Block Club Magazine is officially online starting today! Come on in and see what we’re all about....

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Many Western New Yorkers have mourned the loss of trees felled by the effects of the surprise Oct. 13, 2006 storm. Trees that were landmarks in their communities for decades have been removed, like the twin tulip trees surrounding the Forest Lawn Cemetery sanctuary and the chestnut tree that had stood outside the Worczak family home for nearly 20 years.

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It started out as a weekend trip with friends. It ended up a vacation in paradise. There were no islands. No beaches. No blended cocktails on a floating chaise lounge. But I’ll be darned if I wasn’t floating in heaven.

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You wouldn’t have seen it 40 or 50 years ago, but some of the more alluring food finds inside the Broadway Market today are far from the Eastern European items that made the market famous. Fried chicken, collared greens, macaroni and cheese – not exactly Polish sausage and Chrusciki.

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Here in Western New York we have a lot of love to go around. We love our city of Buffalo, we love our sports, we love our food. And most certainly, we love our dogs. Have a seat in the Elmwood Village any given sunny day and enjoy the parade of happy dogs and even happier dog owners.

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For some, these warm and sunny months signal a call to the travel agent for that getaway you’ve been saving for all year. A romantic rendezvous to Europe, perhaps. A theme park in Orlando. Or maybe that great American tradition of piling the family into a rental van and hitting the interstate for a tour of our great land. Or, if you’re in the mood for something altogether unique, you set your sights on something more local in scope – you vacation right here in Western New York!

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West Side activist Harvey Garrett doesn’t want this story to be about him. He wants it to be about the houses he’s helped save from demolition. He wants it to be about the trees he’s helped plant. He wants it to be about the wave of new homeownership on the West Side of Buffalo, west of Richmond and east of the still-in-limbo waterfront. He wants it to be about anything but him.

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“If anyone said to me I would be living in Buffalo, N.Y. I would have said to them, ‘no way,’” says Martha Mears in her charming South Buffalo living room. It is a world away from the no doubt charming living room she had in the sunny “and very foggy” beach town she left by an unexpected turn of events.

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Farmers’ market organizer Lynn Schwab has an involved yet rewarding recipe for a fabulous dinner salad.  It goes a little something like this: Toss a few handfuls of beautiful locally grown field greens with a mixture of fresh bell peppers.  Throw in a handful of sweet-as-candy grape tomatoes, a couple tablespoons of homemade vinaigrette, and sprinkle with freshly crumbled farmer’s cheese. Don’t forget Tom from down the street to help with the signboards, the mayor to assist in parking permits and an able-bodied husband to set up tables and chairs.

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Sitting at Maryanne Vorhees’s communal living room table in South Buffalo, you get the feeling she lives life to its fullest. It’s not just her demeanor that tips you off, a warm blend of homey hospitality and down-to-earth ease. It’s not just the almost frantic pace at which her five children race through the house, in and out the door as they enjoy the warm late-winter weather with friends.

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