The Real Caz Park

 
 Caz Park Casino 3/1989

From 1975 until 1980 we hung around Caz Park. We, as in my friends and I, were called the Heads which usually meant we were the guys and girls that had the long hair, were heavily into music and partied the night away. Unlike the Jocks who hung on the other side of Caz Park ( The Creek ), who usually had short hair and were heavily involved in sports, and they also could party the night away. We hung around by the Shelter House Casino side. 

    Was it Jackson Pollock?

The Casino  

Sept.1989

 The Cazenovia bridge, looking from N. Legion

 Dr.  1990.

 The Slants...

This spot is a little further down from the park. It's where the  creek keeps making it's way down to Lake Erie. My buddy Bill and I would sit here and drink beer. We would talk about chicks, life, outer space, God, and what the hell are we going to do with our lives? Bill went on and became a counselor.

Across from Shelter House 1/2004

Caz Park is a beautiful park located in South Buffalo N.Y. It has a creek that runs through it, swings, park benches, a shelter house, a casino that used to be used for swimming, concessions and a very long time ago, boat rides (way before our time). And in the springtime a carnival would come through it. It used to have pools....very high diving boards in the 12ft cold pool, a really cool baby pool and baseball diamonds. It also has a Golf course, an indoor Ice Skating Rink (Jock Side, Tosh Collins) and a Soccer field.

Let's just sit here and think it over.

Cazenovia Bridge March 1989.

Guess where?

January 2004

Theses ducks were hanging around by the green bridge.

 Shelter House 1/2004

From 1975 until 1980 I hung around Caz Park and yes I did a lot of partying....as a matter of fact it was too much partying. This was the real Caz Park....the way we used it....the way we partied in it. Sure I could tell you that I went there to play baseball games and was a member of the 4H club and planted trees.....but I'll try to keep it honest. Later on after FINALLY trying to grow up and take on responsibilities, I continued drinking and it nearly destroyed my life. Thanks to God and loved ones, I do not drink and drug anymore. I still love to party and I'm still into music and whenever I get back to Buffalo I still love to stop by Caz Park and feel the memories, I just choose to do it sober. Yes we did party, but I want to add that we loved and respected our park.

The Falls.. This shot of the falls was taken March 1989. That's when the water is high . In the summer we used to swim in this spot and the water level was lower and the falls were much higher. There is a little spot under the the falls that you could go under and stand. It made a great spot to make out with the chicks.   

The casino...One cool fall night, we were hanging out at the casino. Sometimes the cops would come down and chase us away. This one night, a few friends and I noticed that our park was getting a little on the dirty side with litter, broken beer bottles, etc...etc. We made a vow to meet up on a Saturday and clean it up. On that Saturday a few of us showed up with brooms, rakes and shovels and garbage bags. I remember someone showing up with hot chocolate to keep us warm. What started out to be just a few of us ended up being a lot of us. The next thing we knew, the same cops that would come down and chase us away, drove down to thank us for volunteering to clean up the park. It turned out to be a cool event. Even the radio station WGRQ-FM. mentioned our good deed on the radio. After that day, the cops were a little easier on us. and we worked a little harder at keeping our beloved park clean.