Doug Sitler addresses Jamestown Local Development Corporation (January 3, 2023)

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation has approved a downtown programming request to bring in Ace Frehley for a concert downtown.

Ace Frehley is formerly of the rock band, Kiss, who have been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.

Doug Sitler requested $50,000 from the programming fund to put on the concert. This is his fourth request of downtown program funding, previously being approved funding of $31,850 for the “Best Day Ever” in 2019 that featured a free concert by Michael Glabicki of Rusted Root and funding of $31,000 for last year’s 10,000 Maniacs‘ 40th Anniversary concert.

Sitler said he has come in under budget for all the events he has put on, “And I don’t make any money until we sell like 350 tickets on this amount. But once we make around 500, 600 tickets sold then we go into what’s called the backend and we start divvying up the overage, I guess you would say. And I think there will be a potential of getting back, if it was a sold out event, $10,000 of the grant back.”

Sitler said one cost increase is requested additional security for this event following the stabbing of Salman Rushdie at Chautauqua Institution in 2022.

Director of Development Crystal Surdyk said the concert would take place at the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts.

Dennis Drew, Jeff Erickson and Steven Gustafson in front of the new sign honoring 10,000 Maniacs at the Jamestown city entrance (Image courtesy of 10,000 Maniacs).

JAMESTOWN, NY – Jamestown Mayor Eddie Sundquist unveiled a new  sign at the city’s North Main St. entrance Monday morning, honoring 10,000 Maniacs.

Maniacs’ members and Jamestown natives Dennis Drew, Jeff Erickson and Steven Gustafson were on hand for the occasion, along with several other city and state officials.

Both Drew and Gustafson were founding members of the band when it first formed in Jamestown in 1981. Others in the original group included Rob Buck, John Lombardo, and Natalie Merchant – along with a rotating cast of drummers – including Tim Edborg, Bob “Bob-o-Matic” Watcher, and Jim Foti – on drums (Jerry Augustyniak would eventually become the Maniacs’ main percussionist in 1983 and has remained with the band ever since).

During the past 40 years, 10,000 Maniacs has released nine studio albums, six EPs, and five live albums – selling millions of records and performing thousands of shows around the world. While the band has seen some members come and go (including Merchant, who left the band in 1994 and Buck, who passed away in December 2000) it has continued to perform and entertain audiences over the year, including putting on a sellout show at Reg Lenna Center for the Arts earlier this year. Current band members include Augustyniak, Drew, Erickson, Gustafson and Lombardo, along with Mary Ramsey on lead vocals.

Ten Thousand Maniacs joins Lucille Ball, Roger Tory Peterson and Robert H. Jackson as prominent natives of the Pearl City. The signs note that Jamestown is “The Birthplace of” both Ball and Peterson and “Home of” both Jackson and 10,000 Maniacs.

Others on hand for the unveiling included Assemblyman Andy Goodell (who actually served as an attorney for 10,000 Maniacs in the band’s early years) along with State Senator George Borrello.

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ABOUT AOF LIVE: Arts On Fire LIVE brings you the very best of Chautauqua County’s local artists via a live, in-studio performance! The majority of the programs are not only  broadcast live, but also featured during our regular Arts on Fire time slot – Fridays at 5 p.m. on WRFA. The show is produced and broadcast by WRFA-LP 107.9 FM, Kranky Plate Productions, and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts in Jamestown, NY. All 2022 Arts on Fire LIVE performances are made possible in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting’s American Rescue Plan Act Stabilization Grant.

WRFA’s Anthony Merchant was joined in studio by Len Barry of the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts to talk upcoming events at the Reg, the return of live performances, why the theater experience is unmatched, bracing for tons of summer events in Chautauqua County and much more

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Tickets go on sale Friday, April 8 for a WRFA Fundraiser concert featuring John & Mary.

The event will help to kick off the 10,000 Maniacs 40th Anniversary concert weekend with a special live performance in the Reg Lenna’s Media Arts Studio on Friday, May 20. An opening performance will feature Chautauqua County music legend Bumpy Peterson.

John & Mary is a United States-based folk rock duo featuring John Lombardo and Mary Ramsey – both members of 10,000 Maniacs. The duo was formed soon after Lombardo and Ramsey first met in Buffalo, NY in December 1989.

All ticket proceeds will benefit WRFA-LP, a noncommercial, low power community radio station licensed to Reg Lenna Center for the Arts. The event is sponsored by Shults Auto Group.

Jamestown Local Development Corporation Board meeting

The Jamestown Local Development Corporation board has approved downtown programming funds for several events, including the four proposed by Collaborative Children’s Solutions.

CCS Director Patrick Smeraldo requested $40,000 for four events that would span seven days.

The events that would take place include a children’s carnival downtown followed by a Tarp Skunks game at Diethrick Stadium on June 24; a Christmas in July event downtown on July 22 and possibly a three-on-three basketball tournament downtown followed by a Tarp Skunks game on July 23; a beer tasting event downtown on September 3 and the Labor Day Fest at Bergman Park on September 4; and an event around a scheduled hockey tournament at the Northwest Arena on December 2 with the downtown holiday parade on December 3. All four events would include fireworks.

Smeraldo said the events are designed to be for kids and families and that he’s not trying to make a profit on them, “I mean, we can put on these events for kids and then take the funds that are raised through grants and things like that or agencies coming in and then put on a Chris Heron, who came here and spoke to the kids at Jamestown High School. That’s the intent. To feed the money back into the kids and see how we can draw and create opportunities for them.”

Mayor Eddie Sundquist informed the JLDC board members that Smeraldo has been working with city staff to ensure the proposed events are in compliance.

The Board of Public Utilities had requested $50,000 in programming funds for a Climate Technology Conference. This conference is being funded in part by a NYSERDA grant received by the BPU that had a required match by the City of Jamestown. The two-day event is scheduled to take place October 18 and 19, 2022 and would tentatively utilize the Northwest Arena, Doubletree Hotel, and several other ancillary spaces downtown. JLDC approved the request contingent on approval by Corporation Counsel on the legality of a city entity using the program funds as the match.

The third proposal approved was a $6,000 request by Doug Sitler for a 10,000 Maniacs concert. The event had previously been awarded $25,000 in downtown programming funds but hadn’t included a request for sound and lighting. The total now approved for the event is $31,000.

The band – founded in Jamestown in 1981 and which includes WRFA General Manager Dennis Drew – will perform at Jamestown Community College’s Scharman Theater Saturday. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m. for those with V.I.P. backstage access, and the show will begin at 7:30 p.m.

General admission tickets are $23. Interested concertgoers will also have the opportunity to purchase special V.I.P. tickets for $50, which include a meet-and-greet and photo opportunity with the 10,000 Maniacs and Mitrano.

Those interested in attending can go online to purchase an online voucher, which can be exchanged for a ticket at the box office. A link to the website can be found at the 10,000 Maniacs and Tracy Mitrano for Congress Facebook pages.

Mitrano will also be Fredonia on Saturday afternoon from 3 to 5 p.m. to host a town hall forum. The event will take place at the Fredonia Grange No. 1.

The event is the fourth stop of Mitrano’s “One District” Campaign, in which she is hosting a town hall in each of the eleven counties of the 23rd Congressional District.