As a child, did you ever shake a snow globe and marvel at the magical scene within—of snow swirling around a winter wonderland? That perfectly describes the feeling you’ll get as you stroll through Corning’s Gaffer District during the holidays! Each year, downtown Corning transforms into a Hallmark-worthy oasis of beautiful decorations, friendly faces, delicious food, and unique gifts for everyone on your Christmas list. You can even visit Santa inside his real-life snow globe as snow swirls outside his crystal house. Join us this holiday season and experience Christmas as it should be in Corning’s Gaffer District.
Fri. 11/25 3–7 pm
Sat. 11/26 2–6:30 pm & Santa rides in the parade of lights at 7:30
Sun. 11/27 12–5 pm
Fri. 12/2 4–7 pm
Sat. 12/3 5–9 pm
Sun. 12/4 12–5 pm
Fri. 12/9 4–7 pm
Sat. 12/10 12–5 pm
Sun. 12/11 12–5 pm
Fri. 12/16 4–7 pm
Sat. 12/17 12–5 pm
Sun. 12/18 12–5 pm
Fri. 12/23 4–7 pm
Sat. 12/24 10 am–2 pm
Enjoy a horse-drawn carriage ride down tree-lined, beautifully lit Market Street.
Sat. 12/3 4-8:45 pm Sparkle (loading near the Corning Glass Arch & Aurene Ln. alley)
Sat. 12/10 1-5 pm (load at Old World Café)
Sat. 12/17 1-5 pm (load at Old World Café)
Sun. 12/18 1-5 pm (load at Old World Café)
Warm yourself up with delicious food and local drinks at one of our many restaurants. Outside dining is available at select locations.
Check off those difficult-to-find gifts at one of our boutique retailers. Many of our retailers will offer on-street vending to further enhance your shopping experience.
Don’t miss these great acts on Centerway Stage
• 171 Dance 5–5:20 pm
• Glass City Chorus 5:30–6:00 pm
• Crystal Chords 6:35–7:05 pm
• New Heights Dance Theater: Nutcracker In Motion 7:15–7:45 pm
• Kevin Tapper Trio 8–9 pm
Join a Community Sing-Along at the Val Reep Fountain near the intersection of Market & Walnut streets!
Rocking Christmas Carols with Loren & Sandie
• 6–6:20 pm • 6:30–6:50 pm
• 7:00–7:20 pm • 7:30–7:50 pm
Catch a performance by the Caledonian Highlanders
• 5:15–5:45 pm 86 West Market rooftop
• 6:15–6:45 pm Wall & Market intersection
• 7–7:30 pm Cedar & Market intersection
Here are some important event details:
• Throughout the event, we will close Market Street to traffic to allow outdoor dining, live performances, and on-street vending from our small businesses and other nonprofit organizations.
• Horse and Carriage Rides will load on the north side of Walnut Street and will loop around Corning Inc.’s Headquarters.
• A full list of live performances will be added to the Gaffer District website closer to the event. Please visit gafferdistrict. com for more information.
• Parking information can be found at https://www.gafferdistrict. com/parking.
Guignard Love is the greatest gift.
Remembering Ned Marrow and the rails he loved.
Cover illustration by Darryl Abraham, cover design by Gwen Button. This page: (top) by Darryl Abraham; (middle) courtesy Wellsboro Glass Historical Association.
By
Lilace Mellin Guignard, Gayle Morrow, Janet McCue, and Teresa Banik Capuzzo
Shopping local for made local—a baker’s dozen gifts to give.
Wellsboro glass factory takes over the Gmeiner.
By GayleMorrow
Recommending more reads by our writers.
www.mountainhomemag.com
E ditors & P ublish E rs
Teresa Banik Capuzzo
Michael Capuzzo
A ssoci A t E P ublish E rs
Lilace Mellin Guignard
George Bochetto, Esq.
d ir E ctor of o PE r A tions Gwen Button
M A n A ging E ditor
Gayle Morrow
s A l E s r EP r E s E nt A tiv E
Shelly Moore
c ircul A tion d ir E ctor Michael Banik
A ccounting Amy Packard
c ov E r d E sign Gwen Button
c ontributing W rit E rs Maggie Barnes, Carol Myers Cacchione, Carrie Hagen, Carrie Heath, Roger Kingsley, Don Knaus, Dave Milano, Brendan O’Meara, David O’Reilly, Linda Roller, Karey Solomon
c ontributing P hotogr AP h E rs Bernadette Chiaramonte, Diane Cobourn, Lyndsi Photography, Mary Harvey, Michael Johnston, Nigel P. Kent, Linda Stager, Sherri Stager, Curt Sweely, Sarah Wagaman
d istribution t EAM Brian Button, Grapevine Distribution, Linda Roller t h E b EA gl E Nano
Cosmo (1996-2014) • Yogi (2004-2018)
ABOUT US: Mountain Home is the award-winning regional magazine of PA and NY with more than 100,000 readers. The magazine has been published monthly, since 2005, by Beagle Media, LLC, 39 Water Street, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 16901, and online at www.mountainhomemag.com. Copyright © 2022 Beagle Media, LLC. All rights reserved. E-mail story ideas to editorial@mountainhomemag. com, or call (570) 724-3838.
TO ADVERTISE: E-mail info@mountainhomemag.com, or call us at (570) 724-3838.
AWARDS: Mountain Home has won over 100 international and statewide journal ism awards from the International Regional Magazine Association and the Pennsyl vania NewsMedia Association for excellence in writing, photography, and design.
DISTRIBUTION: Mountain Home is available “Free as the Wind” at hundreds of locations in Tioga, Potter, Bradford, Lycoming, Union, and Clinton counties in PA and Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler, Yates, Seneca, Tioga, and Ontario counties in NY.
SUBSCRIPTIONS: For a one-year subscription (12 issues), send $24.95, payable to Beagle Media LLC, 39 Water Street, Wellsboro, PA 16901 or visit www.moun tainhomemag.com.
By Lilace Mellin Guignard
In our October issue we ran the story “A Tribute to Steve Worthington,” which sparked a lot of feedback from readers. First, we’d like to correct the record, with our apologies for a few important mistakes. Jennifer Worthington is not Steve’s first wife but his second. His first wife is Michele Gatewood of Wellsboro, who helped Steve build their first house, to which he and Jenn later added a second floor. Steve’s onair persona at WNBT was Sergeant Steve Schaffer.
The piece begins, “This is a story about Steve Worthington and the community he joined in 2006, a community theater company called Hamilton-Gibson Productions,” an organization that has collected more than $50,000 in the memorial tech fund set up in Steve’s honor. Readers thanked us for celebrating his life and contributions. But those closest to Steve, family members and friends who knew most deeply the richness of his life and the tragedy of his death, had a different
reaction.
They yearned for a more complete story, and it was a good point. A story of 950 words can never condense the sum of an entire life. We at Mountain Home know the Worthingtons intimately—the late Tucker Worthington was the founding art director of this magazine, and his grandchildren, Steve’s children, delivered the magazine dressed as Victorian street urchins at Dickens of a Christmas. Steve dropped in our offices now and then to say hello.
