Green Visions

The Allyn’s Creek Garden Club, which I joined a few years ago, helps fund scholarships for Green Visions, under the Greentopia umbrella. We knew about the project in theory, but in September, we finally scheduled a group trip to one of their gardens, on Whitney Street, in the JOSANA neighborhood (the other is on Joseph Avenue, in partnership with The Nature Conservancy). 

Morgan and Tiani explaining the program

Morgan Barry, the coordinator, gave an overview of the garden, and invited us to walk around and admire the beautiful flowers still in bloom in late September. Morgan graduated from the RCSD, and although he had no gardening experience, he leapt at the opportunity to give back to the community through Green Visions. He also introduced us to Tiani Jennings, who started in the program when she was 17, and has since earned her GED. 

This is the seventh year of Green Visions, a workforce development program targeted to 18-21 year old at-risk youth in the neighborhood. In that time, close to 100 young adults have graduated the program, 11 of whom have transitioned to work or college. The program provides a diverse training, not just in gardening. The participants learn to make bouquets to professional standards, are involved in customer service, and sell directly at the Rochester Public Market. They work a 3.5 hour shift in the morning or afternoon, and make $30/day, so can earn up to $3300 in a season. The retention rate year to year is 85%; an in-neighborhood program means the participants can walk to work, so are more likely to be consistent. 

Another facet of the program involves staffing with the developmentally disabled; currently approximately one-fifth of the staff have development disabilities. While many of the flowers are grown on-site from seed or bulb, the program also works with School 17 and Edison Tech to pre-grow some of the flowers in greenhouses. The Dahlia Society recently donated dahlia bulbs (the program learned a lesson about bulb storage, when they discovered the bulbs they had over-wintered in their shed rotted). The flowers are grown without herbicides or pesticides, and the gardens use 30 tons of compost every year. 

Normally, their flower arrangements are available at Wegman’s, but weren’t this year because of the late spring start (bad weather) and other demand. They take orders for arrangements for parties, and are always looking for donations of vases (particularly glass mason jars). This was their most successful year in flower sales – they netted a whopping $7000 (as with most non-profit organizations, sale of the product only makes a dent in covering operating costs).

the neighboring house to be purchased

the new shipping container for storage

At the time of our visit, they had just purchased a new shipping container, for storing supplies, and they were in the process of closing on a neighboring house. The house will provide shelter from inclement weather, and also much needed toilet facilities. They still need to raise about $100,000 for renovations to the house, including an ADA-compliant ramp. They will then be able to provide year-round training and support to the participants.

a monarch butterfly finally
paused for a photo

The program is truly inspiring and inspired, and should be a model for other parts of the city, as well as other cities with at-risk neighborhoods. 

Early Voting

It’s incredible that early voting has only this year arrived in New York State. What took so long? If you look at New York Senate party control, you will understand. You might also ask why it didn’t happen in 2008, but you have to remember who the ineffective Governor was at the time…

So which states currently have early voting? Here’s a map, from the National Conference of State Legislatures:

Sadly, once a state has enacted early or advance voting, maintaining it is not a sure thing. The New York Times recently reported efforts in Texas to revoke early voting on campuses, citing spurious reasons. The real reason, of course, is Republican voter suppression of Democrat voters. Meanwhile, in Florida, the Republican legislature basically overruled the will of their constituents, who voted in favor of restoring voting rights for felons who had served their term. Of course, most of those re-enfranchised voters would probably vote Democratic, so how to foil them? Institute what amounts to a poll tax – require that all fines and fees be paid before being allowed to vote. 

I felt it was my civic duty not just to vote, but to be a “first day voter,” as I was termed when greeted at the polling site I selected (there are seven places in Monroe County, and you can choose whatever is most convenient (go to EARLY VOTING). Because the fewer the numbers who turnout early, the easier it will be for the “suppression” party to claim that the costs exceed the benefits, and work to reverse access as soon as they're back in control. The process was super simple – the poll workers looked us up on a computer, and then voters signed an electronic affidavit. A nearby machine printed out a ballot with a number that matched the identification tied to my name, and from there, the process was the same as regular Tuesday voting. 


On my way out, I informed the poll workers that I intend to go to my regular polling place on November 5, just to make sure that I’m not allowed to vote again. A supervisor who overheard informed us that the Board of Elections is going to manually match the early voter rolls to the printed rolls and indicate on the latter who has already voted. I am glad that they are doing everything they can to ensure a smooth and trustworthy process of early voting. And now that we have early voting, perhaps I will volunteer to be a poll worker in the next election!

