Mendon

A Look Back (Part I): An Early (1841) View Of A New Village

By Chris Carosa on November 10, 2020

Here’s an annoying problem I discovered while researching for the book Hamburger Dreams: there’s a lot of people and places that come up when you search the words “hamburger” or “hamburg” that have nothing to do with the delicious sandwich that spawned a trillion-dollar industry.

This required me to be both creative and patient as I sifted through hundreds of century old newspaper articles. It eventually worked, but it took a lot of time. In the end, it proved worthy.

The same thing is happening now as I complete my research on the Masonic Temple/Wilcox Hotel/Wilcox House/Falls Hotel (yes, that one building has gone by several names during its nearly 200-year existence). It turns out Continue Reading “A Look Back (Part I): An Early (1841) View Of A New Village”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Avon Springs, Geneseo, Honeoye Falls, Irondequoit, Lima, Mendon, Naples, Neapolitan, North Bloomfield, Norton's Mills, Pittsford, Rochester, West Mendon

Ode to a Once Mighty Oak

By Chris Carosa on October 13, 2020

And in that brief moment, its reign ended.

We don’t know how old it really was, but the centuries had exacted their toll. Despite the efforts of the valiant few, the rot that builds with age had eaten its way through the internal fabric that once supported its mighty infrastructure.

When that final gust rushed through, the great citadel had fallen. It had stood for so long that those closest to it, stunned by the fatal reality before their own eyes, could only muster an anemic disbelief.

All that incredulity could not suspend the finality that was. It was gone. Not really. But really.

* * *

The Seneca tribe was a fierce warrior tribe. They had to be. They guarded the “west gate” of the Iroquois Confederacy. From that position, they both protected one flank of their Continue Reading “Ode to a Once Mighty Oak”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries, Western New York State of Mind Tagged Algonquin, Boughton Hill, British, Champlain, Denonville, Department of Transportation, Dutch, Erie, French, Ganondagan, General Sullivan, Genesee River, George Washington, Huron, Iroquois, Mendon, Mendon Foundation, Neutral, New York State, Plains Road, Revolutionary War, Route 15A, Saguenay River, Seneca, St. Lawrence River, Tabacco, Tadoussac, Totiakton, Victor, Wenro

The Torch Is Passed

By Chris Carosa on May 26, 2020

Like a bright beacon, Jack Leckie stood as a steady torch light, forever illuminating our lives, our community, our very essence. In his remarkably demur way, he reminded us of where we came from, why it was important to embrace that past, and how those previous travels help guide our future.

I was the new kid on the block when I first met Jack. Literally. I had just moved to Mendon (well, technically, it was a permanent return after an earlier short residence at my parents’ new home). I was also a “kid.” I was only 26 years old when I moved into my home.

You get the picture. Definitely the new kid on the block.

So you could understand why I might have been nervous when, shortly after moving in, Jack invited me to his home on Boughton Hill Road. Imagine my thoughts. There was me – a newbie – and Jack – the Town Supervisor.

I was in awe. I was unworthy. I was a mere peon of youth compared to this big man of Continue Reading “The Torch Is Passed”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Andy Griffith Show, Chuck Meisenzahl, Hamlet, Jack Leckie, Lehigh Valley Railroad, Lucy Parsons, Mendon, Nancy Dunn, Rotary, Route 251, Route 64, small town, Town Board

Ode to Larry Pierce: Forever Among the Colonnade of Community Pillars

By Chris Carosa on January 28, 2020

They are few and far between. Any vibrant community is blessed by no more than a handful. They’re unassuming when you see them. But the moment they speak, you know them.

They are the bedrock of any sustainable community – the foundation upon which everyday folks like us can confidently build our everyday lives. They allow us to assume a comfortable regularity of our surroundings. This makes our lives more pleasant. This makes our lives easier. This, indeed, makes our lives.

Yet, they are much more. Beyond the rock of a common foundation, they represent the solid stone pillars that uplift our community. In doing so, they not only make our lives Continue Reading “Ode to Larry Pierce: Forever Among the Colonnade of Community Pillars”

Posted in Gray Matter Musings, Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Boy Scouts, empathy, Larry Pierce, leadership, listening, Mendon, Mendon Firemen, Mendon Town Board, self-confidence

Life is a (Small Town) Carnival

By Chris Carosa 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 Fantasy 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”

Posted in Western New York State of Mind Tagged 50 Hidden Gems, Big Tree Carnival, Big Tree Fireman's Carnival, Big Tree Volunteer Fire Company, Blasdell, CougarTech Team #2228, erie county fair, Fantasy Island, Hamburg Fair, Mendon, Mendon Academy, Mendon Carnival, Mendon Fire Department, Mendon Fireman's Carnival, Monroe County, Pack 105, South Park Avenue, St. Catherine's, Troop 105, Woodlawn Firemen

Size Doesn’t Matter

By Chris Carosa on April 12, 2012

It may have been my father’s greatest embarrassment, but it was my greatest loss, a loss erased only by 25 years and a chance plumbing mishap.

