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The Great Hunter
Never has there been a hunter like Pennsylvania’s Philip Tome By Gregg Rinkus
Volume 9 Issue 1
The Great Hunter
By Gregg Rinkus Never has there been a hunter like Pennsylvania’s Philip Tome.
8 Using Our Livers to Save Our Rivers By Jim Pfiffer Birdland Brewery and the River Friends craft a winning partnership.
17 Building the Wright Dream
By Cindy Davis Meixel Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian vision comes to Penn College.
19 New York on Parade
By Holly Howell Atwater’s new tasting room serves statewide wines in Watkins Glen.
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Cover by Tucker Worthington; Cover painting from Winslow Homer’s A Huntsman and Dogs, 1891. Photos this page by (from top): Courtesy of Warren County Historical Society; Wes Lobdell; Steve Brinthaupt; Alexander Vertikoff/Samara. 3
w w w. m o u n ta i n h o m e m ag . co m Editors & Publishers Teresa Banik Capuzzo Michael Capuzzo Associate Publishers George Bochetto, Esq. Dawn Bilder D e s i g n & P h o t o g r ap h y Elizabeth Young, Editor Cover Artist Tucker Worthington Contributing Writers Angela Cannon-Crothers, Patricia Brown Davis, Jen Reed-Evans, Alison Fromme, Holly Howell, George Jansson, Roger Kingsley, Adam Mahonske, Cindy Davis Meixel, Fred Metarko, Dave Milano, Gayle Morrow, Tom Murphy, Cornelius O’Donnell, Roger Neumann, Gregg Rinkus, Linda Roller, Kathleen Thompson, Joyce M. Tice, Brad Wilson C o n t r i b u t i n g P h o t o g r ap h e r s Mia Lisa Anderson, Bill Crowell, Bruce Dart, Ann Kamzelski, Ken Meyer, Tina Tolins, Sarah Wagaman, Curt Weinhold, Terry Wild S e n i o r S a l e s R ep r e s e n t a t i v e Brian Earle S a l e s R ep r e s e n t a t i v e s Michael Banik Linda Roller Administrative Assistant Amy Packard B ea g l e Cosmo Assistant
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Mountain Home is published monthly by Beagle Media, LLC, 25 Main St., 2nd Floor, Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 16901. Copyright Š 2010 Beagle Media, LLC. All rights reserved. To advertise or subscribe e-mail info@mountainhomemag.com. E-mail story ideas to editorial@mountainhomemag.com. Call us at (570) 724-3838. Each month copies of Mountain Home are available for free at hundreds of locations in Tioga, Potter, Bradford, Lycoming, Union, and Clinton counties in Pennsylvania; Steuben, Chemung, Schuyler, Yates, Seneca, Tioga, and Ontario counties in New York. Visit us at www.mountainhomemag.com. Or get Mountain Home at home. For a one-year subscription to Mountain Home (12 issues), send $24.95, payable to Beagle Media LLC, 25 Main St., 2nd Floor, Wellsboro, PA 16901.
