Well, I’m happy to announce that we have officially started our community garden project! Two weeks ago, with the start of the summer youth program, Michael rented a rototiller and we ground up the soil and planted rows and rows of squash, watermelon, strawberries (that will come back in the next years), and flowers. They had all been growing in their respective containers for a month and we finally transplanted them. We’ve slowly been adding raised beds which contain eggplant, carrots, radish, beets, tomatoes, hot peppers, many types of beans, spinach, lettuce, and more and more delicious veggies! Everyday things are growing and producing vegetables that we can eat! Just yesterday I checked on the eggplant and it’s now two inches in size!!

Community gardens are amazing. They provide a place of hope and beauty in the neighborhood and the plants growing everyday highlights the great sense of pride we can find in growing our own vegetables and in turn pride in the community that helped to produce those vegetables. Community gardens are also a great place for socializing. Even on the first day I was talking to people from the neighborhood who were curious about what we are trying to accomplish. People I have never talked to before have started stopping by; it’s a great way to build a community and make friends. For example, I am now good friends with the neighbors across the street who generously supplied water when we didn’t have access to our own water supply yet. And the woman down the street stopped by to tell me she would like to spend time working on her own little plot in the garden too!

It is our hope that the beginning stages of this garden will blossom into a fully functional garden next spring and provide a food source as well as a source of pride for the area’s residents. Already I can see this happening; all it took was a little dirt, some seeds, and some TLC to liven up a former empty lot. Fingers crossed that there will be enough of a harvest this year and then we can invite the community out to enjoy all of the veggies, cooked in various ways. Perhaps a small harvesting celebration is in order so we can enjoy both the vegetables and each others’ company. Anyway, I hope you come for a visit or volunteer in our patchwork garden. It’d be great to see you there!

The first was a frazzled and frustrated customer who asked if anyone had come in and sold us a trio of leaded glass windows. Someone had broken into his rental house and stolen three leaded glass windows and left three ragged holes. He was desperately looking for replacement leaded windows.

I explained:

• The ReUse does not buy salvage precisely because it fuels theft of architectural heritage.

• We rarely obtain leaded windows because they are mostly stolen or badly damaged.

• The need to protect leaded and stained glass windows.

The second was friend of mine looking for wood of appropriate dimensions to rebuild four, 52 inch curved sashes for a turret on a house. All four 50 lb windows had been stolen from the second floor. The job to rebuild the sashes alone is massive and expensive. Police detectives went to many antique and pawn shops but never found them.

So again, protect your windows.

Ian

At the ReSource customers often ask for stained glass windows. Our stock is somewhat limited to some smaller pieces, mostly leaded glass as opposed to stained glass proper, and usually with some damage.

Leaded and Stained Glass

The most common type of windows in Buffalo are leaded glass windows rather than stained glass. Leaded glass windows are generally composed of clear glass, although it may be rippled, seedy, beveled, etc… commonly floral and geometric designs are created by the came (the leading) around the glass. I believe these windows were so ubiquitous because they were produced cheaply by mass production techniques. The designs were simpler and clear glass parts were mass produced and needed little cutting. The windows could also be assembled by unskilled labor. I believe that people were emulating the stained glass displayed by the wealthiest households with the means they had. To me it is a testament to the aesthetic sense that Buffalonians had. I’ve never seen more leaded and stained glass in any other city.

By contrast, true stained glass windows are usually unique masterworks. They are/were very expensive – hence the reason they reside in mansions and churches. Strictly speaking stained glass is a mosaic of colored glass. The glasses form the design and the leading is generally not the focus. The cost is born out in the originality, the intricacy, the glass quality, the scale, and labor for these windows. Colored glass was expensive with pink and reddish glasses often containing gold! When unique sheets of grained and swirled glasses such as Youghiogheny glass were used it was customary to have grain patterns continuous across the piece. For example the petals of a flower might all be cut from the same sheet, even though this wastes a lot of glass. Each piece of glass in the mosaic had to be roughly cut and then shaped by a process called grozing – essentially nipping away the sharp points until the glass is the shape desired. Assembly was the same as for leaded windows, except where fancier leading was desired.

Some windows also have drawings on them, e.g. the faces in church windows. This process involves painting the image onto the glasses with “trace paint” mixed in vinegar or gum Arabic depending on the effect needed. The glass then had to be fired at 1100^oF for many hours to evaporate the gum Arabic or other base and let the paint fuse into the glass.

