February 2011

NOT SO FAST, ROMEO! Local author pulls back the curtain on romantic deception

By Dawn Bilder

Encore: Ed Clute Returns to the JazzFest Let it Snowdeo!

Local Comfort at the West End Market CafĂŠ

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Volume 6 Issue 2

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Mountain Chatter

By the Mountain Home Staff Follow your Heart’s Desire and Get Keyed Up for chocolate.

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Looking Back

14

Snowdeo

By Deb Plummer In Potter County, an annual snowmobile event draws a crowd of hundreds.

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Close to Home

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Best Foot Forward

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The Lunker

Winning Hearts

By Cornelius O’Donnell Locally grown products are the focus of Wellsboro’s West End Market Cafe.

Ken Meyer

By Fred Metarko A pulled hitch pin leads to unexpected excitement durng a fishing trip.

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By Dawn Bilder Ever get the feeling your spouse or lover is hiding something? Welcome to the world of Romantic Deception.

Sayre’s Darlene E. Adams guides the unlucky-in-love around romantic pitfalls.

Jim Smith

By Joyce M. Tice The lives of ten little girls are revealed through the discovery of an old photograph.

Love Sleuth

By Lori Duffy Foster Two area hospitals make a name for themselves with quality cardiovacular care.

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The Better World

By Dawn Bilder Empty nester Tami Lewis steps it up with In My Shoes.

By John & Lynn Diamond-Nigh An elaborate door knocker becomes an emblem of civility.

Cover image by Jim Smith Cover art by Tucker Worthington

Ken Meyer

Top: Darlene Adams, the female Sherlock Holmes, investigates another potentially bad relationship. Center: West End Market Cafe proprietor Jenny Connelly.

Bottom: High stepping footware at In My Shoes.

Contents continued

22 All that Jazz

By Matt Connor The Mountain Home JazzFest bebops along.

29 Finger Lakes Wine Review

By Holly Howell Heart-warmng selections of wine and chocolate.

30 Where the Heart Is

Publisher Michael Capuzzo Editor-in-Chief Teresa Banik Capuzzo Associate Publisher George Bochetto, Esq. Managing Editor Matt Connor

By Matt Connor Romance blossoms between a man and his house.

34 Back of the Mountain

Copy Editor Pete Boal Staff Writer Dawn Bilder Cover Artist Tucker Worthington

Horse whispers.

P r o d u c t i o n M a n a g e r / G r ap h i c D e s i g n e r Amanda Doan-Butler Contributing Writers Sarah Bull, Angela Cannon-Crothers, Jennifer Cline, Barbara Coyle, John & Lynne Diamond-Nigh, Patricia Brown Davis, Lori Duffy Foster, Steve Hainsworth, Martha Horton, Holly Howell, David Ira Kagan, Roberta McCulloch-Dews, Cindy Davis Meixel, Suzanne Meredith, Fred Metarko, Karen Meyers, Dave Milano, Tom Murphy, Mary Myers, Jim Obleski, Cornelius O’Donnell, Audrey Patterson, Gary Ranck, Kathleen Thompson, Joyce M. Tice, Linda Williams, Carol Youngs

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www.lakewoodvineyards.com.

Mountain Home is published monthly by Beagle Media LLC, 39 Water St., Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, 16901.

Copyright 2010 Beagle Media LLC. All rights reserved.

To advertise or subscribe e-mail info@mountainhomemag.com. To provide story ideas email editor@mountainhomemag.com. Reach us by phone 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.

Get Mountain Home at home. For a one-year subscription to Mountain Home (12 issues), send $24.95, payable to Beagle Media LLC, to 39 Water St., Wellsboro, PA 16901.

Look for Home & Real Estate magazine wherever Mountain Home magazine is found.

Friday: Feb 25

9 PM at The Wellsboro House: The Oswego Jazz Dinner reservations: 570-723-HOUSE

Project

Saturday: Feb 26

5 PM at the Penn Wells Hotel Lobby: The

Michael Tester Band 8 PM at the Penn Wells Hotel: Ed Clute’s Dixie 5 +

Dinner reservations: 570-724-2111. (A special JazzFest menu (www.pennwells.com) will also be available from 8 to 10 PM.)

Sunday: Feb 27

Jazz jam with JazzFest Musicians 9 AM to 1:30 PM during Brunch at the Penn Wells Hotel.

Tickets:

Oswego Jazz Project: $10.

Ed Clute’s Dixie 5 +: $15.

Both nights: $20.

Tickets available at all Indigo Wireless locations.

570-787-JAZZ or www.indigowireless.com.

for more information visit www.mountainhomemag.com or call 570-724-3838

Proudly sponsored by: All Proceeds to Benefit the Endless Mountain Music Festival

Indigo Wireless Wellsboro Imaging Mountain Home magazine

MOU N TA I N C h atter A Tasty Event, a Sweet Cause Aztec Indian legend held that cacao beans had been brought from Paradise and that wisdom and power came from eating the fruit of the cacao tree. Today cacao product, known as chocolate, continues to stir powerful passions around the world. And while it may not instill wisdom as the ancients believed, some modern scientists believe it can reduce stress and have antidepressant effects on the brain.

But really, does any of that really come into play when one is staring into a pile of almondinfused “chocolate bark” or a slab of Death by Chocolate cake? Not likely. At that point all that matters is the craving, the desire.

And whether your own personal passion is dark, white, semi-sweet or milk chocolate, there are few better opportunities to satisfy those cravings than Potter County’s 14th annual Chocolate Lover’s Fantasy.

Not only is the event, held Saturday, February 12 from 6 to 10 p.m. at the Coudersport Consistory, a chance to stuff your face with smooth or chunky chocolate

indulgence, but it generates money for a tremendously good cause.

A Way Out, a Potter County organization that provides assistance to victims of domestic violence, is hosting the chocolate fantasy as part of an annual fundraising drive.

The organization operates from grants which must be matched in order to continue to provide this critical service to the community. The event is now a tradition that helps fill this need, according to Freda Fultz, executive director.

A Way Out has helped over 200 victims of domestic violence per year since its inception in 1993. Their 24-hour helpline: 814-274-0240.

All of the chocolate dishes available at the Chocolate Lover’s Fantasy are homemade and donated. As the event has grown, attendees seek out their favorites, from chocolate covered candies to cakes and pastries.

A chocolate contest offers prizes

Your Heart’s Desire

All Keyed Up John Tubbs sets up a new Heart’s Desire.

Charlie Messina

What one word can describe John and Theresa Tubbs’ store, Heart’s Desire, in Galeton, Pennsylvania? Innovative. Now they are bringing their innovation to Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, as they open up another Heart’s Desire store on Crafton Street on February 15, 2011.

