Southern Tier Life - July 2021

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SOUTHERN TIER LIFE MAGAZINE STAFF Editor In Chief Randy Reid Editorial Assistant Dee Reid Advertising Randy Reid Contributors A’Don Allen, Chris Brewster, Sheri Hughey, Sky Moss, Bob Thomas, Cathy White Contact news@southerntierlife.com Address P.O. Box 704, Elmira, New York 14902 Publisher Reid Media Group, LLC

Reid Media Group LLC is a NYS Certifed Minority Business Enterprise Southern Tier Life is published by Reid Media Group. Copyright 2021. All rights reserved

Cover Photo Credit: Elmira City School District Facebook

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TABLE OF CONTENTS Hot Shots 08 465 Days 10 Upstate Geechie 14 Vibing w/ Cat White 16 Exploring our Civil War History

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Ex-Pats- Elizabeth Marks 20 Chef’s Best

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What’s Happening 24

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Centuries of Experience.

A Name You Can Trust.

thedunngroup.com

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Editorial 465 days our local students dealt with this pandemic. Recently they celebrated their graduation. Not only was the cheers you heard from the grandstands parent cheering their kids on but it was also relief. “They made it” is what the crowd was clapping for.

All students should be celebrated for making it through their school year with all the changes in curriculum , rules, masks, Zooms, they all deserve recognition. We watched as our granddaughter labored through the school year. On her last day we sent our 8 year old granddaughter flowers with a congratulatory note.

Do something nice for a student and a teacher you know. They will appreciate and remember that gesture for the rest of their lives.

We would like to hear your feedback on our magazine.

Reach out to us at: news@southerntierlife.com.

RANDY REID SOUTHERN TIER LIFE MAGAZINE 2021

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Southern Tier Views

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Credit: Elmira City School District Facebook Page

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APPARATUS W E S T CO R N E R S F I R E D E PA R T M E N T The month we feature the West Corners Fire Company. A 100% Volunteer Department founded in 1918 when a meeting was held at the home of Jack Gallagher to establish a fire department in West Corners. The department was organized with 5 members using a 4 wheel vehicle donated by Valley Hose Co. (Union). This vehicle was chemical tank which had 200 feet of garden hose mounted on the vehicle.

Years later reorganization started in the district.

The first piece of motorized firefighting equipment was purchased. A 1924 Model T Ford Truck with three chemical tanks mounted in the rear of the vehicle. The method of alarm was

The West Corners Fire Company Fleet consists of: Engine 29-1, a 2001 HME 4 Guys, with a 2000 GPM Hale Pump with 1500 Gallons Engine 29-2, a 1994 Spartan Saulsbury, with a 1500 GPM Hale Pump with 1000 Gallons Water Engine 29-11, a 1986 Spartan Young, with a 1500 GPM Hale Pump with 1000 Gallons Water Rescue 29. a 2006 HME Silverfox, an 18 Foot Walk Around Body Ladder 29, a 2010 Spartan 4 Guys, with a 75 Foot Rear Mount Straight Stick EMS 29, a 2007 Ford F-250 4 Door, with First Responder EMS Equipment Brush 29, a 2009 Ford F-350, with an 18 Horsepower Waterous Pump with 225 Gallons Water

All Photos Courtesy: West Corners Fire Co.

Utility 29, a 2012 F-250, with Fire Police Equipment ATV 29, a John Deere Gator XUV 825i, with a 70 gallon ‘L’ shape tank

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established, which was a telephone call to Gallagher’s skating rink, in turn, a bell was rung from the top of the one stall garage fire station.

nication Room, District and Department offices, The Dave Ring Training Room, Squad Room, Kitchen and the Chuck Loden Training Building. With over 30 active members responding from the northern part of the fire district, Station mutual aid and

1 responds to all FAST calls.

Station 2 was built in the hay day of IBM Glendale. Built in the 1960’s the 3 bay Station 2 houses their Med Today the department holds over 40 Team and UTV Brush Fire equipactive firefighters running out of two sta- ment. Station 2 also has a Commutions. Eight pieces of apparatus with start nications Room and their Workout of art technology enables proper fire Facility, available for all members. protection for the fire district. Engine 98 With over 10 members in the southand mutual aid procedures help ensure ern part of the fire district, Station that fire crews will always be responding 2 responds directly to all fire alarms no matter what time of day. within the district and full response The West Corners Fire Company Commanding Officers include Chief Jeff Hontz, Maintenance Chief Dave Thomas, and Training Chief Neal Haight. The Chairperson of the Board is Charles Loveland.

