There’s no way to gloss over the tragedy in a year where more than 300,000 Americans lost their lives, millions lost their jobs and untold numbers lost their sense of hope as the nation struggled to navigate a pandemic.
But without hope, we are – as Bruce Springsteen put it during one of his SiriusXM “From My Home to Yours” shows – truly “rudderless and joyless.”
Even as we struggled, we indulged in what is perhaps our finest trait, as both Americans and Western New Yorkers: We found a way to cling to hope, to find a light in the darkness and in some cases to share that light with others.
Here are 10 stories that suggest that, though Buffalo’s heart may be battered and bruised, it still beats with conviction. When we were at our best this year, that heart was still our most reliable guide.
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Bills fans donate in droves to Oishei Children’s Hospital.
Shortly after the Bills’ 44-34 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Nov. 8, news broke that quarterback Josh Allen led the team while grieving the loss of his grandmother, Patricia Allen, who died at age 80 the evening previous. Bills fans responded immediately and spontaneously, making $17 donations in Patricia’s name to the Oishei Children’s Hospital Foundation, a favored charity of the Bills QB. Within a week, fans had donated in the area of $400,000, and since, that number has doubled. Nice work, Bills fans.
Western New York honors local health care workers as heroes.
Health care providers – nurses, doctors, hospital staff – have been on the frontlines in the battle against Covid-19 for nearly a year. During the most intense health crisis of our times, these health care workers rose to the challenge, and as the second wave intensifies, they continue to stand fast against overwhelming numbers.
ECMO technology takes over important heart and lung functions when those organs are too weak to work effectively on their own. Pictured here with the medical equipment used to treat some Covid-19 patients are, at left, Dr. Harsh Jain, cardiothoracic surgeon and medical director of the ECMO program at Mercy Hospital, with staff, from left, perfusionist Chad Evoniuk; registered nurse and ECMO specialist Rose List; Denise Goodberlet, DNP; and Samantha Kanminski, RN and ECMO specialist.
Many Western New Yorkers recognized the valiant efforts of these frontline workers. Through a variety of organizations – Mental Health Advocates of WNY, Catholic Health’s Hearts for WNY Heroes, Kaleida’s Covid-19 Response Fund, Super Hero Alliance of WNY, and various groups participating in the Giving Tuesday Now program – they found a way to give back to a community of workers that has given so much.
Patron support for struggling cultural venues offers badly needed help.
From Artpark to Shea’s, the Town Ballroom to Kleinhans and the Irish Classical Theatre Company to the Riviera Theatre, many patrons did their part to support struggling venues by hanging onto their tickets in hopes postponed and rescheduled shows will eventually happen. This display of faith and loyalty bolstered the spirits and at least somewhat eased the considerable financial burdens of venues that form the spine of Western New York’s cultural life.
The Bills offer hope during hard times.
This has been a year where we needed to see our faith rewarded. The Bills came through in a big way in that department. The arrival of sublime wide receiver Stefon Diggs, the ongoing and often thrilling development of Allen, the high-profile, prime-time games, the national media hype – for loyal Bills fans, these arrived like manna from heaven.
Football is ultimately just a game, of course. But this Bills team gave us a feeling of hope when hope was increasingly hard to come by.
A banner on the front of City Hall celebrating the Bills clinching the AFC East.
Announcement of new studios in Buffalo is a game-changer.
It always warms the heart when Buffalo natives find success elsewhere and then bring the fruits of that success back home. Hollywood writer Matt Fleckenstein did just that when he lined up a team of private investors to back Buffalo Studios, a six-building, 27-acre site that is expected to begin its transformation into a potential East Coast film mecca this spring. In June, U.K. company Great Point Media announced plans to sink $50 million into a soundstage complex on Niagara Street.
Large amounts of space available at a fraction of what it would cost in cities like Los Angeles and New York; the precedent set by “A Quiet Place II” and “Marshall,” both filmed locally; and the helpful tax incentives offered by the state – all conspire to make the Buffalo region an attractive one for filmmakers and investors.
A rendering shows the first phase building of the film and television complex coming to Niagara Street. The complex will be built in three phases.
Major League Baseball comes to Buffalo.
When the Toronto Blue Jays played their 2020 home opener at Sahlen Field, the region marked the first time a major league team had called Buffalo home since 1915, when the Federal League’s Buffalo Blues spent a single season here. The Jays played 26 games at Sahlen Field, winning 17 of them, and earning a postseason slot in the process.
Sahlen Field was reworked to be the temporary home of the Toronto Blue Jays.
This proved to be a bittersweet experience for area baseball lovers, as these games were crowdless. But knowing they were here was somehow uplifting nonetheless. The hometown Bisons will, as The News' Mike Harrington noted, “derive long-term impact from items such as installation of new grass in the infield ... and brighter stadium lighting.”
Pet adoptions rise dramatically during the pandemic.
Western New Yorkers contributed to what became a national trend during the pandemic – a significant increase in rescued pets being adopted. More people volunteered at the Erie County SPCA, too. If it’s true we can learn much about a person based on how he or she treats a vulnerable animal, then this boom in pet adoptions suggests compassion remained alive and well here, even during the darkest days.
Griselda Records continues its meteoric rise.
For the past five years, the Griselda recorded collective – the Buffalo hip-hop collective formed by rappers Westside Gunn, his brother Conway the Machine and compatriot Benny the Butcher, born from seeds first planted by the late DJ Shay and his Buff City label and recording studios – has been bubbling up from the underground. But 2020 proved to be Griselda’s breakthrough year, as major releases from Gunn, Conway and Benny, a high-profile appearance on NBC’s The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, and the debut release and immediate success of first female Griselda signing Armani Caesar thrust the collective’s gritty, noir-rap and gruff realism into the mainstream.
Even while Griselda’s star ascended, the group’s connection to Buffalo stayed strong, as Conway partnered with the Buffalo City Mission to provide food for frontline workers and families in need during the pandemic.
Conway the Machine, right, hands off pizza to Buffalo City Mission worker Adrian Smith. Conway helped to unload 11 sheet pizzas and buckets of wings he donated.
Developer Douglas Jemal continues investment in Buffalo.
Hopes are high that the money developer Douglas Jemal is pouring into Buffalo – including the $120 million redevelopment of Seneca One tower – will amount to meaningful economic impact and growth. Jemal, wrote The News' Jonathan D. Epstein, also “envisions spending more than $100 million to convert the 19-story Statler City complex into a 600-room convention and events hotel.”
Members of arts community turn downtime into community service.
Josh Holtzman of Buffalo Iron Works volunteered for Meals on Wheels while his own business was closed. Seamus Gallivan of Slow Roll Buffalo took to livestreamed interviews with prominent local thinkers, artists and activists to keep the community connected while large gatherings were canceled. Members of the theater, arts and hospitality communities volunteered with groups like Buffalo Resilience to make masks.
Examples like these suggest that the Western New York arts community had fully embraced the idea that service to others is ultimately fortifying for the self. Or, as Holtzman put it, “It has truly felt amazing to give back.”
