Journal Entries of the Upper Delaware River Region • Serving PA, NJ & NY Early Fall 2022 2022PetersValleyCraftFairExhibitorMapandListInside
The tri-state upper Delaware River highlands and valleys are a place of rare beauty…. Seeing the region and living in it almost aren’t enough. Such beauty should be captured on canvas or film so that one can truly appreciate it, glimpse it in the quiet of an art gallery or museum, or between the pages of a poetry book or literary sketch.
4 Publisher & Editor Amy Bridge publisher@milfordjournal.com Creative Director Jimmy Sheehan jimmy@milfordjournal.com Associate Editor B’Ann Bowman bann_bowman@yahoo.com Advertising Amy Bridge amy@milfordjournal.com Susan Mednick susanmed2@optonline.net Kimberly Hess Kimberlyhess212@gmail.com
The Journal Group’s mission is to capture these mo mentary snapshots of beauty graphically and through the written word. We celebrate our area and the unique ness of the people who live and work in the tri-state re gion. From Pike to Wayne and Monroe to Lackawanna Counties in Pennsylvania, upriver to Sullivan County and on to Orange County in New York, and to the head waters of the Wallkill River and along Sussex County’s rolling hills in New Jersey, with quaint, historic towns and hamlets at the center, the Journal Group opens its doors to our communities, businesses and organiza tions, to serve as a communicative journal of all that we have to offer for those who live here and for those who love to visit us, too.
Publication Information The Journal Group publishes The Journal ten times a year and distributes it in eight counties in PA, NJ and NY. We assume no responsibility for unsolicited manu scripts. Contents may not be reproduced in any form without prior written permission. We reserve the right to refuse to print advertisements that we deem inap propriate. All rights reserved. Uniting PA, NJ & NY PO Box 1026 • Milford, PA 18337 • 908.578.3138 www.milfordjournal.com
Contributors Julia Schmitt Healy, Noreen Case, Kristen Hamilton, Joe Guerriero, Paulette Calasibetta, Eric Francis, Robert Bowman Mission
5 6 • journal entry 7 • poem 8 • calendar 21 • Peters Valley booth guide 43 • signs Early Fall 2022Contents Cover Line Faceted Lidded Vase. Ceramic by Po Wen Liu. Photo courtesy of Po Wen LiuJournal Entries of the Upper Delaware River Region Serving PA, NJ & NY Early Fall 2022 2022PetersValleyCraftFairExhibitorMapandListInside 10 • art • Teaching Fine Crafts 18 • history • Writing Rock 27 • food • Slice of Life 32 • life • Turning Wood 36 • nature • A Deeper Look
6 Journal Entry his year, Peters Valley School of Craft continued its partnership with GlassRoots, a nonprofit organization, founded in Newark, NJ, in 2001. GlassRoots programs have served over 25,000 young people living in under-resourced communities in Newark and the greater Newark area. Their mission, to ignite and build the creative and econom ic vitality of greater Newark, is fulfilled through teaching many different crafts in four studios at 10 Bleeker Street in Newark, including glass-art workshops. The organization also has a youth entrepreneurship program, offers field trips, and opens classes to the public.
A GlassRoots Artist Fellowship program was funded by the Nicholson Foundation and established a partnership with Peters Valley in 2021. This provides an outstanding fellow ship opportunity to GlassRoots students, aged 18 to 24. This summer, six talented young adults spent five weeks at GlassRoots in Newark, learning life skills, professional development, and exploring different crafts, all while pre paring to come to Peters Valley. They then arrived at Peters Valley to take seven weeks of immersive hands-on craft workshops in blacksmithing, photography, fiber arts, and T more. Living on campus, the students were provided meals, tuition, materials, and stipends so they could freely explore studio practices in a creative community.
The public is invited to come to the Peters Valley Gallery on campus to see their work at the GlassRoots Fellowship Exhi bition, running until September 23rd. The show will include work from this year’s and last year’s groups. Very inspiring! Enjoy our Peters Valley issue. Hope to see you at the 52nd Annual Craft Fair! Amy
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Keeping in touch with the participants is a big part of the program, and I am happy to report that from last year’s group, one student is studying to be an art teacher in col lege. Another has gone on to study art therapy in college, and another has become a studio artist, opening their own studio. One of the students received a grant from Crafting the Future to pursue his artistic practice. “Working with them has been inspiring,” Deputy Direc tor Jennifer Apgar tells us. “To watch as they work with the community and find themselves through craft has been the highlight of my summer.”
Plump bodies speckled in gray and black; Take flight with fanned out tails that reveal a fringe of white.
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Oval shaped, snowy white, they hatch and come alive; A brood grows and will survive.
On lofty eaves, build nests of winter pine and twigs, Keeping their eggs close to their breasts.
The warm summer is nearing its end, Mourning Doves and Fledglings Together, will ascend; blue skies headed for the border of Mexico.
Mourning Doves in Nature Hear the soft coo-cooing that faithful love imparts, mourning doves, sharing their beating hearts.
-Paulette Calasibetta
September 18th Sunday Noon–4 p.m. Sussex County Day. Sussex County Fair grounds, Augusta, NJ. Music, crafts, ven dors, contests. Hosted by Sussex County Chamber of Commerce. Info: www.sussexcountychamber.org.973.579.1811,
11 a.m.–8 .............................p.m. Septemberfest. Milford, PA. Music, crafts & food, all over town. Hosted by Milford Presents. Info: www.milfordpa.us. 1 .............................p.m. Betrayals: Surrender of Fort William Hen ry. Ft. Decker, Port Jervis, NY. Presenta tion by Frank Salvati. Hosted by Minisink Valley Historical Society. Info: minisink. org, Facebook: Minisink Valley Historical Society. September 24th–25th Saturday & Sunday 10 a.m.–5 p.m. .............................
