Oakfield Labor Daze

On Saturday at Labor Daze in Triangle Park in Oakfield, Mayday Buffalo was the afternoon band, and Dave Viterna Group was the headliner for the night.

The rest of this weekend's lineup:

On Sunday:

• 11 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.: Russ Peters Group
• 12:30 to 3:30 p.m., Eaglez tribute to The Eagles
• 3:30 to 6:30 p.m.: Hazzard County
• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.: Nerds Gone Wild

On Monday:

• 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Salvatore
• 1 to 4 p.m.: Terry Buchwald tribute to Elvis
• 4 to 7 p.m.: Songbirds tribute to Fleetwood Mac

The Labor Daze Parade is at 10 a.m. on Monday

Photos by Howard Owens

Here’s hoping that the extended weather forecast is off base for this weekend, because organizers are bringing back the car cruise to this year’s Labor Daze, Jamie Lindsley says.

The cruise is set for 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday in the village of Oakfield.

“We are looking forward to a great turnout of classic cars thanks to help from some experienced car cruise and show aficionados,” said Lindsley, Oakfield Betterment Committee chair. 

So pay no nevermind to a chance of rain on Saturday, and dress accordingly for a day of fun, food, music and mingling. Labor Daze is arguably the area's -- and certainly Genesee County's -- biggest three-day Labor Day weekend festival going. 

Another new activity is Carrie’s Kids Parade, promoted as one of the highlights of the Labor Daze regular parade to hit the street on Monday morning.

“We wanted to give kids their own special parade for them to participate in and show creativity and enthusiasm,” Lindsley said. “It is named after OBC’s dear friend Carrie Gilbert Desjardins, who was a longstanding member and always displayed love and commitment to her community, especially the children.”

There will be a Vietnam memorial dedication in Triangle Park immediately following the parade. 

“The Oakfield Historical Society had a fundraising campaign to raise money to put this memorial in place amongst the other memorials in the park, and honor the men and women who served in Vietnam,” she said.  

Other new elements this year are:

Exciting new raffles, including a Sportsman’s Raffle, a Mega (high-value items) Raffle, a 50/50 and basket raffles.

New musical performers, including Mayday Buffalo, a four-piece rock band from Buffalo playing music from the 1960s through today; Eaglez Tribute Band to the ever-popular Eagles country rock band; the local rock band from Orleans County, Salvatore, playing all your favorites; and Terry Buchwald’s return after seven years with a tribute to Elvis (see related story).

What prompted the committee to bring back Elvis after all these years? And why did you seek out Salvatore as a new performer?
“This is the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Labor Daze, and we wanted to have a retro feel. Everyone loves Elvis, from children and families to young adults and their grandparents. Terry Buchwald is an energetic performer and gets the crowd involved,” Lindsley said. “Salvatore is new to Labor Daze, but were our featured performers at our Total Eclipse at the Park viewing party. Their music was so good, we just had to invite them to Labor Daze.”

Since this is the 40th celebration, are you aiming for a fresh event or settling on old favorites for attendees?
“It’s a mix of both. Some returning favorites as well as new talent. The tradition of Labor Daze is so important to Oakfield. In fact, the Labor Day parade has its roots going all the way back to 1947,” she said. “Community worship service Sunday morning is open to all, regardless of denomination.”

Committee members are always learning year to year about what they may need for the following event, and this year is no exception, Lindsley said. The last Kids Fun Day was so successful, they now know to have more people on hand to help out for this year’s kids’ day, set from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Elroy Parkins Park, 37 Drake St.

"We were thrilled at the huge turnout and plan to have eight to 12 people there at all times to help run the games, contests, bounce houses and more,” she said. “We also learned that people of all ages love the pony rides and that we should have concessions at Kids Fun Day too.”

Registration for the 5K Hornet Hustle (9 a.m. Saturday) is outpacing last year's, which is exciting for committee members, she said. Spectators are encouraged to line the street and cheer for participants. Wear your blue and gold, a costume or anything OA Hornets-related.

