For the 17th consecutive year, 97 Rock and our listeners are throwing a party for a few hundred Western New York kids who might not have a Christmas otherwise.
Our Christmas is for Kids party allows these kids from local social services programs to spend a couple hours enjoying pizza and ice cream, games and a visit from Santa.
Each child leaves with a toy, and that's where we could use your help. Please make a donation of cash or a new toy and we'll make sure it ends up in the hands of a needy child. This year's party is on December 14th at The Hub, 4999 McKinley Parkway in Hamburg.
Join Jickster and The Buffalo Jills at these Tim Horton's locations
to drop off your donations!
November 30th- 2248 Niagara Road in Wheatfield
December 1st- 1610 Walden Avenue in Cheektowaga
December 2nd- 5035 Southwestern Boulevard in Hamburg
December 3rd- 5316 Transit Road in Depew
December 6th- 2413 Clinton Street in West Seneca
December 7th- 1950 Sweet Home Road in Amherst
December 8th- 6687 Tranist Road in Williamsville
December 9th- 5599 Camp Road in Hamburg
December 10th- 3275 Orchard Park Road in Orchard Park
and let's not forget the video. Since Ashlee left the band 3 1/2 years ago, "Wild Night" by John Mellencamp hasn't been a staple of the group. Ashlee and guitarist Joey D decided to treat the crowd to a special treat, though.
Jessica and Courteney next to the Jills display in the Fieldhouse Thanksgiving weekend in Buffalo saw a sold-out crowd at the Ralph for a matchup between the Buffalo Bills and the Pittsburgh Steelers. While the crowd wasn't your typical Buffalo crowd with a large contingent of Steelers faithful who were able to help spur their team on to victory in overtime, there was one thing the Bills had going for them in this matchup against what was regarded as a far superior team. The Buffalo Jills welcomed back 4 of their girls to full active duty. Jaclyn and Danielle haven't been on the sidelines for the last month and a half outside of Danielle's appearance in the halftime show in Toronto. Jaclyn's return was a special one as she's been recovering from a broken wrist suffered in practice and, considering she went to college in Pittsburgh, had a lot of extra friends there to watch her return. Lindsey, on the other hand, hasn't missed any time on the sidelines, but a hamstring pull has kept her out of the bigger performances until now. Morgan and Reena have also missed a significant amount of time in pregame performances as well. For this fan, seeing the return of these five wonderful rookies to full active duty made up for the loss of the game in a small way.
Jill and Danielle performing in the 1st quarter Kelly, Jaclyn, Lindsey, and Omarlla cheering in the 3rd quarter
Coming up next, the Jills will have 8 of their dancers in Iraq for the next week and a half as Katie, Lisa, Murissa, Kelly, Loren, Kristen, Gabrielle, and Jill visit and entertain the troops where everyone there will fall in love with these young ladies the way we have here in Western NY. And just like us, they'll be amazed with Jill's gymnastic abilities. This Saturday, while their squadmates are in Iraq, the rest of the Jills will be holding their 4th Annual Fundraiser at SoHo from 7-9:30pm. The $20 ticket gets you all-you-can-eat on pizza, beer, and wine-tasting and also includes plenty of raffles to get in on and entertainment by the Buffalo Jills. The Jills next take the field on December 12th as the Bills host their rivals from across Lake Erie, the Cleveland Browns. Make sure to stop by Lot C at 11:30 to see the Jills dancers perform.
A veteran sideline beauty swallows another Buffalo loss to a playoff favorite just long enough to tell us who's going to the Super Bowl
If scientists ever want to study how much heartbreak one team's fans can stomach, they can start in Buffalo. Forget the Super Bowl struggles of the Nineties and the current Bills playoff drought — Case Study No. 1 starts with the 2010 season: five losses by five points or less, including three in overtime, capped by Sunday 19-16 stinger to the Steelers, in which the red-white-and-blue rallied mightily before what would have been nothing short of an epic upset slipped, quite literally, through its fingers.