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Cinderella, 1/31
The Great Hunter Never has there been a hunter like Pennsylvania’s Philip Tome
Courtesy of Warren County Historical Society
By Gregg Rinkus
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I
f you’ve roamed the hills and valleys of our state for any length of time, you’ve undoubtedly wondered about the hunters and trappers who came before us. What must Penn’s Woods have been like in the 1820s or 1830s, before the Civil War, or as far back as the 1700s? Who among us has not longed to step back through time and space and visit a Pennsylvania two or more centuries past? Like wet, pliant clay on a potter’s wheel, some of your thoughts might have been shaped from tales related by old-timers in hunting camp. Other impressions were probably sown by movies or books, such as The Last of the Mohicans or even from dog-eared pages of old Pennsylvania Game News magazines. To help satisfy your curiosity about the past, remarkable accounts of hunting and trapping in Pennsylvania during the late 18 th and early 19 th centuries can be found in the pages of a little known book by Philip Tome. Pioneer Life or Thirty Years a Hunter was originally published by the author in 1854, and most recently in 1971 by the Lycoming County Genealogical Society. In 1928, the book was reprinted for the first time. In the preface of that edition, Henry W. Shoemaker, chairman of the Pennsylvania Historical Commission, writes: “The narrative is important in its relation to Pennsylvania history north and west. The late Theodore Roosevelt once said that no matter how thrilling a hunting narrative might be, it had no appeal to him if it was not good literature. To such an exacting standard Pioneer Life or Thirty Years a Hunter would meet the erudite faunal naturalist’s views exactly. As a work of literature, as well as of absorbing interest, this book by Philip Tome can be unhesitatingly recommended as the great, outstanding contemporary narrative of the Pennsylvania big game fields.” Pioneer Life is packed with account after account of Tome’s outdoor
experiences. Some are quite believable; others seem to lean more toward fiction. In the introduction in the original text, Tome writes: “In presenting the following incidents of my life, to the public, I do not intend to claim for its beauty of expression, for it is the production of one born in the wilderness, one who is more conversant with the howl of the wolf and the panther, and the whoop of the savage, than the tones of oratory, as heard in civilized life. “It’s said that truth is often more strange than fiction, and those in pursuit of the marvelous will not be disappointed in perusing these pages, as they are full of scenes in border life, accidents, and hair-breadth escapes. “The lover of the hunt will find faithfully portrayed the exciting scenes of the chase, the fight with the elk, the wolf and the panther, and herein be enabled to gather the experience of nearly half a century as to the best mode of securing every description of game to be found in our forests. “The general reader will find it replete with scenes of wild, stirring and thrilling interest; it being the narrative of one who, in all the scenes of border life was never conquered by man or animal.” Philip Tome was born on March 22, 1782, in Dauphin County, near where the city of Harrisburg now stands. In 1791, his father purchased land in the wilderness, about seventy miles up the West Branch of the Susquehanna River. According to Tome, “At that time game, such as bears, elk, deer and wild turkeys
were very plenty in that section of the country.” As evidenced by this narrative, in Tome’s time deer hunting was dramatically different than today. “The most successful mode of killing deer from the first of June to the last of September was to ‘fire hunt’ them, which was done in the following manner: The deer would come to the river after dark to eat vegetation that grew on the bottom, and collect together about the ripples, in groups from three to ten. The hunters would build a fire of yellow pitch in the middle of a canoe and station a man in the stern to steer, and one or two more in front to shoot at the deer. When there were no deer in sight, they could push and paddle the canoe along. When they came within sight of the deer the canoe was allowed to float down with the current, and the steersman laid it in a position the most advantageous for those who were in the bow with guns. If the night was favorable, from three to ten deer were killed in this manner.” Many early accounts relate how dogs were frequently used to hunt deer. Tome goes well beyond, though, and describes how hunters used both dogs and wild timber wolves to secure venison. “Often, while we were dressing deer the wolves would stand within twenty rods, howling most discordantly. We finally obtained a gun and dogs, and turned our attention to hunting. We commenced about the first of July, and continued until November. The wolves and dogs hunting together, sometimes
See The Great Hunter on page 10
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The Great Hunter continued from page 9
