Sabres’ Ruff makes a local call in hiring Adams on August 4th, 2011

Lindy Ruff interviewed a lot of coaches before swinging for a home run by promoting Kevyn Adams.

Defensive formation: Draft picks, signees increase depth for Bills on August 4th, 2011

There is more competition for playing time and more familiarity with the system for the Bills in the second season under defensive coordinator George Edwards.

It’s Tour of Gardens Time in Black Rock and Riverside on August 4th, 2011

It's that time again!  Time for the Seventh Annual Tour of Gardens and Fifth Annual Starry Night Garden Tour focused on showcasing gardens throughout Northwest Buffalo.  The free, self-guided event, presented by the Black Rock and Riverside Tour of Gardens Committee, will take place this Saturday, August 6th from 10am - 5pm.  The Tour of Gardens features 80 beautiful gardens throughout the Black Rock, West Hertel, and Riverside neighborhoods.

Additionally, the Starry Night Garden Tour, Buffalo's only after dark garden experience, will take place from 8pm to 10pm this Saturday, August 6th.  This year's tour features 30 gardens that present a completely new experience when illuminated at night.

Tour of Gardens programs are available before Saturday at local Tops Markets, Black Rock Pharmacy, and other neighborhood vendors.  This year's 12 page program features maps, detailed garden descriptions, and a print of the original poster artwork by local artist Kevin Rybczynski.

Programs, posters, tee shirts, caps and visors will be available during the Tour of Gardens at two headquarters sites: in West Hertel at Renovation Church, 567 Hertel Avenue; and in Riverside at St. Mark's and All Saints' Church, 311 Ontario Street.  Tee shirts, caps, and visors sporting the Tour of Gardens logo will be available for $12.00 each, and there will be a raffle to win the original framed poster for this year's event.

The Black Rock & Riverside Tour of Gardens Committee is part of the Black Rock - Riverside Good Neighbors Planning Alliance.  For more information, go to www.brrgardenwalk.com.

2012 distinguished speaker series on August 4th, 2011

The university at Buffslo announced the 25th Anniversary of the UB Distinguished Speakers Series. Here is the line-up for our 2011-2012 series:

ROBERT GATES, 22nd U.S. Secretary of Defense (2006-11)
Wednesday, Sept. 21, 2011, 8 PM, Alumni Arena
MICHAEL J. FOX, Actor, Author and Advocate for Parkinson’s Disease Research
Wednesday, Oct. 19, 2011, 8 PM, Alumni Arena
JUDY SHEPARD, Activist and Author of the 2011 UB Reads Book Selection — The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed
Wednesday, Nov. 9, 2011, 8 PM, Alumni Arena
SOLEDAD O’BRIEN, CNN Anchor and Special Correspondent
Thursday, Feb. 16, 2012, 8 PM, Kleinhans Music Hall
MARY ROBINSON, Former President of Ireland (1990-97); Past U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights
Thursday, Mar. 29, 2012, 8 PM, Center for the Arts
SETH MACFARLANE, Creator of Family Guy and American Dad
Saturday, April 28, 2012, 8 PM, Alumni Arena

This Modern World: Thomas Friedman Private Eye on August 4th, 2011

The Hero’s Journey on August 4th, 2011

Ever Wonder what happens to your favorite video game heroes after the world is safe? Click play to find out!

written by Eric Lingenfelter, starring Eric, Jamie Travale and Mark Ciemcioch

New additions ready to go tonight on August 4th, 2011

Buffalo’s newest free agent additions are chomping at the bit to get on the field this evening for the Bills night practice scheduled for 7:15 pm. Forced to sit and watch the past five days until t...

Thrilling Thursday: Wiz Khalifa or Tokyo Police Club? on August 4th, 2011

Wiz Khalifa Some use E-Z Widers, others use Zig Zag, some forego papers altogether and head straight for Philly Blunts. Whatever you use, you’ll smell them all burning when Wiz Khalifa rolls through Artpark next week as part of his Rolling Papers World Tour. Most commonly celebrated for his chart topping 2010 Pittsburgh rally anthem [...]

Restoring Riverside: RiverRock Gardens on August 4th, 2011

I've been spending a bit more time in Riverside recently, ever since I learned about a plan to recreate an original Olmsted vision known as RiverRock Gardens. I've explored Olmsted's Riverside Park numerous times over the years, but for some reason the park never captivated my imagination as much as the rest of the Olmsted parks. Obviously Riverside has paid a heavy price for having a Robert Moses-style expressway rip apart the important urban fabric that once connected the people to the water. That connection was once the glory of Riverside.

