Knock-Knock. Whos there? Atch. Atch Who? Bless You. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ So then ... This is one massive stew of names, faces, places, and photo from 1995 showing Mount Anthony keeper Ben Grabowski chasing a dog in the middle of a soccer game. Thats right. Theres a possibility J.P. Probolas in another soccer shot but Kulk cant be sure of that. Maybe Karyn with a y can help us out. 1. Christmas Eve Eve, Jason and Jess bought chunky mugs and a lotion pump for his wife and her mom Emily. The style, Jason said, is exactly what she likes, and we got some mugs recently and they broke. Jason works at J.D. Sprayform so if you need to insulate your house give them a call at (802) 379-1973. Jason knows Fiddlehead owners Joel and Nina Lentzner quite well but well let Joel explain that relationship from 14 years ago. Emily, Jason said, graduated MAU and when Kulk asked her last name he answered Grabowski. Is she related to Ben Grabowski? Kulk said, and Jason answered Ben is Emilys brother. Kulk knew hed be able to post the 2 photos of Ben that have sat in his album for nearly 20 years. Ben played the pipes as well as any Vermont keeper in 95. Real tough nut. Kulk took one of the photos during a practice days ahead of MAUs first playoff game that season. Hes since forgotten the lefty taking a shot on Ben while the shirtless chap who might be J.P. Probola, but probably not, tries to block the ball. The other photo shows Ben trying to corral a dog who broke free of his leash and romped onto the field during a game. Ben lives in Georgia with wife and kids. Whats beautiful is that Kulk can show these photos almost 20 years later because Bens sister Emily is married to Jason, who bought mugs and lotion pump, and let a chat with Kulk unfurl. 2. Christmas Eve Eve, John of Salem New York -- another hotbed of art around these parts -- browsed Fiddlehead but couldnt find what he thought his daughter and daughter-in-law would love and cherish so he did the smart thing and bought each a gift certificate. He wore a Red Sox hat but he grew up in Brooklyn and loved the Dodgers -- the Brooklyn Dodgers because his dad loved Dem Bums. I sat on the couch with him and watched games. Kulk asked who his favorite Bum was. Koufax -- Sandy Koufax. His son is Denver Ruff, a glassblower in Bennington. 3. Christmas Eve Eve, the Brandi sisters of Hoosick Falls. This was a fun one. Both of them looked familiar, Emily Rose like a Gotham chic writer, and Kim like ... well, hard to pinpoint her face but Kulk knew he knew her from somewhere. Turns out she was an 8th-grader on Jim Prendergasts varsity soccer team at Hoosick Falls High in 95. Kulk arrived in Bennington a few weeks before the 95 school year and one of the first columns he wrote for the Bennington Banner -- if memory serves correct, on September 13 -- featured Jim Prendergast because he looked like Jerry Garcias twin. Keep in mind Jerry died 5 weeks earlier; Kulk was at the Grateful Deads last concert at Soldier Field 4 weeks before that. Funny thing is Jim was more a fan of THE BAND. So there you have it. Kulk asked Kim Brandi, now 34, to define Coach Prendergast in one word. Funny. Then she said goofy -- but he was a good guy and very kind hearted. One of Kulks favorite Panthers on the 95 team was Veronica Alvarez, who went on to the University of Buffalo and formed a band. Her dad owned a restaurant on Route 7 between Bennington and Hoosick, and he made the best risotto on the planet. Kim looked up to his daughter on the soccer field. She was a wicked-good player. Did you say wicked-good? That phrase went out in 2003, Kulk said. Kim laughed. Im still sayin it! Kulk asked her what she thought it meant to be so young on the big team, and she said I musta been alright if I was moved up to the varsity as an 8th-grader. // Emily Rose meanwhile walked into the gallery with the hiccups so Kulk offered her bubbly water and within minutes they went away. She graduated The Falls in 06 then began her fashion statement by enrolling at the The Illinois Institute of Art-Chicago to study millinery. Shes a milliner. Whats a milliner? Kulk asked. A hat maker -- I make hats. Oh yeah, send us some photos of your work, were always looking for new local artists. Emily Rose Brandi said shed get on that when she returns to Chicago but lots of people say lots of things so Kulks not holding his breath. He hopes she surprises him though. I interned with a great woman, Loretta Corsetti -- shes a-MAY-zing! Shes paying the bills with a gig at Konika Minolta. // If you ever see Kim or