The Chase Scene by Terryn Maybeck

Jeannie tosses her thick black hair as we leave the school building.  We wander carefree through city streets in sweltering heat as we head back to our apartment.  Street grime coats our skin and sweat soaks our tank tops under our armpits and between our breasts.

Few cars are on the street.  People are staying indoors.  We step off the curb. 

Far down the road, a car appears blaring its horn in one long, continuous blast.  Jeannie sticks her middle finger up as we begin to cross quickly now.

Screeching breaks.  “Sluts, Bitches”.  The car door slams.  Jeannie and I are on the run.  We separate in our panic.

I bang open the Pawn Shop door, passing the wrinkled shopkeeper with her mouth agape and slide out the back screened delivery door.  I cringe as the cracked, wood door creaks sharply.  Next door is Chi Wong’s grocery store.  I creep in through its back door and cower in the back corner as gritty dirt painfully digs into my knees and I taste the dust stirring in the air. 

Lungs heaving.  Hands shaking.  Tears make rivulets through the grime on my face.  I listen for his footsteps, but all I hear is drip, drip, drip as water leaks from the ice cream freezer. 

A customer eyes me warily.  It is time to move on.

My heart beats wildly as I creep through the neighbor’s backyards, until I finally reach the security of home.

Jeannie is sitting on our door stoop with one leg crossed over the other, nervously jerking her foot up and down, up and down.  She grips her cigarette with shaky hands, inhaling deeply.  I collapse next to her and rest my head on her shoulder.  We sit there silently until the streetlights turn on and darkness follows. 

Contact

terrynlmaybeck@gmail.com

Beauty Is...

Our lives continuously intertwine among other lives to make a woven tapestry and I am just one of those threads.  My yarn touches upon so many other yarns all the way through my life.  The more you and I interact with neighbors, the more we become interlocked in other people’s lives in the community.

I met Aaron Schaible when he was on my daughters T-Ball team and only occasionally saw him from then on.  He is now 14 years old. Our paths crossed again last fall when Aaron submitted a video for the PTSA Reflections Program.  In the Reflections program, children submit artwork to compete in specific categories at their local level across the United States. The winning entries advance to the council, district, region, and/or state PTA levels, depending on the state structure. Top state award–winning entries advance to the national level of judging.

As an Art Judge for our local Reflections program, I’ve seen sophisticated art that reaches the level of professional standards.  If you’re competing against that quality of work at such an early stage, it’s a long ride to the top!  This school year over 500,000 students participated nationally in the required art categories.  At the national competition, 6 works from each art category were awarded Outstanding Interpretation, 72 received Awards of Excellence and 120 Awards of Merit.  That’s out of 500,000 students! 

Aaron chose to submit a video for the Film Production Art category and the topic for this fall’s Reflection Program was “Beauty is….”  With such a broad-spectrum of ideas to choose from, Aaron said he “thought hard about what true beauty is, the thing I thought about was the inner beauty that Danny possesses and shows every day in so many ways.” Aaron submitted ‘Beauty is What’s inside: A portrait of My Friend Danny’.

Aaron added “I’ve known Danny my whole life. I can’t remember ever not knowing him.  My Mom knew him long before I was born.  What has always affected and surprised me most about Danny is the fact that someone who is so limited could be such an amazing human being, and could teach everyone without a disability the valuable lesson of consistent positivity.”

I asked Danny about how his disability (Spastic Quadriplegic with Multiple Disabilities) affected his day to day life.  He described an experience he had recently “I was just at the ball park- tons of kids kept walking in front of my wheelchair and I couldn’t move or get anywhere.  I go out and people won’t give me attention and ignore me.  I literally have to get a friend or a worker from the ball park to ask people to make room for me.  The non-disabled people give no respect, especially kids.”

Did he see himself as a role model since he is self-confident and gets to places on his own?  He thought for a moment, “I can see myself as a role model with my disabled friends.  A lot of my friends have gone out and gotten shoved around. I am very self-confident.  Some of the non-disabled people from church and Jocelyn are nice and give me respect.”

Aaron’s film has already touched many people’s lives, most importantly Danny’s. 

Jocelyn, Aaron’s mom told about a recent occurrence.  “Recently Danny’s wheelchair stopped working, and was badly in need of repairs he could not afford to make. For Danny, being without his wheelchair has meant being bedridden and imprisoned in his depressing little room at the North Blossom old age home. 