The parade is also taking shape (10 a.m. Monday), with participants including fire departments, marching bands, classic cars, tractors, sports teams, county fair queen and princess pageant winners.

Not to leave out the other entertainment, Hazzard County was named a 2023 Western New York Top Country Band and features modern country hits with a few surprises; Batavia Players will be performing musical selections; Dance Images of Oakfield will take to the stage for a performance; Genesee Ted plans to crank up the honky tonk country rock, psychedelic era rock, blues, harmonies and Grateful Dead; Dave Viterna Group will do some blues and rock; Russ Peters Group has the contemporary Christian music covered, and Songbirds is a tribute to Fleetwood Mac.

Think all of this might make you hungry? Fear not, because there will be food vendors galore, with Italian sausage, peppers and onions, blooming onions, specialty grilled cheese sandwiches, pulled pork, fried chicken, hot dog stuffed pretzels, roast beef, authentic African cuisine and custom cookies, cupcakes and desserts.

You can walk it all off by shopping at the 50 or so arts and crafts vendors selling handmade wood products, sterling silver jewelry, custom shirts, terrariums, Buffalo Bills gear, crochet goods, flasks and tumblers, honey products, hard cider, handpainted purses, and more. 

While Labor Daze is a community-building event, committee members want to remind folks to please don’t bring pets or alcoholic beverages and don’t smoke in the park during the three-day event.  

“It’s family-friendly; there is no admission fee, so everyone can attend and enjoy without worrying about costs. We have more food choices than ever before, including the Oakfield Betterment booth and many of our local nonprofits.  Anyone who loves music, food, community, making new friends, seeing old friends, arts and crafts vendors, classic cars, buying raffle tickets, will have a great time,” Lindsley said. “People who have never experienced Labor Daze will enjoy the small-town charm with first-rate live music. We’ve had people from all over the country that happened to be driving through Oakfield stop in because they were drawn to the festive atmosphere.”

For more information or to register for the Hornet Hustle or the parade, go to oakfieldbetterment.com.

The committee has been very pleased with this year’s supporters, which have helped to make the event possible, Lindsley said.

"We could not do this without our amazing sponsors, our volunteers, donors, the wonderful Oakfield Fire Department, the Village Board and Town Board, and all the other local organizations that come together to support this tradition,” she said. “Thank you for helping us continue to put on free events for Oakfield and beyond.”

For the entire Labor Daze schedule, go HERE.   

If you’d like to volunteer at the committee’s food stand and/or to clean up, contact jamie@oakfieldbetterment.com

More than three decades of performing have passed by, but for Terry Buchwald it all still feels like yesterday as he hunkers down to be your teddy bear. 

“It’s crazy how you feel so young. I just celebrated, I just turned 54 which I am not shy to tell people because I take care of myself and I keep performing,” he said during an interview with The Batavian. “I’m still doing the motorcycle. We do a little country, we do a little rock and roll. We will have three sets, and I'll do the young Elvis, and we'll do the 70s, and then we'll do some country, rock and roll, and, you know, some songs that Elvis inspired the arts. 

"So we kind of try to keep with that, and I try to make it fun, I just don't want people to show up and ‘oh, there's an Elvis impersonator now.’ I want people to come and say, ‘oh my God, I haven't danced in 10 years, I haven't laughed so much. I haven't gotten up on stage.’ I want to make them part of it.”

They may not have danced in 10 years, not until they watch and hear this Elvis, that is. With his dazzling outfits, infectious personality and gyrations, he’s ready to give the audience a hunk a hunk of burning love.  

And it all takes place from 1 to 4 p.m. Monday during Oakfield’s Labor Daze. It’s been a long hiatus since he has rolled into the village on two wheels — seven years — and Buchwald is looking forward to his return.

