THe SPeCial DiSHeS

We had a glassfronted cabinet that held the special dishes. I can’t remember if they had a pattern. I do think that there was a faux “gold” ring around the edge of each dish. My mother would caution us to wash them gently, lest we rub the gold ring off. They certainly weren’t Limoges or Wedgwood or Spode. Most likely they were from Sears or Monkey Wards (that is what my brother called Montgomery Wards.) One thing that set them apart was the variety of plates and serving pieces. There were luncheon plates, dessert plates, dinner plates, big platters and medium sized bowls and cups and saucers. All were neatly arranged along with what appeared to be silver salt and pepper shakers in the appropriately-named China cabinet, a display of “special.” The cabinet and its contents proved to be a telling contrast to the chairs in the living room that my dad made out of the wood from packing crates.

We only used the good dishes on Thanksgiving, and that was when we lived in Brooklyn and were surrounded by family. Even though our row house was narrow, it was still able to accommodate the Smithwicks and Toms families on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving and the dishes on which it was served were an integral part of the rituals of our family. When we moved north, out of the city, we still celebrated Thanksgiving, but without the good dishes. The China cabinet and the dishes were stored somewhere because there wasn’t enough room in that little house on Ogden Road for them.

Then our extended family was represented by my Aunt Lucy who lived in Athens, N.Y., a bit closer to Carmel than Brooklyn. But again, this new house was small. You could get eight people around the table if

History was made here on June 20 as three women Democrats won seats on the village board. All political newcomers, the triumphant trio soundly defeated three Republican candidates, including two incumbents.

More than 600 Liverpudlians turned out to cast ballots, and they voted for Stacy Finney for mayor and Melissa Cassidy and Rachel Ciotti for trustee.

Town of Salina Democratic Chairman Christopher Shepherd was gratified by the result, especially because his party had remained largely inactive in the village for more than two decades. Suddenly, the Dems dominate the traditionally Republican village board.

Now Shepherd’s turning his attention to two offices in the town of Salina. As in Liverpool, his candidates are ladies. Leesa Paul will oppose incumbent Second Ward Republican Matt Cushing, while Haley Downs will run against incumbent First Ward Republican Jason Recor.

Democrats will not run a candidate for supervisor in November. Earlier this year, the Salina Dems failed to gather enough signatures to qualify their candidate for a line on the ballot.

Familiar face at first Journeyman first baseman Luke Voit, a veteran of five major-league teams, is now playing for the Syracuse Mets. Local baseball fans know Voit best from his four seasons with the New York Yankees, 2018-21, during four of them, once seated, couldn’t move and didn’t mind the intimacy of your neighbor’s elbows. There we used the faux Blue Willow dishes, our everyday dishes that were given away at the local Grand Union. I don’t think we ever had enough glasses that matched unless you counted the juice glasses that once held pimento cheese spread. The “flatware,” your basic knives, dinner forks and spoons, were premiums that my mother and grandmother earned by collecting coupons from General Mills products.

I don’t remember ever having a centerpiece on our tables. The center of the table was for the food and the condiments. Centerpieces came later, after I had gone to college and met people who actually worried about how to set a table correctly and decorate it artistically. In addition to all of my college courses in history and anthropology, I was also studying which dishes and silverware went where on a correctly-set dinner table.

So, today I pondered the excess of dishes and flatware that we have in our house. Let’s start with our China cabinet. I have a set of Depression glass luncheon plates right next to a set of clear glass luncheon plates. They sit on the shelf above the full service for eight of Syracuse China, a gift to my husband from a colleague who had inherited the dishes from his mother-in-law.

Across the dining room, the Hoosier holds eight Syracuse white China restaurant plates and eight Syracuse China restaurant cups and saucers purchased eons ago from the Syracuse China seconds store that used to be on Court Street in Syracuse.

And I am not counting the 20 fine China cups and saucers or the two demitasse sets that also reside in the Hoosier. When was the last which he slugged 68 home runs and 38 doubles. In 2020, Voit led the majors in four-baggers. On the road this month with the Triple-A Mets in Durham, N.C., Voit blasted two homers in six games. v isionary entrepreneur passes time that I served anything in demitasse cups?