Since it opened in 1994, the Galeton location, which will remain the parent store, has been known for its exceptional variety of new, vintage, and locally-made items.

The Wellsboro store will have items from around fifty vendors, ninety percent of whom are local, including, but not limited to, antiques; collectibles; fine, vintage, costume, and hand-made jewelry; handmade furniture; decorative signs; stained glass; Alpacca sweaters, scarves, and yarn; soaps and lotions; a blacksmith’s sculptures; Watkins home and cooking products; art and photography; gourmet teas and coffees; and Primitive Candles, the brand of candles

such as gift certificates from area restaurants and other businesses. Deadline for entry is 5:30 p.m. the day of the event. There will also be many auction items and door prizes.

A $10 ticket, available at the office of A Way Out, 110 E. Third Street, Coudersport, PA or at the door, affords unlimited sampling. More information is available at 814-274-0368.

-Deb Bliss Plummer

that the Tubbs bought and make onsite at their Galeton store.

Referring to their unique merchandise, John says with a smile in his voice, “We call them ‘one-of-a-find’ items.” ~Dawn Bilder

What’s the coolest way to stay warm this February?

There’s the 4th Annual Keyed Up For Winter Piano Series by the Mansfield University Music Department, which features free recitals by some of the best pianists in the region. Each recital will be followed by a free master class, during which the audience can observe the master artists working with student pianists at a variety of levels. Mansfield invites local piano teachers to nominate their own students to play in these master classes.

Barry Hannigan will perform on February 6th, and Gerald Lee will perform on February 13th. Both performances are at 3 p.m. at Steadman Theatre at Mansfield University, and their master classes will be held at 5 p.m. at Steadman Theatre as well. For more information, contact Nancy Boston at nboston@mansfield.edu or call 570-662-4715. ~Dawn Bilder

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The Love Detective Sayre’s Darlene E. Adams has made a career out of investigating romantic deceivers

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Jim Smith

By Dawn Bilder

K. So you’re involved in a relationship—one that started out like it had a lot of promise.

As a matter of fact, all the right chemistry was there from the very start, or so it seemed.

The relationship took off like a rocket, and before you knew what happened, you were thinking this might be the one. Nearly perfect, or so you thought.

But now something is wrong. As a matter of fact, something is dreadfully wrong. You can’t put your finger on it, but something’s not right. It’s a thought that races through your mind; it’s an eerie feeling in the pit of your stomach. Something is wrong, but you don’t know what it is. Welcome to the world of Romantic Deception.

went back into the building to return it.

The next day, when Adams was in his apartment, the same pen was sitting on his dining room table. She confronted him about it, and he denied it was the same pen and finally concluded that what must have happened was there had been two pens at the wedding, and that’s why he still had one even though he had brought the other one back.

Soon after, he was in a car accident with his BMW, and Adams found out that, not only had he lied to her about having the car completely paid off, but he didn’t even have car insurance. He told her the reason he didn’t have insurance was a result of a clerk’s mistake at his insurance company.

More lies were exposed. Adams found a newsletter from the company in which her fiancé supposedly owned a fifty percent share, and the newsletter was signed by a president and CEO of that company with no reference to her fiancé at all. A short time later, Adams confirmed his lie about being a fifty-percent owner of the company at the same time she discovered that he had been laid off for seven weeks without telling her.

The final straw concerned his rental property and occurred when Adams uncovered that there was some shady dealing with the property and she broke off the engagement.

She was sad and confused, wondering how she could have believed someone who had told her so many lies and how she could have loved someone who had totally misrepresented himself. She felt sure that, although he may have cared for her, what he had really wanted was her money.

She began researching him online through deeds and records, which confirmed the lies, and became interested in online investigation. She decided to get her Certificate in Professional Investigation from Boston University, and started her own online investigation business, Einfoseek.com, where she functions as a high-tech records researcher hired by private investigators.

But her difficult experience with romantic deception led her down another career path as well. While she was licking her wounds and trying to figure out what had happened after she broke up with her fiancé, she came across a book published in 2000 by Dr. Sally Caldwell, an Associate Professor of Sociology at Texas State University in San Marcos, called Romantic Deception: The Six Signs He’s Lying. The book, which had gone out of print, but had a five out of five star rating on Amazon.com, wasn’t so much about the white lies people tell or about husbands cheating on wives, but more about men who are imposters, claiming to be unmarried when they are married or pretending to be someone they’re not, which was a tremendous emotional help for Adams in dealing with what had happened to her.

She decided to contact Caldwell to tell her what an impact her book had made on her. “I was afraid she would think I was nuts when I called her,” laughs Adams, “but she was so nice. She was very open and easy to talk to.”

Eventually, as they continued talking over time, they decided to produce a new edition of

Brittany Barnett

These are some of the opening lines from the book, Romantic Deception: The Six Signs He’s Lying, written by Dr. Sally Caldwell and a Sayre, Pennsylvania, resident, Darlene E. Adams.

Fifty-three year old Adams is not a stupid or desperate woman. She’s tall, blonde, successful, and self-assured. She has an M.B.A. from Northeastern University and a Certificate in Professional Investigation from Boston University. After a nice upbringing in Sayre, Pennsylvania, she moved to Boston, Massachusettes, when she was eighteen. In 1988, she started her own advertising company from the ground up, and by 2003, she was able to sell it at a lucrative price.

In 2007, when she was forty-nine, after never having married and sacrificing many things to build her business, she was ready to meet someone special, a man who could be her companion and partner throughout life.

She met a man on the Internet dating site Match.com, and they began emailing. Two weeks later, in May, 2007, they met in person.

He was fifty-five, good-looking, had never been married either, drove a BMW 7 Series, and said he owned a rental property and fifty percent of his own company. He lived in an apartment, he told Adams, because he didn’t have a family, and he was married to his business and rarely home.

Adams loved that they had so much in common. She met his parents, brothers, and sisters. Things moved quickly. Four months after meeting, they were engaged. It was romantic to her that she and her new love had never been married before because, it seemed, they had never met the right person—until they had met each other. It felt special, like the beginning of a wonderful new life.

But in October, a month after becoming engaged, things started to unravel. The first incident was more bizarre than disturbing, but sent up red flags nevertheless. Adams and her fiancé were looking at possible wedding venues, and at one venue there was a wedding that was about to start. Adams noticed that the bride had bought a special pen and signin guest book, which was displayed near the door as she and her fiancé were leaving.

