From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Evan Dawson.

Our connection this hour is made with the journey home, and they always come back home.

That's how City Magazine editor in chief Leah Stacey describes cities 2026 Rochester ten cohort.

It's an annual list celebrating community members whose work and passions are creating positive change.

As Leah Stacey writes, some are Rochester natives.

Some are transplants.

Some live in several places, but the flower city is where they want their work to be felt.

The most.

We're going to meet some of them this hour, and you, of course, can read and see the Rochester ten in the newest edition of city, and the team is here.

Leah Stacey, Editor in chief of City Magazine.

Welcome back to the studio.

And I see you downstairs on our floor.

Hi.

Nice to have you here.

Jacob Walsh.

Hello, Jake, art director for city.

Hi.

Evan.

Rafael Rodriguez is a photographer and filmmaker who had the chance to shoot nine of the ten portraits.

Yeah.

Welcome.

Hey.

How are you doing?

Good.

It's good to have you.

And it looks great.

Of course.

No surprise.

Thank you.

You know, Leah has been singing the praises of Jake as well.

You're very happy with, with Ralph's work here, Oh, it's the best.

It's always when we link up.

It never goes.

Poorly.

So that old saying, Liz.

Stacey.

That is an old saying.

It's actually very new.

Saying, the Rochester ten is meant to do what?

How would you describe it for people who've never picked up an edition over the years?

Of the Ten?

You know, it started before my time here, but the way that we look at it and the way that I looked at it when I used to freelance for this, annual issue is it's really giving people in the community their flowers for the work that they do to impact the people around them.

And that could be in any industry.

You know, you'll leaf through this and years this year, in years past, and you'll notice that it's not just arts and culture.

It's it's one of those issues where we really do expand out and we want to spotlight ten people, which is very hard to narrow down, by the way.

Well, how did you do that?

I mean, that always amazes me.

Ten.

It's mostly through nominations.

Okay.

So it'll be nominations from, our team from other folks in our building, which you know, is, you know, almost 200 people that know about this issue and have people on the radar.

Actually, Megan Mac nominated someone I will not say who, but one of the folks in the Rochester town and, we don't get as many nominations as you would think.

So I think this year, what were we whittling it down from, maybe like 20 or 15 even?

It was a big list.

Yeah, but it was, it we tried to vary it up.

We, you know, we don't want to have ten people in music, right?

So we look at that and we say, like, who the strongest nomination.

We go back and we look because again, not everyone has worked here the whole time this has been going on.

So we also have to check, like has this person been featured before.

So it really is a process that we go through.

But it is mostly nominations.

We also get some nominee and I believe two of the nominees, the ten this year, were nominated from people outside of staff and freelancers.

Would you say that if someone picks up the city ten issue and reads it cover to cover, they'll have a better understanding of at least a cross-section of people from across the community who are are doing interesting and positive things.

Yeah, and I could not list the industries off the top of my head, but I believe they're pretty varied across.

I mean, we call it broadly culture, right?

So you have everything from education to event planning, which certainly gets into, you know, the wider community and several demographics.

And then, you know, sometimes we've had kids in here.

So it's it's really we try to do a broad age range as well.

We don't have all ten of the ten coming in.

I think we've got four.

Or however, one of the ten who's not on today is on the show.

Tomorrow, Beatrice LeBron will be on the program tomorrow, and Beatrice will be talking about some pretty heavy stuff in her work, not only with Father Tracy in the, the advocacy center there, but also, some of the weekend violence.

And she's going to talk about that tomorrow.

But we've had Beatrice Warren on many times.

Why did you, think that she was a fitting member of the ten here?

I love the work that Beatrice is doing.

And I think her age for the work that she's doing is also very impressive.

But if you.

She's a great example because if you look at her work, it's really not about her.

Right.

And it's reaching such a broad part of our city, and I would say an underrepresented and under talked about part of our city.

And so she's a great example of like this year, I wrote in the intro one of the sort of threads between these, this ton is that a lot of them are behind the scenes.

They're not people that are, you know, you're not turning on your TV and seeing them immediately.

You are probably seeing things that their work has impacted or people that they work to support.

We will not be talking today to John Katko.

We hope to do that soon.

John is someone who's really well known in the community now for a number of things.

I mean, he was a longtime, sportscaster for CTV.

And then for the last decade, he's become this I mean, I think he has like a million followers or something absurd, on Facebook, on Facebook and social media.

And he's he's a nature and beauty photographer and makes him he makes people happy with the beauty that he finds in the world.

He's very sincere.

And, and now he is battling, a, a brain tumor, a cancer that he has talked about.

In fact, he had a seizure while he was driving, and he says he was lucky to survive it.

And there's a lot of people pulling for John.

We're going to and we certainly are.

We're going to talk to John soon on this program, we hope, but certainly a fitting person in a lot of different ways.

Right?

Yeah.

And it was funny because he had been on our list already.

And then when that all happened, we're like, you know what?

This feels more timely than ever.

And we again, he's impacting a lot of people.

I look at his stuff and I'm like, I am so happy he's taking photos of this area that he loves this area.

He I think he's from Binghamton originally, so he's not a Rochester native, but he's called it home for a long time.

And he's like our number one like travel rep.

He just he's taking these photos of you like, I want to go visit that place.

That looks awesome.

And I'm looking at the portrait of John here.

That's got to be at least.

Is that it?

Letchworth.

Where is that?

No, I will jump in here.

Not the one.

I'm actually glad you set this up.

This is the one portrait that, Raphael didn't take.

And I wanted to credit Jerome Davis for this photo.

Just because we could not make the photo work for this one.

But it looks to be.

Even if I had to guess, near a body of water.