“We are very excited to be back. I love the Oakfield audience. I used to walk around and check out all the different vendors. There was a guy there that used to have a chainsaw and would carve bears and stuff. Actually, I bought a couple things, I have a turtle in my yard from Oakfield. We used to have a great time. I mean, it was wonderful. The basketball courts is where we started,” he said. “It's sad to see some of these things go and, you know, during my show, I definitely let people know how important it is that they're there, and how important it is to have live music, to keep community things going, it's so important. It just seems like we all are more, looking at our cell phones than we are getting together with neighbors and enjoying the day.”

Even though many activities were shut down during the COVID pandemic, Buchwald had one of the busiest summers ever, he said. In fact, he was performing “as much as they would let me.”

“So I never stopped. I just kept going,” he said. “All the way from Pennsylvania up into Canada and all the way across to Binghamton. I do go all over the nation, I I had a show last year in Las Vegas. I used to travel before covid. I used to travel every month, and I've covered all 50 states.”

Now he has settled into the eastern part of the country and performs at a lot of festivals in central and western New York.  

“Every set has something for everybody out there. I ride in as young Elvis, take a short break, switch outfits and then do a 70s Elvis with a Las Vegas suit. We shoot teddy bears out to people. If it’s hot out I’ll bring the squirt gun,” he said. “Not everybody is going to be an Elvis fan, maybe the wife comes and the husband’s not, or the husband is and the wife’s not. So those are the people that I target a little more because I want them to enjoy the whole thing. I want them to enjoy the Elvis, and I want to cover everything. Those are the people I’m going to try and give a little more. I may do a Beatles song.”

While growing up in Depew, Buchwald was steeped in music — his mother was a big Elvis Presley fan and dad liked country western, while brother Eddie was in a band. 

The Lancaster resident couldn’t help but be inspired by all of that, and recreated a musical artist he admires for how he could always draw people into his performances, and still does. 

As for the musical lineup during Labor Daze, it begins on Saturday:

• 1 to 4 p.m. Genesee Ted
• 4 to 7 p.m. Mayday Buffalo
• 7 to 10 p.m. Dave Viterna Group

Sunday’s menu begins at 11 a.m. with Russ Peters Group and continues:

• 12:30 to 3:30 p.m. Eaglez Tribute Band
• 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Hazzard County
• 6:30 to 9:30 p.m. Nerds Gone Wild

Monday kicks off with Salvatore at 11 a.m., and after Terry Buchwald it wraps up with Songbirds: a tribute to Fleetwood Mac from 4 to 7 p.m.

Photos from Buchwald's social media with his permission.

Just as it sounds, The Floyd Concept is a Pink Floyd tribute band, founded in 2016, that’s been playing with its current lineup for the past year, plus its newest member, female vocalist Samantha Hoy.

Michael Diggs, keyboardist and one of the founding members, thought it was important to add a female singer since the actual Pink Floyd group employed a few of them, and the Floyd Concept formerly only had five guys.

“But on some of the music that we do, our harmonies are important, and this is where there's certain signature voices that we need to try to get as close as possible. So we decided to add the female singer,” Diggs said during an interview Sunday. “This year we are doing the 50th anniversary of ‘Dark Side of the Moon,’ and there's a song, you know, there's a great one that they call ‘The Great Gig in the Sky,’ one of the songs on the album, which has a female singer.”

They will be performing the album during their show as one of the new groups at this year’s Oakfield Labor Daze Music & Food Festival from 7 to 10 p.m. Monday. 

“If you like Pink Floyd, then you want to come and see this group because we get it as close as possible. And you will love the light show that we give you because you're in for a complete show,” he said. “You'll want to come see this group. We have people who have left the show just blown away from our live show and the music. So you'll definitely be in for a treat when you see our show.”

Diggs first joined a group called Hey You in 2000, and that was a regional Pink Floyd tribute band. He was drawn to Pink Floyd as a kid and then got to see them live in 1989 while stationed with the Army in Germany. 

