Connections with Evan Dawson
CITY Magazine’s October issue: “Home”
10/13/2025 | 52m 40sVideo has Closed Captions
CITY Magazine explores the meaning of "home" in its October issue. The team joins us to discuss.
What does "home" mean to you? In CITY Magazine’s October issue, the theme is explored through stories of place, connection, and belonging. Editor Leah Stacy writes that home can be a feeling, a person, or even a longing for something beyond. This hour, the CITY team joins us to discuss the inspiration behind the issue and the many ways we define home.
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Connections with Evan Dawson is a local public television program presented by WXXI
Connections with Evan Dawson
CITY Magazine’s October issue: “Home”
10/13/2025 | 52m 40sVideo has Closed Captions
What does "home" mean to you? In CITY Magazine’s October issue, the theme is explored through stories of place, connection, and belonging. Editor Leah Stacy writes that home can be a feeling, a person, or even a longing for something beyond. This hour, the CITY team joins us to discuss the inspiration behind the issue and the many ways we define home.
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This is connections.
I'm Evan Dawson.
Our connection this hour is made at home and I'll ask what is home to you?
Is it just a place?
Is it a sentiment, a feeling?
Perhaps it's a person or an activity that's part of your identity.
In her October editor's letter, city magazine's Leah Stacy writes, editing this issue has solidified my belief that home is a state of mind, a state of being a person's arms around us.
A voice on the phone, even if it's miles away, a good meal around a table full of people we love.
A city where we find ourselves, and perhaps a longing for an even greater destination beyond this life.
Home is the theme of this month's issue for the magazine, and each story explores a different take on the idea, from physical places to feelings of connection and more.
And the city team is here this hour to discuss it.
Leah Stacy, editor, City Magazine.
Welcome back.
Thanks for having me.
Thanks for being here.
Next to Leah Stacey is Berto Roberto Lugares, who's multimedia reporter for city.
Hey.
Hello there.
Pleasure.
You're welcome.
Jake Walsh, art director for City magazine.
Hey, welcome to you.
Hi, Evan.
And Patrick Haskin, arts reporter for city.
Hey.
Hey.
Hey.
Hi, everybody.
I, you know, I have to say, that the editors letter here, you know, it wasn't gauzy.
It wasn't sort of puffy, but it but it made me feel something, you know, because because this is a region.
Just my personal opinion, having moved here in 2003, I think this is a region that's kind of hard on itself sometimes when you talk to people.
And yet when outsiders criticize Rochester, that's when people are like, hey, I was like, how dare you say that about Rochester?
Yeah.
You know, so it's this kind of mixed identity of how we feel about our home, the ideas here.
So why this particular theme for this particular month later, Stacey?
Oh, I think we've had this idea for a while.
October is our sort of like, big concept rotating issue.
We had the death issue and then we had the lower issue.
And this year we were like, let's do home.
But not like a bunch of interior designers kind of home, although no shade to them.
And there is definitely some great interior content in here.
When it comes to like your actual house.
But yeah, the concept of home in a larger way.
And I love what every writer and visual creator did with that concept in these pages.
It's just it's a beautiful issue.
I'm so proud of this one.
What's the first memory that comes to mind for you when you think about home from your childhood?
Oh, a cornfield.
A cornfield?
Yeah.
It didn't even mean it to be seasonal, but I grew up literally in a house.
My two different houses, like, kind of split my childhood, and they were both surrounded by fields.
And then the road.
So that's the first image in your mind?
Yeah.
Yeah.
And maybe it is a little bit this time of year bringing that one to mind first, but yeah, just a lot of like playing outside and being creative and using my imagination, being with my siblings.
Yeah.
Who there's been.
Yeah.
I had, like, a heavy sense of family when I was writing this editor's letter to, my youngest sibling just got married and, two of my other siblings both had children in the last two months.
So just thinking a lot about, you know, like, family and home and home, not necessarily being a place, although for many of us that is rooted there.
Right?
Yeah.
No, it's interesting because, in hearing your response to I'm thinking of the image of home that comes to mind for me, but also the idea in my mind is not just the place.
