iDreaming is free.i That little phrase has been circling through my brain since hearing Blondie do the ioldiei at this yearsi Rockini @ the Knox. In this busy world, it seems we forget to occasionally pause and indulge in a little good old fashioned dreaming. iDreamingi popped into my thoughts many times this weekend while volunteering and attending this weekendis Buffalo Old Home Week events.
A 1907 postcard from the first (and only) Buffalo Old Home Week, prompted BRO founder Newell Nussbaumer to dream about ihow great it would be if we could do this again in Buffalo.i Recent irepat,i Marti Gorman caught the dream from Nussbaumer and made it her mission to imake it happen.i She collaborated with Amy Maxwell from Revitalize Buffalo, and Chris Smith @ BuffaloGeek.com (see below dressed as the BOHW official mascot, Bounceback Jack) who also had been dreaming about what they could do to get the word out about the city they loved. They began dreaming about a way to highlight the good-paying jobs available in the Buffalo area. This resulted in Fridayis well-attended Jobs/ Career Fair that featured panel discussions with Buffalo business owners that had made their own dreams a reality and were now looking for fellow dreamers to grow those dreams.
Along the way they gathered together others who dreamed the iNew Buffaloi dream of a city that iis loved for what it is, and for the city it could be.i
Chris Schmidt, an expat living in California, dreamed of the great Downtown development boom and contacted movers & shakers such as developer Rocco Termini and Downtown pioneers, Nancy & Steve Seigel, who had been living their Downtown dream for the past three years. They, and a hard-working host of others, put together the wildly successful Downtown Housing Tour that focused on urban living. The self-guided walking tour gave both locals and visitors alike an opportunity to view first hand the dreams that had become the Downtown resurgence.
It went on and on. It seemed everywhere I turned I was running into another dreamer! What was going on here?
The Happy (To Be Back Repat) Hour was overrun with fellow dreamers. My official duties included distributing nametags that stated the city each had moved from. There were those that had packed the truck and ventured from nearby suburbs, those from major cities such as Chicago, New York and Boston, and even a few hearty individuals who had traveled from such exotic locations as Australia, Italy, Hawaii, Japan and China! Mayor Brown made a personal appearance. He seemed to enjoy mingling with others who shared their dreams for Buffalo.
It seemed that the Buffalo Old Home Week word was out, given the traffic on the local Blogosphere and the sudden interest in Buffalo by the national media including the New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and CBS television. Buffalo was looking a bit like the belle of the ball!
My Saturday duties included distributing maps at the Market Arcade, which served as the beginning point for the Downtown Housing Tour. Again, I had an opportunity to chat with the HUNDREDS of people, curious to see iwhat exactly was going on down there.i This included many suburbanites who had dreams of living downtown, avoiding the daily drive by utilizing mass transit (the Metro Line) to their downtown jobs. There were others who had already returned to Buffalo, attended the Friday Career Fair, and were seriously looking for a place to live beginning Sept. 1st!
One of the latter was Kathleen (top left), who I (top right) recognized from at least three of the BOHW events that I attended. She confessed, iBuffalo means a lot to me.i It seems she had heard about BOHW on line and made her plane reservations well ahead in July. She was proud to tell me that she had attended EVERY event so far and was planning on attending it all. Kathleen was VERY serious about returning to the City of Buffalo from her current home in Charlotte, NC. Born and raised here, she had moved away, come back for elderly parent reasons, again left for job opportunities and was planning another comeback, this time for good. She told me of her dreams of moving back, inspiring me with her resonating commitment and love for Buffalo.
The iBuffalois Futurei event, held at the wonderful CPO Club at the foot of Porter Ave., included one of my favorite dreamers, Kevin Gaughn (above). His love of Buffalo and his poetic soul always inspire us to dream beautiful dreams of Buffalo: past and present. A jet lagged Congressman Brian Higgins (below), who had only one hour prior to the event returned from a world tour that included a stop in Baghdad, a place for which we all dream of peace. Congressman Higgins revealed his fellow dreamer status with his statement that iBuffalois best days are immediately in front of us.i
The Waterfront was also discussed at the event, describing both dreams of igreeni and plans for wide spread development. Letis hope the dreams are merged with the more pragmatic vision and Buffalois Waterfront serves all in an inclusive way.
As youive by now gathered, Buffalo Old Home Week was quite a whirlwind. Last night I had sweet dreams that included some of the lovely people I had spoken with over the course of the weekend; the NYC flight attendant whose loving friends had brought him to BOHW in hopes that he would relocate; a Clarence woman who was dreaming of a retirement life that included living Downtown; and Jessica who dreamt of raising her soon to be born child in a city that values friendship and a sense of community.
Thank goodness that dreams are indeed free; and itis a beautiful thing when it all comes together and weire able to actually make those dreams our reality.
Photos: queenseyes