Saturday, June 27

Discover Niagara Falls

All day, all over Niagara Falls there will be Historic Tours of Niagara Falls, Niagara Falls Bus Tour, Wine Trail Tour, Mob Tour.

Website for tours Detail Document for Tours

Echota Neighborhood Open House & Reunion

10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. Hyde Park Blvd/Buffalo Avenue

Bring a dish to pass, network with old friends and check out the old neighborhood! Free

Website for Echota Reunion Facebook Page for Echota Reunion Detail document for Echota

Real Estate/Energy Savings Expo

10:00 a.m. - 12:00 p.m.

Doors open at 9:30 - Power Vista, Lewiston

Find out about WNY Real Estate, pick up your list of Saturday and Sunday Open Houses to tour. Free Open Houses hosted by the Buffalo Niagara Association of Realtors, Open Houses will take place throughout the region all Saturday and Sunday afternoon, showcasing Western NewYork’s extraordinary real estate values.

Website for Open Houses Detail Document for Real Estate Expo

Website for Real Estate Expo

Facebook Page for Niagara Homecoming Real Estate Expo & Open Houses

Positively Main Street Festival

12:00 p.m. - 8:00 p.m.

Join us on both Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28 for Two Days of Local Talent, Saturday featuring the Junk Yard Dogs and Sunday featuring Free Henry-Free!

Website for Positively Main Street Detail Document for Positively Main Street

Facebook Page for Positively Main Street

A narrated Victorian Era tour will be led by NFHPS President Bill Bradberry beginning  of the tour at the First Presbyterian Church- 311 First Street at 10 am.  Visitors will be greeted by costumed guides Augustus Porter and his daughter, Lavinia, who were among the church founders and notable leaders of the City of Niagara Falls.  Stroll along historic Buffalo Avenue looking at churches and stately homes, including taking a closer look inside one of oldest homes in Niagara Falls.

The second tour, led by City Historian and preservation architect Tom Yots, will highlight downtown Niagara Falls of the 1920’s.  Meet just outside the Red Coach Inn, 2 Buffalo Avenue at 2 pm to glimpse the historic and the architecture “up close and personal” of such places as the United Office Building, the newly restored Jefferson Apartment Building, and the Niagara Hotel, currently being restored.  Tour members will discover historic Buffalo Avenue in the era of flappers and their escorts along for the ride.

Call the Niagara University General Information Center/Green Line to make a reservation Monday through Thursday from 9 until 5 pm. (716) 205-0287 to reserve early for either or both tours since there are a limited number of spaces available.  Cost for each tour is $15 per person payable to the Niagara Falls Historic Preservation Society (or NFHPS), P.O. Box 1945, Niagara Falls, NY 14302-1945.  Please dress for the weather and wear comfortable shoes.  Both tours will take about an hour.

Vote Now! You Could Help Maple Avenue School Win Up To $10,000!

Twenty-six schools will share $80,000 in cash prizes. We asked participating schools to put their creativity to the test by submitting a short video and brief essay explaining why their school is in need of financial support and deserves the $10,000 grand prize. The cash awards include one $10,000 grand prize, three $5,000 first prizes, and twenty-two $2,500 second prizes.

We are turning to America to select the 26 winners! Come back each day from now until July 12 and vote for your favorite video up to 3 times a day. Your votes will determine the winners!

On June 14, 1940 the Magaddino Funeral Home opened and would become home to the Magaddino Crime Family. Sixty-eight years later The Mob Tours opened on that same date bringing the history of that crime family to the public. To celebrate the First Anniversary of The Mob Tours, the company will be offering discounted tours to the public. All tickets the entire weekend of June 12, 13 and 14, 2009 will be only $10 each. They will have several giveaways of merchandise plus free cake.