So for me, it's a summer day.
My mother, who's 80 now and had plenty of health issues that are not skin related, would tan from tended to outside all summer.
She was a teacher, so during the summer she would just lay on the patio and she'd be like, I'm I. She would crank up soap operas so loud and she would listen to soap operas.
She's the only person I ever met who consumed, like the original podcast, Guiding Light or whatever.
What were the soap operas at the time?
General hospital sounds right.
Oh, days of our lives.
Oh my children, all my children.
As.
Oh, as the world turns.
Now we're getting them.
I think she had all of them and it would just blast it.
I love this woman.
She was open to an open window, so cool.
The TV was an insight.
You'd blast it and she'd be laying out and she'd be like, from 10 to 2.
Don't bother me.
And this is like small town Ohio.
Yeah.
You know, suburban, but suburban.
But it's interesting as the suburb now that I grew up in, it looks like Pittsford.
But at the time they're like three streets and a lot of cornfields.
So I was at the like on one of the street.
Some of that just ended in a lot of these farms.
Yeah.
Now it's all developed.
And so what I would do with this this time is like I would just go some, I would go in the creek and we would catch crayfish.
The neighbor's kids were so creative.
We invented all these ridiculous games.
I could probably still play if I went back to.
Yeah.
So it's an image of a thing like the patio and my mom and the loud soap opera, but also, like, the day is ours like, and it just stretches out before you unwritten.
Great sentence.
Yeah.
So, so that's the idea of home here.
What about you, Berta?
What's what home.
What comes to mind for you?
For me, the freshest memory I have is because we've just uncovered a bunch of old VHS tapes at home, and it's, me, my brother, sister and my cousin hanging out every summer and fall in at my grandma's house in Hilton, and it's, we just saw a clip the other day of, like, me and my older brother, playing football in the front yard in the middle of the leaves.
It's just the two of us we didn't have.
Like, there wasn't really any neighborhood kids because it's out in the middle of nowhere and Hilton, and.
Yeah, we're just like, he's throwing me the ball like it's a kick off and I have to go run!
Throw him.
He's my.
Yeah.
He's like four years older than me.
And he is, you know, at the time, I remember him being very rough.
The video shows very differently.
He was holding back a. Oh, really?
Oh, yeah.
I was like, oh, you're too.
I'm so much smarter than you.
Stop being so mean.
And like the video, he's like barely hanging on to me.
He's been quite gentle.
Oh, yes.
Very lovely.
Yeah.
No, my my older brother was seven and a half years older and I have a twin brother.
He would make us ride our bicycles in circles in the garage as fast as we could.
And the game was called knockout.
He would take a soccer ball that he could palm, and he would throw it as hard as he could at the tires of our bicycles, trying to wipe us out.
Oh, no.
And this lasted until one time when my twin brother took the ball in the back of his back tire and the bike went flying out from under him, and he landed with his head down on the cement.
So that was the end of knockout.
That's another version of him.
So my brother was not as gentle as a man.
Yeah, brutal.
What's the statute of limitations on assault like that for something like him, anyway?
He's in another state, Jake Walsh, and I am the image of Hope.
Well, very different, I would say, I'm I'm an only child, so a lot of my memories of growing up are hanging out with mom and dad.
Honestly, watching PBS, watching Sky for real.
Not not a plug.
Just very true.
And I've, I've kind of been thinking a little bit about what I was going to say, because it always comes around you.
You always get asked the question.
So I'll try to make it brief, but I'm getting married next year.
And I it is been very, very wonderful watching my fiancé kind of adopt my parents and vice versa.
We've been hanging out, the four of us, and it's very, very special.
So if I have to think of what feels like home currently, it's it's that it's like riding in the car with my fiance and my mom and dad and, but the memories, it's it's a lot of it's a lot of mom and dad stuff.
And I'm hanging out with mom and dad still.
Peyton, Tina, shout out to them.
They're probably listening.
I love that that was home.
And it's still home.
It's different.
It's very it's it's strange going through this life, is it not?