So I think that's.

A little joke for the folks in the room looking at the magazine.

He's next to a lake.

Is this what's happening?

Well, I think I think that's the trestle bridge.

John Letchworth.

If I'm if someone's going to tell me I'm wrong.

Oh, I'm sorry, there's two different photo.

One of the rainbow is.

Yeah.

No one in the rainbow.

Yeah, yeah.

The one is at Letchworth.

You guys on two different people?

We're on two different page.

And that's a self-portrait.

Yes, yes, I got, you know, John loves Letchworth.

He loves the region.

He is a true lover and booster.

And so, if anybody deserves a really, really good sort of good news, health outcome and everyone's pulling for me.

That's you, John, and we'll talk to John soon.

We hope.

Here.

So, by the way, I'm looking also at the Beatrice LeBron portrait, which this is yours, right?

Yes, yes.

And there she is.

She's probably repping the Father Tracy Advocacy Center t shirt there.

Anything you want to add about this particular shot of your experience there?

Well, I think what, Leah said, to highlight what she does in the community because when I was there, a bike, a bike, a fight broke out before I pulled up, and she was calm, like it was like something unfortunately normal to her.

But when she was explained to me, was that people know her there and people, respect her there.

And once she stepped in, they stopped.

And I think that just shows, just her power and her presence in that community.

Me being from I spent a lot of time in that community, back in my back in my day when I was a little younger.

But, I understand what goes on in that community and what what happens in for someone to have so much, authority and presence and not be police or not be anyone, of power.

Besides, what was she has it was kind of cool.

So, yeah, that was, that was dope.

Producer Megan Mack and I spent a day down there just watching some of the work that she does.

The people in the community.

Carla.

Heifer.

Yeah.

Boss.

Yes, yes.

And she knows people, but she.

She knows she knew people by name.

People who were doing drugs on the street and have problems and need help.

She knows them by name.

She described other instances that Rafael was kind of describing where when there is a fight, if she steps in, there's like this moral authority presence and the everything sort of there's like this wretched record scratch stopped.

Yeah.

Which it takes a lot of credibility on the street.

Yeah.

To get.

People.

I'm not of compendiums like, like, like dogs or anything that.

But like, you know, when like the the head dog steps in and everybody's just like, oh, dog, just stop.

It's kind of like that where like, she just she walks to the thing and then it's just like, everyone just calms down.

So yeah, it was, it was very interesting meeting her.

She's very strong, funny.

And, Yeah, she was a really.

It was really cool to take her pictures very easy.

She's very photogenic.

So.

Yeah.

Her hair.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

Amazing.

Definitely.

It's a beautiful photo.

Thank you.

So well done there.

And, I'm just kind of going through some of the Rochester ten.

You can pick up the magazine now where magazines are sold, or given.

Away every time.

Evan.

Every time.

I'm just going to keep reminding people it is free because, you know, the world isn't free.

But eventually things will not be free.

But it's free.

It's free.

But you can also pay to support WXXI or subscribe and get it out to you.

Even if you're a tired of driving around trying to find it.

Which was happening a lot to people this weekend.

On the one hand, I really like that because I'm like, it's in demand, but on the other hand, I'm like, do I go to the office and get a stack and just like, take them to the.

Yeah, I mean, look, subscribe.

I mean, that's like subscribe for a member.

My mom does it.

But yeah, it's free.

Free is good.

It's amazing.

We're going to meet a gentleman at NAF, Max Kelley.

Nydia Padilla Rodriguez Leaphe Ferm is next.

They'll be in here in just a second.

So just before we get to those live interviews, a couple of the other names that we're going to be covering, probably in different ways to come.

A lot of folks know Pam Sherman well known.

Leah's list is anything you want to say about Pam?

Who's part of the ten?

I'm just I'm such a fan.

I didn't really know her that well.

Before this profile.

I had met her in passing and she had been nominated in years past.

And, again, was on the list, and, Rafael and I went to do her portrait, and then I sat down with her.

We were there at the same time, and she is another one who just runs the room.

I mean, you can tell that she's been an actor.

She has such a presence and like, a charisma about her.

That is infectious.

And I it's very it's very easy to like her and to want to support her.

But I also, in talking to her for an hour or more, saw the impact that she has made through, especially a lot of local nonprofit work and another one that's not originally from here.

So when you're shooting a, a portrait of an actor and someone who's that big of a presence in the room, does that change your work at all?

It felt like.

Felt like a regular person in the room.

She welcomed me, as soon as I got to her house and beautiful home.

But she's welcomed me like I was just a part of her, you know, inner circle.

And, she.

Leah our her.

I only spent, like, 30 minutes, and I had a great time.

We were laughing.

Joking.

I was, she gave me a copy of a book.

She gave me a bracelet.

Very friendly and, just so sweet.

You just felt like, like a family member when I was there.

Like, genuinely, I felt like she just welcomed me with open arms.

So it was.

It was really dope.

It was very, again, another one.

Very easy to take her pictures.

Very easy.

Sometimes I say never meet your heroes.

But it's nice to know when people are cool, you know.

Yeah.

It's nice.

This is you know, that would be a great thing for a great theme for this one.

It's like, no, actually, meet these, meet you.

You can use that next year.

Okay.

Thank you.

As long as the people you choose are cool.

Yeah, yeah.

You know.

Evan Dawson time.

Yeah.

There you go.

Andrea Langston, you want to just tell, a brief story about Andrea Langston?

Leah Stacy.

So Andre Langston and his dad had originally been on our list.

And he is.

So they are the family behind KEX, which is, I believe, at this point, the longest and maybe oldest black run radio station in New York state, if not the East Coast.