one and sometimes the other obtaining the deer, and if it fell into our hands we always left the wolves their portion to keep them near, for we considered them of great assistance to us in hunting. They often aided us to three or four deer in a week.” A large portion of Tome’s book is devoted to accounts of how they hunted and captured elk alive. The first story took place in 1800 and involved a substantial bet between his father and Irving Stephenson, who owned a tavern at the mouth of Pine Creek. Tome writes, “It was then considered impossible to catch an elk alive, and all the old hunters said it was lost money.” Using dogs to chase the elk, the hunt lasted several days and covered many miles over some of the state’s most rugged terrain. Finally, the elk was brought to bay on a large rock where Tome’s father successfully threw a noose over one of its antlers. With assistance from his hunting party, the rope was made fast to a tree and another rope was secured to its other antler. Alternately loosening one rope and keeping the other one taut, they drove the animal downhill from tree to tree. Eventually they reached Big Pine Creek where they rafted the elk to Stevenson’s tavern and placed their captive elk in a stable. According to Tome, “This was the first grown elk that was caught alive on the waters of the [Susquehannah]. It was 16 hands high; its horns were five and a half feet long, with eleven branches.” His father’s exploits must have inspired young Philip because he went on to capture and sell many live elk during his hunting career. He captured his last elk in 1822 and sold it in Ellicottville, New York, for $110. “This was the last elk I ever caught, the low price obtained for him making the business so unprofitable that I abandoned it entirely.” Tome, his brother, and others who lived in the wilds of Pennsylvania were market hunters. Their livelihoods Scott Walker, 570-295-1083 10
See The Great Hunter on page 13
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The Great Hunter continued from page 10
depended on their hunting prowess. They hunted animals for their meat, their skins, for bounties, and, in the case of bears, for oil rendered from their fat. Evidently his brother was the better hunter of the two. “My brother killed from 25 to 30 elk and 20 to 25 bears each year. I did not kill as many. I usually killed from 10 to 20 bears, and one season I killed 35 elk. During one season my brother killed of bears, elk and deer, nearly 200. The greatest number that I killed, in any one season, of the same kind of animals, was about 130.” Because wolves and mountain lions roamed the same woods where he hunted, Tome had some interesting, sometimes harrowing experiences with these predators. On a six-week elk hunt in October 1800, Tome separated from his hunting party and followed a set of elk tracks until dark. It was too late for him to return to camp so he encamped on the elk track and spent the most dismal night he’d ever experienced. “The wolves flocked around me in droves, and their unearthly howling, mingled with the dismal screeching of owls overhead made a concert of sounds that banished sleep from my eyes the greater part of the night. I sat in my shanty, with my gun in one hand, a tomahawk in the other, and a knife by my side. When the wolves became unusually [uproarious], I would send the dog out to drive them away, and if they drove him in, I would fire in among them.” Mountain lions were prominent in the days of Philip Tome. “When the first snows of winter come, they (panthers) seek the rocky hills and sheltered places, where they remain until driven forth by hunger, when they frequently visit the farmyards of the settlers, and help themselves to any sheep or fowl that is within their reach.” Not surprisingly, Tome hunted panthers, too. “I have twice found elk, which had been killed by panthers; one of them so recently that it was yet warm, and I killed the panther within a short distance. I have attacked a panther with eight dogs, for which it proved more than a match, driving them all from the field.” When it came to mountain lions, Tome suggested that hunters sometimes became the hunted. During one successful bear hunt, he was overcome by darkness and prepared to spend the night beneath a projecting boulder. “About nine o’clock two panthers made their appearance, and finding what was perhaps their usual quarters invaded, they set up a screaming that would have sent the blood to the stoutest heart. I took my gun in one hand, my tomahawk in the other, while my dog stood near me, and I resolved, if they should attack me, to give them a warm reception. They kept up their fearful serenade until midnight, when they withdrew, and I heard no more of them.” Col. Henry W. Shoemaker, in Extinct Pennsylvania Animals, 1917, writes, “Philip Tome, in his Thirty Years a See The Great Hunter on page 15
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The Great Hunter continued from page 13
Hunter, tells of Rice Hamlin killing a panther on the Tiadaghton weighing 200 pounds. About 175 pounds was a good average weight for a mature mountain lion. He (Tome) was a sportsman as well as a hunter, never killing recklessly. Though he makes no recapitulation of panthers that fell to his unerring bullets, his descendants estimate that he killed at least 500 of these noble animals.” Perhaps Tome’s ancestors inherited the great hunter’s tendencies for exaggeration. Most of Tome’s hunting and fishing stories are plausible and believable. Where he seems to stray is when he writes about snakes. Of rattlesnakes he writes, “I have seen 40 of them sunning themselves upon one rock, and have heard others tell of seeing 300 together.” About snakes in general: “Besides rattlesnakes, the country east of he Allegheny mountains was infested by copperheads, blowing vipers, blacksnakes, racers and hoop, or horn snakes. I was in contact with a racer, eleven feet long, standing nearly erect, and darting his forked tongue, not more than a foot from my head.” His snake stories become even more fanciful when he writes about hoop snakes. “The hoop snake or horn snake is very rare. Its tail terminates in a black horn, four or five inches in length, and very sharp at the point. When preparing to make an attack, it bends itself into a circular form, and rolls over the ground like a hoop, striking its spike, with great force into the object of its attack. So deadly is the venom contained in the spike or horn, that it is fatal even to trees. In one instance with which I was cognizant, one of these snakes rolled at a man, who avoided it, by stepping to one side, and the snake, being under such velocity that it could not turn, struck it horn into an elm tree with such force that it could not extricate it. The snake died, hanging there, in two weeks, and the tree was lifeless at the end of a month.”