The 32-year-old native of Wildwood, Mo. was granted a paternity leave last week to join his wife, Victoria Rigman, as she gave birth to their second child.

He’ll likely rejoin his teammates in Syracuse when the Triple-A Mets host the Yankees’ top farm club, the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre RailRiders, at the redundantly named NBT Bank Stadium, from Wednesday, June 28 through Monday, July 3. Games are scheduled for 6:35 p.m. each evening.

Post-game fireworks ignited by Liverpool’s own Steve Pierce for Pyrotecnico, will light up the sky on Friday, Saturday and Monday nights; milb.com/Syracus e ; 315-474-7833.

The man who purchased the Lakeview Bowling Center at 715 Old Liverpool Road and turned it into not-for-profit business incubator has died. Bob Herz, 74, passed away May 28. He lived in LaFayette with his wife, Sally Berry.

The 58-year-old building with more than 26,000 square feet and a 2.12-acre lot were up for sale for more than two years after the bowling alley closed in 2019.

In 2021, the property was finally sold to InSourcing, which was Herz’s incubator business.

Finally we come to the dishes that we actually use, service for eight including dinner and luncheon plates, soup bowls and mugs, bought from Grants … remember Grants? They are white with a blue border and, more importantly, they are dishwasher safe, unlike the Syracuse China, the Depression glass and the 12 exquisite Limoges dessert dishes that reside next to the cups and saucers in the Hoosier.

Yesterday I had to resort to paper plates for lunch because our regular luncheon-sized dishes were in the dishwasher. Were there other similarly sized plates available?

Sure, but using them would seem oddly strange. I do believe that they had acquired the status of the “good” dishes.

What would an anthropologist say about the burden of crockery, glassware and flatware that my family culture has created? I suspect there would be a lot to say about things like displaying wealth, conspicuous if not consumption, at least conspicuous display.

The tragic end of our Brooklyn “good dishes” can shed some light on this. When my mom and sister moved to St. Pete, the good dishes were released from wherever they were stored and displayed in another China cabinet in their home. After both passed on, we hired someone to sort through and sell what was left of their belongings. Items were identified with colored stickers. Yellow meant “junk.” The China cabinet and its contents displayed three yellow stickers.

As ever, value has its context.

Ann Ferro is a mother, a grandmother and a retired social studies teacher. While still figuring out what she wants to be when she grows up, she lives in Marcellus with lots of books, a spouse and a large orange cat.

Herz enjoyed a lengthy career in public service where he developed the film tax credit and pioneered initiatives including the NYS Elder Law and the Arts & Cultural Affairs Law. Before becoming an entrepreneur, Herz was a legislative aide for former State Sen. Tarky Lombardi.

Sunface at Stout Beard

One of the most thriving businesses at Insourcing’s facility at the former Lakeview Bowling Alley is the Stout Beard Brewery Company. The suds customers there will rock out to the sounds of Plastic Sunface, a grunge band for modern times, at 6 p.m. Saturday, July 1, at Stout Beard Brewery, 715 Old Liverpool Road.

A punk-style quartet, Plastic Sunface features songwriter Nicholas Andrew Mangus. On Saturday, the foursome will likely play cuts from its recent disc, “All Jokes Aside, We’re Dead Inside.” l ast word

Meanwhile, Stout Beard has also been hosting live music on weekday happy hours from 5 to 7 p.m. featuring acts such as Salt City Scratch and the Black Jack Brothers. The live music spices up a scene already rockin’ with intriguing brews like the Edson chocolate peanut butter porter or the Bitterman double IPA; stoutbeardbrewery.com.

“Fans want that grittiness. They want those guys that are going to be aggressive and give their all. Luke, I feel like, represents the New York spirit.” com

–NY Yankees Captain Aaron Judge.

Creative Director: Gordon bigelow, ext 331, art@eaglenewsonline com