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September 8th–11th In the Works–In the Woods Festival. Forest burgh Playhouse, Forestburgh, NY. Learn how new plays & musicals are created. The festival nurtures playwrights, composers & lyricists. Festival Fan tickets: $150. Tickets to individual shows also available. Info: 845.794.1194, www.fbplayhouse.org. September 10th Saturday 5:30 p.m. French Nostalgia. Grey Towers, Milford, PA. Tatiana Eva-Marie & Avalon Jazz Band. $25. Hosted by Kindred Spirits Arts Programs. Info: 570.409.1269, www.kin dredspiritsarts.org. September 10th–11th Saturday–Sunday 10 a.m.–6 p.m.
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Renaissance Festival. Camp Sacajawea, Sparta, NJ. Music, food, shows, vendors. Tickets: $10–$20. Also September 17th–18th. Info: 862.268.0129, www.spartanj renfaire.com. September 11th Sunday 2–5 p.m. Wine & Cheese Festival. Waterwheel Farm, Fredon, NJ. $55. Hosted by Friends of Hospice. Info: 973.383.0115, www. karenannquinlanhospice.com. September 12th Monday 5:30–8:30 p.m. A Taste of Newton. Trinity St., Newton, NJ. Samples of local cuisine, music. $40–$50. Hosted by Greater Newton Cham ber of Commerce. Info: 973.300.0433, greaternewtoncc.com. September 13th Tuesday 6–9 p.m. Taste of Warwick. Warwick Valley Winery and Distillery, Warwick, NY. $60. Food, spirits and music. Sponsored by the War wick Valley Chamber of Commerce. Info: 845.986.2720, www.warwickcc.org.
September 16th–18th Friday–Sunday Milford Readers and Writers Festival. Main Stage: Milford Theater, Milford, PA. Indi vidual tickets: $35; Festival Passes $175. Free events around Milford. Info: milford readersandwriters.com.
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September 24th Saturday 11 a.m.–5:30 p.m. Walden Harvest Fest. Bradley Park, Walden, NY. Live music, vendors, food, drinks & more. Info: 845.778.2177, www. villageofwalden.org.
September 23rd–25th Friday–Sunday Fall Flights: Birds & Brews. PEEC, Ding mans Ferry, PA. Guided hikes & bird watch ing. Beverages from local breweries on Sat urday. $215. Info: 570.828.2319, peec.org.
Peters Valley Craft Fair. Sussex County Fairgrounds, Augusta, NJ. $10. Info: 973.948.5200, www.petersvalley.org. 11 a.m.–5 p.m. Hudson Valley Octoberfest on the Farm. Orange County Farmers Museum, Mont gomery, NY. German music, food, beer & wine. $10. Also October 1st & 2nd. Info: 845.590.1915, baptickets.com. October 1st Saturday 5–8 p.m. Music in Nature Gala. PEEC, Dingmans Ferry, PA $85. Semi-formal. Benefits Ding mans Ferry Theatre. Info: dingmansferry theatre@gmail.com, Facebook: Dingmans Ferry Theatre. 6 p.m. Barn Dance. Peter’s Europa House, Shohola, PA. Dinner followed by dancing to live music. $75. Benefits GAIT Thera peutic Riding Center and GAIT-ACE En dowment Fund. Info: 717.991.3478, advi sorycouncil@gaittrcorg. Sundays 11 a.m.–4 p.m. Harvest Festival. Bethel Woods Center for the Arts, Bethel, NY. Farmers market, crafts, live performances & more. $5/park ing. Info: www.bethelwoodscenter.org.
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The path for Abby Mechanic, who came to Peters Valley in May 2022 to become the Education Director, has been a circular one, bringing her right back to where it all began.
The core mission of Peters Valley School of Craft is to en rich lives through the learning, appreciation, and practice of the art of fine crafts. In order to facilitate these values, this vibrant community brings together established and emerg ing artists from around the globe to provide studio-based educational workshops for life-long learners who have the opportunity to benefit from working with nationally and internationally recognized artists.
Abby was raised in Sussex County, NJ, and started her train ing in woodworking here at Sparta High School. She cites Mr. Trzcinski, or Mr. T as he was affectionately known, as the mentor who took her under his wing. Since her mom owned a few antique stores, she knew good furniture was the byprod uct of good woodworking. But the key for her, when deciding to pursue this path, was that she recognized the organizational elements of math and science involved in making furniture and felt that woodworking connected all of her interests.
Choosing to matriculate at the Maine College of Art & Design in Portland was a natural. There, she studied for four years, working with mentors Matt Hutton and Adam Manley, and graduated with a degree in woodworking and furniture design. Abby then worked for a few design/build companies, running their woodshop departments. Next came an offer from Parsons School of Design to be a technician. She spent seven years at Parsons, working her way up to be Associate Director of the Making Center, where she, along with two other directors, led a very large team of 40 technicians, 150 student workers, and about 12 managers. M
aya Angelou, poet and writer, said, “When you learn, teach, when you get, give.”
How do you find teachers? “Mostly through our network. Each studio is overseen by an artist fellow. It’s a very collab orative process—the artist fellows draw from their own net work within their discipline, be it blacksmithing, ceramics, fiber and textiles, fine metals and jewelry making, glass, pho tography and printmaking, woodworking, or mixed media. We encourage different types of instructors from all back grounds to come share their knowledge with our students. and Teaching at Peters Valley
Abby now lives in a historical house on campus. “I love this job, living with an artistic community in this beautiful en vironment right in the middle of the woods. The idea of passing knowledge from one person to the next is very im portant to me; as a woodworker, it’s my duty to teach others what I’ve learned. Cultivation of a craft and passing on that knowledge is paramount, so we don’t lose craft.
Continued on next page By Amy BridgeArt Be What You Teach Learning
MechanicAbby
The takeaway after speaking with Abby Mechanic, Po Wen Liu, and Anna Koplik, three of Peters Valley’s talented and passionately driven artists, is that all three have embraced the concept of life-learning. First, one must learn the craft, study techniques and processes, and practice, practice, practice. If a mentor comes into your life, be guided on your journey. Acquire your own skills and continue to expose yourself to new experiences, adding your own creativity into the mix.
