Promise Neighborhood Community Meeting

A community meeting to learn about the Buffalo Promise Neighborhood and give your input will be held Saturday, April 30, 2011 from 10:00am – 12:30pm at the Westminster Community Charter School 24 Westminster Avenue, Buffalo, NY.

A continental breakfast will be served at 9:30am.

Featured Speakers are Honorable Byron W. Brown, Mayor, City of Buffalo; Mark Czarnecki, President, M&T Bank and Dr. Yvonne Minor-Ragan, Principal, Westminster Community Charter School.

RSVP: Buffalo Urban League 716-250-2400

Buffalo was only one of 21 communities around the country to receive a competitive neighborhood development planning grant last October from the U.S. Department of Education’s $10 million “Promise Neighborhoods” program. The local partnership, called Buffalo Promise, will receive a total of $750,000 from the federal government and local funders, including M&T Bank and the John R. Oishei Foundation.

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Enter Your Garden in the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk

Do you live near the South Campus? Do you love to garden? Now is your chance to showcase your love of plants and flowers in the 9th Annual Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk on Saturday July 17th.

The Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk began in 2001 with 24 gardens to showcase the neighborhoods surrounding the University at Buffalo South Campus, including University Heights, Buffalo, Eggertsville and Amherst. Samuel P. Capen was the first full-time, salaried Chancellor of the University of Buffalo.

Now in its 9th year, the Garden Walk is a free self-guided tour of more than 60 private gardens and carefully nurtured public spaces. The Capen Garden Walk is designed to encourage neighborhood beautification and to build community among neighbors.

This year, the Samuel P. Capen Garden walk will be a participant in the National Buffalo Garden Festival, a five-week long garden celebration from June 18 – July 25 with tours, workshops, special events, concerts and plant shows all around Western New York. Find out more about this exciting garden festival.

To enter your garden visit Garden Walk web page for an entry form. All entries are requested by June 30th.

The Garden Walk will be held from 11:00am – 4:00pm. Maps are available at University Community Farmers Market on the UB South Campus on Main St at Kenmore Ave from 8:00am – 1:00pm; and 22 Larchmont Rd; 135 Capen Blvd; 17 Maynard Dr; 38 Brinton St; 201 Minnesota Ave and 178 Minnesota Ave from 11:00am – 4:00pm

More information about the garden walk can be found here.

Volunteer at UB Community Day

Saturday May 15th is your chance to make some new friends, have fun and beautify the neighborhood all at the same time. It's the 2nd annual UB Community Day where residents, UB students and staff all come together to volunteer in the neighborhood.

This year's event is in partnership with Habitat for Humanity and Grassroots Gardens of Buffalo, so we'll be doing some minor home repair work and gardening in various areas of the University District.

The event is from 9:00am-3:00pm, with volunteers asked to arrive at 8:30am on the South Campus. After the volunteering is done, come to the after event celebration for refreshments and a chance to win an ipod shuffle.

Anyone is welcome to volunteer, for more information and to sign up contact UB Community Relations at 716-829-3099.

Get Involved with the Garden Walk

Each summer since 2001 neighbors around the South Campus have gathered to see the many gardens on the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. This year the walk will be held on Saturday July 17th and planners of the Walk are hoping to have more than 60 gardens participate.

Now is your chance to help with the planning of the walk and get involved in the neighborhood. Tonight at 6:00pm, members of the Garden Walk planning committee will meet in Allen Hall on the South Campus.

Planning committee members work on coordinating the event including securing gardens, and getting residents and businesses involved in the 1-day Garden Walk. The idea of the Walk is for neighbors to meet each other and to showcase the beautiful neighborhood surrounding the South Campus.

If you are interested in getting involved with the neighborhood, please come to the meeting tonight at 6:00pm in Allen Hall. If you are not able to attend, leave a comment and we'll be in touch about future meetings.

See past photos of the Garden Walk here.

Sign Up for Summer Home Repair Event

Group Workcamps, a national Christian-based youth mission organization, will make basic home repairs to 100 selected homes in the University Heights area for a week in June. The work crews will consist of high school students with adult chaperones. The volunteers will paint, build or repair wheelchair ramps, weatherize and repair steps and porches for elderly, disabled or low-income residents.

