The PCA's Flint Hill Village Aging in Place program is expanding beyond Parkside to a wider area of North Buffalo under the new program North Buffalo Neighbors. Two information meetings are scheduled - Feb 6 1-3 pm at Holy Spirit cafeteria, 91 Dakota Ave (Hertel & Delaware) and Feb 14 9:30-11am at North Buffalo Community Center, 203 Saunders Rd. More information on the website is available here. You can read the newsletter here.

On Tuesday night, January 17th, over 75 people came out despite the wind and snow to take part in our annual meeting, and elect a new board of directors for 2012.  Newly elected County Executive Mark Poloncarz came to answer questions from our membership on a number of issues of interest to Parkside, including funding for the new Arctic exhibit at the Buffalo Zoo, and development planning for Erie Community College. The general theme of his presentation was 'as goes the City, so goes the county' highlighting his commitment to Buffalo as the economic and cultural generator for much of Western NY.

More information about the meeting and the Parkside Partner awards is here.

On Saturday, January 21st, Wil's BBQ is hosting a "PCA Day", in which a portion of all sales will be donated to the Parkside Community Association.   Warm up with some award winning BBQ while supporting your neighborhood association at the same time.

On tuesday night, at St. Mark's Church, 401 Woodward Avenue, the PCA will be hosting our annual meeting, where the Board of Directors will be elected for 2012.  If you only make one public meeting a year, be sure to make it to this one, as the election will help determine the direction the association takes, and how we find ways to grow and adapt as Buffalo's oldest and most established community Non-Profit.

From 6:00-7:00pm we will host a pot-luck supper, offering a chance to mingle with neighbors you might not otherwise see now that Winter has officially hit.

At 7:00 we're honored to be joined by newly elected Erie County Executive Marc Poloncarz as our guest speaker.  Mark is only the 2nd Democrat to be elected to the position of county executive in the 51 year history of the position.  This is your chance to hear his plans for our region as well as pose questions regarding matters of interest to you and the Parkside Neighborhood.

The PCA will also be issuing awards to those residents and businesses that have gone above and beyond in their dedication to preserving and enhancing the quality of life of the neighborhood, as well as for the extraordinary amount of their time and energy devoted to the PCA and our mission.

Lastly we will conduct our annual election of the board and officers.  Please consider taking the time next Tuesday evening to take part in the process, learn about initiatives underway, and events that might be of interest.

If you received new electronics for the holidays and you need somewhere to take the old or broken ones, bring them to the Buffalo Zoo as part of Electronics Recycling Day! Accepted items include laptops televisions, monitors, printers, copiers and more! Please note that gas powered equipment, household hazardous waste and items containing Freon (air conditioners, de-humidifiers, refrigerators, etc.) will not be accepted.

Members of the Buffalo community are invited to drop off their old electronics in the Buffalo Zoo’s parking lot (300 Parkside Ave, Buffalo, NY 14214) on January 7th, 2012 from 9:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m. The event is being hosted by the Buffalo Zoo, Foit-Albert Associates and Sunnking Electronics Recycling. Each individual who recycles an item will receive a $1 off admission to the Buffalo Zoo (valid for this day only).  

A list of acceptable materials for recycling can be found at www.sunnking.com/acceptable-materials. Question regarding what can or cannot be accepted can also be directed to info@sunnking.com. For more information about the actual event, please contact the Buffalo Zoo at (716) 837-3900 or visit www.buffalozoo.org.

As you may have heard, the City is switching over from the smaller, blue recycling bins to the larger green stand-up totes.  This month they have been focusing on the Riverside and Black Rock neighborhoods.  Parkside and other parts of North Buffalo will be their next focus, beginning in early January.

For years the PCA has served as a location for any Buffalo resident to pick up replacement or new blue bins, but we will no longer be able to do this going forward.  There simply is no space to store multiple stand up totes.  If you haven't received your new tote by the end of February, we suggest calling the Mayor's 311 hotline to have one delivered.

On Thursday evening, December 8th the PCA is calling for a special meeting of our membership to be held from 7 pm to 8 pm at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, 96 Jewett Parkway.  Throughout 2011 our Board of Directors has been working on proposed revisions to our by-laws, with an eye towards bringing them more in line with standard non-profit procedures that in some cases are mandated by the State of New York.

These proposed revisions were approved by the PCA board on November 15, 2011, as drafted by legal counsel for the PCA, and must be presented to the membership for your approval before they can be formally adopted.  More info here.

Tonight is the night for the 2011 Parkside Winter Gala at the Episcopal Church of the Good Shepherd, from 6:00-8:00pm.  It's an invitation to get out before the holiday season sweeps away all your free time, enjoy some champagne and wine, along with a number of delectable treats with friends and neighbors.  Local musicians will be on hand, we will offer a showing of the Buffalo Unscripted video produced by the National Trust, featuring interviews of a number of Parkside residents, and a number of items donated by friends of the PCA will be offered at raffle, including:

• 4 tickets for the Irish Classical Theater
• 2 tickets for the Kavinoky Theater
• Autographed Buffalo Sabres Hockey Stick
• coupons and gift cards for a number of local vendors
• and many many more.

As this is our final fundraising event of 2011, tickets will be available at the door for $20/each.  Thank you for supporting the oldest neighborhood non-profit association in Buffalo, and we hope to see you there tonight.