Out in the parking lot, her fiancé pulled out the pen and said, “Look at the promotional pen I just got.” Adams knew at once it was the bride’s pen she had just seen and told him to put it back. Her fiancé admitted it and said that he had taken the pen by mistake. He

To learn more about Romantic Deception: The Six Signs He’s Lying, by Dr. Sally Caldwell (above), you can visit the website at www.romanticdeception.com.

Romantic Deception: The Six Signs He’s Lying. In the new edition, which came out in November 2010, Adams wrote a “Survival Guide” section, which tells people how they can conduct their own investigations on people they believe are deceiving them, using public records and the Internet. The Survival Guide also offers advice from other women who have been through romantic deception, exercises to try at the start of a relationship, and resources for the early detection of a romantic liar.

Adams also acts as publicist for the book and updates a blog about the subject as new information surfaces on more ways to research people.

“I know it may feel unromantic to check out the claims of a love interest,” says Adams, “but you wouldn’t buy a car or a house without researching it first, would you? You wouldn’t merge your finances with another company without checking them out. I just want people to be careful.”

And with good reason. Romantic deception can turn dangerous. In Caldwell and Adams’ book, there are questions for people who are in a new relationship with someone who they think might be deceiving them: Does the relationship strike you as almost too good to be true? Does he know far more about you than you know about him? Does he want to know everything about your past relationships? Is he often in situations where you can’t reach him? Are you still waiting for him to give you a home telephone number? Do you spend almost all of your free time with him? Do you spend most of your time together by yourselves? Has he been able to keep you away from his home or place of work? Are you still waiting to meet his family or friends?

Consider the deeper peril in the book’s next list of questions for people who have been involved in a relationship for longer with someone they think might be deceiving them: If you question him, does he turn the tables on you and doubt your trust in him? Is he critical of you? Is he critical of your friends and family or has he limited your contact with them? Does he call you several times a day to see what you’re doing? Is he calling frequently to ask what your plans are or where you might be going? Has he been critical of your job or has he asked you to quit your job? Have you been the object of physical or verbal abuse? Does he ever go into a rage at the slightest provocation or for no apparent reason? Are you always walking on eggshells to prevent any further abuse? Does he abuse drugs or alcohol? Does he show signs of unwarranted jealousy?

But there’s hope for anyone who fears they

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may be in a deceptive relationship. Caldwell and Adams’ book shares the stories of over a hundred real women who have had bouts of romantic deception—and how they were able to get out of the relationships and move through and past the harm that had been done to them. The book outlines the types of lies men tell, the six warning signs that they may be lying, and concrete steps on what to do about it, including Adams’ Survival Guide.

“Each case,” Caldwell writes, referring to the many stories of real women that are included in the book, “has its own peculiar twist and turn, yet there are remarkable similarities across the stories—how the relationship got started, what the men lied about, the strategies they used in spinning their lies, and how they reacted when they were eventually confronted. There were also remarkable similarities in how the women felt when they realized they’d been deceived.”

“It seems easy to sit back and judge women who fall for this type of man,” says Adams, “but they just want to believe that the men are for real.

It’s happened to me. You just want to believe them, so you do.”

In many parts of the book, it’s addressed that women tend to be hard on themselves after they discover the truth about their deceptive partners, asking themselves again and again, “Why didn’t I know what was going on?” But there are a few things to remember. First, men who operate on this level of deception have been deceiving people for a long time, they’ve had plenty of practice, and they’re good at it.

Second, the deception reflects the flawed character of the deceiver and not the deceived.

Third, as Adams points out, “Victims of romantic deception come in many forms and are not necessarily lonely women longing for companionship. Secure, strong, independent individuals can become victims, too.”

Caldwell agrees: “The women that I interviewed were from all walks of life, and there were significant differences in their backgrounds.

I heard from women who’d grown up in modest circumstances; I heard from others who’d enjoyed far more. Some of the victims were highly educated and working in lucrative careers; others were struggling.

“Ask me who’s vulnerable to romantic deception, and high on my list will be the woman who was raised right. Show me a woman who believes in honesty, and I’ll show you a woman who finds it hard to even imagine that she could get mixed up with a big-time liar. Show me a woman who places a premium on honesty in a relationship, and I’ll show you a vulnerable target.”

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In an empathetic, amused way, Caldwell finishes her point, “We’re programmed in society to be nice. If you’re on a first date with a man and he says that he’s divorced, most of us won’t respond, ‘The hell you say!’”

“It’s also important,” continues Caldwell, “to realize how many women this has happened to. I’ve done academic research on the topic for years, been on television and radio, and have heard from many people on the subject. And I have a theory that everyone has either been a victim of romantic deception or knows someone who has.”

To help avoid the trap of romantic deception, Caldwell points out some myths about romantic liars: “Many people assume that romantic liars are drop-dead gorgeous and live life in the fast lane. But many are not extremely good-looking and can be blue collar.” Also, it’s a mistake to think only people who date online are vulnerable to romantic deception. There are many ways you can meet a romantic liar. They have been operating successfully since long before computers existed.

Adams’ life has settled back down since her trouble with romantic deception. She’s certainly made it a lemonade-out-of-lemons experience. She’s also returned to Sayre to take care of her elderly parents, and she loves living again in the area where she grew up after thirty-four years of living in Boston.

She has found forgiveness for her old fiancé: “Although some people who act as

imposters do it maliciously, I don’t think he did. I think he just had low self-esteem, and he built himself up to impress me. But no one can build a relationship on lies because, in the end, you just don’t know what to believe anymore.”

Thoughtfully, she adds, “If he had been honest with me from the beginning about some of the difficult situations he’d found himself in financially, we might have been able to work it out.”

It’s also clear that she’s not bitter towards men in general. In fact, she freely admits women can lie as easily as men. She smiles, “I haven’t seen a lot of examples of women presenting themselves as imposters, but, if anyone has any stories about that, please email me with them.” She pauses, “Maybe that will be my next book!”

Caldwell also hasn’t written off men or romance. In the closing pages of Romantic Deception, she writes, “There will always be a significant proportion of the population going about dating and mate selection with a commitment to honesty—people who know that real intimacy is always based on honesty and truthfulness. There will always be men of character and integrity, secure enough in their own identities that they have no interest in creating illusions for themselves or those around them.”

In other words, there’s still much hope for love, for everyone. Happy Valentines Day!

Looking Back

Ten Little Girls Grow Up Joyce M. Tice

courtesy Joyce M. Tice

A

century ago in Mansfield ten little girls had a party. The photographer, Mr. Bates, was invited to photograph them. A hundred years later the picture, with their cheerful and optimistic faces, found its way back to Mansfield in the album of Helen Wood. She had thankfully written the girls’ names on the back.

