Rocky and Chip

A few weeks ago I read that perhaps there was no need to scope out the site of the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium in order to try to figure out a way smuggle a souvenir under the fence. All one had to do was ask. Imagine that. Never crossed my mind, or rather, never thought it would work. So off I went.

When I got there a woman was hauling off a small slab of marble. So before the guy could get away I politely asked for a rock. Mistake. Should have specified marble or granite. However he did bring me a rock with sparkly things in it. Probably just concrete, but having forgotten most of what little I knew of geology, I can pretend it's something unique. Plus, it's mine! A while back I had pulled a little piece of brick under the fence, figuring that small was better than nothing. Now I'm wondering if I can get a hunk of marble...


My artifacts have been personified by naming them Rocky and Chip, in part to justify keeping them in the house permanently rather than tossing them in a rock garden like some other immigrants to the neighborhood. Rocky seen here with a neighbor's outside relics:


Then again, they're from the Aud, so that makes them special. However, a display case is not in their immediate future. Finally, here is the family portrait, Rocky with Chip on his back "He's not heavy, he's my brotherrr..."

Aud Time Capsule and More

My reasons for going to the Buffalo and Erie County Historical Society Museum (BECHS - much shorter) yesterday were two-fold. I wanted to make sure they still carried a book that I'm going to write a separate post about, and I wanted to see the stuff that was in the 1939 time capsule that had been in the cornerstone of the Aud.

Between those two stops I meandered throughout the museum since it has been a while since I actually took in the exhibits, as opposed to hunkering down in the research section. Truthfully I didn't get much family research done on those forays since I kept getting distracted by the articles in the newspapers on microfilm. They have a lot of material archived there and very helpful people to assist the novices.

They are building section to celebrate 50 years of the Buffalo Bills on the first floor that is incomplete, but they have some nice photographs on display already (picture here is a screenshot from an email). Funny how I can look at the days of old and kn0w exactly who's pictured without a caption, even without noting player numbers, while today's version of the Bills comes across as a type of white noise to me; there, but not there.


I may have wanted to go directly to the Aud stuff, but I managed to look at everything else on the second floor first. There's a large section called "On the Road to Freedom" which documents the Civil Rights movement and struggles in Buffalo. It's not like the suburbs were immune, just more "genteel" at times. From the Circle Association (a history of African Americans in WNY):

"1966a. A Black doctor buys and moves into a house in Buffalo suburb Clarence NY...Within a few days his new neighbors presented him with a petition urging him to leave."

Meanwhile, back at BECHS, the collage features photographs from city streets as well as the campus of UB. The students not only protested against the war but for civil rights.


The Apostle's Clock is still there, still functioning, however it's on the second floor as part of the "Buffalo Made" exhibit.


Finally the Aud stuff. Even though I had been given directions, I actually found it by accident. It's in a small room featuring paintings of ships, opposite the stairs. I tried to take some pictures, especially of the blueprints, but it's hard through the display case. Maybe with a better camera...



One thing I had somewhat disassociated with was the date - 1939. Europe was in a turmoil with WWII starting up which is evident through the partial glimpse of headlines.


The pictures here don't allow you to take in the entirety of the collections. Best advice I can offer is to go see for yourself!

So long, farewell

Today at 1:30 is the closing ceremony for the days of the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium. The time capsule will be opened, photo contest winners announced.

The crowd will slowly disperse, looking back at a hole in the ground where the Aud once stood, its physical presence long gone, reduced to dust in the wind.

So long, farewell...



(speaking of the photo contest, there are some really nice pictures over on ShutterBugStroll by many photographers)

Inside the Aud and more

A while back I saw this interesting letter from the days of former Buffalo Sabre Alexander Molgilny on the blog of Roadwolf (click on the photo to enlarge):


That brings back some memories. Just a guess, but maybe this incident goes a long way in explaining Lindy Ruff's apparent negative mindset regarding Afinogenov and Russians in general. Maybe.

Anyway, Roadwolf has a lot of excellent pictures from inside the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium after deterioration had set in. This set at the link has old basketball hoops, old ticket booths, you name it. He has more at other links too, so make sure you check out the entire blog.

As an extra added attraction, he's also been to caves in Akron NY and documented it for all to see!

Buffalo Memorial Auditorium - Auctioning Off Pieces, Saving the Memories

This afternoon I plan on wandering over to the Buffalo Convention Center to attend the Farewell to The Aud event. It's not like one can say goodbye there though. One needs to go down to the actual site for that.

One more glimpse of the place where I saw my first real concert - Jethro Tull - and many more after that...Both many more Jethro Tull concerts, and many more other bands too. Tickets for the orange seats, bought at Norton Hall/the Student Union at UB, were typically purchased due to cost concerns, with full plans to actually park our butts elsewhere.

One of the last times I was in the Aud for a concert was for Bob Seger and his "Like a Rock" tour. I was with someone not familiar with this routine and when I was attempting to wander through lower seats she said in a loud voice "I thought we had orange seats!" after which the usher looked at us and shook his head. I pointed out to her exactly where these seats were, way way up at the top. As we walked away I explained the plan, which she said I should have done previously. I thought she knew! We later watched from a side view in the blues.

Wrestling matches too. I remember my father watching Haystack Calhoun and Gorgeous George on the black and white television. In later years I would go to the Aud to cheer on Hulk Hogan, Jake the Snake, Ricky Steamboat, and various other wrestlers, all while taking pictures, like the one here (I didn't give them ALL away after I had moved on). Some of these I would later sell to wrestling magazines and to fans.

The first match I went to, tagging along with friends on a nothing to do night, featured Jesse "The Body" Ventura (later to be Governor of Minnesota) wearing his boa and Adrian Adonis (real name Keith Franke, of Kenmore). I was smitten with the whole thing, for a while anyway. I lost interest eventually when it became too much like work, and it was more intriguing to take a closeup of a praying mantis in front of us (at an outdoor match at the Hamburg Fairgrounds) than Sergeant Slaughter.

I actually didn't see too many Buffalo Sabres games at the Aud. My first hockey games there were for the Buffalo Bisons, while sitting in the gray seats. They weren't comfortable then, but much better than those orange seats that we viewed the Buffalo Braves from...and one of my kids thinks the upper level of the Arena is scary...Fear of falling was a given. I don't see how anyone could even want to drink too much beer up there.

My kids got to see the Shrine Circus in the Aud (from the safety of lower seats), so they have a bit of themselves in the building too.

Now the seats are for sale - the blue ones anyway. The oranges were bolted to the floor and it wasn't practical to undo them for sale. A tool probably rolled down the aisle and went crashing to the floor in a slow motion foreshadowing of doom for any who tried to pry them loose :) Down with the ship...er, Aud... for them!

Anyway, there promises to be various vendors of memorabilia set up, and I definitely plan on coming away with something, even if it's just a hockey puck. You can have your picture taken in front of a fake front, but I'd rather go down to the foot of Main for the real thing.

For those who couldn't make it to Buffalo this weekend, there will also be an online auction of some of the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium seats that have been set aside for just this purpose. Get ready to shell out some bucks, as people bid as high as $1000 for 4 attached seats. Not me. I'll take a picture instead.

12/10/08 Update: Possible auction of the orange seats