Gary VanCola:
CLASS OF 1966
Olympia High SchoolClass of 1966
Rochester, NY
Allendale-Columbia High SchoolClass of 1966
Rochester, NY
Brighton High SchoolClass of 1965
Rochester, NY
Penfield High SchoolClass of 1965
Penfield, NY
Indian Landing Elementary SchoolClass of 1959
Rochester, NY
Gary's Story
Life: Still have all my parts, grandparents X9. Married 46 years to a Mercy Alumna and we have 2 + 2.
Still break'n my back, like all of us now for more years than I expected. Though, thanks to Washington, I'm never retiring...I'm in the Fire/Flood Disaster Restorator & Cleaner, but always an Artist in what I do....
Lakeland; Florida's best kept secret is similarly mapped-out like Rochester's demographics, but exceptionally less expensive lifestyle with lowest electric rates in FL. Plus the sun shines here "every day", even in Hurricane season.... Give me a shout, we'll talk "old times"....
I still design in my spare time keeping the mind sharp....We've been Floridians 40 yrs now... NO MORE ICE'n SNOW, thank you...Just stay out of the water, or the Everglades~~~~~~~~*< ha ha.~~~}=^=(`< ~~~....
Try to eat healthy, though still order White Hots online & Smiley's from Jackson's Bakery in Greece, my dad used to bring. Jackson's bought Sibley's great recipes when they closed.... I miss Fox's & Rubino's too. I'd love a Delmonico cheese-steak, w/rings from old Char-Broil in Charlotte....
My college beard, a Santa's goatee, but still have lots of my own silvering hair = daily 2-Tbsp's Clover Honey and extra-virgin OliveOil w/V8 chaser... Memories of our youth with me all the time, an R/L brain parallel-reality, as if I could go back to Olympia, or Penfield, or Brighton tomorrow and nothing much had changed.... Happily in-dreams it's still a reality!...
I really liked that sheet-pizza for Friday's lunch at Olympia; probably be outlawed today by Washington Food Police!.....
Remember those buttered hot-dogs in square buns, w/pot of Boston baked beans at the CrossRoad's Howard Johnson after school in 6th, 7th & 8th grades?.. They had the 1st Chocolate Chip Ice Cream, and (black and white iced 1/2 round cake-cookies) too... Yum! Must be the times or maybe my age!.... Please drop me a line: GaryVanCola aol
...Let's hear it for the 50's and early 60's when we only thought the world was going crazy, never thinking it really would...So how did we spend the $34 Trillion, US taxpayers never voted for? ...I heard the DEMs blew $22T the last 50 yrs to eliminate Poverty-in-America. Yup, solved that problem! ...Wonder if the Poor even got a $100 ea.? ....Probably as many got "O's" $787-B Stimulus Package creating "0" Shovel-Ready jobs lowering Unemployment; like Closing the Keystone Pipeline to buy Russia oil!...Supporting new 15 millions-illegals evens-out? ISIS-Taliban's dead?
Donald worked for FREE; so how'd the new-older model get so rich?
But I digress!
God bless 9/11 victims, our soldiers, the 13, & the rare-parts of old-America still left! ....Oops, I meant to say "still there".... Sorry I used the L-word.
Stay Well, All, and Safe.....~({;-)>=
____
Boy, I'd sure like an Anderson grape soda, or a Becker's Big Boy...Maybe a "Chieftain" Thunder Burger, or some Carroll's Fries on Ridge Rd. W....An Abbott's Custard right about now would be nice too....They're still there right?....Well, Abbott's is!
Let's all meet up on the 4th floor in Sibley's Toy Dept. to watch the Christmas display, walking through that long dark tunnel. OK?... Ever have one of their Chocolate Frosted Custards on Sibley's main floor? Yah, right after watching a Double Feature, News-reel, W/B cartoon at Paramount right across the street on Clinton, next to that "Joke/Trick" Shoppe with all those great scary Halloween rubber masks in the windows...Remember?
