I just returned from a visit to Rochester. The weather was summer perfect with constantly changing skies but mostly full of sunshine. I stayed at the new 384 East Ave Inn which had beautiful rooms, plentiful parking and great location. The Inn is still under development (because of which they are offering bargain rates) but from what we experienced it is going to be a super addition to a busy and beautiful part of town. From a personal perspective, the Inn is interesting because it is in the place of the old Treadway Inn. The Treadway had a nice (fancy to us) restaurant where we used to go after family First Communions. The new owners expect to have the new restaurant serving by next summer so we'll look forward to visiting again.
Walking around the East Avenue to Park Avenue area is a pleasure on a nice summer day. We had breakfast one day at the Frog Pond and lunch one day at the corner of Park and Oxford joining others who were eating at sidewalk tables. This was fun because I used to visit The Roosevelt apartment building on the opposite corner when I lived in Rochester. I was very surprised to see that the building at Oxford and East is no longer the home of the nuns who once hosted retreats there. But I did notice that the residence behind the old Cenacle building is still there - all covered in ivy like an out of place forest dwelling.
Of course we stopped at Abbott's to enjoy some frozen custard and took advantage of easy access to Wegmans (which we have to drive 15 miles to get to where I live nowadays). It was a short trip, mostly spent at a delightful family reunion which was held in Penfield. I always wish I had more time to roam around when I'm in Rochester...to see what has changed and also to see what has not.
All you folks who are living there now are lucky....especially during the beautiful summer days.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Sunday, June 24, 2012
Don't Give Up On Me
I have been out of the blog for awhile but I intend to begin some new directions this summer.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Music
Up until 7th or 8th grade most of the music I was exposed to beyond nursery tunes and songs we learned in school, was the music of my parents' record albums. I hardly remember most of them but I do recall some favorites: The Guns of Navarone, The Sound Of Music, Oklahoma, The King and I. We knew the scores and/or the words by heart after hearing them played so many times.
My first experience of Pop Music was riding to Canandaigua Lake in a friend's family car. His older sister and her friends (teenagers to our preteen status) sang every song that came on the radio... songs of the "Johnny Angel", "It's My Party (and I'll cry if I want to)", "My Boyfriend's Back (and there's gonna be trouble"), etc. ilk. It revealed a new world to me. Soon, all that would change. Maybe just something girls get into before boys. Heck, we (boys) were just separating ourselves from incessant sports-related activities.....girls were just appearing around the corner of our lives. But like I said, all that would soon change.
When I was in the 8th grade, my high school sister asked me what album I would like for my birthday. She suggested one (Meet The Beatles) from a new group she had heard about but I chose Johnny Tillotson because I liked "Poetry in Motion" and at that point hadn't heard of The Beatles. It's funny to think how in one month the (musical) world changed. By the time my birthday came, the Beatles had become a global phenomena and it didn't take long before we were listening to 'Meet The Beatles' non-stop round-the clock on the family stereo (while getting parental warnings on how that music was going to "ruin the needle"). Soon the "British Invasion" hit in full force and we began to define ourselves by our favorite groups. Everyone loved The Beatles but The Rolling Stones fans fancied themselves a bit rougher around the edges, The Dave Clark 5'ers less so, etc.
It was a pretty innocent age of music - the British rock and soon after the Folk resurgence. Like those teenagers on that drive to Canandaigua, we soon knew every song on the radio.
My first experience of Pop Music was riding to Canandaigua Lake in a friend's family car. His older sister and her friends (teenagers to our preteen status) sang every song that came on the radio... songs of the "Johnny Angel", "It's My Party (and I'll cry if I want to)", "My Boyfriend's Back (and there's gonna be trouble"), etc. ilk. It revealed a new world to me. Soon, all that would change. Maybe just something girls get into before boys. Heck, we (boys) were just separating ourselves from incessant sports-related activities.....girls were just appearing around the corner of our lives. But like I said, all that would soon change.
