Throughout the winter around here you regularly see boats on trailers coming on and off the Moses Parkway, and up and down Center Street heading for the Lewiston Landing.

Kallie Banker became Grand Island High School's all-time leading scorer in basketball during a win at Niagara Falls on Jan. 19.

Niagara-Wheatfield's Community Education program is offering a night with Buffalo Sabres Hall of Famer Robert "Rip" Simonick.

Seven-foot, eight-inch Paul "Tiny" Sturgess, the world's tallest basketball player, joins reality TV star Flight Time Lang to lead the Harlem Globetrotters into Alumni Arena in Buffalo on Friday, Feb. 3.

If anybody knows the South Buffalo community it is a tight-nit group.

Grand Island basketball player Kallie Banker is on the verge of setting a GIHS record for scoring.

From the time I wrote the bobcat article until now, a lot of people have come up to me and said, "Gee, I think I've seen one of those things, too."

The Niagara County Coyotes PeeWee Minor team recently took home first place honors in Cleveland during the Rock-n-Roll Cup Ice Hockey Tournament.

The Fashion Outlets Mall on Military Road in Niagara Falls will be the setting for the annual Ransomville Speedway car show. Scheduled for March 21-25, the event will continue a tradition that is close to a decade long.

The Village of Lewiston Recreation Department announces the following activities of interest taking place in the months of January and February. All programs are held in the Village of Lewiston Red Brick Municipal Building, North Fourth and Onondaga streets.

For the past 24 years, insurance agent Joel Holka has presented a football award to local high school athletes.

From the producers of cable's top rated "Pawn Stars," "Ball Boys" follows the sports memorabilia business at iconic Robbie's 1st Base in Baltimore, and the charming family-like relationships of the sports fanatics who work there - Robbie Sr. and Junior, Sweet Lou and Shaggy.

Debbie Reed and Molly Gurman are the new Wheatfield Recreation program specialists for the town's Youth Center at 2795 Church Road.

The Niagara team from Gleason's School of Gymnastics levels 5 and 6 recently participated in Graffiti meet held in Niagara Falls.

Mild January weather this week lured out a few hardy visitors to the Seneca Hickory Stick Golf Club on Creek Road for a round of golf.

The Niagara Falls branch of YMCA Buffalo Niagara has begun its fundraising effort for the 2012 "Strong Kids Campaign" under the leadership of co-chairs Donald E. Burns and Albert Parker.

The Lewiston-Porter Athletics Department has the national signing intents of three high school students.

The Lewiston-Porter Lancers junior varsity club hockey team won the first-ever Cheektowaga JV Christmas Tournament

The Village of Lewiston Recreation Department announces it will sponsor a youth three-on- three basketball program on Monday, Jan. 16, starting at 9 a.m. at the Lewiston Red Brick Municipal Building gym, North Fourth and Onondaga streets.

The Town of Niagara Recreation Department has announced that two winter gym programs held at Colonial Village Elementary School gym.

Veterans can take the ice for a hockey clinic scheduled Monday, Jan. 16, at noon at the Riverside Bud Bakewell Ice Rink, 2607 Niagara St., Buffalo.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation's Bureau of Fisheries is offering a new, full color map/brochure free of charge for individuals who fish in the freshwaters of New York. The "I FISH NY Guide to Freshwater Fishing in New York State" provides information on more than 320 lakes and ponds and 112 river and streams.

"Research shows one of the primary reasons people do not fish more often is because of a lack of information concerning where to fish," said Kathy Moser, assistant commissioner, DEC Office of Natural Resources.

Congresswoman Kathy Hochul released the following statement after Time Warner Cable and MSG Networks failed to reach an agreement on carrier fees, causing subscribers to lose coverage beginning Jan. 1:

Unseasonably warm temperatures and wet grounds forced Ransomville Speedway officials to postpone the 12th annual Hangover 150 for the second consecutive year.

The 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic between the Philadelphia Flyers and New York Rangers from Citizen's Bank Park in Philadelphia, which was scheduled to air today at 1 p.m., will now start at 3 p.m. on NBC to facilitate optimal game conditions, the NHL announced Sunday. NBC Sports will still begin its live NHL Winter Classic pre-game coverage at 1 p.m. with interviews, features and other content.

As always, it will be the largest gymnastics competition to be held in Western New York this year. And, for 2012, the Graffiti Invitational, Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 7 and 8, will again take place at the Conference Center Niagara Falls.

Jan. 2 is an important day for the NBC Sports Group as it broadcasts the 2012 Bridgestone NHL Winter Classic at 1 p.m. on NBC and launches the NBC Sports Network, currently VERSUS, immediately following the game at 4 p.m. with a special NHL Live post-game show hosted by Bob Costas from Philadelphia.

Johnson's Fudge stand stood just a few feet back on Lower River Road between Lewiston and Youngstown, but how many knew Johnson's Boat House was on the river below?

I never knew that, and when asking around not too many of the surviving old-timers didn't know it either. Several years ago, river man and commercial fisherman Art King gave me a manila folder with some old stuff in it before he passed away, and I kept it as a treasure from Art. It had some old papers, old New York and Ontario fishing licenses, a 1950 New York state fishing syllabus, and an old, undated, Johnson's Fudge Company/Boat House six-page booklet. In there was even an old Ontario beer rationing coupon book with eight coupons left and it is dated "valid until Oct. 31, 1944," but that is another Niagara story for later.

The YI-DAN-CHA-GI Martial Arts Center is bustling on evenings with karate classes led by Grand Master Jim Wood, Krav Maga close combat self-defense and Kid Safe Network classes.

With nearly a dozen family race teams in the Ransomville Speedway pit area, you can add another to the list when the facility opens for its 55th year of operation in May of 2012.

Darrell Borkenhagen, who has competed in the Ransomville Speedway Thursday night go-kart program, will join his brother Derrick, a two-time track Street Stock champion. It will be the first time that Darrell will be in a stock car on a competitive basis.

Darrell recently purchased the Billy Coleman Street Stock, which finished second in 2011 Street Stock points behind Derrick. Both Derrick and Darrell have their cars inside the family garage with preparations being made for the upcoming season. Their father Rick, who has overseen the maintenance of Derrick's car, will work on Darrell's car as well.

Ransomville Speedway is proud to announce and welcome Brittany Catchpole as Miss Ransomville Speedway 2012.

Hall of Fame Buffalo Sabres "French Connection" legend hosts meet-and-greet.

With the ink barely dry on the 2011 season, all focus has turned to the 12th annual Hangover 150 and the upcoming 2012 season at Ransomville Speedway. Tentative scheduling is beginning to take place with an announcement slated for early into the New Year. In addition to scheduling, Marketing Director Tana Robinson has been working with sponsors regarding the upcoming season.

Members of the Dance Ensemble from the Lewiston/Grand Island Dance Centers performed at the Niagara Falls Fire Department's annual Firemen's Fund Telethon.

The Niagara Junior Purple Eagles Squirt Tier 3 Travel Hockey Team won all tournament games.

I recently wrote an article about coyotes. I met a friend in Youngstown at Melloni's Market Place, and he told me he had read the article and asked if I heard anything about bobcats in the Niagara area.

More than 160 items were collected in the Lewiston-Porter wrestling's "Thanksgiving Takedown Hunger Food Drive."

WHAT: Celebration of the grand opening of the new KeyBank Pine Avenue branch. The 2,356-square-foot branch is one of 40 new KeyBank branches projected to open in 2011; four new branches and six ATM kiosks to open in the Western New York market.

Grand Island began its boys basketball season Wednesday with a host of new faces in a scrimmage against visiting Newfane.