Yes.
It's nice to be straight and I think that's really lovely though.
I mean very nice.
No, it's really nice.
What about you, Patrick?
Well, interestingly.
So my wife and I were talking about this recently.
So I grew up here, moved away, lived in New York City and then moved back in 2020.
And so I feel like when I did that, I was able to get a lot more.
And I think like the fact that I did do that at all meant that I sort of had to reevaluate.
Is that cool?
Should we do that or is that where we should go?
We could theoretically go anywhere.
But I said, I'd like to go to Rochester.
And my wife, is from Florida.
And so I was kind of I just pitched it like, why don't we check it out?
If you like it, we'll stay.
And we here we are.
But when we first moved back here, I was like, driving around, you know, showing her I was like, man, that is that is the hot place that we used to go all the time.
Isn't that awesome?
And she's like, cool.
Looks like a building.
Also, I'm a vegetarian, so it's all it's all very subjective, which I it was that was honestly a really good lesson to be like, oh yeah, this place that I have so many memories and like, it actually does have personal significance.
It doesn't to you.
So I guess we should create our own then.
So I don't just keep trying to argue.
I would argue that if someone loves you and I'm sure your wife loves you.
Presumably she does that.
You know, she should want to know why something is important to you, but you can't expect her to have the same sentiment.
Exactly.
So she appreciated seeing it.
And then I think I was like, yeah, I remember I have I showed you this.
And she was like, you definitely already showed me that.
I don't need to see it again.
But I love that you have it.
I love the I love that phrase, you know, feeling.
Yeah.
Like, yeah, I mean, that's impossible for others to have the same feeling about something.
It's just, you know, it's unique to yourself.
And so the idea of home is so many different things.
You know, nobody here just said, like, it's this is what my bedroom look like.
Like it home was a feeling, a sense of experiences.
We're going to kick Jake out earlier here because we got other colleagues coming in.
So what else from this issue, pops, that you want people to know about?
Because there's a lot of different layers that we're going to be talking about.
I love the idea that Patrick's talking to expat tours elsewhere and like, what is home in Rochester mean to them now?
And Berto does this cool sound.
An old house I didn't know existed.
And I mean, I know, no, it's cool.
I know I'm covered.
Oh my god.
Yeah.
No, we thought of endorsing something nice.
Yeah, we're going to talk sanctuary.
We can actually stop now.
Yep.
Yeah.
We're done.
We did it.
I learned stuff all the time.
Now I have a question there.
Yeah.
Am I coming back or am I gonzo?
If I'm coming back, I will save it for later.
If I'm not, I brought visual aids that I will show quickly.
You can come back.
Okay.
All right.
You can save it for the show.
Now.
Check out the cover and then we'll talk about it later, perhaps.
Right.
All right, let's close the hour with this cover because it's beautiful.
Oh.
Thank you.
Okay, I love that.
I do see if I stick around.
And if you're watching on YouTube.
Big building folks.
There we go.
There we go.
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Like, so we're talking about home.
The issue is out now.
And before we bring in Gino, let's let's talk about this house.
Berta, can we talk about this?
Yeah.
So, Leah, why were you surprised that I didn't know about.
What's this house called again?
The stone toll in stone toll house.
That's right.
I'm gonna put this up here.
I guess I maybe assumed that you would have gone to one of the good luck dinners that's happened there.
That.
That seems very on brand for you.
And this is not that far from the east half Wegmans?
No.
For physical location.
Yeah.
Very close.
So, but how did I end up on city's radar here for this issue?
I mean, it's been on my radar when we were talking about, you know, good options for a photo essay.
The photo essays are actually tough.
Like, we have a discussion around these every time because there's so many options.
But then there's not because the visual component is really like, yeah, it's it's tough.
Like you need something, you can move around and do different angles and also like have a conversation.
And I'm happy to hear actually that you didn't know because I think a lot of people don't know the story of this house.
I think people drive by it and they're like, oh, look at that old orchard in that old house.
Yeah.
And they just have no idea.
Like maybe someone lives there.
