This week's stories:
By Allie Herryman
Kelly Zientek
and The Bona Wolf
Nothing helps welcome the cold weather like a hot cup of coffee. Those who crave their java and whipped cream with more atmosphere than anything the Reilly Center Cafe or Heavenly Grounds provides can find an alternative just up Route 219. Spot Coffee, located at 32 Monroe St. in Ellicottville, is a Western New York landmark. Noted for serving drinks with comfy couches, local art and fresh dessert, the coffee shop creates a welcoming atmosphere for all patrons. The first floor is decorated cafe-style with little round tables and basic chairs, but the real treat is upstairs. A room with a balcony overlooking the counter and downstairs seating is decorated with couches, chairs and end tables reminiscent of a grandmotherıs living room. A two-story mural of the ski country that surrounds Ellicottville links the two rooms, as does a colorful painted trim giving the impression of mosaic tiles. Artwork by St. Bonaventure alum Frankie Howell, 01, is prominently displayed throughout the building. The pieces were displayed in the Senior Thesis art show last spring, and several of them are now for sale. The use of fabric draped above windows and from railings, a Spot trademark, is certainly not absent from this setting. Michael and Sally Moran, who own the five Spot stores, opened the first location in Buffalo at Delaware Avenue and Chippewa Street, a growing entertainment district. According to The Buffalo News, during its first seven months of operation in 1996 the combination coffee shop/restaurant made $200,000. The Ellicottville location was the second to open in February 1997. Since then, the Morans have opened additional Spots at 765 Elmwood Ave. in Buffalo and in the historic Hallman Chevrolet building at 200 East Ave. in Rochester. The most recent Spot opened its doors Sept. 18 at Hopkins and Klein roads in Williamsville. Visitors to the Ellicottville Spot meet the desert counter head-on when they walk in the door. Cakes, brownies, canoli and several varieties of cookies tempt everyoneıs sweet tooths. If solid sweets arenıt enough, many drink selections, with and without coffee, are available. For chocolate lovers, thereıs traditional hot cocoa, mochas, and cocomocos. Other classic Spot drinks include lattes, steamers and chai tea. The barista warns patrons to beware of the differences between the names of Spot drinks and those used at other coffee houses. For example, a machiato at Starbucks is made with espresso, steamed milk and caramel while at Spot the same drink is made with espresso and a dollop of foam. As for the 50 to 75 pounds of leftover coffee grounds that Spot produces each day, according to manager Chantele Smith, visitors can request to take them home as food for plants. Whether youıre feeding the spider plant on your windowsill or your own rumbling tummy, Spot Coffee is a great trip for a weekend afternoon. Hours are 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 7 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday Take Route 417 west to Route 219. Follow the signs for ³business north² until you come into the village of Ellicottville. Turn right onto Monroe Street at the blinking red light and Spot is on your left. The trip takes about 40 minutes.
Players bring classic dilemma, ironic humor to stage in The Glass Menagerieı
By Kelly Zientek
What happens on stage two weeks before a production at Garret Theatre? Comments like, ³Itıs on the edge of really hysterical,² and, ³Howıs the limp in those shoes?² foreshadow what director Ed Simone knows will be a fabulous show. ³The Glass Menagerie,² written by Tennessee Williams over 50 years ago, sounds more like an episode of ³Gilmore Girls,² according to Simone. ³Itıs got a single mom with a limited income, living in an apartment with a disabled child,² he explained. Set in the 1930s American south, the story centers around Tom Wingfield, a 21-year-old man, who struggles between his family responsibility and seeking out the life he wants to live, according to sophomore Brian Marshall, who plays the role. ³It is one of the most challenging roles Iıve ever had to play,² Marshall said of his eighth appearance in a Garret Theatre production. He explained the difficulty in emphasizing the dilemma in Tomıs need to get out and create his own life and feelings of responsibility in caring for his mother and sister, without making Tom appear selfish. ³I like Tom. I can see his dilemma,² Marshall said. ³I donıt think I would do things the same way, but you have to justify his actions to yourself in order to play the part.² Tomıs mother, Amanda, takes the show with her flamboyant eccentricity. Andrea Trisciuzzi, who works in university advancement, describes her character as the classic role in American theater, because of Amandaıs many levels. ³You have to pull out all the stops and hopefully not fall flat on your face!² Trisciuzzi said. Trisciuzzi appeared in ³Steel Magnolias² last spring and in several Olean Community Theatre productions. When Simone offered her the chance to play Amanda in ³The Glass Menagerie,² she said she couldnıt turn it down. ³I love working with Ed. Simone. He knows how to get to different levels of a character,² she said, ³even when you resist!