Monday, April 29, 2013

Luncheon this Wednesday...

FIRST COME, FIRST ACCEPTED!


Visit Buffalo Niagara is holding its annual awards luncheon in the Buffalo Convention Center this coming Wednesday, May 1st, and a table was donated to Graycliff.  There are just three seats at the Graycliff table at the Beacon Awards still available, so if you'd like to join us, whoever responds  first via comment below gets first dibs.

Among the honorees is Phyllis W. Pierce, a wonderful person, neighbor of Graycliff, and major financial supporter of Graycliff's landscape restoration.  This should be a fun event...and will also disprove the old adage that there's no such thing as a free lunch!

Hope to see you there...if you're relatively speedy, that is.  All best--Reine




University Express Program




University Express Program is sponsored by the Erie County Department of Senior Services.  As part of this program one of our own, June Justice Crawford, a docent and co-chair of the Wright-on-the-road at Graycliff, is doing a presentation on Tuesday, May 14 at 3 pm titled, Buffalo's Grain Elevator.
This will be at the Orchard Park Senior Center.  Call 662-6452 to register.  Classes are free and open to all seniors 55+ years.  That unfortunately includes most of us!  You can pick up a brochure with a complete listing of classes at other Senior Centers in Erie County.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

SAVE THE DATE

We have posted about it before, but don't forget the presentation on May 1; that's just next week!  I have also been informed today that the speaker, Scott Perkins, has just been offered and accepted the  position of Director of Preservation at Fallingwater. 
 
 


Please save the date of May 1, 2013 7 pm.  As part of the Graycliff Lecture Series there will be a presentation by Scott Perkins at the Burchfield Penny Art Center titled;

   Opening the Envelope:
Porches, Patios, and Terraces


Remember, you heard it here first!  Further info on the presentation will be forthcoming.

National Volunteer week


  

Congratulations,  folks!  It is our week: National Volunteer Week.  So, on behalf of the Graycliff Conservancy, thank you all for your volunteer efforts in support of the organization.  Without you, there would be no Graycliff,  and your volunteer time, efforts and commitment are greatly appreciated and valued.

WELCOME TRAINEE DOCENTS





A  new docent training group will be starting on 4/27, and running Saturdays  9-noon until 6/15   with a break for Memorial Day weekend. We would like to welcome those trainees to the Graycliff family and hope that they find their involvement with the Conservancy as rewarding as the rest of us have.  A hearty welcome to: Kathleen B., Dan & Gail S., Don & Susan W., Nancy D., Phillipa G., Michael P., Mary Y., Joe-Susan E-W., Dale N., Linda Mc., Margaret S., Tom J., and Marilyn Mc.  It is great to have you join us.

I hope that you find this blog useful and informative.  You can comment on any posted article by clicking on the comment section after any article on the blog (this comment section apparently does not show up if you get new blog postings on your email, you have to actually sign on to the blog.) or address any question of concern of any kind, or ideas for postings to George Struebel at

                                                      gds2146@hotmail.com

The purpose of this blog is to be a source of information and communication for all Graycliff volunteers as a way of making us a tighter, more cohesive group.  Please feel free to contribute and comment.  By the way, if you have not met your trainers yet, Marion is the lovely lady in the first picture in the blog heading. .Having gone through the training myself just a year ago, I can tell you that you are going to have an enjoyable experience.  And I can guarantee that at the end of the training you will have so much Frank Lloyd Wright/ Darwin & Isabelle Martin information inside your head that it will be busting to get out and be shared on tours.  You will definitely become an expert.  Welcome to the Graycliff family!

Friday, April 19, 2013

Graycliff --Landscape Restoration Underway at Last!

We aren't really under siege, but the place looks a little like it as the attached photos indicate.  We are heavy into the process of removing  trees, removing the asphalt and re-creating the historic driveway, major improvements to the pond (including a new circulation system and real concrete liner, so that many of you will not have to wade into the pond several times a year to fix the plastic liner currently in place)  and other exciting activities in an effort to return the site to the original 1931 landscape plan.  Only non-historic trees are being removed; historically significant trees are being carefully protected.  Some  trees are being removed  to allow a large crane access to the bluff to remove and save the bridge  to the tower, and reinforcing the tower, which will be happening in the next several weeks.  All the trees in the circle have already come down including the dawn redwoods.

 I was there Tuesday morning when these pictures were taken and by the time I left at 11:30, more than half of the driveway circle asphalt had also been removed and I suspect the rest may have been gone by the end of the day. It's always sad to remove trees, but the good news is that once construction is finished, new trees and shrubs will be installed to replicate the original landscape design.

