28 minute read
Calendar
Little Falls
Local Fresh Thursdays - is a seasonal, hyper-local, open-air food market and a program of the Youth & Family Center Community Co-Op of Little Falls. This idea began as a way to cultivate relationships around fresh, local produce and other goods that contribute to the overall health of Little Falls. The summer market will be located at Burke Park/ Western Park Thursdays, June 17th – September 30th, from 4 pm – 7 pm
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July 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
Cruise In by Mike
Kicks off a summer of fun down at Rotary Park, each Thursday night from 5-8 pm during the months of June, July, and August.
Mike Bulger, organizer of the event stated, “It’s now called Cruise In by Mike, but used to be called Cruise In Little Falls Marina. We changed the name because we’re going to be doing a lot of other things. We’re cruising restaurants, drive-in theaters, anywhere we get an itch to go, we go.”
Bulger says it’s just a fun event that people can come to. “Anybody that owns a car, wants to see a car, drive a car. We hand keys over all the time.”
If you head down to the marina for the show, you can expect to be able to get something to eat, listen to music, look at the cars, and talk to the owners. “There will be 50/50 drawings and some prizes as well, including some special events that we’ll hold during the year.”
July 1, 8, 15, 22, & 29
Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs Home Games
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
Beginning on Thursday, July 1st, fans and sponsors of the Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs will enjoy live music in the 3rd base area from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. every Thursday night in July! In addition, to live music being played pregame, there will also be live music between innings. Music is provided by the local band Lower Tolpa. The Mohawk Valley DiamondDawgs strives first and foremost to be an affordable, family, friendly entertainment option for our community. All games start at 6:35 at Veterans Memorial Park.
July 1, 2, 6, 8, 9, 10, 13, 15, 17, 18, 21, 22, 24, 27, 29, 2021
MV Golf & Event Center Junior Golf League and Clinics
The MV Golf & Event Center is inviting junior golfers to a summer of fun with an option for both beginners and more experienced players. For the Junior Golf League, players are recommended to have some golf experience as the PGA Pro will only be helping to guide them. Beginners are welcome to join the Junior Golf Clinics where they will be instructed on the fundamentals of golf. Players need to bring their own equipment. To sign up, or for or more information please call 315-823-0330.
Junior Golf League
Wednesdays from 11:30am-2:00pm Ages 8-16 $75/Player (Covers the Summer)
July 7th, July 14th, July 21st, July 28th, August 4th, August 11th, August 18th, & August 25th
Junior Golf Clinics
Tuesdays & Thursdays (Two Sessions) Ages 3-14 $60/One Session or $95/ Both Sessions 2nd Group: 11:30am-1pm
Session Two: August 3rd, 5th, 10th, 12th, and 17th 1st Group: 9:30am-11am 2nd Group: 11:30am-1pm
Little Falls Youth and Family Center
Tom Carrig Memorial Golf Tournament and Golf for Life Youth Recognition Day 9:30 AM @ Henry Pelzer LF Municipal golf course on July 31
Final Day of registration for Fall Youth Co-ed Soccer League for grades K-6 @ Little Falls Youth & Family Center on July 30
Final Registration for August sessions of Youth Learn To Swim (all levels) @ Little Falls Youth & Family Center on July 30.
Little Falls Elks
The Brake from the Grind food truck will be here July 8th and 15th. They offer farm to truck items, steak, burgers, chicken, gluten free food and much more!
Ruth will be cooking up a fish fry and much more on the 16th from 5-8.
Joe will be there serving hot dogs with all the fixings July 22nd.
Chicken barbecue July 29th All from 4-8.
The Bar is open ThursdaySaturday except July 2nd and 3rd as we’re closed in observance of July 4th.
Little Falls Library
Reading: Deidre Sinnott / July 14 @ 2 PM
TASC Prep Class / Begins July 15th @ 9 AM
Make a Bracelet / July 23 @ 3:30
Homeschooling: Best Practices (via Zoom) / July 28 @ 1 PM @ 2 PM
Photography Contest for Kids / Deadline July 30th
Toddler Storytime / Tuesdays @ 10 AM
Spanish Class (via Zoom) / Wednesdays @ 11 AM
Creative Writing for Kids (via Zoom) / Mondays @ 5 PM
Mid Summer Night’s Picnic
July 15 - Sterzinar Park - Think Local is ready to hit the ground running with things reopening. Midsummer Night’s Picnic is coming so, follow them for details on Facebook.