And I need to verify that information.

But, an institution in our city.

Oh, no.

And one that we have had, you know, several partnerships with here WXXI.

And so I met Andre through Mitch Gruber at the Food Link Festival last year, and we got chatting and I was like, it's got to be impossible that he hasn't been one of the Rock ten.

And I went back and looked and he said, no, he hasn't.

So I he was on our list for this year, and I reached out to Justin Murphy to write the profile.

And when we got in touch with Andre, he said, no, no, you will not be profiling me.

I am stepping back.

He's like, you will be profiling Andrea.

And so we did it.

We looked into Andrea's work and, you know, a very again, a very prolific part of not only DK but, is has a separate career as a successful actress and producer and writer.

And so we said, okay, let's let's chat with Andrea.

So Justin Murphy wrote this profile, he frequently freelances for us, does wonderful work.

And I believe Andrea was in town for two days.

And in that two days, Justin sat down with her and Rafael went and shot this beautiful portrait of her.

How'd that go, Rafael?

It was it was a it was cool because, like you said, it has been such a like a like a like a rock in our city, like, I grew up listening to what you had, like, like, hit, like hip hop, like me.

You know, me.

So it was cool to walk in the building and see all the plats on the wall.

And, Eminem like biggie, Lil Kim, like all those, like, you know, iconic names that, that I grew up listening to.

So, and then I believe she said that she my favorite rappers.

Jake.

Also, I believe she met him or got a chance to meet him.

So it was just cool to be in the presence of that in hip hop in general.

I'm a big hip hop guy, and that's kind of where I grew up on.

So it was it was also for folks like the other or I didn't do it wasn't for Rock ten, but when I took pictures for the 50 year anniversary of hip hop, so.

That was one of my first assignments.

I'm not, I'm not sure, but it was like one of those moments where it was like it was like a full circle for me.

It was really cool to meet her.

And again, another person is very, in the industry, and it was just cool to to be in her presence as well.

All right.

I got to move quick because in a moment, in fact, why don't we bring in Leaphe Ferm and now we'll bring them in now.

And, and while we do that, tell me a little bit more about some of the other names we haven't talked about.

Jeffrey McCune Jr, the Effie Brothers.

John, is it.

Speaker.

Baker?

Yeah, someone I haven't met.

Hey, leave.

So Leaphe is coming in and we'll talk to them in a second.

But let's, while we get Leaphe all set here.

Jeffrey McCune jr.

Yes.

So Jeffrey came to us via a new writer.

Maria.

And Maria had been keeping an eye on Jeffrey's work through, Jeeva partnerships.

So Jeffrey is working with Jeeva on an initiative to bring back some school matinees, which is very cool, because that's been missing in the community for really since post-pandemic.

But Jeffrey has also been doing a huge body of work at the U of R and another one who is not originally from here.

So there you go.

Any thoughts on this portrait here?

Great family.

Portraits.

Great.

Awesome.

But he was a great family man.

He had his kids with him, and he was just like he was.

I can tell you, he's a great dad for sure.

Yeah.

He's a he's a cool dude.

Very cool dude.

And it is.

Speaker John.

Speaker from Four Brothers.

Yeah.

What exactly is his fee brother I know it.

Was.

Like, that's an insult.

And that's you're.

Fired.

But for folks who don't know a little bit of the backstory on John there, go ahead.

So I think a lot of us are familiar with Fee Brothers, and for a long time, Joe Fee was really the face of Fee Brothers, and he unfortunately passed right around the time of the pandemic.

And it was a huge loss for the beverage community and the small business community here.

Fever has been around for over 100 years.

I think at this point, I feel like early 19 tens is when they originated.

And, it has always been family owned.

And John Speaker is now the CEO.

He is the nephew of Joe Fee.

Spent some time away from Rochester working in business and other things and came back here.

And the company has never been so successful.

And that's in a time when the beverage industry is really struggling.

Yeah.

That's right.

So he has he has a pretty unique story, really has a mind for business.

And there are other family members still heavily involved, including his brother.

So they're really running.

They're like the new faces of the company.

And John, as the CEO, has just ramped up Fee Brothers involvement, not only here but treatment of staff.

I mean, he he talks about that all the time.

They really want the staff to feel like they are.

They have ownership in the company and they have a voice and their benefits are very important to them.

So he's just doing some cool work there and, you know, you can go to a bar in Italy and you will see Fee Brothers behind the bar.

He is representing Rochester in a way that so few companies have the chance.

So I'm going to put a marker down here way in advance here at the Rochester Cocktail Revival.

We'll be back next year.

Yeah, but there's two cocktail festivals coming up this month.

So there's Tiki Week and there's Hootenanny.

So and Fee Brothers will have a presence at both of.

Those at some point.

I'd love to sit down with him and just kind of talk about how you why they're so successful, the time when people are drinking last of it.

And sales in the winter.

For Easter.

Yeah, I mean, I'm sure he does.

So yeah, that'd be a great conversation, but really cool.

Part of the rock-tenn.

So we've kind of covered the Rock-Tenn who's not here with us now.

We've got four of the ten Rock-Tenn who are here with us.

Leafe Ferm.

The first one, Caleb, get real close to that.

Mike.

Hey, great to meet you in person.

Nice to meet.

You, too.

Welcome.

So, Leah and Tim, do you want to introduce Leaphe?

Leah.

Stacey, you want to take this one here?

Well, I'm going to pick this over to Jake because I think you guys are more familiar with each other.

I'm meeting me for the first time.

Hi.

Hi.

Nice to meet.

You, Jake.

I would say Leaphe and I know each other from the music scene here in Rochester.