Looking at the lives of these little girls has yielded some surprises. All the girls were born between 1897 and 1899. Dorcas Schwartz remains undiscovered. Loraine Ballard moved to Elmira with her parents and was working in a factory in 1920. Nothing more is known.

The remaining eight, however, were easily tracked. They lived from seventy-five to ninety-four years with an average life of almost eighty-seven years, well beyond the life expectancy of fifty-one years for female babies born in the 1890s. Five of the women are buried in Mansfield.

These girls were part of the first generation to have the opportunity to go to high school. The first Mansfield High School class graduated in 1913. All eight of these girls graduated between 1915 and 1917 when the school was still new. All eight also graduated from Mansfield State Normal School between 1918 and 1920 with a twoyear teaching certificate. Of those eight, five went on to earn Bachelor’s degrees at universities, as well as two Master’s degrees and one Ph.D. Three of the women never married and one, Maryon Farrer, didn’t marry until age sixty-five, after she retired. Careers and marriage did not mix for this generation of women. Nationally, forty percent of collegeeducated women of this period remained single. As public school teachers, women were almost universally dismissed when they married. In August 1920, just after the last of them graduated from M.S.N.S.,

Front row: l to r, Ivah Shepard, Dorothy Hoard, Lorraine Ballard. Second row: l to r, Elinor Schipbanker, Ruth Decker, Helen Wood. Back row: l to r, Elizabeth Littley, Dorcas Schwartz, Maryon Farrer, Janice Clark.

the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, making these women part of the first generation of American women to vote in national elections.

Elinor Schipbanker and Ivah Shepard graduated from Syracuse University and taught on Long Island. Helen Wood graduated from Elmira College and taught in Galeton and on Long Island. Dorothy Hoard taught music and art in Palmyra, New York, and at Mansfield State Teachers College. Maryon Farrer graduated from Simmons College and earned her master’s degree at Columbia University. She taught home economics at Mansfield State Teachers College until her retirement in 1960.

Ruth Decker earned a master’s degree from George Washington University and a Ph.D. in psychology from the National University of Washington, D.C. By 1933 she was teaching in Kansas City, Missouri.

These girls were exceptional members of their generation. Janice Clark was the last to die in 1994 at age ninety-four.

Joyce M. Tice is the creator of the Tri-Counties Genealogy and History Web site (www.joycetice. com/jmtindex.htm). She can be reached at lookingback@mountainhomemag.com.

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O U t d o O rs

Snow Much Fun

Potter County’s “Rodeo in the Snow” draws snowmobile enthusiasts

E

ven after Mother Nature dumps twenty-four inches of white slop on North-Central Pennsylvania, there are those who say the weather outside is delightful. And for members of the Potter County Snowmobile Club, that sentiment is absolutely believable, and never less so than as they prepare to host the 24th annual “Rodeo in the Snow” February 4, 5, and 6.

Snowmobile enthusiasts from all over the state will gather to participate in events and see all the latest gear from vendors on Saturday– including the newest sleds. Vendors this year include Lake Country Motor Sports, Mansfield; Larry’s Sport Center, Galeton; and Howard’s Inc., Coudersport.

Jon Blass, club president, is looking forward to a snowy event this year. Friday at 7 p.m. the weekend opens with a Family Trail Ride starting at the clubhouse on Sweden Valley Road at the top of Sweden Hill, Coudersport. The kitchen will be open for food and fun afterward.

The Radar Run on Saturday is an individual competition against the clock. A two-dollar entry fee is seed for a 50/50 drawing at the end of the race, so even the slowest rider has a chance to win. Vendors will demonstrate their wares and offer demo rides. Blass said past events have attracted hundreds of participants, and over the years the weekend has evolved into a social occasion as much a sporting event, as people with this common interest gather in the clubhouse, swap stories 14

By Deb Plummer and discuss the latest gear.

Blass and the area clubs emphasized their appreciation to area land owners who allow the trails to cross their properties. He also reminds riders to treat this land with respect in order to keep the numerous trails open. Hundreds of miles of trails are kept groomed by volunteers.

Other Potter County clubs include the West End Trail Blazers, Roulette; Southern Potter County Snowmobile Club, Austin; God’s Country Black Forest Snowmobile Club, Germania; and the Potter County Trailbusters, Shinglehouse. The state has three groomers running in Potter County. The Potter County Snowmobile Club has two. The Roulette club has one, while the Southern Potter group operates two and Germania, one.

Snowmobiling is one of the most exciting ways to experience Potter County’s snow-lined backcountry in winter. There are a number of eateries along the trail, making for a fun family or group outing. It is a sport that can be enjoyed by all family members, young and old; and one of the few sports that doesn’t really require any particular level of fitness—just a love of the outdoors and freshly fallen snow.

Events are geared to novice as well as experienced riders. If you have never been on a snowmobile, you’ll be hooked after participating in this event!

Deb Bliss Plummer is a freelance writer and graphic designer from Genesee, Pennsylvania.

An abridged listing of area snowmobile clubs Pennsylvania State Snowmobile Association 888-441-7772 Pasnow.org God’s Country/Black Forest Snowmobile Club 814-435-2139 godscountrysnowmobileclub.com Potter County Snowmobile Club 814-274-9639 pcscriders.com Trail Tamers Snowmobile Club 607-937-5614 trailtamer-snowclub.com Pennsylvania Grand Canyon Snowmobile Club 570-724-2888 pagrandcanyonsnowmobileclub.com Cameron County Snowmobile Association ccsariders.com Southern Potter Snowmobile Club 814-260-9582 southernpottersnowmobileclub.org The Trail Busters Snowmobile Club 315-336-1727 trailbusters.net West End Trailblazers, Inc 814-544-7353 westendtrailblazers.com Hyner Mountain Snowmobile Club 570-769-7648 hynermountainsnowmobileclub.com

Outdoors

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Outdoors

The Lunker

Getting Un-Hitched Fred Metarko

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16

he fishing season was coming to a close for the year and as usual we hate to put away our rods and reels. Evan Perry suggested that we should try for some smallmouth bass action, as they tend to turn on late in the season.

Keuka Lake was our destination of choice and we put in at the Branchport launch on the north end of the lake. All went well as we started fishing the docks along the west bank. It was past mid-day and our plan was to fish close to dusk if we were having any success at all.

Most of the docks were holding fish and the action was great. We were pulling multiple smallies in from each dock and even the areas between them. There were many doubles as we kept catching and releasing nice fish. The more we caught the more we continued to fish.

Being caught up in the action, we lost track of time and then realized it was getting quite dark. We had fished down past the point and were a good distance down the lake. Fishing around the docks we could see to cast and navigate as most docks had good lighting around them.