Dolgeville
July 1 - Dolgeville Forward Meeting - 6 PM, George Ward Memorial Library
July 3 - Dolgeville Farmers’ Market - 9 AM - 1 PM - Corner of South Main and Cramer Lane
July 10 - Dolgeville Farmers’ Market - 9 AM - 1 PM - Corner of South Main and Cramer Lane
July 15 - Sip and Paint Dolgeville Forward Fundraiser - Community Pavilion - 6 PM - 8 PM (preregistration required)
July 17 - Dolgeville Farmers’ Market - 9 AM - 1 PM - Corner of South Main and Cramer Lane
July 24 - Dolgeville Farmers’ Market - 9 AM - 1 PM - Corner of South Main and Cramer Lane
July 31 - Dolgeville Farmers’ Market - 9 AM - 1 PM - Corner of South Main and Cramer Lane
If you would like to see your event listed here, please send your information to:
A phone booth
by Katie Drake - Part One
This story starts and ends with a phone booth. This is no ordinary phone booth. It may be the understatement of the decade to say this particular phone booth has seen A LOT of interesting things in its day. Do you remember when phone booths were a thing?
The simple days. Back when you had to rely on making a plan and sticking to it, carefully watching the time.
Before you could just reach in your pocket or your purse and communicate in just seconds with a text or call. You had to make sure you always had a quarter or two in your pocket. There were pay phones on almost every corner, and just about everywhere you looked.
A side note that moment that I realized he has never even seen a telephone that isn’t a cell phone, much less a rotary dial phone. (For that matter, he is a COVID baby, so he thinks all calls are FaceTime video calls).
Remember how frustrating it was to misdial on the last number of a call on a rotary dial phone and have to start all over? Oy vey.
I grew up in rural Millers Mills and am old enough to remember having a “party line.” My sister and I thought it was great fun as kids to eavesdrop on the neighbor’s calls… which we were always catching hell for.
We’ve come a long way since Alexander Graham Bell invented the first working phone in 1876. Car phones, beepers, Blackberrys. Texting. Then came iPhones, Galaxy, and video calls. The progression of technology really is an amazing thing, which is what makes the story of this particular phone booth so special.
A conversation piece
This beautiful, weathered, antique phone booth sits adjacent to the bar in our garage and is a great conversation piece. The slightly crooked red sign that reads ‘Telephone’ on the top gives it even more character.
The inspiration for this story arose one very cold and windy day earlier this February. In the afternoons, regardless of the weather, I would go out for a brisk winter walk to get some exercise with my retired friends, Judy and Vickie. Often, after we finished our walk, we would come back to my house to the garage to warm up and chat some more. One day they noticed the phone booth. After telling them where the phone booth came from, they both laughed and started telling me stories of the things that they had seen happen in the phone booth over the years.
After many conversations with an assortment of different people on the subject, I quickly realized the content of many of the phone booth’s stories are not My Little Falls appropriate but decided this was still a story worth sharing.
Origins of the phone booth
The most I could learn of its origin was that this phone booth came from a hotel in Dolgeville a long, long time ago. Can you imagine the things it must have seen and the conversations it
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On a side note, Stewart’s may have the last public working payphone in town. I know this because I have a friend (who shall remain nameless), that occasionally still finds it hilarious to prank call her friends from this phone late at night after a “few” beverages - she’s quite the character.
Recently, we bought our son the iconic Fisher Price colorful toy rotary dial phone that you pull around on a string. I was so excited to give it to him and he just stared at it wondering what it was. It wasn’t until Photo by Katie Drake
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Daneli Partners brings leadership to local schools
by Dave Warner
Local company Daneli Partners has been bringing leadership training and skills to companies around the world for many years, but now they’re focused on another generation - the students in local schools.
Paul Muench, Director of Educational Programming with Daneli stated, “What we’re doing here is taking the leadership principles that Dave Casullo and his team have taught to businesses and business groups for years and we’re trying to start early with the future leaders in schools.”
A lot of what they work with is based on the CliftonStrengths Assessment, which is given to the students. “This test allows the students to recognize what their natural abilities are and then use them towards success in the future,” he stated.
Muench says that it’s never too early to think about what those qualities are and to start maximizing them. In the past, they’ve held these courses at Manlius High School, MVCC, Le Moyne College, and even with students at Utica Proctor.
Dave Casullo, CEO of Daneli Partners stated, “I’ve had the opportunity to bring the leadership concepts everywhere in the world in many different programs and that’s been a privilege and an honor.”
However, he said that bringing it back to Little Falls has been fantastic because of the development and progress already in place here. “I really feel emotional in bringing it back to my home town and in particular the school and the young people here in Little Falls. I can remember when I was sitting where they are. I really don’t recall anyone taking the time to really dive deep into the areas that we try to help these young people with.”