So Danny’s church took up the cause, and held a pancake breakfast to raise money, and created a website called www.FriendsofDan.org.  Grab a tissue and visit the site -- go to the “About Dan” tab.  When you talk about the video having a life of its own, this is just one more example: The morning of the pancake breakfast, Danny was hospitalized at Rochester General with a kidney stone and bladder infection, so he had to miss his own fund-raising breakfast. So Aaron’s movie became Dan’s stand-in for the event, and people were so moved by it that many donated by participating generously in the silent auction even though they’d never even met him in person.” 

“In addition, Aaron’s film has been used as a training tool in a National Continuing Education E-Journal to train healthcare providers about sensitivity to patients with special needs, and has been used by a college professor to train future special education teachers.”

Aaron received an Award of Excellence in the National Film Production Art category for the Middle/Junior age division.

As a National Award of Excellence winner, Aaron received $200 cash award, a silver-plated Reflections medallion, a PTA certificate and recognition in the annual PTA Reflections online gallery.

The Traveling Circus with Will and Andy

Here is a story of the wild and crazy antics that our own free-spirited Victor Residents Andy Parry and Will Wesson are up to with their nomadic lives. They live, breathe, and occasionally eat snow, literally. 

They are the stars of their own ski web episodes for their sponsor Line Ski’s and their following is cult-like. They have had about a half million viewers from the last two episodes.

They roam around the country jammed into one or two cars with other ski athletes.  They perform Extreme Skiing, highlighting known and unknown areas while their old friend Shane McFalls from Cicero, New York, films their adventures.

How did this idea evolve? Andy explained that “We went to the owner of Line Ski’s in Vermont and showed them two possible ideas of what they could do.  So, they tried an episode with us and that turned into a pilot episode.”  Will continues on “Basically, Andy and I started it because we wanted to travel somehow and continue to make ski videos while making money to support ourselves.”  One way” to see the country is that we call ahead to resorts to get free ski time for promoting them.” 

I was there from the beginning when they began their dare-devil stunts.  Andy is my next door neighbor and I’ve known him since he was in fourth grade.  He’s 23 years old now.  Only a few feet away from my window as I worked on my computer, I would watch Andy, Will and their friends practice stunts on his driveway by skating off a ramp, tumbling in midair and landing on an old mattress - with no helmets on!  I would literally startle every time each one would land, getting ready to jump up and take one to the hospital.  He did end up with three fractures by the end of his childhood though. One thing I learned about Andy early on, he had absolutely no fear of trying anything.  

 As he matured, I watched him build an eight foot high ramp in his backyard that ended with a metal rail when he became serious with skiing.  Several times, Andy and his friends would stop at the local ice company and fill the back of his car with crushed ice.  They would unload the ice around the home-made ski jump to make it more realistic when they videotaped. That was their summer home in the early days when they practiced tricks off season.  Erik Olson, a close Victor friend and skier gave Andy’s brother the nickname ‘The Red Knight’ when Alex and Andy fooled around with sword fighting during a break from filming and the name stuck.  Alex Parry comments “I do a guest appearance occasionally during their summer stunt practice videos.”

They do it all- Bombing, Cruising, Airplane Turns and making incredibly Big Air.  Andy’s most memorable experience is not skiing down one of the highest mountains or grinding the rails, it’s the time “we drove to Virginia recently during their snow storm and skied around an abandoned insane asylum- it was creepy”.

Living this lifestyle doesn’t come without a price.  They usually eat at Wal-Mart or fast food joints.  Last spring at Mammoth California, they slept two and a half weeks in their car.  Andy has incurred a number of lacerations and 3-4 concussions.  It’s not for the average “Vermin”- (ski talk for ‘the typical skier’).

How have they survived visiting and skiing in 20 or more states? As they claw their way to notoriety, doors are beginning to open for them.  Line Skis, Orage Clothing, Ski the East and Full Tilt Boots all sponsor them now. 

Their newest adventure plans is “to start in October and visit the NW Pacific, then we’ll find a Van or RV and travel up and down the East Coast-maybe Europe next year.” Andy hopes.

I was lucky to catch up with Andy visiting his home town since he is usually on the road. They still get jobs in the summertime accumulating money for their important essentials: toothpaste, toilet paper, peanut butter and jelly, and gas.

