BreadHive’s 2nd location to open in spring

Emily Stewart, a worker-owner of BreadHive, an artisan bakery at 123 Baynes St., stands in front of the bakery’s second location at 402 Connecticut St., set to open spring 2016. The Connecticut Street location will host the bakery’s first sit-down café, serving sandwiches, pretzels and dips, soups, salads and light pastries. BreadHive will keep the Baynes Street location for the wholesale baking of its breads, bagels, pretzels and granola. The bakery has flourished into a booming business in its nearly two years of existence. Its success can be largely attributed to its community support. The bakery got its start in 2014 by selling 65 shares at $1,000 a piece to 40 individuals, which has led to the owner’s confidence to expand its venture, Stewart said. At least 50 individuals have inquired about the second location and offered their support. By Troy Licastro and Anthony Reyes

Santa pub crawl to benefit Carly’s Club

            Allentown will be filled with numerous Santas and other holiday characters later this month to raise money for charity at the seventh Annual Buffalo Santa Pub Crawl.

The pub-crawl will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Dec. 19 at Fat Bob’s, 41 Virgina Place. The pub crawl is open to everyone who wants to walk bar to bar dressed in their very best Santa, Mrs. Claus, elf or any other holiday costumes.

Participants donate $10 and receive a wristband that will give them access to drink specials at participating bars.

This year the Buffalo Santa Pub Crawl will be teaming up with Carly’s Club for Kids & Cancer Research in WNY.

The pub-crawl will continue to various locations along Virginia and Allen.

 “We decide to continually participate in this event because it’s good to be associated with such a great cause, and it’s a fun event to be a part of,” says Ryan Thomas, restaurant manager at Fat Bob’s. By Julia Waterman and Corrinne Wheatley

‘Artivists’ attempt change through words

Theater Artist Matthew Sekellick introduces the Buffalo Climate Change Theatre Action Players, a primarily West Side based group, at Hallwalls Contemporary Arts Centeron Dec. 1 for an “artivist” display of solidarity with climate change protestors in Paris for the 2015 U.N. Climate Chance Conference.  The night featured a 90-minute performance of plays, poems and art focused on embracing change to save the planet. By Nik Malahosky and Jason Saul

IN DEPTH: Women help stitch together refugee lives

The co-founders of Stitch Buffalo have been hard at work for the past year and a half by teaching a group of refugee women sewing, beading, and embroidering.  Full story by Darius Crolle and Shavella Saint Preux

Healthy meal prep theme of cooking classes

Staci Halton, founder of Vitality Meal Prep, poses with a healthy snack she prepared for her class, in which she demonstrates how to eat healthily on a budget. Class are held fro 6:30 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. Thursdays at 195 Grant St., home to Freddy J’s Babrecue. Halton teaches a group of six mostly working moms and others how to live a healthier lifestyle.“Being healthy isn’t as hard as it seems. The whole being healthy is expensive thing doesn't have to be,” Halton says. “Many people in the community seem uneducated on how to eat healthy without going broke and I want to change that.” Halton is a firm believer in supporting the community and gets all her ingredients from the Meating Place, 185 Grant St., and other local vendors. Classes cost $10 and cover ideas for breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks. Students get to sample each course. By Alexis Burnett and Hydeia Walker

Shipping services expect extra busy season

FedEx Corp., United Parcel Service Inc., and U.S. Postal Service are expected to process more packages this year than in the past years.

Between the three services, there is expected to be somewhere between a 10.5 percent and 13 percent increase in the amount of packages to be delivered. The services are hiring seasonal help to accommodate the expected increase in packages.

“[Package deliveries are] on the upswing, which is probably a testament to how America shops these days, and that is online,” said Karen Mazurkiewicz, Western New York’s media contact for USPS.

USPS plans to collaborate with UPS and FedEx for package deliveries.

“We anticipate between Thanksgiving and New Year's’ Eve that we’re going to handle about 15.5 billion cards, letters, oversized letters, and packages...but packages, we anticipate about 600 million,” said Mazurkiewicz.

 The prices are dependent on the type of shipping that is chosen; shipping heavy packages longer distances in shorter amounts of time will cost the most.

According to Katie Wassmer, FedEx Communications Advisor, the peak season for delivery services begins on Black Friday and runs through Christmas Eve.

“The earlier you go to the post office in the holiday season, the more options you’ll have [for the package to arrive on time],” said Mazurkiewicz.

The UPS Store is located at 266 Elmwood Ave.; USPS is located at 465 Grant St. There are multiple drop-off locations for FedEx in the West Side. By Marcus Trueheart, Greg Twarozek and Kayla Yarington

Winter market at home at Horsefeathers

Mary Beth Hamilton and Steve Rockcastle, Green Heron Growers owners, are bringing their organic products to the West Side at the Horsefeathers Winter market, located on 346 Connecticut St. Green Heron Growers is just one of the 20 vendors that are partaking in the Winter Market. The Winter Market provides everything from farm-fresh produce and breads, to locally brewed kombucha teas. The Winter Market will be running from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturdays   until May 3.The Market shares its venue with several other permanent tenants including, Martin Cooks, Michelle’s Caribbean Cuisine, Jolies Traditional Chinese and Artisan Journey. Although the Winter Market usually includes Bidwell Market vendors, the new vendors are not associated with them and are entirely new to the Horsefeathers Winter Market. The Bidwell Market, however, has relocated to Buffalo State campus in Buckham Hall and will be open throughout the winter. By Darius Crolle and Shavella Saint Preux

Pop-up vendors settle into Key Center lobby

The four vendors taking part in this year’s Queen City Pop Up shop are open for business. The pop up is located in the lobby of the Key Center on Main Street at 50 Fountain Plaza this year, inside from Rotary Rink. It is open Monday thru Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday from noon to 5 p.m. and is closed on Sundays, and runs thru Dec. 24. The businesses will be participating in “Turnt Up Tuesdays” every Tuesday where music will be played throughout the shop and there will be sales on items as well. The pop up will also have extended hours on  Dec. 5 for the Downtown Christmas Tree Lighting Celebration. By Troy Licastro and Anthony Reyes

Donations of winter gear for kids sought

            As winter draws closer, ENERGY is looking for donations of children’s winter-wear as it prepares refugee and immigrant children for the impending season.  

            ENERGY, which stands for education, nurture, encouragement, readiness and growth for youth, is an after school program that teaches English language skills and American culture to children grades one through six.  It already has a “recipe for success” to help its students acclimate to their environment as the weather gets colder.  This list includes preheating the room before kids arrive and sharing a hot family style meal.  

            Many of the children have never experienced the kind of harsh winters that the West Side expects and will be using ENERGY’s outdoor playtime to learn how to do simple things that Western New Yorkers take for granted, like walking on ice.

            ENERGY is run by the Westminster Economic Development Initiative (WEDI) and meets Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after regular school hours.  Carol Greetham, the director of ENERGY, believes the program is successful because it gives the kids kind of experiences, knowledge and companionship that they can’t always find at school.

            “They don’t view it as class because they feel supported here.  To me it feels like a family, we sit and have a meal together, talk about their day and make relationships with each other, which is really important for the kids.  We do fun things too, we’re having a Halloween party soon.  We sing, read aloud, and do all kinds of enrichment activities.“ Greetham said. By Nik Malahosky and Jason Saul

IN DEPTH: Students swap vacations for 'alternatives'

While their classmates are packing and looking forward to a vacation at home, others participating in volunteer and service-learning programs are anticipating helping out in communities near and far. Each of the four college campuses across the West Side offers its own varieties of these programs. Full story by Troy Licastro and Tony Reyes