Casullo said that he’s not certain that things would have been different with his life, but that some things might have been accelerated. “I am delighted to be able to give back a gift that is truly personal to each one of these young people. To give them an opportunity that I didn’t have,” he said.
The skills they are trying to give the students fall into two categories. The first is the unique nature of their talents, as measured by the CliftonStrengths Assessment, which is a 30-year old assessment process that evaluates anyone’s specific talents in 34 different categories and narrows them down to five.
From there, the team tries to attach those talents to something that impassions them. “Something that they feel is important to pursue, whether it is a career or another level of education, a trade that they think they
Photo by Dave Warner - Paul Muench, Director of Educational Programming, spends time with a student at Little Falls High School going over her leadership evaluation results.
want to learn, or whatever it might be to help them recognize that these talents that are unique to them need to align with whatever that purpose and passion is. That is the secret to giving them a fulfilling career, life, and a better chance of success in the world.”
Muench stated, “We believe that great possibilities are in all students and my motto is ‘great accomplishments are not reserved for others’.”
According to Muench, school administrators and teachers are in support of the program. “The research shows that leadership comes in all styles. We all know that we have leadership moments in our life or business, so leadership is vital to the success of anyone.”
He says that true leadership comes from recognizing that different people have strengths and points of view that can be helpful. “That’s where true leadership comes from. Not from somebody just saying you’re the leader, you have this title.”
“Oftentimes, the best leaders are the ones that don’t really recognize that they are the leader. This happens in our training even with the young adults here. They start to realize that people see them that way,” he stated.
Muench said that the response from the students has been fantastic. “I think that there is the sense when they walk in that they are being treated like the young adults that they are. So, when you bring in someone like Dave Casullo and Katie Drake and the team, it’s wow, they really want us to learn this.” He says that it is also not just about getting a grade. “Not everything is about academics. This is about who are you, figuring this out, self-inspection, and then discussing it with each other.”
The vision is to try and reach all the students at some point. Muench thinks that the program will strengthen the school, and hopefully the community. “The idea of the program is to have a lasting success.”
Photo by Dave Warner - Joe Morotti gives a presentation to students at Little Falls High School in the new Common Room.
The Last Waltz: The Beginning of the Renaissance
Story and Photos by Katie Drake - Part Two
This is the second installment in my series about the history of the Renaissance in Little Falls. In the first story: A Phone Booth I talked about the interesting life of the phone booth before it was given to Craig and Denise Gregorka.
That phone booth was how they met.
One fine day a while back in Little Falls, a beautiful woman with long dark curly hair was sitting at the Renaissance enjoying a drink. The owner, Craig Gregorka, immediately noticed her and wanted to get her attention. To know Craig is to know what a fun person he is, so it was no surprise that he decided to make his first introduction to her a memorable one.
Craig went into the phone booth and shut the door, proceeded to act like he was stuck in there making a lot of noise and shaking the booth until she finally noticed. When he saw her watching him, he got the door “unstuck” and came tumbling out. He purposely feigned getting his leg caught in a bar stool and pretended to fall. He popped up right in front of the beautiful woman, now hysterically laughing at him, and introduced himself. She says it was love at first sight. Her name is Denise Gregorka and they have been happily married for many years.
When I sat down with Craig and Denise, they were excited to reminisce about the Renaissance. The twinkle in Craig’s eye was bright as he talked about the memories, the laughs, and the fun people. Denise said, “Craig was kind of like…” he interjected, “A drunk.” We all got a good laugh at his quick wit and she
Photo by Katie Drake - Craig and Denise Gregorka sit in their living room at home and reminisce about the Rennaissance.
finished by saying, “…the father of the Renaissance.” Like the beautiful antique pillars, one of which they keep in the corner of their dining room, a tall memory of the beautiful place he created.
If you have ever stepped foot in (or fell into) the Renaissance over the years, you may have noticed small black penny tiles outlining the words Lewis in white. The Lewis building sits on Main Street and was owned by Craig’s grandfather, Frank Gregorka, and was home to the family business, Gregorka Camera Shop. Craig worked for his father and eventually took it on as Gregorka Camera & Stereo which was also a very popular and exclusive Technics brand franchise selling audio equipment. Business was booming. At that time there were bars on every corner.
Some years later, Technics opened up its franchise and diluted the market. Business at the camera and stereo shop slowed. Like most of the residents here, Craig frequented the many drinking establishments in Little Falls, but he never loved the atmosphere in any one of them.
And so, he decided he wanted to open his own place to create a place with a classy atmosphere. He started building a collection of fine pieces. Gorgeous mirrors, beautiful chandeliers, pillars from Carpanetti’s Barbershop, and then he built the bar himself with the help of his cousin. Craig secured a cigarette machine, jukebox, and a bowling machine from Mike Martin.