When I think about Delaware Park, I think of Gala Waters, the boathouse and the Rose Garden. I think of the jugglers and the weddings, the row boats and the events. The Olmstedian features of Delaware Park lend themselves to creating vibrant urban activities in and around them. Features such as the Rose Garden beckon people to sit and talk, take photographs and daydream. When I look at the plan for RiverRock Gardens, I see a similar type of historic park feature that will one day act as a draw for weddings, musicians, painters and photographers. Now that I have envisioned the flowing pools of water in my head, I can't imagine Riverside without the dramatic aquatic landscape.


^Click to enlarge

The fact is that Olmsted landscape architects Greg Robinson and Tom Mead have painstakingly taken the time to research detailed schematics in order to pinpoint the exact locations of the former Minnow Pools and the original landscape that bounded them. Even the original trees still exist to this day, helping to identify the aquatic path. That means that an updated water feature will soon replace the rather dull park landscape that was always intended to have a signature landmark. Back in the day, the original Minnow Pools fell prey to neglect, as many features within the park system did. The waters were stagnant and neighbors complained about the condition of the pools. Eventually, as was the way at the time, the pools were filled in and Riverside was left with an ordinary parkscape filled with lawn and trees.


^Current site that is constantly soggy since the Minnow Pools were filled in

Fortunately modern landscaping practices allow for practical updates that will once again see this water feature brought back to life. Instead of stagnant waters, the plan is to have a circulating stream where the water will flow from one shallow pool to another. With the addition of multiple municipal water sources, the conditions of the waters will constantly be renewed without added expense to the neighborhood. With historic 6' wide pathways, picnic shelters, a stone pedestrian bridge, 100,000 plants and a small waterfall, Riverside Park will once again have a feather in its cap worth parading to residents and visitors. Although this is not the ultimate connection to the water that Riverside deserves, it is a significant advancement that should help to restore pride in one of the Olmsted jewels.

To date, Olmsted has secured over $700,000 in funding, and is seeking an additional $518,000 from the Greenway Commission. The investment will only come with strong support from the Riverside community, and so far it looks as if the community stakeholders are on-board with the initiative. 
 

Former Sabres Join Jr. Sabres Organization on August 4th, 2011

The Buffalo Junior Sabres today announced that former Buffalo Sabres captain Michael Peca is joining the organization as its new General Manager. In addition, the team today announced that former Sabres player Ric Seiling is also joining the team as its Play-By-Play Announcer.

Larry Playfair, President of the Buffalo Sabres Alumni Association and Buffalo Junior Sabres, explained that by hiring Peca the team utilizes his energy and experience while allowing Grant Ledyard to focus more specifically on his role as Head Coach.

“Grant Ledyard has shouldered the lion’s share of work for the Junior Sabres for

the past two seasons,” said Playfair. “The Ontario Junior Hockey League has contracted down to 27 teams from 36 in those past two seasons. The competition has become better. It will be important that we allow Grant to spend more time coaching, and in order to do this we had to take some stuff off of his plate.

“Michael Peca had expressed an interest in both helping the Junior Sabres and in managing a team so this was a good fit for us. The fact that he is a former Sabre is a bonus.”

Peca said he looks forward to getting to know the Junior Sabres’ players, scouting the local hockey talent pool and building a junior hockey program that can compete with the nation’s best.

“I believe that the sky is the limit. We are in a very competitive league that produces outstanding results for college hockey,” said Peca. “Having said that, I believe we can become an organization that can become a model franchise for and team in any league to want to emulate. “

Peca also spoke of the team’s mission to keep the region’s top prospects ages 16 to 20 in Western New York while they further their development.

“I want all our best players from Western New York and the surrounding area to look at our program as their undisputed first choice,” said Peca. “I cringe watching a lot of our best kids moving away at 15 to17 to go somewhere else. I want to change that.”

The goal to become the region’s first choice for elite players appears closer than in previous seasons. Head Coach Grant Ledyard noted the team welcomed a record turnout at this spring’s tryouts at the Northtown Center in Amherst.

“Our tryouts this year saw 238 kids come through the door,” said Ledyard. “We have felt all along since becoming involved that if the Junior Sabres are a community based organization, the more kids to come and be part of the process, the better. Our roster over the summer has been an ever-changing thing. We unfortunately compete with the USHL and other junior programs to keep kids here, but I am confident we will keep more of the top rated kids here this year than ever before.”

In addition to changes in the front office, the Junior Sabres are adding a former NHL player to its staff as a play-by-play announcer. Ric Seiling, whose broadcast experience includes work with the Rochester Americans, ECAC college hockey championships and former Empire Sports Network, will be calling the action during Junior Sabres broadcasts (to be announced at a later date). This is actually Seiling’s second stint with the junior franchise, where he previously served as a coach during its Niagara Scenics era.

“They’re a good program to be involved with, so when the opportunity was presented to me, I was very glad to accept it,” said Seiling.