There are two stations in the West Corners Fire District. Station 1 is their 5 bay headquarters. Built in 1980, Station 1 houses their main apparatus, Commu-

For More information: westcornersfire.com https://www.facebook.com/WestCornersFire29

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mutual aid alarms.

If you want to challenge yourself and help your neighbors at the same time, then West Corners Fire is your answer.

They are more than a fire department, they are a family of dedicated individuals volunteering time and personal skills to help serve the West Corners community.

They are ALWAYS accepting new recruits for various positions: Firefighters Drivers (on all vehicles) Fire Police EMS Auxiliary General Positions They offer several celebrations throughout the year to recognize volunteers.

An annual Dinner Dance, Summer Picnic-Pig Roast for volunteers’ families and many other company events.

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Credit: Elmira City School District Facebook Page

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465 Days

that end your high school experience. The Class of 2021 watched as their predecessors experienced those losses and were nervous, anxious and downright scared to see what their senior year was going to look like. There were no answers. As parents, we were equally worried. Whether we understand it or not, kids crave structure and normalcy.

They are creatures of habit.

Waking up in the morning and going to school has been their normal habit since they were 4 years old. Our daughter was no different. She struggled with staying engaged. From March till almost November her interaction with her classmates was inconsistent to say the least.

A Look at the Class of 2021 Senior Year From a Parents Perspective

by A’Don Allen Thursday June 24th was a gorgeous and one of the most memorable days of our lives as parents. On this date, our daughter, Ariel Simone Allen, would don her cap and gown, and graduate high school as a part of the Elmira High School Class of 2021. The ceremony was on the Ernie Davis Academy football field and in his opening statement, Principal Christopher Reger stated that it had been 465 days since the Class of 2021 had a normal day of classes. One calendar year and 100 days, the Covid-19 pandemic changed this class forever.

As a parent of a senior, I knew it had been some time, but hearing the exact amount of days, truly put into perspective what this Senior Class had been through.

On March 16, 2020, all in person classes and activities had been abruptly canceled due to the coronavirus.

The seniors in the Class of 2020, lost the last quarter of their Senior Year.

They lost their prom, Senior Skip Day, Senior Trip and all of the traditions

The school year started with hybrid classes and cohorts. So the first half of the alphabet went in person on Mondays and Tuesdays and then on Wednesdays, everyone was virtual.

The second half of the alphabet went on Thursdays and Fridays. Parents had the choice to make their kids 100% virtual if they chose to. So, while it wasn’t ideal, you did have the ability to be around classmates and have interaction. However, there were still no sports, no clubs, and no extracurricular activities to speak of.

In October, when the kids thought maybe sports and extracurricular activities would return, a spike in Covid cases took the students back out of school and back to 100% virtual for an indefinite amount of time. It was at this point that we began to notice not just with our daughter, but with

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her friends and peers, the frustration of not being in school. The Zoom Classes had become too much. The non-ability to create bonds and memories with kids they had spent so much of their lifetime in what could be their final year together was hitting a boiling point.

A bigger issue also began to make a play: College. Visits were out. Everything had to be done virtually.

Which raised the question of; “Can you pick out a school sight unseen?”

Virtual tours are great, but there’s nothing like visiting a school and seeing a dorm room, and a lecture hall up close and personal, and being able to get a feel for a place. And for that “place” to feel like home, as when you pick a school, which will be your home for the next 4-6 years.

Our daughter was no different. Her college search began with familiarity but ended up selecting a school that she still, to this day, hasn’t stepped foot on the campus.

2020 was coming to an end. The holidays were among us and the school year was still in a state of flux.

The students at this point were just going with the flow. With no answers in sight, the days turned into nights and there was still a big mystery as to how the final six months of their high school career would map out.

In January, hope began to appear.