Allison Spang, who grew up next door to Steve, remembers: “Steve helped raise me and is a good part of who I am as a person today. He took me swimming, and made me breakfast, and helped me paint my toenails. He built epic blanket forts and made some of the best coffee I have ever drank. He came to my sporting events and helped coach my brothers’ wrestling team. He loved nature, and art, and lived for his music. When I think of Steve….I think of a man who loved life and spread that into
everyone that he knew.”
As Michele put it, “Steve loved big, hurt big, and gave big. He did everything big.”
That big spirit and Steve’s contributions live on. The love HG actors and directors and sound and lights techs had for Steve Worthington was only one part of his life but love him they did. You can see it for yourself when you attend HG’s wildly popular performance of Charles Dickens’ classic A Christmas Carol December 3 and 4 in the Warehouse Theatre. Phase One of the new tech systems funded by Steve’s Memorial Fund debuted at HG’s performances of Grand Horizons in October. (You can still donate to the fund by calling (570) 724-2079 or visiting hamiltongibson. org). Call also for tickets to A Christmas Carol, which go fast. The stage lights that shine on Ebenezer Scrooge and Tiny Tim are there because of Steve Worthington and the love he still inspires.
Taking an elfie: If you enjoy the cover illustration, of which this is an excerpt, drop in to see Darryl Abraham’s work at the Oxford Gallery in Rochester, Artizann’s in Naples, and the Hunt Country Vineyards gift shop in Branchport. You can reach him at darryabraham@gmail.com or (585) 880-7986.
Mountain Home is a champion of the local, the smallbatch, the handcrafted, the can’t-get-it-anywhere-else, and the I-can’t-believe-that’s-made-right-here. This month, we have collected thirteen artisans (that’s twelve for the days of Christmas, plus another partridge to grow on) from our readership area who showcase the talents and interests of our region.
We’ve had many discussions about what an artisan is. MerriamWebster asserts it’s one “who practices a trade or handicraft,” or “a person or company that produces something… in limited quantities often using traditional methods.” So that box must be checked. But, knowing that ’tis the season of giving, we wanted to have an eclectic mix that would appeal to wildly different types of folks–aka our readers.
The stories of how the artisans came to practice their craft, where their visions originated, and the reasons behind their painstaking production are as important to us as the unique items they create. Some have made a business out of their work, and some have day jobs. Some are easy to find with a Google search and some only exist in three dimensions. Some are well-known in their communities, and some are self-proclaimed hermits. They are all Mountain Home.
We think some of these will surprise you. We know some will be hard to wrap. We hope you find something you didn’t know you were looking for. Maybe this year, you’ll give the gift that will have the person-who-thoughtthey-had-everything “Oooooing” and “Aaaaaahing” long after the wrapping paper has been recycled.
helpers? Or maybe you have something else in mind. Either drop by his booth at 18610 Route 6, find him on Facebook as G. Roof Furniture, or call (570) 549-7663. If you call soon, your custom piece could be done by Christmas. ~LMG
500-year-old “thieves” recipe for warding off viruses and bacteria. Legend has it that during the time of the Bubonic Plague, four unemployed perfume/spice merchants turned to thievery to make ends meet, and successfully protected themselves from the plague with their combination of cloves, cinnamon, eucalyptus, rosemary, and lemon. Bespoke Apothecary’s mix has a distinctive warm, spicy fragrance that conjures up something pleasant, and, lucky for us, is available in many forms, from a roller ($15) to a wellness kit ($42).
1The first live edge furniture Gary Roof saw was George Nakashima’s studio in New Hope, Pennsylvania. It was the seventies and Gary was studying art at Mansfield Stage College. After seeing this master’s work, Gary soon made a live edge settee in sculpture class. It still sits on his porch. Originally from Athens, Gary, now retired from the timber frame business, lives in Tioga County and makes live edge tables, shelves, chairs, (and whatever is commissioned) at home to sell at his booth in Route 6 Country Shoppes in Mansfield.
Walk through the door of the Quonset hut and Gary’s booth is up front, on the left. It’s hard to resist sitting down on one of the long benches at the full-size dining table made from black walnut, so don’t fight it. The finish is smooth and satin, not high gloss. “You plasticize it when you make it shiny,” Gary says. In his pieces, it’s the natural qualities of the wood that shine. The table’s color is dark and warm, and the top is completely level. The sides, though still smooth, are allowed to flow with the natural shape of the wood. It’s much more refined than rustic.
Tables—dining, coffee, console, you name it—are the most popular readymade items, but many of Gary’s pieces are commissions. One customer bought an extralarge dining room table with benches and chairs for his hunting lodge, and then asked Gary to make him a matching gun rack to display his prize rifles.
Gary often gets wood from trees people would otherwise discard and prefers to work with walnut and butternut. At his shop he has a twenty-five-inch plane and a band saw that goes to fourteen inches. Against the wall is a desk with a drawer. Eclectic shelves grace the wall, ranging from $125 to $175. A high-top table for two uses a tree’s fork for both legs. You can bring it and the two stools home for $1,085. Wouldn’t Santa’s milk and cookies look grand on it? Or some wine for Santa’s
2Compassion, empathy, humility— they’re not just Christmas-time qualities, but ones we all might like to cultivate year-round, much like the business philosophy and the plants April Hart and Bill Krovetcz use to prepare their natural, organic, and madewith-love Bespoke Apothecary products on their hilltop farm outside of Elmira. April explains that the impetus for Bespoke Apothecary, which basically means “custom-made medicine,” was her own cancer diagnosis a dozen years ago. The couple opted then to work with nature, with the “food as medicine” mindset, to help April heal herself. She remains cancer-free.
“We just wanted to bring natural healthcare products, made with care and in small batches, to people,” she says. And, she and Bill believe prevention is a way better way to stay well than trying to cure what ails you after the fact. For instance, the start of the holiday season (and doesn’t it seem to come around sooner and sooner every year?) can mean weeks and weeks of eating and activities that may not be the healthiest—lots of fun, for sure, but along about January your mind and body may be saying, “Hey, we’ve had enough.” What to do? Try getting the jump on potential problems with a daily dose of fire cider. This medicinal/herbal concoction is a favorite of herbalists (both April and Bill are certified herbalists). It’s used to support the immune system and help keep away seasonal infections. Many of the approximately two dozen ingredients come from their farm, April notes, and include raw apple cider vinegar, horseradish, turmeric, burdock, nettle, mullein, and raw honey ($13 to $42 depending on the size).
Or try a tincture or oil infusion of the
Don’t let the winter weather make you overlook stocking stuffers for your favorite outdoor enthusiasts. All-natural herbal mosquito repellent, itch paste, and tick and black fly repellent can help you avoid pests and chemicals. They have one for your furry friends, too. Prices start at $14 for smaller sizes, and some are available in kits.
