Fairground Festival of Lights begins November 26

Here's a press release about a fun event to get you in the holiday spirit

Fairgrounds Festival of Lights Event Expands

HAMBURG, NY – The 6^th annual Fairgrounds Festival of Light will feature over one million lights in a drive through that spans nearly 2 miles featuring several new large displays. The Festival will run 29 days starting November 26 – January 1, gates open 5:30 – 9:30pm and grounds open until 10:00pm. (Closed Christmas Eve and Christmas Day). Admission to the Fairgrounds Festival of Lights is just $18 per carload.

Several new attractions have been added to the festival including an interactive Kids Game Show, “Everyone’s A Winner,” hosted by Rob and Carol Allen; window displays reminiscent of the nostalgic downtown shopping days at North Pole Village, and the newly redesigned sing-a-Long Winterific indoor animated light show. Returning with a new nightly show is the Holiday Magic Show featuring Kandy Kane and the Fabulous Darnells, Reindeer Carriage Rides on weekends, Santa, Holiday Characters and the kids can even take a ride on the North Pole Express or any of the other timeless and ageless restored rides at Santa's Magical Midway.

Harness your creativity to enter the Holiday Cookie and all new Tree Ornament Competition with some great prizes.

For more information on this event call 716-649-3900 ext. 404 or visit our website at www.fairgroundsholiday.com

Olean Santa Claus Lane Parade

This sounds like a fun event for any of you in the Olean area. Here's a press release I received from the Greater Olean Chamber of Commerce.

With just over a week to go till the parade, officials from Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce have registered more than forty-six units for the upcoming Santa Claus Lane Parade on Friday, November 26 in which Santa Claus lights thousands of lights in downtown Olean. The ever-popular Parade is the official kick-off to the holiday season in the area.

Pam Caldwell, GOACC’s Official Lights Coordinator stated, "We are fortunate that Santa will make his stop once again this year to the City of Olean and take part in the Santa Claus Lane Parade on Friday November 26th. Our gratitude and appreciation also go to the City of Olean's employees who have dedicated time and effort over the past 25 years to assist us in bringing joy and happiness to our residents and more importantly to our children."

Chamber officials have invited area residents to judge this year’s parade: Al Wager, National Grid Co.; Paula Snyder, Jamestown Community College; Max Bullers, Home Depot of Olean; and Lori Babcock of Microtel Inn of Olean. Winners will be announced the night of the parade. Seven awards will be presented in the following categories: The Elves Award, sponsored by BJ’s Wholesale Club, will go to the float or unit that best typifies the holiday through the eyes of a child; Angelic Spirit Award, sponsored by Mandy’s Flowers, will go to the most spiritual/religious float or unit. The Blitzen Award, sponsored by Times Herald will go to the most photogenic float or unit; Jingle Bells Award, sponsored by Brookside Community will go to the best theatrical (music/dance) float or unit; The Rudolph Award, sponsored by National Grid Co. and Microtel Inn of Olean, for the float with the most or best use of lights; The Seasons Greetings Award, sponsored by Community Bank, NA to the best newcomer to the parade, and one that typifies a welcoming theme - this unit must be a first-time entrant; and The Snowflake Award, sponsored by the Street Classics Car Club for the unit with the most participants in the parade.

North Union Street will close to traffic at 6:00 PM. The City’s downtown parking lots will be opened. The City Building’s restrooms will be opened the night of the parade from 6 - 8:30 PM. Extra uniformed personnel of the Olean Fire and Police Departments will be on hand. Lost children should report to the Chamber office, and a wheelchair only section will be roped off in front of the Chamber office/City Building.

The Parade is scheduled to begin at 7 PM on Friday, November 26, near the Burger King on North Union Street in Olean. The Parade will travel south on Union to just past Lincoln Park where units will begin to disperse once they arrive at Henley Street. For more information, call Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce at 716-372-4433 or email santa@oleanny.com.

Greater Olean Area Chamber of Commerce120 North Union Street • Olean, New York 14760716-372-4433 • http://www.oleanny.com/ • http://www.oleaninfo.com/

Local author signing at Buffalo & Erie County Historical Society Nov. 27

Here is a press release from the Buffalo & Erie County historical society. I will be participating as one of the local authors.

