A Gusto guide to summer festivals
The secret's out, Buffalo.
Some people daydream about faraway vacations and extended road trips to break up the tediousness of a long, hot summer at home. But if you're from the Queen City, you're privy to a key fact: Thanks to the dozens of festivals that transform the area weekend after weekend, a summer in Western New York is anything but boring.
Looking for a dose of culture? No need for a plane ticket or a passport -- just head to the Italian Heritage Festival, Scandinavian Folk Festival, Polish Harvest Festival or one of the other cultural smorgasbords taking place over the next few months.
Almost every picnic and fair will provide summer staples if you're after good eats, but events like the Strawberry Festival, National Buffalo Wing Festival or Taste of Buffalo will specifically cater to tempting palates and satisfying appetites. If your ears are even hungrier than your stomach, check out events like the Lewiston Jazz Festival and the Great Blue Heron Music Festival. Art and craft shows also make an appearance to whet other creative cravings, and county fairs and town picnics promise fun for the whole family. For full listings of all the festival happenings this season, read on. Your summer schedule won't know what hit it.
-- Kristy Kibler
JUNE
June 17-18: Buffalo River Fest. 6 p.m. to midnight June 17, 11 a.m. to midnight June 18. Buffalo Riverfest Park, 249 Ohio St. Includes the Rigidized Metals River Fest Regatta, a waterfront photo and memorabilia display, food, a softball tournament, tours, rides, live music and a beer garden. www.thevalleycenter.com. 823-4707, Ext. 2.
June 17-19: Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Parish Lawn Fete. 5 p.m. to midnight June 17, noon to midnight June 18, noon to 8 p.m June 19. Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Church, 3148 Abbott RoadOrchard Park. Rides, games, food, raffles and contests. 824-2935.
June 18: Rediscover Amherst Street Festival. 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Amherst Street between Elmwood Avenue and Military Road. Displays, contests, a parade, rides, food, games and live music.
June 18 : Strawberry Festival. 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Zion United Church of Christ, 15 Koenig Circle, Tonawanda. Strawberries, food and vendors. 836-6220. www.zionuccton.com.
June 18-19: Crossborder Blues, Brews & Que. 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. June 18, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. June 19. Woodcock Brothers Brewery, 638 Lake St. (Route 425), Wilson. Competitions, vendors, games and music by the Dave Constantino Band at 6 p.m. June 18. www.crossborderbbq.com.
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Jamestown Audubon Center and Sanctuary, 1600 Riverside Road, Jamestown. Art show and sale in various mediums. 569-2345. www.artinthewoods.wordpress.com. $5. July 16-17: Kiwanis Arts and Crafts Festival. 9 am to 5 pm West Seneca Town Hall Park,
The Awakening of Angel DeLuna The faith of a fallen trapeze star is tested, 7:30 pm Fridays-Saturdays, 2 pm Sundays, today through July 10, Angel Wings NYC, Dairy Center for the Arts, Boulder, $18-$26; 303-444-7328. Bent Drama about a gay man in Nazi
Tickets: $42.75-$51.25; Ticketmaster.com AMERICAN IDOL LIVE!: 7 pm July 24, Amway Center, Orlando. Tickets: $56.80-$77.75; Ticketmaster.com VANS WARPED TOUR: 11:30 am July 29, Central Florida Fairgrounds, Orlando, $43.61; also 11:30 am July 31,
417-425-9977 Nixa: Live Band Dance, 7 pm Friday, Nixa Senior Center, 404 S. Main St. Admission: $3. 417-725-2322 "180" World Premiere, 5:30 pm Friday, Gillioz Theatre, 325 Park Central East. The movie was filmed in Springfield and features Bolivar's
Golf: If your dad is the golfing type and you are not, why not give him a run for his money at the Putting Edge Fun Center located at St. Louis Mills? Fun for all ages, this mini course offers glow-in-the-dark golfing. Bring out the kid in him and just
A Good Wellness Center Will Guide Your Life Toward Total Well ...
By Jason Lom
There are a lot of different kinds of places in America that go by the title of wellness center. So many that in some ways, it’s disturbingly easy to find someone who will look you in the eye and tell you that his hole-in-the-wall store filled with energy bars and scented crystals is a “wellness center”. Fortunately, there is a simple test to pick out the real health-providing experts from the swarm of fringe entrepreneurs who are all too happy to feed off of your desire to feel better.
Wellness Starts With Wholeness
The path to honest, long-lasting wellness starts by making you whole – mind and body. If your local wellness center puts emphasis on avoiding bad things, you’re in the wrong place. Look around, and if you see a lot of labels that say “no sodium” or “stomach-reducing” or any other such negative advertising, find a new wellness center. Wholeness starts not by fearfully avoiding the bad, but by consciously acknowledging and seeking out the good.
In the realm of the body, that means three things: eating right, being fit, and correcting any issues that stem from past flaws in your diet, habits, and environment.
Eating Right
In nature, almost every food contains not only vitamins and minerals, but hundreds of other chemicals such as enzymes and cofactors that make those vitamins and minerals work correctly within your body. Eating ‘fortified’ flour, milk, and other foods doesn’t have nearly the benefits of eating natural, un-messed-around-with food because all that messing around removes those enzymes and cofactors and makes the food less nutritious. So the first step to wholeness – and thus the first step to wellness – is to eat food that actually fuels your body.
Being Fit
The bodily systems that keep you alive are so potent that they can continue to function even under circumstances that are far from ideal, but they work best when the body they’re working with is physically fit. Fitness means different things for different bodies; there will be people who are on the upper end of the BMI even when they’re perfectly fit, for example. But there are real, measurable consequences to attaining physical fitness: improved attitude, increased ability to deal with adversity and stress, and mental clarity are only the tip of the iceberg. So getting your body into good working order is the second item on the agenda.
RT Adirondack Life Out & In guide write-up on ESF Adirondack Interpretive Center ... 
Adirondack Life Out & In guide write-up on ESF Adirondack Interpretive Center