Their farm at 300 Sullivan Crest Road is not open to the public, but you can arrange for a visit by calling (607) 426-0999. Products are available at numerous locations throughout the Twin Tiers, including Mansfield Chiropractic Clinic, through bespokeapothecary.com, and a pick-up option is available in Elmira so you can avoid shipping costs. Many of their products are available for home delivery through Delivered Fresh, which covers north to Horseheads and Binghamton and south to Liberty and Tunkhannock. Find them also on Facebook. ~GM
3Tom Oswald hand built his first bike in 1996, but before he could do that he had to learn how to weld, braze, and cut metal. He also had to learn frame design and the geometry of fitting bikes to people—the biomechanics—because when you get an Oswald Bike, it’s made to fit you. Tom, who opened Oswald Cycle Shop in Mansfield in 2000, made his first bike for himself. “It was exciting and a little scary to be speeding over pavement on something I built,” he admits. He’s since made many frames for different
styles, including road bikes, mountain bikes, touring bikes, and gravel bikes. Early in his career he was dubbed the Amish bike builder during the North American Handmade Bicycle Show. (The bald head might have something to do with the nickname.)
Anyone who knows a serious cyclist knows how much the aesthetics and function of their bicycle means to them (my husband can go on and on about the details of a bike that whizzed by, one that I barely noticed). It’s an extension of their personality. Sherri Stager of Mansfield came to Tom for a bike that was sturdy and could be used for long bike tours. “And I wanted it pink,” she says. “I love my custom bike. I gave him artistic liberty along with ideas of what I had in mind. I call it the Pink Cadillac.” Believe me, no matter who you are you’re going to notice her bike if she rides by.
A commissioned frame runs approximately $3,000 and takes at least a month to build. But don’t order one in June and expect it soon. “I only build in the winter,” Tom says, “when shop business is slower.” So now is a great time to put a gift certificate for a custom bike under the tree for your favorite cycle-junkie. Or, if you want a beautiful camel-and-copper-colored road frame that fits someone fivefoot-ten to six feet tall, he has that very custom fifty-seven-centimeter item in his shop. You can wrap it up right now. Drop in if you’re on Main Street in Mansfield, check out his work at oswaldcycleworks. com, or call (570) 662-3097. ~LMG
4When you’re having a wine party, it seems appropriate to serve your guests an artfully arranged array of snacks and appetizers on a tray made from a wine barrel stave. The aptly named Presentation Tray sits slightly elevated off the table to show off its curve, and the warm dark red tint comes naturally from its former life. These are made from a full stave, approximately thirty-five inches long and four inches wide. Also available is a smaller Tapas Tray, eighteen inches long and three inches wide and without the dramatic curve. The large is $74 and the small is $48.
If you’re born and raised on Keuka Lake and find yourself the manager of a vineyard’s tasting room, it might not be surprising that one day you take a used wine barrel home and figure out something cool to do with it. Dan Mitchell doesn’t like to see anything that’s perfectly good not get another chance to be useful. “Wine barrels get used about five times,” he says, “so I took one and made a tabletop.”
Not a table—Dan rarely does full barrel projects. For what he had in mind, he needed to visit his cousin, a skilled woodworker, and learn some finer points of the craft. He must’ve liked the process and the product, because he came home and bought the tools he needed to make more. In 2016, Dan and Rachel, his wife, had a son, and figured out that the rent of a small space in Penn Yan was cheaper than daycare. So, the first Staving Artist store was opened, and they raised their son in the shop. Then in 2020, during the pandemic shutdown, they had the chance to rent a larger space on Main Street and took the leap.
Over the years Dan has added to his repertoire, often based
on Rachel’s sense of style and vision for home décor. There are occasional tables of different heights based on a demilune design, revolving trays using the whole barrel top, and painted staves for whatever interesting uses you may find for them. Drink Local was his first one. Find his work (as well as others’) at stavingartist.com or at 101 Main Street, Penn Yan. If you have questions call (315) 384-1110, or email dan@stavingartist.com to order a customization. ~LMG
piece. In the interim, you can choose a little something to fill that Fair Isle stocking.
This season, Steve suggests that the hunter on your list might absolutely love a hand-crafted necklace, ring, or other piece of jewelry made with a sterling silver or gold antlers theme, or a piece featuring a delicately crafted miniature elk or whitetail—courtesy of craftsmen Tom Carter and Lindsey Thurber. The elk pendant with dendritic opal ($405) makes quite the “Honey, I’m home” gift from a returning wanderer. For the tie-wearer in your life, how about a sterling ($27) or gold ($72) tie tack fashioned as a shamrock, a father’s knot, or a Josephine knot. Animal lovers might appreciate a personalized paw-print stacking ring ($49). Libby, the resident golden-doodle, would be honored if you chose an animalthemed gift for someone you care about. Walker Metalsmiths is open Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays. Call (607) 478-8567 or visit walkerscelticjewlry. com, where you’ll find tabs for items under $50. ~GM
could build anything from “a table to a house.” He says that DIY spirit rubbed off. After years of admiring the colorful guitar pedals with ridiculous names, in 2008 Tom started “a little online shop focusing on custom and hand-painted pedals. I focused on looks and sounds that you wouldn’t find in any chain store or mainstream site: extra fuzzy tones, pedals that intentionally squeal, glitch, and drone at the stomp of a switch.”
5Sad but true—sometimes the stars just won’t align for a Christmas shopping trip to Ireland. Now what? Try taking a slightly more local sojourn to Walker Metalsmiths on 4 S Main Street in Andover, New York, where handcrafted Celtic jewelry is a tradition, and you can almost hear the lilt.
Walker Metalsmiths has been family owned/family operated since 1984. Owner, designer, and master craftsman Steve Walker credits his high school art teacher for inspiring and encouraging his own interest in Celtic design, and says that that teacher, plus the region’s pronounced Irish and Scottish heritage, have, over the years, helped produce a kind of regional/local style of Celtic jewelry that has made Walker Metalsmiths a destination.
Assistant Manager Kristy Woolridge has a good idea why.
“The staff is knowledgeable, everything is unique, and you get the Celtic feel but get it here in small town Western New York,” she says. “People want something meaningful— the biggest bang for their buck.” Plus, “our supply line is here,” so the in-house designer craftsmen (Walker Metalsmiths hosts a few Celtic designers and jewelers from across the pond as well) who create such pieces as your one-of-a-kind wedding rings, birthstone jewelry, and Claddagh-inspired pendants have what they need when they need it. The only thing you have to wait for is the finished
6Is there anyone on your list who might like some fuzz for Christmas? If they are an electric guitarist or bassist, they just might. Lucky for Santa, Fuzzhugger Effects makes acclaimed fuzz pedals right in northcentral Pennsylvania. What is fuzz? Think of the distinctive sound of Jimi Hendrix or Jack White and you begin to get an idea.
“The effects are activated by footswitches,” explains Tom Dalton, “for quickly switching between sounds, as well as combining and layering effects to customize your tone. You may see a few—or over a dozen—of these small metal boxes at a guitarist’s feet. A pedal might distort your signal, increase sustain, add reverb or echoes, create a chorus effect, or manipulate pitch, to degrees between subtle and ear-bending.”