LOCAL AUTHOR BOOK-SIGNING AT THE HISTORY MUSEUM, PART OF FULL THANKSGIVING WEEKEND OF PROGRAMMING FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY

Buffalo and regional authors to sign and sell copies of their books.

Buffalo, N.Y. - Nov. 15, 2010 - The Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society presents its annual Local Author/Buffalo Book-Signing on Saturday, Nov. 27 from noon to 2 p.m. at the History Museum, located at 25 Nottingham Court at Elmwood Avenue.

The event, designed for shoppers looking for personalized gifts in a relaxed atmosphere, features over 20 local authors selling and signing their books. The wide range of publications-including cookbooks, neighborhood, regional and military history, novels and coffee-table books-makes this a perfect opportunity to shop for a variety of tastes. All that and an autograph, too!
This year's event includes the following authors:

Jim Arnone, Central Park, Buffalo, New York: A Neighborhood of History and Tradition (exclusively at BECHS!)

Dr. Joseph Bieron, Postcard Views, Orchard Park

Evelyn Brady, Peaceprints

Steve Cichon, The Complete History of Parkside

Gary Costello & Douglas Kohler, Hull Family Home & Homestead: A Bicentennial Celebration

Lorna Czarnota, Legends, Lore and Secrets of Western New York

Mark Donnelly, The Fine Art of Capturing Buffalo, Frozen Assets: The Beautiful Truth About Western New York's Fourth Season

John Edson, Hamburg: 1910-1970, Hamburg Revisited

Julianna Fiddler-Woite, Snyder: A Brief History, WNY and the Gilded Age

Catherine Gildiner, After the Falls: Coming of Age in the Sixties, Too Close to the Falls (New York Times bestseller)

John Koerner, Mysteries of Father Baker, Father Baker Code

George Kunz, Buffalo Memories

Elizabeth Leader, Buffalo Snow

Raya Lee, BPO Celebrates the First 75 Years

Donald Mang, One Nation Under God (a novel)

Nancy Mingus, Buffalo: Good Neighbors, Great Architecture

Martin Nowak, The White House in Mourning: Deaths and Funerals of Presidents in Office

Janice Okun, Buffalo Cooks with Janice Okun

Laura Pedersen, Buffalo Gal, Buffalo Unbound-a Celebration

John Percy, Buffalo-Niagara Connections, Town of Tonawanda

Joseph Ritz, Blood Along The Niagara - A Guidebook to Battles of the War of 1812 an Hour's Drive from Niagara Falls

Erno Rossi, White Death: The Blizzard of '77

Maria Scrivani, Brighter Buffalo

Christine Smyczynski, An Explorer's Guide to Western New York

Wanda Slawinska & Edward Szemraj, The Polonian Legacy of Western New York

Joel Thomas, Creature Comforts

Mason Winfield, A Ghosthunter's Journal, Haunted Places of Western New York, Shadows of the Western Door, Village Ghosts of Western New York, Spirits of the Great Hill, Ghosts of 1812

Aside from this fine collection of books, some of which can be purchased only at the Historical Society, the museum shop offers unique Buffalo-themed gifts, including jewelry, fine art prints, maps, educational toys. It is another excellent opportunity to peruse and purchase from our exclusive 1901 Pan-American Exposition-themed items.

The Local Author Book Signing is free and open to the public and parking is complimentary and plentiful. For more information, call the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society at (716) 873-9644 or visit http://www.buffalohistory.org/.

Corning's Chocolate Trail

We drove down to one of my favorite places on Saturday, Corning, NY. I am putting together an article for the Buffalo News travel section on Corning's Chocolate Trail, so I had to do some research on it. It's a tough job, but someone has to do it!!

There are over two dozen participating stores and restaurants in downtown Corning, mainly along historic Market Street. It was a lot of fun and I discovered several new places that opened along Market Street since my last visit.

My article will be appearing in the Buffalo News travel section after the holidays, just in time for Valentine's Day. To read more about the chocolate trail, see downtown Corning's website http://www.gafferdistrict.com/