There were rumblings about schools possibly reopening, sports potentially returning and maybe, just maybe, some normalcy for a group of students who needed it more than anything. And then the day came:

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February 1st, 2021. Sports Were Returning! They were returning with restrictions, but they returned. Our daughter being a cheerleader was ecstatic. She was going to get one final opportunity to do the thing she loved with her teammates whom she had missed greatly. She was going to get her well-earned Senior Night for the Winter Cheer Season. With her mom being the cheer coach, Ariel had watched years and years of traditions and was counting down to this year for her rites of passages. When she finally understood she was getting the opportunity, she cherished them like no other years before.

The Sports Seasons came and went!

A little out of order, but they hap-

pened, the next order of business to hopefully return, was the Senior Prom and the Senior Class Activities.

Again, rumblings got out, but there was a shroud of mystery as to when and how and still, IF, these traditions were going to happen. With the onset of vaccinations and the restrictions being lifted slowly each day, the Class of 2021 began to become excited about their prom. It was to be held on June 12th on the football field. Which in itself, was a bit odd, but there was a prom. There was a banquet, there was a Senior Prank, and more importantly, there was graduation. The Administration highlighted the resiliency of this class.

They spoke about how the Class of 2021 rolled with the punches and

continued to persevere.

As a parent I applaud my daughter and her classmates. They persevered.

Were there tears? Yep. Was there despair? Yep. Was there doubt? Yep. But they never allowed it to defeat them. And if they can make it through those 465 days of non-normalcy, they can do anything in the world. Congratulations to the Class of 2021!!!

Your Community’s College — Right Here — in the Twin Tiers.

corning-cc.edu / 607-962-9151

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by Sky Moss

off a “main” artery. The likelihood of Walking through a Pandemic contracting the virus through daily walks was, in retrospect, minute. Still It was the first week of January, 2020. it crossed our minds. We become I was attending the annual AHA accustomed to hunkering down (American Historical Association) inside the house, binging Netflix and conference in NYC, NY. My son playing our Wi. That felt safe and had accompanied me and it was responsible. Our children were kept a fantastic career and father and home and trips to the grocery store son experience. Not long after were anxious journeys filled with returning home, accounts of a new fear and joy upon returning home. coronavirus were quietly escaping Eating and drinking helped numb from China. The data and anecdotes the shitiness of reality. were sporadic and compelling. By March the virus had inundated Italy. I have never been the most It was moving west at a rate that responsible eater. My diet is solid was simply impossible to accurately relative to responsibility but I am forecast. As cases entered through not an avatar of consumption both American coasts, it was clear discipline. By the beginning of May to me that an indefinite quarantine 2020, I was putting on pounds and was imminent. As the public schools exhausting like two or three pairs of closed, college campuses shut down sweats and shorts. Growing up an and daily life became a condemning athlete and maintaining that identity digitization, my family adopted a throughout my adult life, this sedentary cryptic reality. Mind you, malaise was making me detest my there was nothing special about body and my habits. Pre-pandemic our condition. In fact, we were I was active on multiple fronts. Our luckier than many. We had the family belongs to a gym 6-8 months resources to function from home, a year. I played basketball routinely continue working in that model and and generally loved to work out support each other emotionally and some. It had all shut down. My wife psychologically. Still, the toxicity of Rebecca started a routine that by the situation was ever-present. mid-May, 2020, had become a ritual.

Walking. Her responsible eating We live in a relatively rural has always set the standards for the community. Country roads capillary family. An athlete her entire life as

well, she had reached a pandemic precipice. Her solution was to walk, walk for escape, walk for fitness, walk for distraction and walk for miles.

What started as a chore (my weight was up) became a way to forget Covid for an hour. Historically I preferred to jog, I was finished faster and I felt like the cardio benefits were far greater. Initially we were doing three miles a day?

That jumped to four, then five and thirteen months later it remains at that level. We take occasional days off, they are rare. We mix in some light jogging and a game of tennis too. Walking through a pandemic, a stressful election, a high school graduation and myriad stressors became an act of protest. It was a defiant gesture directed at a world that was spewing chaos. It sounds corny, I know. It gave us something controllable. It gave us something to rely on.

We continue to walk our road. Early in the morning and in the evenings are our favorite times. There are multiple routes now. The two-mile version is the quickest and keeps us on the main artery. After a year we have made tens of drive by friends.

These are individuals we do not know personally but wave to us

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each day. The three-mile route takes us past a store, sometimes I will take my draw string bag and do some shopping. The four mile traverses a beautiful, walkable neighborhood. It is awesome to see the homes take on season décor. Each of those circuits takes us over the Chemung River. On any given day the eagles are soaring, deer are drinking and mama ducks are scurrying their babies along the banks.