“Many people were skeptical,” stated company founder Mike Rizzo, “that we would be able to put together a tour on this unique subject and have interest from the public. But we’ve done just that.” The company’s first year was full of ups and downs as they navigated the waters of a new business. “We (my wife Michelle and I) did not have any experience in tourism so we were trying to develop the tour and learn the business simultaneously. It was a bit tricky but we learned a lot.”

This season the company has added the AAA’s Show Your Card and Save program, and has teamed up with another company to sell tours through various hotels in Niagara Falls. Customers have come from as far as the United Kingdom, Texas, Arizona, and Ontario.

To qualify for the discounted tickets they must be pre-purchased online at www.themobtours.com, or by phone at 716-578-4939.

Healthy Neighborhoods has long worked to help county residents, primarily in Niagara Falls, combat environmental dangers such as lead paint and asthma-inducing materials. A secondary thrust of the program has been ensuring that home smoke detectors are functioning properly.

Cuts in the 2009-2010 state budget have undermined the program’s ability to meet that goal.

Theresa McCabe, who heads up the Healthy Neighborhoods program, part of Niagara County’s Department of Environmental Health, said that technicians regularly spend the summer months walking through neighborhoods ensuring that environmental contaminants aren’t present in homes. They also check for smoke detectors.

“When the technicians go into the home, if they find that the home does not have working smoke detectors, if it is a battery problem, we will replace the battery. If a smoke detector is no longer functioning—and by that, I mean that in smoke detectors more than ten years old, the sensors wear out—so if it is older than ten years or nonexistent, we will install a smoke detector for free,” McCabe said. “But we must have admittance to the home, because we install the detector.”

Severe cutbacks in the current state budget left Healthy Neighborhoods without funding for the smoke and carbon monoxide detectors they previously provided. Left with a significant shortfall, McCabe turned to two local groups, the Lewiston-based Kiwanis International and the Sertoma Club, both of which donated several hundred dollars to help Healthy Neighborhoods acquire a limited stockpile of smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

“We’re very excited to have the donations from the Sertoma Club and the Kiwanis because of the budget cutbacks,” McCabe said. “We were left with a severe shortage of supplies. We feel that that’s sad, but that’s the way it is—everyone’s had to tighten their belts.”

Sertoma Club President John Reardon, who is also a member of the Lewiston Kiwanis, said he was glad the organizations could help.

“Both organizations got together and were very able to help this program by donating several hundred dollars toward the purchase of carbon monoxide alarms and smoke detectors,” Reardon said. “Both of our organizations are all-volunteer civic organizations. We’re here to help the community, and this is one of the projects where we were at least glad we could lend a hand.”

Reardon, who works at United Cerebral Palsy, said the experience of many of UCP’s clients had left him impressed with Healthy Neighborhoods and eager to assist.

“The Health Department does many great things in the community,” Reardon said. “At UCP, a number of our individuals that live in these neighborhoods have benefited from this program, so I know the tremendous value of this program. I know it’s a program that we need. It’s vital to Niagara County, and we’d like to see it continue.”

Reardon, along with Kiwanis President-elect Randy Gorzka, recently formally presented funds for smoke and carbon monoxide detectors to the Healthy Neighborhoods program. Accepting the funds, along with McCabe, were County Legislators Jason Murgia, D-Niagara Falls, and Renae Kimble, D-Niagara Falls. The two legislators noted that the program has significant impact in the Falls districts they represent.

“The County of Niagara is extremely grateful for receiving the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors from Sertoma and the Kiwanis Club,” Kimble said, examining one of the carbon monoxide detectors with McCabe in her Niagara Falls office. “Due to the fact that there were extreme cuts in the state budget, Healthy Neighborhoods did not have supplies. And we need to make sure that our neighborhoods are healthy and that they are safe, and that our technicians can go out and give not just information, but adequate supplies to those individuals who need smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors.”

Kimble, a longtime proponent of the program who walked with technicians in a neighborhood inside her 2nd District, said she found residents came to trust and rely on Healthy Neighborhoods.

“I think that the program is an extremely good program,” she said.