How my family sees my long lost 1970 trophy.

It all started on a day which lives in “famy” (as opposed to“infamy”). No, I’m not exaggerating. It really was a famous day.

On Saturday, March 7, 1970, I found myself bowling three games at Leisure Lanes in Hamburg, New York, among several dozen participants in the first Bowling Tournament my Cub Scout Pack ever had. The rest of the Northern Hemisphere spent the bulk of that sunny midday experiencing the greatest total eclipse of the sun our corner of the Earth will have until April 8, 2024. (For my own account of that day, see “Solar Eclipse, 1970 – A True Story,” Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel, August 17, 2017.)

I had won the Big Tree Cub Scout Pack 489 Bowling Tournament that day. My father, the Pack’s Cubmaster, bought a nice bowling trophy and a brass plate to etch the name of the winner. He didn’t expect his son to take the trophy home.

That’s what embarrassed him.

So struck by the genuine joy I showed in winning it, he couldn’t bear telling me of his Continue Reading “Size Doesn’t Matter”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged 1970 Total Eclipse of the Sun, Big Tree Cub Scout Pack 489, Blasdell, Blasdell Bowling Academy, bowling, Brongo Bowl, Buffalo, Chili, Cub Scout, Dynamo, erie county fair, Estes rockets, hamburg, Honeoye Falls, Leisure Lanes, March 7 1970, Mendon, Rochester, Solar Eclipse

Fill Out The Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Survey!!!

By Chris Carosa on November 24, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 22, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

(N.B.: The author is a member of the Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Task Force and gratefully thanks everyone in the Mendon Fire District for completing their survey.)

By now, many of the households in the Mendon Fire District should have received their Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Opinion Survey. Being only one page in length and with return postage provided, it’s very simple to fill out. In addition, it’s very Continue Reading “Fill Out The Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Survey!!!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged DiPalma's Restaurant, Honeoye Falls Rotary, Mendon, Mendon Academy, Mendon Business Association, Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse, Mendon Fire District, Mendon Town Republican Committee, Old Mendon Cobblestone Firehouse Community Task Force, St. Catherine's

White Cream Donuts

By Chris Carosa on November 10, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the November 8, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

To the world: I apologize. I confess to a vice of unimaginable corruption. I am truly sorry. In my regret, I confront a life-long affliction – my passionate ardor for… white cream donuts.

It began as a child. On bright sunny Sundays, my parents would take me, my brother and my sisters to the donut shop after church. As soon as my father parked the car, we would joyfully yank open the doors and leap out into the modest bakery. Inside, our nostrils filled with the warm sweet smell of freshly made donuts. We had Continue Reading “White Cream Donuts”

Posted in Memoir of a Real Life, The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Donuts & Cream, Growing Up, M-Cubed, Mendon, Orchard Park, Wegmans, White Cream Donuts

An Old-Fashioned Circus – RIGHT Here in Honeoye Falls!

By Chris Carosa on June 23, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the June 21, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

I don’t have many childhood memories of going to the circus. (About the closest thing I can think of concerns the Big Tree Firemen’s Carnival, but that’s another story so forget I even mentioned it!)

It’s not like I never went to a circus or anything. The big circuses I visited, though, had too much bigness for a little kid to really enjoy. For example, from the upper level of Memorial Auditorium in Buffalo, one needs binoculars to catch the funny magic tricks clowns like to perform. This cannot represent the kind of up-close-Continue Reading “An Old-Fashioned Circus – RIGHT Here in Honeoye Falls!”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Growing Up, Honeoye Falls, Mendon, Rotary

Mendon Water Tower Redux

By Chris Carosa on June 16, 2011

[This Commentary originally appeared in the June 14, 1990 issue of The Mendon-Honeoye Falls-Lima Sentinel.]

You can look elsewhere in this paper for a report on the June 7 meeting between concerned Mendon citizens and the Monroe County Water Authority (MCWA). The following merely comments on those proceedings in as fair and unbiased a fashion one can expect from a resident of Mendon.

The meeting last Thursday night showed a few interesting things. First, it looks like everyone agrees we’ve got a water problem in southeast Mendon. Second, those Continue Reading “Mendon Water Tower Redux”

Posted in The Compleat Carosa Commentaries Tagged Mendon, Monroe County Water Authority, politics