Andy is painting houses until he meets up with Will where they will teach skiing at Windell’s Summer Camp at Mt. Hood, Oregon.  Then, the circus is off again to film their new episode.        

Will and Andy give insight into what The Traveling Circus really is to them.  “It’s a dream come true to travel instead of doing a 9-5 job” Will says.  Andy agrees, “Traveling is amazing because it’s good for life experience.  I love the freedom of doing what I want, wherever I want”.

Check out these sites and Will and Andy will take you along on their wild adventures: 

www.facebook.com/linetravelingcircus

www.twitter.com/LineSkisTC

Cooperation is like a one-way bridge

In my first column, I mentioned that a part that makes a successful community is “a composition of diverse interacting participants that are achieving unity in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress.”

To me, cooperation is like a one way bridge.  I grew up in Fairport with a number of those one-way bridges that spanned the Erie Canal and I think of them every time I use the One-way Underpass on Willowbrook Road.  You absolutely must cooperate with the driver on the other side or you get no where.

With that idea tugging insistently in the back of my mind, I couldn’t resist choosing Al Pezzimenti and Clem McGhan as my first example that binds our community together.  Their political dichotomy is notoriously legendary.  They make their opposing political and communal views in an extremely obvious way using banners, hay bales and doing all sorts of escapades.  They add true color to our lives in Victor.

But who really are Al Pezzimenti and Clem McGhan besides the fact that Clem owns McGhan's and Al owns his own Barber Shop nearly across the street on Main Street in Victor.

I stopped by one day at McGhans to ask questions and find out.  I ran into Bob Brady who was whiling away his time on a bar stool.  Bob said “I’ve been coming here since 1990 and I consider Clem one of my friends.  If I have a problem, I will come to Clem- A real asset to the community.”  Then I asked someone who worked for him and might have a different perspective.  Sheri Riesenberger said that “Clem is a very generous guy and he will do anything for you.”  Generous indeed!

My next stop was at Al’s Barber Shop.  I spent a lot of time at Al’s listening to the banter that goes on between Bill, Al and his customers.  Bill O’Brien has cut hair there for 10 years.  “Al taught me how to cut hair- I apprenticed with him.” Al knows all about each customer that sits down in his barber chair.  The day of my visit, Bill and Al teased an old friend Dick Militello when he came in.  Bill had bought a tomato plant for Dick to tease him and they tell him to take care of the plant until the season is right for planting.  They all start to chuckle at him.  Dick replies to me “I can’t stand to garden.  My father made me garden and so I hate it.”  I am mesmerized by their stories- some absolutely hilarious and others that can’t be mentioned in this article.  It is hard to break away and leave.  I promise to return just to listen to more of Al’s stories.  

For three generations, both Clem and Al’s families have lived in Victor.  Al and Clem grew up together and have followed parallel lives in many ways. 

Clem’s grandparents came to Victor after the hotel they were working at in Waterloo burnt down so they came to run a boarding house for the Italian immigrants that worked at Victor Insulators.  His grandparents eventually opened a restaurant and his grandmother named it “The Golden Rule”.  They were able to get the 2^nd oldest liquor license in Ontario County once Prohibition was over.

Al’s grandparents came to Victor so his grandfather could work at Victor Insulators.  All three generations have lived in the Village limits.

His father worked for the Victor school district and when Al finished High School, he began working in various Barber Shops.  Al spent two years in the Navy from 1966-68 as a Navy Ship Serviceman where he was an Officers Barber.  He opened his own Barber Shop on March 1, 1970 and there he’s stayed ever since in the place he calls home.  He was the Mayor in the 80’s.  “The first thing I did when I became Mayor was to take care of the large hole in the ground on Main Street that was left from a fire. We broke ground in the fall of 1985, and in 1986 we created Adams Street.  Al lives with his wife Linda and they raised Anthony, Frank and Lisa.  He has 4 grandchildren Anthony, Joe, Dominic and Dante.  His parents, Grace and Frank still live near by in Canandaigua.

Soon after Clem was born, the family moved their restaurant to the building where it stands now.  The family business has been a restaurant, bar, tavern- whatever the family felt the community needed.  Clem took a break and went to college for Law but came home when his mother had cancer.  Now he still carries on the family tradition at McGhan’s and lives with his wife Kathleen.  He has a total of 7 children and 4 grandchildren. 

