DANBY TOWN TALK: DUKE TENDS TO FLOWERS; OLD FRIENDS GET IN TOUCH

Ithaca Journal
September 18, 2008
NY

Alfred Schoneman is a familiar name in Danby, although most people
would know him by his nickname, "Duke."

Duke built his house on Danby Road in the 1950s and has lived there
ever since. In 1953, Duke and wife Dawn planted flowers that resulted
in a beautiful large garden full of gladiolas and dahlias, so they
decided to sell the flowers alongside the road. All through the years
Duke has lovingly tended to his flowers, which continue to thrive
and grow today.

Old friends sample hurricane It’s always a nice "perk" of writing this
column to hear from folks with Danby ties who have moved away. Such
is the case with these two stories.

John and Loreen Galt, formerly of Danby and now living in North
Carolina, write to tell me they experienced their first tropical
storm courtesy of Hurricane Hanna.

Luckily there was no severe damage done in the Galts’
neighborhood. Their son, Tim, who lives with his family in Maryland,
has gone into insurance fraud investigations. Daughter Kate lives
in South Carolina with her family. The surprising news from Loreen
is that she and John will also soon be settling in South Carolina,
which they are very happy about, but she asked me to tell all her
Danby friends they are greatly missed.

I also heard from Bill Genter, formerly of Danby now living in
Florida, with thoughts on the long-time friendship of his dad, William
I. Genter, and George Peter, formerly of Danby, who recently passed
away in Aurora.

The men knew each other from when they were boys in Danby, where
George’s parents settled in South Danby after passing through Ellis
Island. They were given the last name Peter when an immigration
official could not pronounce George’s Armenian name. William grew up
on a small farm on East Miller Road, in the house where Danby town
clerk Carol Sczepanski lives.

They both played on the Danby baseball team. George and William
remained close through World War II. George moved to Puerto Rico
in the early 1960s to work with Dr. Bill Gordon on the construction
of the Arecibo Observatory, which was then a Department of Defense
facility. Back in Ithaca, George ran his TV business as well as
heading up the Radio Astronomy Research Lab on Fisher Settlement Road
in South Danby.

William Genter passed away in 1965.

When Bill Genter returned from working in New York City in 1972, he
was hired to work in this lab, and coming full circle, his supervisor
would be George Peter.

Bill says, "With George’s encouragement, I obtained my degree and
also became a Master Mason, raised to the third degree by George,
one of the finest men I’ve ever met."

Sarah Wyatt samples fire camp Sarah Wyatt, 15, daughter of Linda Wyatt,
has graduated from Phoenix Fire Camp, a weeklong overnight camp for
teenage girls to explore opportunities for women in fire and emergency
services through hands-on training and classroom instruction.

Sarah was one of 24 girls, ages 14-19, selected from a statewide pool
of applicants. The camp is conducted annually by Fire Service Women of
New York State in partnership with the Utica Fire Department. Sarah
plans to join the Danby Volunteer Fire Company as a junior member as
soon as she reaches the minimum age of 16. Congratulations, Sarah!

Little blue pool packed away For all those who have asked, I have
said goodbye to my little blue pool, as it is now drained, cleaned
and stored away until we meet again next summer. And, truth be told,
we packed it away the day before the temperature hit 92 last Sunday. Go
figure!