Even though all three who were interviewed are in different stages of their careers, they all embrace the concept of teach ing what they have learned, for as it is said, when you teach you learn twice; when you teach you are still learning.
Simultaneously, Abby has taught spoon-carving workshops nationally to over 400 students, either through organiza tions, schools, or companies, and has taught spoon carving at Peters Valley for the past two years. Her goal in teaching this course is to make woodworking accessible to all. As she says, “My students can start small, make a useful object, and get excited about it!”
Abby Mechanic, Education Director
“As the Education Director,” Abby continued, “I am able to marry all of my passions. I manage the shops and work with the fellows and assistant staff to plan and execute the edu cational summer workshop programs. We are also planning to expand our fall and spring programming with new work shops in multiple departments and weekly ceramic classes.”
“I feel very happy to be here in Peters Valley. The isolated geography offers an inspiring natural setting that allows me the opportunity to be very focused on my studio practice.”
LiuWenPo
The next step was to come to America and enroll in the Rochester Institute of Technology’s School of American Craft, where he explored everything art, including art history and 2D and 3D design, on his way to his Bach elor of Fine Arts. He attended Northern Illinois University for graduate school, studied sculptural ceramics, and earned his Master of Fine Arts degree in ceramics. There, he studied under Professor Yih Wen Kuo, with whom he shared a similar background, and Professor Ron Mazanowski, who was knowledgeable in mold-making and figurative sculptural work. It was at Northern Illinois, also, that he learned the importance of critique from both his professors and from his fellow classmates. Post graduate school, a job opportunity took him to North Carolina where he taught ceramics at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro, as well as at several art cen ters, including Art Alliance of Greensboro and Sawtooth School for the Visual Arts. At Peters Valley, Po Wen’s goal is to introduce diverse styles of contemporary ceramics, including functional pottery and sculptural ceramics, through topic-specific summer work shops that will incorporate different firing techniques, such as various wood, salt, soda, raku, electric kiln firings; hand building and wheel throwing techniques; and mold mak ing/slip casting methods. In addition to firing and forming techniques, many dif ferent glaze techniques will be explored, such as standard glazing practices, but also overlapping, spraying, dipping, and sprinkling glaze powders on the pottery surface, each method giving a unique result. All this in a formal educa tional “Structuralsetting.instruction is the basis for everything. After cor rect methodologies are learned, then the process becomes or ganic and open to the artists’ creativity,” Po Wen explains.
12 Art Continued Continued on page 14
Po Wen Liu arrived at Peters Valley in June 2022 as the new Ceramics Studio Head. Po Wen embraces the craft school’s philosophy of making the campus a vibrant yearround destination, and he’s bringing sequential teaching for students to learn and advance their studies. This fall, he is instituting a new class schedule for beginners and inter mediate/advanced students, offering eight three-hour class sessions and access to the studio at other times. Firing for these classes will mainly be in gas reduction kilns. As a steward of the creative process, Po Wen believes that teaching ceramic engineering, or the study of ceramic ma terials, processes, and techniques, works in tandem with creative integration.
“There is a crucial and vital empowerment that you get from the problem solving involved in making something with your own hands that is different from anything else. As the new Education Director, I want to get that to as many people as possible. Teaching craft is a positive generational collaboration that involves mentorship and benefits all, as it helps to focus on the beautiful and positive things in life. People need that now more than ever.”
Po Wen knew before attending kindergarten in Taiwan that he wanted to be involved with clay. Playing with his cousin at his uncle’s roof tile factory, he became fascinated by its physically transformative properties. Studying ceramic engineering in college is where he began to learn to develop and mix his own glazes, which led to his fine celadon glaze. He also became learned in working with many types of clay and kilns. After three years of working for the prestigious Hsiao Fang Pottery in Taiwan, a company that often receives commissions from the National Palace Museum, he strongly felt that his calling was to be an artist.
“I love to see students utilize what they’ve learned from class es in their work. I encourage everyone to try different styles until they find their own voice. It makes me very proud to see my students go on to exhibit in craft fairs, and many choose to have a career in ceramics.
Po Wen Liu, Ceramics Studio Head
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Anna Koplik, Blacksmith Fellow Anna Koplik is the Blacksmith Fellow at Peters Valley. This means that she manages the blacksmith shop, ordering material, main taining equipment, and making sure that behind the scenes all of the workshops run smoothly and safely.
Originally from Montgomery, NJ, Anna chose Pratt Institute in Brooklyn to get a Bachelor of Fine Arts in jewelry. But it was when she went to the metal shop there and tried forging that her life’s trajectory took a major turn. Realizing that she loved this craft even more than jewelry making, she came to Peters Valley and enrolled in her first introductory course. “I don’t know if I’d be a blacksmith if I hadn’t taken a course here,” Anna reflects.
specific craft using that forging process, typi cally on hot metal, by heating it up to over 2,000 degrees in a coal-contained forge and then hammering to change it while it’s hot. “We mostly determine heat by color. Glowing yellow or glow ing orange, for example, is good to forge, while dull red works for bending,” Anna says. Anna went on to become an Architectural Blacksmith Journey man, which by traditional definition is a blacksmith that travels to commercial shops and trade and craft schools to help produce Tometalwork.statethe obvious, blacksmithing has been a historically male dominated craft. When Anna started out, she didn’t meet many other women blacksmiths. She adds, “The blacksmithing trade is very old. It almost disappeared with the Industrial Revolution. But there was a major resurgence in the 1970s. Generations before me saved our craft. In the past 10 years, because of the internet, TV shows, and You Tube series, more people have been exposed to blacksmithing. But still, not many women became involved. When I began, it took me two years to meet a professional woman black smith, but since then I have met a whole community of diverse blacksmiths, which I am thankful for.”