The pandemic changed everything and everyone. My whole family is now vaccinated and we have returned to some of pre-Covid norms. Some things will never be the same. I never thought I would become a walker (my son though), in fact I used to think it was a waste of workout time. The pandemic taught me how little I knew about many things. We are averaging six miles a day in 2021. Three pairs of sneakers later the ritual has changed our lives. We are still walking through a pandemic.

Sky Moss is an Associate Professor at Corning Community College

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I may be single but, make no mistake, my bed is always full!

As the proud servant to four fur babes – three cats and a dog – I sleep with a variety of sexes and species nightly.

I feel bad for those who experienced loneliness throughout the pandemic – hours of solitude and … serenity?

Heck, the only time I was alone this past year was the rare occasion I had to go into the office since I worked remotely most of the time. My pandemic experience highlighted how much MORE tending to my overlords I can accomplish when my commute time is eliminated.

While I’ve enjoyed working from home for the past year, there have been adjustments. Instead of one supervisor looking over my shoulder, I had THREE felines overseeing my activi-

ties. Actually, they were more job hinderers than helpers, constantly trying to “help” me type on the keyboard and breaking into my virtual meetings for impromptu serenades.

Those of you familiar with my Star-Gazette columns may recall my support of the Chemung County S.P.C.A.,

Vibing w/Cat White

and other area animal shelters. After leaving the newspaper I co-organized several benefits with current Chemung S.P.C.A. board member Roger Laughlin, whenever and wherever I could.

I was raised with cats and have lived with them from the moment I first

drew breath. When I was born my mom had a tabby named Annie who only liked my mom. She would hiss and spit at everybody else and, I’m pretty sure, that’s where I developed my appreciation of personal space.

Innumerable cats followed. Mostly strays that were welcomed in by us

kids’ open arms and my mom’s exhaustion as a single working mother of three.

In addition to the two to six cats that “ruled the roost” in our three-bedroom Hoffman Plaza apartment growing up, my siblings and I spent a good chunk of time at our babysitter’s. She always had two dogs that went almost everywhere with her.

She also had at least one cat, a rabbit and a turtle in her home daycare.

Then, after earning her master’s, my babysitter opened a chain of daycare centers called Over the Rainbow and each location had a variety of small pets – resident cats, guinea pigs, turtles, etc.

When I first moved out on my own,

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I thought I would take a break from pet ownership - Save a few bucks on cat litter and food, and put those funds towards my Kingsbury’s bar tab. About a week before I was set to move, one of my mom’s friends told me about a black stray kitten under her porch.

She asked if I wanted to take it with me, otherwise she’d need to take it to the shelter. I took it as a sign and Jinx became my first official living being for which I was solely responsible.

Jinx, my beautiful black masochistic house panther, was a lover and a very social cat. He groomed cats and dogs alike, waiting until the unsuspecting animal was relaxing to pounce, hold them down with his paws as he diligently licked their face or their ears or their neck.

I was moving in with friends and there were no other pets in the house. I had also started a job as a highway construction inspector on the Corning Bypass, so I was gone from about 6:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. weekdays. Whenever I was home, poor Jinx stuck to me like glue. Inconvenient for the socially active twenty-something I was at the time. The situation was remedied when I started taking him to kitty daycare at my mom’s when I worked. Jinx was such a smart, talented cat that he would go from our front door to my car, and then saunter form my backseat into his grandma’s to play with her cats while I continued to work. Then I’d pick him up in the evening and he’d go home exhausted from spending the day with his friends. Absolutely ridiculous, but my love of pets began early and continues to this day.

Austin, TX is incredibly pet friendly, particularly when it comes to dogs.

There are doggy daycares, parks and dog-friendly restaurants everywhere.

Acceptance of breeds that have been labeled dangerous, such as pit bulls, is growing, as well.

When I first moved to the area, a cat café was opening that helped shelters by taking some of the rescues and helping to get them adopted.

In addition to serving coffee, the café held events like Yoga with Cats and Adult Coloring with Cats where folks could just come and hang out with kitties.

Truly a cool hangout for cat people such as myself. My Mom and I thought we had found nirvana when we visited.

