June 19th, 2023

Hello friends,

     It is mid-June and that means summer is here along with all the events we can possibly cram into our lives. Gardens are bursting, concerts are blaring, parades are marching, bass season opens (no, not the instrument!) and Bernunzio’s is in the 100% SALE mode. If the past week seemed busy, the week coming up is going to be overload. Our huge annual sale began last Monday and took off at a great pace. On Saturday we held our sidewalk sale and it was great, but we still have lots of stuff left over. We plan on continuing it this Wednesday and perhaps throughout the days of the Jazz Fest. There’s all kinds of bargains for anyone’s taste. I have $1 CDs, $5 T-shirts, $1 capos; instrument projects; dulcimers, zithers and all sorts of other things stuffed in boxes that you can pour through and find something to keep you busy for the summer. Stop down to the store on Wednesday and also enjoy some music across the street in the park at Christ Church where "Make Music Day" will be hosting various performances from 11 until 6. Jazz Festival starts on Friday, with headliners Bonnie Rait, Keb’ Mo’, Pat Metheny, Bruce Hornsby, Trombone Shorty and Southside Johnny….this should be the best fest yet! Julie and I are planning on being in town from Wednesday through the weekend and most of the following week only coming back to Penn Yan to water the gardens and maybe do a little fishing.

    Speaking of fishing, I do have a little story to tell. Last year during Jazz Festival, someone came up to me and introduced themselves. He said, "My name is Franklin Polvino". Now, the only Franklin Polvino I had known, passed away in the early 1970s. He was married to the daughter of my grandmother‘s very best friend. When I was a young boy, "Helen" and her sister Anna, and their widowed mother, Lena, lived upstairs from my grandmother in her big house on Scio Street. Helen was considered the most beautiful girl in all of "the old neighborhood" and I’m told the boys would line up to catch a glimpse of her walking home from work. She dated all the best eligible (Italian) bachelors in town, but finally landed the ultimate catch….a young lawyer from a prominent Italian family on the west side. They married and had two children before Franklin tragically passed away from a heart attack at a family picnic. So I was a bit confused by this long bearded young man telling me he was Franklin Polvino. The fact is,  he was given the name to honor his deceased uncle. It turns out Frank is an educator AND a fisherman and lives in Canandaigua, NY. He has been graciously taking me fishing around the Finger Lakes on his great boat, and we have covered lots of ground….errr water. This past week we launched in the Penn Yan branch of Keuka Lake and drove the boat down to the center where the two branches of the lake come together. It is an area known as "the bluff" and I have always found it quite magical. Frank and I fished there and actually landed quite a few nice bass, a couple of lake trout and even a pickerel. I can’t thank this man enough for opening the world back up to a crippled old guy who had been only able to fish from the dock. I’m sure we’ll have lots for fishing stories before the summer is out.

   So I hope to see many of you in the coming week at the Jazz Festival or at our musical flea market or just stopping by the shop to chat and have a cuppa coffee. Bernunzio’s is open again in full force.

Sincerely, 

John Bernunzio

Our trusty staff at the musical flea market in front of the store

So much fun we’re going to do it again on Wednesday!

Happy Juneteenth!!!