² Tomıs invalid sister, Laura, played by junior Maggy Vogt, inspires Tomıs family responsibilities with her naive outlook on the world. ³Sheıs a very introverted young woman,² Vogt explained. Vogt said this version of ³The Glass Menagerie² has a different interpretation than what viewers may have seen before. ³It explores family relationships more clearly,² she said. Sophomore Brian Fitzsimmons shares his funny-bone with the audience in his first performance on the Garret Theatre stage. He previously appeared in ³Into the Woods² and the Musical Theater Company review ³Time Warp.² This time he plays the role of the gentleman caller, Jim OıConner, who Amanda tries to set up with Laura, never realizing that Jim was Lauraıs high-school crush. ³Jim tries his hardest to bring out the best in people,² Fitzsimmons said. ³Heıs confident about himself, but not too confident, and he wants to get people to do their best.² Fitzsimmons said he has enjoyed the switch from musicals to straight drama. ³You donıt have to worry about hitting the notes and dancing,² he said. ³It is just you and the stage.² Simone ran the technical work of ³The Glass Menagerie² as a sophomore at St. Bonaventure in 1976. Now an associate professor of theater, he said he is proud of the work he sees in his cast. ³Everyone does great work,² he said. Simone dismissed common misconceptions of Tennessee Williams being a long-winded writer. ³One of the amazing things about Williams is that he works in brilliantly, funny moments in an overall serious play,² he said. According to Simone, Williams believed that the best tragedy comes out of what the audience finds funny. Simone explains how Williams ³rips the rug right out from underneath² comedic scenes in the show to make a sobering point to the audience. ³I hope people come out for it,² he added. ³We do this for the campus, for the community here at Bonaıs.² The curtain rises on ³The Glass Menagerie² in Garret Theatre at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 24 and runs through the 26th. Tickets are $6 for students, $7 for faculty and staff, and $8 for the general public. They can be purchased at the box office in The Quick Center for the Arts.
By Kathy Dempsey
The all-female a cappella group, Vocallusion, has filled the air with its beautiful voices for five years. The original four members graduated in May, leaving their group in the hands of director Jen Kane. The senior has been with the group for four years and currently works with 11 other eager young women with magnificent voices. Kane joined Vocallusion four years ago because she loves to sing and she loves a cappella music. She became the assistant of Julie Wallace, one of the founding members of the group. Kane helped teach and arrange music for Wallace and eventually took over when she graduated in 2001. Kaneıs musical backround helped her develop the skills necessary to direct the group. She hopes to sing in a musical group after college and will definitely continue to cantor at her church at home, she said. Although Kane is a journalism/mass communication major, she minors in music. ³Music is my life. Music makes me happy,² she said. Each Tuesday from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m. and Fridays from 2:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m., students meet in The Quick Center for the Arts to practice for upcoming concerts. They plan to perform some small concerts at the end of next semester and hope for another large performance in April, but no dates have been set, Kane said. The ladies use their ears and a pitch pipe, a device that allows them to hear the musical tone for the piece of music, to sing contemporary music. They choose songs from the girlsı input and usually use songs that they hear on the radio, according to Kane. Junior Lisa Cipolla, a member of the group, said, ³I love to sing, and this is like a sisterhood because some of us are very close and we care about each other.² She added, ³I like a cappella music because itıs more entertaining.² Junior Hillary Haff has been in Vocallusion for two years. She joined the group because she loved to sing in high school. She enjoys a cappella music because it is a challenge to sing without instuments. Haff said Vocallusion concerts are a mixture of pop and religious songs. ³We try to introduce new songs to people,² she said. These supportive women work well together because they talk about how the songs progress and how they can make themselves sound better. Junior Laura Sortore said it is very important for them to listen to one another. You might have seen the members of Vocallusion singing the National Anthem at four of the basketball games last year. This year, they hope to sing at more. They will be singing at StartUps Deli-Cafe again this year, but have not yet confirmed a date. They had several concerts, including one at StartUps, last April. According to Kane, Vocallusion received its charter two years ago enabling the group to advertise on campus and receive funds from the Student Government Association. Before gaining the charter, the group raised money through donations and profit from the CD at the end of the year. The CDs cost $7, and are available for anyone who would like to purchase one. ³We put out a CD every year, and we hope to do it again this year,² Sortore said. The money goes towards the cost of CDs, purchasing supplies and music for the group. This close-knit group encourages all women that love to sing to audition in the fall. They will be looking next year for students who love to sing and who have wide vocal ranges.