Maybe they don't.
They don't know.
It's the oldest building in Monroe County.
They don't know the history of people coming through here on the trade routes, you know, early on and staying in a little in, in pub.
So.
Yeah.
Yeah.
And had you ever been there.
No.
That was, that was my first time all of these were captured the first time ever being there.
So yeah, there's so many lovely images that literally look like a time capsule.
Yes.
And but, this is the piece where I think Larry answer told you that these home museums aren't really doing well.
Yeah, right.
Yeah.
Mr.. Larry French with Landmark Society.
They're concerned that a lot of these landmarks in all communities across the country.
Yeah, sometimes you'll pass by, there will be this plaque.
And I always like to stop and read the plaques like, oh, this house used to be this or, and there's, it's, there's a story in every one of those, but people are going to them less and the people are showing less interest.
So, I'm just glad to breathe a little life into the story.
What stood out for you going into this one, Berto?
So for me, I so I currently live out in, like, Rye, Churchville area and being there on the grounds, interviewing Larry, and just walking around, you forget very quickly, like where you are, like, for a moment, I was like, this could be this could be out there, like out in a very rural area.
If not for like a little bit of the traffic noise on the other side of the big wall.
But other than that, like, it is crazy how like, I don't know just how transportive it was, how it felt, and the fact that it's, it is open to the public and they want more people to know about it.
And their dedication to preserving it and keeping it this historical educational opportunity, but then also wanting to explore, like the options of the property itself.
Because, as you'll read, there is, you know, some back and forth on like, you know, what do we do with this?
And they are dedicated to their mission and they very easily could, you know, just bend and say, hey, there's plenty of people willing to pay a lot of money for a piece of property on East Ave, right?
So, the fact that they don't want to do that, is pretty awesome.
And just being able to, you know, be in this very special place.
It is they're very, focused on the accuracy of it all.
It was just really cool to be there.
And I'm excited to see what comes next because as you'll read, something has to happen.
Well, you.
Right.
And the landmarks are you told Berto for this piece that not only have they turned down offers, they their intention is to continue to say no.
This the stone stone house goes back to 1792.
I love the picture of the quill pen sitting there in, you know, the natural light on the table and the spectacles there.
And, you know, there's something like really kind of hauntingly beautiful and old timey about this.
So if you're watching on YouTube, there's the image right there.
I love, love that image right there.
That's the one that looks like what year are we what what century we have.
Yeah.
And so this was a home, as Berto writes of Oregon, Elizabeth Stone, but also the the tavern is the oldest portion of the site, and it was the town's watering hole.
Yeah.
What a cool place.
Yes.
So really neat.
What do you, what do you think happens next here?
I mean, like, do you really stand in that place and feel like we're going to appreciate this enough that it's going to stay?
I think it needs to be a hybrid approach, which, if I were to guess, you know, they didn't comment on this.
But if I were to guess that it seems to be where they're going to head, which is maintain the educational opportunity and then utilize the space for community and bring, you know, just different events and things like that.
Like on the on the grounds, you know, they talk about how if we're doing this, work and trying to preserve things, and we're doing this all for the public, what good is it if the public doesn't know and doesn't benefit?
So I'm excited to see that.
I think that is the approach that I mean, if I were to go about it, that's what I would do.
To have this kind of dual purpose.
Yes.
Maintain the house, keep it how it is, have this educational opportunity, but then enjoy the grounds as it is, because I think we are losing spaces where people can gather and and do things and not feel like they have to pay to be there.
I think it's, I think it's really important for communities to understand that this is even here.
I think this piece will alert a lot of people, me included, that it exists.
I'd like to go see it.
Like to take my son.
I'm a nerd about, like, how people used to live.
I just love those kind of questions, you know, like when I see period pieces or series or streaming series.
I love to.
I'm always like, oh, that's interesting that John Wilkes Booth got out and and rode, but like, how did he go to the bathroom?
Like what was going on?
Like, where was he sleeping?
What were the beds made of?
Yes.
I mean, like, I have weird questions like that, but I'm always wondering and maybe it goes back to that Louis C.K.
bit and everything's amazing now.