While I’m a self-described, unabashed cat lady, I’ve also got plenty of room in my heart for the pooches. As mentioned, our sitter growing up had dogs, including a goofy, grinning, floofy white Samoyed Husky and an easy-going Black Labrador who loved having her belly rubbed. Those dogs were like family and even earned me a little spending cash as a youngster when I would dog sit.

My younger sister, Liz, also went the dog route, rescuing a dog named Miles once she graduated high school. Miles earned his name. He was an escape artist who liked to run for “miles”.

When Miles passed, my sister got Merlin, a Black Lab, for my nephew.

Merlin made the trek from Elmira to Austin with us and was our very good boy during our first few years in ATX. Traditionally, Liz is the dog person and I’m all about the kitties. Recently, how-

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ever, I’ve had the opportunity to take care of my nephew’s pup and I am in love! Tigger is an old blonde Pittie who likes cats and actually purrs in his own special way! He’s also become fiercely protective of me. Something that I’ve found cats aren’t really concerned about, generally.

Tigger, and the cats, made quarantine bearable. They kept me busy and entertained, and soothed my soul when I worried. I know it’s not an option for everyone, but for those who can, please rescue an animal from your local shelter. If you can’t adopt yourself there are plenty of other ways to help.

Host a fundraiser, donate – money or your time – to local shelters and animal protection efforts like Spay/Neuter programs.

Pets have always made my life less scary and more joyful. I hope to one day retire, and run an animal rescue farm, where cats and dogs can be adopted to loving homes or spend their days running free, being loved on and never knowing that they’re not home.

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Exploring Our Civil War History If you wanted to learn, first hand, about the history of the Civil War look no further. Though the war was mostly fought in the south Chemung County and in particular Elmira played a pivotal role.

The Friends of the Elmira Civil War Prison Camp is a group of volunteers who want to protect and preserve the history of the Civil War in Elmira, Chemung County and surrounding areas and to educate the public about that history.

The group has already reconstructed an original camp building which is located on the grounds of the original Barracks #3, that served as both a Union training and later prisoner of war camp.

Tours are given on weekends and by special appointment.

To Learn More or Get a Tour: Elmira’s Prison Camps were originally training sites for soldiers at the beginning of the war. The barracks used for training were turned into a prison camp later in the war where it could hold up to 5,000 soldiers. There are estimates it held from 700012,000 prisoners.

www.elmiraprisoncamp.com

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After a trip to the Elmira Prison Camp head north about 2 miles and learn about John W. Jones.

A museum named after him is teaching people about the important role he played during the war.

John W. Jones escaped from slavery in Virginia and arrived in Elmira in July 1844. People often talk about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad but John W. Jones help over 800 fellow slaves to freedom.

In his role as a caretaker at Woodlawn Cemetery Jones buried nearly 3,000 confederate soldiers with honors despite by those he buried who considered him 3/5 of man. This is part of history in our own backyard.

Museum is open weekends from Memorial Day to Labor Day

To Learn More or Get a Tour: www.https://www.johnwjonesmuseum.org/

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ELIZABE TH MARKS

by Cat White

Elizabeth Marks moved with her family from New England to a 220-acre dairy farm on East Hill in Elmira when she was 7 years old.

“We were so damn poor,” she says, smiling as she thinks back on memories tucked away that will forever tie her to the Southern Tier, though she has returned to New England, currently residing in Connecticut.

Elizabeth’s early years were a dichotomy between the safety, serenity and natural beauty of the farm, where she tended the calves and played with barn cats, and the chaotic and cruel world of elementary

grades, then abruptly stopped, which forced her to relocate to T.K. Beecher Elementary School.

Although she was shy and tried to be invisible at school, Elizabeth’s creativity flourished when she was home on her farm in a variety of ways.

“Our neighbors were miles away,” she says. “As soon as I could write, I started drawing.”

So, when she wasn’t hanging with baby cows, Elizabeth was cultivating her creativity through drawing, painting, designing clothes and even a mini-golf course on the family farm!

As she entered Southside High School, Elizabeth’s parents divorced, and she moved with her mother and sister closer to town. She also abandoned her shyness and found her tribe with a group of outgoing, fun friends that would forever tether her to the southern tier for the rest of her life.

“I’m really grateful for the time I spent there,” she says. “I’m so thankful that I had roots somewhere, and lifelong friendships.”

