| Author Gianni Franco |

Category: writing

  • |Maplewood Park| |The Rose Garden| |Frank A. Stecher| #rochesterny #art #writing #roses #parks

    |Maplewood Park| |The Rose Garden| |Frank A. Stecher| #rochesterny #art #writing #roses #parks

    |Gianni Franco| www.giannifranco.com

    The Living Loving Rochester, NY Series – Article 7

    This park and the Rose Garden are special to me. They are featured in my upcoming book, The Diary of Sergeant Stark. Frank Stark is a cop in Rochester, NY. Can Frank Stark escape his haunting demons or will they control him?

    Don’t forget to follow the Blog www.giannifranco.com

    The Maplewood Park extends two miles, consisting of three parks and a Rose Garden: Lower Falls Overlook Park (Driving Park Ave), Middle Maplewood (Seneca Parkway), Upper Maplewood (Maplewood Ave).

    The Maplewood Park was designed by Frederick Law Olmsted to offer better views to the Genesee River and its falls. Olmsted, a well-known landscape architect, also designed Central Park in NYC with his partner Calvert Vaux.

    Frank Stecher (1849 – 1916) was dedicated a marble fountain on the grounds of the Rose Garden in 1958. He was an immigrant from Germany, who specialized in lithography. He was the first lithographer to use a two-color offset press, which was popular with postcards in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1886, Stecher created the Stecher Lithograph Company. It was originally located at 336 North Saint Paul Street, later relocating to 246 North Goodman Street due to expansion. And yes, per the historical records in Rochester Saint Paul Street was referred to as North Saint Paul. He took that knowledge to Japan in 1894 and established the first lithograph plant in that country called the Oriental Printing Company.

     

    The Rose Garden features more than 3,000 rose bushes across one acre of land. Make sure you have a visit and go for a walk. It’s always good to smell the roses. Share your comments about the parks you’ve been too.

    |Gianni Franco|

     

    Thank you to http://www.cityofrochester.gov/maplewoodpark/ for some of the information included in this short article.

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/10/11/the-charlotte-pier-rochesterny-art-writing-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/10/04/genesee-brewery-louis-a-wehle-get-your-beer-here-geneseebeer-art-writing-rochesterny-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/20/susan-b-anthony-equality-womensrights-rochesterny-writing-art/

  • |Nick Tahou Hots| #rochesterny #garbageplate #writing #art #food

    |Nick Tahou Hots| #rochesterny #garbageplate #writing #art #food

    |Gianni Franco| www.giannifranco.com

    The Living Loving Rochester, NY Series – Article 6

    Go get a garbage plate now! I know you want one because I do.

    Garbage Plate

    The Grecians, known as the Greeks to America, have donated the world many inventions. To name a few: philosophy, geometry, cartography, the Olympics, the odometer, and yes, the Garbage Plate. The Greek community thrives in Rochester, New York, devoted to their heritage and culture, which is evident by their well-known communal gatherings, the Greek Festivals. Their celebratory spirit is bar none with choreographed dancing and delicious foods.

     

    Nick Tahou Hots, a Greek establishment, brings us one of the tastiest mishmash of flavors. First, let’s address the name Tahou, so you’ll be able to pronounce it properly the next time you walk through their doors. Tahou /Tah who/. Please have someone update the Wikipedia page to show the proper pronunciation with the proper symbols.

    Now that we have that out of the way, let’s move onto the food and a little history. The original restaurant opened in 1918 and it was called Hots and Potatoes. Alexander Tahou was the owner and eventually opened Nick Tahou Hots, which was named after his son. It is located at 320 West Main Street, 14608.

    A rite of passage for many Rochesterians, the Garbage Plate, offers a spicy meat sauce, which they will add extra for you, at no charge, to smother the contents of the plate. Underneath the hot sauce, you have the option of two hot dogs, two cheeseburgers, or two hamburgers plus two combined sides to mix and match; beans, either French fries or home fries, and macaroni salad. Chopped onions come standard atop the plate. Don’t forget to add ketchup and mustard. Two pieces of bread and butter go along with the plate so you better make extra room in your stomach. One note about the sauce; in Rochester it is referred to as hot sauce. In any other part of the country, the term hot sauce means something completely different.

    You can make the meaty hot sauce yourself, but it’s not as it easy as just mixing the ingredients. The process takes a lot of time. I’ve made it several times and it’s a learning experience. Whoever tells you that they made it and it tastes just like Tahou’s is lying to you. The most important advice I can give is to add lard instead of butter. Lard doesn’t coagulate at high temperatures whereas butter does. It’s all on the molecular level, which you can Google on your spare time.