We were catching fish and didn’t want to quit, but it was now dark and late. Evan started the outboard; we moved to the center of the lake and headed for the launch.

We were the only boat on the water.

As we raced along, our lights, the dock lights, and the stars lit up the night.

After the long run we reached the launch area. There was one lone boat, with their navigation lights on, sitting in the area.

Evan pulled to the dock and I went to back the tow vehicle and trailer down

the ramp. He drove the boat onto the trailer and I hooked the strap. Slowly pulling ahead I heard a loud crash and scraping sound and jammed on the breaks. Evan yelled, “What was that, what happened?�

The hitch had come out of the receiver and the trailer tongue hit the cement.

The hitch pin was missing! The safety chains were the only things keeping the trailer from rolling into the water.

During the excitement the other boat immediately raced from the area.

We managed to get the trailer hooked up by using a large screwdriver and wire as a hitch pin. Then we checked an older truck and trailer in the lot and noticed the pin clip was missing, but the rustedin hitch pin was still there. We left a note for them to check the pin.

Many stops were made on the way home to check our makeshift pin.

We figured someone wanted a little excitement, pulled the pin, and waited around for the action.

FYI, now we use locking hitch and coupling pins.

The Lunker is a member of the Tioga County Bass Anglers (www.tiogacountybassanglers.com).

Contact him at lunker@mountainhomemag.com.

Outdoors

Now’s The Time To Grow Your Business.

Our area is experiencing rapid growth. Is your business ready to capitalize on it? We have a complete suite of business financing options including start-up loans, loans to renovate and expand your current business, term loans, lines of credit and much more.

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Toll-free: 1-877-838-2517 Ask to speak to one of our commercial lending specialists.

Member FDIC Loans are subject to credit approval.

17

&

S oul

Courtesy Robert Packer Hospital

B o d y

Two For The Heart

A pair of area hospitals make the cardiovascular grade

18

was recently recognized as one of the top fifty cardiovascular hospitals in the nation. The recognition comes from Thomson Reuters, a leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals.

This is the seventh time Thomson Reuters has recognized the Sayre hospital with the honor. Williamsport (Pa.) Regional Medical Center, part of the Susquehanna Health network, made the list for the first time this year. Also for the first time, the Thomson Reuters’ cardiovascular hospitals study singled out fifty hospitals rather than the traditional practice of naming 100 winners.

The study, in its 12th year, examined the performance of 1,022 hospitals in treating patients with heart failure and heart attacks, along with those who received coronary bypass surgery and angioplasties.

“This is an outstanding honor,” said Marie Droege, president of Robert Packer Hospital and CEO for the Guthrie Healthcare System.

Sharon Winn, administrative director of the heart program for Susquehanna

courtesy Jane Klarman

N

o one suggested that Jane Klarman was suffering from indigestion that spring day in 2006 when chest pain took her to the emergency room of Robert Packard Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania. No one sent her home with orders to follow up with her doctor. No one assumed anything.

The doctors immediately admitted her, ran tests and then performed triple-bypass surgery. They did it without hesitation, without concern that her eighty-two years of life might skew the hospital’s stellar statistics when it comes to heart patients, without suggesting that someone her age might prefer a less risky, but also less effective, procedure.

Success rates were not an issue.

“I don’t think they ever even considered that,” said Klarman, who is now eighty-seven and still living independently in her Westfield, Pennsylvania, home. “They were wonderful.

I’ve always had good treatment there.”

Given her experience, Klarman was not surprised to hear that Robert Packard Hospital, part of Guthrie Healthcare System,

By Lori Duffy Foster

Above: Former heart patient Jane Klarman with her 10-year-old great niece McKenna Morehouse.

Top: L to R, Daniel Sporn, MD, Chief, Cardiology; Bonnie Onofre, RN, RPH Chief Nursing Officer; Dwight Stapleton, MD, Chief, Cardiovascular Services; Marie Droege, RPH President and GHS COO; and Barry Esrig, MD, Chief, Cardiothoracic Surgery, pose with the Nov. 15, 2010, copy of Modern Healthcare magazine.

Health, attributed the Williamsport hospital’s success to a team approach that starts in the field with first responders, then moves on to the emergency department See Organica on page 18

Body & soul

Hills Creek State Park Wellsboro, PA Feb. 19, 2011 10 am - 3 pm Free Family Fun!

courtesy barbara cole

More info: www.wellsbororecreation.org

19

Body & soul

the One

& Only Pennsylvania Home Show!

The 2011 Showcase Home SOLD to the Highest Bidder on Sunday, March 13!

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Organica continued from page 16

and, finally, to the cauterizations lab for balloon intervention when necessary. The hospital’s door-to-balloon times averaged forty-seven minutes for the last quarter ending December 30, she said. “We follow our patients every step of the way,� Winn said.

Patients can boost statistics at all hospitals by recognizing the signs of heart trouble.

Dr. John M. Burks, Susquehanna’s medical director of cardiology, said it’s important to be on the look-out for these heart attack symptoms: severe chest tightness or pain; sometimes jaw, shoulder, or back pain; severe shortness of breath; uncommon fatigue (in women, especially) with no other cause; severe indigestion; unexpected lightheadedness; and sweating.

Burks said patients can help themselves before professional help arrives by calling 911, chewing and swallowing an aspirin, staying calm, and avoiding exertion. It’s best to err on the side of caution, he said. “No one ever died from gastric acid reflux that they thought might be a heart attack and for which they sought help, but cemeteries are full of people who died from a heart attack that ‘had to be just indigestion,’� he said.

The American Heart Association suggests preventing heart attacks with healthy diets, lower stress, exercise, weight loss, smoking cessation, and the right dietary fats and oils. Visitors to the Heart Association website (www.heart.org) can evaluate their lifestyles with the My Life Check Assessment tool.

Klarman has been fortunate. Her heart has given her no trouble since her surgery and her cardiologist insists on appointments at least every six months just to make sure. She said she’s always been impressed by the Guthrie staff, especially her own cardiologist, who works in Wellsboro. “She’s thorough and careful and you have the impression she has your welfare at heart,� she said. “Some doctors just want to rush you through, but they don’t do that.

They’ve always answered my questions.

They are good that way.�

Lori Duffy Foster writes in Knoxville, Pennsylvania, where she lives with her husband and four children.

20

Body & soul

The Better World

Emblem of Civility John & Lynne Diamond-Nigh

I

have a picture of a door-knocker on my desktop. A reminding emblem of civility.