That tribe of teenage friends has brought Elizabeth back to the southern tier frequently to visit, even though her family is now scattered across the country.

school, where she dreaded the taunts of careless kids who teased her about her “farm” smell and handed down clothing, as well as her thick glasses blue-eyed blondeness, which the kids mocked when she had to switch to a grade school that was predominately black.

“I didn’t feel like I belonged there,” Elizabeth said.

She explained that the school district had bussed her to Arthur W. Booth School from 2nd to 5th

After graduating from high school in 1989, Elizabeth first attended Corning Community College for Mechanical Engineering then took up Art History and Visual Arts at SUNY New Paltz and finishing at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco with an MFA in Interior Architecture and Design.

Throughout her college experience, Elizabeth traveled extensively, even spending a semester in Italy learning about art. After college she moved to the Big Apple working within the theatre world as an assistant/production assistant, working high end catering gigs when necessary, and in between participating in art shows and honing her artistic

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abilities. Broadway was also where Elizabeth met her first husband and had her daughter, Bailey, who’s named after Elizabeth’s grandfather.

She learned over the years that, in addition to an exceptional creative ability, she had an affinity for technical thinking. So, after her first marriage ended, Elizabeth settled into a more stable job as a receptionist for a PR/lobbying firm. It wasn’t long before she rose from greeting clients to leading operations for the entire New York office. However, by this time she’d moved with her daughter to Westport, CT, married for a second time and was commuting into the city.

After the 2008 stock market collapse and significant financial and relationship losses, Elizabeth searched for a way to support her family with a job closer to home in Connecticut.

Eventually, she made her way back to theatre and landed a job as Director of Community Engagement and Corporate Relations at Westport Country Playhouse.

“I know what it looks like to have nothing, then to have a lot, and then to have nothing again,” she said recalling the roller coaster ups and downs of her life since she first moved to that farm on the green rolling slopes of Elmira’s East Hill in the mid-

1970s.

While working at the Playhouse Elizabeth became more entrenched in her community , serving President of the Young Woman’s League, chair of the Westport’s Domestic Violence Task Force and many others.

Elizabeth pursued her next new adventure and mission as Director of Community Fundraising at USA for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the UN Refugee Agency, where she raised awareness as well as funding for the organization.

During her time with USA for UNHCR, Elizabeth traveled extensively, witnessing and hearing stories from refugees around the world. She developed national initiatives and fundraising campaigns to educate Americans and raise funds to helps refugees including; Read4Refugees and Step with Refugees (Step with Jillian Michaels).

Throughout it all, she found a way to stay connected to her art, launching her own art and interior design firm, Elizabeth Marks Art & Design, where she showcases her work. Elizabeth creates a variety of art, using her body to apply paint onto a canvas, along with recycled newspaper, resulting in enhanced color and texture.

The entire process captures the organic shapes of the body which represents the hills and valleys seen in landscapes, especially reminiscent of her days on that farm on East Hill.

Continued on page 26

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by Bob Thomas When asked to describe growing up on the Northside of Elmira, my knee-jerk response is to say “underwhelming”.

Chef ’s Best brought me back to my old stomping ground this month. As I drove through the neghborhood memories flooded back. Everything a kid needed growing up in the 1980’s was right there at that time.

We had crab apple battles in the backyard. Bottle Rocket fights in Pulaski Park. Skateboarding down the “steep” hill on Magee Street. Riding bikes, playing ball, staying out until our sunset curfew.

When we were hungry all we had to do was take a short walk. Around the corner stands King Kone, hands-down the best place for soft serve in Elmira, then and now.

An authentic Convenient Food Mart was almost in my backyard. Plenty of paper route earnings were spent there on Cow Tails and Garbage Pail Kids.

Enrico’s Pizza on the corner of Davis and Noble street was our go-to place for a sheet pizza and wings.

Times have changed. Families in the

R&J Jamaican Cuisine R&J Jamaican Cuisine Website

neighborhood today have even more options for fun and food. I will let the kids decide what constitutes their fun now, (but bottle rockets are plentiful this time of year).

Ice cream and convenience foods are still available in the same locations, but now there is something new at 1208 Davis Street. Swap the pizza for authentic Jamaican food, now available in the heart of the Northside.

R&J Jamaican Restaurant opened its doors to customers on June 8, 2021.

