Good morning, Buffalo: A quick look at what's happening today
Skies will be mostly sunny for most of the day, but a few sprinkles could show up between 9 p.m. and midnight. The high temperature is expected to reach near 57 degrees, though it is forecast to be just a wee bit breezy, with a south wind between 15 and 20 mph. The clouds will begin to roll in during the early part of the evening, with a low temperature around 50 degrees.
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Buffalo's debut Veterans Day Parade starts lining up at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of the American Red Cross, 786 Delaware Ave. The parade steps off at 10 a.m. and will follow a route from Summer Street and proceeding down Delaware Avenue before ending at Niagara Square in front of City Hall. More than 50 groups are scheduled to participate in the parade, which is being sponsored by State Sen. Antoine Thompson, D-Buffalo. Staff from Thompson's office will be collecting toiletries, including soap, toothpaste, deodorant and lotion to send to the U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Also, information tables will be set up in front of City Hall regarding the new G.I. Bill and homeless shelters for veterans.
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Ready. Set: "Ooooohh-my-gawd!" Ah, the distinct and oft-repeated expression of those subjects fortunate to be lavished with a brand new home and all the furnishings, courtesy of ABC's "Extreme Makeover: Home Edition." Ty Pennington and crew are in Buffalo today. David Stapleton, president of David Homes, and subcontractors and suppliers are donating their employees' time, building materials and resources to the "Home Edition" project.
"Home Edition" each week selects a family that is struggling for financial or other reasons as the recipient of a new or significantly refurbished residence. The Buffalo area family's identity, along with most other project details, is shrouded in the code of silence typically reserved for military maneuvers or the witness protection program.
The winning family will appear at a news conference later today before being whisked away for a week's vacation to Walt Disney World.
Stay tuned.
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Buffalo Public Schools Superintendent James A. Williams will lead a celebration of the recently completed renovation of Herman Badillo Bilingual Academy School 76, 315 Carolina St. The 10 a.m. ceremony will also be attended by Assemblyman Sam Hoyt, School Board President Ralph Hernandez Central District Board Member Mary Kapsiak and Deputy Mayor Donna Brown. The $20 million renovation includes a 115,000-square-foot addition that has new classrooms, a new auditorium, gymnasium, science and computer labs.
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Old Fort Niagara in Youngstown will continue its two-day program focusing on the French people who built the fort in the early 18th century.
Today's program, which is open to the public, will feature French cooking demonstrations, blacksmithing, military drills, musket firing, trade bale races and other hands-on activities for participants. At 2 p.m., the fort will dedicate a new outdoor interpretive label designed and produced by the Seaway Trail that explains the Seige of 1759.
Old Fort Niagara is located 14 miles north of Niagara Falls via the Robert Moses Parkway.
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The effort to replace trees destroyed by the October 2006 snowstorm continues this weekend, and by the time the last root ball is in place, an estimated 1,700 new trees will have been planted across the northern portion of Erie County.
The large-scale planting is being coordinated by volunteers from Re-Tree WNY who are scheduled to meet this morning in Buffalo, Amherst and the Town of Tonawanda. All helpers are welcome.
Planting gets under way at 9 a.m., with volunteers asked to assemble at the following locations: 307 14th St., between Vermont and Rhode Island streets in Buffalo; in front of Forest Elementary School at North Forest and Union roads in Amherst; and in front of Dexter Elementary School, 333 Dexter Terrace, Town of Tonawanda.
Re-Tree WNY, which took root in the aftermath of the freak storm three years ago, has a five-year plan to replace 30,000 trees throughout the region. Since Arbor Day in April 2007, more than 11,000 have been planted.
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Art lovers will get a chance to view items from the Charles Rand Penney art collection that have never before been displayed in a public museum when the seventh annual "Museum's Attic" kicks off at 6:30 p.m. in the Buffalo Museum of Science, 1020 Humboldt Parkway.
The fundraiser will include behind-the-scenes tours led by curators. One will include treasures from the 1901 Pan American Exposition, while the other will feature an exhibit demonstrating the function of attraction and stealth in the bug world.
In addition, there will be a competitive treasure hunt for artifacts hidden throughout the Humboldt Parkway building. Hundreds of items donated by Buffalo shops, tourist attractions and collectors will be auctioned.
Tickets are $100 and are available at www.sciencebuff.org. Proceeds will benefit programs and services of the Buffalo Society of Natural Sciences.
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A dedication ceremony is planned for 1 p.m. at the new Susan G. Komen for the Cure Commemorative Grove in Delaware Park near the intersection of Parkside & the 198 Scajaquada Expressway. The Buffalo Olmsted Parks Conservancy and the WNY Susan G. Komen for the Cure will officially dedicate and begin planting several trees, flowering shrubs and hundreds of flower bulbs in the new grove to honor those who have fought breast cancer. Family members and friends who sponsored remembrance plantings will be on hand for the ceremony.
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The National Kidney Foundation Serving Western New York will provide free kidney screenings from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the McCoy Convention Center, 653 Clinton St. Sponsors of the event include Assemblywoman Crystal Peoples, State Sen. Antoine Thompson, Buffalo Community Health Center, Catholic Health Systems, Erie County Medical Center, Sheehan Memorial Hospital, and BlueCross BlueShield of WNY Partner with the National Kidney Foundation. The Kidney Early Evaluation Program, or KEEP, is a free health screening program offered by the National Kidney Foundation to detect kidney disease and is intended for those at high-risk for the disease, including people with diabetes, high blood pressure, and those who have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes, high blood pressure, or kidney disease. The screening, provided by certified medical professionals, includes blood pressure and weight measurements and blood and urine tests to check for hypertension, diabetes, and kidney disease.
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