Remember the Regent Theater, Linn-Far's Chinese across the street, with live Koi in their fountain pool?....Grants, Fromers, Scrantoms, Woolworth's and Neisner's 5 & 10's....
No, have no diabetes or obese yet!...I just remember good-times and old memories using "foods" as a catalyst, having grown-up in dad's Rio Bamba restaurant. Like old songs light-sparks, that's it!
Anybody ever take-a-date or have dinner in my father's Rio Bamba Rest., 35 to 50 years ago now? That was before he retired, sold-it to 4 smart-ass Attorneys who eventually took-it down-hill, resold, and called: Bistro, &eventually a Mexican rest., I heard.....Hmm, "Wannabe experts"; sounds like Washington and Hollywood, each want the other's job-for-glory without experience or skills!.... But, "there's no place like home", Dorothy....Still tear up!
Later, Gary ... vancola dot com ....
Hey, let's see yearbook photos old/today's faces to jog old-memories on ClassMates. Some of us camera-shy in yearbooks = now guilty!++++
Dec. 6, 2015 (added clarification); I moved nine times before I was 16, attended 4 high schools.... I should have, could have, would have graduated in 1965 at Penfield High. But after that storybook "growing-up in the 50's" thing, the 2nd thru 5th grades at Indian Landing School,
like we had; when your mom told you to be home for dinner, and you'd bicycle or walk around with a baseball mitt looking for a pick-up game, put balloons or baseball cards in your bike-spokes to sound like a Harley, skipped-school for Knothole-Day Opener, had a turquoise 7-Transistor radio in your back pocket listening to the World Series,
stopped at each friend's house along the way, built tree-houses all day, tire inner-tube float where the stem cutz-ya in ribs hopping in water, then stop at Welkley's Dairy for some Fireballs, root beer barrels, pretzel sticks, or 1 of those cinnamon-donuts in that brown wax-paper giant box on the counter with a clear plastic see-thru top, plus never looking over your shoulder for predators!...Those 50's!
In 2nd grade having your 1st crush on Mrs. Barrenger, getting scolded by Mrs. Ostrey in 3rd grade for staring-out the window, the very-stern and tall Mrs. Nichols in 4th. I'd ask to go to the bathroom just so I could pass the 5th Grade classroom to catch a glimpse of Laurie Petrie if the door was open.
Then sweet Mrs. Rathkey for my 5th grade, where I got my 1st Art-award for a Blood Drive poster, I found in my mother's papers after she passed-away, she'd always kept.
We all had the 8x10 Class photos ea. at Indian Landing. I long since lost mine moving so often. *If YOU have any of those please-Scan and email me a copy!
Learning gymnastics, kickball, dodge-ball, even Archery in Miss Bolger's gym class, remember? Then again in 9th Grade, her gym Dance class, Penfield High. Cool!
Try that today kids: real arrows = be outlawed TODAY like Kickball = too violent. Now, kids are too busy sitting w/Nintendo and Wii schticks, texting and sexting. Anyone ever read books, read or write letters anymore on paper with that old writing utensil-thing, called pencil, Right?
I was the Witch Doctor; "oo, ee, oo, ah-ah, ting-tang, walla-walla bing-bang", and Flying Purple People Eater in-pantomime in Indian Landing's stage-skits, and in Cub Scout ceremonies at night in the gym. Then returning to that gym on Saturday mornings during summer vacation to watch 1930's Serial Adventure Films; a young "John Wayne in The Three Musketeers": a war story against Muslim Arab-warriors, North Africa =A clandestine secret Al Qaeda'esque terrorist organ run by the masqueraded head-of-the-snake Mole. An unseen hooded-WASP fighter, working against his own Allies for some hidden-agenda...Sound familiar?...Washington 2010?..
amazon.com/Three-Musketeers-Jack-Mulhall/dp/B00002CGG6/ref=sr_1_4_twi_vid_2?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1449858820&sr=1-4&keywords=john+wayne+the+three+musketeers
.....My storybook-end ended then abruptly. My parents finally separating, and this time they gave away my dog again, "my 3rd dog"... My mother and I moved into a small apartment in Brighton for my 6th, 7th and 8th grade re-education.....1st two yrs there were challenging, but fun. Kids welcomed me!...Learned about diseases might befall you, viruses & bacterium, amoebas, paramecium, and Tsetse-fly African sleep-sicknesses. GEEZ.
