Maria Merlino spent an inordinate amount of time in the Chippewa bar district in her early twenties. She was not your typical overzealous patron; Maria spent her Buff State years running some of Buffalo's premiere party spots.  She helped to open and manage Mark Croce's first major project, the Coliseum (1996) and after 5 years decided to take a parallel leap to Delaware's Red Room to help run the show there.

Currently, well established, Maria is the number one ranked regional Growth Hormone Therapy Manager for a large global health care company and wants to reciprocate.  "I learned how to network & developed some real meaningful friendships during my years in the bar business, and feel the timing is right to start making more of a difference in Buffalo."
Maria is putting her communications degree, experience as an Events Coordinator for the Buffalo Sabres and Events Director for the American Heart Association to philanthropic use.  Last week she organized the 1st annual "Taking Back Chippewa" fundraiser.  It was great to see 20 old school Chippewa bartenders donate their time (some have not slung a shot in a looooong time).  SoHo on Chippewa and Franklin was filled with former DJs, bouncers and 90's Buffalo socialites who gathered to remember the good ole' days and share stories.  This year she donated proceeds to Carl Paladino's political campaign for Governor of New York State.  I am independent and stay clear of politics, but can't help but raise an imaginary rocks glass in Carl's honor every time I pass by the locale of an old toll booth entering or exiting the city of Buffalo.   Maria has already earmarked next year's proceeds to Roswell Park (subsequent donations will all benefit Buffalo entities) and believes the event will be exponentially better year after year.  Maria exclaimed, "This is a chance to see old faces and meet new, enjoy a beautiful night in Buffalo and sample some of the best food this city has to offer."

I wanted the message in this article to be two-fold:  Local professional creates kewl Buffalo event, gives back to the Queen City and provide some feedback from attendees regarding their thoughts concerning the recent City Grill shooting (still a hot topic around the water cooler).

I made it a point to speak with a solid cross section of bar owners, associates & patrons who all either own bar/restaurants on, work for or regularly visit the Chippewa Entertainment District.  I specifically asked a number of people if pulling the closing time ahead to approximately 2am will benefit the CED.  As you can imagine, the responses varied.  Some of the more popular viewpoints included: Increase police presence and let cops do their job, some said they would feel safer if bars closed earlier and currently stay clear of Chippewa after 11p.m., one individual took a bit of a deeper stand and stated that government should not intervene and dictate something created by the people (Chippewa). Many pointed out that the shooting occurred in Chippewa's vicinity, but not too close to the action.   I live a few blocks from Chippewa and honestly love hearing all the different views.  They all have merit.  One consistency in all the responses, regardless of different perspectives, was that everyone shared the same level of heightened passion.

Despite your political affiliation, level of attraction to the Chip Strip or opinion of the nearby shooting, it's always nice to see someone taking the time out of his/her busy life to give back to Buffalo.  I am looking forward to "Taking Back Chippewa 2011".