Autumn Leaves in Williamsville

It was the last week of October and the temperature was hovering around 80 degrees. I took off a day to capture the peak of the colors in Williamsville. I went to Glen Park and Island Park to capture these photos...

 

 

 

Friday night lights in WNY

I posted a blog last year about high school football. It has really intensified this year as schools are selling out stadiums and there are overflow SRO crowds, in the excess of 5,000 at some. On Friday night (Oct. 12) at Lancaster High school, there was a big rivalry game between Lancaster and Depew. We got there at around 6:45 and had to stand in line until 7 pm as a huge throng of people pushed in to get tickets. When we got inside at 7 pm, both stands on the Lancaster and Depew sides were already filled and the standing room crowd was forming along the fences.

It was a crazy and intense atmosphere. Reminded me of being at a Bills game with the rowdiness of the crowd. The fans on the Lancaster side occasionally did the "bounce" as they bounced in unison to form a sort of a bouncing wave. It took us over a half an hour to get out of the parking lot, onto the street and finally away from all the traffic. Very reminiscent to fighting the traffic jam after Bills games at Ralph Wilson Stadium.

Here are some pictures I took of the Depew at Alden game, the Depew at Lancaster game and the Saturday Jamestown at Clarence games...

 

 

Above are the fans flocking to the Alden stadium before their game with Depew.

 

 There was an even bigger crowd at the Lancaster vs Depew game above. Here people are lined 4-5 deep close to the playing field.

View from the Clarence side during the Jamestown vs Clarence game.

 Some action shots taken at the Clarence-Jamestown game above.

Some videos I took at the games...

Lancaster team bursts through sign

Jamestown TD pass

Another Jamestown touchdown

War of 1812 celebration

In celebration to the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812, a lot of ships came into Buffalo early September, along with the Brig of Niagara, a tall ship that was recreated in the spitting image of the original with the same name.

 

 

 

 Other ships came to Buffalo, like this Navy cutter.

 A replica of a canon was on display at the Buffalo Waterfront.

Largest tall ship visits Buffalo

The sailing vessel, The Empire Sandy, made it's way to the Buffalo Boat Harbor the first week of August. It is the largest tall ship in the Great Lakes. Coming from Thunder Bay, Canada, it is impressive even with it's sails down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

St. Louis Church, Buffalo

This is a magnificent and elegant Roman Catholic church on Main Street in Buffalo. This is how it looks in the early morning sun.

 

 

Major league lacrosse in Rochester

The very top level of outdoor lacrosse takes place in Rochester as the Rattlers play host to all the other MLL teams. On a hot Saturday in July, they hosted the Chesapeake Bayhawks. Chesapeake beat Rochester 13-7. Here are some pictures I took at that game...

 

The sun sets during the game and the Rochester skyline reflects that orange sunset.

The old Williamsville train station

Back around the turn of the century (the 1900's that is), Williamsville was a hub to a lot of travelers. A lot of these travels came on the passenger trains that would stop at the Central Terminal in Buffalo, or Williamsville. The Williamsville stop was a side route, not the main get off point. Here's a description of the former train station along with the pictures I took of the preserved historic site...


http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM44N3_Williamsville_Train_Depot_Williamsville_NY

 The Williamsville Depot was built in November 1896 by the Depew & Tonawanda Railroad, a subsidiary of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. The D&T was set up as a spur line to connect to the New York Central's Peanut Line near Tonawanda. The line would allow travelers to bypass the congestion in Buffalo. The station was the only one on the line. It ended passenger service in the early 1950s.

The station was restored in 1999 to be used as the Western New York Railway Historical Society. A 1/4 mile portion of the old railbed to the southeast has been converted to a paved walking trail.