“I learned different designs and aesthetics and how to measure and install work,” she says. “Essentially, I learned to implement a proj ect from a drawing to samples to figuring how every detail of a piece can come together.”
Continued on page 16
In 2015, Anna took a job as an Assistant in the Blacksmith Shop at Peters Valley School of Craft. The following year, she became the Shop Technician at Touchstone Center For Crafts in Farming ton, PA. For two summers, she ran the shop there while spending winters working as an apprentice for Atlas Forge, an architectural blacksmithing shop in Uniontown, PA. The owner, Ed Claypoole, took her under his wing and became her mentor, teaching her how to forge and weld large scale architectural pieces, which would even tually become commercial projects such as balconies and staircases.
Forging is the process of changing the dimension and cross section of a metal bar (usually steel) through force, such as hitting it with a hammer. This technique is used for making a point on the end of the bar or spreading out the metal to make a utensil, such as a spoon or a Blacksmithingspatula.isthe
Art Continued 14
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Anna notes, “There have been a long line of blacksmiths that have passed through this shop, people I’ve met and look up to. I know it’s important to take care of this shop for everyone in the blacksmithing community. “I’ve learned a lot about teaching from my students. For in stance, some of my students have had learning and physical disabilities, and I have had to adapt my explanations or pro cesses for them. I’ve learned to explain things better, which makes me a better blacksmith; even things such as how to position your body while forging is important to teach. I love it when my students come back and improve their skills and then go home to start their own forges.
Art Continued Anna is referring to a relatively new group, the Society of Inclusive Blacksmiths, in which she runs a mentorship pro gram meant to support people historically underrepresented in the field. She believes that the best way to expand a craft is to bring to it different perspectives and ideas.
Of Note at Peters Valley
Jennifer Apgar has been working at Peters Valley for 30 years. She started her career as the Registrar, went on to be the Education Director, and in her new role as Deputy Director, is assisting Kristin Muller, the Executive Director.
As Anna Koplik says, “At Peters Valley, you can be what you teach.”
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“The current shop assistant, Sean Fitzsimmons, for example, took classes for seven or eight years and has been working for almost a year in a blacksmith shop. It’s been amazing to watch him grow from a hobbyist to teaching his own class. For me, working with as many different people as possible is the best way to grow.”
At Peters Valley, artists of all ages and skill levels find oppor tunities for mentorship and mentoring. There’s an opportu nity to engage in conversations about the creative process, spend time exploring materials, and experiment with new tools, techniques, and ideas. Here, at the Valley, students and teachers alike participate and benefit from the immer sive environment.
During the pandemic lockdown, at Peters Valley, the old blacksmith shop was unattended and went into disrepair. Anna came here in the spring of 2021 and made a lot of shop improvements, such as fixing broken motors, building new steel racks and new tool organizer racks, and rearranging the shop to make it easier for students to use the equipment.
“In managing the organization’s budget and day-to-day operations, I also will be working closely with our Facilities Director Alison BondBaron and the Na tional Park Service,” Jennifer tells us. “The partnership Peters Valley shares with the National Park requires a good deal of communication and detailed reporting for campus-wide improvements and the general upkeep of our nu merous buildings, most of which are historic. “I’m very excited about the forward motion that the organization is embarking on; we have a great support staff to implement our ideas and visions.”
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History
Julia Schmitt Healy
A Weller wrote for various journals and newspapers includ ing Eye Magazine, as well as “other hippie/counter-culture publications,” using connections her mom had as a writer for movie magazines and McCall’s.
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WellerSheilaofcourtesyPhotos s a child of the sixties, I came of age during the begin nings of an American music scene newly populated by women artists who both wrote and performed their original music. It was gratifying to be able to relate to some of the lyrics that came out of the radio, such as Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain” (You probably think this song is about you.) or Joni Mitchell’s “My Old Man” (The bed’s too big, the frying pan’s too wide). Many of these songs have had staying power and perfectly describe the relationship and life concerns women had then, and still have today. So it was wonderful to learn that a panel at this year’s Milford Readers & Writers Festival is going to focus on writing about rock “n’ roll, and that one of the featured panel ists will be Sheila Weller, author of the New York Times Bestseller, Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon—and the Journey of a Generation.
She “vibed it up” (her words) living the New York City life “on the outskirts,” she says, but nevertheless touch ing shoulders with the likes of Linda Eastman and Betsy WellerJohnson.moved into writing interviews, which she found “easy” and began covering serious journalistic stories that were sometimes featured in Ms. Magazine. One such ar ticle concerned the true story of a man who murdered his wife and then was given custody of the kids. There have been numerous books, too. She wrote about Nicole and O.J. Simpson and early female news anchors and wrote other books and articles that generally reflected the wom en’s movement as it blossomed. “Their stories were our stories, and we wanted to move past the images of women kissing their refrigerators in ads and focus on activism, feminism, and civil rights,” she said. In fact, this book’s dedication says it all: “To the women of the 1960s generation. (Were we not the Wellerbest?)” started working on Girls Like Us in 2003, and it was published in 2008. It’s 527 pages long (not counting the footnotes, source materials, and index) and is an indepth account of the lives of King, Mitchell, and Simon, touching on their beginnings, influences, and persistence in their quest to make music.
I recently spoke to Ms. Weller to find out a bit about her background and how she came to write this comprehensive “I’mbook.from LA, Beverly Hills, and went to Berkeley, major ing in sociology and then decided to go to graduate school in New York City,” she begins. She goes on to tell me she somehow got “bitten by the free dom of the crazy time of the late ’60s” so she dropped out of school, waitressed for money, and eventually explored Morocco and Ibiza. “It sounds more glamorous than it ac tually was,” she admits.
Milford Readers and Writers Festival Girls Like Us
NashGrahamandMitchellJoni
Carly Simon’s cooperation clearly shows us someone who doesn’t seem overly full of herself. She says she was a tomboy—her older sisters were the pretty ones. As the youngest, she became sensitive. “I expect to have my feelings hurt,” she admits. Growing up rich, she comes across as rather normal. She lays out some of her early issues with her looks, a stuttering problem, and other woes and is re freshingly open. Yet a childhood friend remembers when they were growing up, “We all wanted to be her.”