Beyond the skills of a great hunter, for some fifteen years Philip Tome acted as interpreter to Cornplanter, the most powerful and influential chief of the Six Nations of the Seneca. Tome was sought out by some of the most prominent businessmen and hunters of his time to lead expeditions for the likes of Colonel Parker, Major Isaac Lyman, and George Ayres, men whose reputations still run deep in northcentral Pennsylvania. People whose feats transcend the ordinary often gain insight and appreciation not afforded the common man; so it must have been with Philip Tome. In an era when the need for dominance over wild places and wild things prevailed, the notion of conservation was foreign to most hunters. Perhaps because of his hunting success, or in spite of it, Tome writes, “I never wantonly killed an animal, when I could gain nothing by its destruction. With a true hunter it is not the destruction of life that affords the pleasure of the chase; it is the excitement attendant upon the very uncertainty of it which induces men to leave luxurious homes and expose themselves to the hardships and perils of the wilderness. Even after when, after a weary chase, the game is brought down, he cannot, after the first thrill of triumph, look without a pang of remorse, upon the form which was so beautifully adapted to its situation, and which his hand has reduced to a mere lump of flesh.” P h i l i p To m e , a h u n t e r o f extraordinary skill and a man of uncommon vision, died in Corydon (Warren County) on April 30, 1855, at the age of seventy-three. Nearly 160 years later, through the words of his colorful book, his indomitable spirit lives on. Nature writer Gregg Rinkus hails from Franklin, PA, and is Regional Health, Safety and Environment (HSE) Manager for Penn E&R in Wellsboro.
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L I F E
Steve Brinthaupt
Birdland Brewing co-owner Dennis Edwards (left) and wife and co-owner Susan Edwards join River Friends Executive Director Jim Pfiffer in a toast (with River Friends Osprey Pale Ale) to the river and the partnership project.
Using Our Livers to Save Our Rivers Birdland Brewery and the River Friends craft a winning partnership
H
ere’s an easy way to help protect the bald eagles that nest on our rivers—drink a beer. I’m being serious. The Friends of the Chemung River Watershed (River Friends) in Elmira and Birdland Brewing in Horseheads have formed a creative partnership to brew craft beers to protect our rivers. Birdland donates a portion of the beer sales to River Friends to help the five-year-old organization protect the fresh water used to brew the beer. I know about this collaboration. As River Friends’ executive director, I helped develop it. When I pitched the idea in June to Birdland owners, husband and wife Dennis and Susan Edwards, they loved it. “No one had done anything like this,” said Susan. “It was a great opportunity for us to do something good for the community and to get our
By Jim Pfiffer name out there and make people aware that we were in business.” That business started twenty-two years ago, when Dennis received a home brew kit as a Father’s Day gift and he began brewing in his kitchen. Today, the business operates out of a former car wash at the corner of Chemung and Kendall streets. The Birdland and River Friends project began brewing in February 2013 after I learned about a similar partnership with a river keeper group on the West Coast. I decided to try the same thing here. I brought in two Elmira College senior business majors, Brian Shuppel and Cameron Ware, who volunteered to help develop a business plan and presentation. At the time, River Friends, like many nonprofits, was facing funding cuts—a trickle-down result of the
limping economy. As a small nonprofit, we depend upon businesses to support us and reinvest in the community. When we approached Birdland, it was a less-than-one-year-old brewery without the resources to make a cash donation to River Friends. We discussed it and decided that a partnership could help both of our businesses grow. We had a lot in common. Beer is 98 percent water; River Friends protects that clean water. River Friends’ eco-recreation events and the brewery attract tourists; Birdland is part of Finger Lakes Beer Trail. Birdland and River Friends are new small businesses in need of publicity, public awareness, and support. Our unique partnership became a news story and we earned plenty of free publicity in the local news media. See Using Our Livers on page 18
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LIFE WELCOME TO
WELLSBORO Using Our Livers continued from page 17
