Friday, December 7, 2007
A Christmas Poinsetta
Hello Mayor,
I couldn't write to you last night. We had a very successful parent meeting at school 54 yesterday. Parents and family members came with their children to an event that demonstrated how students learn to develop reading skills. The children showed their parents how to practice sound blending, and parents learned about the Fab 5 components of reading: phonemic awareness, phonics, vocabulary, comprehension and fluency. Afterward, everyone was treated to ice cream sundaes. Needless to say, after scooping about 300 ice cream bowls,
I was exhausted. I packed up my work bag at 8:00PM and loaded my poinsettias from the school holiday sale into the car and started for home. While driving under the Peace Bridge at 8:15 PM, I saw four trucks on the bridge and no cars. As I turned onto Columbus Pkwy. off of Porter, I decided to check to see if there were still cars at the Armory from the community meeting about "the bridge". Indeed, they were still there, so I decided to go in....but wait...what about the poinsettias left in the cold? I took the risk and decided to check out the meeting, hoping the poinsettias would be ok for awhile, thinking the meeting would be over with soon.
You see...the poinsettias are very important to me. Every year, for my entire life, and most likely for many years before then, my Dad's best friend, and my godfather, always had the most beautiful arrangement of a poinsettia delivered to our house. My "Uncle Don", was a bachelor and lacked in the creativity of gift giving. My family always did enjoy this gift and we have always looked at it as a symbol of "Uncle Don". Uncle Don was my Dad's best friend... for 75 years. How many people can actually say they had a friend, a best friend, for that length of time? He grew up with my Dad, went to school with him from kindergarten through 12th grade. He was a dentist who lived in the neighborhood and practiced on Niagara St. Uncle Don passed away 6 years ago. It has been since then that I have watched my Dad slip into his own sadness and onset of dementia. Since Uncle Don's passing, I have been bringing home a holiday poinsettia for my parents. When I bring it into the house, I announce to them, "Uncle Don is here"! It always puts a smile on their faces and I am so happy to help keep the memory of Uncle Don alive for all of us.
Yesterday's meeting at the armory, which I missed most of, was another attempt to divide and conquer, pit one neighbor against the other to tear down a neighborhood, separate one persons' needs from another's and for us to give in and make concessions about our lives. Do you really think I care where a tree will be planted when I am forced to move out of my house? I want to have my friends around me for 50 plus years. I already enjoy this high quality of living with what I have. This is not just about the physical structure of our homes. It is about how we are connected together. I truly believe what we already have, family and friends around us, is what so many others in the world are lacking in their lives. You can not put a price tag on this kind of life style and you can not duplicate it somewhere else. It has taken us years of living together to evolve to this style which we so dearly embrace and appreciate.
This weekend I am going out of town. My dear friend and neighbor, Kathy, I know will be here to check in with my parents and keep an eye on my house. This is the kind of neighbors and friends we have, caring about each other and helping one another. You can not duplicate this anywhere. While you might have a real estate agent negotiate a dwelling, will you have some agent to offer us transitional friendship and emotional support in our relocation?
After the meeting last night, as we were all so tired from our very busy day and emotional evening, we decided to visit our neighborhood restaurant, Boomerang's, for a bite to eat. Most of us hadn't had a chance to eat or relax, once again, because of what we must live with everyday, the big gorilla in the backyard, "The Peace Bridge".
Oops...I had to run those poinsettia plants into the house first. I am happy to say they did survive and we will enjoy the memories of Uncle Don again this holiday season.
Mayor-For every poinsettia you see this holiday season, please think of us on Columbus Parkway and the entire neighborhood. Who will replace the relationships and memories of friendship in our lives?
Liz Martina
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To all the good people of Buffalo's wonderful West Side and to all City Residents who have endured so much to make a Better Buffalo - The Niagara Gateway Columbus Park Association is a neighborhood association who believes that people belong in neighborhoods not trucks. Our turn-of-the-century homes were built and owned by men and women who put Buffalo on the map. Over 188 properties were built during the 19th and 20th century. Before there ever was a Peace Bridge. Today, our community still remains strong and vibrant. It is the diversity of the people - all of the people - who create a one-of-a-kind community that deserves the respect and support of our political leaders. Demolition is not the answer to blight. Destroying neighborhoods block by block does not eliminate poverty, it only exacerbates it. A city district cannot be paved over with 45 acres of concrete to become anything more than a massive parking lot for monster trucks. The City of Buffalo and the Public Bridge Authority know that investing (not destroying) in our housing stock is long over due. We will not be held hostage by an all to powerful public authority who thinks they all ready own this community. They want the public to believe that the only answer to urban renewal on the West Side is to tear it down. They are wrong. Neglect, absenteeism and abandonment of properties can no longer be accepted as the status quo in City Hall. The residents who embrace the West Side deserve no less than what we started out with 175 years ago; award winning, historical parks surrounded by historic residential districts, connecting boulevards, and people who wanted to live near the Niagara River. The NGCPA along with many other local, regional, state and federal lead organizations will continue to work toward returning this community's desirability, livability and respectability which we so deserve. Our holiday message to all of you who continue to support our campaign; we pledge that this community will be restored physically, economically and socially. To our political leaders; the West Side of Buffalo is not for sale. We will not be auctioned off brick by brick, house by house or block by block. The good people of this community and City remain determined to rebuild a Better Buffalo for people who want to stay and not for people who want to leave.
Best Wishes this Holiday Season,
Kathy Mecca, President
Niagara Gateway Columbus Park Assoc.
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