One of the residents on West Blood Road is John Kuzinski. His house sits on about a half acre of land. Towards the back of the property is a mound that is the home of Phil, a cousin of mine.
John doesn’t have a gun, so Phil is safe and so will our family be if we migrate there. John is an environmentalist and at one time lived in Cheektowaga, downwind from the quarry, landfills and asphalt plant in Bellevue.
He heard about the condominium project and is well aware of the other toxic areas of Western New York, including the Tonawanda Coke Plant. He hasn’t met Erin yet, but will soon when he travels to the meeting in the town north where she will preside over a grass roots agenda. He figures he can make a difference, but it wouldn’t hurt to bring reinforcements.
He calls Frank and says, “There’s a meeting in Tonawanda next week and I have an idea that might work. I can pick you up if you’re interested.”
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“When is it?”
“It’s Wednesday night. Do you think Kevin, Donna and Randy would like to join us?”
Frank says, “I think I can make it. I can phone them and try to convince them to take part, but I’ll drive myself.”
“Email me and I will call a few others, Frank. Anyone else you can bring would help our cause. Talk to you later.”
John then emails Joe, David, Becky, Al, Karen, Barb and Greg with an invitation, including the date, time and location. He also asks them to spread the word. John exits his PC and then has some raw carrots, banana, Bartlett pear – that’s his favorite kind – and an orange and an apple for lunch and brainstorms a bit.
He realizes he has a few other people he should contact, so he starts by calling Barb of the Buffalo News. She must be on assignment, so he leaves a message. He also figures a few of the politicians should know of this gathering. After some consideration, he holds off doing that for the moment since he realizes he has some work to do.
After a short respite, he heads into the study to log onto his computer. He has a presentation to write, even if he will only use part of it. Being a part of a few grass roots groups, he remembered so much effort with so little results, so he must decide on a different approach. He isn’t a great sales 88
person, but knows that in this instance he’ll have to be one. Fortunately, his idea may drag along others so he won’t have to be the only one doing the selling. Some products sell themselves – they’re that good – and this is exactly what needs to be done here.
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