Local sponsors of the program are the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, UB’s Office of Community Relations, the City of Buffalo, Nichols School (where the visitors will stay) and the Erie County Department of Health.

Several sponsors are also members of Wipe Out Lead, a Western New York coalition dedicated to educating the community about the dangers of lead. Used in many homes built before 1978, leadbased paints pose a serious health hazard, especially for children.

Applications for Group Workcamps home repair are being accepted until Feb. 28. To apply, contact Linwood Roberts, neighborhood outreach coordinator in the Office of Community Relations, at 829-3524 or lr26@buffalo.edu.

Interested homeowners should have insurance, have someone present at the home during the event in June, and be physically or financially unable to make repairs.

Photo by Enid Bloch

Neighbor's Day Block Party & Safety Fair

This Sunday September 6th join your neighbors and friends at the Neighbor's Day Block Party to be held on the UB South Campus.

This is a free special event designed to bring together residents of the University Heights, Main Street and Bailey Avenue Businesses, and city, county and university offices. It will be from 3:00pm - 7:00pm on the lawn in front of Hayes Hall.

There will be free food, a live band, informational tables from local organizations and more. Students and neighbors are invited. A rain date will be on Monday September 7th from 3:00-7:00pm.

For more information about the event please contact the UB Office of Off Campus Student Services at 829-3541.

BPO to Play at UB Tonight

Tonight UB will launch its third season of UB on the Green, a free outdoor performance series held on the South (Main Street) Campus, with a performance by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra.

UB on the Green's free music and dance performances will be held from 6-8 p.m. on July 21, July 28 and Aug 4 on the Hayes Hall front lawn. In addition to all-ages entertainment, the series is designed to educate, as well as entertain, with interactive demonstrations and other hands-on activities that are fun for the whole family.

Participants are encouraged to bring a picnic, lawn chairs and blankets. Light refreshments will be available for sale. UB on the Green is an alcohol-free, family-friendly event.

"UB on the Green is an opportunity to bring the community and university together for more than just good entertainment," said Vincent D. Clark, director of UB Community Relations. "This event provides opportunities for residents to organize and keep our neighborhoods strong by joining a block club or neighborhood watch, attending a safety training or participating in other neighborhood associations."

Designed to showcase the university's resources, as well, the series also will include participation by the UB pediatric dental clinics, the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering and the UB Anderson Gallery, as well as other local community organizations.

The series will begin on July 21 with a program of light classics by the Buffalo Philharmonic Orchestra. Conducted by Paul Ferington, it is the orchestra's first return to the South Campus for an outdoor concert since 1997, when Ferington conducted a post-Fourth of July show.

Local musician Neville Francis and his band, The Riddim Posse will headline the July 28 program, which also will include The Budos Band, a Brooklyn group with a jazz, afro-beat and soul sound.

The series will end on Aug. 4 with Taylor Made Jazz, a local award-winning group, and Giordano Jazz Dance Chicago, known for its appeal to diverse audiences.

For more information about UB on the Green, contact the UB Office of Community Relations at 716-829-3099.

Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk this Saturday

Come out to see the beauty in the South Campus neighborhoods this weekend at the 8th annual Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk, scheduled on Saturday from 11:00am - 4:00pm.

Fifty four gardeners will be home to talk with you about their gardens, which are filled with art, ponds, arbors and many more surprises.

Maps for the walk are available from 8:00am - 1:00pm at the University Community Farmers Market and from 11:00am - 4:00pm at the following houses: 22 Larchmont Rd, 38 Brinton St, 135 and 405 Capen Blvd and 67 Highgate. Maps are available Friday at 101 Allen Hall from 9:00am - 5:00pm.

This year’s walk will showcase gardens with a variety of attractions, including fish ponds and other water features, sculptures, gazebos, organic and native plants in Japanese, English and Cottage-style garden designs. Other gardens are entirely grassless or center around rock and boulder elements.

This year, attendees can get a Garden Walk passport, where they will visit gardens and collect the password at each house. Then they can enter the passport into a drawing to win a prize. Passports will also be available with the maps.