When I was in the 8th grade, my high school sister asked me what album I would like for my birthday. She suggested one (Meet The Beatles) from a new group she had heard about but I chose Johnny Tillotson because I liked "Poetry in Motion" and at that point hadn't heard of The Beatles. It's funny to think how in one month the (musical) world changed. By the time my birthday came, the Beatles had become a global phenomena and it didn't take long before we were listening to 'Meet The Beatles' non-stop round-the clock on the family stereo (while getting parental warnings on how that music was going to "ruin the needle"). Soon the "British Invasion" hit in full force and we began to define ourselves by our favorite groups. Everyone loved The Beatles but The Rolling Stones fans fancied themselves a bit rougher around the edges, The Dave Clark 5'ers less so, etc.
It was a pretty innocent age of music - the British rock and soon after the Folk resurgence. Like those teenagers on that drive to Canandaigua, we soon knew every song on the radio.
Tuesday, November 8, 2011
An Apology and Dancing Lessons
I know it has been awhile since posting...life is happily busy. I've been meaning to write about some of my travels (Chili guy sees the world), but that will have to come later....stay tuned!!!!
I usually think of things while I take my early morning/evening walks. The topic above is a little strange and very subjective but here goes.
In the 7th and 8th grades we attended Mrs. Black's Dance Class at Florence Brasser Elementary at the corner of Coldwater Road and Chestnut Drive. It was our first coed activity and everything was new to us. We learned the box step (which has come in very handy at subsequent weddings attended through life) and the rudiments of ballroom dancing (I guess). There was a piano man, and the thing I remember the most is when Mrs. Black would have the boys line up on one side, the girls on the other, and then indicate it was time for the boys to pick their partners. What a scene....boys like birds in multiple V-formations heading for particular girls. When I think about it now, it might have been awful for anyone not chosen quickly (although maybe it was a relief not to have some cloddy boy ask you to have your feet crushed).
Most of the kids seemed to have been from SPX because everyone was pretty familiar. But there were some "outsiders". Most of all, I remember a girl named Connie Westlake who was the mysterious one (braces and all) we all made the bee-line towards. And this is what leads to the name of this entry.
I think that when you sit in the same classroom with 14 or 15 girls for eight years, long hours, every day, those girls become like sisters compared to all the other girls in the world. So, whether it's the mystery girl at the dance class, or the girls in the grade behind, the girls from a neighboring parish, or the cheerleaders from any of the schools we played against in basketball, they always got our attention in the non-sisterly way while we ignored (in a sisterly-way) those cute girls sitting right next to us day in and day out. Maybe it's a universal fact-of-life for schools which keep the same kids together for years and years in the classroom...I would bet that it is so...but in any case, here's my chance to say to you SPX'64 female classmates...sorry for the glances thrown in other directions and for not recognizing more your specialness.
Maybe we need a reunion where we guys can give all our attention to you all for one evening. Or, maybe an evening where you can all ignore us old men while we wish you'd notice us. Oh well, years pass, perspectives change, and all we can do is hope we didn't hurt anybody's feelings in those days when we thought we knew so much and really knew so little.
I usually think of things while I take my early morning/evening walks. The topic above is a little strange and very subjective but here goes.
In the 7th and 8th grades we attended Mrs. Black's Dance Class at Florence Brasser Elementary at the corner of Coldwater Road and Chestnut Drive. It was our first coed activity and everything was new to us. We learned the box step (which has come in very handy at subsequent weddings attended through life) and the rudiments of ballroom dancing (I guess). There was a piano man, and the thing I remember the most is when Mrs. Black would have the boys line up on one side, the girls on the other, and then indicate it was time for the boys to pick their partners. What a scene....boys like birds in multiple V-formations heading for particular girls. When I think about it now, it might have been awful for anyone not chosen quickly (although maybe it was a relief not to have some cloddy boy ask you to have your feet crushed).
Most of the kids seemed to have been from SPX because everyone was pretty familiar. But there were some "outsiders". Most of all, I remember a girl named Connie Westlake who was the mysterious one (braces and all) we all made the bee-line towards. And this is what leads to the name of this entry.
I think that when you sit in the same classroom with 14 or 15 girls for eight years, long hours, every day, those girls become like sisters compared to all the other girls in the world. So, whether it's the mystery girl at the dance class, or the girls in the grade behind, the girls from a neighboring parish, or the cheerleaders from any of the schools we played against in basketball, they always got our attention in the non-sisterly way while we ignored (in a sisterly-way) those cute girls sitting right next to us day in and day out. Maybe it's a universal fact-of-life for schools which keep the same kids together for years and years in the classroom...I would bet that it is so...but in any case, here's my chance to say to you SPX'64 female classmates...sorry for the glances thrown in other directions and for not recognizing more your specialness.