Surely, after hearing his
Please See WALTZ Page 8
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WALTZ From Page 7
phone booth story about meeting Denise, it would be fair to say Craig is a lucky man. He met a man who wanted to send his mom slides from a big trip he had taken but didn’t have any money, so he offered to trade some stained glass for the slides. (For any of you young whippersnappers reading this, slides were pictures that you viewed with a slide projector - long before cell phones were a thing). He picked out several beautiful stained-glass pieces for his new place.
In 1980, after much hard work, sweat equity, and thoughtful decorating he opened his new place, and the icon of Renaissance was born.
It was a beautiful place, with nice table cloths and fresh flowers on every table, 25 imported beers, always great music playing, and the characters that still make up Little Falls never stopped flowing in. There was never any fighting. It was, indeed, a fun and classy place - exactly what Craig had hoped to create. When they first opened, he served lunches. The older ladies from town would come in for his famous quiche or sandwiches. There were a group of chess players that were regulars. And so many more.
Craig attributes much of the success of Renaissance because he was fortunate to have good help, especially good bartenders who didn’t need a lot of instinct to be nice to each other and to the customers. People like Sue (Hughes) Regan and many others are remembered fondly. Craig would bartend on special nights, big parties, and holidays. He added, “I was a good bartender… when I wanted to be.” all out with great costumes, and the Renaissance was always the place to be and became famous for their annual party. At Christmas time, fresh boughs were brought in.
When I asked Craig and Denise to share some of their favorite Renaissance stories, Craig smiled when he said, “It’s ironic, I haven’t been in a bar in so many years…” and added, “The best stories are the everyday stories.”
And that they are. Here are a few of the favorites that will help you either fondly remember, or glean a sneak peek into what it was like at the iconic Renaissance. If you know, you know.
Like one local man who most of us know, who is infamous for his famous trick. He would wait until later in the night for the perfect opportunity to perform his talent. He would do a handstand, but not just any ordinary handstand. A small crowd would gather to cheer him on. Friends would hold him by the legs and lower him to a full beer placed on the floor. He would pick it up with his teeth and drink the entire thing upside down. Everyone would cheer. I know this gentleman and believe he has retired this talent, as he has many. But who knows? Maybe with enough requests… Could we convince him to do this again?
Or the group of old-timers who were “early morning scotch drinkers” and would come in once a week. As the story goes, long before Renaissance, these four men would gather together weekly to drink and would all go in on a lottery ticket. One time they actually won… something to the tune of $1 million dollars, which was a lot of money then and now. Except, on that particular week, one of the friends wasn’t there. The other three, of course, gave him his cut, but never let him forget it.
On their weekly trips to Renaissance, the good friends could be heard breaking the balls of the third guy about the fact that they did him this big favor by giving him a cut, which that guy said he deserved. Everyone looked forward to the weekly laughs about the ongoing lotto “argument” from this crew.
Craig owned a cat named Dittle who would come down from Craig’s upstairs apartment and sit on a barstool near the hallway to the bathroom and would sometimes bite people for no apparent reason as they entered. Once a lady said to Craig, “I want you to know that cat bit me!” Craig replied, “He’s bitten me too” and left it at that. Craig said, “Dittle could be so nice and sweet sometimes and a nasty little thing the next.”
There was one local family that just loved Renaissance. The whole crew would gather together when everyone was home. They would be there all night, talking, laughing, and drinking. Once at closing time, Craig came up to them and said, “Geeze, I feel bad… I’ve never had to throw out a whole family before.” Every time he runs into them, they still laugh about that night.
Craig’s apartment was on the 3rd floor. The Penthouse he called it. And he had a hot tub up there. Occasionally, you had to let all the water out to clean it. Then you would have to fill it back up again. On several occasions, he would get busy and forget he was filling the hot tub, and he created a waterfall all the way down to the bar on the main floor.
The very first night they opened in 1980, a tradition was born as closing time. Every night for the entire ten years that Craig Gregorka owned the Renaissance he would put on the record of a song by The Bands, called The Last Waltz. Every night at closing time, he would call ‘last call’ and people would hear the familiar tune.
Over the years, people who were imbibing at other establishments would look at their watches and down their drinks and rush down to Renaissance for last call. Laughing and blurry-eyed, they would flood through the doors to end their night with The Last Waltz. People would dance, girls would twirl around the floor, or even sometimes on the bar, and everyone would join together to hum or la, la,
PHONE From Page 5
must have heard way back in the day?