Roc the Riverway Weekend – Insider Walk to High Falls

We have probably all been warned at some point not to fall in love with potential. But if you have ever walked over the Pont de Rennes Bridge near the Genesee Brewery, you can’t help but look down and think what a game changer it would be if Rochester developed the land around its best feature – High Falls. How many acres of brownfield are there, crying out for remediation and development? Close your eyes, and can’t you envision hotels, apartments, restaurants, a park and a boardwalk, and who knows, maybe even a performing arts center? Instead, it’s a wasteland, with the occasional deer sighting.

This past weekend was something called Roc the Riverway Weekend, with special events along the river, including Sam Patch boat tours (temporarily relocated from the Erie Canal), renewing of vows on the banks of the Genesee (I couldn’t get Charlie to do this with me!), and various other bike, boat, and walking tours. But the thing that intrigued me most was a tour to the base of the falls, through the RG&E-owned property (organized by the Genesee Land Trust). It intrigued about 100 other people as well, many with professional photography equipment! According to the tour leader, this was the first one of its kind, and hopefully not the last. 

We descended the hill next to where RG&E’s Beebe Station used to be, and stopped briefly to learn about the odd structure that remains from the days when coal would be delivered by train to a plant that would turn it into gas. 






Next stop was to view the derelict building with the smokestack, where, around the turn of the century, recyclable materials would be sorted, metal separated out, and the remainder burned to create steam for the surrounding buildings (if I understood correctly).

Once we reached the bottom, we were led through normally-locked gates, under the Pont de Rennes Bridge (where we were admonished not to pause because of potential falling objects, and it wasn’t clear if the fear was from the bridge itself or the people on the bridge), to the water’s edge.

It was thrilling to be so close to the river and to see and hear the falls from river-level. It was also depressing, since I have no faith that Iberdrola (RG&E’s parent company) will ever invest the funds to clean up the site (at least one of the individual parcels is part of the “Voluntary Cleanup Program” – the operative word being “voluntary”…). 

It appears that the entire mass of land is mostly owned by RG&E (about 20 acres?) with some additional property owned by the City. Given the relatively low priority of revitalization of the falls, compared to so many other pressing needs in Rochester, the land will most likely remain tantalizingly out of reach, except for the deer, who perhaps deserve a bit of refuge...

University of Rochester Inauguration of President Mangelsdorf

The last time I wore a cap and gown was at my college graduation, almost 40 year ago. I didn’t attend my MBA graduation because at the time and place, anyway, doing that was for losers. Instead, a fellow grad and I toasted to each other, at the hour of the ceremony, on a beach in St. Maarten…

So I was curious when I was contacted by my college asking me to represent the school in the procession for the inauguration of the new president of University of Rochester. I wasn’t sure what it would involve, and I wasn’t sure I was worthy of the honor, since it was my understanding that the invitation was primarily for the presidents of colleges and universities. But it sounded like an interesting opportunity, and I accepted, and duly submitted my height and head circumference. The rental cap, gown and hood arrived in plenty of time, and I googled how to wear the hood, but it was clear to me I couldn’t arrange it properly myself. I did take the advice on the instructions and wear a button-down shirt, to attach the hood’s loop to (otherwise, you risked feeling strangled by the hood, since the bulk of the weight hangs down your back).

Luckily, there were experts on hand at Eastman, where the delegates assembled prior to the event in Kodak Hall. I was not the only alumni stand-in (in fact, the only presidents attending were from local colleges), and most needed help with their hoods... It was fun to see the different PhD colors and stripes and puffy hats, and to learn a bit about the different hood markings (the brown band at the top of mine, for example, is the disappointing color of the MBA).

We assembled in order of the schools’ founding, and since Middlebury’s 1800 is relatively early, I was among the first in line, behind Williams and in front of the University of Virginia (I had a nice chat with the U of R psychiatry professor delegate for that school). That also put us in the first row, so I didn’t have to worry about not being able to see because of someone’s cap in front of me (interestingly, the tradition is for men to remove their caps after processing, but women to keep them on. I wonder how that will evolve to accommodate non-binary gender individuals. If it were up to me, everyone would remove them…).

The Words of Welcome from different constituents of the university were both inspiring and emotional, especially Human Resources’ Ashley Campbell’s poetic welcome from the staff and CEO of Common Ground Health Wade Norwood’s passionate and moving welcome from the community (he even gave a shout-out to the university’s involvement with East High and Mt. Hope Family Center). A genuine admiration and respect for Mangelsdorf was clear from all of the welcoming addresses.

Before the Investiture, we were treated to a performance by the Ying Quartet of Jeff Beal’s The Pathway, and the audience applauded both the quartet and Beal, who was in the audience.

