The Generation Connection

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By on February 2, 2016

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAThere’s not a day that goes by when I don’t think of my grandparents. Don’t get me wrong, I think of my parents, too. But, for whatever the reasons – poof! – there they are, materializing from some obscure nook or cranny in the wrinkles of my cranium. It’s like I’m reliving some life lesson they must have passed on to me. It might be their clear vision of family (and their support thereof), their acumen for business and finance (yes, despite their immigrant status and lack of high school education, they possessed something that allowed them to become successful entrepreneurs), or even their common sense put downs.

Regarding this last thing, you know what I mean. I’m not talking about nasty insults. No, they played a more vital role, like the slaves who accompanied those Roman generals on the chariot leading an Imperial Era Triumph parade. It is said the slave would whisper into Continue Reading “The Generation Connection”

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Life in the Pit (Part I)

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By on January 26, 2016

violin-player-1565772The young mother worried as she made her way to the teacher conference. Her third grade son’s violin instructor had asked her “if she had time to talk.” As a teacher herself, the boy’s mom knew what this meant. She had already begun to imagine various excuses she could offer. “I try everything to get him to practice, but he’s more interested in listening to football with his father.” “His first choice was to play the trumpet, but the school’s music people said he didn’t have the right lips.” “Actually, he really wanted to play the drums, but we thought it would be too loud.”

Most of all she worried about her son. It was her first. With another son following only 15 months behind and now a baby daughter, she realized what every parent realizes at this point – she and her husband were outnumbered. Was she spending too much time with her youngest at the expense of her oldest? She had witnessed such downward spirals first hand in the students she taught. Was she becoming the mother she, in her own role as teacher, once haughtily disdained?

She was about to find out.Continue Reading “Life in the Pit (Part I)”

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How to Create an Ideal Community in One Word

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By on January 19, 2016

Memorial Day Flag Planting 010Many of you have seen me in my many community incarnations throughout the years. I’ve been a lector, a director, a Committee Chair, a trustee, a Cubmaster, an Assistant Scoutmaster, a Board Member, a coach, a mentor, a community representative, and who knows what else in the various community organizations I have been so blessed to have been allowed to participate in. My favorite role, however, was simply that of “member.” In serving at that capacity – and much to the chagrin of group organizers everywhere (are you reading this Renee?) – I often delighted in playing the role of gadfly. It was so much fun. I got to be a free thinker, pulling together lessons learned from all the activities I’ve been a part of to come up with challenging and, hopefully, insightful suggestions. The best part about it: I never demanded people do what I suggested. It was a costless exchange of ideas. (Some might call it “brainstorming.”)

But those tales are for a future commentary. This week explores another favorite topic of our readers (whether they know it or not) – The Andy Griffith Show. OK, so it’s not really Continue Reading “How to Create an Ideal Community in One Word”

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Don’t Get Stuck in Today

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By on January 12, 2016

time-to-die-1564796I often tell people I was either born 50 years too late or 50 years too early. In the first case, there’s my interest in classic railroads, old-fashioned Americana, and classical liberal arts (OK, that last one might mean I was born 500 years too late). In the latter case, you have my enthusiasm for astronomy and space exploration/travel, (and the requisite zeal for Star Trek), my absolute passion for computers and technology, and my extreme pursuit of “the coming thing.” From the way that sounds, you would be tempted to assume I never think of today, too consumed by the dichotomy between yearning for a past I never experienced and dreaming of a future that may or may not be.

While I’m not one to rest on any laurels, I do take the time to stop and smell the roses (in my own eccentric way). If there’s any way to accurately describe my state of being, the best universally understood example I can give is Kurt Vonnegut’s Billy Pilgrim, the protagonist of Slaughterhouse-Five who becomes “unstuck in time.” For Pilgrim, there is no Continue Reading “Don’t Get Stuck in Today”

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What a Difference 27 Years Make

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By on January 5, 2016

newspaper-history-1314775-231x173We’ve seen pressure on all traditional media – print and television – for some time now. However, we might want to look at the recent history of radio as a harbinger for what to expect in these other media markets. I began working in the radio industry as an AM disc jockey in the late 1970s, just as, given its superior audio quality, FM was becoming the “go to” frequency band for music fans. Radio personalities had to find a way to attract and keep listeners. While still playing music, we began relying more on talk – mostly of the (innocent) humorous kind. It wasn’t much of a leap from there to Howard Stern and then to Rush Limbaugh.

Print media has been suffering a slow and agonizing death since before we originally started The Sentinel in 1989. I remember, at the time, telling one of my college classmates – whose family owns a well-known west coast newspaper publishing company – that I was starting a newspaper. He told me I was crazy. He had seen, first-hand, the erosion of the traditional newspaper business model. I told him, while the decline in the newspaper Continue Reading “What a Difference 27 Years Make”

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Western New York a State? Why Not?