    The Garbage Plate has been featured on many TV episodes, especially on the Travel Channel and Food Network. It is rumored that many stars have eaten at Nick Tahou Hots, but there are no pictures on the walls to prove it. The restaurant seems to want to keep everything low key. The one that sticks in my mind was Ozzy Osbourne during the late 80s or early 90s. Enjoy your next plate and don’t forget that it started in Rochester. Extra hot sauce, please.

    |Gianni Franco|

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/10/11/the-charlotte-pier-rochesterny-art-writing-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/10/04/genesee-brewery-louis-a-wehle-get-your-beer-here-geneseebeer-art-writing-rochesterny-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/20/susan-b-anthony-equality-womensrights-rochesterny-writing-art/

  • |The Charlotte Pier| #rochesterny #art #writing #equality

    |The Charlotte Pier| #rochesterny #art #writing #equality

    |Gianni Franco| www.giannifranco.com

    The Living Loving Rochester, NY Series – Article 5

    Like the FB page @authorgiannifranco

    What’s in Rochester, NY that is in the top five for being the longest? Oh, I can hear the jokes and comments through my laptop speakers. Keep it clean, people. Alright, keep it dirty. At number four is the Charlotte Pier, measuring 721 meters, which equals 2,366 feet, its original foundation laid in 1829. I used a list provided by Panethos.com to make the comparison, who ranked 116 piers by size in the US. Pronunciation Note: Rochesterians say, /SHar lot/

    img_20180830_1244365642814624945034541.jpg
    The beginning of the pier is a half mile away

    The Port of Charlotte, originally known as the Port of the Genesee River, was a destination resort up until 1949, as well as a major international trade depot. Its popularity can be traced as far back as 1820, when it welcomed 316 ships. On June 14, 1869 Charlotte incorporated as a village in the town of Greece. It’s speculated that at this time the name changed to the Port of Charlotte.

    On May 12, 1853 the Rochester – Lake Ontario Railroad began transporting goods and people to Charlotte. This railroad played a pivotal role in the development of Charlotte as a summer resort. It became an international hub catering to Canadians, who wanted to visit Rochester and then travel to New York City. Demand was high for Charlotte to expand further. The influx of wealth drove the openings of two yacht clubs: the Genesee Yacht Club (1874) and the Rochester Yacht (1877). The first electric trolleys opened in 1889, running from the City of Rochester to Charlotte. The main goal of trolley transportation was to fill Ontario Beach Park, which opened in 1884.

    dentzel carousel

    Charlotte introduced another attraction in 1905, the famous Dentzel Carousel, which attracted thousands of visitors, who waited in long lines to ride its handcrafted horses. The Ontario Ferry Company introduced four ferries starting in 1907 due to rising demand; the Ontario I, Ontario II, the Kingston, and the Toronto. The ferries further expanded the resort village and international trade.

    By 1949, Rochester had given up on Charlotte and focused all its resources on the Genesee River, hoping to expand the already functioning flour mills. This created an influx of people moving to the City of Rochester and put the final nail in the coffin of the expanding resort area. Oddly enough, the politicians and business owners in the city made a grave error. They didn’t foresee the decline of the flour mills and suburbanization, which left the city desolate and forced companies to expand to the suburbs. Although Charlotte was a suburb at the time, its redevelopment fell wayside among battered sails.

    |Gianni Franco|

     

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/10/04/genesee-brewery-louis-a-wehle-get-your-beer-here-geneseebeer-art-writing-rochesterny-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/29/george-eastman-art-rochesterny-equality-writing/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/20/susan-b-anthony-equality-womensrights-rochesterny-writing-art/

    Thank you to https://www.charlottecca.org/living-here/charlotte-history/ for supplying some of the info in this article.

  • |Genesee Brewery| |Louis A. Wehle| |Get Your Beer Here!| #geneseebeer #art #writing #rochesterny #equality

    |Genesee Brewery| |Louis A. Wehle| |Get Your Beer Here!| #geneseebeer #art #writing #rochesterny #equality

    |Gianni Franco| www.giannifranco.com

    The Living Loving Rochester, NY Series – Article 4

        Let’s begin with a definition and a beer review to then be followed by Louis Wehle. Genesee is derived from the Seneca Indians, which means pleasant valley.

     

    I purchased a twelve pack of the award winning Genesee Cream Ale before I began writing this article. Some time had passed since drinking Genesee, so I thought, why not give it a go? I wasn’t disappointed. The crisp flavor, as bright as the green twelve ounce can, rouses you to take a swig; further complimented by a simple bold block font that spells Genesee Cream Ale. The image towards the top of the can is that of six row barley, one of their main ingredients, that is combined with corn grits (corn meal) and hops. Cream Ale boasts a 5.1% alcohol content with 162 calories per serving, while Genesee Light has only 100 calories with 4.0% alcohol. Bang for the buck with great taste, hands down winner across the board. Ryan Emery from the Washington Post declared it the best inexpensive beer in his article from Jan 08th 2016. (See all the beers made at the Genesee Brewery at the end of this article.)