Birdland names its brews for birds—after the birdnamed streets in the Birdland owners’ neighborhood. The Chemung River and its tributaries are home to plenty of birds, including bald eagles and a pair of ospreys nesting on a river island in Elmira. Our first collaboration, Osprey Pale Ale, is named for that regal bird of prey. A good promotion needs T-shirts and catchy slogans. Our shirts read, “Drink a beer and save a bird” and “Using our livers to save our rivers.” The shirt sales also benefit River Friends. The beer-river partnership is much like the Earth’s neverending water cycle of evaporation and precipitation. River Friends protects the clean water that makes the Birdland beer that helps River Friends protect the clean water. Now here’s where that cycle gets personal. Birdland craft brews are tasty, but they don’t stay with us for long, and eventually return to the water cycle. By enjoying a Birdland brew, you are recycling and helping the environment, a small business, and a nonprofit, because the river is literally flowing through you. Buying Birdland brews helps New York’s economy. Birdland gets its ingredients—hops, barley, yeast, water, and glass growlers—from New York State farmers and suppliers, and only sells its products in the state. Craft breweries, like wineries, bring tourists, jobs, dollars, and recognition to the Finger Lakes region. Since September 2013, Birdland has sold more than 2,000 pints of River Friends Osprey Ale—at the brewery and at the seven bars and restaurants that serve the brew, including one in Syracuse and one in Rochester. The types of River Friends brews will change throughout the year, from pale ales to stouts and wheat brews. “I think it’s a great project that helps the river, helps our business, and helps the brewery,” said Katie Boland, owner of Horigan’s Tavern and Patrick’s Bar, two Elmira tavern/ restaurants that sell the brews and give a portion of the profits to River Friends. “Everybody wins.” Without the River Friends partnership, Birdland would not be serving its beers in Horigan’s and Patrick’s, Dennis said. “The partnership has definitely helped us pick up more customers, business, and publicity,” said Dennis. “We have people stopping in the brewery asking for River Friends beers. They like the beer and they like helping the environment.” He’s right about protecting the environment. Birdland even recycles the leftover mash from the brewing process. It’s given to local hog farmers to fatten their pigs to make succulent barbecued baby back ribs that go so well with a cold pint of Osprey Pale Ale. First-time Mountain Home contributor and former Elmira Star-Gazette reporter and columnist Jim Pfiffer is the executive director of the Friends of the Chemung River Watershed. 18
ARTS & TRAVEL
Alexander Vertikoff/Samara
The living room of the Frank Lloyd Wright Usonian home Samara, subject of a new exhibit at The Gallery at Penn College.
Building the Wright Dream Frank Lloyd Wright’s Usonian vision comes to Penn College By Cindy Davis Meixel
I
magine cold-calling a world-famous architect to ask if he’ll build your family’s small dream home. To complicate matters, you don’t have enough money to fully complete the project. That is the story of a young Indiana couple when they reached out to Frank Lloyd Wright in 1950. The great architect was in the last decade of his prolific career, working on large projects like the Guggenheim Museum in New York and the Price Tower in Oklahoma. Wright had a reputation for being
abrasive and inflexible, but proved to be otherwise when he graciously welcomed John and Catherine “Kay” Christian to his Wisconsin studio, beginning a working relationship that has endured beyond the architect’s death. Why did Wright consider the Christians’ proposal? What was their experience of creating a home with one of America’s greatest architects? What is it like to live in a work of art? The answers to all of these questions will be revealed in Frank Lloyd Wright’s Samara: A Mid-Century Dream Home,
an exhibition making its East Coast premiere at Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport on Thursday, January 16, in The Gallery at Penn College. Via an impressive compilation of original furniture, architectural fragments, home décor ephemera, and reproductions of photographs, documents, and architectural drawings, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Samara explores the design process for the West Lafayette, Indiana, home that the architect named See Building the Wright Dream on page 32 19
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L A K E S
Wes Lobdell
F I N G E R
Ted and Katie Marks in The Tasting Room in Watkins Glen.