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By on October 14, 2015

Author of 50 Hidden Gems of Greater Western New York to speak at Arcade Free Library

Why did Vermont split from New York State following the Revolutionary War but why didn’t Western New York do the same thing? On Saturday, October 17th at 11am, Posterthe Arcade Free Library will host a talk by Christopher Carosa, author of 50 Hidden Gems of Greater Western New York. Mr. Carosa will share the results of his research on this topic and other related fun facts and trivia concerning our wonderful region. “Western New York a State? Why Not”

Several weeks ago a group of Upstate New Yorkers met outside of Binghamton to discuss the idea of Upstate becoming its own state (they want to call it “New Amsterdam”). These New Yorkers are following in the footsteps of people in California and Colorado, who are also exploring how they could duplicate what West Virginia did and form their own state. Among the questions Mr. Carosa will answer includes:Continue Reading “Western New York a State? Why Not?”

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The Heart of America Rests Peacefully Within the Heart of Greater Western New York

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By on July 1, 2015

(The following is an excerpt from the chapter “We’re Baaack”
in my 2012 book 50 Hidden Gems of Greater Western New York.)

The muddy road seemed to hardly merit the official route number New York State had assigned it. A “repaving” project had caused the traffic jam, and presumably most of the IMG_9916_daniel_shaysmud. The rain had stopped when we begin to climb the small slope that would lead us to Union Cemetery. Union Cemetery is closed to new burials now, but the grave I’m looking for is from 1825.

We pull into the gravel road that circles through the interior of the cemetery. I’m not sure where the grave is. My research indicates there’s a marker. I’m thinking it marks the actual grave. I see a marker by the roadside at the edge of the cemetery. Turning into the graveyard, I assume that’s where the grave is, but as I drive up the moist lane, I notice yet another sign – Continue Reading “The Heart of America Rests Peacefully Within the Heart of Greater Western New York”

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Wisconsin Wins This One

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By on June 14, 2015

If you’re so inclined to take a stroll through Forest Lawn Cemetery in Buffalo and you happen to find yourself by Mirror Lake, look around at the tombstones. If you’re lucky (it ought to be easy to find, it’s the only one IMG_8669with the huge flagpole), you’ll find one that reads:

Sara M. Hinson
Dedicated Teacher
Who with Others
Gave Us Flag Day
1841 – 1926

On February 25, 1841, George Hinson’s wife gave birth to a baby girl. The parents named her Sara. Sara Hinson would go through the Buffalo School System before being sent to finishing school. Upon completion of her education, she began teaching at Buffalo PS 13 before being moved to School #4. In 1864, as the Civil War was ending, Hinson was 23 and she transferred to School #31, where she taught the fourth grade for thirty years before spending the next twenty as principal.

Hinson is credited with being one of the first to advocate the celebration of Flag Day. Although Continue Reading “Wisconsin Wins This One”

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A Christmas Carol

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By on December 21, 2013

King_of_Diamonds_stock_xchng_royalty_free-1“Sett’ e mezz’!” roared my grandfather as he rose from his seat. He towered over my meek ten-year old body like a grizzly bear rearing above its prey.

I saw hunger in his ferocious eyes. But I wasn’t afraid. I knew the next lesson was about to begin.

“Sam!” yelled my grandmother, instinctively and in that terse disapproving way it seemed she could summon up from nowhere. Immediately the aggressiveness vanished from my grandfather’s countenance and he obediently shrank back into his chair.

“What do you want me to do, Flo? Those are the rules,” he said, timidly trying to justify his actions. Sensing his own reticence, he tried to counter it by continuing with a voice rising in intensity and ending with a tone of self-assured purpose. “He dealt me the King of Diamonds. The rule is you have to let the dealer know as soon as you get it. You’re supposed to shout ‘Sette e la mezza,’ too. Do you expect me to treat him any different than anyone else? Sooner or later he’s gonna go out in the real world. You think they’re gonna treat him nice? No. Look at him. If he doesn’t toughen up, they’re gonna eat him alive.”

Continue Reading “A Christmas Carol”

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Life is a (Small Town) Carnival

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By on May 30, 2013

Like any kid growing up in the snowbelt otherwise known as Blasdell, I looked forward to three things each summer. The beginning of summer would signal going to IMG_0016_Mendon_Carnival_Twilight_300Fantasy Island to celebrate a good report card, ride the steamboat and watch the live shootouts. The end of summer meant going to the Erie County Fair to see the vast array of other-worldly side shows on the Midway, the acrid smell of burnt oil and rubber at the demolition derby and the taste of my grandfather’s sumptuous pizza. Sandwiched in between, both chronologically and geographically was the Big Tree Fireman’s Carnival. I think it was actually called the Big Tree Firemen’s Annual Field Days. But for kids (and headline writers short on space) it was the Big Tree Carnival.

Here’s the real difference between Fantasy Island, the Erie County Fair and the Big Tree Continue Reading “Life is a (Small Town) Carnival”

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