The Capen Garden Walk is coordinated in collaboration with the UB Office of Community Relations, the University Heights Collaborative and the Eggertsville Community Organization. Its mission is to showcase the neighborhoods surrounding the UB South Campus while building community among neighbors.

UB Community Service Day with Brush Up Buffalo

As part of the University at Buffalo’s inaugural UB Community Service Day on Saturday, June 20, the university will participate in Brush Up Buffalo 2009. All community members, faculty, staff, students, and alumni are encouraged to volunteer.

Founded in 1996, Brush Up Buffalo is an all-volunteer, nonprofit organization that organizes an annual event to repaint about 10 to 15 low-income, single-family, owner-occupied homes and revitalize city neighborhoods. This year’s event takes place in the University District, directly south of the UB South Campus. The University at Buffalo is proud to be a key sponsor.

Registration for Brush Up Buffalo 2009 is simple and can be done on the Brush Up Buffalo web site. You will be asked to include your name, e-mail, phone number, t-shirt size, and lunch preference.

About 500 volunteers from across the region are expected to participate this year and the organization hopes to repaint approximately 15 homes. More homes may be painted if additional volunteers register. There is no cost to participate, but volunteers must be at least 18 years of age.

All Brush Up Buffalo volunteers will meet at the UB South Campus beginning at 7:30 a.m. Parking is in the Diefendorf Lot off Sherman Road at Bailey Avenue. Buses are provided to transport volunteer teams to and from houses. Each volunteer will receive breakfast, refreshments on-site at the houses, a Brush Up Buffalo t-shirt, and lunch back at the UB South Campus.

With 30 to 40 volunteers assigned to each house, the painting takes about three to four hours to complete. Most volunteers are finished with the entire day by 1:00 p.m. Most supplies are provided, but volunteers are encouraged to bring extra ladders if possible. No painting experience is necessary, and union painters will be at each house to provide assistance.

Please consider taking part in this unique opportunity to volunteer with friends and neighbors to help beautify the neighborhood.

Be in the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk

The Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk has been a University Heights tradition since 2002, created to showcase the neighborhoods surrounding the UB South Campus, including University Heights & Eggertsville, while building community among neighbors. It is a joint initiative between the University at Buffalo and local neighborhood partners and is held rain or shine.

At this time we are receiving entry forms to participate in the walk. There is no fee to enter a garden in the walk and no garden is too small! This event is part of the University and community’s larger efforts of making the neighborhoods surrounding the South Campus an exciting, safe and vibrant place to live, work and play.

The walk itself will be on Saturday July 18th from 11:00am - 4:00pm. Maps will be available at the University Community Farmers Market on the South Campus on Main Street at Kenmore Avenue from 8:00am - 1:00pm. They will also available at 22 Larchmont Rd; 135 and 405 Capen Blvd; and 67 Highgate Ave during the walk hours from 11:00am – 4:00pm.

All participants will be invited to a pre-event gathering on Friday July 17 in the neighborhood to meet other gardeners and pick up maps and your signs for the walk. Location and time will be distributed upon your confirmation of participation.

All participants are invited to leave their signs up on Sunday July 19 so you can see the other gardens on the walk.

Contact UB Community Relations for more information and an entry form at 829-3099. See photos from the Garden Walk here. Photo by Nancy J. Parisi.

Get Involved in Our Neighborhood Events

Here is your chance to get involved in two of our neighborhood activities, the Farmers Market and the Capen Garden Walk.

This Monday, March 23 at 6:00pm will be a committee meeting for the Samuel P. Capen Garden Walk. If you like to garden, and are interested in helping with this year’s event, please come to the meeting and bring your ideas. See photos of the Garden Walk here.

Tuesday, March 24 at 6:00pm will be a committee meeting for the University Community Farmers Market which runs Saturdays from May to October on the UB South Campus. The market is a great community social event, please come get involved.

Both meetings will be held in the conference room in 101 Allen Hall, which is the 2-story glass building right across from Tim Horton’s. Parking is free and available next to the building in either lot.

All are welcome. RSVP with Jessica Biegaj in Community Relations at 829-6145 or jbiegaj@buffalo.edu. We look forward to seeing you there.

Photos by Nancy J. Parisi and UB International Admissions.