Then geo-politics, socio-economic polarization of free-enterprise vs socialism, capitalism vs communism, Christianity vs Islam vs Judaism, Buddhism, Shintoism, Confucianism, Hinduism, Atheism, Democracies, Theocracies and Dictatorships, liberals & radicals vs conservatives, and a few "reactionaries" = ME!
Brighton was a smart school for little kids. I don't remember any teachers ever espousing any political-sides in any of my schools back then either=Bravo-Brava!
But, really didn't think I'd live to my 18th birthday though! THX
Then, 8th grade, WOW!
That was in the basement: In the Land of the Giants, Brighton High School. It was winter, "swim-class" is in the basement, in 70* degree water, and you are NAKED!... Talk about culture shock.....burrrrr!
But then there was Wood Shop...That nice smell of saw dust, which would come in handy someday.
One thing my father did for me though, perhaps by necessity by his absence, I started boxing-classes with an old-pug pro Boxer, Ossie Sussman. Maybe perhaps like some of you other short guys? Then started to lift weights, maybe too fast, and wound-up with a double-hernia operation at 16. Then I took things much slower with Karate on though college.
About this time I was helping my grandfather clean my father's Rio Bamba restaurant weekends. The name came from a river in South America, if any one wonders. Gramps woke me at 5 AM, asleep-upstairs in the banquet room on a booth. Then he'd make some fresh coffee with real-cream, a slice of apple pie from the cooler, placed under the broiler and melted sharp cheddar cheese over it. The best breakfasts I ever had, maybe it was just the company when you're a 12 yr old. I'd get the tall smoke-laden mirrors to clean-up first, ha ha. But I know the trick now if you need it.
Over the years I advanced to pot-washer, yea, with the English-challenged employees, then to dishes, on to Busboy, to Hat-check sub., then Dessert-man, finally Salad-man during college. Once, back on my 12th birthday, my dad gave me a party at the Rio and I invited all my friends from Brighton = great day.
The worse part during my high school years was having to w...Expand for more
ork every holiday and New Year's Eve, even during graduation times when friends were all having fun in the restaurant I'm working-in, bummer!
If you ever had one of the Rio's Rum-Babas, or a frozen eclairs, Caesar salads, or jumbo shrimp cocktails, I probably made it. But, what I would learn with my grandfather; the work-ethic, pride in any job done-well. These would greatly benefit me in ways I never anticipated back then.
My parents tried to give it 1 more shot and it was back to the old neighborhood in Penfield for 9th grade. Though. by that time I'm acting-out, a real wise-guy, class cut-up, my grades headed-south by mid-term. The character of the 60's was beginning to change in America too, we all know and not necessarily for the better.
I apparently "wasn't applying myself", duh! So it's off to Allendale to straighten-out my attitude: Oops, bad idea!...They automatically put you back 1-grade, 1-year, especially when entering in the middle of a class year. So I'm now back in the 8th grade, in a strange school, with strangers=BOOM. And two weeks after Christmas=BANG!
Have any idea how that goes over with a proud wise-guy kid, a Sicilian? The chips on my shoulders were stacking-up like Jenga. I don't know if or what I even learned there. But they had the finest lunchroom-cuisine of any school or college I'd ever attend=Classy!
So, now I'm back to Penfield High the following fall, but now as a Freshman again, and with more new-kids. All my old friends are up in 10th grade, where "we 9th graders are scum", a recipe for disaster!