We were talking about folks to feature in Rock-Tenn, and I thought I had kind of just a friend of mine.

To to talk.

About, but, I don't know if multihyphenate is an overused term, but Leaphe does it all.

Leaphe, is a puppeteer, a builder of puppets, a musician, a wonderful friend.

And a caregiver.

A caregiver, an artist.

And I got to learn about Leaphe two because I didn't I didn't know that about you.

I was it was, a nice thing to to read about.

Yeah.

Imagine that.

The function of the magazine.

I'm learning to.

How about that?

Pretty good.

So as one of the ten, were you surprised?

Leaphe?

I was so surprised.

And.

Yeah, just very thankful.

I don't know, especially not being from here.

I'm like me and the rock-tenn.

That doesn't make any sense.

Where are you from originally?

I'm from new Jersey originally.

Upstate.

And I moved here like ten years ago or so and kind of dropped into the music scene and fell in love with Rochester, and everything has to offer.

Well, I'm so we love that kind of story.

Your band name is, like, the most, not actually good description of a band I've ever heard.

What's the name of your band?

Garden of evil doers.

Garden of evil doers?

Like one of the kind souls that you'll meet in this world.

Must be a part of the garden of evil doers.

So tell us about the name of the band.

Well, it kind of comes from, like, you know, the the, like, far right perspective of queer people as being, like, evil or, you know, damned or whatever, and, trying to, you know, kind of embrace that.

And, and the only way I know how, which is by making a joke out of it or something like that, you know.

Turning it on.

Its on its head a little bit.

Yeah, I don't know.

And so the band will play it various places.

Yeah.

Including backyards, people's houses.

Bars.

Yeah.

All over.

Yeah.

And we, we tour to tour around too.

We're going on tour in like, two weeks here.

So we'll be gone in August.

Going down to New York City to Philly, back over to Pittsburgh and back up for like a a weeklong tour.

Reading the Rock ten profile of you was heartening in a way, because, you know, you describe and I want to speak for you.

I want to hear more from you about this.

But like in the piece you're describing, whether it's traveling to play and needing a place to stay and getting a cabin in the woods or getting someone who can help you out, but also just discovering the kindness of most people.

Yeah.

Do you think most people I mean, we're all kind of in this tense moment where if we spend too much time online, we think, you know, everything's kind of falling apart.

Yeah.

Do you think we're misjudging most people?

I mean, that's exactly it, right?

And that's what the band name is all about, too.

It's like, oh, we're we're so evil.

But then we're having we literally are like ten people with puppets having a good old time.

Like the juxtaposition is these are like the nicest people I've ever met.

For real.

It's, Yeah, it's exactly that, you know, and especially with, like, being on tour so much in the way that we do it, which is very like low budget, like where barely making money on these tours and going from place to place.

So we're like reaching out to people going like, hey, I know we're like playing with you at this bill, but can we also stay at your house?

And people say, yeah, no, no problem.

And we'll do the same for here in Rochester too.

And there's so much just like interplay of that.

And yeah, so this is going to be weird.

But So I, you know, going to ask to spend the night.

Can I crash on your couch?

I heard it was cool and it looks really cool.

Yeah.

No, I mean, so I'm reading the piece, I'm thinking, well, I want to listen to some of the music.

And of course, like, like, so one of the first places I can use to access this is the weird part of Spotify, which you probably kind of hate a little bit.

Yeah.

So how do you feel about where people access your music and how do you feel about, like, maybe these commercial platforms that, you know, pay you fractions and fractions of pennies on a stream?

I mean, I don't feel great about them.

The the best place to access like, indie music, like the bands I play in and other bands around the city are is like through bandcamp.com, I would say, and it kind of that platform I like, especially because it highlights albums like, I feel like musicians put a lot of time into like making these albums and then streaming services kind of take those and just like, say like, oh, I'm going to highlight this one song and that's all anyone's maybe ever going to hear or, you know, or like you're playing things on loop and you're getting like sense for it.

And Bandcamp like has a really good share for like the artists.

And you can buy the full albums and then it's like the album is there and you can listen to the whole thing, and it's just a nice.

You're not the first artist who told me that Bandcamp is a much better alternative.

Do you hear that, too?

Sometimes, Jake.

It's good.

They're pretty transparent with like, their revenue sharing and stuff, and it's it's different from like a streaming model where you get like a fraction of a cent per stream, and then the subscription is paid to this like enormous corporation.

Like if you are to buy something off of Bandcamp, the artist like sees how every cent is broken down and they get most of the money.

So yeah.

No.

Yeah.

Not to not to be like.

Every you know.

Yeah it's good, it's a good.

But how often are you writing music?

All the time.

Right.

I'm writing music right now.

How often are you, recording what you write?

It's much less than, I will say we are recording right now.

We are recording.

I'm recording music right now.

No, no.

I'm gonna use that.

Okay.

There you go.

Future.

No.

But every every few months or so, I'll sit down.

I have, like, a little at home studio where I'll record some demos or something, like that, but, I kind of, like, put out maybe an album once a year or something.

It's my.

It's my schedule right now.

Describe, maybe an evening of playing music where you thought like, this is the best it can get.

I mean, every week, every week I have like four band practices.

And every night I go, I go in being like, well, some.

Not every night I go and being like, oh, no.

But some nights I go and being like, oh no, like tough day at work or, you know, tough day, just living life.

And then it's just like community.

It's it's scheduled time with friends.

We cook dinner for each other.

We take care of each other.

Music is so wonderful.

Play music.

Where's the camera?

Right.

Play music where you play with your friends.

It's the best thing ever.

Like.

And anyone can do it.

You doesn't have to sound good.