Tom grew up around musical instruments. His dad was a drummer and
Tom has been handcrafting visually and sonically-inspiring pedals for musicians around the world ever since. From drilling to finishing to wiring to the stunning graphics, all is done in-house. Specifically, in his house, where, because he’s his own boss, he can take unscheduled micro-breaks to hang with family. He explains that living and working in a remote area means “it’s easy to get work done” and “it gives me an excuse for being a hermit.” After more than a decade of selling direct and through dealers, Tom has gone back to selling direct-only. “This keeps prices (and my stress level) down and keeps me in touch with users.” He’s a parent and artist first, businessperson second. Even though his most popular pedals sell out quickly and he’s been at maximum production capacity for years, Tom has no desire to become a small factory or have his circuit boards assembled overseas. He’d rather sell on a first come, first served basis from his website, fuzzhugger.com, where you can quickly tell if the Doom Bloom fuzz or the Absynthe oscillating fuzz pedal you want is in stock. Prices range from $138 to $189, though he sometimes has models as low as $99. The same pedal may be available in a variety of graphics, so do yourself a favor and take a look. Use the online contact form to get in touch with Tom. ~LMG
7Designer-fabricator Sam Castner has been recreating elements of his large sculpture installations as stainless-steel candle holders with nesting rings of maple trees, fir trees, and foxes. Set two candles inside
for twice the shadows, and watch the trees climb your walls. “It’s like being out in the woods under a full moon,” he says.
Sam grew up on a farm on the east side of Keuka Lake and started working with metal at Alfred University, where he got his Bachelor of Arts-Fine Arts degree. After teaching blacksmithing in northern California, he returned to the Finger Lakes with his wife and started a studio on his family farm. Having grown up using tools and doing hands-on physical labor, Sam says working with metal just felt right. “You create something that’s going to last forever.”
It wasn’t long before he began getting commissions, first creating a thirty-foot tree, complete with a red tail hawk, that stands at the entrance of Red Tail Ridge Winery. Then other places called, starting a flurry of “who’s bigger and better?” He has pieces at many wineries and at the New York State Visitors Center in Geneva.
He got the idea for making smaller pieces because “not everyone can have a set of gates, but they can take home a candle holder.” For these, he scales down some elements from signature creations at Fox Run Vineyards and Glenora Wine Cellars. The fox is based off of Sam’s dog Shadow, a 120-pound malamute/ timber wolf who he says is “head of the design team.” Shadow seems more than happy to be a run-and-jump model.
Lots of people make it a tradition to buy a new ring each year, and Sam keeps adding elements—last year it was a dancing fox. Each ring costs $25 to $50, depending on the size. The candle holders are sold at the Fox Run tasting room in Penn Yan (foxrunvineyards.com) and the Staving Artist in Penn Yan (stavingartist. com). Or you can email sam.ironvinestudios@ gmail.com to purchase directly from him. ~LMG
Jean LaCroce is doing her share—measuring, mixing, rolling, cutting intricate designs in the dough, picking just the right colors for the icing, and then…giving the finished product to the dog.
“He’s my taste tester,” Jean says of Hawken, her golden retriever. It’s Hawken who got her started about three years ago on the delectable doggie treat path. “He has some stomach issues going on, so we wanted him to have healthy things to eat.” Hawken is the third golden with whom Jean and her husband, Charlie Cain, have shared their lives. Dakota and Cheyenne were the first two—they’ve since died—but Hawken is alive and well and enjoying his job. Jean refers to the trio as her “heart dogs”—thus the name of her business.
“Delectables” is an appropriate name for these creations. With their unique shapes, colorful exteriors, and all natural ingredients, they’re certainly more than your average dry, brown dog biscuit.
“They’re all human-grade ingredients,” Jean says. Those ingredients include natural peanut butter, honey, oats, cinnamon, and carob. She tweaked some existing recipes, then jumped through the necessary hoops to be licensed by the state Department of Agriculture. She plans to work throughout the winter on new recipes—things like pretzels, waffle sticks, doggie donuts, and pup cakes—the canine version of cupcakes—and may even try her hand at kitty treats.
In the meantime, it’s coming up on Christmas. If you’re stumped as to what the dog(s) in your life might love, or what the people in your life who love dogs might want, you’re barking up the right tree with Heart Dog Delectables. Jean can make up gift baskets, gift boxes, custom orders, even ornaments filled with treats. Prices vary, she says, but start at $3 for individual treats and vary depending on size and decorated vs undecorated. The turn-around time depends on what is ordered. She likes to bake “as fresh as possible,” but notes that her products do have a long shelf life.
You can find Heart Dog Delectables at Highland Chocolates, Dinkle Dog Grooming, Grand Canyon Veterinary, the Yellow Basket Shop, and on Facebook. For Wellsboro’s Dickens of a Christmas, December 3, she will be in front of Café 1905. Call Jean at (570) 787-0447 for more information or to place an order. ~GM
9Ray Sprouse, originally of Galeton, got a hand woodworking kit when he was eight, and liked it right away. But when it came time to take shop in high school, the power tools intimidated him. Thankfully, he’s since conquered that fear.
Ray left the area to go to college, moving back in 2000 when he got a job at the hospital in Wellsboro as an MRI technologist. That’s where he met Dr. Enrico Doganiero, a radiologist who introduced him to the lathe. Ray’s grandfather had given him an old shopsmith—a cast iron multi-tool that was saw, planer, joiner, and lathe all in one. “It was scary, and it weighed eight million pounds,” Ray says. After a lesson on Rick’s lathe, Ray started making handles and bowls. And he joined a woodworking club. He upgraded his lathe
and other equipment, and in 2012 started experimenting with making salt and pepper shakers and grinders. He’d been using his handles to make shaving razors, but that craze died down. Kitchen items never seem to go out of style, though. His most popular shakers and grinders range from muted to psychedelic colors and designs that show off the wavy lines. “Some people think I bend the wood,” he says. What he does is buy thin sheets of already dyed Baltic birch which he glues together, mixing colors, until he has a block that he can turn on the lathe. The designs sometimes surprise him. “The only control I have is the curve.”
Every weeknight after work, Ray turns wood to turn out new items, spending about fifteen hours a week in his woodshop. Johnny Cash, Merle Haggard, and Willie serenade him there, and there’s room for all of them, not like the small apartment he once had where he turned wood in a three-by-four-foot kitchen. “At least I could always reach anything I needed,” he shrugs.
Ray is busy helping Santa by keeping the stores stocked that sell his work. Around here that’s A Stroll Down Memory Lane at 27 W. Main Street, Galeton, and the Main
Street Olive Oil Company on Main Street, Wellsboro. He also sells outside the area and online at woodchuxwoodturning.com, Etsy, and eBay. Sometimes customers buy pieces right out of the box as he’s unloading. He does commissions, too, and can add laser engraving to any piece. His kitchen items also include ice cream scoops, pizza cutters (very popular), veggie peelers, and pens (fountain and rollerball). Prices vary depending on where you purchase them but range from $40 to $100. He guarantees his items for life. ~LMG
He has the knowledge necessary to make flies with East Coast specific patterns, “not like Orvis and Cabela’s” who sell one type regardless of where you cast your line. His hellgrammites and crayfish are big sellers because “they look like they’d walk away.” He’s especially proud of those crayfish, which he ties in three different colors (since they change with the seasons) from a pattern he created when he was seventeen. “If you can’t catch a fish on that, go home,” he laughs.
