September 28th, 2026

Dear Friends,

       This week Julie and I were so delighted to be visited by our good friends from the Netherlands, Howard and Annemies LaBrie. We first met them 41 years ago when I was teaching at the American School of the Hague. They have been planning a trip for quite a while to visit their son, Alex LaBrie, a guitarist who lives in Nashville, TN. They flew into Montreal from Amsterdam and got a good taste of Canada, including Quebec where many "LaBrie" ancestors migrated, the St. Lawrence Seaway, and then the 1000 Islands. From there, they motored down to Penn Yan, NY, where we spent three glorious days, showing them around the Finger Lakes.

     Over the course of three days we circumnavigated Keuka Lake…. driving to Branchport,  Hammondsport, and of course, lots of strolling around our own village of Penn Yan. Needless to say, they were quite impressed with the availability of fresh food, fresh water and clean air that the Finger Lakes provide. We dined at home with some fresh made pasta and pesto; we had corn and Julie’s barbecued chicken on the grill. We also dined out at the Blue Eagle Tavern, which lies between Branchport and Naples….to give them a real "local" Finger Lakes experience. We sampled some very fine wine high above the Lake at Weiss vineyards….one of the many great wineries available to us in this region. We sampled local beers at Laurentide, Steuben and Abandon brewery. We shopped at many of the Mennonite farm markets which dot the landscape. They were impressed at the abundance of high quality, locally grown, fresh food that is available.

   An acquaintance of theirs, who they visited while they were in the Thousand Islands suggested they go to the Glenn Curtis Museum, which is in Hammondsport, NY. Now Julie and I have been traversing the Finger Lakes for 40 years and we’ve lived in Penn Yan for six years but we’ve never been to this museum. Sometimes when things are in your backyard, you don’t experience them until you get a chance to show them to someone else.The museum is located just outside of Hammondsport, a tiny, quaint town at the southern end of Keuka Lake….and home to less than 600 year-round residents. The museum itself is an absolute gem. Glen Curtiss was a peer of the great inventors of the era including Alexander Bell, George Eastman, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and others.  From the National Inventors Hall of Fame come this quotation: "Glenn Curtiss influenced every field of aeronautics. He held 72 patents, including designs for dirigibles, aeroplanes, flying boats, commercial aircraft, and Navy planes. Curtiss built one of the first flying machines to land in water and founded one of the first companies created specifically for manufacturing airplanes." The museum itself, displays numerous examples of early cars, dirigibles, motorcycles, and other displays which could certainly take up the better part of the day. It is highly recommended place for visiting while in the Finger Lakes. 

   It was an absolute pleasure to show our European friends, who, over the years, have shown us so much of "old world" culture…… some of the true goodness that America has to offer….

With peace,

John Bernunzio.