Nobody's happy.
And I kind of feel like that's true.
So I just thought, this piece is really cool.
Berto, you did a great job at this.
Like, a lot of fun.
Thank you.
Stone Tolan house.
Check it out.
It's on East Avenue.
Monroe County's most historic property.
And something I didn't even know was there.
So, was part of the issue in city Magazine this month with this the theme of home.
And, we're going to now we're going to invite Gina Fanelli to come on in here, and Jake will vacate and come back in and talk about cover art for the.
I was gonna say the issue is over.
The issues never over the hour is going to be over at some point, but the issue goes on.
Hey, Gina Fanelli.
So Gina's popping in because Gina has a piece, I it's a very different.
I mean, a different, very kind of newsy kind of focus here.
It's called a place of refuge and the subject of Gina's pieces, alerting people what it means to be a sanctuary city at this time.
I would pretty timely.
Yeah.
Pretty timely.
Pretty timely.
Do you want to do a quick definition?
Because I think people have heard what it means to be a sanctuary city and what that means in terms of like, what are your police allowed to do?
What are they not supposed to do?
Like what?
What actually, that means.
So yeah.
So I've written a lot about, sanctuary city policy.
It's how it's affected, you know, the city administration's approach to how police interact with, Ice and CBP operating in the city.
And, there's gets a slew of stories to go back through about all the intricacies of it.
But really, the basic thing is a sanctuary city in a sanctuary jurisdiction directs its police department and other resources to not aid in federal immigration enforcement.
It doesn't mean that federal immigration enforcement can't act here.
It doesn't mean that it's illegal for Ice to, arrest people here.
It none of that's true.
What is true is that the police department, the fire department, the city hall, whatever it may be.
Is not supposed to help them, solely for the purpose of immigration enforcement, for police themselves.
They're allowed to respond to scenes, in the interest of public safety, like they're supposed to protect us and stop anything bad from happening, but they're not allowed to go there.
And if ice cars like what happened in March and saying, hey, these guys are giving us a hard time, can you get them out in handcuffs for us?
They're not supposed to do that.
Even though they they did do that.
And that started a whole thing here.
So what happens if there's a couple of roofers that have drawn the interest of ice?
Sorry.
Give me one more time.
What happens if there's a couple of roofers who have drawn the interest of ice in the sanctuary city?
We saw what happened there a few weeks ago.
Yeah, if enough people show up, to tell them to leave, eventually they'll leave.
Apparently.
Apparently so.
But.
But here's where I think the national debate comes in.
You know, as you point out in your piece and you make clear today, it it does not contrary to what some people think, it does not mean that your city builds its walls and keeps ice out, keeps federal agents out, blocks federal agents actively from doing the work.
There's a difference between blocking the work and not participating in the work, but I think some people see that as a distinction without a difference, that if you're law enforcement and federal agent show up and they need assistance, you should be assisting them.
And if you simply give them the cold shoulder, that is the same thing as being sort of anti cooperative.
What do you think?
Well, I think it comes down to a constitutional argument and how you interpret it.
Yeah.
The 10th amendment of the Constitution says that all federal ivory law that is not specifically designated to the federal government falls within the state.
So essentially, federal immigration enforcement, they are the ones responsible for immigration enforcement, not the states.
Not the cities, not the counties that kind of where the whole sanctuary city, argument lives that like, hey, it's not our responsibility to be upholding federal law that is solely a federal responsibility.
So we're not going to do it.
Like, that's really what it comes down to.
Could a city help?
Could it?
Could counties help if they choose to?
Yeah, they're doing it all over the country.
But that legal argument indicates your not yours.
The general your someone who holds this view thinks that participating with Ice is a courtesy.
It is not a requirement.
Exactly right.
Yeah.
It is something that is voluntary.
Right.
And this is goes back to a whole states rights argument that you can, get into.
But I think a good parallel that you can draw not exactly the same, but is legal marijuana and, and legal state, which is still federally illegal.
Could the federal government come in and crack down and raid, dispensaries?
