Members of Ransomville Manor recently took part in a different form of ice bucket challenge. The adult home facility primarily has a mental health population and, as such, volunteers took the plunge to raise awareness for mental illness.

On a sunny, warm Wednesday morning, students from Lewiston-Porter joined thousands of others from public and parochial schools across Niagara County to mark the start of the 2014-15 school year.

Though the Town of Lewiston Council rejected his request for a permissive referendum on the future of the Lewiston Police Department, village resident Ron Craft is intent on bringing the issue to the masses for a vote.

The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce donated a brochure rack to the Youngstown Business & Professional Association to display community information and membership packets in the community. The brochure rack is mounted to wall of the entranceway at Anchor Spirits.

Grandpaws Pet Emporium has opened a Village of Lewiston café that benefits your sweet tooth and someone's future furry best friend.

Village of Lewiston Mayor Terry Collesano's Frontier House citizens committee met this week and is working on a plan to save the historic Center Street building.

He called the private meeting "informative," and said, "I think we're making some progress."

During this past summer, visitors to Old Fort Niagara were able to see firsthand how the Native people of this region created wooden dugout canoes in the late 1700s.

Celebrities. Athletes. Politicians. Your friends and family members.

Just about everybody, it seems, has taken part in the "ALS Ice Bucket Challenge" to raise awareness - and funds - for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, also known as ALS, or "Lou Gehrig's Disease." To date, more than $40 million has been donated.

The Youngstown Police Department announced this week it was recently awarded a $500 grant to enable the department to purchase camera equipment for purposes of upgrading YPD's current capabilities.

The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for Bailey O'Riley's Village Pub, which recently opened for business at 840 Center St. Local business owners and elected leaders welcomed owner Chris MacKenzie and his family to Lewiston.

Center and North Fourth streets is quickly becoming the Village of Lewiston's coolest corner.

The Louis J. Fernandez Memorial Golf Tournament, coordinated by the board of associates of Mount St. Mary's Hospital, raised more than $24,000 this year at the Niagara Frontier Country Club.

The mayor recently met with business leaders and members of the Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce and revealed plans to bolster Lewiston's waterfront. Collesano envisions additional parking, a recreation area, and a museum highlighting the village's transportation history.

The first-ever Great Contraption Race, held to benefit the It Happened to Alexa Foundation of Lewiston, went off without a hitch last Saturday morning in the lower Niagara River waters between Lewiston and Youngstown.

Last week, I received an email from Mary Rochon Dorszynski who lives in the Village of Youngstown telling me she saw and photographed what she thought was an oleander hawk moth.

Jim and Julie Hibbard have opened a new Hibbard's Original Frozen Custard location at the sweet shop located next to Clancy's (formerly Page's Whistle Pig) at the corner of Packard and Military roads, in Niagara Falls.

VIDEO, PICTURES: Performing Tuesday at Artpark, Ann and Nancy Wilson proved, once again, they are the world's premier female-fronted rock back.

Peach Queen contestants met for the first time this week in preparation for the Niagara County/Lewiston Kiwanis Peach Festival, to be held Sept. 5-7 at Academy Park in Lewiston. Contestants will attend events and complete community service projects in the next month leading up to the on-stage portion of the program.

As part of its 75th anniversary celebration last weekend, Hibbard's Original Frozen Custard invited patrons to enter a contest and come up with a new custard flavor.

The Community Picnic sponsored by the Village of Youngstown has created fond memories for residents over the past 10 years.

Grandpaws Pet Emporium hosted a grand-opening celebration over the weekend. The popular pet store moved to the corner of Center and North Fourth streets in Lewiston.

Artpark & Company will present the popular Disney musical "Mary Poppins" July 31 through Aug. 8 inside the Mainstage Theater.

Leads Emilie Renier and John Barsoian recently met last at The Orange Cat in Lewiston to drink coffee and preview the show.

Motown sensation Aretha Franklin, together with her Aretha Franklin Orchestra, thoroughly entertained an Artpark Tuesdays crowd this week, with a splendid blend of her 500-plus soul classics dating from the '60s, '70s and '80s.

