Residents living near Eighteen Mile Creek got to express their concerns to the United States Environmental Protection Agency at a public information session Wednesday.

The creek corridor was recently added to the federal Superfund list, meaning it is now considered one of the most contaminated areas in the country. It was added to the national priority list in March 2012.

Before the public meeting, members of the EPA spoke with the City of Lockport’s Common Council, informing them of their plan to investigate and remediate the site.

EPA Community Involvement Coordinator Mike Basile said they have plans for both the short and long term. The project, to clean-up the hazardous waste, will be split in three parts.

First they will cleaning up nine properties on Water Street, including placing new top soil and establishing new grass. Also, the Flintkote site would be demolished.

During this time, Basile said they would work with the city to eliminate blockage to prevent and minimize flooding, which could cause the contaminants to spread.

The other parts of the project remediation would begin upstream and they will work down. It will begin from Upson Park to Harwood Street, then to Lake Ontario in Olcott.

Basile said the EPA should have a plan to move forward set by this summer. He also said they will soon be reaching out to residents living along Eighteen Mile Creek, asking for any information on the responsible party or parties for the contamination.

In other city news:

• A public hearing will be held from 6 to 7 p.m. June 18 on parking downtown.

A parking study is currently underway in the city, being conducted by two University at Buffalo students.

The study is to gage if there is a parking problem in the downtown area, a place where the common council has heard many complaints that there are not enough on-street parking spots on Main Street next to businesses.

Many are revving up the engines on their classic, custom and sports cars and heading to Ida Fritz Park on Mondays this summer.

The annual Monday Night Car Cruises are now in full swing, with hundreds of cars and their owners spending the evening in Lockport. The Lockport Monday Night Cruise Optimist Club sponsors the event.

“We’ve been extremely busy,” said organizer and Fourth Ward Alderman Pat Schrader. “We grow each week.”

On average, around 150 cars have been participating in the weekly cruise, with more in attendance during the two super cruises. The cruise nights are held from 6 to 9 p.m. every Monday until Labor Day. Each week has a different theme. A Super Cruise from 3 to 9 p.m. will end the season on Labor Day.

This past Monday was Law Enforcements night, with members of the Lockport City Police Department in attendance, speaking to the public and displaying their cars, including their new Corvette, given to the department after being seized in a drug bust. The car will be used for parades and other city events.

The Niagara County Sheriff’s Department Mounted Patrol was also in attendance, riding their horses around the event.

This Monday night, the theme will be 50s night.

Schrader said the car cruise is something the entire family can come to and enjoy.

“It’s fun, family and free,” said Schrader.

People can come to the event and bring their car, free. Schrader said the event is paid for by holding a 50/50 split and through the sponsors and vendors. Each week also features musical entertainment.

On Aug. 26, Terry Buchwald will return to the Lockport cruise for a “Salute to the King.” On July 1, during country, truck and tractor night the Hot Country Liners Dance Team will perform. Also, during van night on Aug. 12, the local CRS band will perform.

Spending the evening with friends and listening to music is what draws many to the weekly cruises.

“It’s a relaxing Monday night,” said Pendleton resident Charles Fish. “It’s a nice way to start the week off.”

Fish enjoys bringing his 1990 Chevy 454 SS to the cruise nights.

For the Drury’s of Lockport, the cruise nights have become a family event.

“We like the atmosphere down here,” said Richard Drury. “It’s nice for families.”

Richard’s son Dave likes to bring his 1972 Chevelle SS to the cruise.

He said attending the event every Monday has become “second nature” because growing up he attended with his grandfather and now his father.

Brother Kevin also attends the cruise nights with his family.

Other themes include children’s night, bikes and blues night, Corvette night, Mustang night, firefighter’s night and ladies night – where local women were invited to be vendors and highlight their businesses. There will also be a British car night and community night, were people can donate blood to UNYTS. Community leaders will also be in attendance.