But Buffalo's long-suffering throngs keep coming back. And their resilience is exemplified by Buffalo Jills line captain Omarlla, who's donned the hot pants for nothing short of a decade. What's even more amazing about this elementary-school curriculum coordinator? Like Michael Jordan before her, she was cut from her high-school team. "I haven't talked to those cheerleading coaches, but I get so tempted to send them autographed cards and calendars," she says. "Eleven years of jump-splitting, and I just continue to work out, stay flexible, and keep going." Looking for hope? Here's some.
The phrase "tall, dark, and beautiful" is only the tip of the iceberg when describing our Jill of The Week. Keisha is in her 4th season with the Jills and in her 1st full season as a captain of the Jills Ambassador Squad after serving as acting captain most of last season. Her being a captain is no big surprise...she regularly goes above and beyond for her squadmates and goes above and beyond with being friendly as well. As a Jills Ambassador, she's required to be a people person and able to carry on a conversation. Truth be told, out of all the Jills I've known over the years, she's better at that than anyone. Always great with carrying on as well as starting conversations, she's excellent at making people feel at ease. This season, she's even putting her football knowledge to the test every Friday. Q103 in Albany, a big Bills and Jills supporting radio station, has her on every Friday afternoon just before 4:30 to make picks in 3 games for the weekend. She's competing with their afternoon host and the loser at the end of the season has to eat a dozen atomic hot wings. Check out how well she's doing at http://www.wqbk.com/BuffaloBills/KeishasPicks/tabid/13977/Default.aspx where you'll also find a link where you can listen live to her segment.
Keisha's secondary photo comes from an appearance at Dunkirk's final Music on the Pier event of the summer. Stefanie and Keisha were on hand helping out the folks from Chadwick Bay Beverages, one of the Jills' sponsors this season. You can read more about Keisha at http://buffalojills.net/article.asp?id=1961195
There's a whole lot of stuff going on the next few weeks to make it to.
First up is something that's going on right now...DJ Jickster is in the middle of his Rock Out Hunger campaign and has been living in a truck in the parking lot of Quaker Steak and Lube on Transit since Wednesday accepting food and money donations for the Food Bank of Western NY and he won't be doing it on his own as he's been getting visits by other local celebrities, Jim Kelly, and members of the Buffalo Jills. See the info at http://www.97rock.com/Article.asp?id=2017868&spid=21992
Next up is a pair of things to do Saturday night. The Buffalo Convention Center plays host to the annual World's Largest Disco, a big benefit for Camp Good Days and Special Times. Besides the 70s dance music and appearances by celebrities from the 70s, this event also features an appearance and dance performance by members of the Buffalo Bandettes!
If you wanna dance that night but can't find tickets to the Disco (the event is sold out but there are always scalpers), you can head to Mooney's on Military Road in Kenmore to see Studio 54 band play with a special guest singer...former lead singer Ashlee A from the 2005 Buffalo Jills. Show starts at 10pm.
Next Sunday, the Bills are at home at Ralph Wilson Stadium and that means you can see the Jills in action. Before the game, meet some of the ambassadors in the Fieldhouse and at the 97Rock and Shredd and Ragan Tailgate parties. But the best time to hit up the Shredd and Ragan tailgate party in Lot C is 11:30 as besides the Jills ambassadors who will be there selling and signing calendars, many of the Jills dancers will be there following their field practice to perform for the fans.
Saturday the 4th, the only place to start off your evening will be at SoHo on Chippewa as the Jills will be holding their 4th Annual Fundraiser to help offset the costs of their next calendar shoot. The event goes from 7-9:30 and features pizza, beer, and wine-tasting for a cost of $20. Also included are plenty of raffle prizes to be won and entertainment by the Buffalo Jills. When you consider that other events this year didn't take place due to timing constraints and what not, this is your best chance to meet most of the 2010 Buffalo Jills squad outside of gamedays. There will be a few girls unable to attend however, as 8 Buffalo Jills dancers will be in Iraq lending their support to the troops and what better way to thank these girls for their dedication than by supporting the squad as a whole?
