Sunday in the Cemetery

Forest Lawn Adds Winter Series to Sunday in the Cemetery Programs

Forest Lawn Cemetery has just announced the addition of a winter concert and lecture series as a part of its 13 years of successful Sunday in the Cemetery tours. Taking place at 2:00 p.m. on the second Sunday of the Month from January through April in Forest Lawn's historic Chapel, the series will be as follows:

January 10
The History of Music in Buffalo

Presenter: Raya Lee, retired Music Department Librarian of the Buffalo and Erie County Public Library

Organist Bruce Woody, talented and animated Organist and Choir Director Corpus Christi Church, Buffalo, NY

February 14
The Entertainers and Writers of Forest Lawn

Presenter: Forest Lawn Researcher, Patrick Kavanaugh

Musical presentation: Romantic tunes performed by renowned Buffalo musicians, Billy Mc Ewen and Joe Head

March 14 Review of The Larkin Soap Company – A Man and His Products

Presenter: Jerry Puma – Larkin Enthusiast

Musical presentation: The Decenko Brothers performing a duet of Irish tunes

April 11
Smokestacks & Skyscrapers: A Lighthearted History of Buffalo

Presenter: Author of Buffalo Gal, Laura Pederson

Musical presentation: Villa Maria Music Department Student

Joseph P. Dispenza, Forest Lawn President commented: "Over the years, there has been so much enthusiasm for our summer tours, we began to receive requests for different but related programs during the winter. Our historic chapel is acoustically magnificent with its vaulted ceilings and flagstone floors, and it seats up to 150 guests. That makes it the perfect place for lectures as well as musical performances. We've decided to keep the tickets reasonably priced at $15, but people can save $8.00 buy purchasing a ticket for all four performances for just $52. We're delighted to be able to have both the facilities as well as the historic resources to make Forest Lawn Cemetery a year-round destination."

Tickets are available at the front desk of Forest Lawn at the corner of Delaware and Delavan Avenues, or by calling 885-1600 ext. 302.

Channels – Stories from the Niagara Frontier

Premiere Screening!
Sunday, December 6th, 3 pm
Market Arcade Film & Arts Center, 639 Main Street
Cost: FREE! (donations accepted)

Channels - Stories from the Niagara Frontier, now in its third year, is Squeaky Wheel’s production program which matches documentary filmmakers with grass roots initiatives and groups to collaboratively create documentary films about issues important to this region. The participating groups are Preservation Buffalo Niagara, the Coalition for Economic Justice, Native American Community Services, and Read To Succeed. Channels is supported by the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo.

Build on the Past for Our Future by Diedie Weng aims to promote a conversation about low-income communities' efforts and struggles in revitalizing neglected historical Buffalo neighborhoods by valuing the people and the place as assets.

‘Round the Clock: Buffalo’s Workers and the Fight for Jobs with Justice by Christine Zinni focuses on 4 workers whose income from full time employment is well below the federal poverty level, showing how people are fighting back to bring about change.

The Ecology of Reading (working title) by Loren Sonnenberg shows the innovative and holistic approach the Read To Succeed coalition and other organizations in Buffalo bring to the field of literacy education.

Unseen Tears: The Impact of Native American Residential Boarding Schools in Western New York by Ron Douglas focuses on Western New York Native American communities who are attempting to heal the wounds and break the cycle of inter-generational trauma resulting from the boarding school experience.

Check out Squeaky Wheel's videos on vimeo

Family Day at the History Museum

The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society
presents FAMILY DAY at the Museum

Saturday, November 21 from 12-3pm
$5/child for members, $10/child for nonmembers
Adults are free with child admission

PIONEER LIFE!

Activities will include:

· Beeswax Candlestick Making
· Handmade Paper
· Clay Pinch Pot Building

LIVE MUSIC AT 2PM WITH DAVE RUCH

Museum Tours, Scavenger Hunts, Live Interpreters in the Pioneer Exhibit
Call Tara Lyons, Museum Educator with questions
873-9644 extension 311

Tree Planting in the Olmsted Parks

The Olmsted Parks Conservancy is hosting a tree planting this weekend, Saturday the 14th, in several of the Olmsted parks. They need a few more volunteers to plant in Front Park (25 trees to be planted) and Martin Luther King Jr. Park (50 trees to be planted).