These days you can find his flies and rods at Nessmuk’s Sporting Goods in Morris. While he builds new rods from blanks (chosen for the type of fishing you want to do), restoring rods has become his passion, and he stays as true to the original as materials will allow. The customer picks three colors, and Tom decides what will be the underwrap, and what to use for the threads he wraps by hand. Sentimental poles, he calls them, the ones dad or grandpa used that now just sit around. “I like people to enjoy them,” he says. Back when he’d fish 300 days a year, he’d put those old poles he’d collected and restored into his car. There was almost always a kid fishing with a bad pole, or no pole of their own, and Tom would
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December 3, 2022 – January 21, 2023
This exhibit features memorabilia from the L.L. Stearns Department Store, which flourished from 1889 until 1994 in downtown Williamsport.
858 W. Fourth Street Williamsport, PA 17701
Hours: Tues.-Fri., 9:30am-4:00pm; Sat., 11:00am-4:00pm Please visit www.tabermuseum.org or telephone 570.326.3326
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make their day. “He’s got the biggest heart of anyone,” his wife, Carol, says.
An artist’s heart, for certain, because the time Tom spends on tying a fly or restoring a rod is not reflected in its price. But since he doesn’t get around much anymore, these projects are a way for him to stay connected with the joy of the outdoors, spread that joy to others, and keep a little history alive in the process. He tracked down what patterns matched the flies Nessmuk—our local folk hero—used in Pine Creek and the Adirondacks. These are sold separately or in a set.
Got a broken rod? Want to order a custom one for someone special on your list? Why not hook some of Tom’s flies to your favorite fisher’s stocking for a surprise on Christmas morning (some come as pins too)? Flies start at $1.85, pins are around $10, and restored fly rods start at $100 (conventional rods can be less). Find Nessmuk’s at 1803 Route 287, go to nessmuksltd.com, or call (570) 404-6159 to talk with Zack, who handles Tom’s orders. ~LMG
That inside pattern might, in turn, suggest the next piece in a random-yet-intentional assortment—perhaps a bubble bowl with a red floral design or maybe a reversible bud vase.
Colleen’s vintage but contemporary creations play well together. Her work ranges from cups to platters, vases to planters, and is made for everyday use. Prices range from $30 to $350. This festive time of year, her “I Love Red” collection might make a nice addition, or start, to someone’s collection. My London niece, Kat Cade, adds a new piece of Colleen’s pottery each time she visits. “Colleen’s pottery is instantly recognizable,” she writes. “Every morning I drink my tea from one of her stoneware mugs. Decorated with one of her signature bold, indented, flower designs, it is equally delightful to hold as it is to behold.”
Colleen trained as a life-size figure sculptor at Alfred University, but began working with smaller pieces when her children were young. She joined Handwork, an artisan cooperative in Ithaca, where she’s been a member since 2009. With a kiln in the basement of her home, Colleen says her colorful ceramics help her survive winter.
“I love painting in late winter and anticipating spring, seeing the seasons blossom in the kiln,” she says.
business. Was Shane interested in purchasing some inventory, specifically skateboards?
“He knew I collected skateboards,” says Shane, and, yes, he was interested. Always civic minded, especially when it comes to the young people of the area, Shane’s plan was simple—buy the skateboards and give them away to the kids in the community. But, while the trucks and wheels (basically the skateboards’ hardware) have some longevity, the decks wear out (the deck is the surface of the board you stand on—it’s the decks that Shane and other enthusiasts like to collect). Now what?
Well, if you’re Shane, you enlist the aid of your son, Liam, and you start making your own.
11Vintage fabrics, Depression-era glass, and the reference book, The Grammar of Ornament , are all inspirations for Colleen McCall’s ceramics, but it is the whimsy, bold color, and patterns of the natural world that she works into her pottery that make it joyful. Vibrant red poppies, bright yellow lemons, and topsy-turvy mushrooms decorate mugs, platters, bowls, and vases. Colleen’s pieces are unique, one-of-a-kind creations, and with designs on both the inside and the outside— or the top and the bottom—it’s fun to curate your own distinctive collection, or add to someone else’s. The outside of a mug might feature a chrysanthemum blossom plucked from a Ming vase while the inside reveals a textured design from a 1950s-era tumbler.
View and purchase Colleen’s ceramics at colleenmccallceramics.com and at Handwork. She’ll be showcasing her work in time for Christmas at the Factory Art Market at South Hills Business Park, 950 Danby Road, Ithaca, December 2 to 4, and she’ll emerge from her subterranean studio just in time for the Elmira Handmade Market in early March. You can also call her at (607) 483-1977. ~JM
Most skateboard decks are made of layers of wood veneer (although some other materials are sometimes used) that are glued and pressed together, then cut out after tracing a shape from a template. Shane and Liam found a press on eBay—it was in Massachusetts, so there was a bit of a drive—and started cranking out skateboard decks for the kids in the community. But, their “cranking out” was a long way from mass production. The pressed veneer needs time to cure. They cut the boards one at a time. The process they used to apply graphics to the decks was somewhat time consuming. All that was relatively okay until their boards, now known as Mayor’s Skateboard Company, caught the attention of pro skater Ron Allen. He wanted to see where the boards were being made, and he suggested starting a small company. That seemed a bit of a pipe dream, as “we were cutting out the boards with a jigsaw,” Shane notes. But Ron did help with coming up with a logo, and then a friend of Liam’s got involved, then a friend of Shane’s, one with some engineering expertise, joined in. That friend eventually became a partner and “built some equipment for us” that changed the way they were able to apply graphics to the boards.
About five years ago, Shane Nickerson, mayor of Blossburg, had a phone call from a local business owner who was going out of
They’re still not mass producing, but have close to 200 decks in stock, and custom orders for Christmas are certainly doable. (“We’d have to quote a price,” depending on what the customer wants, Shane says.) The former North Penn High School gym is the current workspace, but “what we would like to do is have a manufacturing facility in Blossburg,” as well as an indoor skate park. To place an order, or for more information, send an email to shanen@mayorskateco.
By Carol Myers Cacchione
Adapper gentleman in a New York Central Railroad conductor’s uniform and black patent leatherbrimmed hat with gold braid trim sat just inside the doors of St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall. It was December 3, 2016, the thirty-third annual Dickens of a Christmas in Wellsboro. (How serendipitous that this year’s Dickens celebration is also December 3.) Bespectacled, with a crisply ironed white shirt and black tie knotted just so, ninety-three-year-old Ned Marrow greeted visitors at the Twin Tiers N-Trak Model Railroad Club’s exhibit. Tiny freight trains whirred along tracks past miniature houses with white picket fences, thumbnailsized shrubbery, and tidy little lawns. Kids and grownups alike pressed up to the ropes separating them from the trains to watch the action. Ned relaxed in a chair, his arms on his walker in front of him, while he
reminisced about his years spent on the railroad.
“I started working on the New York Central in 1946,” he said. “It was right after the war. I started as a brakeman and was promoted to conductor in 1955.” He made runs between Corning and Syracuse, and sometimes all the way up to Niagara Falls. But it was the runs between Corning and Williamsport, traveling the tracks through the Pine Creek Gorge, better known as the Grand Canyon of Pennsylvania, that he loved best. “I used to wave a lantern out the back of the caboose as the train wound its way through the canyon at night,” he said.
“If you saw the light shining, that was me.” Ned always loved trains. “I got my first model train set when I was a boy,” he said.