For a complete cruise night schedule visit www.lockportmondaynightcarcruise.weebly.com

Emily Balach, a student at Lockport High School, recently won the Barge Canal Optimist Club of Lockport essay contest based on a theme of “How Can I Help My Friends Realize Their Value.”

In second place was Madeleine Honan and third place Angelina Wronski.

The three young women were awarded a medal and certificate for the honor.

In addition, the first place essay will be sent to the New York New England district level to be judged along with winners from Optimist Clubs in the district. College scholarships are available for top winners at the district level.

“All three winners did a wonderful job of articulating this year’s theme,” Essay Contest Club Chairman Clara Tilney said. “Emily expressed herself well through the essay and deserved the honor of first place.”

The Barge Canal Optimist Club has been serving the Lockport Community for 22 years.

Additional youth service projects include Just Say No!, Girl Power, Fifth Grade Basketball, Bike Safety, Internet Safety, Project Backpack, Project Warm-A-Kid and Senior Awards.

Carrying the motto “Bringing Out the Best in Kids,” members of BCOC strive to maintain an upbeat attitude and help empower young people to be the best they can be.

Women interested in learning more about the Barge Canal Optimist Club are invited to contact President Audrey Jex at 434-6948, Membership Chair Pauline Leacock at 438-0890 or visit Barge Canal Optimist Facebook page.

Take the historic village of Lewiston, add a love of gardening and you have the eighth annual Lewiston GardenFest sponsored by the Lewiston Garden Club.

The event is June 22 and June 23 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. both days. Located along Center Street, the festival includes a free garden walk featuring the gardens of local Lewiston residents and vendors selling flowers, plants, garden art and more to beautify one’s outdoor space.

In addition master gardeners and representatives from floral societies will offer presentations and opportunities to answer all of your gardening questions.

“The Lewiston GardenFest offers something for all levels of gardeners from the master gardener to the casual gardener to those who may be looking for ideas on how to tackle plantings around their home,” said Barbara Landree, event chair. “In addition, this event is also one of the Lewiston Garden Club’s major fund-raisers with all proceeds given back to the local Lewiston community for civic beautification and scholarships.”

Several Lewiston residents will be showcasing their private gardens and opening them up to the general public. Join the free garden walk and view nine public and private gardens on June 22 and eight on June 23, varying in size and style, located both within walking distance and also a short drive from Center Street. A complete listing of participating gardens will be available during the event at one of the Lewiston GardenFest hospitality booths.

A Garden Talk is also scheduled for each day of the event.

For more information visit www.lewistongardenfest.com.

The Dale Association’s Vision and Hearing Impaired program recently received approval for a grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo. The purpose of the grant is to provide supplemental transportation for older adults — 60 years and older — in Niagara County with low vision who are currently enrolled in The Dale Association’s Vision Program.

Transportation for current clients will be available to doctor appointments, grocery stores, support group functions and community services. This linkage supports clients who wish to maintain their independence and overcome social isolation related to their vision impairment.

Qualified volunteer drivers will provide the transportation in The Dale Association’s agency passenger van. Current clients like Estelle of Newfane, will be assisted by this service to visit her ophthalmologist in Niagara Falls.

“Since my son moved out of town, I’ve really struggled to find rides where I need to go,” she said. “The Dale Association has been so helpful with my macular degeneration and now they’re going to drive me to my doctor too. This really saves me.”

Additional financial support for this supplemental transportation for participants of The Dale Association’s Vision and Hearing Impaired Program is provided by the Lockport Lion’s Club. The program is also currently recruiting volunteers to serve as drivers.

Drivers will utilize the agency’s passenger van. The program is also recruiting a volunteer to coordinate the schedules of the drivers and participants.

Volunteers are asked to dedicate up to four hours per week between the hours of 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Volunteers, age 18 and older, will be asked to submit to a driving and background check.

For information about The Dale Association Vision and Hearing Impaired program or for interested volunteers contact coordinator Nancy Smith 433-4441 or visit www.daleassociation.com.