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Weller’s writing is heavy on details. Page after page gives the reader a sense of “being there,” so you learn about backstories, lovers, how songs came about, mistakes that were made...in short, it puts the music we know so well in context. At the end of our interview, I asked Weller what popular musicians she liked today, and she mentions Billie Eilish, Brandi Carlile, Lauren Hill, and Lady Gaga. Maybe they’ll be her next project?
History Continued 20 I think the decision to write three biographies in one book is brilliant, as the reader travels through their concurrent, yet mostly different, lives. Parenting, family money, living situ ations, locations, educational opportunities, friends—all of these things impacted their lives, yes, but somehow it seems like the strongest thing they all shared, was an intense drive to make their music that was already in their DNA. Weller interviewed Carly Simon but wasn’t able to get her other two subjects for actual interviews. She tells me Chuck Mitchell, Joni’s first husband, was “hard to track down,” but once she found him, “he was eager to talk.” As a result, there are many tidbits we learn from the interviews with the ex, as well as with friends who knew Joni along the way. It’s brave stuff: She performs visibly pregnant. She lives in a rooming house and has the baby alone. And much more. Weller goes on to tell me that Carole King did not want to cooperate in any way. King is “very private.” and is a bit of a “tough girl” or maybe tries to be. But Weller put on her “sleuthing hat” and found two ex-husbands—both named Rick and both living in Idaho. She finds out that one is (or let’s hope by now was???) a drug addict who refers to himself as a “rancher” and the other is a survivalist. Apparently and understandably, King wanted to keep them a secret. Weller is not afraid to lay out unpleasant facts along with the good ones, and it is impressive how she leaves no stone unturned in her research!
About the Panel The panel, “Writing about Rock “n’ Roll,” will take place on the Main Stage of the Milford Theater on Saturday, Septem ber 17th, at 2:15 p.m. Joining Ms. Weller will be Moderator Bob Guccione, who is known for publishing Spin Magazine in the ’80s, and after that, Gear Magazine from 1998 to 2003, as well as panelist James Greer, who has been involved with music as both a critic and musician. Greer is also a screenwriter and novelist. Julia Schmitt Healy (juliahealy.com) is an artist, professor, and writer, living and working in Port Jervis, NY. Her art is represented by Western Exhibitions in Chicago, Illinois (westernexhibitions.com).
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Rumor has it that the success of Len & Jo’s pizza lays in its secrets, well, in this case, just one secret: its pizza dough recipe. Their unique rectangular-shaped pies consist of a signature marinara sauce poured sparingly over a mysteri ously concocted, homemade beer-infused dough. Sounds simple enough? Anyone could do it at home? The answer is that many have tried. When the do-it-yourself at-home chefs realized the elu siveness of the secret, it propelled them into a frenzied en deavor to master this mysterious blend of beer, flour, salt, and oil. Whatever was their motive? I wonder. To make it at home and save themselves the trip, to open up their own Len & Jo’s under a pseudonym, or just because they thought they could?
This article will focus on just one establishment I’ve had the pleasure of revisiting dozens of times more recently: Len & Jo’s Pizzeria. This restaurant was, and still is, a one-of-a-kind pizza house that has rightfully drawn a loyal following of die-hard beer-crust eating, rectangularshaped pizza lovers, stretching back to the early 1960s. Its reputation has survived, spanning later generations, due to its unique and consistently delicious pizza pies, becoming locally known for familiar, simple, one-of-akind comfort food.
Continued on next page Food W Simple Life–Simple Food SheehanKeatonbyPhoto
By Noreen Case 27
I grew up in the pre-fast food era, where mom-and-pop shops flourished, personal service was at its height (the cus tomer really was “king”), and locally produced, seasonal food was the norm. Among the multitude of quaint shops lining the two main streets of Milford, as well as a few in the neighboring towns of Matamoras and Port Jervis, NY, were a sprinkling of food establishments that had been operat ing since I was a child, over 60 years ago. Although most of these, for instance, Elmer’s Coffee Shop on Broad Street, where my brother and I could get a full dinner on Friday nights for under $5, today only exist on the pages of several subsequently-published county historical “gems of” books, the few that remain are worth mentioning.
hat is it about going home that rekindles the soul and stirs up places in the heart that exist, for the most part, in quiet slumber? This is the proverbial question that presents itself each time I drive to my hometown, Milford, PA. What awakens these dormant recollections? Well, for start ers, family, old friends, and mini-breaks to the still-stand ing, still-flourishing outposts of childhood, places that have stood their own tests of time—businesses, special landmarks, recreational areas—progressing through times of change and yet holding fast to the formula that made them great since they began. No easy task.
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As a child, I listened intently while my parents and their friends debated ingredients and argued production methods over drinks and canapes on a summer’s day, stimulating cu linary exchanges between would-be alchemists and weekend gourmet warriors alike. Shoutouts such as, “It’s the beer in the dough!” “No, it’s the brand of tomatoes!” rang out. If all else failed, then, “Well, it’s probably just the rectangularshaped pans, Peg,” would be the last concession.
For decades, multitudes of amateur cooks had their go at it, but in the end, the best level the most persistent imita tors could hope to acquire would be something painfully “close” to the original taste, never fully hitting the mark. (Close, but no cigar.) Even my own mom, a seasoned cook herself, had to bow to the humble ranks of those forever in awe of this unconquerable recipe. (And thus, a forever So,customer.)whenmy sister and I visited Len & Jo's one weekday last summer, at exactly opening time, it was with the expectation of something grand awaiting us inside. We had just come off the Delaware River from a day of kay aking and had our appetites in tow. Entering at the front put us smack in the bar, a room we’d never been allowed to enter through growing up. But here we were 50 years later in the forbidden bar, and not without a tinge of nostalgic naughti ness, I’ll admit. (Even as an adult, standing in a bar at 4 in the afternoon still carries a similar tinge for me.)
