PALMYRA, N.Y. — The Hill Cumorah Pageant, held yearly on a grassy slope outside of Rochester, may be the only place you’ll ever see a Mormon dad in clip-on earrings and a shoulder-length wig. On warm July nights beneath the stars, the production unfolds on eight connected stages, with actors braving fireballs and artificial rain… Continue reading
Posts Tagged → tradition
Wine From the Old World: In Buffalo, a Tradition From Italy Lives On
AMHERST, N.Y. — The winemaking rituals are an heirloom from the Old Country, an artifact of the world Luigi Aloisio left behind when he sailed for America in 1939. Every step is labor-intensive, from the washing and tightening of heavy, oak barrels to the stemming of grapes. The recipe is simple […]
Continue readingDisgrace: St. Matthew’s Church Is Falling Apart. Who Will Save It?
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The pigeon shit is everywhere. It’s in the belly of the church, beneath the cracked cathedral ceiling, carpeting the floor of the nave where wooden pews once stood. It’s in the choir loft. On a narrow flight of steps ascending skyward to the bell tower, the droppings have accumulated in a lining […]
Continue readingSt. Matthew’s History: Q & A With the Buffalo Diocese
BUFFALO, N.Y. — St. Matthew’s Roman Catholic Church, founded in 1908, is one of 14 churches the eight-county Catholic Diocese of Buffalo closed in the 1990s. Like business, factories and other landmarks across the city, the house of worship fell victim to the region’s declining population.
Continue readingRise and Ruin: Making Hats for Hollywood on Buffalo’s East Side
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The hatmaker who has dressed James Garner and Leonardo DiCaprio runs a shop on Broadway Street, steps from the Family Dollar store. Few other businesses are open on this East Side drag, a commercial district that hummed with foot traffic in decades past. Several doors down, vintage, red-and-yellow lettering announces the Club Romway… Continue reading