The Erie Canal Discovery Center, 24 Church St., will welcome local author Terry Bourgeois who will offer a free program and book signing at 11 a.m. on June 29, about his book, “It Must Be True, I Heard it at the Zoo!”

This children’s book is dedicated to the fight against childhood cancers and was inspired by a very special 3-year-old child. One hundred percent of the proceeds from the sale of Bourgeois’ book are donated to Roswell Park Cancer Institute’s Carly’s Club.

Bourgeois is an active presence in the fight to end cancers. In the year 2000, he became involved in an annual celebration of life called “Ride for Roswell,” in Buffalo. As one of the volunteer chairs for this fund-raising event, Bourgeois has been part of a team that is currently raising more than $3.5 million annually in funds that go directly to cancer research.

In July of 2012, one of Bourgeois’s colleagues with “Ride for Roswell” received news that his 3-year-old grandson was diagnosed with Burritt’s lymphoma, a rare and extremely aggressive cancer. Bourgeois wanted to combine his passion for animals and photography with his drive to end cancer.

He decided to share his experience at the zoo to help this special child and his parents cope with the countless hours in the hospital as they go through their journey to fight this disease.

As “It Must Be True, I Heard It At The Zoo” became a reality, Bourgeois realized that other young children and those that love and care for them might also enjoy the escape this book can provide.

Bourgeois was raised on a dairy farm in rural North Dakota, along with six siblings. He served 12 years in the Naval Submarine service and is currently working in corporate America. He continues to fight the battle against cancer through his volunteer works.

Admission for this event on June 29 is free, but a donation is always gratefully received.

After the presentation, each child will have the opportunity to create a zebra, lion, tiger, monkey or giraffe in an activity sponsored by The Learning Edge. Be sure to check out all of the great activities happening at The Learning Edge for kids this summer.

A printable list and calendar is available at etcResources.com/summer2013.pdf.

For more information contact the Erie Canal Discovery Center at 439-0431.

Publishing is a hard business to get into. It comes with a lot of rejection. The key is to not let that knock you down. Author Laura Strickland did just that when working on her newly published book “Devil Black.”
Strickland’s interest in writing piqued from her love of reading. She started writing in the third grade when she found she never wanted the stories she read to end.
“You can create a whole new world,” Laura gushed about her love of writing.
Over the years Strickland wrote a range of genres until stumbling upon romance when she found her publishing house The Wild Rose.
 “At the time the publisher wasn’t taking anything but romance. I just did it to see if I could do it.” Strickland says of her decision to write a book that fit the publisher’s guidelines.
‘Devil Black’ is a historical romance novel set in Scotland. Her choosing of this particular location for her story came from her love of the area when she visited Scotland a couple years ago.
In the story Isobel Maitland travels to Scotland but is abducted by a ruthless highwayman, Dougal MacRae or as they call him, Diabhal Dubh—Devil Black. Isobel is then faced with the choice of suffering the loveless union to which she resigned herself or marry the ruthless Scottish outlaw who can ignite her with just a single touch.
Our outlaw terrorizes the countryside trying to outdistance the memories that torture him. The King has decreed that he must marry, and when he steals the alluring woman who is betrothed to his enemy, he sees a way to follow the King’s command and get the revenge he seeks.
But what he doesn’t foresee is the powerful emotion of  love, which ultimately changes him.
It took all of two years to create this piece of literature. Strickland sat through multiple editing sessions of her novel which can become very personal, because editors are picking apart part of you, the author, as they are sifting through your story.
The Wild Rose is different according to Strickland. The publishers and editors have a great understanding of the position the authors are in.
“They are very kind,” Strickland says of her publishing house. “They treat you like a person and work with you.”
You can purchase a copy of “Devil Black” on Amazon.com in either paperback or kindle edition. You can also purchase the book at www.thewildrosepress.com or www.laurastricklandbooks.com where you can check out her previously published books such as “Queen’s Knight.”
Keep your eyes peeled for book one of her “Guardians of Sherwood Trilogy” titled “Daughter of Sherwood” that is expected to come out this fall.