“And that just made it even better for me,” Diggs said. “And it just kind of, you know, solidified my love for the group and when the opportunity came for me to join a Pink Floyd tribute, I did. So, that group dissolved in 2012. And the founder of that group, George Root, and we started the Floyd Concept together.

“I always loved the music, but after seeing them live, the production just blew me away. And I mean they use like a 25-foot circular screen with movers, you know. The production is unreal. That really did it for me. We wanted to kind of almost try to replicate that type of production on our own for our show. So we … we built a nine-foot screen, a circular truss, with the movers, and we started buying our own light show. So we try to replicate the production side of it as much as we can.”

Band members include: 
Tony Aversa on lead guitar and vocals, an “international recording artist whose music has been used in radio and television across the globe,” according to the group’s website. He began playing guitar in 1980, infatuated with Van Halen, settling into a love for the blues, and becoming hugely influenced by Pink Floyd’s 1982 release of “The Wall,” moving on to his own music label, recordings, bands, songs and now The Floyd Concept.

Tim Toole, on guitar and vocals, described on the site as delivering “the fun, melodic and emotional dynamic experience so common to all great music shows.” A lifelong fan of Pink Floyd and David Gilmour melodies,  Toole has played in various bands throughout his life, amassing more than 100 shows with his guitar rig of several Fender Stratocasters, Taylor 6 string 314 CE, Fender 12 string, various classic tube amps and modulation effects. 

Bryan Owczarzak, bassist, began his piano studies at age 10 and has early professional experience recording music for local TV and radio commercials while in high school and college. He’s played keyboards and bass in several local jazz and progressive rock bands since the mid-1990s.

Chris Collesano is on percussion, drawn to music at an early age, he started banging on “anything that sounded cool to me,” he says on the website. He bought his first electric guitar at 15 and his first drum set at 12, teaching himself how to play both. Collesano has done several side projects and sessions and studio work, plus solo work, playing tame star classic drums and a variety of snares and cymbals. 

As for Diggs, a Hamburg resident, he won first place in a star search while stationed in Germany, and was nominated for best rock keyboardist for the Buffalo Music Awards in 2011 and 2012 and again in 2017, 2018 and 2019. 

He’s had some time to practice, taking up keyboards at age 8 and never putting them back down, the 55-year-old said. However, he does seem to like talking technology every bit as much as the music — maybe even more. The video production, choreography, lighting, movers on stage in rhythm with the melodies, they all lend that legitimacy and spirit of Pink Floyd to the experience, he said. 

Take the song, “Welcome to the Machine.” 

“You know, the screen is all red. There’s a video of a robot doing office work. You'll see the video footage of that. When you see ‘Dark Side of the Moon.’ I mean, we'll have actual clips from Pink Floyd stuff, ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ there. We like to use stuff of space, earth and stuff like that,” he said. “So ‘Money,’ of course, we'll use the actual footage of the video for money. And the same thing with ‘Time.’ Also, with the ticking clocks and stuff like that. It's very, very video-driven. And our movers are mounted to our screen. And it kind of flows with the music, which is where our lighting director comes in. And then, plus, we have other types of lighting.”

The band is a side gig for the members, and they perform at least a dozen times a year at festivals and theaters, he said. For Diggs, he’s an electrician for Erie County, and his bandmates are insurance agents, school teachers and the like. It’s not uncommon to go from working a job to performing, and “Western New York has some amazing talent,” he said. 

“It's unbelievable, all the groups that we have around here, and we're very, very fortunate to be playing for the Labor Daze, bringing our show to the Batavia area,” he said. “I’ve been doing bands probably since 1988. Even while I was stationed in Germany, I played in some bands over there, and it was pretty cool. We got a chance to play in places like Frankfort and different venues while I was there, you know, but as far as doing the Pink Floyd stuff, that's always been a dream of mine to do.  I've done like Blues Brothers, progressive rock, stuff like that, but yeah, Pink Floyd just happens to be a passion that I love to do.”