High-spot though was a favorite: World History; emperors, potentates, Pharaohs, Czars, Hammurabi, and Charlemagne a distant ancestor I found. Vikings, Genghis Khan, and The Crusaders fighting guess-who?
And Metal Shop, metal lathes, not too useful but in the Foundry I had an idea. I made my father a large perfect shiny golden brass egg in a sand-casting, I'd tap in a thread, and I placed-it on the stick-shift of his new '62 black Corvette, he'd bought for his mid-life crisis before their final divorce. The shift knob was so cool; a push of his finger and the counter-balance momentum would shift-itself.... It was stolen off his car by cutting the soft convertible top, if you ever see it!
The silver lining to help keep my sanity back then, the old neighborhood was a welcome respite from another newest-reality. Some old and new neighbors down in Borrows Hills; Brian Remington since Cub Scouts, Butch Bentley, his bacon sandwiches, the Farley's. Tom taught me to shoot Pool well, Dave Buzzawa, his mother's Peanut Butter cookie recipe I still hand-out today.
Bobbie Newberg, we'd back-pack tramping-around Europe in '68. Ricky Maxwell's pretty sister, and shoot'n hoops with Ray Gruter, his lovely sister left-us early in her Corvair head-on. Paul Geyer, his parents mistrusted us all, maybe for reason. Winter's we'd play hockey on Bill Fullerton's frozen backyard rink. Chess and Stratego with Steve Sinnott and Mike Vernirelli. The babes; Sharon Hendricks, Chris Boehm, Betsy Halbleib and Karen Schaeffer were our Den mothers.
Coincidentally, I'd marry Betsy's younger sister some 15 years into the future. You never know what path Destiny may choose for you!
Then a break in the clouds and destiny stepped-in. My mother asked me if it was OK to divorce my father and start a new life in Greece with a step-father. A warm smile came over my face. Phew, saved! I said: It's about time, I'm in!
Another culture shock, but this time a warm one, welcoming, laid-back, a friendly place. It'd take a few mind-meld tweaks, a few pissing-contests, shuffling my priorities, patience and understanding, and finally home again in the 50's!
Got my driver's license that summer. That was a break too, a valuable commodity for a new 10th grader. My mother made my father take-back the Honda motorcycle birthday present and trade-it for a Honda-50 scooter. I'd been humiliated for years so this was an easy compromise. I would buy myself a 300 Scrambler in college, plus 2 old Vettes to boot = patience is a virtue.
Greece Olympia, a new school, a new start, new friends, DWD, plus all my aunts & uncles, cousins and grandmother lived in Greece for a good safety-net, and I was off to the races. But those teachers did not like my dry-brand of sarcasms either, and it took Mr. Ladd in Graphic Arts and Mr. Hughes in the Art Dept. to help me find my way=thanks pals! Both disciplines would be monumental for me in my future.
So now 16, the new kid again, my stepfather let me drive his Eldorado, dated a senior, played football, wrestled, Kennedy was shot, Viet Nam was taking more students, and we all grew-up a bit too-soon from that time on. My grades slowly improved, got another job with a dream-neighbor's commercial cleaning company, nights, a steady-girlfriend, wore a tie most days, had a Band=The Sixth Man. Got momentarily suspended from school for donning the 1st Beatle's haircut, seriously. Went to the barber on Stone Rd. who slicked-back my hair for a few months and things returned to normal...Honor-rolled my senior year in '66, and life was much better without The-Chips!
Worked summer days learning my stepfather's Home Improvement business swinging a hammer, knocking on doors selling storm windows, everything I'd need to sustain myself in the years to come...Things were looking-up.
All and all, I left a lot of friends behind from all my four High Schools, bitter sweet, but I've been very lucky, no complaints! Friends didn't return from Nam, and my 1st cousin, six months older with my first name, would die young of Agent Orange cancer...
