The Reconnecter Roundup, Volume 33 -

Notes & Events for Social Connection & Beloved Community

Please share this with kindred spirits!

Riverline is *not* dead…yet
Musings on Music – Two nights for the books with Tedeschi Trucks Band
Featured Events – 25 this week, submissions welcome!
Listening Links – Ezra Klein breaks down the DNC
Reading Rundown – The Buffalo News leads the way

Welcome to the Reconnecter Roundup! This free weekly email connects people, places, and causes by featuring events, news, and notes.

Happy Monday, y’all! Seeking more event submissions in light of the post-summer slowdown, please share if you care and enjoy this week’s abundance!

The Riverline is Not* Dead…Yet*

If you’ve read any of my previous writings here about the proposed Riverline, hopefully you share in my enthusiasm for this innovative nature trail that could be a game-changer for our city.

And so, if you’ve read the news last week that Riverline steward the Western New York Land Conservancy is abandoning the project – complete with the provocative intro from trusted Buffalo News reporter Mark Sommer saying, “The much-touted Riverline project, which would have created a 1.5-mile urban nature corridor with woodlands, meadows and wetlands in a once-industrial area minutes from downtown, is dead.” – hopefully you also share in my commitment to stand up and resist this potential outcome.

Speaking on behalf of the committed Riverline ambassadors who work behind the scenes and at events to build support for this brilliant idea, building on the millions of dollars already invested in plans including an Environmental Impact Study and detailed designs informed by years of public meetings, we intend to continue working in good faith and partnership with all relevant parties to help The Riverline become a reality for our city, rather than adding it to Buffalo’s long list of wasted opportunities.

The Riverline Ambassadors have spent this year talking with people in our neighborhoods, helping run community events, and supporting the Riverline Study, which is investigating the environmental and engineering feasibility of the project. We have been at six public meetings and five “Block Talks,” and have watched Land Conservancy and NFTA staff listen and respond to community concerns and ideas.

We know that people want to see this project happen, and that it is driven by The Riverline’s Equitable Development Framework, making this a project created with the community, not just dropped into the communityAs longtime Buffalo residents, we are excited about how The Riverline complements other reuse and redevelopment projects in the area.

The Riverline will connect to Canalside and the Buffalo waterfront; to the redeveloped Commodore Perry Homes and Louisiana Street; and development along Ohio Street and at Silo City. Connections can be made to the Larkin District, Michigan Street African American Heritage Corridor, and Central Terminal.

These connections will all contribute to making Buffalo a healthier, safer, and more beautiful and enjoyable city for all.We recognize that public projects like this one take a long time. We appreciate the complexities of funding, designing, and building a major project like The Riverline.

That said, we refuse to these obstacles ruin this opportunity. The Riverline is a game-changer for its surrounding neighborhoods and for Buffalo, and we will continue to advocate for its construction.

If you’d like to help keep The Riverline alive, or just to learn more, please visit The Riverline website and sign up to receive updates – there will be multiple events in the coming weeks, stay tuned!

Musings on Music

Tedeschi Trucks and Margo Price Bands Leave Their Mark from Buffalo to Artpark

I said it here last week and I’ll say it again – Tedeschi Trucks Band is my musical heaven, a literal marriage both of people and bands. Blessed are those who witnessed their glory at Artpark last week – as well as their bandmates in a packed pop-up show at the Sportsmen’s Tavern, plus a low-key dinner jam at Osteria 166!

The Osteria scene is the only part of it where I had my phone out – see below as TTB saxophonist Kebbi Williams jumped in with Grosh and guests Alex McArthur and Sue Kincaid, who gave a spirited acoustic set while both bands were treated to a family feast that a later video showed they had a hand in themselves, donning aprons for an Italian cooking lesson with Osteria owner and TTB superfan Nick Pitillo (save the date of September 22nd for Osteria’s eighth annual Meatball Street Brawl).

The tour then rolled to the Sportsmen’s, where on just two days notice a packed house welcomed band members for a pop-up jam that had everyone smiling on and offstage, such good vibes and a classic ship-come-in moment for the Hall family who own and run the Sportsmen’s – decades of building that house of music paying off through a chance meeting in Nashville between longtime house drummer Randy Bolam and Margo Price Band bassist Alec Newman that turned into magic on the word we here know well: “if you’re looking for music in Buffalo, start at the Sportsmen’s.

