July 22, 2024 - THE RETURN OF RYAN YARMEL
Ryan Yarmel….vintage instrument expert
All smiles….
Ryan and Sam complement each other in so many ways…
I may be able to spend a little more time, fishing, canning and cooking and making things like Pasta fagilo….or pasta fazoool in Sicilian
THE RETURN OF RYAN YARMEL
July 22nd, 2024
Good mornings folks,
When we first open the store 18 years ago, we were inspired by the Rochester International Jazz Festival. Immediately we started having concerts during the festival that featured local talent. These were always free and they were always local and they were always packed with people. The second year we doubled the size of the store and we became really stoked about having free music. During Jazz Festival that second year, we we starting to draw unmanageable crowds. A young 16-year-old kid came up to me and said, "I’m looking for a job….do you have any work for me?" He had bought a guitar for me earlier that year and he seemed like a fine young man. I told him if you’d like to work with me I could use some help during the concerts of jazz festival. You’d be working crowd control, and make sure nobody, crashes into or walks off with any guitars! The only stipulation I made was that he had to dress up because at that time all of my staff was always dressed with sports coat and ties. The next day a 16-year-old Ryan Yarmel showed up in a three-piece suit and he worked for us for the next 15 years. As you may have already read, he left us eighteen months ago to take a job with the local public radio station. He has hosted a very popular show featuring roots music and has now become a local celebrity. His expertise in music and his taste has always been his best suit. But a few weeks ago he called me up and asked me out to lunch and recently asked if there’s anyway he could come back to work with us. He said he just missed the research, the investigation, the thrill and the presence of old instruments as well as the people in the business. He certainly had a lot of that invested over the years. Well, needless to say, we welcomed him with open arms. Sam Snyder and Ryan Yarmel and Alex Patrick in repair have over forty years of experience…. not bad for guys in their early 30s! and all three are among the best loved musicians in this town. Not that I am bowing out of the business anytime soon, but it is reassuring to know that I am now able to take the time that I feel like to do a little fishing and a little traveling and spending more time with grandkids. I’ll still be there a few days a week and definitely on Saturdays but I feel the store is now in the best hands ever since we opened 18 years ago. Exciting times are ahead.
With peace,
John Bernunzio
The view from the dock at Keuka Lake
Goodnight moon from the Keuka Outlet Trail.