     

     

    The Genesee Brewery officially began in 1878. Mathius Kondolf purchased Reisky and Spies, formed in 1857, and renamed it. In 1916 Mathius hired Louis A. Wehle as the youngest brew master in New York at the age of 27. Prohibition, the 18th amendment, banned alcohol nationwide in 1919, shutting down breweries for over ten years. Louis switched gears and entered the baking industry. In 1933, the 21st amendment repealed Prohibition. He repurchased the Genesee Brewery that same year with the proceeds from selling his baking business.

    Louis was a personal friend to Franklin Roosevelt and was elected as Conservation Commissioner in 1955. He lived in Scottsville Chili on a 1700 acre estate located at 2175 Scottsville Rd. He wrote the New York State Fishing Guide in 1951 and self-published a 180 page memoir, This was my Life, in 1960. He supported civil rights and fair job practices, believing successful businesses should always give back to the community to build them. He passed away at his estate on November 21, 1964.

    |Gianni Franco|

    List of Beers by the Genesee Brewery:

    Genesee Beer, Genesee Light, Genesse Black, Genesee Ice, Genesee NA, Cream Ale, Original Cream Ale, Oktoberfest, Bock, Stout, Ruby Red Kolsch, Bourbon Barrell Aged, GBH Beer, Juicy IPA, Scotch Ale, Dundee Ales and Lagers, Seagram’s Malt Beverages, Dog Bite High Gravity.

    Contract Brewing:

    Trouble Brewing, Narragansett Brewing Company, Seven Kings Brewery, Mike’s Hard Lemonade, Mountain Brew Beer Ice, Stew Brew, Big Flats 1901, Tap Room IPA, Sainsbury’s American Pale Ale

    Genesee Brewery owns the import rights for Labatt Beers

    Thank you to www.geneseebeer.com for some of the information in this article.

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/29/george-eastman-art-rochesterny-equality-writing/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/15/frederick-douglass-rochesterny-frederickdouglass-art-writing-equality/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/20/susan-b-anthony-equality-womensrights-rochesterny-writing-art/

  • |George Eastman| #art #rochesterny #equality #writing

    Gianni Franco www.giannifranco.com

    Welcome to the 3rd article in the Living Loving Rochester, NY Series

    In January 1881, at age 26, George Eastman founded the Eastman Dry Plate Company, which was the precursor to Eastman Kodak, incorporated in 1892. A major investor in the company was Henry A Strong, who came to be the first President of Kodak and a major philanthropist throughout Rochester, NY.

    The name, Kodak, was coined by George in 1888. There’s no particular meaning attached to the name. George just liked the sound and look of the letter K. Personally, I would’ve used the name KADAK, because it forms a palindrome, which means it’s the same backwards or forwards. Very odd that George didn’t think about that option.

    George gave away one third of his company to his employees in 1919 in the form of stock. He also added an employee benefits program when labor laws and employee wellness didn’t exist. He added Eastman Savings and Loan, ESL, in 1920, to help employees qualify for mortgages.

    George was concerned about equality in society and donated his wealth to make certain everyone, no matter race, color, or creed, received a fair opportunity. He donated millions to the Institutes of Hampton and Tuskegee, the University of Rochester, and MIT. He donated funds to help start the first dental clinics for all ages in Rochester, and subsequently oversaw the Eastman Dental Clinics open in Rome, Paris, Stockholm, Brussels, and London.

    He and his mother loved music and the arts so much that he opened the Eastman Theater in 1922. He dedicated Kilbourn Hall to the memory of his mother, Maria Kilbourn Eastman, who passed away in 1907. Kilbourn Hall is considered one of the finest chamber music halls in the world. It is part of the world renowned Eastman School of Music, which George founded in 1921.

    eastman-suicide note

    On March 14, 1932 George Eastman committed suicide by a self-inflicted gunshot to the heart. His suicide note read, “To my friends, my work is done. Why wait?” His funeral was held at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Rochester. There has never been a definitive reason as to why he committed suicide, only varied speculation, typical of most suicides.

    |Gianni Franco|

     

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/20/susan-b-anthony-equality-womensrights-rochesterny-writing-art/

    https://giannifranco.com/2018/09/15/frederick-douglass-rochesterny-frederickdouglass-art-writing-equality/

  • |Susan B Anthony| #equality #womensrights #rochesterny #writing #art

    Gianni Franco (www.giannifranco.com)

    Welcome to the 2nd article in the Living Loving Rochester, NY Series

    Let’s all think back to when we were 16 and ask ourselves what we were doing at that age? Susan B Anthony’s answer to that question in 1837 would be pretty amazing. She, a rebel with a cause, collected petitions against slavery; even though the US House of Representatives had made it illegal to voice opposition to slavery. Women weren’t even allowed to speak unless spoken to in that era, but Susan B Anthony didn’t care. This was only the beginning for Susan B Anthony, as she became vociferous about many topics, including women’s rights, temperance, labor unions, the Civil War, education, and general freedom.