The Junior Sabres compete in the junior-A level Ontario Junior Hockey League as the only U.S.-based franchise. Commissioner Marty Savoy commented on the Junior Sabres’ new front office additions, praising the franchise for bringing in experienced talents in their ongoing effort to build a competitive team both on the ice and off.

“The Buffalo Junior Sabres are in a very unique position having the Sabres Alumni Association involved with the team,” said Savoy. “The addition of Michael Peca to the management team and Ric Seiling as the team’s broadcaster would be a tremendous addition for any team in the OJHL. With Michael and Ric joining ex-Sabres Grant Ledyard and Larry Playfair, the Sabres Alumni are getting directly involved with the support of the Junior Sabres and their goal to advance the education and hockey careers of their players.”

As a junior-A level program, the Junior Sabres develop elite level players for consideration with higher-level hockey programs, most notably college hockey. Founded in 1975, the Junior Sabres organization, which has also operated as the Niagara Scenics and Buffalo Lightning in its history, has advanced hundreds of players to college programs and also served as a stepping stone for a handful of NHL talents including Aaron Miller, Kevyn Adams, Brian Gionta, Bob Beers, Jeff Farkas, Todd Marchant and Ryan Callahan.

The Buffalo Junior Sabres open the 2011-2012 OJHL season against the Newmarket Hurricanes on Saturday, September 10 at 7:30pm in the Northtown Center at Amherst.

From the outside in, Graycliff restoration shifts focus on August 4th, 2011

After exterior work, sun porch with view of lake is new priority

Two area men nabbed in child porn ring on August 4th, 2011

Two local men were among 72 people indicted worldwide involving a sinister online child pornography ring.

WNYB Looking to Serve Spanish Audience on August 4th, 2011

According to the latest Nielsen ratings, Western New Yorkers seem to religiously avoid watching the local religious channel WNYB-TV in prime time.
It averaged one-tenth of a rating point in July of 2010 in prime time, equivalent to about 600 homes. And this July, it didn’t register a rating at all.
But now the station which is part of a network that calls itself a leader in Inspirational Television is seeking to serve a new audience.
The local Total Christian Network station based in Orchard Park recently added a fourth digital channel geared to the Hispanic Community with programs that are in Spanish.
“It is the fastest growing segment of the population in the United States,” explained Sean Brennan, the production manager of WNYB.
Brennan has no local figures but he said he has been told by local Hispanic pastors that “there are a lot of Hispanics on the West Side (of Buffalo).”
WNYB, which airs on its standard definition 26.1 and high definition 26.2 channels, has added Hispanic programming on digital Channel 26.4 that can be received by a simple antenna. The channels are also streamed on the TCT Network’s web site www.tct.tv.
Channel 26.1 airs teaching, music, ministries, church services and wholesome entertainment programs that are produced locally and nationally.
Channel 26.2 broadcasts programs from the TCT Network, with more than 70 percent exclusive to TCT.

Channel 26.3, which was launched more than a year ago, is a Family Channel that offers a Family-Friendly lineup with programs geared to youth, children and family. They include many old television favorites, including “Bonanza, “Ozzie & Harriet” and “I Love Lucy.” Hmm. Seems like there is a run on those lately, with the introduction this week of WBBZ.
Channel 26.4, called LaFuente, features Spanish-language inspirational programming from around the world for the Hispanic community. The programs from Costa Rica, Venezuela, Peru, Colombia and the United States include movies, children’s programs, youth music and church services. LaFuente will also air exclusive TCT favorites in Spanish and newly TCT produced exclusive Hispanic programs.
WNYB-TV is producing “Pregunte Al Pastor” (“Ask the Pastor”) every Monday live at 4:00 p.m. from its Orchard Park studios. A panel of Pastors from Buffalo and Western New York  answer viewers’ questions from the Word of God in Spanish.
So far, Brennan said local Hispanic pastors – who he said number more than 40 – have heard  positive things about the new channel.
“From talking to the pastors, Hispanic viewers really like that they have their own channel,” said Brennan.
TCT was established by Drs. Garth and Tina Coonce more than over 34 years ago, with the mission of “changing the way you see Inspirational Television.”
* Inquiring minds want to know: How did the new program with paid segments, “Winging It! Buffalo Style,” do during the July sweeps on WNLO-TV, compared to the hour of news that ran from 8 a.m. to 9 a.m. a year ago?
Not surprisingly, the audience slipped almost 40 percent from a year ago. It averaged a 1.6 rating this July, compared to a 2.5 rating for the news hour a year ago. Of course, “Winging It” isn’t entirely about making ratings. It is about making money.
pergament@msn.com

Summer of change at WNY ski areas follows a great winter on August 4th, 2011

Last winter was one of the best of record for ski resorts in WNY, but the summer has seen plenty of upheaval and upgrades.