Jan. 8, 2024 - LOOK WHAT FLEW IN FROM THE FIRST SNOWSTORM OF THE YEAR
José, my daughter Rose’s husband is the basketball coach at the high school where they teach. He is inspirational, animated, and his antics are worth the cost of admission. On Friday night they lost a tough battle in the last seconds, but he stoically said, "I’m in the entertainment business! You got your moneys worth!".
Saturday was the birthday of my first child Karena Anne Bernunzio-Miller. She and my daughter Rose Katina Bernunzio-Barrocio celebrated at….where else …but the Rochester Public Market. Unfortunately, my youngest daughter, Grace, Estelle Bernunzio could not attend because she was sick. My children make me so proud!
Dan, Warren and Jordan… they just decided to come in and try out some instruments, and entertain me most of the afternoon I’ve known these fine fellows for decades.
When I woke up Sunday morning and saw the snow piled up, my first thought was how was I going to plow the driveway, so Julie could get in? or shovel the sidewalk as his mandated by the town of Penn Yan. Of course, as I peered out the window my neighbor had already done it all for us. That’s the way it is in this town…people look out for each other.
A taste of things to come
LOOK WHAT FLEW IN FROM THE FIRST SNOWSTORM OF THE YEAR
January 8th, 2024
Hello Folks,
We have been quite shortstaffed at the store lately, so Julie and I have been working a bit more than usual. I have been commuting from Penn Yan and Julie has been staying in Rochester with our daughter Grace. Work has been really exciting and a plethora of instruments have been coming in and going out. We will have some exciting banjo news coming up shortly as we are planning on attending "Banjothon" in Knoxville, Tennessee next weekend. It is a mythical gathering of pre-war Gibson banjos all in one hotel with pickers and collectors and dealers all converging.
However, the commute back to Penn Yan on Saturday was fist clenching to say the least. I decided to leave work about 4 o’clock just as the snowstorm was beginning. Julie was going to follow a few hours later. Once I got 10 miles outside of Rochester, the snow started to mound up and by the time I got to Canandaigua, the half way point, the roads were nearly impassible. I pulled over to the side of the road to give Julie a call but I had no service. There was no other choice but to go forward and it took me nearly 2 1/2 hours to get home. All kinds of things passed through my mind as I tried to navigate those snow covered and wind blinding country roads. It was so harrowing that there was a time when I thought I might not see my family again. But as I crossed out of Ontario County and into Yates County, the snow abated and I was able to safely get to home. I immediately called Julie and told her to cancel her plans for coming to Penn Yan.
She made it down by Sunday afternoon just in time to snap a nice picture of me with our latest acquisition. Yes it is real. Yes it is from 1939. Yes, it is a flathead. Yes, it is the only one.
Best wishes,
John Bernunzio
Snow scene 1
Snow scene 2
And then the sun came out…
…and then this arrived…