PARENTS: Local Web site by Medina natives is up for award

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June 11, 2009

By Joe Olenick<br><a href="mailto:joe.olenick@journal-register.com">E-mail Joe</a> The Journal-Register Thu Jun 11, 2009, 11:29 PM EDT

Parenting is hard, so any help might be appreciated.

Lockportian Stacey Pellicano, sister Melissa Bertrand of Clarence Center and Kelly Murphy of Amherst can offer some help. The trio have a Web site that can be a resource of information for parents and is also up for an award. The site, Western New York Kids, has been nominated for a Nickelodeon Parents’ Picks Award as the Best Blog in Buffalo. Families can vote for the blog online once each day on the site, www.wnykids.com, through July 15 and can also enter for a chance to win $2,000 in the Nickelodeon sweepstakes.

The Web site has coupons, a calendar of family events, a directory of local kid-friendly businesses and the blog. Pellicano, Bertrand and Murphy maintain and update the blog on a regular basis.

“There’s three of us who blog. We do our own research,” Pellicano said.

Western New York Kids has other Web pages that offer additional information in different areas, such as education or birthday party planning help. The site also has a newsletter, which 200 people are signed up for, as well as a Facebook page. Pellicano and Bertrand said Western New York Kids was the result of two things: their business and the first Western New York Baby Expo in March.

Since April 2008, the Medina natives have an online business called Posh Baby Baskets. Posh Baby Baskets has been offering mothers and mothers-to-be a pregnancy kit, a pre-packed ready-to-go hospital kit and the baby bundle, which is a cover for baby seats. But in a search to find some kind of trade show for baby products, Pellicano and Bertrand found there wasn’t one locally.

“We were looking for something,” Bertrand said. “So we put one together.”

It was a lot of work, but they were able to hold the first Western New York Baby Expo in March in Clarence. About 1,000 people attended the event, which included 50 vendors. The event is expected to become an annual thing. The turnout was stunning, Pellicano said.

“There was a line out the door 30 minutes before it started,” she said. “We also heard afterwards that some didn’t know about it.”

The success of the business and the expo led to the creation of Western New York Kids Web site. The site features baby and kids products, made locally, as well as advice from people such as teachers, which both Pellicano and Bertrand formerly were. Murphy is still a teacher. Western New York Kids was nominated by gocitykids.com, an online community resource. Nickelodeon will recognize winners in 52 U.S. cities in a number of categories.

Voters have until July to vote for the Best Blog in Buffalo and the results should be known by August.

Contact reporter Joe Olenick at 439-9222, ext. 6241.

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