Verizon Honors Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens with Commemorative SuperPages Cover

BUFFALO, N.Y. - The newly renovated main dome of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens conservatory building will serve as the backdrop for a ceremony at 9:30 a.m. today celebrating the institution's selection as the cover image for the 2001-2002 Erie County Verizon SuperPages. More than 600,000 of the yellow and white pages directories - featuring current and historical images of the Botanical Gardens - are being delivered now to Erie County residents and businesses.

For more than 100 years, the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens have served as a center for botanical education and aesthetic beauty. The notable landmark consists of three historical attractions: the South Park, designed in 1887 by Frederick Law Olmstead, the tri-domed glass conservatory building, designed by Lord and Burnham, and the gardens of plants and flowers. The $2.4 million renovation of the main dome of the conservatory building, which is one of a dozen Victorian conservatories remaining in the country, was completed in July 2001, leading to the next phase of renovations - restoring the tourist welcome center.

"As the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens embarks on its second phase of renovations, the Verizon SuperPages is providing them with the highest visibility in the community - placing the Botanical Gardens in more than 600,000 homes and businesses," said Pat Marshall, group vice president - marketing, Verizon Information Services. "By recognizing this historic institution, we are also helping to preserve it for future generations to enjoy."

Of the more than 2,000 directory titles that Verizon will publish in 2001, Erie County is one of eight directories to feature a localized cover. The image used for the cover artwork is a combination of a photograph of the restored main dome and several antique postcards. The photograph by Jim Bush, is the first published photograph of the newly renovated dome. The use of the postcards was donated to the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society by The Traveling Picture Show, a local company that collects and reproduces antique images of Western New York.

"Being featured on the cover of the Verizon Erie County SuperPages has provided the Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens with an immensely wonderful opportunity by heightening our visibility in the community to help us achieve our Master Plan fundraising goal of $20 million," said Jacqueline Kenny, director of marketing and public relations, Buffalo & Erie County Botanical Gardens. "We are grateful to Verizon for recognizing the Botanical Gardens as a cultural and historical treasure."

Kathryn O'Donnell, president -- board of directors, Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, honored Marshall, County Executive Joel Giambra, James Keane, the Western New York director for Senator Hillary Clinton, and Florence DaLuiso-Zoll, the founder and director emeritus of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, with plaques featuring the new cover art.

In honor of DaLuiso-Zoll, Verizon donated a garden bench to the Botanical Gardens. During her distinguished history as the founder of the Buffalo and Erie County Botanical Gardens Society, she has been instrumental in saving the Botanical Gardens from closure and has initiated educational and volunteer training programs.

The new Erie County SuperPages directory features an improved Community Magazine, which showcases area attractions, entertainment, recreation and community services. The magazine also includes 18 pages of maps for Greater Buffalo and the surrounding suburbs. Users looking for a restaurant to satisfy their appetite will find the Dining Your Way! Guide, under Restaurants in the yellow pages, a useful feature with locator maps and menu pages. Another new feature to the Erie County SuperPages is a Shopping Mall Guide, with helpful maps and store directories for area shopping centers.

In addition to finding local listings in the Erie County SuperPages, area residents can log on to Verizon's SuperPages.com (www.superpages.com), the Internet's leading online directory and shopping resource, for millions of local and national business listings. In support of both SuperPages.com and the printed SuperPages, the Erie County directory includes the Verizon Internet Guide, a road map to the information superhighway - complete with Internet searching tips, unique Web sites and Internet-related businesses.

Verizon Information Services

Verizon Information Services is a world's leading print and online directory publisher and a content provider for communications products and services. The largest directory publisher in the world, Verizon has annual revenues of more than $4.1 billion and publishes nearly 1,600 Verizon directory titles with a total circulation of approximately 144 million copies worldwide. Verizon Information Services also produces and markets SuperPages.com, the Internet's preeminent online directory and shopping resource. SuperPages.com receives as many as 9 million visits and completes as many as 20 million searches per month.

Based in the Dallas area, Verizon Information Services is a unit of Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ), one of the world's leading providers of communications services.

For more information on Verizon Information Services, visit www.verizonyellowpages.com.

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