Mary of the Lofti Takes Flight

Edit note: Mary Loftus, a Buffalo actress and extraordinaire in every other which way, is known in her circles of friends for her e-mails; e-mails which serve various needs for various people.  One listserv is for rumblings on the local theater crowd, what roles they’re doing, where they’re going for post-show drinks, when they need help with props.  Another is a taste of her characteristically bitter musings on national politics.  But the one that makes me and so many of her accomplices happy, is her Getzville newsletter.  Living in the northern suburb, down the street from UB and not far from rural Niagara County, Mary’s observations on her town are sometimes hilarious, sometimes cautious (like a stolen stop sign), sometimes downright weird (like her duck family commentary), and always uncontrollably original.  For any one who knows Mary Loftus knows that there’s just no stopping Mary Loftus.  So here, on Block Club Online, we will share some occasional e-mails from her Getzville writing den, the center of everything odd and unpredictable.  Expect the unexpected, and enjoy!

THINGS ARE POPPIN OUT HERE IN GETZVILLE TODAY!!!

On my way to the store for my paper, I was amazed by the huge number of cars parked on both sides of Campbell Blvd. this morning.  They were everywhere!  I couldn’t figure out if Mel’s Crow’s Nest was having a horseshoe tournament or a special Saturday fish fry, or what.  I did see that one of the houses was having its driveway repaved and there were the usual rubber-neckers standing around watching that, but I didn’t think there were enough to account for all the cars.

As I got up to the corner of Dodge, I saw that the police were there wearing crossing guard vests and there were hundreds of people in unseasonal shorts and tops crossing over Campbell, some loping, some just strolling - and GET THIS - NONE of them were using the buttons on the poles!!!! And no sirens were going off.  Of course, I don’t even know if those buttons work as no one ever walks there.

Also, I could see that no one was going to Mel’s - but the GETZVILLE FIRE HALL (the first biggest one) was having some kind of do. The TRUCKS WERE OUT!!! YES!!!  You could look at them all you wanted.  And they had a jumping thingie across the street for kids to climb into and jump around.  I was sorely tempted to join them, but there was no place to park.

Anyway, the road eventually cleared and the crossing guard cops waved me through to continue on my way.  Coming back, I got a better view of all the fire trucks out on the driveways.  That’s quite exciting as we almost never get to see them here unless they are being washed.  I guess there was a fire once, but I was out of town and missed it.

Posted by on 09/15 at 06:15 PM