Over the river and through the woods, to grandmother’s house we go! My dad knows the way to fix the sleigh, when the radiator decides to blow, OH! When I was a kid, my favorite part of the holiday season was the road trips. We have family all over northern New York and Canada, and my parents were adamant about…
3.11.2026
’Tis the season! The holidays are stressful—wholesome, but stressful. And one of the easiest ways to break the ice with Mom’s second cousin once removed whom you last saw when you were six, is to have a great cocktail in hand. Ryan Dooling runs The Classic alongside owners Drew and Marie Nye and has been in the hospitality business for…
3.11.2026
The Long Island with warm garlic butter The shores of Lake Ontario might not be brimming with lobster, but it’s not hard to find a top-tier, fresh, juicy roll right in the (585). I like a lot of foods, but seafood is my favorite, and I don’t think that will ever change. East Coast and West Coast, I’ve had it…
3.11.2026
Pasta Bolognese The cheese tray at the brewery was built for four people, not the crowd of us circling it like vultures fifteen minutes into a two-hour panel discussion. We stood there staring at what looked like a Polly Pocket accessory, doing the math on how a roomful of thirty adults were supposed to split eleven cubes of pepper jack. …
3.11.2026
Lynne Hooker It was 1967, and Monroe County was still gun shy, especially in my neck of the woods in the northeastern corner of Chili. Just six months earlier, my friends George-Ann Formicola and Kathy Bernhard had disappeared. They remained missing for a month and were found brutally murdered. So there was an immediate shudder of horror when word came…
2.11.2026
Six mornings a week, long before the lunch line begins to form, the staff and volunteers at St. Peter’s Kitchen tie on their aprons and get to work preparing lunch for the 300-plus guests who will walk through its doors midday. Outside, the aroma drifting from the kitchen evokes Thanksgiving dinner. Inside, it’s even more inviting as team members move…
2.11.2026
Growing up in Webster, Bill Polito heard all about the town’s annual Turkey Trot, a running event held each Thanksgiving morning. In 1988, he moved to a house on Holt Road, a mile from the starting line, and decided to join in the fun. “I ran in high school and decided to give the Turkey Trot a try,” he says.…
2.11.2026
Ashley Cross is a third-generation foster parent who has devoted her life to her community, providing free programs and services to Rochester youth and families through HOPE585, a relationship-centered community where marginalized youth and their families can hope, heal, and thrive. While living in Oklahoma, Cross started the first professional foster home for young ladies preparing to age out of…
2.11.2026
You may have had pie from Special Touch Bakery without even knowing it. “When you go to Wegmans and see the pies that have the hearts on them? We help make those for them,” says Jillian Nalivyko, marketing and public relations manager at the School of the Holy Childhood. Special Touch Bakery has an integrated workforce. Its mission is “Purpose…
2.11.2026
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Mixing it up

It’s undeniable that music influences bar, nightclub, and restaurant operations. The volume, tempo, tone, lyrics, and specific artist each affect the guests and impact the experience. Humans are hardwired to respond physiologically and psychologically to music. A bar or nightclub operator’s sales can increase or decrease based on the BPM of the music. This raises …

Pay attention to Boy Jr.; photos by David Turner

Rochester recording artist Boy Jr. (aka Erica Lubman) is a singer-songwriter who doesn’t quite fit into one genre. Is she grunge pop, heavy pop, alternative? Maybe she is all of the above and more. One thing is for certain though, she is wildly and excitingly eclectic. Lubman released her second album, Pay Attention To Meeee, …

Going once, going twice, SOLD!

Hearing the words “auction house” might spark the image of a jam-packed room with a fast-talking auctioneer calling out bids from potential buyers who want one particular item that’s going, going, going . . . gone. While this nostalgic atmosphere is full of excitement, it’s not the most efficient commerce system in modern society. Cottone …

A dream they dreamed

One night seventeen-year-old Lonnie Frazier was offered a ride home from a party in rural Maryland by some guys from school she thought were friends. Instead of taking her home, they drove her out to a field and raped her. When she tried to tell others what happened, few believed her. “If you played sports …

Union Tavern: A great haunt, in more ways than one

On any given evening you can find a real mix of clientele at the Union Tavern. There are young people who have just recently moved to the Sea Breeze neighborhood, older people who have lived in the area all their lives, and—if you believe it—maybe a few spirits of the past who have never left. …

Built for the dead; designed for the living

In the spring of 2020, I was teetering on the edge of a complete breakdown. Who among us can say we were doing great at this time in the pandemic? I started hiking around Mount Hope Cemetery every day after work, at first to just get my body moving to quell difficult thoughts and feelings. …

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