Arts & Culture

One of the last signs of Rochester’s old Polish Town celebrated its centennial Sunday.

"We're the last building - actual structure - left on Hudson Avenue as a club. Most everybody is either club in name (only) or has a small place to meet somewhere,” said manager Gary Walczak.

On Sunday, the Polish American Citizens club on Hudson Avenue marked 100 years in the community, celebrating with food, reminiscing and polka dancing.

COOPERSTOWN, N.Y. (AP)  Businesses in the upstate New York home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame are gearing up for the biggest weekend of the summer tourist season. 

Cooperstown is expected to be packed with tens of thousands of people for Sunday's induction ceremony featuring Greg Maddux, Tom Glavine, Frank Thomas, Bobby Cox, Tony La Russa and Joe Torre. 

The Gateways Music Festival is getting a $20,000 grant from the NYS Department of Parks and Recreation.

The money was sought by Assemblyman David Gantt, who says that festival, which features classical musicians of African descent, provides an entry way to the stage “on which a person is not seen just as a demographic, but for their musical abilities."

In this hour, we continue the discussion of the 50th anniversary of the race riots in Rochester. Gap Mangione, whose family owned a business in Rochester at the time, joins our panel, along with RIT professor John Klofas and Darryl Porter, who was involved in the riot. We welcome Tariq Spence of WDKX to help lead the discussion with our guests and listeners.

On Thursday, July 24th, WXXI and WDKX did a one hour simulcast from 9 to 10 a.m.  to talk about the 50th anniversary today of the July ’64 riots and what issues still remain today.

The WaterCooler with Tariq also included the host of Connections on WXXI, Evan Dawson, who was  in the WDKX studios to talk about the issues.

Guests include: Ruth Scott, the city’s first African American councilwoman, and Carvin Eison, director of the July ’64 documentary.

Coming up this morning, a special program to talk about the 50th anniversary today of the July ’64 riots and what issues still remain today. WXXI will simulcast an hour of WDKX’s ‘WaterCooler’ with Tariq Spence from 9 to 10 a.m.

The host of Connections on WXXI, Evan Dawson, will be in the WDKX studios to talk about the issues. Guests include: Ruth Scott, the city’s first African American councilwoman, and Carvin Eison, director of the July ’64 documentary.

Local and state officials marked two events at High Falls Wednesday night: The 50th anniversary of the Rochester riots and the re-lighting of the Falls.

With inspirational singing to close the ceremony just before the lighting of High Falls at the Pont de Rennes bridge, Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren and city and state representatives looked back and looked ahead to what is next for the city and its people.

The High Falls have not been lit up for a few years now, partly due to budget issues, but State Senator Joe Robach helped secure a quarter-million dollars to improve the lighting for the falls as well as do some work on trails in the area.

Warren talked about the injustices that led to the 1964 riots, but she also wanted to look at the challenges that still lie ahead.

"The re-lighting of the falls is symbolic of the hope we have for the future, the rebirth of Rochester that began 50 years ago on Joseph Avenue, not too far from here."

Assemblyman David Gantt, who was 23 years old and lived near the area where the '64 riots broke out, called on Rochesterians to continue to talk to each other and try to understand each other's point of view. He says that is vital if the community is to change for the better.

The rise of the cheese trail. Specifically, the Finger Lakes cheese trail has shed the training wheels. It might not be quite as expansive as the wine trail, but you can stop and taste cheeses, and this weekend marks the Finger Lakes Cheese Festival. This comes at a time when Senator Chuck Schumer is defending the cheese industry as a vital economic engine; recent regulations threatened certain parts of it. So we talk cheese with:

Carmella Hoffman, Sunset View Creamery
Carol Fingar, Finger Lakes Cheese Festival
Ann Duckett, Little Bleu Cheese Shop

Get ready to be hungry this hour, we're talking wine, coffee, and bread.

First, the Wine Bloggers Conference is coming to the Finger Lakes next year, and that's a big deal. Why? We find out from Morgan McLughlin, executive director of Santa Barbara Vintners.

Then, we discuss coffee. We touched on the third wave of coffee in a previous show, and on Sunday, The Little Theatre is screening a film documenting this third wave called "A Film About Coffee". We talk with John Ebel of Pour Coffee about the film. 

We end with bread, an item that many restaurants bring to the table at the start of the meal. But this practice is starting to fade away in some places. Is Rochester one of them? We discuss this and more with chef Brian Antinore.

Actors who are part of  Geva Theatre productions will soon have a new place to stay while their shows are going on. The owner and developers of the nearby Woodbury Place building will be  leasing eleven studio lofts to Geva for the visiting actors.

As part of a collective bargaining agreement, Geva must provide its actors with housing while they are in residence for the nine weeks of rehearsals and performances. Previously, the actors would be housed at an apartment complex in Gates. But Geva executive director Tom Parrish says this is a lot more convenient.