Here, on the contrary, customers were on a first-name ba sis, enjoying the offering of familiarity and belonging. These customers were people living and working in this neighbor hood most of their lives. They’d breeze in and out like it was a second home and the bartender a relative or good friend.
Whatever our faded memories were, we soon realized that this old-time bar and restaurant didn’t seem to have received a single upgrade in the past 50 years. But instead of being put off by that, quite the contrary, we found it charming in a way that watching a classic movie in a comfortable living room would be. The initial sense of being an outsider gave way to a familiarity from all those years of coming here with my family and friends, all the smells and memories bundled up into one single treasure. “Shall we have a beer at the bar while we wait for our pie to be ready?” I asked my sister. I could see the daring chal lenge in her eyes—that we would partake of an alcoholic beverage on a Tuesday afternoon in a previously off-lim its bar before dusk. Suddenly, we were underage teenag ers, trying to sneak a drink where we weren’t supposed to. “Sure!” she easily replied. We ordered our respective beers and with each sip could feel the place’s history drawing us back to our past. We observed our surroundings as the locals came and went— an older couple stopping by to collect their steaming hot pie, a sprinkling of blue-collar workers popping in for a quick draft before heading home for the evening, just like in the old days. “People still have time for that here?” I questioned my sister. “I thought these types of saloons had fallen out of fashion, replaced by modern, impersonal joints where bartenders and customers remain anonymous, no connections made.”
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Food Continued
They could count on being greeted warmly, and he knew what they like to drink, how they drink it, how much they’ll drink, and most likely just about everything about their personal lives. (What they don’t tell him, gossip will!) My sister and I reminisced about our many outings here, go ing back to before we were teenagers. As we peered into the restaurant area from our bar stools, we could see the eating area, unchanged from 50 years ago: the same wood-paneled walls; the same small windows with pleated, country cur tains above the same vinyl booths; the same opening in the wall for waitresses to yell drink orders to the bartender. The only visible change was an addition in the rear of the restau rant to accommodate more customers, and the old jukebox had been replaced. Even the neon “OPEN” sign in the win dow at the bar entrance seemed to be the original. From our viewpoint, we could see the very tables that my family had once occupied with our friends. There would be eight of us, including my mom’s friend Annette and her two sons, who would descend on the food like a pair of hungry wolverines, diving into the pizza before anyone else had a turn and scarfing up any remaining pieces without asking. No big deal, boys, except everyone else wanted those last pieces! Good times. The recollection continued of biting into the steaming hot rectangular slices when the flavors of the dough, sauce, and cheese melded together, shocking and satisfying the taste buds at the same sudden moment. It is a deliciousness that goes through the mouth straight to the heart, before you can say, “Ouch, that was hot!”
We all drank sodas with our pizza then, the old sort: cream, orange, ginger ale, or cherry coke, with free refills. The place had quite an extensive Italian menu, but I don’t believe we ever paid it much attention, for to visit Len & Jo’s without ordering our usual pizza was, well, an impiety. As my sister and I sipped our beers and chatted, we con nected the present with the precious years of childhood. A eureka moment flashed by: So, in this microcosmic corner of the world in Port Jervis, NY, a place seemingly frozen in time, has this lifestyle been moseying on uninterrupted over the past 50+ years? Has this little movie been playing on the whole time with no commercial interruptions? And, indeed, the feeling of being here was very much like watching a clas sic film, if one is lucky enough to find a place to be revisited, rewatched, and enjoyed again and again. Now that is simply delicious.
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Enter Water Gap Woodturners. That’s the local chapter of the American Association of Woodturners and an affiliate club of Peters Valley.
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By Kristen Hamilton Woodturning: A Craft that Transforms The Water Gap Woodturners
Woodturning veteran and long-standing member of the club, Rick Wortman explains, “Unlike woodworking, there is no need to constantly check measurements and make one piece fit into another. Woodturning is much more of a med itative process. You don’t have to think about what you are doing. It’s about seeing the curves and the form of what you are turning. I find that an immersive experience.”
Water Gap Woodturners president Mike Peacock adds, “Af ter downsizing to a smaller house, I looked to woodturning because it has a smaller footprint to make things. All you need is a lathe and a little bit of space.”
For artist and club member Patty Jennings, it is where art and woodturning intersect that inspires her creativity: “I like the natural aspect of wood—the grain, the color. Each piece is unique. You don’t know what you’ll get until you start work ing with it. Put a hunk of wood on a lathe, and in a couple of hours, you have an interesting piece. It’s fascinating.”
Jennings likes to use found wood that friends give her—trees that were removed or fell on their property due to natural causes. She has been given exotic woods from overseas, but actually prefers using local woods.
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onsider an old tree stump along the side of the road. At best, it is home-heating fuel. At worst, a nuisance to dispose of. But put that stump in the hands of a skilled craftsman and something beautiful emerges.
The world of woodturning is similar to woodworking with out power tools, but with a twist, invoking images of the craft makers in remote European villages or exotic big city art Woodturninginstallations.centers around a chunk of wood spinning rapidly on a lathe. As it spins, strategically applied hand tools effortlessly carve, grind, and shape the wood into a work of art. Some creations are decorative. Others are functional and useful: bowls, pepper grinders, platters, ice-cream scoopers. It’s impossible to take these everyday items for granted when they are lovingly crafted out of a beautiful piece of wood. Even the most basic items are elevated into cherished works of art when they are turned by a skilled hand. Not only can the end result be amazing, but the wood turning process itself is relaxing. Inspiring. Some might say transformative. The magic lies in the difference be tween woodworking and woodturning. Where wood working involves power tools, accurate measurements, and precision cutting, woodturning is less about preci sion, more about feel.