I have included a copy of a page from a favorite book of mine, “Cathedral” by a favorite author/illustrator David Macaulay. From top to bottom it shows the process of making glass, smelting lead, spinning sheets from blown glass, designing, cutting and assembling stained glass windows in 1300 AD. The process has changed little since.

I should note that despite the definitions above there are also extremely intricate leaded windows, cheap unimpressive stained glass windows, and windows that combine both elements.

Care and Feeding of Stained and Leaded Glass

In my neighborhood of about 60 houses only one or two still retain all or part of their leaded glass windows. All had them at one time. This illustrates how rare they are and why the ones we get at the ReSource are usually damaged. That’s the bad news. The good news is that they can be readily repaired. They can also be modified or made more fanciful with a little work. They can also find new life as wall decorations, room dividers, tables or whatever your mind can conceive. Depending on the repair or modification this may not be cheap though, as it requires entirely manual labor.
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In addition, the program hopes to expose the teens to green collar job opportunities and education by visiting places like the windmills or landfills and recycling centers. “Have van; will travel” if you have a great site young people should know about as it relates to a green economy, an eco-friendly lifestyle or a service to the community, please make contact with us and let’s show the teens all the options available to them.

We will miss him very much because he was a kind man with a cheery gait and a quick wit! Kevin Hayes enjoyed working with Willie a lot, “William was a steady, dependable worker and understood what we were trying to do at the ReSOURCE. I missed him when he got sick and am greatly saddened on his passing.” Willie brought a lot of experience to the team as well.

If you knew Willie, please join us in sharing a story and remembering him:

We hope to see you this holiday! We’re offering a special discount to anyone that shows up to the store on Friday or Saturday displaying their red, white and blue!

You can download and print out a coupon by clicking on this link, or just mention you saw Old Glory on our blog.

Plus there will be a chili dog buffet, music, baked apple treats and demonstrations!

The goals of Green Summer are quite simple.

1. Surround young people with supportive and caring mentors that will provide positive leadership development and training experiences in Buffalo neighborhoods.
2. Engage youth in projects that improve inner-city neighborhoods through the creation of new green spaces, the maintenance of existing assets, and service projects that support existing resources and programs.
3. Create a community of mentors, youth, and families that encourages critical thinking and problem solving; action that improves our neighborhoods; and understanding and respect for individual differences.

In two weeks, we’ll launch this unique program and we need your financial support. Your contribution will complement recently committed funding from the Community Foundation of Greater Buffalo, for hand tools and materials for green-space projects and the City of Buffalo, who will pay the stipends for the youth involved. We are working to raise funds to pay the amazing mentors that have stepped forward to pioneer this action-packed experience for youth and buy the a van that will transport them on their journey.

To make a contribution via PayPal, click on this link http://www.buffaloreuse.org/Donate/HomePage or reply to this email with a commitment. Checks can be sent to Buffalo ReUse, Inc., P.O. Box 1132, Buffalo, NY 14213. (Please put GREEN SUMMER in the memo line).

If a financial contribution is not possible, we invite you to get involved as a volunteer mentor or resource person. We’re looking for gardeners, landscapers, horticulturalists, cooks, artists, engineers, ecologists, handy and creative folks of all kinds, and people eager to make a difference in the lives of youth. We’ll keep you informed of community events and activities planned as the summer moves along. In addition, we need flowers, seeds, plants, trees, topsoil, compost, surplus garden tools, and 12 or 15 passenger van (you’ll get the super contributor of the year award if you help us land this). Send us an email with your thoughts and ideas!

Here’s a real-life example of what we mean…
The photos included are of a community garden and outdoor learning lab recently “re-discovered” on Buffalo’s east side. It was designed to serve the community as a space for social interaction and education. Unfortunately, the site has been neglected. Here in Buffalo, we have amazing assets; it is our responsibility to maintain existing resources and support the creation of new spaces for community engagement. Participants of Green Summer will take an active role, not only in maintaining this unique destination, but in creating new ones. We’ll clean vacant lots and improve green spaces, beautify urban neighborhoods, and provide positive learning experiences for teens. With your contribution our communities can achieve their potential and become inviting places to live and visit–from caterpillar to cocoon, to butterfly . . . as Yellow explains to Stripe, “Once you are a butterfly, you can really love — the kind of love that makes new life. It’s better than all the hugging caterpillars can do.”

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Volunteers are required to attend a brief instructional meeting before participating. Contact Jackie James, the coalition’s executive director, by Wednesday at 873-5608 or jackie@cacwny.org