By Jim Tammaro
The Christmas season is fast approaching and to help people shop for gifts or get in a festive mood, Allen Street Hardware Café, the Elmwood Village, the Buffalo History Museum, and the Richardson Olmsted Campus are making the season a little bit more merry and bright.
There will be three holiday trolleys traveling around the West Side this season to help people get to various events and markets, including the annual holiday market that is taking place at the Richardson Olmsted Campus on Forest Avenue.
The Buffalo Holiday Market will take place weekends between Nov. 29 and Dec. 22, on the south lawn of the Richardson Olmsted Campus. There will be two trolleys going between the campus and other locations around Elmwood to help people shop and travel to the various markets taking place this Christmas season.
“Some items you can find at the Buffalo Holiday Market include Bills sweaters, Christmas ornaments, food, and Buffalo-themed items,” Patrick Ryan, cultural curator for the Richardson Olmsted Campus, said. “We will also have about six to eight food trucks on site, as well."
On Nov. 29 and 30, there will be a holiday trolley going between the Richardson Olmsted Campus and the Buffalo History Museum. That weekend, to promote Small Business Saturday, the history museum will be having a Maker’s Market running from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Friday and 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday. The trolley that weekend will run both days from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. The two markets will be running concurrently at the two locations that weekend.
“Their own little artisan’s vendor fair combined with ours,” Ryan said. “The trolley can bring visitors back and forth between the two locations.”
On Dec. 7, a trolley will be running up and down Elmwood Avenue between noon and 6 p.m. The Elmwood Village will be holding a holiday shopping event that weekend. The trolley will travel from the Richardson Campus to Forty Thieves, at the corner of Elmwood Avenue and Breckenridge Street, and back.
“The idea is to have a trolley that runs back and forth from our campus to the Elmwood village so people can shop at the stores up and down Elmwood,” Ryan said. "This can hopefully bring some people and some customers to the Elmwood village.”
Area businesses are excited for these weekends. Plus, it will help to drive some economic action into the local shops.
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| Starting point for the BYOB holiday trolley |
A third trolley, more for the adults, will be taking place around Allen Street and Elmwood Avenue. A BYOB holiday trolley will start at Allen Hardware Café, 245 Allen St., and travel around the area. The trolley will take place every Thursday to Sunday, between Nov. 30 and Dec. 22. There will be two trolleys per day, one at 1 p.m. and one at 5 p.m. This is the second year that the BYOB trolley will be running and Tony Cafaro loves that the trolley starts at Hardware.
“The ladies that run it came in just on a whim and explained that they were shopping the idea of a holiday trolley and I thought that Hardware would be a great hub,” Cafaro said.
Not only can passengers imbibe on their favorite libation, but they can also look at the neighborhood all adorned with festive decorations.
“Christmastime is always the best time in my book, so people can have a good time, look at all the houses all decked out with Christmas lights and have fun,” Cafaro said.
There are plenty of events around the West Side for people to enjoy and lessen the stress from the Christmas season.
“I would like to do this
holiday trolley as many years as possible,” Cafaro said. “Not just the trolley, but anything that
brings people down here and lets people do something different. I would like to see people get out and about,
not just stay in the bar."