New York on Parade Atwater’s new tasting room serves statewide wines in Watkins Glen By Holly Howell
T
he Finger Lakes region of New York has become a major bon vivant’s travel destination. There are plenty of spots for excellent boating, fine fishing, invigorating hiking, longdistance biking, sensational skydiving, great golfing, and even championship car-racing. The area is loaded with world-class wineries, tasty microbreweries,
mind-blowing distilleries, artisanal cheese dairies, homemade chocolate shops, aromatic coffee roasters, gourmet seed oil producers, beeloving honey farms, heirloom vegetable markets, and some of the best eateries around. All of this amongst the breathtaking views that can be experienced throughout four spectacular seasons that make cool climate vacations one of the “hottest”
things going right now. And the village of Watkins Glen, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake, is sitting smack dab in the middle of it all. For tourists, it is a great location for base camp lodging. For residents, it is the perfectly centered meeting place for activities of all kinds. You might say that it is poised to take over as the central See New York on Parade on page 23 21
FINGER LAKES
Seriously good wine! Open year ‘round for tasting and sales. Mon-Sat 10-5 Sun noon-5 4024 State Route 14, Watkins Glen, NY 14891 877-535-9252 www.lakewoodvineyards.com
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FINGER LAKES
Winter is a great time to visit and explore the wines with our staff. Join us on facebook · atwater winery Check our website for winter events atwatervineyards.com 5055 NY Route 414 · Burdett · NY 800-331-7323
Pick up Seneca Lake Wine Trail’s “Polar Passport” $15 + tax and enjoy free tastings and discounts at participating wineries.
Wine from all of New York State’s five wine regions is served in The Tasting Room in Watkins Glen. New York on Parade continued from page 21
hub of a party that is already well under way. One local business has brainstormed a much-needed addition to that party. Atwater Vineyards, a winery that lies on the eastern shores of Seneca Lake a few miles north of Watkins Glen, recently opened the ultimate storefront in the midst of this blossoming Finger Lakes capital: The Tasting Room. Located at 204 North Franklin Street, the project focuses on bringing together a constantly rotating selection of the region’s best products, all under one roof. The result is a convenient and friendly one-stop taste-and-shop that relays the strong spirit of com-
Wes Lobdell
(not intended for groups of 8 or more) call 877-536-2717 to order
monality and excitement that is rippling through the lakes. Atwater Vineyards is an awardwinning winery that opened its doors in 2000. Their specialties include exquisite sparklers, crisp Rieslings, fragrant Gewürztraminers, surprisingly rich cool-climate reds, and luscious late harvest dessert wines. But perhaps the most special attribute of Atwater is their sense of community and the pride they have for the entire Finger Lakes region. They have a wonderful rapport with local businesses, and strive to make a Finger Lakes visit the best that it can be. Their Web site (www.atwatervineyards.com) lists See New York on Parade on page 24 23
WELCOME TO New York on Parade continued from page 23
information and background on the local grape varietals; a bit of regional history; a link to the wineries of all of the “other lakes;” a list of top local places to stay, eat, and play; and even a live forecast and weather station. Most wineries open a second tasting room (sometimes called a satellite location) in order to offer another venue in which to serve their own wines. But when Atwater owner Ted Marks came up with the original idea for The Tasting Room he envisioned a place where the visitor could savor a taste of many local wines. In other words, instead of just pouring his own wines, he was inspired to promote the wines that he loved drinking from all five wine regions of New York State: his own Finger Lakes region, as well as Niagara, Lake Erie, Hudson River, and Long Island. He serves local artisanal cheeses and hard ciders as well. Now, that’s a good neighbor. Ted’s daughter, Katie Marks, will proudly tell you, “Dad has always been very supportive of the local community, and is actually very groundbreaking for a guy in his seventies!” Yes, Ted’s idea was genius. But even smarter was his decision to put his energetic daughter at the helm. “Make it happen,” he told Katie. And that she did. Her enthusiasm for New York State easily echoes that of her Dad’s, and she is thrilled to be in charge of such a unique and visionary adventure. “It’s all new to me, but that is the fun of it.” Her first move was to hire a skillful and creative designer. Gideon Stone, from HOLT Architects in Ithaca, “did a fantastic job of putting our ideas into concrete, no pun intended.” Contemporary, clean, and inviting, you can’t help but be drawn to the artistic concrete bar edged with a trough of polished lake stones: terroir built right in. Next, Katie secured the ideal person to manage. A familiar and favorite face for many who enter the store, Jessica Giles comes with extensive experience in both the local wine and food industries, not to mention a passion for people and the Finger Lakes life in general. A well-educated staff soon followed, and the doors to the new venture opened in August to the delight of everyone who was waiting in anticipation. Big thumbs-up was the immediate reaction. And it was two-fold, with glowing reports from outsiders See New York on Parade on page 27
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CORNING’S G
S GAFFER DISTRICT Welcome to Corning’s Gaffer District We carry an array of products to compliment your hair care and beauty needs.
