1. The Rotary Club of West Seneca will bestow its Hero Award on a couple who are the dedicated parents of five autistic children. Courageous parents Joseph and Julie Greenan will be honored with the Rotary Club's Paul Harris Fellowship, an honor reserved for those who exemplify the highest ideals of Rotary International, during a ceremony planned for 5:30 p.m. in Southgate Plaza, 950 Union Road, West Seneca.
2. The Valley Community Association is already looking past fall and winter and on to spring as it holds its second annual "Halfway to St. Patrick's Day" party from 7 to 11:30 p.m. in Buffalo Riverfest Park, 249 Ohio St. The event will feature the local Irish band "The LeftOvers" and lots of Irish food and refreshments for sale, the proceeds from which will benefit the park. Otherwise, admission is free.
3. Buffalo's Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation will kick off its centennial weekend celebration with a lecture by Archbishop Demetrios, head of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese in America, at 6 p.m. in the Albright-Knox Art Gallery, 1285 Elmwood Ave. The appearance will mark Demetrios' first visit to Buffalo. The Hellenic Orthodox Church of the Annunciation at 146 West Utica St., was founded by Greek immigrants in 1912.
4. WNED-TV will pay homage to a hometown hero, political satirist Mark Russell, by rebroadcasting "Mark Russell's America" at 9 p.m. The show features highlights from Russell's more than 100 PBS specials that aired between 1975 and 2004. Most of them were live performances that originated from Russell's hometown, right here in Buffalo. Russell's timely observations are said to have set the standard for today's political satirists, including Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert and Bill Maher.
5. Some peachy keen events will kick off the 55th annual Niagara County Peach Festival on Center Street in Lewiston. The three-day event will open from 5 to 8 p.m. with a youth football cheerleading competition, a peach dessert bake-off from 6 to 7 p.m. and festival queen contestants doing jazzercise from 8 to 9 p.m. The event is sponsored by the Kiwanis Club of Lewiston
6. A production of Meredith Wilson's classic Broadway hit "The Music Man" debuts at 8 p.m. in Musicalfare Theatre, 4380 Main St., Amherst. The musical follows the exploits of fast-talking traveling salesman Harold Hill as he cons the people of River City, Iowa, until his heart is stolen by Marian the librarian. The show runs through Oct. 14. Tickets are $38.
7. The Castellani Art Museum at Niagara University in Lewiston and the Buffalo & Erie County Public Library in downtown Buffalo will open exhibits that commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812. The Castellani exhibit explores the role of books and related visual arts in the marketing of the Niagara region as a premiere tourist destination before and after the War of 1812. The library exhibit will feature letters, maps, images and narratives drawn from the library's own collections, including the dramatic story of the devastation of the frontier village of Buffalo in December 1813.