In Toronto, we saw the 2011 Buffalo Bandettes perform alongside the Jills, Jills alumni, and Fusion dancers in the biggest NFL halftime show outside of the playoffs but we've yet to see them perform as a unit. December 5th is when that wait ends as the Bandits host their annual Open Practice at HSBC Arena. The event goes from 10-2pm and besides seeing the 2011 Buffalo Bandits practice, the new Buffalo Bandettes squad will be performing and signing autographs as well.
On December 12th, obviously the Bills are hosting the Browns, but if you're looking for something for your daughters to do before the game, the Bandettes are hosting a dance clinic at HSBC Arena from 10-noon for girls ages 16 and up. Bandettes alumnus Danielle will be choreographing the routine which you'll see performed by the Bandettes at a 2011 game...cost is $20. The clinic is closed to the public and if you have any questions, email beabandette@yahoo.com
This week's Jill of The Week may not have been with us the past couple of years, but she's no stranger to us by any means. Brianne is back on the squad she spent 3 seasons on after taking a couple years off. This All-American girl can be found on Omarlla's line dancing between Kelly and Loren, the same line she spent her previous years on. An avid golfer who could give Natalie Gulbis a run for her money both in the skills department and in the looks department, her dedication is well-known in many areas. For one, the hour-and-a-half trip to Buffalo from home for practices is no easy feat, especially once the weather and road conditions start to worsen and her two bachelor's degrees took a lot of long hours and hard work. She says her worst fear is failure yet she came back to try out for the Jills even though she said she wasn't that confident about her chances. Apparently those of us who knew her and were excited to see her come back had enough confidence to make up for that. Her secondary photo comes from the Bills season opener and shows Omarlla, Brianne, and Kelly cheering in the endzone with Lindsey behind her poms. After having cheered with the Jills and worked with Kelli's dance styles for 3 seasons, it was obvious that Brianne wasn't going to miss a beat in tryouts this year as seen here.
Bills WR Stevie Johnson with Laura Tuesday is generally a day off for NFL players but Ralph Wilson Stadium was a busy place this week with 2 big events going on. First up was a blood drive by the American Red Cross and donors got to do more than give blood as they were treated to tours of the stadium and locker rooms as well meeting Bills players and members of the Buffalo Jills.
The Jills Ambassadors with one of the original Buffalo Jills In the evening, the Buffalo Jills squad hosted an Open Practice in which they showed the next generation of cheerleaders how to do a few NFL-style cheers before putting on a demonstration of a pair of gameday performances for the attendees of the event. They even had a number of special guests as the Alden High Cheerleaders were in attendance and performed one of their own routines for everyone. In addition, a pair of Jills alumni were on hand as well, including a member of the original Buffalo Jills squad as well as Eileen's original Jills captain Dina.
2000 squadmates Eileen, Dina, Omarlla, and Nichole Loren, Lisa, and Kelly working on their performance for the troops
There was also a little extra going on on the far end of the Fieldhouse as some of the Jills dancers worked on some special performances. Over the bye week, there was a trip planned to Iraq for some of the Jills to visit the troops that fell through because of funding. Some of the girls who had planned to go on that trip were especially devastated but luckily, the production company got some more funding and the Jills will get to go on their trip following the Bills' next home game.
Coming up next for the Jills, they'll be back at the Ralph Thanksgiving weekend as the Bills host the Steelers and making Steelers fans wish they still had cheerleaders as they put their beautiful smiles and dancing abilities on display for a sell-out crowd. Don't forget to swing by the Shredd and Ragan Tailgate Party in Lot C at 11:30 to see members of the Buffalo Jills dancers put on a special pregame performance.
Make sure your evening schedule is free on December 4 as the Jills take over SoHo on the Chip Strip from 7-9:30 for their annual Fundraiser. $20 gets you in the door for beer, pizza, wine-tasting as well as plenty of raffles and the chance to mingle with the Buffalo Jills. You can get your tickets from the Jills at the next home game or at the door.
