JAMESTOWN – A video by Ed Tomassini from the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts, featuring the full restoration process of the historic 1878 Buffalo Bill Cody Billboard. The full-color, 10 by 24 foot paper relic was discovered by accident in 2002 beneath a crumbling brick wall.

City residents and volunteers scrapped together the fragments, and then the money to have the massive jigsaw puzzle restored. The project received a $52,000 matching grant from the Save America’s Treasures Fund.

The fully restored billboard is now on permanent display inside the Reg Lenna Center for the Art in Jamestown, NY.

Nigel Eastman, student filmmaker, accepts his laurels from Jeff Clark, the executive director of the Boonies International Film Festival.

WARREN – A young filmmaker for the area has received a prestigious award from a regional film festival.

Jamestown High School Junior Nigel Eastman won the Best High School Film award at the 2013 Boonies International Film Festival in Warren, Pa. His short film, Jiffy, was screened at the Warren Public Library and the Struthers Library Theatre during the festival. He also participated in a question and answer session about the Insomniac Competitive Film Festival for which the short was originally created, and awarded, “best soundtrack.”

Eastman, who plans to major in film making in college, was previously awarded third place for his short, Common Sense, at the Western New York Media Art Show held at the University of Buffalo and attended the New York State Summer School for the Arts at SUNY Oswego. He attended Jamestown High School’s Videoworks program – a joint collaboration with Ed Tomassini and the Reg Lenna Center for the Arts – in his freshman and sophomore years.

LAKEWOOD, NY – An annual fundraising event for the only locally owned, non-religious radio station in Chautauqua County will be taking place Sunday, June 2 and everyone is invited!

WRFA-LP and the Southern Tier Brewing Co. are teaming up to present the second annual Great American Picnic – an afternoon of friends, food and live music from a variety of local and regional performers. This year’s theme will be music from the original Woodstock.

Hosted by Ken Hardley from the Rolling Hills Radio show, the Great American Picnic will begin at 1 p.m. at the home of the Southern Tier Brewing Co. (2072 Stoneman Circle, Lakewood, NY) and will feature nearly a dozen different musical acts. Many of the performances will also be recorded and broadcast on WRFA.

Musical acts for this year include Smackdab, The Bogarts, The Modified Nouns, Ken Hardley & The Henways, Bill Ward & Amanda Barton, Cindy Haight, Dennis Drew and Jeff Erickson (both from 10,000 Manaics), John Merino, Steve Piper, Jamie Trusler and SYMBA.

Rolling Hills Radio Host Ken Hardley

All the music that will be played during the three-hour event will be songs from the original Woodstock Music Festival – which featured such famous acts as Jimi Hendrix, the Grateful Dead, Janis Joplin, The Who, Ten Years After, Arlo Guthrie, Sly and the Family Stone, Joe Cocker and many others.

The entire show will be presented at the Southern Tier Brewing Company’s outdoor stage with plenty of seating and space for everyone in attendance. Sound and stage support will be provided by Steven Gustafson, Graham Riggle, Ed Tomassini and Jeff Erickson.

The WRFA Advisory Board will also be on hand, serving hot dogs and other foods from the grill.

Perhaps best of all, there is no cost to attend the fundraiser! Instead, a portion of all proceeds collected by Southern Tier Brewing Co. between 1 and 4 p.m. will go directly toward WRFA. Donations will also be accepted. All ages are welcome.