“People are extremely receptive once they know what the program is about to the idea that people are trying to help our population.

They’re not trying to be invasive, they’re trying to really help our population achieve a better quality of life.”

Kimble called on state lawmakers to restore funding for the program.

“This program definitely deserves as much funding as we can possibly acquire for it and as much support as we can give to it,” she said.

“For as little funding as they receive, they definitely provide a great service to Niagara County.”

McCabe, who was invited to address the Legislature before it takes up its agenda Tuesday night by Kimble and Murgia, will inform lawmakers about her program, how it is coping with state cuts, and the services Healthy Neighborhoods provides. McCabe’s presentation will be delivered at the beginning of the Legislature’s 7 p.m. meeting.

The Echota West Block Club will be having their First Family Picnic on June 27 at 10 AM until 4 PM.

Historic Echota is located at the south end of Niagara Falls and is bounded by Hyde Park Blvd., Buffalo Ave., Royal Ave. and Gill Creek.

The Echota West Block Club will be having their First Family Picnic on June 27 at 10 AM until 4 PM.

Historic Echota is located at the south end of Niagara Falls and is bounded by Hyde Park Blvd., Buffalo Ave., Royal Ave. and Gill Creek. This district started in 1893 by the Niagara Falls Power Company and was built on 84 acres of reclaimed swampland.

The only admission will be bring a dish to pass. We want WNY to see that with a little hard work a community can revive itself from being forgotten for so many years. Civic pride in Echota and the other Niagara Falls Block Clubs is high. Help this community celebrate how far they have come by joining the Family Picnic. The Stanford Whyte home restored at 21 Hyde Park Blvd. and B St. will be our main location for our festivities.

The party will move to Positive Main Street Celebration…

For the Good of the Neighborhoods,
Bob Miller Pres. Niagara Falls Block Club Council

It’s a major undertaking to go door to door throughout the city to find property violations. But Niagara Falls Mayor Paul Dyster is giving it a try to see if it makes a difference in city neighborhoods.

They call it the “ZOOM” Code Enforcement Program. “ZOOM” stands for for “Zone Outreach Objective and Mission.” It’s a collaborative effort including team members from the Police and Fire departments, Public Works, Inspections, even the SPCA.

On Monday, the team covered the 400 blocks of 18th and 19th Streets, looking for everything from uncut lawns to broken buildings.

“It’s a fantastic effort, everyone’s on board. We’re making strides already,” says Robert Miller, President of the Niagara Falls Block Club Council.

Officials will give the homeowner, and in some cases the renter, 96 hours to fix the problem. If the resident doesn’t comply within the time limit, the city will do the work and send them a bill.

Residents face getting an appearance ticket if they continue to neglect their property. Officials have already issued 20 citations for building code violations, and 39 “Orders to Comply,” along with three appearance tickets.

We are just over a month from Homecoming and have some work to do.

Tickets for the Kick-off Reception at the Crowne Plaza on Thursday, June 25, 2009 will be available.  Presale are $20.00 and at the door the tickets are $25.00.  There will be food from the NCCC Culinary Institute, wine, cash bar, live music and a Basket Auction.   All proceeds benefit NCCC Scholarship Program & Niagara Rises

We also will have information on tickets available on the Niagara Rises Brunch at the Aquarium of Niagara. 

We do have a need for some volunteers for the different events.

Wednesdays on the Gorge

July 15 - August 25, 2009

6:30pm-9:30pm

New York State Parking Fee $10.00

Please, no outside food or beverage carry-ins!

Wednesday on the Gorge 2009 lineup

July 15th Big Bad Vodoo Daddy

July 22nd Tinsley Ellis & The Nighthawks

July 29th The Trews

August 5th Railroad Earth

August 12th Sloan

August 19th Celtic Night: Black 47 & Scythian 

August 26th Galactic

http://www.artpark.net/content/pages/tuesday-in-the-park