Mangelsdorf began her Inaugural Address with quotes from a letter from the first U of R President, Martin Brewer Anderson, 1853-1888 (although technically there was an acting president who preceded him from the University’s founding in 1850). They concerned the requirements to be a good university president, and while most were still true, others were amusing and quaint (one quality required being like a woman in some respects… because of course he couldn’t envision that a woman could actually BE a university president!). There was lots of talk about equity inclusion and diversity (from the welcome addresses as well), and it felt absolutely authentic. Mangelsdorf embraced the responsibility the University has as the largest employer in Rochester, and acknowledged that they are not just a university in the community, but also of the community and for the community. 

Singing the Alma Mater: The Genesee

Mangelsdorf certainly inspires a confidence that she can and will lead the university in its next exciting chapter. Meliora! 

New York Kitchen in Canandaigua

Shortly after we moved to Rochester, I was searching for something creative to give Charlie for his birthday, and we had recently attended a fundraising event at and for the non-profit New York Wine and Culinary Center. A gift certificate for dinner or a cooking class seemed like a great idea. The gift card sat in Charlie’s desk, and in the meantime, the New York Wine and Culinary Center re-branded as the New York Kitchen. I thought we’d never find an opportunity to redeem it, but we finally did – we scheduled to attend a class with some friends, to celebrate Lynn’s retirement from one of her jobs.

It was for the Chef’s Table, and the menu involved: crab cakes with spicy remoulade and spicy corn, tomato and cucumber salad; grilled Delmonico with grilled watermelon salad; sautéed pork tenderloin with ancho chili sauce with pepper jack polenta; and oven baked BBQ chicken with leek and fingerling potato salad. My group was three of the four stations at our island, and I selfishly sought out the one that did not involve polenta (one of my food aversions…). So Charlie and I (mostly Charlie – he’s generally the cook and I’m the cleanup in our couple) took on the chicken. A nice young couple from Irondequoit made the steak.

Chef Emily began the class with a brief overview of the organization, whose mission includes supporting New York agriculture and craft beverages, and an orientation of our instructions and utensils. She gave us some great tips, one of which she joked would be “life-changing,” but it actually kind of was! She showed us how to slice bell peppers to get perfectly even strips. She also explained that proteins cook better from room temperature, and that the biggest mistake people make in searing is not getting the pan hot enough.

As she gave us cutting demonstrations and guided us through each recipe, I wondered, “Whose idea was this? Why hadn’t we signed up for the kind of class where you just sit and watch a chef prepare a meal, and then you eat it?” But it turned out to be great fun. 

All of the ingredients were pre-measured and arranged by the section of recipe they belonged to. The proteins had been pre-cut and were delivered when we needed them. Our crab cake making couple deviated from their recipe (Lynn chose not to use much of the breadcrumbs at all, so the result was mostly crab with little filler), and Kathy threw out some perfectly good garlic cloves that she deemed three too many for the pork sauce. Other than that, we stuck pretty close to the scripts! And one of the great things about the evening is that we’d be cooking, but not having to clean any dishes. 

The goal was to have every dish ready and plated by 8:00-8:15, so we could sit in our groups and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Incredibly, everything came together, and the eight of us gathered around one side of the island to savor, sip (a glass of wine was included), and congratulate ourselves. It was too much food, of course, but one simply had to try a bit of everything… My favorite main was the crab cake, followed by the pork. Surprisingly, my favorite side was the polenta (although Kathy teased that it was mostly cheese and cream).

Kim, Matt, Tim, Charlie, Richard
Kathy, me Lynn, Chef Emily

On the drive home (which was shorter than we’d thought it would be), Charlie and I commented on how enjoyable the evening had been, and that we will have to go back for another class sooner rather than later. What a wonderful resource to have in our “back yard”!

Genesee Country Village & Museum

What comes to mind when you think of Lewis Carroll? For most people it’s probably Alice in Wonderland. But being the nerd I was as a kid, for me it’s his game of symbolic logic. I learned symbolic logic, and the game, for a project in 9th grade geometry. This weekend was “A Novel Weekend: Lewis Carroll” at the Genesee Country Village & Museum, and there were lots of different Alice in Wonderland-themed activities throughout the complex. Some of the visiting children were even in costume to enjoy the event! I had offered to Becky Wehle, the President of GCV&M, that I could create a station to teach the Game of Logic, but I’m glad I didn’t, because I would have been very lonely…

Instead, she hosted a gathering of Middlebury College alumni for a picnic on what turned out to be a beautiful Sunday afternoon. Charlie and I arrived early, so we finally had a chance to visit the John L. Wehle Gallery. I really enjoyed the museum exhibits – the Susan Greene Costume Collection (which was displaying Fashion of the 1850s), Sporting and Wildlife Art, and Working Like a Dog, and I was particularly impressed with all of the interactive offerings. 

a "dog churner" - maybe I should
convert my treadmill to make it
more useful? 

