Stories & Events for Social Connection

Good Neighbors this Friday, much more to come!
Musings on Music: Letter to Elise fresh off The Voice
Featured Events: 30 this week, always encouraging submissions!
Links to the Deep End: I-Post, BTPM, Miers & Vox

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I’m involved in many upcoming events – come out, come out, good neighbors!

This Friday, October 17th, from 7-8pm, please meet me at the Buffalo Improv House (255 Great Arrow, Suite 201) where I’ll be the featured guest for their Good Neighbors comedy hour, and we’ll be supporting the Partnership for the Public Good – it’s a monthly show in which “we invite a notable guest to tell stories that inspire a hilarious hour of scenes and characters, raising money for a local nonprofit chosen by the guest!”

This Saturday, October 18th, from 12:30-3pm, you can be among the first to step onto Buffalo’s new Ralph Wilson Park bridge and see the park’s transformation!

Meet at the new playground at 450 4th Street, designed and built by the community, for a ribbon cutting at 12:30 followed by a behind-the-scenes community preview of the park from the new bridge over the 190. Parking available on-street or via shuttle from the Front Park parking lot (located off Porter Ave. on Lakeview). Enjoy food for purchase from Britesmith Brewing’s food truck, and Foolish Club members can pick up their Founding Member t-shirts between 1-3pm.

The event is free and open to all, but RSVP is requested here.

Then at 3:30pm this Saturday, join me at The Park School (4625 Harlem Road, Snyder) for our second annual Oles Farm Harvest Meal, a farm-fresh feast prepared by fellow Park alum Ben Oles of the Oles Family Farm. The meal will include soup, salad, pulled chicken, salt potatoes, coleslaw, beverages, and dessert. The Oles Farm is a peaceful, active 24-acre farm in Alden, NY, and is the go-to produce provider for many local restaurants. They pride themselves on eliminating all human-made chemicals such as fertilizers, pesticides, and insecticides.

Looking further ahead to my first events in collaboration with nonprofit watchdog journalism organization Investigative Post:

On Wednesday, November 5, at 7 p.m., at the Unitarian Universalist Church of Buffalo (695 Elmwood Ave.), J. Dale Shoemaker will recap his reporting on ICE activity in Western New York, followed by a panel discussion with experts about ICE and immigration. We’ll provide more details as we finalize our lineup of speakers.
We’re launching a quarterly book club that will kick off on Tuesday, November 18, at 7 p.m. with a discussion on The Death of Truth by Steven Brill. Alternating bookstores will host the talks, starting with our friend Aaron Bartley at his Fitz Books (1462 Main St.). We encourage you to buy the book at Fitz, Talking Leaves … Books, or any other independent bookstore. No Amazon, please.
On Friday, December 12, at 7 p.m. – Jim Heaney and Geoff Kelly will interview mayor-in-waiting Sean Ryan in the auditorium of the Burchfield Penney Art Center (1300 Elmwood Ave.), serving as the centerpiece of the museum’s Second Fridays event series of artistic experiences.

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Musings on Music

Letter to Elise fresh from The Voice

Shout out to Elliott Hunt and Chris Lillis from Buffalo band Letter to Elise for making the cut to get on NBC’s The Voice, returning with glory after Elliott made the stage last year only to be passed on by the four star judges; in this second chance, they brought bandmate Chris and got picked by both Reba McEntire and Snoop Dogg, chose to join the former’s team and earned a national spotlight culminating this week with a collaborative battle, after which Reba chose their fellow contestant to move on over them.

Props to Elliott and Chris for representing Buffalo with respect and reverence, and following it with a benefit show at The Caz this Saturday alongside The Kensingtons, which includes Chris’ dad Tom on drums and uncle Tom on bass.

For many years now, the Kensingtons have been offering an annual benefit for the Clarence-based Against the Storm Foundation, whose board includes three members of the band on a mission “to help fight blood cancers and support other causes that will improve the health and quality of life for people in need.”

While I’ve been enjoying the modern original music of Elliott and Chris since their band Mom Said No started making noise while they were still in high school – shout out to Porchfest and subscriber/porch-provider Jim Lenker for the first time I saw them – The Kensingtons have been rekindling classic songs for a decade or so with good vibes and eclectic set lists. A fun multi-generational billing together, here’s to a packed Caz for this occasion!

Above is the aforementioned duet; below is the blind audition that led to it.

Here’s an original by the full band Letter to Elise:

inally, one from the Kensingtons – Tim Franczyk’s take on Roy Orbison gets me every time…and as I wrote here when the news hit last year, RIP Willie Schoellkopf.