The art of Perry Olshein on exhibit at Rochester Library

The art of Perry Olshein will be on display at the Fulton County Library-Rochester Branch through Sept. 30.

Perry Olshein was born on a snowy January night in Albany, New York back in 1954. After high school, Perry earned a degree in hotel-restaurant management from State University of New York and graduated from the prestigious Culinary Institute of America in 1975. After sowing his “wild oats” in California for several years, he moved back to Chicago to begin building his dream of owning his own restaurant. Enter Perry’s Deli.

The story of Perry’s Deli began in 1982 when Perry rented kitchen space from The YWCA in downtown Chicago. He converted the slop sink into an office and began delivering his homemade, gourmet, giant sandwiches to some of the most successful corporations in Chicago’s Loop. In 1986 he opened a sit down location on Franklin Street that remains open to this day. Perry’s Deli has been featured in all the major Chicago newspapers, national magazines, local television stations as well National Public Radio. One of his sandwiches was even chosen as one of the top five in the country by The Today Show.

In 2003 Perry sold his famous deli. He and his wife (also his best friend) moved permanently to Indiana. Perry and Kathy have five of their own dogs as well as one barn cat and two horses.

Perry believes that life is just one big banquet and his goal is to eat it all. He embraces his hobbies with so much energy they many times become his passions. In 1995 Perry became a certified scuba diver. He and his buddies used to regularly dive in the cold waters of Lake Michigan looking at shipwrecks. He and his wife, also a diver, have traveled to many tropical locations on great dive trips.

For many years Perry took private magic lessons. He has been riding a motorcycle since 1988 and now also drives an antique John Deere tractor. Perry is an amateur auctioneer and uses these skills strictly for charity events. At the age of 51 he became a firefighter and went on to become a certified First Responder. During his younger years he studied several styles of martial arts however, tennis was his sport. He often boasted that his opponents were twenty years his junior.

Perry was always an art aficionado, collecting paintings and visiting art museums. He always knew sooner or later he would learn to paint. This desire has come to fruition in his mid fifties when he started taking weekly private lessons from Marilyn Kruger of Akron. In 2017, he and his wife sold the Castle of the Dogs and retired to a small farm in Argos. His wife now has time to garden and he has time to paint.

For more information go to paintingsbyperro.com

Fulton County

Continued from page 10 opportunity to develop a group community project.

Upon graduation, each successful student will have gained:

• Personal, interpersonal, and group leadership skills.

• A better understanding of county resources, services and programs.

• A network of community contacts throughout Fulton County.

More information and academy applications are available