“It was a Christmas present—a Lionel. The first trains I worked on were steam powered. I used to have to help the fireman shovel
soft coal to keep them going.” In the 1950s, trains switched to diesel. The obvious advantage was that Ned didn’t need to shovel coal anymore. “Diesel engines were more powerful, so we could haul more cars and more freight,” he explained. Still, he was sentimental about the old steam-powered coal trains. “There’s just something about them that will always be in my blood.”
Born in 1923, Ned grew up in Galeton and lived there until 1941, when he enlisted in the Navy. He served in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during Word War II. He was aboard the USS Barr, a destroyer escort ship, when it was torpedoed by a German U-boat off the coast of northern Africa in 1944. Seventeen sailors lost their lives that day, twelve of whose remains were never recovered. Ned was at midship and survived the blast. He showed me a
Train continued from page 20
laminated picture he carried in his wallet of the Barr tied up at drydock in Casablanca, its stern blown to bits. Inset in the upper right corner was a photo of Ned in his service dress blues, a white sailor’s cap perched atop his head at a jaunty angle.
Ned married his wife, Evelyn, in 1948. They bought a house in Big Flats, and their daughter, Christine, was born five years later.
“Evelyn was on her own a lot while I was working,” he said. “I was always at least a day or two away from home each time I had to make a run.” Despite the interruptions of his job, the couple had a long and happy marriage. Ned stayed with the railroad until, in his words, “they pulled the cabooses off the trains in 1986.” He retired after forty years. Evelyn died in 2006. Several years later, Ned experienced health issues and moved into an assisted living facility in Painted Post. His daughter and her family lived close by.
When I spoke with him that December day in 2016, he told me one of his joys in life was being a member of the Twin Tiers N-Trak Model Railroad Club, and being able to travel with them to shows whenever he could. He’d been to Dickens of a Christmas five years running. He did make it back the following year, but that was his last. Ned died June 6, 2018. It was D-Day. Fitting for a WWII veteran, and one of the last of the Greatest Generation.
Here’s what Ned didn’t tell me. Christine Frost said that after her father retired, he served as a volunteer conductor on the Tioga Central Railroad, a heritage railroad operating excursion trains between Wellsboro and Tioga. During those years, he almost single-handedly restored one of the train’s eighty-foot passenger coaches, removing age-damaged seats one at a time, taking them to Elmira to be reupholstered, and then reinstalling them once completed. The Tioga Central named the coach Ned Marrow in his honor at a dedication ceremony Ned attended with family members in 2008.
Rich Stoving, train enthusiast and past president of the Tioga Central Railroad, remembers that his friend Ned wore a carnation in the buttonhole of his uniform when he conducted the Tioga Central, and spent time talking with the passengers. He recalls Ned being a bit of a showman.
“Nobody could jump on a moving train like Ned,” he says. “The train would be pulling out of the station, picking up speed. He’d take one last look around the platform to make sure everyone had boarded, and at the last possible second, he’d grab the railing and swing onto the bottom step of the caboose as it rolled by. It’s not easy to do. Ned made it look effortless.”
The Twin Tiers N-Trak Model Railroad Club will be returning to Wellsboro on December 3, 2022, after a two-year hiatus due to covid. Once again, they’ll be setting up their display in the Episcopal Church Fellowship Hall. Judy Thomas, secretary/ treasurer for the group, says there will be two layouts this year. One will be their usual long line display, always a favorite with the crowds. The other will be a memorial. Each car of this train will be specially painted and will bear the name of a deceased member of the club. Judy’s husband Ed, a former club president who passed away in 2021, will have a car with his name on it. As will Ned Marrow. I plan to be there to pay tribute to them.
By Carrie Heath
This month, a different type of exhibit will be on display at the Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center: a collection central to Wellsboro’s history and celebration of the Christmas holiday. Thanks to the Wellsboro Glass Historical Association, many have gotten glimpses in the pop-up museum of some glass products made right here. But, oh, there’s so much more to see, read, and experience. About a year ago Josh Fox, curator of the Pennsylvania Lumber Museum, his wife, Tracey, and I set up a small display in the Atrium of the Gmeiner that focused on Don Wilcox, a local designer who worked here at the “glass factory,” as it was known. He invented the shrink wrap process that allowed images like Currier and Ives artwork, Holly Hobbie drawings, and all sorts of other photographs to be printed on Christmas ornaments. There was also a small selection of Shiny Brite ornaments in
the exhibit. The response was overwhelming. People were fascinated and wanted to know more.
A few months and a few meetings later, we were planning a full takeover of the Gmeiner for December 2022. After all, 2022 is the International Year of Glass as declared by the United Nations. The entire space, Atrium and Main Gallery, will house a display of the WGHA’s collection of Wellsboro’s glassmaking history—100 years of it. There will be information about the abandoned plate glass factory, explanations about traditions behind glass Christmas ornaments, and the push to provide safe, indoor, electric lighting. Visitors will see a giant ladle used to hand-gather glass, browse the weekly newsletters full of local and national events, and marvel at a gaffer’s pole (blowpipe) that Ryan Root and his family literally dug out of the creek next to
the old factory.
Speaking of Ryan Root, he gets a lot of the credit for rescuing the two ribbon machines used in the glassmaking process at the Corning Glass facility here and returning them to Wellsboro. Once upon a time, he was in charge of their repair and maintenance. I remember the Super Bowl Sunday when my sewer alarm went off, and I called Ryan to fix it. Afterwards, over chips and queso, he told me how he’d followed the machines to Kentucky and worked to raise money and enthusiasm to bring them back home. (See the Mountain Home story “The Return of the Remarkable Roving Ribbon Machine,” Dec. 2021.) He said they were in storage in an empty local factory, and that the hope was to someday have a museum where people could see them and learn about the contributions those machines,
and the people who worked on them, made to the world—people like the ingenious Billy Woods and his invention of the ribbon machine, which revolutionized glass production. Billy’s mechanized, automated process allowed the Wellsboro factory to go from handblowing two light bulbs per minute to a whopping 3,000 bulbs per minute at the height of production. It made modern electric lighting possible. It was also adaptable enough that other glass products, like Christmas ornaments, could be made on the same line.
The Corning Glass Works factory, later owned by GTE and then Osram/Sylvania, employed local people who were renowned for their productivity and willingness to take on any challenge. They consistently out-produced Corning’s other factories, came up with innovative ways to recycle and reduce waste, and invented new products and processes throughout 100 years of production. Glass containers for explosives, radio and television tubes, all sorts, sizes, and colors of lightbulbs, camera flashbulbs, drinking glasses, candle holders, and fluorescent tubes are just some of what were made right here in Wellsboro, and will be in the exhibit. There will also be a display about the “Tile Rats,” an interesting chapter of the factory’s history when high quality ceramic tiles were produced in a 300-foot-long kiln.
Will the ribbon machines be on display? No. At fifty feet long and twenty-two tons each, they wouldn’t fit through the door. However, when people see the rest of the WGHA’s collection, it will help them visualize the museum that could be—a place for the ribbon machines, for the hundreds of glass items, and for the stories of all the locals who worked there.
The exhibit opens Friday, December 2, at noon and will be on display until Friday, December 30, at 6 p.m. Regular hours are noon to 6 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. Admission is always free. Dickens of a Christmas hours for Saturday, December 3, are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. There will be vendors and refreshments in the studio that day.