It's just like being creative, making fun little sounds, you know?

Well, the profile written by Catherine Varga, is really beautiful.

We're not going to even be able to touch on everything that Catherine touches on.

You get to know life better as part of the Rock ten in City magazine.

As we wrap with you, where are people going to find you next?

Just around town.

Any gigs, anything that you got you want to talk about?

Oh, I think kitchen's playing at the Clothesline Festival, August 30th.

Okay.

I have a gig in a friend's backyard.

If you want to come to that, you can.

You can find my Instagram.

Send me a DM.

I'll, give you the address.

I don't want to say it on the radio.

They'd probably be mad at me.

I want to know if the puppets are going to be there.

The puppets will be there.

Yes.

The puppets are union members too, right?

So you guys.

Have never gone on strike, like.

Oh, no, the puppets dance, right?

Yes.

I just.

Want to know more about the.

Puppets.

All right, before we.

Close here, since the latest that.

Here, tell us a little bit about the puppets.

Yeah, well, us it it's kind of new for me to like it started a year ago.

I, there was a show happening, and it was all locals, and I was like, I got to just have fun, actually.

And, built a whole puppet set.

And then some friends saw me doing it and made puppets to go along with it.

And I've had this, like, fantasy world that goes with the puppets.

So it's kind of been like an experiment in, like storytelling and also just like joy and comedy with friends and like, making wild things and having a good old time.

And like, my friends are the puppeteers and they are like they come in with characters they want to do.

And so they kind of have like free rein of that.

And I have like loose story and pre-written like all the songs are pre-written and they all are like, like they tell stories, you know, so it kind of it's like a game to like, piece together the different like songs into, kind of legible story.

And the last one was like me being transported into the spirit realm and meeting all these puppets.

And there's like a fairy that comes, there's like a lizard who smoke cigarets.

Rabbi, and.

You're doing.

They deliver the.

Food.

So that was fun.

That was fun.

There's like a big gorilla and and more, you know, every show, I try and make something new.

So it kind of expands upon itself.

And, you know, then we used the last one.

So it's like, if you're coming in for the first show, you're like, how did you get to this point?

And it's like, it's only been a year.

But like every show, we have something new.

And now everything's all at once, you know?

So well, it's it's really fun.

Congratulations on being part of the Rock ten.

Thank you.

City magazine's Rock ten includes Leaphe Ferm.

You can read the full story there and meet all of the Rock ten.

We got to take our only break of the hour, and we're going to come back and meet more of the Rock ten on the other side here.

Coming up in our second Our Connection Summer sessions is asking how young people see a changing world, and we're bringing back a conversation we had over the school year winter break this past calendar year, when students were experiencing the first school year with a Bell to Bell cell phone van.

So how was it going?

What were they experiencing without their phones in their hands, or at least in their lockers?

Their answers might surprise you.

Next, our.

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Welcome back to connections.

We have an event planner here.

And this I'm the event planner gentleman at.

Oh my God.

Part of the.

Rock ten is gentleman Attica now.

And Jenna is with us here.

By the way, congratulations on being part of the Rock ten.

Thank you.

And whether Rochester is no Jenna or not, they may have experienced life in our city thanks to some of Jenna's work or through some of Jenna's events here.

So, Leah, Stacy, you want to do a little introduction here.

And if they haven't, that's on them because, I mean, you're you're doing almost nothing in the city, especially the big events.

Like what?

Your biggest event right now, just by volume, is probably Holiday Village.

Or maybe Jazz.

Fest.

Jazz Fest.

Yes by volume.

Yeah, yeah.

But maybe you're I feel like when I go to Rock Holiday Village because bird, when I were there shooting last year and it was just like every age, every suburb and neighborhood, like the amount of different people I saw from like knowing them in my childhood to my professional life was crazy.

I do take a lot of pride in how we've really put together an event that is for everyone.

It's just really inclusive and that always feels good.

When I walk around and see that we've done something that that everybody can relate to.

And I love when I see you at your events too, because you are still very present.

Like I can see the wheels turning, like, I know you're putting out a fire in one corner of your brain.

And I feel like that really happened to that hootenanny last year.

You were like, this is the first year I'm, like, focused.

But you're also like.

You're like, hi, how's it going?

I'm like, I don't I don't need to talk about myself right now.

You are in the midst of a ton.

Well, I mean, there is like this, this weird balance between, you're in this space with so many people, you want to be present with those people.

But I always have to be three steps ahead in my brain.

So when I do take a step back and I sat and just, like, hung out with you, I would miss, like, four things that were happening.

Yeah.

So.

So if you don't know Jenna again, you can read the story written by Veronica Volk as part of the Rock ten for City Magazine.

Jenna is the owner of the Bella Events Group.

What is the full rock?

So you mentioned jazz for get give listeners the full roster of what you've done or what you got your hands on.

Oh my gosh.

Okay, so it started 25 years.

Well it's been a little over 20 years a jazz festival.

My very first events in town were the Alexander Street Festivals and Alexander, when that was like, you know, I know it's like coming back out, you know, coming back up and coming.

But that was my first ones.

But jazz festival, Rock Holiday Village.

I own that with two partners.

Hootenanny.

That's just on my brain right now because it's in two weeks.

Rochester Pride, and the festival and then I work for Trillium, as, like, on retainer for them.

So I do their white party and I do the parade for them, and then I do the festival separately.

Oh, my God, this, downtown.

And she's under a t shirt.

What is it?

So.

Downtown?

Definitely.

Yes.

We do a series.

It's about 14 to 16 events a year for RDC.

And we just.

Rochester Downtown Development Corporation.

Yes.

Thank you.

