AM Buffalo was live at the historic Palace Theatre in Lockport where this weekend the Rustic Buffalo’s Spring Sip and Shop is taking place to raise funds for the historic theatre.
John Pirrone, the owner of Rustic Buffalo says we converted the beautiful historic Palace Theatre into a Rustic Buffalo store for three days only. There will be 120 artisans there with thousands of items that you can purchase. This event is a fund-raiser for the historic Palace Theatre. They will have 50/50’s, a gift card tree where everyone is a winner, over 50 basket raffles going on and of course, all the beautiful items you can purchase. John says the sip part is the best part of the Sip and Shop and says they are already serving mimosas. They will also be serving your favorite beers and wine. John says we are here until 9pm tonight, Saturday we are here until 7pm and Sunday until 5pm.
Admission is $5 and it goes to the Palace Theatre, and you will receive a $5 spending coupon. You are not only helping out the Palace Theatre you are also helping the 120 artisans by shopping local.
John Pirrone says we are humbled and blessed to be given this opportunity to help so many artisans, so many families and I have to thank the community, I have to thank the media; everybody has latched onto Rustic Buffalo because they believe in our mission, they believe in mission, so thank you so much.
This is the second Sip and Shop. They did one around Christmas time and they raised $57,000 for the historic Palace Theatre.
Mel and Emily spoke with Ashley Erickson, a resident artisan at Rustic Buffalo Artisan Market about what it means to be an artisan there. She says, it means everything, we are the heartbeat of the neighborhood so to be part of it is just incredible.
The Historic Palace Theatre just went through a huge major renovation. Christopher Parada, executive artistic director of the historic Palace Theatre in Lockport says we just did a 4 million dollar project, all through COVID; we took advantage of having to be closed to finish the renovations from new seats, paint and plaster, you name it we did it. He says, now we can do a community collaboration and with having these renovations we can bring in unique events, different styles of things and get creative with the space. Christopher says, a building that was built in 1925, we are bringing new life and keeping that the gem in the community. He says we are continuing to renovate, raise funds and an event like this really helps us; every dollar that comes in goes right back into the building.