It’s a large brass ring, with two serpents coiling symmetrically upward, their heads at the top looking outward in opposite directions—a marvel of workmanship that might have come from the hands of a Renaissance goldsmith.

You might take it for a circular caduceus —that emblem of twining serpents that has served so long as a symbol of medical well-being. You might take it as a double dose of wickedness. But the serpents are not the point here; rather, their perfect symmetry is.

When I used to teach 3-D design, that’s where I started—symmetry, a principle that reaches back through the Romans, the Greeks, the Egyptians, into the first mists of time. Among several projects, my students made a symmetrical marble chute. Down its twin zig-zags two marbles must run, passing through tiny ferris wheels and other mechanical elements, arriving at the end within a second or two of each other. The studio quickly became a room-sized abdomen of marble-rushing intestines.

As any woman putting on earrings knows, symmetry signifies balance, composure, order, beauty. It is the geometry of democracy; every state capital that I’ve ever seen in the U.S. is an example of immaculate symmetry. It is never a big step from civics to civility, but even so, why is this door-knocker so apt an emblem for civility?

Complementarity is a fancy academic word and, before you think we’re slipping into the fuzzy argot of the social sciences, it simply means that the friction of opposites is often essential for progress.

Man, woman; Democrat, Republican; child, parent; darkness, light; mysticism, science. A misperception of civility is that it always wants accord. Not so.

In fact it shines brightest as the genial handmaiden of that friction. Think of conversation. What’s best? Someone who nods like a bobble-head doll, or someone whose alternate opinion opens your eyes to fresh possibilities?

A recent piece in The New York Times, called “The Happy Marriage is the Me Marriage,” lays out recent research showing that great marriages are those in which your partner’s differences complement you, restlessly stimulating you to grow, expand, cross new frontiers.

“The more expansion people experience from their partner, the more committed they are.” That’s symmetry.

In Judaism, the snake matters too.

In the Garden of Eden, it altered, challenged, expanded, even gave us, our humanity.

That’s symmetry, too.

John writes about art and design at serialboxx. blogspot.com. Lynne’s website, aciviltongue. com, is dedicated to civility studies.

21

ARTS & LEISURE

Mountain Home Winter JazzFest Ed Clute headlines return of jazz weekend

By Matt Connor

T

he popular Mountain Home Winter JazzFest is back, and so is Finger Lakes legend Ed Clute!

Clute, the brilliant blind pianist from Watkins Glen, and his Dixie 5+ will rock the Penn Wells Hotel on Main Street in Wellsboro at 8 p.m. Saturday, February 26. Local blues guitarist Michael Tester will lead the Michael Tester Band at 5 p.m. Saturday in the hotel lobby.

The jazz weekend kicks off at 9 p.m.

Friday at The Wellsboro House as the popular Oswego Jazz Project takes the restaurant-bar stage. It concludes on Sunday in the Penn Wells Hotel as local talent will jam during brunch in the hotel dining room.

22

Tickets are $15 for Clute and his Dixieland band, and $10 for the Oswego Jazz Project concert at the Wellsboro House, or a bargain $20 for both nights (dinner or drinks not included in the price). Like some jam with your brunch toast? There’s no cover charge for the Michael Tester Band or the popular Sunday brunch time jazz jam at the hotel (9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.) that draws such local talent as pianist and Mountain Home columnist Pat Davis to play with JazzFest musicians.

The jazz weekend is now a charity fundraiser for the Endless Mountain Music Festival, the classical music extravaganza that comes to Wellsboro, Mansfield, and surrounding points in August, said

Mountain Home editor and publisher Teresa Banik Capuzzo. Mountain Home sponsors the jazz weekend with Indigo Wireless and Wellsboro Imaging.

In previous years the Mountain Home JazzFest raised thousands of dollars for local charities like Second Chance Animal Sanctuary and the Wellsboro Food Pantry.

“This year, we’ve decided to make the Mountain Home JazzFest a permanent fundraiser for the Endless Mountain Music Festival,” Capuzzo said. “We want maestro Steven Gunzenhauser to keep bringing some of the world’s greatest musicians to the area every summer for his wonderful, classical music concerts.”

See JazzFest on page 24

l Corporate l Business Law l Job Injuries l Workers’ Compensation l Wills & Trusts l Estate Administration l Social Security/ Disability l Home Owner’s Claims

l Personal Injury Claims l Auto Accidents l Criminal Defense (including DUI) l Dental, Medical Negligence l Family Law l Divorce & Custody l Residential/Commercial Real Estate Law

23

COURTESY MICHAEL TESTER

JazzFest continued from page 22

The Michael Tester Band (from left): Michael Tester, guitar; Bretta Fabian, vocals; Bryan Neff, drums; Don Vought, bass; Jon Neff, sax.

“It’s a win-win for music lovers and for the community,” Capuzzo added. “These guys all packed the house the last time we had them in town.”

Clute and his Dixie 5+ have been playing in the Finger Lakes area for more than three decades. Clute is a lifelong resident of Watkins Glen who plays piano and is the leader of the band, which includes Fran Morgan on saxophone, Bob Cowl on trumpet, John Travis on trombone, Charlie Hawthorne on tuba, and Brad Chamberlain on drums.

Michael Tester’s band consists of Tester on guitar with vocalist Bretta Fabian, Don Vought on bass, and Bryan Neff on drums. The Oswego Jazz Project features State University of New York–Oswego faculty member Robert Auler on piano.

Wellsboro architectural designer Bob Williams “started the Mountain Home JazzFest in 2008 by coming to us with the simple idea that he wanted to brighten February by listening to good music with some friends,” Capuzzo said. “It was a stroke of genius. The last simple idea Bob had became Dickens of a Christmas, which now, decades later, brings tens of thousands of visitors to Wellsboro in December.”

Tickets for this year’s Mountain Home Winter JazzFest are available at all Indigo Wireless locations, via 570-787-JAZZ, or www.indigowireless.com.Visit www.mountainhomemag. com or call 570-724-3838 for more information.

The Schedule: Friday February 25 at The Wellsboro House: The Oswego Jazz Project, 9 p.m. For dinner reservations at the Wellsboro House, call 570-723-HOUSE. Saturday February 26 at the Penn Wells Hotel: The Michael Tester Band in the lobby at 5 p.m., Ed Clute’s Dixie 5+ in the dining room at 8 p.m. The Penn Wells will have their regular dinner menu available from 5 to 8 p.m., and a special JazzFest menu from 8 to 10 p.m. (check it out at www.pennwells. com). Call 570-724-2111 for dinner reservations.

Sunday February 27 brunch at the Penn Wells Hotel: Jazz jam with JazzFest musicians 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Call 570724-2111 for brunch reservations.