    Susan had important confidants in the mid-1800s. She and Frederick Douglass met around 1848 and became lifelong friends. Frederick Douglass spoke many times at Susan’s farm on the Erie Canal, where Brooks Avenue currently exists. The two orators moved the inequality lines drawn in the sand by a million miles, bringing American freedom to where it is today.

    Although, she moved the line in the sand, she would be shocked to learn that almost 200 years later; women and minorities are still fighting for their equal treatment in society. Contact your local and state politicians to have the language in the 14th amendment ratified to include all humans as equal. Currently, Section II lists male only, which means the equality law is subject to a judge’s interpretation.

    In 1851, she met Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Together, they steamrolled the suffrage and temperance movement throughout America and overseas. Susan memorialized Stanton in the NY Times after her 1902 death; stating that Stanton provided the thunderbolts for Susan to fire and light the suffrage movement ablaze. In 1863, they collected 400,000 signatures for a petition to abolish slavery.

    In 1868, Elizabeth and Susan became owners and editors for the newspaper, The Revolution, which as the name suggests, revolted against inequality in society.

    In 1872, Susan was arrested for voting and fined $100, which she never paid. She would’ve rather rotted in jail, then have given into a law that demeaned women’s rights. Justice Ward Hunt did not imprison her, because if he had, she could’ve taken the case to the Supreme Court on appeal.

    Susan B Anthony passed away on March 13, 1906 at the age of 86. She, as well as Frederick Douglass, are buried at the Mount Hope Cemetery.

    A personal note to Susan B Anthony; May the knowledge and courage you had seep through the veins of society, and deliver a second awakening for women as well as all minorities and the disparate. Today’s demagogues have led citizens astray and caused the light to dim within the equality tunnel, but I believe in a short time, the light will glow as bright as the statue of liberty torch and illuminate all the streets in the cities and villages across America with promise and equality. The #metoo movement is just the beginning.

    |Gianni Franco|

    Thank you to www.susanbanthonyhouse.org for some of the information listed above.

  • |Frederick Douglass| #rochesterny #frederickdouglass #art #writing #equality

    Gianni Franco www.giannifranco.com

    The first article from the series Living Loving Rochester, NY

       The most photographed individual of the 19th century was Mr Frederick Douglass (Gregory, 2016). He refused to play into the stereotypes of that era so much so that he refused to smile. The lack of a smile had a two part meaning; there was no reason to show contentment due to slavery, and in those days the media created African caricatures depicting exaggerated wide mouthed smiles. That sentiment was further promoted during his speech on July 5, 1852. In front of an all-female crowd at the Rochester Anti-Slavery Sewing Society he stated, “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?”

         It was no surprise that Douglass orated to women because he had been working with the suffragette movement since 1848. In that year, he attended the first women’s rights convention in Seneca Falls, NY, hosted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton. Douglass wanted equal rights for all women and Africans. He used his newspaper, The North Star, printed in Rochester, NY from December 3, 1847 until June 1851, to spread the need for equality. The motto was “Right is of no Sex – Truth is of no Color – God is the Father of us all, and we are all brethren.”

        Douglass was a world traveler before planes existed, making frequent trips to Europe and spending most of his time in the United Kingdom and Ireland. They supported his cause for equality and even raised funds to pay for his release from American slavery.

         His quest for equality led him into politics, where he recruited Africans to fight for the Union during the Civil War (1861-1865). 1872 became a big year for Douglass; he was nominated Vice President as Victoria Woodhull’s running mate on the Equal Rights Party ticket; he held New York State’s electoral vote and brought it to Washington, DC; and he left Rochester after his home, located at 999 South Ave (School #12), was burned down by an unknown arsonist. In 1877, he was elected as the US Marshal of DC by President Rutherford B. Hayes.

         He passed away in 1895. Douglass’ coffin was transported back to Rochester, New York, where he had lived for 25 years, longer than anywhere else during his prolific life. He is buried at the Douglass family plot in the Mount Hope Cemetery.

    |Gianni Franco|