Maybe we need a reunion where we guys can give all our attention to you all for one evening. Or, maybe an evening where you can all ignore us old men while we wish you'd notice us. Oh well, years pass, perspectives change, and all we can do is hope we didn't hurt anybody's feelings in those days when we thought we knew so much and really knew so little.
Saturday, September 24, 2011
Supermarkets
This topic came to mind when I went shopping recently in the new Wegmans supermarket in Prince Georges county in Maryland. When it opened last year it was heralded as a big "win" for the county - proof that "high-end stores" if they chose to locate there, could make it in this predominantly African-American population. Amazing how far we have come from the good old days.
In the 50's and early 60's we did all our family grocery shopping at the Acme in Westgate Plaza (R.I.P.). Since Westgate opened in 1958, and we moved to Chili in 1954, I'm guessing we still shopped somewhere in the West side of Rochester before the plaza was built. There was also an A&P at Westgate.
In the 60's a new grocery store came to Chili Center (Star Supermarket?). I really don't remember any Wegmans stores except for the ones at Midtown and Pittsford plaza although I am sure there were many more.
Acme gave out stamps that you could save up and redeem for all kinds of things. As they were probably worth about 1%, it took a lot of shopping dollars to get anything "free". One of the cruelest stories of my childhood was when the happiness of getting a new bicycle (my one and only) was mocked by one of the neighborhood boys who said "you can't ride on stamps!". Where do such thoughts and cruelties come from?
I can remember my Mom taking me with her to Acme and me keeping tabs of the total bill as she filled the cart to overflowing. I would usually be accurate to within the tax on the few non-food items. Yep - the human calculator.
Anyway, grocery shopping in those days was not glamorous and the stores were just grocery stores. Most are still that way but I have to hand it to Wegmans. They have become a phenomena in the mid-Atlantic area with communities pleading for stores and jubilant when they land one. We travel 15 miles to the nearest one to get my two favorite things that only they sell.....pop-open hot dogs and sugar/cinnamon/plain fried cakes. For me, they are the closest fried cake competitors to the all-time best which were sold at Sibley's.
In the 50's and early 60's we did all our family grocery shopping at the Acme in Westgate Plaza (R.I.P.). Since Westgate opened in 1958, and we moved to Chili in 1954, I'm guessing we still shopped somewhere in the West side of Rochester before the plaza was built. There was also an A&P at Westgate.
In the 60's a new grocery store came to Chili Center (Star Supermarket?). I really don't remember any Wegmans stores except for the ones at Midtown and Pittsford plaza although I am sure there were many more.
Acme gave out stamps that you could save up and redeem for all kinds of things. As they were probably worth about 1%, it took a lot of shopping dollars to get anything "free". One of the cruelest stories of my childhood was when the happiness of getting a new bicycle (my one and only) was mocked by one of the neighborhood boys who said "you can't ride on stamps!". Where do such thoughts and cruelties come from?
I can remember my Mom taking me with her to Acme and me keeping tabs of the total bill as she filled the cart to overflowing. I would usually be accurate to within the tax on the few non-food items. Yep - the human calculator.
Anyway, grocery shopping in those days was not glamorous and the stores were just grocery stores. Most are still that way but I have to hand it to Wegmans. They have become a phenomena in the mid-Atlantic area with communities pleading for stores and jubilant when they land one. We travel 15 miles to the nearest one to get my two favorite things that only they sell.....pop-open hot dogs and sugar/cinnamon/plain fried cakes. For me, they are the closest fried cake competitors to the all-time best which were sold at Sibley's.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Maps of Chili and Rochester
I found some interesting maps and thought I'd share them with all you fine readers :) Anyway, the first is a really old map of Chili from the early 19th century : It has the names of early residents (click on the link to see a bigger image and find the interesting source).
The next is a road map from 1908 which to me was fascinating. It's a highway map (there were so few in 1908) of Riga, Chili and Wheatland showing the importance of the NY Central railroad and the stations in Chili, Churchville, etc.