Onto Artpark for the main event, and still in the clouds over its awesomeness, I’ll leave that review to Jeff Miers, who waxed poetic in a long post to Miers on Music: “The performance offered by this 12-piece ensemble was simply sublime…an underlying quest for transcendence, communicated by the band members as a deep emotional commitment, not just to the material at hand, but to the very idea that music can elevate, inspire, unite.”

Big thanks to all involved in this awesomeness – please support these beloved sources of social connection, from these musicians to the food and music of Osteria, Sportsmen’s and Artpark (see below for events this week!) along with the music-loving musings of Jeff Miers, all of whom bring us all together in sincere love of and commitment to community.

Become a paying member to help us present and promote Buffalo music!

Events in the Week Ahead

Thanks to all submitting their events! Welcoming event submissions with a flyer and link to seamus@reconnecter.org.

Listening Links

As we prepare to launch the Reconnecter podcast and a section for podcasts on our website, adding weekly listening links that align with the intentions of Reconnecter.

The Ezra Klein Show remains my go-to for deep dives on current issues, and over this past week provided hot yet sober takes on each night of the Democratic National Convention. This is the same source I’ve been linking here since the start of Reconnecter, including those early editions over the winter when Ezra was calling for an open convention instead of insisting on sticking with President Biden – all the while stressing that his pitch might age poorly, which it obviously has not.In a time of rampant partisan punditry, Ezra offers his opinions only as disclaimers before thoughtful explorations with studied guests. He’s recently offered “The Trump Campaign’s Theory of Victory,” then asked, “Are Democrats Right to Unite Around Kamala Harris?” while staying ahead of the news by having Governor Tim Walz as his guest just a few days before he was named Vice President Harris’s running mate with an episode entitled, “Is Tim Walz the Midwestern Dad Democrats Need?”The silly season of the Presidential election is upon us – I implore everyone to seek and share trusted sources for making informed decisions about supporting and voting for whomever they choose.
What’s Next? | Reconnecting to Prevent Social Unrest – WBFO – Leaving this link up for a while, as I’m honored to have been invited onto this profound program – this went real deep from the jump, please listen! Here’s how they described it: “Seamus Gallivan’s latest endeavor is Reconnecter, a ‘social connection space’ that aims to bring people together in person and online ‘by illuminating the ties that bind us.’ That means music showcases, variety shows, and media elements — all to help provide a need that he believes can help prevent social unrest. Gallivan sits down with Thomas O’Neil-White to speak about the power of reconnection and his plans for the new project.”

Reading Rundown

With intent to connect, inform, and inspire action, every Reconnecter Roundup closes with links to other sources and stories that deserve more attention. Always welcoming links to read and share at seamus@reconnecter.org.

Buffalo firefighters honored 15 years after they died in the line of duty – The Buffalo News – “Standing in the empty lot where Buffalo Firefighters Jonathan Croom and Lt. Charles “Chip” McCarthy died in the line of duty 15 years ago, Buffalo Fire Commissioner William Renaldo remembered them as heroes.”
Oles Family Farm perseveres by keeping the faith and rolling with the season – The Buffalo News – “Jane Oles is grateful for what she describes as ‘that everlasting season of life’ she witnesses daily on her family’s fields in Alden, not far from Darien Lake.”
Black Restaurant Week is coming up. Here’s where you’ll find deals – The Buffalo News – “The weeklong celebration of Black-owned restaurants returns for its seventh year to help shine a spotlight on the contributions of Black restaurateurs and chefs within the food community.”
Per Scholas bringing free tech training to Buffalo – The Buffalo News – “The nonprofit organization already offers free training at about two dozen locations around the country, aiming to help people who are underrepresented in the tech sector get hired for good-paying jobs.”
Beach closure blues – Investigative Post – “Last weekend was a tough one for Lake Erie beaches.”
Palestinian American Lawmaker Gives Speech the DNC Wouldn’t Allow on Stage – Democracy Now – “What we do here echoes around the world. They’ll say this is how it’s always been, that nothing can change. But remember Fannie Lou Hamer, shunned for her courage, yet she paved the way for an integrated Democratic Party. Her legacy lives on, and it’s her example we follow.”

Thank YOU for reading this far and being part of it all – extra thanks to everyone supporting this work with a membership at www.reconnecter.org!

Please share with friends to sign up for next Monday’s Reconnecter Roundup, and reach out with any feedback, all ideas welcome – we’re just getting started!