Sara and Ruby in the Fieldhouse Keisha, Michelle, Jaclyn, Laura, and Lindsay at the 97Rock Tailgate Party Courteney, Amanda F, Meghan, and Gina at the Shredd and Ragan Tailgate Party Lindsey, Morgan, and Murissa collecting for Gift of Warmth Coming off the field after pregame The Bills have had a rough season to be sure but came out with a win finally on a rainy day in Orchard Park Sunday in front of a crowd that may have come over 16,000 short of filling the stadium, but did their part to help their home team so much that Bills defenders Marcus Stroud and Arthur Moats couldn't even hear all their checks on the field and the Lions were guilty of a number of false starts. Before the game Jills ambassadors signed autographs and took photos with fans in the Fieldhouse and at the 97Rock and Shredd and Ragan Tailgate Parties. Dancer Jaclyn joined the girls at 97Rock due to an injury suffered at practice last month but plans to be back in action for the next game with her cast coming off on Friday. It's never fun missing time due to an injury but Jaclyn can take solace in the fact that others have gone through similar things and missed even more time. At the Shredd and Ragan Tailgate party in Lot C, members of the Buffalo Jills dancers put on a newer performance for the fans before going to gates to greet fans coming into the game and taking donations for the Gift of Warmth program which collects money and new outerwear for the needy for the upcoming winter months. During the game, Sara and Courteney handled promotions after Keisha was announced as the Jill of the Game by 97Rock's JP and the Jills dancers put on some excellent performances on this chilly day that turned to rainy in the 2nd half. Check out the pics at http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2010/Lions/
Coming up next for the Jills, they have their Open Practice at the Fieldhouse Tuesday evening from 6:30-8:30. It's a great event in which the Jills teach the next generations of cheerleaders a routine and give them a small taste of their Jr Jills program. In addition to the little girls getting to learn, it's open for the public to watch and see how they go about learning cheers. Get all the details at http://buffalojills.net/Article.asp?id=1971677&spid=34534
Before that, the Bills will be holding a blood drive at the Paul Maguire Club at the stadium and there will be various players making appearances throughout the day as well as members of the Jills as well.
This week, we take a look at 5th year vet Stefanie as our Jill of The Week. Spending her gamedays dancing between rookies Natalie and Emily on Eileen's line, Stefanie is known for her gymnastics ability as well as her devotion to the troops. She's also a girl who loves to travel, and has been to the Middle East to visit the troops a couple of times as a Jill and was ready to go again while the Bills were on their bye week until the trip unfortunately got cancelled. As far as her gymnastics ability, while she hasn't done it quite as much lately, Stefanie has been seen doing backflips during performances on gamedays, not something you'd expect out of someone as tall and lean as she is. It's usually something that the shorter girls excel at but Stefanie has done an incredible job with it. She's one of three girls left who started cheering with the Jills in 2006 along with Valerie and Christina but unlike them, she doesn't have plans to stay with the Jills for that much longer. She has talked about this possibly being her last year...but then, she's said that before as well and she keeps coming back. Obviously, her squadmates and I hope she comes back in 2011 as well but considering some big plans that she and a former squadmate have in store that I can't divulge right now, I can see myself supporting her if she does retire from the Jills, especially when you consider the exposure from this could help her in her chosen career, as a sportscaster. After 5 years cheering for the Bills, she could be talking about them alongside Rich Eisen on NFL Network in a few years. Stefanie's secondary photo is from Bills training camp back in August. At the end of the practice on Jr Bills Backers Day, children were invited to go down to the stadium field for autographs and the Jills were there to help them out. Shown posing for a photo when all the work was done are Jaclyn, Stefanie, Jill, and Danielle. Stefanie went through first cuts with Kaitlin in matching outfits this year. Kaitlin did also make the squad but re-signed shortly after tryouts were done due to other commitments. We may see more from this pairing in the near future but more than that, I can't say. Until then, here's the video of the pair at first cuts.
