November 20th, 2023

Hello Folks,

     My early childhood was centered around my relationships with my cousins, the children of my mother’s two brothers, Charlie and Vinnie. All together, the three families yielded 16 grandchildren for my grandmother, Rose Randisi. Later three more were added from my Aunt Pat,  but, since Pat and I were only three years apart, we never got to know them as well. My cousins and I grew up together as one, large extended family. Every holiday, every birthday , every baptism, confirmation and graduation was celebrated at a different family’s house. When I was despondent about not being able to make friends in my neighborhood,  my mother would always say, "you don’t need friends, you have cousins….lots of them". Even though, in adulthood, we have all drifted apart into our own family groups, I was very delighted to receive an invitation to the wedding of my cousin, Charlie Randisi and his wife Molly’s  daughter, Brigid. Bridgid is an only child, but she always embraces her cousins with love and guidance and was very helpful to our daughter, Grace when she was looking for her first job. The wedding was quite a fancy affair with a large church service at St. John the Evangelist Church, a huge wedding party, and fabulous reception at Eagle Vale Country Club…..where the food and beverage flowed like lava from Mt. Etna! Our best wishes go out to an outstanding couple.

    I was the first born grandchild, and Charlie was the second. So, not only are we closest in age but we similar personality types. We were readers, thinkers, game players and good friends. Both of us attended McQuaid Jesuit high school and went on to college. Charlie was always the brainier one, though… whenever we got a new game, he was the one to read and explain the directions. Not so much on the sporting field, as he was a lefty and wore glasses so we were always paired together on the same team. There was never any question of loyalty or devotion. We were cousins, and we respected that. How we grew apart is another story altogether, but that evening we were placed at the dinner table with his three sisters. His brother Gerry, sadly departed this world two years ago, so it was with a great deal of camaraderie that we shared with a fabulous meal and caught up on old times.

    And speaking of old times on Saturday, we had a visit from a very old, old friend…. Douglas Unger, banjo builder extraordinaire. We had not seen him in several years so it was with a great deal of joy that we got to spend some time together on Saturday at the store. He brought us his latest creation, a lovely banjo, which we will have for sale in the store.

     This week we prepare for a grand Thanksgiving celebration, and we are hoping that all of my siblings will be at the table. Julie has everything planned out and it should be a spectacular feast. Please note: if anyone does not have a place to go for Thanksgiving there is always a seat for you at our house in Penn Yan. Just send me a message, no questions asked.

Best Regards,

John Bernunzio

 Professor Emeritus, Douglas Unger, and his latest creation. The man never stops working!

The peghead of the latest Unger banjo. His engraving is the best there has ever been.

We got another interesting instrument on Saturday and it put a BIG smile on the face of Alex Patrick.

Julie and I closed out the weekend at Steuben Brewery listening to the great music of Aaron Lipp and Ric Robertson and celebrating the birthday of a Johanna, co-owner of the Y-Knot Restaurant and Grocery in Pulteney, NY