Aren't we the pair sitting behind that lovely couple? Duane Chaffee here and next to me is my brother Gary.
Hello Greenwoodians. I am not sure that most of you even know I bought the hardware store from my parents in 1976. I know, Mom and Dad still hung out there so much you may not have noticed. But, before I go into all of that, Gary and I would like to tell you a bit about our time growing up in Greenwood.
Mom and Dad shared that Gary was born while they were still in Niagra Falls and that I came along after they moved back to Greenwood and bought the hardware store in 1947. We lived a couple houses up from the hotel. Dad built it himself on the foundation of the Coston's store. Of course, that was way before my time.
Gary, the older here. By today's standards, most kids in Greenwood would be called "free range". Our days were filled with running all over town with our friends, getting into all kinds of things. Apple fights, snowball fights...just plain fights too. But, we had fun. I remember sledding down the terraces in front of the school, fishing in Bennett's Creek, hunting with Stan Murray and Roy Bennett...
Hey, Duane back. Don't make it sound like we never had to work. We would run errands for some of the ladies in town like Mildred Burd, of course help out when we could at the store, and help Grandma with the switchboard. I remember one day, Grams had left me to watch it and a fire call came in. I pulled the fire switch on the wall and the siren went off. I wiped my brow thinking, I took care of that one. But, bang, like half the switches opened. Everyone in town was calling in. The firemen needed to know what was going on. Gram probably had their numbers memorized and knew exactly what to do in this situation; but, I was a kid and counted on that big ol' list and didn't have a clue.
Gary again. When we weren't "working", sports were a pretty big deal around town. When we were kids, Gary Rollins would come into town from the farm to see his grandparents, George and Margaret Rollins. They lived up next door to the Murrays. He always wanted to play baseball. So, we would play pick up games down behind Krusen's Garage. I think the Little League has an actual field there now.
Stan Murray here. I remember playing uptown versus downtown. The traffic light divided the teams. All the boys played: Me of course, the Chaffees too. Gary Rollins, Roy Bennett, Barry Quinn, Butch Kernan, Brian and David Waight, Lanny and Dean Holt, Gary Margeson, the Hunts, Ben Smith, Charlie Lawrence and Roger Williamson. Do you guys remember anyone else?
Gary back. We went on to play high school sports together too. In a small town, you played every sport. I pitched for the baseball team, played fullback for soccer, a guard/forward on the basketball team and I even gave shot put and triple jump a try in track.
Gary was pretty good, I guess. When asked, I called myself the town clutz. I wouldn't pick me for a team. But somehow, I was on the basketball team, best bench warmer they ever had for five years. However, we were pretty good my junior year. Soccer, I played forward and I was actually the second highest scorer my senior year. We were sectional champs.
Gary again. Rub it in much, bro? Let's move on to something else. Boy Scouts. Both, Duane and I, earned our Eagle Scout designation. I remember camping at the Warras Cabin, up on State Pines.
Stan Murray again. Remember the time we were to camp up at the cabin and there was a dance on Friday night? We had to do the campout because we were working on the badge where you had to camp once every month; so, if we missed it, we blew all the work we already done toward the badge. They said we could go to the dance; but, had to come straight to the cabin after. I borrowed my sisters' (Catherine Hawkins and Sally Coates) car. While on our way to the cabin, we busted a fuel line.
Gary back. A group of boys, all in their dressed to impress clothes and street shoes, walked the final two miles. We got there about 2 AM, I think. To get that st&%$ badge, remember the time we camped at the Masonic Hall. It was freezing, zero degrees in February. Boy Scouts was sure fun, right?
Back to school. I played the bass drum in the school band. You had to be pretty big to carry that thing around. Now, Stan Murray was probably the biggest, I was next and Roy Bennett was the tallest in our grade.
Duane here. Didn't you date Mary Jo McCormick in high school?
Gary again. I will just say remember Patsy Hanbach. She ended up marrying your friend, Mike Cheeseman. And, that's enough of going down that road.
Wait, Stan Murray back. I have a couple of high school stories to tell before you move on.
First, it was a dance and you had gone to pick up Donna Wallace in your Dad's car. You were backing out with your door open, and somehow, you clipped a snow bank and bent the door back. A bunch of us guys spent a good part of the dance trying to get that door bent back enough to close.
Second, our senior trip. There were 13 girls and 12 boys. Margarite was already married, so she paired up with our sponsor; but, the rule was whomever you got off the bus with was your date for the evening. Do you remember that?