24

25

F oo d

&

Drin k

Read & Feed

Café Society Cornelius O’Donnell

Photography by Ken Meyer

A

harsh winter wind beats against the tall café windows, stenciled West End Market, Since 1902, but inside it’s warm and filled with local people, the hum of soft music and chatter, the pleasing smells of good local food.

“We want to celebrate the great local bounty,” said Jenny Connelly, who with her husband Kevin, Director of Operations for Acorn markets (no relation to the West End), opened the independent café at 152 Main Street in Wellsboro in June 2010.

With a cozy fifteen seats under the high tin ceilings (and eight additional seats on the front porch, weather permitting) Jenny has brilliantly turned Wellsboro’s oldest continually operating market (103 years give or take a few fallow years waiting for a new creative hand) back to the future.

West End combines sustainable, organically raised local foods with the old-fashioned friendliness for which the market was always known in times gone by.

Breakfast this morning features a scrumptious bacon, egg, and cheddar mini piti pocket ($3.50) with eggs from the twenty-eight freerange chickens on the twenty-acre Chatham farm of journalist Gayle Morrow, Jenny’s cochef and counterwoman; organic bacon; and organic sharp cheddar from Pagomar market just outside Wellsboro.

Today’s soup is a chipotle chicken (organic, humanely raised meat from Hillstone Farms in Wellsboro) with organic blue corn chips (an 8-ounce cup for $3.50, a 14-ounce bowl for $6). An entrée today is green enchiladas See Anderson on page 34

26

FOOD & DRINK

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Food & Drink

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Anderson continued from page 22

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28

with a side salad ($5 gets you a hearty “2-handful serving,” and $8 gets you simply “more,” and the servings are anything but minimalist).

Steaming coffee (light, medium, and bold blends, fair-trade beans) roasted by Heavenly Cup up the road in Painted Post, New York, is lightened by milk and cream from the Milky Way Dairy Farm over in Troy. Mouth-watering apple dumplings come from across the street, baked by neighbor Katie Miller, who with Gayle fills a glass case with sensational scones, brownies, and other baked goods. The excellent biscotti are made by Mama Chisari in Athens (the only baked goods not made in house).

This emphasis on local and fresh is no surprise, given Jenny Connelly’s background. She has a degree in Human Sustainability and Holistic Health from Empire State College (part of SUNY). She was a personal chef as a service to clients who wished to eat healthier. No stranger to “café society” she also helped a friend who opened a coffee shop in Syracuse.

After Jenny and Kevin moved from Syracuse in 2009, they began a lovely renovation of the old market, including the sprawling home upstairs where the Connellys live as other market owners have since 1910, when the second floor was added. (The dance studio remains in

business in the back on the first floor).

Jenny immediately started the “prep” work for the café, searching for suppliers, farms, and growers that exemplified the movement to produce local as opposed to foodstuffs produced who-knows-where and shipped long distances.

The café has the happy atmosphere of a labor of love. I can tell you that apron-clad Gayle makes a mean mixed-vegetable soup with biscuits. Pam Shipe helps out. Caleb Hallead, a student in the Wellsboro High’s culinary program, and son of Wellsboro First Presbyterian pastor Glen Hallead, lends a hand. So does Jess Ripley.

The business is open all day for weekday breakfast at 7:30. Weekdays it closes at 6:30 p.m. with the exception of Fridays when the café stays open until 8. Saturday hours are 8 to 3. Check out the market web site, westendmarketcafe.wordpress. com, designed by daughter Eden Connelly.

“We aim to provide a place of nourishment and respite, celebrating local flavors of food and creativity,” Jenny writes.

The Café walls are hung with rotating examples of the work of local artists. That’s another homey touch. Want to dine well, in a charming atmosphere? Try the West End Market Café.

Chef, teacher, and author Cornelius O’Donnell lives in Corning, New York.

Food & Drink

Finger Lakes Wine Review

Truffles and Tastes

By Holly Howell

F

ebruary is my favorite “antioxidant” month! Yes, those wonderful little molecules have been linked to good health and to the prevention of cancer and heart disease. And it just so happens that polyphenolic antioxidants can be found in two of my favorite things—chocolate and red wine.

So it’s no wonder that the two go so well together. And thanks to a local artisanal chocolate producer, you will be able to enjoy them both in one magical bite of goodness. Hedonist Artisan Chocolate of Rochester, New York (www. hedonistchocolates.com) has taken “hedonism” to a whole new level. They have partnered with the Keuka Lake Wine Trail for the third year in a row to present a special collection of hand-made truffles infused with some of the uniquely crafted wines of Keuka Lake.

I had the ultimate pleasure of sitting in on the creative session that produced this year’s assortment of truffles. Along with Hedonist owner Jennifer Posey and Keuka Lake representatives Erin Rafalowski and Jim Alsina, we dedicated a good part of an afternoon to finding the “perfect” combinations of flavors between chocolate and wine. It was extremely difficult work, but we all happily agreed on these final winners.

Heron Hill Eclipse (a meritage blend of Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, and Merlot) was pure heaven paired with a cranberry-pecan dark chocolate cluster.

Dr. Frank Cabernet Sauvignon rocked with a black currant and pepper truffle.

Stever Hill Vineyards Mae’s Rosé was divine with a heart-shaped white chocolate flavored with thyme and pistachio (my personal favorite).

Hunt Country Vidal Blanc Ice Wine

Shop: Hedonist Artisan Chocolates Address: 674 South Ave., Rochester, NY Phone: (585) 461-2815 Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Website: www. hedonistchocolates. com or www.keukawinetrail.com

met its soul-mate with a visually stunning dried apricot-cherry white chocolate.

Ravines Wine Cellars Meritage melted in our mouths with a classic bittersweet dark truffle dusted with cocoa powder.

McGregor Winery Black Russian Red (a smoky and rich signature blend of the Russian grapes Saperavi and Sereksiya) paired amazingly well with a dark molasses dark chocolate truffle.

Barrington Cellars Concord seemed made for a milk chocolate with creamy Virginia peanuts (think of the most delicious peanut butter and jelly you’ve ever had).

Keuka Spring Merlot absolutely sang with “Raspberry Crunch,” a semi-sweet chocolate enrobed in dark chocolate and topped with dried raspberries and cocoa nibs.

Yes, these eight delightful combinations will make my month of February much more enjoyable. If you’d like to taste them all, visit Keuka Lake for their annual “Truffles and Tastes” event on February 12-13, 2011.

For the $27 ticket price, you get a full box of the truffles, a souvenir wine glass, and the chance to visit each of the wineries for and taste over thirty-two wines paired with sweet and savory foods. It’ll be a food and wine lover’s paradise!