Turning some pages to 1970, driving around one day, I put the $1. in my pocket as deposit, down-payment on an old 1855 farm house, I'd renovate to start my new future. The Vettes were both gone, traded both for my first work Van, and the very next thing I did of course was buy myself a dog.
I stayed-put the next 15 years, because I wanted my kids to someday have a backyard and the same school friends to play-with in it. But then, only to move one last time to Florida after getting good'n-tired of driving home in blizzards. We were-off again with our 3 children under seven, and two Dobermans, on to another adventure.
Wait a minute, back-up.! A few wrinkles and set-backs along the way, which would include 6 horses, lots of hay & manure shovels in the snow, saddles, tropical and marine fish, litters of puppies and dog shows, some miss-starts, a divorce, but no deaths, and no one in jail...
Then a new life with a new wife, back on track, well, all most.
My father's #1 restaurant I grew-up in, for which we'd moved a hundred times, sold every home we ever lived-in so he could afford to buy the restaurant, I always thought I'd inherit and run someday. Well, his 3rd wife wrecked-that, eventually for him too = so sad!
And that #1 Siding & Roofing Company I was running six months of the year, while my parents lived in the Bahamas and Ft. Lauderdale, sweet! Well, that vaporized overnight and I resigned in '83.
My stepfather also had his own mid-life crisis then too with a young chickie-customer. He, very unexpectedly, left my mother and grandmother alone in Lauderdale on Christmas. So, I was outta-there= bye, bye!
Now, married with three kids under 5, what do I do next?....... That's right, while listening to Paul Harvey touting a ServiceMaster cleaning franchise every night, driving home in the rain and snow darting at my black-iced windshield, it was the easiest choice I ever made = I'm in!
I knew all that cleaning experience might come-in handy someday, so I locked myself in my office for three months and read 14 Manuals on cleaning every surface under the sun, and after fires and floods = I was back in business again. Two years tweaking my skills and it's off to Florida's orange tree Capital.
Things wouldn't work out too well for my old stepfather though, what goes around;
his new younger wife eventually cheated on him, and since he threw-away the 2 most important people who ran his business 12 months a year=it came around!!
We'd build-on in Florida for my mother and grandmother who would happily live-out their days close to their grandchildren, and I have not moved in 40 years. We raised four good-soul gentle kids in Catholic school and local colleges, and still working-for-myself all this time.
Had a nice little Stained-Glass business too with my mother for 20 years, on-the-side to keep my artistic-juices flowing, which was lots of fun.
Now we're "Sitting" part-time a week for our next generation, 9 under 14, as we happily live-out our days.
Seems like old times, diapers, spit-up, but I've got this thing for "cleaning stuff"!
No regrets, very lucky, but I still have a little hole in my heart for that "1950's childhood" back on Poplar Drive in Penfield, I had to leave all too soon, so very, very, long ago.
Thank you (Old friends, Inc.) for asking me to think about this and write it all down!... God bless that America of the 50's,
and to our stalwart US military, who make America's gifts possible for us each day!....
Gary VC
PS, If you don't already watch CBS Sunday Morning at 9AM, as I have ever since the black and white days with On-the-Road with Charles Kuralt, when issues of the day were less complicated and were just black and white,
I learned from each pivotal moment in other's lives so many valuable experiences I'd otherwise never be privileged enough to know myself, like these;
cbsnews.com/sunday-morning/
youtube.com/watch?v=7ec1Bt3bWAc
cbsnews.com/news/almanac-the-explosion-that-leveled-halifax/
youtube.com/results?search_query=cbs+sunday+morning+full+episodes
** Bless all those touched by terror yesterday, today and tomorrow, and watch your back, no one else is!...This ain't the 1950's, and you're certainly not in Kansas anymore!
YouTube - Dec 06, 2015.. Judge Jeanine: Time to batten down the hatches....
youtube.com/watch?v=rDoeIu__tAA
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