Margaret “Peg” Overdorf was born and continues to live in the homestead on Mackinaw Street in the Old First Ward. After 46 years Peg retired as Executive Director of the Valley Community Association. She is a true community leader in every sense of the word. Her efforts have such a resounding effect that her name is now a familiar one throughout Buffalo and Western New York. She began her career in a small storefront on Elk Street with a budget of a mere $37,000.
Her accomplishments have included creation of the Valley Child Care Center, the Valley Child Care Center at Larkin, Valley Nature Park and Habitat Trail, green spaces at South Park and Elk Streets with a “Welcome to the Valley” sign and a small park at Mackinaw and Hamburg Streets.
Peg also created the Buffalo River Fest Park on Ohio Street which hosts free concerts and events for the public, the Tewksbury Lodge which is a restaurant and banquet facility in the park, and the enclosed outdoor wharf in the park right on the Buffalo River.