There’s a camaraderie that comes with woodturning. A shared language and skill set that sets turners apart and brings them together. Believing that one good turn de serves another, each December, members participate in the Project Self-Sufficiency Toy Drive, producing woodturned toys for local children in need. It’s a project that brings the group together, sharing what they love while benefiting the community.
34 Life Continued She encourages everybody to “Give it a shot! You will be sur prised by what you can do. Results come quickly, because it moves so fast. But the challenge of woodturning is worth it.”
This is an invaluable way to learn by doing, with a more experienced woodturner leading the way. Many members continue taking woodturning classes at Peters Valley, as well as learning other crafts that enhance their woodturn ing projects. Woodworking, painting, drawing, and carv ing all bring something fresh and unique to wood-turned Membersprojects. of all levels support each other as they learn woodturning at their own pace. Monthly meetings include live demos from an expert turner and “show and tell” time where members share a finished piece and explain how they created it. New members enjoy the support and wis dom of long-time turners, while experienced turners ap preciate the creativity and fresh energy brought by new members, as they have an opportunity to learn a new skill. Everyone benefits, everyone learns in this supportive, dy namic environment. “We have members who are age 80 and above. The quality of their work is not limited by their age,” says Wortman. “When you see what others have achieved, it broadens your scope of what is possible.”
Water Gap Woodturners will be turning wood at the Peters Valley Fall Craft Fair on September 24th–25th.
The Water Gap Woodturners began at Peters Valley School of Craft about 20 years ago. While teaching woodshop, the director of the Peters Valley program sensed there was something missing in their woodcraft offerings. Chairs need legs, after all. With no woodturning equipment at their dis posal, some early Peters Valley members donated funds to purchase lathes. Courses were formed around woodturning, and Water Gap Woodturners was established. This close relationship between Peters Valley and Water Gap Woodturners endures to this day. Mike Peacock celebrates this connection. “Peters Valley hosts us and allows us to use their wood studio for our meetings. We have a strong con nection. Through Peters Valley, our group has grown and changed over the years. Water Gap Woodturners is educa tion-minded. We share what we know with each other. We learn from and guide other members through our experi ences. Mentorship is a big part of our group. “New members can arrange to meet with a more experi enced turner in the club to have a two-hour, one-on-one session where you can pick up a new skill or refine the skills you have,” says Peacock. “Water Gap Woodturners enables you to bring in your work, show it to others, and be motivated by what others are doing,” notes Rick Wortman. “We also bring in outside presenters who are experts in certain areas. It opens up a world of possibilities.”
Water Gap Woodturners meetings are held the first Wednesday of every month at Peters Valley School of Craft through the sea son. In winter, meetings are held Saturdays at member homes. For more information, visit www.watergapwoodturners.Word press.com.
After attending a women-in-woodturning class at Peters Valley, Jennings was hooked. “I’ve always been into the arts. I like to incorporate other arts into my woodturning. I’ve brought painting, carving, even wood burning, into my projects,” she says. “With my art background, I can visual ize better than most what a piece of wood can be. It gives me an advantage over other woodturners.”
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36 students.Workshop GuerrieroJoeofcourtesyPhotos
Nelson Davis, who hails from Texas, found himself attract ed to the historical aspect of the area, specifically the Van Campen House and other landmark sites nearby.
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The
Nature By Joe Guerriero
S Photographer Richard Schnurr planned his story of artist Jessica Corujo days in advance. He delved deep into how the artist goes about her work, what inspires her, and how she completes her pieces.
High school student Alenys Ceballos took on the challenge of what one can feel when leaving the city life behind and splashing into the fresh waters of Hackers Falls, PA.
I’m happy to say that my students in this year’s workshop at Peters Valley, “The Photo Story: Digging Deeper into the Visual Subject,” created work that is not only infor mative, thoughtful, and visually pleasing, but also gives insight into their own thinking and that of their subjects.
In addition to creating the following stories, we attended the Sussex County Farm and Horse Show to exercise our photo eyes and camera skills.
Jose Angel Ruano looked at the artworks of friends and dis covered the levels of pain and joy that an artist lives with.
Digging Deeper at Peters Valley Photo Story
ome of the challenges involved in taking a Photo Story Workshop are finding a subject and completing the project in a limited amount of time. This sharpens one’s skills and focus. It is also an opportunity to explore. Simply put, as in most workshops, one gets out of it what one puts in.
Nature
Jessica works many part-time jobs and barters her services in return for rent and utilities in her upper garage apartment that also serves as her studio. The jobs are often art related and allow her to learn new things as she works. She is very inquisi tive, regularly posting things she just learned. A themed series of posts, “Today’s Job Is,” shows the wide variety of tasks she is asked to work on. Her jobs are flexible so she can schedule time for working on her art projects.
Richard Schnurr, Photographer Subject: The Story of Artist Jessica Corujo
The Devil’s Footprint in Hopatcong is a favorite place for Jessica to go to clear her mind, get inspired, or just think about saving the world. She knows all of the local outof-the-way places where she can go to be with herself and nature. As a child, Jessica took wilderness survival books out of the library and built her own campsite in the woods. Worried neighbors considered calling the police to complain about squatters in the woods before they discovered it was just Jessica. She is never without at least one of her sketchbooks, always prepared to draw. One day I imagine her opening a closet and hundreds of sketchbooks fall out, knocking her over.
Growing up, Jessica’s mom would often volunteer for good causes, and Jessica would help along with her mom. The volunteer gene has continued with Jessica, most recently when she volunteered to help set up the NJ State Fair Art Show and work at the information table. This allowed her to speak with other artists and those who appreciate art. Jessica’s father, Dan Corujo, owns a custom automotive shop in Hackettstown, NJ, where Jessica spent a lot of time growing up. Her father very proudly told me, “I still have my daughter’s doodles hanging in my store, and people often compliment them. I tell them my daughter drew those when she worked here at age 11.”