Schuman Festival
February 13–16, 2014
The Orchestra of the Southern Finger Lakes would like to invite you to attend the Schumann Festival 2014 comprised of 4 separate events. You can attend just one or all four—it’s up to you!
Tickets to all these events will go on sale December 10, 2013
The opening event is dinner & music on Thursday night, February 13th at the Hill Top Inn in Elmira. Enjoy an evening of Schumann classics performed by renowned pianist Eva Virsik and other Guest Artists. Tickets to this event are $50.00.
Visit our website for ticket purchase and event updates.
Join us on Friday, February 14th for a lecture & exhibit at the Chemung Valley History Museum in Elmira. This event is free and open to the public. Saturday, join us for a magical evening of piano selections (with violin & cello) performed by Eva Virsik at Elmira College, Cowles Hall. Tickets to this event are $30.00. And finally, join us on Sunday for a Master Class in Piano at 2 p.m. in Cowles Hall, Elmira College. This event is free and open to the public.
Or give our office a call at 607-936-2873 Want to reserve by mail: PO Box 15 Corning, NY 14830
www.osfl.org
“Music is to me the perfect expression of the soul, while to some it is a mere intoxication of the sense of hearing, and to others an arithmetical problem”. Robert Schumann
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New York on Parade continued from page 24
to the region, as well as overwhelming praise from the local merchants. The Tasting Room has been an integral part of every Watkins Glen activity since, from the September Car Classic to Village Christmas to weekly Taco Tuesdays. It’s hard to remember the town without it, and equally obvious that a void was filled when the Atwater mission materialized. Ted and Katie have, um, definitely hit the mark. When traveling to any great wine region of the world, an astute visitor will carefully plan their stops, keeping distance, consumption, and timing well organized. The general rule is to visit from three to five wineries maximum, and to make sure to have a designated driver. Also, remember that the winery tasting rooms close by 6 p.m. Just like the Napa Valley of California, the Willamette Valley of Oregon, and the Columbia Valley of Washington State, the Finger Lakes of New York excursions should be scheduled as a daytime activity. Which brings us to another lovely perk of having a well-connected tasting facility in the downtown area of its heartland city. The Tasting Room is open until 8 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 p.m. on weekends, which offers both visitors and residents a locale in which they can celebrate—and be a part of—the provincial wine scene after official winery hours. You may find winemakers stopping in to deliver some wine, or interested sommeliers traveling through, or restaurateurs checking in on the latest vintage releases, or just animated wine lovers discussing their Finger Lakes visits of the day—the type of public communion that is the essence of great societies.
The easy access to hotels within walking distance only sweetens the pot, and opens up a whole new category of nightlife for a small town that is an intriguing work in progress. The selections change frequently, with new wines being added to the list every week. A simple tasting fee of $5 includes your choice of six tastes from an extensive list. The $8 wine flights are educational and enlightening, and can be enjoyed by anyone from beginner to seasoned pro. A typical flight might include a comparison tasting of four different Rieslings, or maybe a lineup of versatile cool-climate reds like pinot noir, cabernet franc, and lemberger (aka Bläufrankisch). The flights change as often as the wines, and you are always welcome to design your own. Or just order your favorite wine by the glass or share a bottle with friends. Comfortable stools allow you to settle right in. Also on the menu is The Tasting Room Cheese Plate of the Day. I’ve been thrilled to find raw cow’s milk Camembert, aged goat’s blue, and the most creatively flavored cheddars, all made just a short distance away. Alongside, you’ll try some of the regions yummiest fruit preserves and honey. Everything is available for purchase as well, so you can replicate your gastronomical experience at home. For more information about Watkins Glen’s newest attraction, give them a call at 607-210-4324. I’ll be seeing you there!
Restaurants For listing information please email Dawn Bilder at dawnb@ mountainhomemag.com or call (570) 724-3838. Bon appetit!
Holly is a Certified Specialist of Wine (by the Society of Wine Educators) and a Certified Sommelier (by the Master Court of Sommeliers in England).