This restoration will provide challenges to conducting tours and I suggest you arrive early if you are leading tours and survey what the situation is like on the grounds prior to starting your tours.   Historic renovation at Graycliff is always an ongoing process and guests--and we-- are fortunate to be able to view parts of that process.  Invite guests  back in the future to see how the place changes. Just be aware of the process and be prepared to work your tours around it (rerouting may be necessary) and work the preservation process into your presentation.

PS  Was there Saturday 4/20 and the walkway from the kitchen stoop was removed making it a pretty big jump down to leave , be careful there.  The driveway is not yet completely removed, some work is going on at the pond. the cut trees have been removed from home grounds and stored elsewhere so less of a messy look in that respect.


Wednesday, April 17, 2013

Two Volunteers Needed for May 1st!

Graycliff's first lecture of the season, "Inside/Outside: Transitional Space in the Work of Frank Lloyd Wright", is scheduled for Wed., May 1st. 

 The lecture will begin at 7:00 PM at the Burchfield Penney Art Center. 

 As of today, nobody has signed up to volunteer for this event.  There is a sign-up sheet for this and other 2013 Graycliff events posted on the bulletin board in the Volunteer Lounge at the site.  

We will need two volunteers for this event, to check people in for the lecture.  Reporting time would be no later than 6:30 PM.  If you are interested in assisting with this lecture, please let one of the Volunteer Co-Chairs know:


     Phyllis Spears -email Phyllis 
     Kathy Mehltretter - Email Kathy

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

FREE, FREE, FREE, THIS SATURDAY

                                               
                               

I know we have posted about this before but there are changes to the event. Our original post said that Kim Bixler was speaking exclusively for Graycliff Volunteers this Saturday April 20 at 10:30 am at the Pierce Arrow Museum on Seneca St. in Buffalo.  There are corrections to that.  The presentation is now at 11 am and is open to the general public.  There are no reservations required, just show up; it is free.  You will also get a preview of the FLW designed gas station being completed inside the museum as an added bonus.

Kim grew up in the FLW Boynton House in Rochester and has written a book about her experiences.  She will be discussing those and reading excerpts from that book Saturday.  There also was a great article about the presentation in today's Buffalo News on the front of C Section with a few photos.  I think it would be a great presentation to catch because lets face it; nothing is free these days and when you have free opportunities you have to take advantage of them.  I would love to say I'll see you there, but hey, somebody had to be stuck doing the tours at the estate on Saturday and it turns out to be me, so enjoy and tell me about it.  Send me emails at  gds2146@hotmil .com, tell me about the presentation and I will work up a review from your feedback to post on the blog so that everyone can benefit.

Thursday, April 11, 2013

New Video; Graycliff and DDM House





A new promotional video has been produced by Buffalo Niagara on our favorite estate and the DDM House.  The cast of characters includes some of our own Graycliff   "stars."  It appears on our Facebook page. Go there to check it out. 

Or just because I am a nice guy and want to make things easier, you could just click on the link below. When you get the site, Scroll down just a bit to the link to the video.

                                           Graycliff website with link to Architecture Done Wright







Monday, April 8, 2013

For Graycliff Volunteers Only


Growing Up In a Frank Lloyd Wright House
Kim Bixler’s family owned Frank Lloyd Wright’s 1908 Edward E. Boynton House in Rochester, New York from 1977 to 1994. Join Kim for an engaging multi-media presentation as she recounts the joys and pitfalls of living in a Wright-designed home. Kim will share family photographs, historical documents, personal anecdotes and explain the tumultuous history of the house. She just published her latest book Growing Up in a Frank Lloyd Wright House and is also featured in an upcoming PBS documentary Frank Lloyd Wright's Boynton House: The Next Hundred Years.
 
Graycliff Lecture—Special JUST for Graycliff Volunteers
Free
At the Buffalo Transportation Pierce-Arrow Museum
, 263 Michigan Street at Seneca St., downtown Buffalo.
Saturday, April 20th  10:30 am

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Why Volunteer? Why Graycliff?




I want to ask you all a serious question;  Why do you volunteer at Graycliff?  I would like you to think about it and click on the comment section after this posting and send your response.  We will all be able to view all the responses sent in so keep it clean and honest.  I am told we have several hundred volunteers and we probably have just as many answers as to why we volunteer here, but lets find out.  It would be great if everyone responded because that is what communication is all about and communication is what this blog is supposed to be about.  However, if you wish to keep your response anonymous you may send it to me via email  at gds2146@hotmail.com.  That way I will have your response to pass on, but your identity will be protected, I promise.  So lets hear it, Graycliffers;

      Why do you volunteer at Graycliff?