Come and discover the delicious cuisine the Village of Lewiston has to offer in a new and fun way with Lewiston Culinary Tours presented by The Roaming Table.

From Aug. 1-3, Old Fort Niagara will offer a series of special programs recreating important events that took place between 1764 and 1783 that had a profound impact on the history of the U.S. and Canada.

Starting tomorrow, the Village of Lewiston will start enforcing its law concerning so-called "pop-up" businesses on residential and municipal property. Trustees will especially crack down on homeowners on South Fourth Street who charge for parking on Artpark concert nights.

"Pop-up" food vending and ticket scalping will not be allowed, either. The board voted 4-0 to prohibit such business ventures.

"I think we all agree that now is the time to do something," Mayor Terry Collesano said.

Orchard Park developer James Jerge, his architect, David Giusiana, and his project consultant, Robert Savarino, provided an update on 765 Fairchild Place - the former Fairchild Manor Nursing Home - at Monday's Village of Lewiston Planning Board meeting.

Siting board members, charged with determining the future of CWM Chemical Services in Porter, heard an earful from the public Wednesday at Lewiston-Porter High School.

Village of Lewiston residents Maggie Johnson, age 8, and Grace Johnson, age 10, were so appreciative of the care their grandfather received during a hospitalization at Mount St. Mary's, that they held a mini-garage sale with proceeds dedicated to the hospital.

The Lewiston Council on the Arts held its annual "Summer of '69" concert at the Hennepin Park Gazebo July 11, attracting a huge crowd to the corner of Fourth and Center streets to tap their toes, sing along and get up and dance when the spirit moved them.

The Western New York Land Conservancy has been awarded $300,000 to help create the Stella Niagara Preserve on the Niagara River in Lewiston. The grant is from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative through the Joint Venture Habitat Protection and Restoration Program.

You can say one thing about the folks at Niagara Jet Adventures: They always seem to come up with the unexpected.

Thursday evening, NJA co-owners Mike Fox, and Chris Bohnenkamp of Bohnenkamp's Whitewater Customs of Meridian, Idaho, introduced NJA's latest series of boats - called spinners - to a small gathering at the NJA docks in Youngstown.

The Village Vet of Lewiston, was recently awarded a $20,000 "clinic makeover," courtesy of Novartis and Onsior. Funds went toward reconfiguring her year-and-a-half-old office so that its feline patients - and their owners - could have a more positive experience.

The Niagara River Region Chamber of Commerce presented its annual summer "Business Blender" Thursday at Whirlpool Jet Boat Tours and Water Street Landing in the Village of Lewiston. (photo by K&D Action Photography)

A hip new clothing store with old-school décor debuted Wednesday in Lewiston.

Angel to Apple Clothing & Shoe Boutique owner Jamie Symmonds opened Ever After Consignment Boutique at 402 Center St.

Porter on the Lake Summerfest, a family event to benefit the park, is scheduled for Saturday, July 19, from 3-10 p.m. at Porter on the Lake Park, Dietz Road (off Route 18) in Youngstown.

Village of Lewiston Mayor Terry Collesano has appointed a new chairman for the municipality's Historic Preservation Commission/Planning Board, and taken steps to replace two departed members.

At Monday's reorganizational meeting, Collesano selected Norm Machelor to replace Ken Slaugenhoupt, who opted not to continue on the board.

Machelor was appointed to the Planning Board in 2013. Prior to that, he served 12 years on Grand Island's Planning Board.

"I like the way he is with people that come in looking to build, or for expanding or whatever," Collesano said. "He's got a level head."

Grandpaws Pet Emporium moved into its new spot Wednesday, at 402 Center St., in the Village of Lewiston.

I'm not talking about the whistle pigs we've all had at one time from the old "Page's Whistle Pig" on the six corners in Niagara Falls. Those pigs were good for you; that hot dog, slit down the middle, cheese laid neatly in, then wrapped in bacon, grilled, then placed neatly into a nice fresh bun - that all had to be good for you.

The Lions Club International Foundation recently honored Lewiston Community Lion Ron Craft. He received the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award during the Lewiston chapter's fifth anniversary dinner. The Melvin Jones Award is the highest given by the Lions Club International Foundation.