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The Matt Urban Hope Center is hosting a community meeting on May 16th at 5pm at the Matt Urban Hope Center (385 Paderewski, Buffalo) to discuss relocating the Hope Center to the closed Public School 57 (on Sears St).
The move would allow the Hope Center to expand their services to the community to include a vocational training element, a shelter for women and children, the Urban Diner and a health clinic.
Hollywood horror is coming to Buffalo in the biggest Convention of it’s kind to be held in Western New York, and at one of Buffalo’s most haunted landmarks! Join us on Saturday, May 26th from noon to 7pm for a Convention of all things horror, paranormal, and beyond!
Scheduled to appear at the Convention is Tyler Mane (Michael Myers from Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Sabretooth from the blockbuster movie X-Men), Leah Gibson (Nettie from Twilight: Eclipse, and The Watchmen), James Winburn (Michael Myers stuntman from the original Halloween, David Hasselhoff stunt double in Knight Rider), Lloyd Kaufman (Troma Films), Suzi Lorraine (Rated top 5 horror scream queen), Brian Cano (SyFy Channel’s Haunted Collector), Jane Riley (Ghost Hunters Academy), Rosalyn Bown (Ghost Hunters Academy), Karyn Reece (popular Psychic Medium), and many more. Over 20 guests in all will be appearing for a meet & greet!
Also making a special appearance is the cult icon Christine car from the movie Christine, and KITT from the popular TV series Knight Rider! This day long convention will also include a huge vendor floor on the main concourse that will have a wide variety of merchandise available from haunted artwork, to t-shirts, and more!
The vendor floor will also have some of the areas best paranormal groups sharing with you some of the best evidence captured in America’s most haunted locations! Read More →
I started receiving emails yesterday that Saint Ann’s is going to close after its 10am Mass on Sunday. A letter from Bishop Kmiec is supposed to be read at the Mass on Sunday outlining the reasons.
I contacted Buffalo Diocese spokesperson Kevin Keenan who would only say that the diocese won’t release any info on such matters until the parishioners are told first.
This was posted on an internet forum:
Well the news is out and all over town. Kmiec sent a letter to the pastor of St. Ann’s who’s notified some parishioners who in turn have let the word out. Citing “structural issues” the final Mass for an undetermined/indefinite amount of time will be this Sunday at 10 AM when the announcement will be read. No doubt the real issue is the unrelenting dedication and success of the small but strong lay committee which has done an outstanding job at running the day-to-day operations of the parish since the Jesuits left in ’07. The celebrant’s homily at last Sunday’s German Mass praising the beauty of the church and the hard work of so many over the past 154 years (with over 600 in attendance) probably had something to do with it too. Spies sent from 795 had to have been present. Just like the closure decree came last May signed by Kmiec only days after he himself celebrated the church’s 125th anniversary of consecration, this time around shows the DOB’s two-faced, malicious hypocrisy even more. Poor Saint Ann’s and poor parishioners who’ve worked so hard to maintain their beloved, historic church and shrine.
This confirmed what I was hearing all day.
Words can’t express what I am feeling right now.
Saint Ann’s has stood at Broadway and Emslie in one form or another since 1854. Its life and its soul is about to be extinguished.
I am going to the Mass on Sunday. It may be the last time Mass is ever celebrated in this Buffalo treasure.
The neighborhood is about lose another grand church. How this can happen is beyond me.
Come to the Mass!!!
When a meeting adjourned tonight at Corpus Christi Church, this Polish flag flying in front of the church caught my attention. I decided to shoot a little video.
To be honest, I sometimes need a reminder why I do what I do here in B-F. Everything over here is a struggle at times. After a three hour meeting at CCC, I was thinking about all the hard work I and others do to keep the church and neighborhood alive. A lot of the tasks daunting…a lot of the problems seem insurmountable.
Then I saw the flag blowing in the wind and was reminded as to why people devote countless hours to the neighborhood. It is important that we preserve what we can here. The history, the heritage, this neighborhood built by my ancestors are why. We just can’t let it fade away like it meant nothing.
B-F may never be what it was fifty years ago, but its old bones remain. These bones have kept it alive long after a lot of people have written it off. These bones can help build its future.