Then there is a highway map from 1954 which is apropos to this blog so I will include the picture here for flavor. It doesn't include all the new neighborhood streets like in Ranchmar or Chestnut Heights, but it gives a lay of the land in those days. It's kind of interesting to see what streets were considered most important and relatively important (Fenton Road, Marshall Drive, etc) enough to make the map. Of course, the new post-war neighborhoods were just being built when this map was drawn.
The next is a road map from 1908 which to me was fascinating. It's a highway map (there were so few in 1908) of Riga, Chili and Wheatland showing the importance of the NY Central railroad and the stations in Chili, Churchville, etc.
Then there is a highway map from 1954 which is apropos to this blog so I will include the picture here for flavor. It doesn't include all the new neighborhood streets like in Ranchmar or Chestnut Heights, but it gives a lay of the land in those days. It's kind of interesting to see what streets were considered most important and relatively important (Fenton Road, Marshall Drive, etc) enough to make the map. Of course, the new post-war neighborhoods were just being built when this map was drawn.
I recommend browsing about the site these links point to for other maps of the Monroe County area, especially the highway maps of Rochester itself in 1904 which is in two parts.
How little we knew of the history of our town and city when we were growing up there. Thank heavens for the breakthrough of cheap computer memory so now we can search through all these old documents.
New School Year
A new school year begins and when I see all the kids standing on the street corner waiting for the bus I recall those Chili days.
For our family, each school year began with a late summer visit to the National department store at Southtown plaza. Each of us got a new pair of shoes (how did Catholic parents possibly afford new shoes for all their children?) and that leather was one of the two key smells of the new school year. The second, of course, was the smell of the classroom on those early September days. Maybe it was the cleanliness after summer cleanings (or lack of sweaty kids for a few months) but those classrooms had a smell that I'll never forget. Our shoes and socks were are only personality items in elementary school wardrobe, the rest of our clothes were dictated by uniform....the boys wearing off-white dress shirts with green ties with the yellow letters SPX woven on them and the girls wore a green jumper (also with SPX I think) and a white blouse. I don't remember any changes to that uniform through the eight years of elementary school.
We in Chestnut Heights all took the bus to school. Others (like the Ranchmar kids) were able to walk. We had no parents at the bus stop. Today the bus stop area is crowded with cars and parents gabbing with each others besides the usual chaos of the kids....in our day it was just the kids.
It was always so interesting to find out who the teacher would be...... it was so important really because you would be with that person for several hours a day for the next 9 months. For the most part, all the teachers were very nice, but they did have reputations. I had two favorites as I mentioned before. I think it is just a matter of personality...different kids get along with the temperaments of different teachers and vice versa....as it would be with all people throughout life. But interestingly, my favorites were the oldest (Sr Britta 4th) and the youngest (Sr Felicia 5th & 7th). Both were very kind to me....they made my days.
For our family, each school year began with a late summer visit to the National department store at Southtown plaza. Each of us got a new pair of shoes (how did Catholic parents possibly afford new shoes for all their children?) and that leather was one of the two key smells of the new school year. The second, of course, was the smell of the classroom on those early September days. Maybe it was the cleanliness after summer cleanings (or lack of sweaty kids for a few months) but those classrooms had a smell that I'll never forget. Our shoes and socks were are only personality items in elementary school wardrobe, the rest of our clothes were dictated by uniform....the boys wearing off-white dress shirts with green ties with the yellow letters SPX woven on them and the girls wore a green jumper (also with SPX I think) and a white blouse. I don't remember any changes to that uniform through the eight years of elementary school.
We in Chestnut Heights all took the bus to school. Others (like the Ranchmar kids) were able to walk. We had no parents at the bus stop. Today the bus stop area is crowded with cars and parents gabbing with each others besides the usual chaos of the kids....in our day it was just the kids.
It was always so interesting to find out who the teacher would be...... it was so important really because you would be with that person for several hours a day for the next 9 months. For the most part, all the teachers were very nice, but they did have reputations. I had two favorites as I mentioned before. I think it is just a matter of personality...different kids get along with the temperaments of different teachers and vice versa....as it would be with all people throughout life. But interestingly, my favorites were the oldest (Sr Britta 4th) and the youngest (Sr Felicia 5th & 7th). Both were very kind to me....they made my days.
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