Emily Rose, ask Kim about the day she broke her leg because of a bottle of Pledge, courtesy overzealous little sister. // Finish this sentence, Kulk told the sisters, Hoosick Falls is ________ and while Kim thought about an answer, Emily Rose said Beautiful! I never appreciated it when I was here. All of these trees! Indeed, Chicago is a concrete jungle. // Kim said she received good news at the doctor earlier in the day. She looked like someone punched her in the eyes. Kulk gave her a bag of almonds and immediately she perked up a little. // They said they never knew Fiddlehead at Four Corners existed till now but that theyd definitely come back in a few days to shop. Kulk didnt believe them, because people say a lot of things. 4 and 5. Christmas Eve Eve, and into the gallery walked Joe and Megan Mazza and their adorable boy Oliver. Those who read this page everyday remember the stories Kulk wrote about Megan and Oliver and then Joe and Oliver. All things happen in 3s so heres a story about Joe and Megan and Oliver, though its really just a blip with a happy ending because they bought a pair of Robin Janas copper earrings -- Megan loved the patina pair. Theyre earmarked for Aunt Janet of Glens Falls. The first photo captured the Family Mazza but the earrings not so much, which is why Kulk took a close-up of Megan holding them. How cool that 2 pairs of Robins earrings sold in the same day? If youre wondering why theres a string on Olivers arm its because the string is tied to a balloon. 6 and 7. David Katz from Bennington College. Kulk wrote about him during the weekend. He came back 2 days ago to buy one more cruet. Now, Kulk likes to think hes a pretty good photographer but sometimes he just spits the bit. David bought a dark cruet so Kulk snapped a shot without the flash but didnt capture the true color, or so he thought. Maybe he did, who knows. He tried one with the flash, which didnt improve the situation though he captured Davids eyes pretty well. 8. Christmas Eve morning, and Tim Brown, athletic director for Mount Anthony and the middle school, bopped in to shake Kulks hand and wish him a Merry Christmas. Theyve known each other a long time. Tim used to be a sportswriter at the Banner. He and Kulk are in the same fantasy baseball league. Tim has won the title 8 or 9 times. Kulk has won the title zero times. Kulk asked Tim if he saw the blip about him the other day and yeah, MAU boys hoops coach Dan Sleeman emailed him a link because Kulk wrote about Dans wife Jana, and she worked with Tim for years and glowed about his professionalism. Tim and Kulk shot the sh!t for a few minutes and then he hit the long road north to Burlington to spend time with his sons and daughter. 9, Christmas Eve morning, and John from Florida came in to buy his wife Peggy a Christmas present: cat earrings made of acrylic and foil. He said shed love the purples and that color not to mention shes a cat lover. Hes a cyclist and an accountant who grew up in the Capital District before moving to Florida. They have a second home in Bennington. 10. Christmas Eve morning, and like he said he would the other day, Brian McKenna came back to buy a large cutting board made of various gorgeous woods and another Grantins acrylic painting. He absolutely loved the cutting board for the gully just before the edge. He and wife Jennifer have gone through chintzy cutting boards and she has hinted about being tired of buying one board after another. That, husband said, is her way of saying she wants something. He came in the other day and looked at our array of cutting boards and took the plunge today. Loved the wood and the thickness and the WOOD of it all. This, he said, isnt chintzy at all. This is going to make a statement. // Speaking of big statements, Brian is a financial advisor at D.B. McKenna, and the Y2K grad of Mount Anthony, who matriculated through Notre Dame in South Bend Indiana, said big news is coming down the pike re: last months Tech@Bennington gathering. // He played soccer (right fullback), basketball (2-guard) and golf at MAU. Mount Anthony is his favorite course in Vermont though he has yet to break par or even get close -- 77 is his best on the par 71. Kulk asked him to name the toughest hole at MACC. The 8th because its got a nasty draw. // Do you still play basketball? Kulk asked, to which he answered Want to know something funny? I havent touched a ball since I came back to the states. He worked in England for a spell and came back to Bennington. 