Holly is a CSW (Certified Specialist of Wine) through the Society of Wine Educators and a CS (Certified Sommelier) through the Master Court of Sommeliers in England; Contact her at wineanddine@mountainhomemag.com.

29

HOME & REAL ESTATE

Labor of Love

The pleasures of keeping a Victorian home

I

t was June of 1986, and I was walking to summer session courses at Lock Haven University from my downtown apartment. Each day I’d take a different route to class via the three parallel streets—Main, Church and Water—that run from the east end of town to the college campus, and I’d often stop and admire the massive old Victorian homes in the historic district, built in the previous century with vast lumber money.

On this day, and in front of a charming brick house on West Water Street, I saw a woman kneeling on the brickwork front walk, a pair of canvas work gloves on her hands, pulling weeds from between the bricks. I paused for a moment to admire the house and told the woman, “You have a lovely home.”

“I know,” she answered slyly, and we both chuckled over the remark before I went on my way to World History with Dr. Donald Day and Philosophy 101 with Dr. Howie Congdon.

Eighteen years later, in 2004, I would purchase that same house in Lock Haven, and while the years since then have been beset by financial and health challenges, few things have given me deeper pleasure than keeping that lovely Victorian home on West Water Street.

30

By Matt Connor This has been a huge surprise to me, because frankly I had until recently been someone perfectly satisfied in a low-rent apartment with reproduction movie posters on the walls and wooden crates for bookshelves.

But on a recent Friday, my partner showed up on the doorstep with two beautiful, framed and mounted Audubon prints he’d purchased at auction for $10 each. He hung them in the front parlor, and as I stood back to admire them I was struck by a sudden epiphany: this sort of thing had become enormously satisfying. Who knew that getting a bargain on a piece of artwork or an antique buffet—and then finding the perfect location for it—could be so much goddamn fun?

Not me, that’s for sure.

Admittedly, when I was in college I’d gape at the elegant homes in the historic district and tell myself, “I’m going to own one of these houses one day.” But of course at the time I could not have imagined the energy and resources required for a house like this one. Those lessons are learned very quickly, and either one adjusts to the reality—and the winter heating bills—and rolls with them or sells one’s house and moves into a vinyl-sided development with as much character

as an IKEA floor lamp.

So my partner and I haunt auctions and estate sales in search of interesting features and furnishings with which to enhance our old house, and feel a surge of happiness when we find a spot for a new purchase that is so appropriate that it looks like it’s always been there.

It’s really not the kind of thing from which I ever thought I’d draw pleasure, but here I am at midlife carrying on a love affair with a piece of architecture.

As for the previous owner of the house —the lady in the canvas work gloves whom I encountered during my college years—she has since become an acquaintance, and I see her around town when she’s in the area to visit relatives. During one occasion when I had perhaps had one too many glasses of chardonnay, I recounted to her the story of my first encounter with her in 1986, an encounter she’d long forgotten but appreciated greatly in the re-telling.

Since then we’ve shared a kind of inside joke between us. She’ll see me on some Lock Haven sidewalk and immediately tell me I have a lovely home.

“I know,” I’ll say slyly.

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M ar k et P lace Shop Around the Corner

The Shoe Fits

By Dawn Bilder

Photography by Ken Meyer

A

bout three years ago, forty-three year old Wellsboro, Pennsylvania, resident Tami Lewis found herself with both of her children in high school. All of a sudden, her kids weren’t home much, grabbing dinner with friends or pulled away to afterschool activities, and she learned the difficult truth in author Robert Cormier’s famous quip, “You teach your kids to be self-sufficient and independent, and they double cross you and become selfsufficient and independent.”

She had done a great job as a mom, but now she was being given some new room in her life for a new challenge. The only question was: What would the challenge be?

She had always had a ticklish dream of owning her own enterprise, and she was no stranger to business, co-owning Lewis Homes with her husband, Scott, along with his sister and her husband.

Tami ran accounting for Lewis Homes for seventeen years. But she wanted something of her own.

Enter Don Abplanalp, longtime friend of her husband’s, who had owned Garrison’s Shoe Store on Main Street in Wellsboro for twenty-eight years and was getting ready to retire. He didn’t want just anyone to buy his store. He wanted someone he could trust to do right by old and future customers, and he recognized in Tami the character and intelligence such an endeavor required.

In September, 2008, Tami bought Garrison’s and called her new enterprise In My Shoes.

In the short time of the interview for this story, many people—most of whom Tami greets warmly by first name—come in and 32

out of her store to purchase shoes, slippers, and boots. Tami has the personality, listening skills, and judgment to see right away what her customers need.

There is no “selling” in her sales. Her emphasis is on service, as demonstrated in her specific questions regarding her customers’ needs. There is an easiness in which she gets on the floor to help lace up boots that elevates, rather than lowers, her. It’s not hard to see how her maternal qualities were so easily channeled into running her own business.

With fourteen different brands of shoes represented in the women’s, men’s, and children’s sections, there’s something for everyone. “For women, there’re Naturalizer, Life Stride, Hush Puppies, Soft Style, and NAOT. There’re also Eastland, as well as Minnetonka moccasin slippers, for both men and women. There’s a great variety of soft and steel toe work boots for men in Carolina, Wolverine, and Red Wing brands.

And I’m always happy to special order.”

Nike and New Balance sneakers, snow boots, and some colorful rain boots cover a wonderful section for kids, which is equipped with a special miniature bench for children to try on shoes that Tami orders online. “The kids who come in like me,” Tami laughs, “because I encourage them to run around in their shoes when they try them on. That way I know the shoes feel right on their feet.

“I love that most of the shoes here are allleather. That’s unusual nowadays. For about twenty to thirty dollars more, people can buy all-leather shoes, which will conform to their feet for comfort and can look new

Shop: In My Shoes Owner: Tami Lewis Address: 85 Main St, Wellsboro, PA Store Hours: Mon-Thu 10-5, Fri 10-6, Sat 10-5, Closed Sun Email: myshoes@ptd.net

for years with shoe polish. In the end, it saves people a lot of money, discomfort, and hassle.”

It’s possible a touch of “Empty Nest Syndrome” never benefited Wellsboro Main Street—and all of our feet—as much as with Tami Lewis. Come feel what it’s like to be addressed by your first name, listened to, attended to, and to walk out happy in your purchase.

She has a little mother in her for all of us.

Marketplace marketplace

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ŠBill Crowell

B ac k of t h e M ountain

Snow horse

Photograph by Bill Crowell, www.budgetartist.com

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