Published: July 16, 2008 01:24 am            

DUVALL: Lessons from vacation

There aren’t many things I like more during the summer than the Taste of Buffalo.

I’ve been involved with the group of people who coordinate the entire event for several years and if you’re looking for a template for how to put on events that benefit the community and local businesses with a minimum of problems, this is it.

The Taste is a non-profit group that is comprised almost entirely of unpaid volunteers. It has a board of directors, multiple committees to oversee the different aspects and vendors who have gone above and beyond a normal day’s work to make the event a success.

My role is nominal. I have two friends on the board who have been doing it for years. They work throughout the year on issues large and small — all the signs that are hung up need to be printed first, someone has to decide where all those portable toilets are going to go, etc.

I spent the final three days of my vacation at the Taste of Buffalo helping to set up, take down and smooth out what few kinks arrive during the course of the actual event. During that time I marveled at how the hard work of a few hundred people can turn into something that nearly half a million others can enjoy.

These are people with demanding careers, families and hobbies just like anyone else. Yet they set aside huge amounts of time to do something for no personal benefit. They do it partly because everyone else in the group does it — and we have a lot of fun. But if I had to guess, the main reason is that without it, the community would suffer.

Other groups like the Taste are found for other events. Canal Fest has a similar board of volunteers that coordinate the event to similar success and with similar motives. I happen not to be a part, so I’m not as familiar, but when it comes to summertime festivals, the Taste of Buffalo is (no pun intended) the big enchilada.

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Speaking of lessons learned on vacation, I also spent some time in Baltimore last week visiting friends. I’ve been there before, but not recently. I can’t stress enough how much of a correlation there is between there and here.

Same story of a city and region in decline. Different outcome: They actually capitalized on their waterfront property.

A push for waterfront development with government partners who helped rather than hindered has resulted in a place where business has thrived and people want to go.

Sitting at a harbor-side outdoor bar looking up at a huge Navy ship that had been docked and was offering tours (one of nearly a dozen such ships dotting the harbor) was a fine way to spend an afternoon. I was there on a weekday afternoon, but the foot traffic was still high.

A water taxi can take you from place to place, or if you’re like me, you can traverse the series of foot bridges and walkways to explore at your own pace.

I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again. No reason what happened there can’t happen here.

        

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