I won't get into the issues of the Toronto series this year, except to say that the only things that made this resemble a home game were having 97Rock's JP in the booth and the Jills and Billy Buffalo on the sidelines. Bears fans easily outnumbered Bills fans at this game and crowd response definitely was in favor of the Bears. Truth be told, after last year's debacle, I had no intentions of going to anymore Toronto games unless I got a great deal on a good ticket and/or there were a compelling reason. At the last home game, I got a compelling reason in finding out about the halftime performance scheduled for this Toronto game, easily the grandest halftime performance for any NFL game not staged primarily for television, like the Thanksgiving Day games and the Super Bowl. Then, a few days before the game, I got the best possible deal on a ticket in probably the best section in the stadium. Alyssa, Meghan, Michelle, and Jessica at the Budweiser Tailgate Party
Prior to the game, a corporate-sponsored tailgate party, the only type allowed in Toronto, took place right underneath the CN Tower and next to the Rogers Centre. After an appearance onstage by HOF RB Thurman Thomas, members of the Buffalo Jills Ambassadors joined the festivities, selling out on the calendars they had on hand as well as posing for photos and signing autographs. Michelle, Alyssa, Meghan, and Jessica stayed pretty busy the entire time they were there with all the Bills and Bears fans there for the game.
Nicole, Kelly, Emily, Omarlla, and Eileen just prior to the game After I found my seat, surrounded by family and friends of the Jills, some of whom I already have met many times, it was time to go to work taking photos and videos. Pregame featured the Toronto Jr Jills along with the Buffalo Jills in a special performance at midfield. As big as the Jr Jills program has gotten to be, Jills director Stephanie M wanted to expand it for the remaining 3 years of the Toronto series and a small group of young ladies worked with the Jills to get ready for this performance which should give more girls a reason to try it out in 2011 and 2012.
In addition to performing their normal routine after the 3rd quarter, complete with the big finish by gymnastics dynamo Jill, the Jills put on a performance after the 1st quarter as well, putting on a portion of their normal pregame performance for the fans in Toronto. Halftime was the major reason I made this game and here's why. Rock group Hinder performed a 2-song set at halftime similar to what other bands do on Thanksgiving Day. However, unlike those halftime shows, this included dancers from more than a single cheerleading squad and some random dancers. Jills director Stephanie Mateczun called in the big guns for this performance. Joining the Jills dancers for this performance in addition to several dancers from Kelli's Fusion Dance Studio...
Jills Ambassadors Courteney, Sara, and Gina
The 2011 Buffalo Bandettes
several Jills alumni including, but not limited to....Nichole M (1998-2001), Amanda F (2001-2003 and Bandettes 2006-2007), Francine (2000-04), Aimee (2002-07), Nicole P (2004-09), Lynn (2008-09), Rita (2008), Kristin M (2008), and Alecia (2008)...those are just the ones that I knew about
After halftime, the photo opportunities kept coming...in the stands as the Jills ambassadors, alumni, and Bandettes filled up the empty seats in the section. That's Bandettes 2nd year vet Lauren B on the right with a couple of her friends...or rookie Bandettes? Check all the photos out at http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a375/buffalojills2005/2010/Bears/ and the compilation video here
Coming up next for the Jills, they'll be back at the Ralph next Sunday as the Bills play host to the Detroit Lions. Make sure to visit the Jills Ambassadors inside the Fieldhouse and at the 97Rock and 103.3 The Edge Tailgate parties before the game as well as making sure you're in Lot C at 11:30 for a Jills pregame performance!
Tuesday, November 16th, the Buffalo Bills Fieldhouse is the place to be as the Jills host an Open Practice in which they'll show young ladies some cheers and given them a taste of the Jr Jills program. Get all the info at http://buffalojills.net/Article.asp?id=1971677&spid=34534
Next up for the Bandettes, they'll be performing (well, the girls that are at least 21 years of age) at the World's Largest Disco on November 27th at the Buffalo Convention Center. Check eBay, StubHub, and Craigslist for tickets as this event has been sold out for months as it is every year.