We just activate the city with some grant money that they support, and we do midday bashes and movie nights, fall fest, the RPO.

We do goat yoga, which is super fun.

And we are doing a game night this year.

So Leah is correct if if someone listening right now has not experienced any of your work, they are not leaving their home.

I think that that's pretty much it right.

And right now you're getting ready for hootenanny.

Yes.

So for people who aren't familiar, this is still relatively new.

Second year.

This is technically the third, but the second that Sean McCarthy is, joined in with Tommy Burnett.

What's the junior show?

It is a whiskey music festival.

So, it was Tommy's brainchild, I believe.

If I had to.

Going all the way back to where he started.

And it's just like a really cool, quirky.

It's exactly what I and smoke is.

But, like, on this big, grand scale, motorcycles and cool music and great drinks.

And then he partnered with Sean last year.

We did it in round two, and we moved it to Fairport this year.

And it's just like a really cool whiskey tasting and great music where it is at Central Park West or the Parenting Community Center where the amphitheater is.

We're just kind of down below.

We're using the amphitheater, but also like the the fields down below.

And you know who they got this year?

Jake.

Who's that?

Guster.

Oh, yeah.

Guster.

Oh, yeah.

Toadies.

Guster.

My morning Jacket, Modest Mouse, I mean, you name it, it's on the roster, and you.

Got joy wave.

Joy worms.

Very rarely, I know.

Yeah, yeah, I'm going on Sunday.

Yeah, it.

Should be a lot of fun.

I mean, I feel like it's like, bring me back to high school.

Yeah.

So the portrait is like, you see this?

You're like, oh, yeah, Jenna runs this thing.

Raphael.

Great job on the portrait.

Thank you, thank you.

Where are you?

Where are you for this?

Who's that?

Parcel five.

Parcel five.

And I remember Jenna being a little nervous about the photo, but I totally believe in me.

And.

And we got a very powerful photo of her, which is really cool.

And, Jenna, do you love it?

Do you like it?

I mean, I think everyone's hypercritical of themselves.

I'm always a little bit shy in front of a camera.

It's not necessarily where I like to be, but I, They really thankful for you, too.

You, for putting something out that I felt comfortable with.

So thank you.

And there we go.

That's right there.

I also kept your sunglasses on.

It's like a power move right there.

It was bright.

It was.

It was right.

Yeah.

And but it it worked out.

You know, when you're 50, you know, you start getting no stop.

Oh, man.

Okay, so before we let Jenna go here, what I appreciate about the profile written by Veronica is, you know, this is someone you're clearly more comfortable behind the scenes and running these events and showcasing all these great talents and our city and our region.

So I know you're not typically out front, but I think you deserve this because what you have done on it's own is great.

Since the pandemic.

And in this modern age of technology, we're even more disconnected.

And I think this these are some of the things that truly connect people, that are so, so I agree.

I mean, and I know it's kind of cheesy, but I just wonder if, like on the hardest days, if that makes the work at least more tolerable or.

Rewarding, it does.

I mean it, there are a lot of hard days, especially like if you look at what we just went through at pride, I mean, having to make the decision to cancel the festival three hours in was devastating.

I mean, all I kept thinking about was the vendors and my staff and, you know, like everything that was happening there and how much work everyone put into it and like, it's just not the call you want to make.

But when you look around and see the humor, like the humanity around me, it does make it feel better.

You know, when people give you a hug and they're like, I'm so sorry that this happened to you.

Get that nice email after.

But yes, to your point, being on set after, you know, like I don't get to look cute on set.

I don't get to, you know, like I'm always a little sweaty, but like, you know, like and then you see people come, I remember the first time at Holiday Village, we had just worked, I mean, for months and months and months to pull together.

And then all of a sudden people just came and started sitting in the spaces that we created.

And I got teary eyed.

I was like, yeah, like, it's it is it just it always feels really worth it.

And to showcase our city in the best light possible always is like a sense of pride for me.

I still have video of my son face planting on the ice at where I called him.

And, so before I let you go here, we've talked about hootenanny.

It's still summer, but we're going to be in Holiday Village, so before you know it, what do you got planned?

This year?

Yeah, well, we're just going to keep doing what we're doing, but better we do have we've been working really hard behind the scenes to to grow and expand.

We're getting there.

I'd say within the next year or two, you'll see some big changes and some additions that we can do that will kind of we do really well with the kids that still believe in Santa.

We do really well with the adults that like to go out and have a cocktail and listen to music, but there's like this middle area that we're just missing.

So we're really hoping to start doing some activations that hit like the college age and the high school age kids so that we get the whole family involved.

So we're getting.

There.

Congrats on the honor here.

Thank you so much.

We really appreciate.

It.

And thank you for coming in here.

Thank you.

Thanks for having me.

So we're going to we're going to send gentlemen at an out and we're going to bring Max Kelley in.

So thank you, Jenna.

And while we bring Max in here I'm going to have the team.

Go ahead guys, you want a little introduction before Matt as Max gets a this is radio.

It's going to be new for you.

But as Max said here he'll he'll pull that microphone up.

He knows what to do.

Team, you want to do the introduction of this gentleman here as part of the rack ten.

Can I. Introduce Max?

Yes.

Yeah.

Go ahead.

Max is one of my oldest and favorite friends.

Max is a thousand years.

He's a thousand years old, and I'm a thousand years old.

In between the two of us were 2000 years old.

Also both wearing Daryl Dawson designed shirts.

Small.

So you didn't text each other?

We did not text each other about this.

Oh, wait, this is this is just a different guy.

This is this is Korean.

Actually, I got it's Korean.

Yeah, yeah.

Listen, Evan, we have to erase this whole episode.