For a tree planting volunteer form, please contact Steven Nagowski at 716-838-1249 ext. 33 more information. The group meets at 8:30am for registration. Wear old clothes, boots, gloves and--if you have one--bring a spade shovel.

Local Armory Events

Buffalo's Connecticut Street Armory will will host a public Veteran's Day commemoration at 11am this Wednesday (11/11), to be followed by a public reception and a public tour of this monumental fortress. The other opportunity to tour the armory is at a similar event held every Memorial Day. The tours are led by official Armory historian Warren Baltes.

On November 22, the completely restored armory of the 25th Company of the New York State National Guard--now known as the Tonawanda Castle--will be open to the community to come and share their experiences and personal memories of this historical building.

Visit BuffaloRising.com for more information.

Lecture Series at the Buffalo Central Library

The Buffalo & Erie County Public Library is hosting a series of speakers this winter. For more details and updates, visit this link. The first lectures are listed below.

Tuesday, November 10, 2009
12:15-1 PM
Speakers: Dennis Galucki, Founder, Center for the Study of Art, Architecture, History and Nature; Chuck LaChiusa, Buffalo Architecture and History webmaster

Tuesday, December 8, 2009
12:15-1 PM
Speaker: Brian Reilly, City of Buffalo Commissioner Economic Development
1-1:45 PM
Speaker: Hon. Paul A. Dyster, Mayor Niagara Falls, NY

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
12:15-1 PM
Speaker: John J. Hurley, President Designate Canisius College

Buffalo Youth Media Institute event

SPECIAL AFTERNOON SCREENING FOR THE
BUFFALO YOUTH MEDIA INSTITUTE

Sunday, November 15, 3pm
Market Arcade Film & Arts Center, 639 Main Street

$10 Admission
$25 Supporter (will get a free t-shirt or dvd)
$50 Patron (will get free t-shirt and dvd)

Reception and gift raffle will follow the screening.

Please join us to help make this year's BYMI a reality!

We will screen an hour long program of some of the highlights from the past 4 years of the Buffalo Youth Media Institute. Expect a wonderful kaleidoscope of what Buffalo has to offer as seen through the eyes of Buffalo’s next generation of film makers: a magical portrait of Forest Lawn cemetery, a poem about graffiti, an insightful interview with recently deceased community activist Rosa Gibson, an ode to the beauty of grain elevators, a close look at the local food movement, a loving portrayal of St. Luke’s on the East Side, a passionate appeal on behalf of bees, and a thoughtful essay about the proposed downtown casino. Please help us so we can continue to offer this truly unique program to Buffalo’s youths!

The Buffalo Youth Media Institute is a collaboration with Preservation Buffalo Niagara and Squeaky Wheel and has been supported in part by the NEA, the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation, the Baird Foundation, the Laura Jane Musser Fund, and individual contributions.

Please RSVP at 884-7172 if you wish to attend. As an example, here is another short film created by a BYMI student:

The Infected District

Buffalo Youth Media Institute | MySpace Video

New Book About Parkside

After nearly two years of work, Steve Cichon is now taking pre-orders for The Complete History of Parkside, a 172-page book, filled with 135 historic photos.

You can read about the Frederick Law Olmsted designed neighborhood, from its place in the history of the Seneca Nation, to its role in the War of 1812, to Olmsted's design and the turn of the century building out of the area, and the neighborhood's 20th century evolutions. Included are discussions of the area's earliest colorful settlers, Frank Lloyd Wright's Darwin Martin House, Delaware Park, The Buffalo Zoo, and the stories and anecdotes of many more struggles, individuals, and institutions that have made Parkside one of Buffalo's premier historic neighborhoods today. More on the book and what's inside can be found at http://www.staffannouncer.com/parksidebook.htm

Sales of the book will benefit several non-profit groups and churches in the Parkside area. Steve Cichon is one of several Parkside Community Association members who give our monthly Parkside Neighborhood tours in the summer.

Looking Forward: The National Preservation Conference Comes to Buffalo

Edward Healy, Vice President of Marketing for the Buffalo Niagara Convention and Visitors Bureau, explains why Buffalo is the perfect choice for the 2011 National Preservation Conference. Visitors to this year's annual conference in Nashville were already buzzing about Buffalo.

Source: the National Trust for Historic Preservation