Gary here. Again, moving on. Guys, remember the follies?
Duane back, yeah, Dad as a bride! ha ha ha. And with a little help from a program, Stan as the back end of a horse and Butch Kernan as the front. Gary Rollins was Koko, the Clown, Barry Quinn and Butch were Cowboy Dolls. And, my brother Gary was William Tell.
What I really remember was getting that color TV. Thank you Lew Cornell for convincing Dad to "give it a try" wink wink. We loved to watch Bonanza on Sunday nights. The opening sequence until the fire burned through the map was in color and then in went back to black and white. But, boy did we look forward to that opening.
Gary back. And, what I really remember is spending time at the lake on the other side of Hammondsport. Dad built a house up there. They would close the hardware store at 1 on Saturdays and we would go to the lake until Sunday night. We built a wooden boat in the garage in Greenwood and used it for awhile, then bought a used one and then there was the pontoon boat. Partay! We had so much fun swimming and boating. What an idyllic childhood.
I graduated from Greenwood Central School in 1964 and went on to Alfred College. I had a lot of fun there; but, let's just say college and I did not hit it off. So off to the Air Force I went. As I told Kathy, what happened after I left for the Air Force, stays... Well you get it. I spent 25 years in the service. Lived a number of places including the Philippines which is where I met my wife, Maria Wabe. We married, had one daughter, Charina who has blessed us with a beautiful granddaughter Lili. I live in NY, but spend my winters in Florida.
Okay, Duane back. I graduated from Greenwood in 1967 with my friends Terry Smith and Jim McCormick. A few of my friends had graduated the year before like Mike Cheeseman and Dean Holt. And, John Hunt still had a year to go. Oh, a couple more jobs for high school before we move on. I did some haying, as the local farmers call it, on Jim's family farm in the summer along with being a counselor at the Boy Scout Camp. I had already met and was dating my future wife, Betsy Totten from Hornell. Betsy and I married in 1970, one day before my senior year in college.
From 1967 to 1972, I attended the GM Institute in Flint, Michigan (Kettering now) to become a mechanical engineer. It was a rotation of 6 weeks in the classroom and 6 weeks in a factory. Every student needed a sponsor and mine was GMC Truck in Pontiac. I went to work for them from 1972 until 1975. Betsy went to work for a stockbroker. One of my fraternity brother's wife's got her a job there.
Then we decided it was time to come back to Greenwood. You see, we did not like it in the city. We were rural living people. At first, we lived with Mom and Dad while we built our house about a 1/4 mile up Christian Hollow, up on the hill. Look for it between the bridges.
And, we are back to where we started. Dad and Mom wanted to "retire", so Bets and I bought the hardware store. Betsy took over Mom's duties and I Dad's. Ori Freeland stayed on with us for a bit. Also, Jim McCaffrey from Rexville and Blanche Campbell from the first farm on the right after the Halgerson's on your way to Rexville.
During this time, Bets and I had our girls, Erin and Allison and I became good friends with Ron Meehan. He was in the class ahead of me at GCS and his wife, Joleen Cheeseman, was in my class.
Dad and Mom continued to help out in the store. Maybe that is why people may not know that they didn't still own it. In 1984, I was offered the opportunity to teach heating and cooling at Alfred State, Wellsville, formally known as Alfred Ag Tech. So, I hired Ken Geer who had just graduated from there to work at the hardware. Well really, to do all the repair work that I was leaving behind. He later joined me as an instructor for plumbing. Come to find out, Ken Geer is well known by Kathy.
Kathy here. Yes, we lived a couple houses down from the Geers on Grove Street before moving to Greenwood Street. Our parents were good friends. Kenny, as I remember him, was a few years older than me, but not many. Just enough to end up babysitting our brood of six while we lived in Andover. I had no idea he had ties to Greenwood.
We sold the store to Tim Heckman in 1991. The girls grew up and married. Erin is now Erin Wells and has three children Ashton, Mia and Ella and Allison is Allison Brown with Max and Katie. Allison lives in Boston, MA while Erin is in a suburb of Houston, TX. Which brings me to, Betsy and I now spend our winters there.
Mia here. You forgot to tell about Grandma teaching me to make pie crust.
Ah yes, when Mia was 13, Mom allowed me to take pictures and document how to make her famous pie crust. Did Gramps do it okay, Mia?
It won't be long and Bets and I will be back in Greenwood to enjoy the Spring. See you soon!