I got a detail wrong.

Let's start.

Off.

I know you're.

Thinking that.

Max Kelley is a wonderful man.

He's the head honcho.

At what?

L.P.

Rochester call letters that I'm saying on a different, radio station.

And, one of the hardest working kind of people I know.

And one of our rock-tenn.

Okay.

And what made him stand out to you as deserving of this honor here?

Well, I did not pitch Max, and I was actually telling, Pat Hoskin, who I believe did pitch you for this, that I had some stole a moment of stolen valor when we saw each other the other night.

It was me.

You and Leif were at the bug jar two nights ago all together.

You can't plan stuff like this.

You just have to live in Rochester and be it.

Yeah, it just happens.

And I was I. Was like, I was out there taking credit.

I was like, I pitched this high pitched that, you know, classic, classic bloviating, like a real jerk.

So I had to set the record straight.

But, yeah.

Patrick, you're an inspiring guy.

I'm looking at you in the eyes as I'm saying this, but, Yeah.

And it comes through in the piece, obviously, all of all that you've done and all that you've, you know, that you continue to do.

So how do you introduce yourself when people say, so what do you do?

It's got to be exactly like that, right?

Yeah.

Basically you inspire people.

Yeah.

No, I, I helped run well, one of 4.3 FM, which is a community radio station here in Rochester, all volunteer with over, I don't know what the number is right now.

I'm going to say over 90, different shows of all different types of music and talk.

I also work sound at the Bug Jar, which is, a lot of fun and, I'm a software engineer during the day.

A software engineer.

And I jump in that day.

Yeah, because part of the reason Pat pitched you is because he was working on the rainbow connection story.

Yes.

Which was an.

Hour.

Yep.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

Rainbow connection was our.

That was our headline.

Yep.

So many words in my brain.

Yeah, I think that was our May June issue.

July.

Last month.

July.

Yep, yep.

The days run together.

Yeah.

But he realized that you hit ten years.

We did?

Yeah.

And so it was also timely and like, what a what a milestone.

Yeah.

Yeah, it's it's super exciting.

You know, when we launched, well, I was just involved in an engineering capacity and, Mike Yates, who was the original founder of the station, had really done a lot of the legwork on, you know, figuring out what it takes to to start a community radio station.

And, I don't know if whatever it takes, Rochester has it because, people showed up in droves.

And I think right from the outset we had like 50 or 60, shows on the air, which Mike all personally trained, and, like, lived at the station basically for two weeks straight.

And, yeah, it's been it's been a wild ride, the last, last ten years.

And the thing that's so cool is that the Rochester community shows up for it not only and listening and getting involved and volunteering, but also and, and our annual fundraiser, because we're entirely driven by donations, basically.

So, you.

Know, you've definitely given a space for a lot of really talented people, really thoughtful people, with music talk.

We've had a lot of them on this program over the years.

You look back at ten years ago, it's so different with just the continuing fracturing and fragmenting of media.

I mean, obviously, you know that.

Yeah.

And, you know, we are talking all the time at Z about how we are trying to be kind of everywhere and being where every generation and every person of every age would be.

My guess is at noon every day, connections will be here.

I, you know, I don't know that it will always I mean, I think it'll always be live at noon, but we're going to do more online.

We're going to be in different places.

I will be doing different things.

Because that's where people are going.

It's not what it was ten years ago and certainly not what it was 30 years ago.

How do you see it?

How do you see it away?

Oh.

I think that I think that it's it's interesting because I think you do a really great job of curating, connections and the other shows here on WXXI, and I think we do significantly less curation and, sort of leave it up to, the masses in a way.

Right, by having like 90 different shows, all produced by people here in the community that really know syndicated programing.

You tune in to each show and it's like that person's passion on display and like them sharing it with, the community.

So like, and I think that's something that you see with social media as being attractive.

Right?

People are really interested in what people post on their social media accounts, because it's like a periscope into that person's life or what they do or whatever.

So our shows are almost, like that as well.

And when you have 90 of them that all represent different people within the Rochester community, I think it sort of achieves that.

So I feel like it's I feel like it's very relevant.

But yeah, I mean, we are a low power FM station, so our FM signal is not that great.

So we have to experiment with streaming.

And, you know, we've added video streaming and stuff like that.

Especially through our Sunday program Live at Wayo, which has sort of been my, baby for the last couple of years.

It really is the democratization.

Yeah.

Of locally.

Yeah.

It really.

Has been, the portrait of Max is so vintage.

I mean, it's so crazy.

I was hoping you would ask me.

Yeah.

It's so good.

Yeah.

But that's my style.

So I like, Sorry.

This this looks like.

It's like, what was that John Cusack movie, Tower Records or what was the movie, but fidelity, high fidelity.

Yeah.

Thank you.

So yeah, this looks like it's straight out of that movie.

I like the vintage look.

Max is cool.

When I saw this, when I saw the outcome of this, I was like, I know the I know that look with the books, the, not bookshelves.

Record shelves.

The record shelves in the back and yeah, very vintage.

You nailed it right on the and, on the head.

So, like, it's so good.

So.

Yeah, you.

Are you happy with the max?

Oh, yeah.

Come hundred percent crafted.

Did great.

And I think it's a good I don't know our station like people still bring in records and tapes and CDs and you know lots of stations across the country are like, yeah, we're moving on digital or whatever, but like, I don't know, we just have it all and people can play what they want to play.

And you hear this, you hear the scratches and the pops and the crackles and it's.

Yeah, I love the esthetic of the studios as they go.

Yeah, it's a great portrait.

It's a great piece by John Heath as part of the Rock ten Max Kelley.

Well earned.