In what has become something of a rite of spring, more than 50 National Grid employees returned to Gill Creek Park in Niagara Falls May 22 to continue efforts to beautify and transform this popular public park and community asset into one of Niagara County’s most picturesque and useful green spaces.

This is the fourth time in five years that National Grid volunteers have worked with city and neighbor organizations on projects in the park.

“Our commitment to transforming Gill Creek Park over the years continues the company’s long tradition of volunteering throughout Western New York, safeguarding the environment, and working with the communities we serve,” said Dennis Elsenbeck, regional executive for National Grid. “National Grid is very proud of what our employees have accomplished at Gill Creek Park and we are thrilled to be able to help make this public park into a true community treasure.”

The team of National Grid employees completed some ambitious gardening projects during this year’s effort including, trash pick-up, flower planting, weeding, mulching, hedging and edging. The company also helped build two regulation sized beach volleyball courts in the park for the community. The courts will be operated by the Niagara Street Area Business and Professional Association, which plans to schedule leagues and will coordinate free for use by area residents when not being used for leagues.

In addition, National Grid expanded on its educational component of this annual clean-up by hosting more than 30 students from the Niagara Street School for an outdoor lesson at the park by one of the company’s head environmental engineers. Students learned about the importance of protecting the environment and the benefits of practicing sustainability.

This year’s clean-up completes the latest phase of a plan to transform the once underutilized park into a true community asset and beautiful public space. In addition to extensive clean-up, weeding and hedging of bushes over the years National Grid has constructed very large landscape planters out of concrete pavers, created new raised flower beds to plant a myriad of flowers, planted many new shrubs and refreshed existing flower beds with new top soil, mulch and flowers.

The company also constructed a beautiful 50-foot by 10-foot garden that serves as a centerpiece of the park and is used to educate children at Niagara Street School about environmental sciences.

The peace garden also includes more than 40 indigenous plants that will be fully top soiled and mulched. National Grid made sure all improvements adhered to the master plan for the public park developed by the Niagara Street Area Business and Professional Association, City of Niagara Falls.

National Grid’s investment into Gill Creek Park over the years is more than $125,000.

Niagara County Republicans endorsed the full slates of the county’s 12 town and three city committees May 29, at the same time that they unanimously elected Scott Kiedrowski, who has served as interim chairman for the past month, as chairman in his own right.

The endorsement meeting, heavily attended with approximately 120 Niagara County Republican Committee members in attendance, saw county Republicans endorse a slate that included 11 of the 12 sitting members of the Republican majority in the Niagara County Legislature, as well as candidates in the remaining four seats for the 15-member body.

“We are here tonight to elect Republicans,” Kiedrowski explained to party members. “We are here to elect Republicans because our party has the best vision for this county: a fiscally-conservative, anti-tax, pro-cutting government, pro-economic growth vision that has served so many of our communities so well even as our federal government has shown the dangers associated with an ever-larger, more intrusive government. We are confident Niagara County’s voters will again affirm those values.”

Kiedrowski placed the party’s full slate of nominees before county Republicans, who unanimously endorsed each town and city’s slate of candidates.

“We are confident of re-electing our Majority Caucus members to the County Legislature,” he said. “We are also very bullish on the prospects of Rich Andres in the eighth district in North Tonawanda and in Niagara Falls Giulio Colangelo looks poised for success in the fifth District.”

Also endorsed were a host of candidates for town boards and common councils, as well as other elected offices ranging from town clerk and highway superintendent to town justices and city attorneys.

Kiedrowski noted the Republican Committee had declined to endorse in what he called “fair fight situations.”

In the Town of Newfane four challengers will square off in a GOP primary for two town board seats, and in neighboring Somerset, the party declined to endorse in a five-way primary for highway superintendent.

“Our 12 town and three city committees produced solid slates of candidates,” Kiedrowski said. “Our party’s success starts with strong, active local committees.”