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Nelson Davis, Photographer Subject: Van Campen Inn and the Old Mine Road
The Van Campen Inn was built on the Old Mine Road in the 1750s. As time passed, threats to settlers lessened when the frontier moved west, and fortifications were abandoned, being reclaimed by the forest. Builders of the house and commanders of the militia stationed there remain in the forest.
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Alenys Celballos, Photographer Subject: Hackers Falls, PA City life, while vibrant, beautiful, and energetic, has the down side of sometimes being overwhelming, chaotic, and downright tiring. My cousin Kiara decides a break is desperately needed and drives away from it all, only to come across the answer to her question, “What would help her take her mind off it all?”
I asked my friends to let me borrow works of theirs: ones they felt did not reach their expectations, ones they felt content with, and finally, ones they’re incredibly proud of. I took pictures of the underwhelming work with a cheap and old smartphone of mine in the basement of the house we’re staying in, then moved up to the living room, where I used my iPhone to take pictures of the works they felt were decent. Finally, I used my DSLR camera to take pictures of the work they were proud of, on the highest floor of the house. You need every floor of the house in order to have a house, the same way you need every piece of art in order to improve your quality of work and progress toward becoming an artist.
Subject: FoundationsFoundationsarevitalwhentrying
to build anything in life. I’ve definitely learned that recently. Wanting the title of “artist” comes with a lot of hardship sometimes, and one of those is starting from the ground up and seeing where you’re going to end. My photo story explains that incredibly necessary hardship.
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Jose Angel Ruano, Photographer
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Taurus (April 19-May 20) Your personal planet Venus is encouraging you to stay close to your roots and your home base for a while. Your life has become unusually restless and unsettled, as if you are chasing something or being chased by it -- though your soul is longing for home territory and not being focused on the next thing or place you might be missing out on. You will benefit from experiencing whatever that is internally rather than seeking it outside yourself.
Signs Planet Waves by Eric Francis 43 Aries (March 20-April 19) The world has become a strange place, socially. It’s in teresting that the word ‘conspiracy’ means to breathe to gether -- that’s what we humans do, along with all other critters and plants. We all live in the same little aquari um, and either we decide that the environment is safe enough to swim around, or we hide under a rock. There is nothing in your chart that implies you want to conceal yourself. But do you feel safe participating in the world around you? Much depends on what you decide.
Leo (July 22-Aug. 23) Recent aspects may have released deadlocks, or pre sented necessary decisions. The lesson here is that you liberate yourself by seeing your options and making choices. They can be difficult to spot, yet they are there, and I suggest you work with the idea of pattern recogni tion. Given 100 possible elements of your environment, only three of them may contain the potential that you seek. Your role is to spot which three.
Gemini (May 20-June 21) Keep working with one consistent, simple strategy. That could be “try new things whenever possible,” or “avoid difficult people,” or “decline offers for new work until you finish what you’re doing.” There are many moving parts in the world and in your life, and most variables will turn out to be irrelevant. This is why you’ll benefit from working with the broadest possible idea of what you want to accomplish.
Libra (Sep. 22-Oct. 23) You need a more creative approach to what you do, and a more socially-focused one. This might not seem so daring, but in our times, to step out of any pre-programmed idea or expectation can feel like jump ing out of an airplane. It’s a measure of how rigid we have become that trying something new requires such courage. This is being shouted from the rooftops with warnings about doing anything that does not require a screen between you and someone else. You need the rest of existence if you want to be happy, and you do.
Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 22) Your personal planet Mars burning through your op posite sign Taurus has compelled you to look at the world from the viewpoint of others. However, have you taken their feelings and opinions into account? Have you broached any sensitive topics when you had the chance? We live in a world where it’s easy to ignore people. This may give you a sense of power, but if so, why do you think you want that? Your whole being is encouraging you to be open to what others think, feel and especially what they want. The people in your life need your affirmation.
Cancer (June 21-July 22) There are a lot of people in your life these days, despite efforts to trim back your involvements and complica tions. Situations remain that you’d rather be done with; that seem stuck. You may need to make decisions about whether to remove an obstacle, or go over, through or around it. Work with the one or two people who under stand how to collaborate and will stick to getting their part done.
Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 20) Prudence will be the better part of valor. It’s good to be confident, and it’s also good to know that there are means of evaluation that are best facilitated by taking a submissive posture. That means being observant of the world around you without clouding it with preconceived ideas. Deter mine whether anything is in alignment with your personal ethics, or a closely related factor of your personal ethos. One is about the letter of the law, and the other is the spirit of the law. Of the two, the second is more important.
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 22) You’re probably bursting with ideas these days. It will help if you have a focused process of development. This means working with the flow of time and set ting specific goals. The context for your creative flow needs to be grounded in something practical. You’re being encouraged to work with structure as a way of harnessing energy and making efficient use of your re sources. But this takes some discipline, part of which involves being selective about what you do and what you want.
Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 19) You’ve recently gone through one of the last major events of the Saturn in Aquarius era (March 2020-March 2023). The question at this stage is, what have you ac complished the past two years or so? Make an honest evaluation, claim your accomplishments and set some new goals. As for the old ones — either revive them and dedicate yourself, or dismiss them and move on.
Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) You may be feeling recent events in one of the most psychological and emotionally intimate angles of your chart; the 12th house, the most mysterious, interesting and spiritually rich of the lot. This is the interior reality that you carry with you wherever you go. Take time to do something that is distinctly odd for the digital world, which is nurture your inner being. Of all the signs, Pisces is the one that requires hours per day of alone time, and time disengaged from responsibility. Take time to pay yourself back for all of your devoted thoughts and efforts. Read Eric Francis daily at PlanetWaves.net.
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep. 22) Mercury will be retrograde from Sept. 9 through Oct. 2, so tie up loose ends and save what money you can for contingencies. Ensure that those with whom you have a mutual interest are doing their part. You tend to be indeci sive about financial matters involving others, as if you’re afraid to push them. However, now is the time to make sure you have the help you deserve, and that spiritual accounts balance out.
