foot ficus tree with 'patients' hanging from it's branches that was sent to 100 different key people," according to Tricia Barrett, vice president and managing supervisor.
Allie Friedman
Have you ever wondered what lies inside some of Buffalo's incredible churches? Or pondered the history that covers the walls? Perhaps you have a secret love for stained glass? Whatever the case, now is your chance to explore the churches of Buffalo.
On July 23, the Buffalo Religious Arts Center is sponsoring its first ever five hour bus tour of four downtown churches starting at 9:00 a.m. This monthly bus tour visits each church, and serves lunch at the home of Buffalo's spaghetti parm, Chefs, all for the low price of $50.
The first tour, "Splendors in Stained Glass," takes tourists to Saint Francis Xavier Church located in Black Rock, which also happens to be the future site of the Buffalo Religious Arts Center; followed by Trinity Episcopal Church, Saint Ann's Church and Shrine, and Corpus Christi Church. Visitors will able to see windows by Tiffany, LaFarge, Zettler a…
Steve Stipanovich
On Thursday night, July 10th, the Black Rock – Riverside Good Neighbors Planning Alliance was the recipient of the 2008 Planning Excellence Award for Grassroots Initiative from the Western New York Section of the American Planning Association. The award was presented to the GNPA at the 2008 Annual Business Meeting and Awards Presentation for the WNY Section of the APA held at Chef’s Restaurant.
Accepting the award for the Land Use, Zoning, and Urban Design (LUZUD) Sub-Committee was Margaret Szczepaniec, who brought along the original brainstorming drawing from the inception of the plan 5 years ago. “Its been 5 long years in the making, but we are finally starting the feasibility study hopefully by the end of the month, so that we can start moving this project forward” said Szczepaniec. A local planning firm has been chosen by RFP and as soon as funds are transferred f…
friday july 11th 2008
The Disabled's Chance To Dive
buffalorising
Why would a company from Langhorne, Pennsylvania join up with a company based out of Lackawanna, New York? The Orthotic and Prosthetic Assistance Fund, Inc. (OPAF) from PA doesn’t seem to have anything to do with Phoenix Scuba Water Sports, unless you know one important fact: individuals with physical disabilities say the closest sensation that they can have to feeling like an able-bodied person is being weightless in water.
Phoenix Scuba is one of the few places that have instructors trained in SSI Adaptive Scuba, a program that helps them train individuals with disabilities to scuba dive and helps provide the gear to do it. Using the knowledge from that program, OPAF sponsors First Dive – a chance for amputees and others with physical disabilities to try out scuba in a swimming pool setting – and Phoneix Scuba has helped get First Dive into the water here in Buffalo.
Pe…
Elena Cala Buscarino
"I know what you want to talk about," Carl Paladino said. "You want to talk about the casino."
Confirmed. "Debilitating. It's a sign of the times. Obstructionism is alive and well, and there's a bunch of well-intentioned people who want to run every aspect of our lives. I can't believe they're using Wendt Foundation money for attorneys. I can't believe they have that kind of power," he said. "I feel like complaining to the surrogate. I may just file a complaint."
He continued, "I can't build my Creamery Hotel. The banks will deny me with what's going on over there. A lot of peripheral development could be taking place. This is Buffalo obstructionist bulls--t. We're over-regulated. We've given every little minority [opinion] group rights.
"You can gamble in Fort Erie. I could pick you up at the office in a minute and a half and take you to Fort Erie and show you a…
Great Lakes United
(This is a follow up post on the Great Lakes Compact, an agreement to stop large –scale, out of basin water diversions from the Great Lakes. Great Lakes United did several posts on the Compact in January. To see those posts, click here, and here.)
The eight Great Lakes states have sent a unified message to the rest of the country: our water is staying here. Along with our Canadian Great Lakes neighbors, Ontario and Quebec, the Great Lakes region has finally taken official steps to stop out of basin water diversions. This week, the last state, Michigan, has passed the Great Lakes Compact. The Compact is a legally binding mechanism to ban dangerous out of basin diversions from happening in the U.S. With Michigan’s appro…
Jennifer Lawandus
Run for Rover will take place this year on Sunday, July 13. All pet lovers should join this event to help raise money for Pet Emergency Fund (PEF). PEF is hoping to raise $20,000 this year at Run for Rover, which is the largest event PEF holds all year.
The PEF was founded by local veterinarians to assist pet owners who could not afford veterinary care expenses. However, PEF's main purpose is to provide otherwise healthy pets with a one-time intervention for a life-threatening situation.
In addition to the race, there will also be games and contests, such as a pet costume contest and a pet/owner look-alike contest. Additionally there will be refreshments, face painting, a caricature artist, complimentary dog wash, pet masseuse, animal celebrities, non-alcoholic canine beer, canine ice cream, live musi…
Eli George
How many of you out there would take part in a book club? If you’d take part, would you organize one? It takes some work to get information sheets printed up for the members of the club, help everyone get a copy of the book, and get a reading guide. Plus, if your book club members can’t afford to buy a new book once every month and a half, you don’t want them fighting over the library’s copy.
Now they won’t fight over the library’s copy, because the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library will give you ten copies of the book. They do a program called “Book Club In A Bag.” With a wide selection of books available and more being added all the time, it’s the best and easiest way to start a book club, or even if you already run one/take part in one, you may want to check into it.
You get a kit that contains ten copies of the selected book, a large print edition if i…