It took quite a bit of restraint to walk away from that puzzle table that I’m sure was meant for kids (ok, I did put a few pieces in…). I could have spent more time in the museum if we weren’t on a schedule; I would have liked to explore each of the drawers in the costume exhibit. The ones I did randomly open made me glad to be in the here and now. Obviously a good deal of care and thoughtfulness has been given to the exhibits - not just to the variety and quality, but also details like the color of the mannequins, which are navy blue. Why? Not just to blend into the background and show off the costumes, but because they don't represent a specific ethnic group. Smart.

Once we reached the Village, we visited some of the buildings we hadn't yet seen on prior trips. Each house’s interpreter was very informative, but also not pushy. The loom in the Humphrey House fascinated me, not in the “oh I wish I could do that” way, but in the “how on earth did anyone ever invent that in the first place?” way. It renewed my awe and thankfulness of specialization of people’s interests and abilities. 

It was fun to meet other Midd grads from the area (one came from Buffalo, but most were from the Rochester area). We even met a young woman who will be matriculating next month (the Midd representative said something like 9000 students applied for 700 or 750 spots – whatever it was, it was much more competitive than in my day!). We had to head home after lunch, so I know I’ll be back at some point, since there are definitely houses there I’ve yet to explore. Perhaps with some of my out-of-town guests this fall!

useful mourning guidelines...

Genesee Country Village & Museum

Each time I visit the Genesee Country Village & Museum (GCV&M) I experience it in a completely new way. This past weekend, Charlie and I were delighted to dine at the Hosmer Inn, at the invitation of friends who had “won” the experience in GCV&M’s Whirl fundraiser last fall. The Village was virtually empty when we arrived at 6pm, after closing hours, and the stillness was serene and unexpected. It was a leisurely stroll to Hosmer Inn, where most of the group was already gathered, and wine and beer began to flow. 

The Intrepid Ale tasted a bit fruity (I was informed it had lemon and ginger) and was delightfully refreshing at the end of what had been a perfect summer day.

Thus fortified, our interpreter for the evening, Allison, led a few of us on a brief tour of the Inn, which was built in 1818, and originally sat on Route 5, between Avon and Caledonia near the (now defunct) Genesee Valley Canal. Each of the rooms for rent was “high class” – clients rented a whole room (except for one room, which had 2 separate beds that could be rented), not just a bed or a spot on a floor, and each room had its own chamber pot – no sharing required! 

Our tour also took us to the basement to see the kitchen, which was a good 15 degrees cooler, and where day laborers would have taken meals. Allison was in costume, and as a lover of history, she was extremely knowledgeable about the village and the period in general. But she wasn’t “in character,” as Mrs. Hosmer, for example, because that would have prevented her from interacting with 21^stcentury visitors. That subtle distinction would have escaped me entirely had she not explained it.

When we joined the group back on the ground floor, it was time to sit and eat. We were divided in two rooms, and our server was actually Allison’s husband, Stephen. Both work full time at the GCV&M (Allison fell in love with the history of the village as a child, and has worked there for 9 years, and I think she even met her husband there, if I heard correctly). I learned from our hosts that, unlike some of the other living museums in the country, all 68 of GCV&M’s buildings are genuine; they are original structures that have been moved to Mumford, not built in place to look like something from the 1800s. Also, while I had always thought that the Village was the Museum, one of our hosts gently corrected me and encouraged me to visit the Gallery, which houses collections of sporting art and costumes, on my next visit.

Each course of the dinner was delicious: the hearty bread and interesting pickled fruits and vegetables; beef and cabbage soup; pork, with applesauce, mashed potatoes, asparagus, and a delicious mustard I would have bought a jar of, if it were for sale; and finally, the delicious cheesecake, which I’m sure we all wanted seconds of when they were offered, but we politely declined! Accompanying the dessert were incredible candied orange and ginger. It was such a lovely and leisurely meal, and such a joy to be away from the bustle and stresses of life for a few hours, enjoying good food and drink and conversation with old friends and new ones in the making.

There are so many different events at GCV&M throughout the summer that each visit brings some new adventure. I am seriously considering both the Lewis Carroll weekend and the Fiddlers’ Fair. And next time I have company from out of town, the GCV&M will definitely be on my list of places to take them.