Assemblyman John Ceretto, R-Lewiston, helped pass legislation that protects newborns with heart defects. The legislation, which Ceretto sponsors, requires hospitals and other birthing facilities to perform pulse oximetry screening on newborns to screen for critical congenital heart defects. This will help doctors catch and treat heart defects in newborns as soon as possible.

“My Assembly colleagues and I took an important step toward protecting and enhancing the life of newborns with heart defects through pulse oximetry screening, a preventative measure that is harmless to the child,” said Ceretto. “I am proud to have been a sponsor of this legislation and to have helped pass it. This simple test can save the lives of newborns and give parents peace of mind knowing that hospitals will be protecting their children by performing this simple test.”

Pulse oximetry screening involves taping a small sensor to a newborn’s foot while the sensor beams red light through the foot to measure how much oxygen is in the blood. The test takes approximately one minute and is both painless and harmless for the newborn.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, congenital heart diseases are the leading cause of infant death from birth defects. Current screening methods only diagnose about half of the cases of congenital heart disease.

The Natural Resources Conservation Service’s Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) will provide about $175 million in funding for up to 12.6 million additional acres enrollment this year.

Although applications are accepted all year, farmers, ranchers and forestland owners interested in CSP should submit applications by Friday to their local NRCS office to ensure they are considered for this year’s funding.

“CSP is different than our other financial assistance programs,” said NY NRCS state Conservationist Don Pettit. “It offers payments to producers who maintain a high level of conservation on their land and agree to adopt higher levels of stewardship. It’s about conservation activities on the entire operation, focusing on multiple resource concerns.”

Because of the extreme weather in 2012, more interest and participation in the cover crop enhancements is expected this year, according to NRCS experts. Other CSP enhancements available to producers help to improve soil quality, water quality, plant health and/or animal habitat.

A CSP self-screening checklist is available to help producers determine if the program is suitable for their operation. The checklist highlights basic information about CSP eligibility requirements, stewardship threshold requirements and payment types.

For the checklist and additional information visit the www.ny.nrcs.usda.gov/programs/ or visit a local USDA NRCS office.

The History Center recently announced the addition of three new limited edition “Cat’s Meow” collectibles to their collection of custom Niagara County wooden keepsakes.

The new collectibles include Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse, Lockport Children’s Memorial Park and the Shamus Restaurant.

These true-to-life hand-painted wooden miniatures are designed to carefully depict the architectural highlights of each of the buildings and are sure to become treasured mementos.

The Children’s Memorial Park in Lockport was established in 1995 to provide a suitable memorial location for parents and grandparents of deceased children to visit. The Gazebo was completed in 1996 and is 24’ in diameter and 30’ tall.

In addition to the Gazebo, the Children’s Memorial Park includes brick walkways, benches, memorial trees and shrubs, sundial, arbors and several beautiful gardens. The park is maintained by volunteers and funds are raised through the sale of red bows that are placed on the Christmas tree that is in the center of the Gazebo during the holiday season.

The Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse at Golden Hill State Park was built in 1875 and is located 30 miles east from the mouth of the Niagara River where it enters Lake Ontario. Its light protected ships from running aground on a shifting sandbar. One famous shipwreck occurred there in 1780 when the H.M.S. Ontario went down with all eighty-eight hands lost and $15,000 in army payroll missing.

The lighthouse has a tower 60 feet high and is constructed of hand-cut stone shipped by schooner from Chaumont Bay on the eastern end of Lake Ontario. The lighthouse structure was completed for a cost of $90,000 by the United States government.

Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse was taken over by the U.S. Coast Guard in 1935 and a yellow brick addition was made to the building at that time.

The light in the tower was decommissioned in 1958 and the lighthouse and the land for Golden Hill State Park was acquired by the New York State Office of Parks in 1962. Although the original light was decommissioned, the current light was relit and is maintained by the “Friends of Thirty Mile Point Lighthouse.”