 

There are so many differences in what they think and believe in but they have developed a fractious and humorous relationship together.  Their friendly rivalry has gone on for 10-15 years now and one never knows what they are up to next.  They share their wry humor with every one in Victor and they are both concerned about the direction that Victor is heading.

Al mourns the “loss of services- we used to have 5 grocery stores and 7 gas stations here at one time- now we have no grocery store and 1 gas station.”

Clem’s concern:  “I am trying to encourage debate from the community and make them more aware.  There is a lack of community support who fails to identify with the town of Victor by visiting the heart of the town- the Village.  The town of Victor has tried to do events but it doesn’t seem to be working.  They try to foster a sense of community identity.  We just don’t seem to make enough progress.”

So, what is Al’s favorite prank that he has pulled on Clem?  “The ‘morning regular’ would walk to McGhan’s at 8:40 am.  I would see him through my window.  I would call Clem when he was almost at the building and ask if he was there and Clem would say ‘No’.  Then, I would call Clem right after the ‘Morning Regular” got there and call him up to ask if he was there.  I used to do that a couple times a week to him for a while.”

And now Clem’s favorite prank that he has pulled on Al?

“I put a Barrack Obama Headquarters- Town of Victor sign above Al’s Barber Shop on the railing above his shop and in his window, too.  Every time he took them down, I put another one up.  I must have gone through four signs.”

Life in Victor

Welcome to my column.  I am one of your neighbors in Victor and I live with my husband Steve, my kids Anders and Margo, and my collection of pets.

I moved from the City of Rochester to the Village of Victor 13 years ago.  Villages are like small cities.  The houses are closer together, so neighbors get closer.  People walk by my house and exchange greetings.  There is always someone around when you need them.

I loved our house when we drove in the driveway- even before we toured the house- and I fell in love with the Village of Victor.

After college, I have volunteered in my community and I’ve never stopped- even back when I had a baby on my hip.  I have learned so much and met so many Victor residents over the years by just getting out there and pitching in.  Volunteers are my favorite people- they are always kind and can always find the time to help in their busy schedules.  A community cannot sustain itself with out volunteers.

What is a community?  In the dictionary, it states that it is “a group of interdependent people inhabiting the same region and interacting with each other”.

Somehow that definition seems to undervalue our lives together. The Sociologist M. Scott Peck has a description of what a community is that appeals to me and seems to explain a more in-depth theory.  “Community is … composed of individuals, families and institutions that are originators and encouragers of systems, agencies and organizations working together with a common purpose for the welfare of people.” 

So, I decided to go out into the community to ask residents what community means to them.

Who would have more experience about community than Jack Marren, our Town Supervisor? He told me “My athletic background and volunteer experience” shaped my view of what is Community.  “People are so busy in their lives. My wife Linda and I get a great satisfaction giving back to the community.  Linda is a caregiver at Serenity House and I volunteer my time to help out with the community sports groups and booster clubs.”

M. Scott Peck continues on to say “It is a composition of diverse interacting participants that are achieving unity in an unremitting quest for spiritual and social progress.” 

Helen Balicki is a Resident Manager for the Ontario ARC house on High Street. “I feel that we are part of the community.  Despite differences in all of us, volunteering and showing respect to others enriches the community.” 

So basically, M. Scott Peck is saying that a community is a group of individuals- neighbors- who have learned how to communicate honestly with each other. These relationships go deeper than their masks of composure. They have developed some significant commitment to celebrate and mourn together, and to enjoy each other’s company.  They also help to make sure their neighbor’s life is equal to their own.

And why is this important? It is so that every human being can flourish in an Egalitarian or equal environment and become a thriving, vibrant, sustainable community that will improve everyone's quality of life.  What a wonderful description of our lives together.

I asked Dominic Calabrese, who owns The Taste of Italy what he thought about Community.  “The more you give, the more you get.  My mother was rushed to the emergency room just this weekend, so I couldn’t be here to open the Deli the next morning.  One of my regular customers opened the shop for me, picked up the bread and ran it until my staff was able to get there- for two mornings.”  His story speaks for itself.

What makes our towns special?  Every week I will explore what community is in our towns of Victor, Farmington and the hamlet of Fishers.  We will go to places and meet people that have used their strength, compassion, and love to make up who we are- a community.

Welcome to Wild Nellie's World