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FOOD & DRINK
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Stop and Visit our Showroom & Design Center. Meet with our kitchen & bath designers Jessica Wilson & Kieth Austin, CKD, CBD. Offering computer designs and onsite visits.
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ARTS & TRAVEL Building the Wright Dream continued from page 19
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“Samara” for the winged seeds from pinecones on the Christians’ property. The immersive exhibition gives visitors a unique, behindthe-scenes view of the communications between Wright and his clients as they worked out the details for the Usonian design, Wright’s term for an affordable, middle class residence. The showcase also reveals how Wright scaled Samara to his clients’ limited budget by designing elements that he knew they might want to add, years later, when money allowed. Wright never actually stepped foot on the Christians’ land and never saw Samara. He died three years after the home was completed, at the age of ninety-one, in 1959. Until his death, though, he continued to provide drawings and finishing details for Samara. Via vintage movie footage, family scrapbook photos, and oral-history memories, Frank Lloyd Wright’s Samara offers a glimpse into how the Christians and their daughter, Linda, lived in their dream house. The exhibition also demonstrates how the family has continued to fulfill Wright’s vision by completing numerous design details. During his career, the architect created more than 100 Usonian designs. Samara is one of only about five still owned and inhabited by an original client. John Christian, now over ninety years of age, still resides in his home; his wife died in 1986. Along with his daughter, Christian founded the John E. Christian Family Memorial Trust to preserve the home as a living example of Wright’s Usonian architecture. Samara is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. An opening reception for Frank Lloyd Wright’s Samara is scheduled for 5 to 7 p.m. Thursday, January 16, with the exhibition running through March 29. Also on January 16, Jack Quinan, founder of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy and a renowned architectural historian, will present a lecture on Usonian homes at 3:30 p.m. in the college’s Klump Academic Center Auditorium. Admission to the exhibition and lecture are free and open to the public. The Gallery at Penn College, located on the third floor of the Madigan Library, is open Sundays, 1 to 4 p.m.; Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2 to 7 p.m.; and Wednesdays and Fridays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. (closed Saturdays and Mondays). For more about the Samara exhibition—a program of ExhibitsUSA and The National Endowment for the Arts— visit www.pct.edu/gallery, e-mail gallery@pct.edu, or call 570-320-2445. The exhibition is among events launching Penn College’s Centennial celebration, taking place throughout 2014. A long-time contributor to Mountain Home, Cindy Davis Meixel is a writer and photographer at Pennsylvania College of Technology.
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B A C K O F T H E M O U N TA I N
The Next Picture Show Photo by James Fitzpatrick Wellsboro’s Arcadia Theatre screened its first movie—a silent one, of course—on December 12, 1921. But the sound system was nonetheless state of the art: an organ, a piano, and an orchestra. Tickets were fifteen to twenty-five cents, and the theatre (decades before the first multiplex) seated 900 people. The Arcadia has stayed abreast of progress: in 1929 it became one of the first theatres north of the Mason-Dixon Line to screen talkies; in 1949 it hosted the world premiere of Top O’ the Morning starring Bing Crosby; and in the mid ’90s it expanded from one screen to four. So it is no wonder that in November it joined other local historic venues, like the Victoria Theatre in Blossburg and the Sayre Theatre, in a switch to digital projection, bringing it once again to the cutting edge.
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MY HEART IS WITH SUSQUEHANNA. “I’m alive today thanks to Susquehanna Health’s amazing Cardiology team. Being a competitive cyclist, I never dreamed I would have heart problems. Then, one night, I started feeling dizzy. My husband insisted we go to the ER at Soldiers + Sailors Memorial Hospital, where I found out I was on the verge of a Type 3 heart block, which can be fatal. They whisked me by ambulance to their sister hospital, Williamsport Regional Medical Center, where a team of cardiac experts was waiting for me. They immediately inserted an emergency pacemaker, and I received a permanent one the next day. Through it all, the doctors and nurses were so supportive, and I felt I was in excellent and knowledgeable hands. Thanks to Susquehanna Health I’m looking forward to my next 100-mile ride.” – Sherri Stager, Mansfield The Susquehanna Health Heart & Vascular Institute has highly skilled specialists providing a full range of cardiovascular services. To learn more, call (570) 321-2800 or visit SusquehannaHealth.org/Heart