December 5th, while the Bills are on the road, head down to HSBC Arena for the Bandits Open Practice. See the team that's going to bring Buffalo its next championship (and were responsible for its last) and see the 2011 Buffalo Bandettes perform as a full group for the 1st time.
The Jills, alumni, Bandettes, and Fusion dancers with Hinder
A couple of weeks ago, we talked about Kristen, a 2nd year vet who moved from the Ambassador Squad to the ranks of the dancers this season. Nicole, also switching over from Ambassador to dance this year, is perhaps the quietest of the 3 Musketeers and when you consider that she dances on Eileen's line next to Murissa, that's likely staying the case on the sidelines. With Katie on the other side of her, the fact that Nicole is doing so well as a dancer this year is no surprise in the least. Of course Nicole's well-known determination is the biggest reason for her success, whether it be on the field or in the classroom as she's working towards her degree in communications and marketing/management. It's definitely a career field she should excel at, what with her easy-going demeanor and incredible smile. Personally, I'm glad she chose that route...she and Lindsay played a little catch with the football at the draft party and while Nicole did pretty well, WRs get hit pretty hard and I certainly don't wanna see Nicole on the receiving end of a hit from Ed Reed...lol.
Nicole's secondary photo is from the Saturday draft party the Bills held in April. Shown posing for the camera are two Jills whose smiles could brighten Ralph Wilson Stadium on their own...Emily and Nicole. As I previously mentioned, we had 2 girls make the switch from Ambassador to dance this year and you can see the video of Kristen and Nicole at the 1st rd of cuts right here.
On Saturday October 30th, the Joint Base Lewis-McChord hosted a free meet and greet with two members of the Buffalo Bills Cheerleading team.
They started off their tour here by going to the Navel hospital in Bremerton. The hospital had a costume contest going on that day and the girls had their picture taken with the winners, which consisted of sailors dressed up as members of the Wizard of Oz. The girls both received a coin by the Master Chief Petty Officer of the hospital, and both felt very honored to receive such an unexpected gift.
This week, the Bills and Jills head to Toronto to "host" the Chicago Bears up at the Rogers Centre and there's 4 big things the Jills are involved in.
First up is a VIP kickoff party being held at MUZIK Nightclub Thursday night at 9pm featuring NFL Alumni, rock group Hinder, and members of the Buffalo Jills. Get all the info on that at http://www.billsintoronto.com/fanzone/vip-kick-off-party
On gameday, as everyone should know, you can't tailgate in Toronto but the Bills know that tailgating is a vital part of the gameday experience and they have a sponsored tailgate party set up right under the CN Tower going on from 10am-12:30pm with live music, Bills alumni, food, drink, and the Buffalo Jills on hand. The info on that can be found at http://www.billsintoronto.com/game-coverage/budweiser-tailgate
For their pregame performance, the Jills have a special treat. Everyone knows what a big thing the Jr Jills program has become in Buffalo and for the next few years, until this Toronto series ends in 2012, the Jills are bringing a Jr Jills program to Toronto as well. You can check out the finished product in pregame of Sunday's game and maybe you'll want to get your children involved next year.
Halftime will be a must-see performance as rock group Hinder takes the field for a 2-song set. They won't be alone as the Jills will be performing right along with them...along with a large number of other dancers. These won't be random dancers, either. The Jills are bringing along the 2011 Buffalo Bandettes for this as well as numerous Buffalo Jills alumni as well as members of the Jills' own Ambassador Squad.
Finally, after the Bills' home game on Nov 14th against the Detroit Lions, the Jills are inviting everyone to join them in the Fieldhouse for an Open Practice on Nov 16th from 6:30-8:30. It's a great event in which the Jills teach girls to cheer like a pro. The event last year was a huge success and everyone, participant and spectator alike, had a great time. The event costs $5 per participant and $3 for spectators and gives children a taste of what the Jr Jills program is about. Get all the details at http://buffalojills.net/Article.asp?id=1971677&spid=34534