By Guyan Wilks Staff Writer
By day, Sally Kwiatkowski helps struggling math students, but on nights and weekends, she relaxes with her favorite hobby: making music. As a coordinator for the mathematics support offered to students on campus through the Teaching and Learning Center, Kwiatkowski spends her days helping students understand challenging math work. ³I help students with disabilities, students who have special needs and I also help seniors who are taking senior-level business classes,² Kwiatkowski said. She also tutors mathematics for the Higher Educational Opportunity Program. Nigel Ray Garcia, a freshman enrolled in HEOP, said, ³Ms. Kwiatkowski is the greatest math tutor I ever had. She takes her time and breaks everything down.² Kwiatkowski described her membership in the Twin Tiers Community Band as ³a band made up of amateur musicians who have a love of playing music.² Band members, ranging in age from 14 to 80, come from the Southern Tier of New York State and the Northern Tier of Pennsylvania, she explained. Although Kwiatkowski usually plays tenor saxophone, she said she also plays the alto saxophone when needed. Kwiatkowski also belongs to the subset version of the Twin Tier Band, which she described as a ³small swing band which is made up of three trombones, four saxophones, three trumpets, a keyboard player, a tuba and a drummer.² Kwiatkowski said the bands keep her busy playing at a number of different marches, shows and celebrations. ³The community band played this summer in the park for a free concert series, and we played for the glass festival celebrating the glass factory in Eldred,² she said. She added that the band marches in the Memorial Day parade in Eldred, Pa. every year. In addition to parades, the band plays for nursing homes, she said. Kwiatkowski said her love of music stems from her elementary school days. She learned the clarinet first in junior high school, when her band teacher offered her the opportunity to learn the tenor saxophone. ³Ever since I have always loved playing music,² she said. In college, Kwiatkowski said she played in every band she could sign up for, including the jazz ensemble and the pep band. Even today Kwiatkowskiıs love of music keeps her busy, but she deems it a necessary part of her life. ³Some people have recreational hobbies that help them relax. For me it is my music,² she said. ³It is an important release for me.² Freshman Dawn Hasper said, ³Iım glad Ms. K. has something fun she likes to do and if it helps her relax Iım even more glad for her. She works really hard to help us.² It has been five years since Kwiatkowski joined the bands and she does not plan on quitting anytime soon. Kwiatkowski said, ³The band will be playing at the Olean High School and we are currently preparing for our Christmas show.² Helping students find their way in the world of math and making music to soothe the soul: all in a dayıs work for Sally Kwiatkowski.
By Joe Enoch
There is more to the bells in Devereux and Doyle halls then what meet the eye, or in this case, the ear. They ring every day, whether school is in attendance or not. The bells in Doyle Hall actually are a part of the chapel at the end of Doyle Hall. According to the rededication of the friary literature available in the chapel, the bells reside in a tower dedicated to Mary, Queen of the Order of Friars Minor. The tower was built as part of the rededication of the Friary of St. Bonaventure in 1961. It is one of two bell towers on campus. The other, by Francis Hall, was dedicated to Christ. There are three bells in each tower. According to Father Dan Riley, O.F.M., William Warren, a friend of the university, donated the bells to the university around 1963. ³The bells in Doyle remind us of Mary and help us to keep track of time. The bells first ring at 9 a.m. and do their final tolls at 9 p.m. They ring every 15 minutes,² said Father Dan. The noise does not bother the residents in Doyle, however. ³We just get used to them,² said Christie Mendola, a sophomore resident in Doyle. ³I notice them more outside then when I am in my room,² said sophomore Courtney Gailor, whose windows in her Doyle room also face the tower. According to literature provided by Security Service officials, the bells in Devereux Hall are actually not bells at all. A Schulmerich Novabell III Instrument runs the bells. This device creates electronic noise, sends it to an amplifier and finally to speakers in the bell tower above Devereux Hall. This electronic system can play thousands of songs. In order to play a song, a pre-programmed card must be purchased for $55 and then installed into the computer. Each card contains nine songs of the same genre. The card is a one-time purchase and the one currently in use is of the ³popular² genre. Security Services officials operate the bells in Devereux Hall. They choose what songs to play, when to play them and make sure the machine runs well. On March 10, 1997, St. Bonaventure purchased the Schulmerich Novabell III Instrument for $9,575. Currently, it plays the John Lennon-Paul McCartney song ³Michelle.² Security Service officials change the songs according to the season. For example, during the holidays, a programmed card with Christmas carols will be installed. The electronic bell in Devereux goes off once a day, every day at 6:30 p.m., and can be heard across campus. ³Oh yeah, I hear the bell,² said Alex Crafts, a freshman resident in Devereux Hall . ³It is kind of relaxing, plus, the Beatles are good,² said Crafts. The bells hold a small bit of significance in our daily routine whether they wake us up for class on a weekday, on a Saturday or make us reminisce of 1960s Paris on a cool afternoon at 6:30 p.m.
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