Thanks
to dedicated activists like Margaret Wooster, Doreen DeBoth, Mark Kubiniec and
Max Willig, there is a real drive to restore the Scajaquada Creek to some of
it’s former health and beauty. This once pristine stream, meandering through Cheektowaga and Buffalo,
has been diverted, damned, fought over and polluted, but now is gaining
respect. With Alberto Rey’s visually stunning and enlightening exhibit at the
Burchfield Penney Art Center, it was the perfect time for the Grant/Amherst
Business Association to organize a panel discussion about the Creek. We met at
the Burchfield Penney on June 12 for “Scajaquada Creek Talks II: Art in the
Service of Education and Community Development.” Both the panel and the
audience told some amazing stories! There was a new appreciation for just how
much damage has been done to this treasure of water.
The
next community meeting will be on Wednesday, June 18 from 4 – 7 pm at Buffalo State
College in the Bulger Communication Center at 1300 Elmwood Avenue in Buffalo.
The focus will be on the NYS Department of Transportation and plans to convert
the Scajaquada Expressway into a 30mph city street. Citizens agree, “the
Expressway was a mistake made decades ago and now the time has come to fix it.”