The first Shamus Restaurant was opened at 45 N. Transit St. in 1957 by James Murphy.

In 1973 he moved the business to its present location at 98 West Avenue. The name Shamus is Gaelic for James. The restaurant is housed in a c. 1870 red brick home.

The present owners, Ann Murphy-Beaulieu and Robert E Beaulieu, bought the establishment in 1990. The Shamus is well-known in Lockport for its excellent food, friendly staff and unique specialties.

These collectibles are painstakingly produced by Cats Meow Village of Ohio, who has been dedicated to their craft for more than 20 years. The History Center is the regional distributor for Cat’s Meow and has produced about 40 collectibles to date of various historic buildings in the area.

The History Center has commissioned a limited edition of these popular pieces and is now taking pre-orders for individual buildings at $16.95 or a complete set of all three for $45.

For more information or to place a pre-order call the History Center at 434-7433.

Lockport Public Library is offering an introductory Facebook class, held at the Town Hall building, 6560 Dysinger Road, Lockport. The class runs from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday.

Participants will learn how to set up a Facebook profile, review privacy settings, find friends and games and improve their online social skills.

Additional social media and internet classes will be offered at town hall in July and August. Town classes are taught by instructors from NIOGA library system.

All classes are free, but registration is required. Register by phone at 433-5935, ext. 3 or stop in at 23 East Ave., Lockport.

For a complete listing of computer classes visit www.lockportlibrary.org.

To make additional room for the 2013-14 school year, the Lockport City School District’s Board of Education decided Wednesday to remove the stage at Roy B. Kelley.

With more than 150 additional students coming to the school from Washington Hunt, more cafeteria space is needed.

RBK Principal Marianne Currie-Hall said because of the size of the stage and the size of the cafeteria attached to it, “there is no way to do a production at RBK.”

The cafeteria has a capacity of 300 people and she said they can not even do a production with one grade level because most grades have 100 student and with the many family members that want to attend, there is no room.

She said the stage is also not used for rehearsals. Both the band and chorus practice in the cafeteria.

Currie-Hall said at lunch time, the cafeteria is “tight” now, accommodating all the students at the school from 11:10 a.m. to 1:35 p.m. With the additional student coming in the fall, the lunch period will be extended to be able to spread out the number of student in the room at one time.

“We need to have space to feed our children,” Currie-Hall said.

Several board members agreed.

“If the stage is not going to serve a purpose, it should be removed,” said board President John Linderman.

Board members Joseph O’Shaughnessy was in favor of keeping the stage until he saw it.

“It is very small,” he said. “The key is to feed kids in a safe environment. There is no room.”

The removal of the RBK stage is part of the current capital project. After several board members stated they were against that removal, the facilities committee took another look.

With that project underway, the board needed to have the final decision to contractors by June 17.

The board reviewed several options, including keeping the stage and building a ramp up to it, creating an “upper classman” lunch area.

Board member Thomas Fiegl said they need to feed the children “safely and properly” and cannot do that with the stage there.

An additional serving line will also need to be put in the cafeteria to help accommodate the extra children. The capital improvement project was approved by voters May 21, will reconstruct the kitchen of RBK and create a second serving line in the foyer, however for the next year or two, that line will have to be placed in the cafeteria.

With a 6 to 2 vote, board members decided their best option was to remove the stage. This would make room for three extra tables or 48 students.

This decision was not popular with all board members, Diane Phelps and Jon Williams voted against this action.

Williams said he felt the stage is part of the identity of schools and that identity shouldn’t be removed.

Phelps expressed her concern with the other board members suggestion that all production in the district can be moved to the newly remodeled high school auditorium. She said with a district their size, eventually they will not be able to accommodate all of the concerts, musicals and other performances for each school.

Currie-Hall said RBK would love to have a stage they could use. The topic of expanding the school’s cafeteria and adding a stage area could be included in a future capital improvement project.