Romario Brown and Jenna Balmer

are the owners of the restaurant. “We bring a taste of the Island,” said Brown and Balmer. We are bringning homestyle like food right to you with a variety of choices. From world famous Jerk chicken, different choices of pork to shrimp, Island Pasta and many more.”

After hearing about the opening of the restaurant, my wife, Marisa, and I had to check it out. The experience was even more enjoyable because we had the chance to share it with friends.

Native Jamaicans Brian Allen and Fitzroy Moore are in the hospitality indus-

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try. The cruise ships they worked for more than ten years have been stuck in harbor due to the pandemic. In turn, Allen and Moore shifted to the hotel industry and are spending the Summer Season in Ithaca. “It was a change of pace, but we enjoy exploring the Finger Lakes Region of NY. We do miss food from the Islands and were so happy to hear that authentic Jamaican food was available in Elmira,” said Allen.

is what we got. The peas are not what I expected. In Jamaica and many Caribbean countries, beans are referred to as peas. According to Wikipedia, “The dish is made with rice and any available legume, such as kidney beans, pigeon peas (known as gungo peas), or cowpeas, the combination of grain and a legume forming a complete protein.

This flavors the dish well and reduces the need for additional protein.”

Brown and Balmer have multiple years of experience cooking Jamaican food.

In their words, “We are food lovers that love to share our Cuisine with everyone.” I was directed to order the Oxtail, a popular seller on the menu. Also ordered to share were the Curry Chicken and Stewed Fish. Food is served take-out style, with a few picnic tables available in the parking lot. We brought the food home, picking up a six pack of Red Stripe at Wegmans on the way home to pair with the meal.

The Stewed Fish was a hit as well. First fried and then sauteed with herbs and spices, served with onions and peppers.

The fish was cooked to perfection and the dish had a subtle sweetness.

With Bob Marley playing on the Alexa, our tasetebuds were ready to hit the Islands.

The Oxtail is braised and simmered with butter beans. My best description would be little pieces of pot roast on the bone, with a Jamaican flair. The entrée was rich, and full of beef flavor, perfectly offset by rice & peas, and cabbage. The plaintains served with every entrée complete an amazing plate of food.

Fun fact, Jamiacan entrees are commonly served with ‘rice and peas’. R&J follows tradition, so that

You haven’t tried curry, until you have Jamaican curry. The Curry Chicken lead with an intense curry flavor, but was still tropical in nature.

Kingston nativie Moore was impressed.

“This is the first time I haven’t felt homesick,” he said.

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Allen agreed, “All of the food was authentic, exactly like the food we eat at home. The chefs didn’t miss a beat.”

Owners Brown and Balmer say their special ingredient is love. “There’s much to taste here. So, take your time, check out our menu and enjoy a taste of the Islands.”

Pick-up the phone and place an order of authentic Jamaincan food. Brown recommends to order early as food commonly sells out before closing time.

Visit my old neighborhood and take a culinary vacation to the Islands at R&J Jamaican Cuisine.

When you dine just ask for the Chef ’s Best!

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Continued Ex-Pats from Page 25 “It’s truly me on that canvas,” Elizabeth says. “Many of those organic shapes of Elmira hills – it’s an extension of me. I just can’t get away from it.”

Reevaluating the work life balance in 2012, Elizabeth placed art as one of her top priorities. Currently, she lives with partner Brian Kelsey in Connecticut, working as a consultant on special projects related to her refugee work, volunteering in various community organizations, finding inspiration for her art in her surroundings – past, present and future, and supporting her daughter, who’s building a career as a performer on New York City’s “Great White Way”.

WHAT’S HAPPENING JULY July 1st- 4th Dick’s Sporting Goods Open

The DICK’S Sporting Goods Open is one of the elite tournaments on the PGA TOUR Champions that will be held in Endicott, NY on June 28-July 4, 2021.

July 4th Town of Union 4th of July Fireworks July 11th 12p-4pm Elmira Blooms

This year, “Elmira Blooms” includes six showcase gardens, one of which features a 10’ x 37’ garden railroad! This self-guided tour offers an opportunity to view lovingly created, distinct, and original gardens in and around the City of Elmira.

July 16-18th 14th Annual Street Painting Festival Elmira

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Southern Tier Life / July 2021 / ISSUE 005