The Citizens Against Casino Gambling (CACGEC) held a party at the Niagara Frontier American Legion Post 1041 last Friday, to celebrate Judge William M. Skretny’s recent ruling that the Seneca Nation of Indians has no legal right to run a casino on the land they purchased in downtown Buffalo.

Since that ruling was handed down, controversy erupted when the Wendt Foundation—the not-for-profit that backed the CACGEC lawsuit—was discovered to have once made money from a years-old investment in gambling giant Harrah’s. Local blogs broke the story, and every news outlet in town covered it.

The outrage died down, mainly because it was discovered that the Wendt Foundation had divested themselves of that one small piece of their voluminous investment portfolio back before they decided to take a stand against the downtown casino. It was all an example of shocking hypocrisy to some; others saw it as “flipping the script.”

The party was well attended by various concerned citizens and politicians who had supported CACGEC’s fight. Still, I was unable to get a straight answer on who was paying for the free food, soft drinks, and beer. Was it the nefarious Wendt Foundation? And if so, wouldn’t our readers be shocked to learn that they were supporting an organization as suspect as the American Legion?

Alas, that’s all just conjecture. But here’s the real scoop: After a number of speakers took the mic to pat one another on the back, it was time for the music. Steve Balesteri and band were about to play, so I ducked outside to make a quick call on my cell phone. By the time I hung up, it was quiet inside, and the musicians were packing up their equipment. Turns out my call lasted for two songs. That was all the rock and roll the righteous baby boomers at the event could handle, and the band was unceremoniously asked to stop playing.

Eric Rovner, guitarist with Balesteri, had this to say about the free benefit show they had just played: “I thought it was a party, I didn’t know it was a meeting. When our manager said there would be a couple of rockers I thought he meant people, I didn’t know he meant chairs.”

—buck quigley