And just really cool that you keep doing it and giving a voice in a place.

So I know it means a lot to you, it means a lot to the community, and a lot of people are happy to see you as part of the Rock ten.

Yeah.

Thank you.

It came at a time that I was kind of like, really tired.

We adopted a dog in November and it's been it's been great, but it's been exhausting.

And so I was really tired and like, oh, man, you know.

And then I got the call and I was like, oh, okay.

This.

All right, little rest.

Let's keep.

There you go.

We love to hear that.

There you go.

So thank you.

We're going to.

Send Max back to well I, I say back to well probably.

Back to.

Engineering job.

Yeah.

But eventually to a max.

Station.

Manager.

Well, 143 he's going to vacate this seat and we're going to bring in one more of the final of the Rock ten.

Nydia Padilla-Rodriguez is with us.

Hello, Nydia.

She's going to get all set.

You get.

This dress.

Nydia, if.

Yeah, if you're watching on YouTube.

Oh, my goodness, you are summer.

Very summer artistic director and founder of Bring and Dance Theater.

And as well, you got right in there.

It's nice to see you.

How are you?

You look great.

Get right on that microphone for us here.

And, Leah, tell us why media is one of the rock-tenn.

Well, Nydia has a big anniversary this year, which I'm going to let her talk more about.

And she had been on mine and Sydney Burrows.

Radames Sydney is our dance writer, has been for almost my entire tenure here and Sydney just really keeps her finger on the pulse of what's going on in the dance world.

So I was thrilled to see this come to life.

I want to thank you, and I'm honored to be among all these wonderful nominees.

Yeah.

And so what's new?

What's going on?

What's new for 45 years, as I reflect, I'm like, I can't believe it.

45 years.

However, it's really not about me.

It's about all the folks from the community who help me sustain and dance theater for 45 years.

And I just feel blessed and have gratitude and just can't wait for us to celebrate and have our youth share their talents, the rich culture, music, and just the support from the community.

I just feel so honored.

I really am honored and gratitude.

That's all I can think of and blessed.

You said in the piece written by Sydney Burrows, that dance helps young people discover their value and embrace their cultures.

How important is it to you to help them understand that dance is.

Yes, it's an art form.

Yes.

It's fun, but like, for for a lot of people, like, this is your culture.

Yes it is.

And there are people.

I need to share a quick story.

When I was in elementary school, third grade, and I remember asking the teacher, how can we never talk about the Puerto Rican culture?

And the response was, because you were a bunch of peasants who came here because you were starving to that experience.

Where was this?

I'd rather.

Not.

Okay.

All right.

Off the record.

Okay.

Off the record.

I decided as a young person, as young as I was, I need to change that narrative.

And if I can do something positive for our children to feel like you belong, you have the right as citizens.

Puerto Ricans are citizens of America.

Why not use structure, discipline, the understanding that it's so important for you to have that self-esteem and that sense of you belong.

We have contributed to this country for many decades.

No reason why you cannot feel like you can contribute as a citizen of the United States of America.

And I have to say that I feel blessed because I had the opportunity working with Garth Fagan, who I am one of the original members of bottom of the bucket.

But but he was the one that instilled in me as a very young teenager.

Discipline is freedom, and I wanted to carry that legacy with my generation, my young people, and 45 years of seeing thousands of youth participate in voting and dance theater, making sure that they transfer their discipline to their careers.

It's just amazing.

I have students who come back to me.

Many of them are alumni as instructors, which is amazing, and I am working towards the infrastructure to sustain building and for the next 45 years.

So when I do pass the baton to him and then view this, who is now the assistant Artistic director, he has the infrastructure he needs to continue building and dance theater.

Where are you performing next?

You were just to the festivals last weekend.

Where are you performing next?

We will be performing in the Buffalo Western Hispanic Festival in August and then in Syracuse in September.

And, you know, surf.

All these performances begin to surface in Rochester.

So our major, major, major, I'm so excited.

Is that 45th anniversary, November 7th.

Congratulations.

Thank you.

And I have to say, it's not about me.

It's about parents, students, funders, volunteers, community partnerships coming together.

I also want to give very special thanks to Hochstein School Music, where that was our second home for almost since 1981.

We moved into our own space because of our foundation, giving us the funds that we needed to have our own studio, and I just feel blessed that we also had that type of collaboration with Hochstein School of Music.

You're an institution personally and through your organization, I have to say, and no surprise to see you as one of the Rock-Tenn.

It's a beautiful portrait, Raphael.

Thank you, thank you.

It's a beautiful and I'm sure Nadia loves it.

It's a great portrait of Nydia Padilla Rodriguez bringing dance, the last of the.

Not by any means.

The last.

The last that we've talked about this hour.

We've now talked about all ten.

But you can read even more in the profiles in the current edition of city, the August issue meeting the 2026 Rochester ten congratulate.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Thank you for having first me here and as a nominee.

Yes.

And thank you for that.

Of course.

No relation by the way, but yeah, yeah.

Yeah.

It's great to have you.

We're family.

Thank you.

Thank you for the great work on the portraits.

Thanks for being with.

You, Julia.

Stacey.

Yeah.

Jake.

Great stuff here, as always.

Thank you very much.

Thanks, Evan.

And Leah Stacey, nice to see you as always.

Editor in Chief.

City Magazine.

Come hang with us at Radio Social on August 19th.

Well, you're having our Rock ten celebration.

August 19th.

Radio social.

What day of the week?

And that that's.

That is a Wednesday.

Two weeks.

From today.

Starting at what time?

That night?

5 to 8.

P.m.. 5 to 8.

See you at Radio Social, then.

More connections coming up in just a moment.

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