A free reception with light refreshments provided by the Wellsboro High School Culinary Arts students will be Thursday, December 8, from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. This will be a celebration of all the factory’s former employees. Any locals who worked there or had family members who did are invited.
During Christmas on Main Street weekend, December 9 to 11, local glass artist Greg Hoke—whose mom and step-dad both worked at the Wellsboro factory—will be at the Gmeiner demonstrating the art of lampworking, which is shaping glass over an open flame. He will have glass snowmen, ornaments, and maybe a few surprises for sale.
The Gmeiner, located at 134 Main Street, will be closed on December 24 and 25 for the Christmas holiday. The Wellsboro Glass Historical Association’s display is appropriate for all ages, but parents are requested to closely monitor their children due to the fragile nature of the objects. Find out more at gmeinerartculturalcenter.org or call (570) 724-1917. The Wellsboro Glass Historical Association can be found on Facebook.
Carrie Heath is an art lover, educator, and director of the Gmeiner Art & Cultural Center, which she first visited on a fieldtrip with her kindergarten class.
lad we finally stopped. I didn’t bring my passport.” I frowned at Efrain, who was grumbling as he unloaded the chainsaw from his truck.
“It wasn’t that far,” I said.
“The guy in that last field was speaking French-Canadian,” Efrain retorted.
“Listen, do you want a good tree? Sacrifices must be made.”
He was right that it had been a haul to the tree farm, more than an hour from our Waverly home. But this place had a great reputation, and even this early on a Saturday the parking lot was filling fast. Our friends needed a ten-foot tree and we were in the market for a fourteen-footer. Such height can be tough to find.
We spotted Efrain and Sandi’s tree first. Bob and I had a couple of contenders, but finally found the winner in the last row of evergreens. Right measurements, full and verdant green, I was happy with it.
As was our tradition, we caravanned to
our friends’ home first, got their tree situated and then headed to Glory Hill. Standing and securing a large tree is always complicated, but, within an hour, we seemed to be stuck somehow with this one. None of us could figure out what the problem was.
“It’s straight,” Efrain announced from his vantage point on the floor, manhandling the bucket we used for a stand.
“No, it’s not,” Sandi countered from across the room, hands on hips and head tilted.
“How is that possible?” I couldn’t see my husband, who was holding up the tree from the opposite side. The tree shifted under his efforts and he asked, “How about now?”
“That’s got it,” Sandi started forward with the high-gauge fishing line to begin the tying off.
“Are you crazy,” Efrain said. “Now it’s out of whack.”
Two people looked at this tree and came to opposing opinions on its position? The
house fell silent as the four of us pondered our plight.
“Efrain, can you hold this side, I want to look at something.” Our friend armycrawled backwards to re-emerge into view and take Bob’s place. My better half backed up as far as the furniture would allow and stared at the tree. Then he dropped down on his haunches and looked. Then stood up and looked. Down again.
“Hey, Jack LaLanne, work out some other time. What’s going on with the tree?”
“I don’t believe it. How did we do this?” It was an incredulous whisper. I felt my heart sink. By Bob’s estimation, our “perfect” tannenbaum deviated at least a foot up the length of its trunk. If its bottom was horizontal to the floor, it leaned backwards at the top. If the top was level, it was nowhere near the bottom of the bucket. It was the most rookie of mistakes, and we—veterans of twelve Christmases in our hilltop home— had made it. Because the tree was nestled
among other evergreens, we didn’t have light coming through it to check the bearing on the trunk. All this thing needed was a crooked man and a crooked dog.
Our determined quartet spent forty-five minutes trying to finagle that tree into some semblance of balance, but we could not make it work. Turn this way, lean that way, what if the bucket goes backwards, forwards, sideways…we tried everything. The sense of aggravation was mounting when we found ourselves in our original positions—Efrain on the floor, Sandi standing back, Bob and I on opposing sides of the tree.
I swear I heard my husband’s tolerance snap like a Christmas cracker.
“Stop. Everyone just stop.” He said it so forcefully, we all froze where we were.
Bob took a ragged breath.
“Here’s what we’re going to do. Efrain, get off the floor. Sandi, open the sliding doors. We’re going to drag this thing onto the deck and heave it into the field. Then go get another tree.”
I pushed back as much of the green mass as I could and tried to get into Bob’s view.
“What? Do you remember how much we paid for this thing?”
“No, I don’t,” he said. “Because that was days ago! We’ve been doing this for a week, haven’t we? It’s time to surrender. This isn’t going to work.”
We were both red-faced and glaring when Sandi’s gentle voice floated through the boughs.
“Efrain, why don’t you open the wine we brought?” A glass of wine while the tree rested on the floor gave us an opportunity to regroup. Sandi, a nurse, provided reason and logic, and calmly enabled us to see the only path forward.
“We can get it to stand in a position that will look straight from one point of view—the entrance to the living room. No other angle will work, but at least it will be secure.” So, we grimly waded back into battle—just like Humphrey Bogart slipping back into the leechinfested water in The African Queen. Once we and the tree reached a state of equilibrium, we hog-tied that sucker nine different ways, loaded the bucket down with extra sand, and called it acceptable.
Our friend was not done with her helpful advice.
“See?” she chirped. “Just move all the furniture from the sides of the room. No one will notice the trunk from here.”
“Yeah,” Efrain chimed in. “The best idea is to put a bar on the landing of your steps outside. Everyone stops and has a cocktail before they even come in. Then they can sit on the kitchen counter and admire the tree from there. Easy peasy!”
Okay, not all their advice is high-caliber stuff.
To be honest, I was sure the tree was not going to survive the night, and sure it might take a wall or two when it fell. But there it was come daybreak, cockeyed as hell, but upright.
We entertain a lot during the holidays, and several times I found guests standing to the side of the tree, eyeing it suspiciously and turning their heads this way and that. I’d advance on them, refill their glasses, and offer our new “VIP seating,” on the kitchen counter.
Next year we’re bringing a laser level.
At Mountain Home we not only love to write, we also love to read. We know you do, too. An impressive number of our contributing writers have penned an impressive number of books, with topics ranging from race horses to angels to solving cold cases. Since both readers and writers love books under the Christmas tree, and ’tis the season to curl up with something warm in a cup, or cold in a glass, and wile away a few hours in somebody else’s world, check these authors out (they’re in no particular order) and check some gifts off your list. You may even be inspired to start, or finish, that book of your own.
Most of the titles are available at local and regional retail outlets and bookstores, via Amazon or other online sources, and through the authors’ websites.
Mike Capuzzo: Our own Pulitzer Prizenominated writer, Mike is probably best known for his two New York Times best-selling
works of creative nonfiction—The Murder Room and Close to Shore The Murder Room is the story of the Vidocq Society—the “heirs of Sherlock Holmes” who serve as modern coldcase solvers. Close to Shore is an account of the 1916 great white shark attacks off the coast of New Jersey, which were the boilerplate for the book Jaws. Mike co-wrote with (also our own) Teresa Banik Capuzzo Cat Caught My Heart and Our Best Friends; he wrote Mutts: America’s Dogs with Brian Kilcommons. Wild Things is his collection of humor columns. Read more at michaelcapuzzo.net.