A L I V E!
I was a member of Troop 107 at St. John Kanty Church back in the day. It is wonderful to see that the troop is still around and active. You will often see them at many B-F events helping out. They are the only remaining Boy Scout Troop in the neighborhood have been around for over 80 years.
With that said, here is story from Saint John Kanty’s website about an award two members from troop just received.
On April 1, 2012 two scouts from Troop 107, Colin Augustyn and William Fourby, received the Ad Altare Dei Medal from Bishop Kmiec. The purpose of the Ad Altare Dei (to the altar of God) program is to help Catholic Boy Scouts develop a fully Christian way of life in the faith community. The program is organized in chapters based on the seven Sacraments. The seven Sacraments are a primary means toward spiritual growth. The most important aspect of the program is that the Scout grows in his spiritual experience of his relationship to God and the church. These scouts worked with their Eucharistic Advisor, Mr. Robert Koza, over a period of 6-8 months to meet the requirements of the Ad Altare Dei Scout Manual and to prepare themselves to receive the medal.
Alive!
(click on image for full view)
Earlier this month, Aldi purchased a portion of Buffalo’s most famous address 998 Broadway from Citadel Group of Frederick, MD.
Construction work has begun on the site and Aldi plans to have the 15,000-square foot story open by summer.
(By Danielle Huber – Dedicated to Buffalo) It was suggested to me last Spring to park on the top ramp of the Broadway Market for a spectacular view of Corpus Christi as well as the Central Terminal and the Polonia district holistically. When I did, my eye caught a unique art-deco ornamented building that boasted the name Lederman’s. For the past year, I have not been able to get this building out of mind, as I feel that it is slowly decaying and its beauty is not being valued. I chose to look further into its history only to find an interesting one. Lederman’s, 239-241 Lomabard Street, was once a furniture store with a circa of 1929. It is a commercial building designed by Louis Greenstein adjacent to the Broadway Market and in the heart of the Broadway commercial district.
While researching the history of the architect, I made a tremendous connection. Louis Greenstein, early in his career, won $250 in 1924 for designing the City of Buffalo flag. He also won $100 in 1925 for designing the Erie County seal still in use today.
Greenstein, a Buffalo native, was born in 1886 and was a senior draftsman for the renowned Green & Wicks in 1907. After returning from Columbia University, he established his own practice in the Guaranty Building.
Some of Greenstein’s built work include:
In addition, Greenstein was involved in rehabbing historically significant buildings around Buffalo. This was fundamental due to the fact that historic preservation standards were not written yet and nothing was thought of demolishing “old” buildings for new construction. Greenstein was an early preservation pioneer and advocate throughout the 1940s and 50s when he was noted for rehabbing and readapting.
I feel compelled to express the significance of Greenstein’s role in Buffalo’s early preservation and how we owe it to him, our city, and the surrounding community’s future to save the breath-taking commercial Lederman’s building before it is “too late” and becomes a victim to the demo-machine.
Greenstein died in 1972.
For the sixth year in a row on Holy Thursday, Broadway Fillmore Alive has put together a self-guided tour of seven historic churches in the Broadway-Fillmore area partaking in the traditional visitation of the Blessed Sacrament on this holy night. Holy Thursday is on April 05, 2012.
Churches on this year’s tour include: Corpus Christi, Saint Ann, Saint Stanislaus, Saint Luke’s Mission of Mercy, Saint Adalbert Basilica, Saint John Kanty and Saint Clare.
The visitation period generally begins after 7:00 pm and the churches remain open till around 11:00 pm.
In our first year, we had about 50 requests for the tour info. The number of requests over the last few years has risen to over 500.
The churches in Buffalo’s historic Polonia are awe inspiring and are deeply rooted in tradition. This is a way to experience their religious, artistic and cultural beauty while spending some time in prayer and reflection in this most sacred time of year on the Roman Catholic calendar. It also provides an opportunity for people who want to explore all these architectural gems on one night.
To download the brochure, click here—>
Video from 2009:
On Sunday, I shot a quick little video of Swinburne Street between Broadway and Ashley. There are only two or three houses along this stretch still occupied by people.
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