After the hotel, it ended up at the house of a man who was notorious for his wild parties. Friends would party all night- drinking, smoking, and listening to music that was always turned up too loud. Since it was difficult to carry on a conversation with all the background noise, he acquired this phone booth. Now, his friends could go inside, shut the door, and actually be able to hear and understand whatever they had to discuss.
The phone booth no doubt saw and heard many things before it was passed on to another friend, and then was given to a wonderfully interesting and iconic local character by the name of Craig Gregorka. Craig made the phone booth a bit famous when he created one of the best drinking establishments of all time in Little Falls, the Renaissance.
If you’ve lived here or visited sometime in the last 40 years, you probably have fond memories of spending time at the Renaissance. And while we, (and perhaps I), may have nights we can’t remember all that well at the Renaissance, the phone booth was there for it all. The laughter, the tears, the stories, the dancing, the music, the people and the memories… oh, the memories.
Not the end of the story
This isn’t the end of this story. It’s really the beginning.
This is part of a series on the history of the Renaissance and it begins and ends with this beautiful, tall, sleek, wooden phone booth that has quietly been there through it all.
MV Golf & Event Center Holding a Summer Junior Golf League and Clinics
The MV Golf & Event Center is inviting junior golfers to a summer of fun with an option for both beginners and more experienced players.
For the Junior Golf League, players are recommended to have some golf experience as the PGA Pro will only be helping to guide them. Beginners are welcome to join the Junior Golf Clinics where they will be instructed on the fundamentals of golf.
Junior Golf League
Wednesdays from 11:30am-2:00pm
Ages 8-16
$75/Player (Covers the Summer)
July 7th, July 14th, July 21st, July 28th, August 4th, August 11th, August 18th, & August 25th
Junior Golf Clinics
Tuesdays & Thursdays (Two Sessions) 2nd Group: 11:30am-1pm
1st Group: 9:30am-11am 2nd Group: 11:30am-1pm
Ages 3-14
$60/One Session or $95/ Both Sessions Players need to bring their own equipment. To sign up, or for or more information please call 315-823-0330.
Session One: July 6th, 8th, 13th, 15th and 20th
1st Group: 9:30am-11am
Creative Designs by Tiffany has ‘Pop Up’ event in Dolgeville
by Dave Warner
Tiffany Rutkowski who has a flower shop in Dolgeville called Creative Designs by Tiffany wanted to draw more traffic to the center of town and her shop in particular, so she came up with a ‘Pop Up’ event idea. well as a flower or plant for any of the people that had their picture taken.
“It was an added plus for the people who came by. I didn’t know what to expect, but I was very happy with the results,” stated Rutkowski.
She said that she saw the idea on the Internet, and then built upon it. “I thought it would be good for Dolgeville.”
“We just wanted to get people out and have Dolgeville and all of the people who walk in front of the store get some recognition,” she said.
Rutkowski said that she did it during the week because it would catch the local residents more than it would the tourists that are normally around on the weekend.
“We thought that you would see these people online and recognize them because you see them every day, that’s why I did it on Thursday,” she stated. Assemblyman Robert Smullen also stopped by to be part of the event. “That was a big plus,” she said. “Nadine was huge as well because she’s such a character, and she was cooking the hot dogs and interacting with everyone.”
“It was a little bit of everything, but it was free, and it drew people from all over. It was just a fun day and a fun event,” she stated.
Rutkowski said she’d love to do something like this again. “Who knows? It worked out this time, but maybe something a little different next time.”
The Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs were on hand to give away tickets for the game that night, and there were free hotdogs, as Individuals who want to download their digital portrait can do so at https:// photos.mylittlefalls.com/ p1069320911
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la along in unison. It was a revered Little Falls tradition for a decade. When the dance was over, everyone would join Craig as he loudly declared with a smile and that famous twinkle in his eye, “You don’t have to go home… but you can’t stay here.”
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To this day, whenever Craig and Denise listen to music at home before bed, they always play The Last Waltz. Only now, they ask Alexa to play it for them. They often reminisce about the wonderful people and times of the Renaissance. And the phone booth was there to see it all.
And that young bartender, Sue Hughes, well… she made Craig an offer to buy the place and he accepted. In the next installment of this series, we’ll hear from Sue Hughes, who came to be the second owner of the ionic Renaissance.
MEN AND WOMEN WELCOME $100/golfer or $400/team Includes 3 meals, free beer, golf polo, green, cart, prizes and games MV Golf and Event Center Friday August 13th 8:30 am Registration 10:00 am Tee Off
We are looking for players AND sponsors,
ALL proceeds go to Relay for Life
Sponsored in part by Dixon Golf and Hixny