Carrie Hagen: Carrie’s we is got him is the true account of the 1874 kidnapping of little Charley Ross in Philadelphia’s Germantown. Carrie’s fiction debut, The Muralist of Matter Deep and Dangerous, also takes place in Philadelphia, where a serial killer is inspired by the city’s murals. Read more at carriehagen.net.
Mike Cutillo: Mike’s George Washing
Machine, Portables, & Submarine Races: My Italian-American Life is a funny and loving homage to his father, (whose selftaught English led to mistaking George Washington for someone named George Washing Machine), to Mike’s own travels in Italy, to the friends and family he’s found there over the years, and to the amazing meals, wine, and adventures they’ve shared. Contact Mike at mcutillo1@rochester.rr.com.
Lilace Mellin Guignard: Lilace is the author of a chapbook of poems, Young at the Time of Letting Go, that explores the confluence of nature and grief, and the creative nonfiction memoir When Everything Beyond the Walls Is Wild: Being a Woman Outdoors in America. “The exploration of risk assessment and how women are conditioned to fear certain things have been most impactful for many readers, but lots just love the stories of my imperfect outdoor adventures.” Watch the book trailer at tentofonesown.com.
Jimmy Guignard: Jimmy’s book, Pedaling the Sacrifice Zone: Teaching, Writing, and Living above the Marcellus Shale, takes on a topic that’s especially relevant to those of us living here in the Twin Tiers—the altering of rural landscapes through resource extraction. “When I started writing my book, I had one view of things that changed as I learned more about how complex an extractive industry moving into a place can be.”
Peter Nye: In 2020, the prolific Peter Joffre Nye revised and updated his first book, the 1988 Hearts of Lions, for a second edition. It is an account of early twentieth-century America’s fascination with bike riders and bike racing, and began with his interest in Art Longsjo, a speed skater and cyclist who shared his own Massachusetts roots. Peter is also the author of The Fast Times of Albert Champion (the founder of Champion spark plugs, an amazing athlete, and quite the ladies’ man), and co-wrote, with ace fighter pilot Bill Driscoll, Peak Business Performance Under Pressure.
Judith Sornberger: Judith’s most recent book, Angel Chimes: Poems of Advent and Christmas (published by Shanti Arts), is a collection of Advent and Christmas poems four decades in the making. She is also the author of four other books of poetry, a spiritual memoir, The Accidental Pilgrim: Finding God and His Mother in Tuscany (also published by Shanti Arts), Practicing the World (CavanKerry Press), Open Heart (Calyx Books), I Call to You from Time (Wipf & Stock), and five chapbooks. Find them in local bookstores and online. Read samples at judithsornberger.net.
Maggie Barnes: The Glory Hill Diaries is a collection of stories about a husband and wife who move to the country, buy an odd old house, and set about building a new life for themselves. Adventures include encounters with wildlife (think snake in the house), attempts at learning how to bake, and renovations that take on a life of their own. If you enjoy Maggie’s columns in Mountain Home, this compilation would make a great gift for yourself. Or, introduce Maggie to a friend.
Kerry Gyekis: Trophies takes place in Russia following the break-up of the Soviet Union, and details the activities of unprincipled international corporations as they collude to rob the Russian people and the natural world of their bounty. Throw in romance, philosophy, and Kerry’s insights into that part of the world, and you’ve got an exciting fiction read.
Bonus tracks: Of Woods and Wild Things, by Don Knaus, currently out of print, but you may find used copies online, second edition pending; Six Weeks in Saratoga: How Three-Year-Old Filly Rachel Alexandra Beat the Boys and Became Horse of the Year, by Brendan O’Meara; The Project-Driven Life: How to Figure Out What You Want to Be When You Grow Up, by Kathleen Thompson; The Pine Creek Rail Trail Guidebook: A Bicycle Ride through History, by Linda Stager; Begged, Borrowed, & Stolen, True Tales of Thievery from America’s Past, by Jan Bridgeford-Smith; One Bullet Beyond Justice, One Woman’s Vengeance, and More Than a Vintage Death, all three by Dennis R. Miller; The Workingman’s Game: Waverly, New York, the Twin Tiers, and the Making of Modern Baseball, 1887-1898 and That Lively Railroad Town: Waverly, New York and the Making of Modern Baseball, 1899-1901, both by William H. Brewster; What a River Says: Exploring the Blackwater River and Refuge, by Phillip Hesser, and Harriet Tubman’s Eastern Shore: The Old Home is Not There, by Phillip Hesser and Charlie Ewers; Back of Beyond: A Horace Kephart Biography, by Janet McCue.
com. Decks are available at CS Sports in Wellsboro starting at about $60. ~GM
13When Steven Fulkerson, the seventh generation of the family at Fulkerson Winery & Farm on the west coast of Seneca Lake, got a call in 2019 from Oak Hill Bulk Foods in Penn Yan asking if he had any pasteurized grape juice they could sell at their store it seemed a logical question, since Fulkerson supplies juice to home winemakers.
“No,” Steven said. “But let me think about it.” Four months later, he had 200 gallons of juice available for Oak Hill to sell, packaged by a local bottler. The next year Fulkerson brought the bottling process in house at the farm at 5576 Route 14 in Dundee, and this year put 6,000 gallons into 80,000 bottles. If you’re searching for a distinctive local beverage for the kids and teetotalers around the holiday table, your quest is over.
Make no mistake—this is not non-alcoholic wine. These are grapes that have never started the fermentation process. This is good ol’ grape juice with its full natural sugar content on display, just like you buy in the store—only better, because, unlike their commercial cousins, Fulkerson’s are cold pressed, to get maximum grape flavor (unlike most commercial juices, which are boiled for maximum yield). “There’s a lot more subtlety to it,” says Steven. The northeastern native grapes are here in their full just-juice splendor: rosy catawba, violet concord, and golden delaware and niagara (the last three especially beloved by grape juice and sacramental wine drinkers the world over). And, ranging in hue from blonde to amethyst, are the names you will recognize from your wineglass: himrod, riesling, valvin muscat, diamond, rosette, syrah, and DeChaunac, all in ten-ounce, $3.50 bottles for sale at the winery. Top sellers concord and niagara are also available by the quart. Except for the catawba and rosette (grown along Keuka Lake), and the DeChaunac (grown on the farm next door, managed by Steven’s uncle), everything is grown at Fulkerson’s, including the cortland, burgundy tart, and empire apples that go into their ciders (also cold pressed and non-alcoholic). “Empire is the best seller,” says Steven, “which works for me. Cortland is my favorite, but we only have a few of those trees, so there’s not as much of it.” You can go to fulkersonwinery.com or call (607) 243-7883 for more info. You can also find the juices in stores across the southern tier, including the Finger Lakes Cider House, Parker’s Farm Market, Tops in Watkins Glen and Penn Yan, and at most Taste New York locations. “The sale of Fulkerson juices outpaces Coca-Cola products at Watkins Glen State Park,” adds Steven, smiling.
We’ll drink to that, and to a Merry Christmas to you and yours from all of us at Mountain Home. ~TBC
On cold winter mornings, I enjoy blowing bubbles and watching them freeze. This bubble became attached to a grapevine and formed a perfect ornament for the season.
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