9 years ago. I used to play nonstop. That is funny in a non-haha sort of way. // Brian bought a Grantins months ago. The McKenna home needed another, and this one radiates. We like bright and cheery. 11. Christmas Eve, 41 minutes after High Noon, and heres Jim Chatterton, quite possibly the most diligent pottery collect in Bennington, and really just a delightful chap. The other day he bought one of Nina Berinsteins teapots and a mug for his sister Denebs boyfriend. Then he got to thinking that maybe she wants a mug too so he came back and bought this ceramic floral goblet from Pittsburgh. Which reminded Kulk of Le Mont - Pittsburgh, home of Lorin Scallops. Which reminded him last nights conversation with Kim Brandi re: a girlfriend meeting her boyfriends mom and how those dynamics play out. Which reminded him of a girl whos staying at her boyfriends moms house for one of the first times in their relationship, and can Kulk be any more cryptic? Yes, yes he can. // Jimmy bought this Pittsburgh goblet because its unique. What will she like about it, Kulk asked. The flower and the color. Deneb graduated MAU in 04, Jim 5 years earlier. Whats the best quality about your sister through 27 years? Kulk asked. Most of the time I can go to her for advice. Thats a good quality. Whats the best piece of advice shes given you? She said to just be myself. // This is the third or fourth time theyve chatted but Kulk felt like he doesnt really know much about Jim Chatterton, pottery collector extraordinaire. Favorite TV show? 24. Favorite movie? Doesnt really have one. Favorite kind of music? Heavy metal. Favorite metal band? Pantera. Favorite metal thrasher? Dimebag Darrell. Jim went on to explain that a deranged fan jumped on stage and shot Dimebag Darrell dead in the middle of a show, and 4 people in the crowd, before cops shot the shooter dead. Jim also pointed out that Dimebag Darrells death by gun, in 2004, happened on December 8 -- the day Mark Chapman shot dead John Lennon, 24 years earlier. 12. Christmas Eve, 104 minutes after High Noon, and Jared Newell came to tell Kulk that the Olympia beer sign he bought for his weirdo friend in Washington State was a big hit -- he loved it -- and to buy a pair of fused-glass earrings for his cutie pie. That said, Jareds real treat today was the story he told Kulk about his great-great-great-great-grandfather who went off to fight in the Civil War. It began when Kulk ran Jareds plastic and saw his middle name: Delos. Delos, huh? Whats the meaning of Delos, he asked. Sometimes the simple question lead to the greatest answers. That 4-times-great-grandfather was Raymond Newell, a farmer with true Yankee blood. He was shot during battle, and the battalion-mate who pulled him off the battlefield was named Delos. That action saved Raymonds life and so every newborn Newell boy has taken on the middle name of Delos. My dad, and my grandfather, and his father and grandfather and that is one of the best stories Kulk ever heard. 13. Christmas Eve, 100 minutes after High Noon, and Kimball and Dorrie from Connecticut came back for the first time since May 10. Those who follow this page might remember the couple as friends of the Jacobsons of Wilmington Vermont via WEST Hartford. Kimball and Dorrie bought 4 mugs today. 14. Christmas Eve, 72 minutes after High Noon, and Phil from Gotham bought a sands of life for his sister Eileen. Phil is a production manager at Penguin Random House, which makes books, you may have heard of them. I traffic manuscripts to the printed book, he said. Eileen, he said, graduated Bennington College in 83 with a history degree. These days shes a vet, which means that if you dont like your lot in life then change it to something you love. // Whyd you buy this for Eileen, Kulk asked. We both have the same cool factor, and this is cool, so I think shell like it. Book it. 15. Christmas Eve, 123 minutes after High Noon, and Carrie bought this mug for her daughters father. He likes pirates and she thinks hell like it because its wacky and different. // Carrie grew up in Bennington and swam for the Marauders: freestyle, fly, other strokes and picked up quite a few second-place ribbons. Finish this sentence, Kulk said, Swimming for the Marauders _______ and she needed little time to answer Kept me out of trouble for a little while. She graduated Alfred University and works as a graphic designer. 16. Christmas Eve Even, Emily Rose Brandi, as photographed by Kulk, because those are the eyes of an Italian-Lithuanian who grew up in Hoosick Falls. Merry Christmas!
Posted on: Wed, 24 Dec 2014 23:13:12 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015