Assemblyman Ray Walter, R-Amherst, will be hosting an open-to-the-public blood drive with Unyts, Western New York’s only organ, eye, tissue and community blood center from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. June 14 in front of his district office at 5555 Main St., Williamsville.

Unyts will have a mobile donation center set up outside of the office for neighbors to come give blood and in turn save lives.

“Making sure that we have a strong and steady supply of blood is absolutely vital to the well being of our community,” Walter said. “One pint of blood can save up to three lives of Western New Yorkers. All the donations that Unyts takes in locally, stays local.”

To schedule an appointment to donate, call 634-1895. Walter’s office will also be supplying snacks and refreshments for donors.

The Kenan Center held its 43rd annual craftsman show, their largest fund-raiser, in Lockport this past weekend.

The weather was in their favor this year bringing in a widespread of traffic thanks to the show’s well-known reputation.

This year’s show had many new additions including the Black Willow Winery, the food vendor Lakefront Olive Orchard and local artist the late Margaret Martin’s watercolor gallery.

The show held a large variety of craftsmanship including clay, jewelry, wood, leather, paper, basketry, glass and metal, wearable fiber and mixed media.

Returning to the show was Ken schosek, an artist from Amherst who added a new piece to his collection: guitars made from exotic woods.

Schosek found a way to show his artistic side when he took up the hobby of woodwork.

“I like to work with exotic woods from all over the world and piece them together into designs,” said Schosek. “That’s when I started putting them into guitars. I came up with a few models and had some people test them out and I came up with a good product with a different look.”

For more information you can contact him at kschosek@yahoo.com.

Also returning to the show was Marsha Van Vlack from Whitesville, N.Y. who specializes in handmade stoneware tiles. She has been attending the show for eight years, and enjoys the people who attend because they “appreciate art.”

Van Vlack enjoys replicating landscapes and nature which she brings out in her handmade art tiles which are painted with stains and glazes.

She is a full-time artist who supplements her artwork with a teaching job at a crafts center in Whitesville.

For special orders and more information you can contact her at marshavanvlack@gmail.com.

On Saturday, June 1 and Sunday onlookers were able to wander over to the Kenan House were the gallery of Margaret M. Martin — A Watercolor Perspective was held.

Martin was a highly accomplished watercolorist of Western New York who passed away November 2012.

She started out as a commercial artist who then found herself teaching watercolor classes out of her studio located at 69 Elmwood Ave., Buffalo.

A former student Rosemarie Cardoso said Martin was an exceptional teacher.

“The late Margaret Martin was, for Buffalo, a champion of its architectural treasures in watercolor and a nationally recognized painter who gave workshops and jewelry shows throughout the United States,” Cardoso said.

Martin’s artwork consisted of houses of Allentown, the St. Patrick’s Day parade, Buffalo’s waterfront, the Basilica and many more architectural buildings such as New York City’s Chrysler building. Her gallery also included an array of floral paintings.

Martin captures the beauty in each place and subject that is painted across her canvas.

Martin wrote in one of her sketchbooks, “Painting for me is part of an unending journey … revealing my experience with light, space, color … a continuous search for beauty … a search for new horizons and impressions. I look for the spirit of a place … the energy of the subject.”

Martin’s work will be on display through July 12. If you miss the show, don’t worry. An estate sale will be held at her studio. For more information contact Monica Wargo during business hours at 882-4940.

This year’s master craftsman was returning ‘best of show’ winner, fiber artist Andrea Geer of Rochester.

Geer creates knit fabrics from yarn made of merino wool, linen and cotton in order to enhance the beauty and individuality of the wearer. She creates her own buttons and pins to enhance the overall design.

You can check out her designs at www.andreageer.com.

According to organizers, over all, the show created a great tourism attraction for Lockport.

“The show is a great way to show people what else Lockport has to offer.” Marketing Director Elaine Harrigan said.

She said not only does the show benefit the artists but it benefits the community of Lockport as well.

“It looks like it was a very good weekend for us, so we are very pleased with the turnout,” said Harrigan.