Yeah, of course they did that in Colorado in 2014 when they first started legalizing.
But there has become an understanding that states have autonomy to set their own lives and to enforce them in their own ways, even if they run counter to federal law in some cases.
This is kind of the opposite end of the spectrum there.
Like, this is, you know, states choosing not to enforce a federal law.
And, oh, but guess not for that very similar end.
But, yeah, that's really what it comes down to.
Now, the counter argument that the Trump administration has made is that it's, the Supremacy Clause, that the federal government is the supreme law of the land.
I wildly ironic coming from a party that has always talked about states rights, but that's that's a whole other issue.
So that's kind of the the argument here is the 10th Amendment meant so that states have the autonomy not to enforce solely federal obligations if that is their so choosing, or is the supreme law of the land being the federal government and the United States Constitution mean that you are beholden to enforce every, federal law on every federal whim, at the state, local and county level.
I know you're snarky, but you're actually making a really important point.
It's a very important point.
And the way that we talk about states rights usually comes down to what issue matters to you.
And if the federal law irks you, you want states rights.
And if that's what the states are doing, irks you, you want federal supremacy.
It's, I don't think we are consistent enough with our principles.
Do you know, it's called being a hypocrite and there's no other term for it.
You know, like, if you if you don't like a judge's ruling, that is an activist judge.
And if you do like a judge's ruling, that judge is just a strict originalist.
That's right.
You're all for law and order until someone you like gets arrested.
Well, I mean, I just want to urge people to be consistent with their principles, even if your own team is on the opposite side of that.
And that's tough.
But what you're describing is true, that this was supposed to be a lot of laboratories of democracy, and that would be messy, and states would have legal marijuana, some places not here, different reproductive rights here, but not there.
And then, you know, the federal umbrella certainly will supersede in some ways, I think it probably supersedes more than some of the original Founding Fathers intended.
But then again, I have learned never to speak for the founders.
So yeah, that's a good rule of thumb, right?
I would say don't get no no land war in Asia.
Don't try to speak for the Founding Fathers.
Yes.
And hey, I mean, what's the what's the last one from the Princess Bride line?
Never going against, boy when death is on the line.
Come on, come on.
Patrick, it's been so long since I've seen a movie.
You Princess bride, I haven't.
I think I was, like, in eighth grade when I saw The Princess Bride.
So my memory of the direct quotes from the film.
Yeah.
Which is what I came in here to talk about.
Yeah, I it's a Sicilian.
Never going against a Sicilian when death is on the line.
Thank you.
Yeah.
You know, last thing though is you mentioned that the pressure from the Trump administration and different cities are responding in different ways because they're worried about losing funding.
They understand this administration will absolutely try to cut funding to states, municipalities, if they run afoul of what their preferences are.
So far, Rochester seems to be pretty firmly standing in favor of being a sanctuary city.
Despite the pressure.
I'd say we're doubling down.
Doubling down?
Yeah.
So we, back in, I think maybe late March, early April when it was filed.
But, the Trump administration is suing, Mayor Malik Evans and Council President Miguel Melendez over the sanctuary policy, stemming from that March traffic stop that I talked about earlier.
And, there was originally a proposal for a revamped sanctuary bill, including a lot of LGBTQ protections and, some, actual guidelines for discipline for people that violate the sanctuary policy.
That went through a revision process.
The original version was kind of wildly illegal.
But the new version, which passed in July, is just reaffirming the policy that we had in 1986 and making it more solid that like, there will be consequences for the people, violate it if city employees choose to ignore this based on at this point, to be frank, it's usually political belief.
It would be the reason that they would violate the policy because, they believe what is happening is good.
And yeah, there's guidelines for discipline up to termination now.
So that was the administration being sued by the federal government, the, you know, president specifically going after Rochester, over these policies and saying, hey, we're going to make them even stronger.
As a response to it, which is, something to watch.
I mean, it's interesting.
No, that's something I'm sure we'll see more reporting on as it develops.
Thanks for being here.
Never going against, you know, finale when death is on the line.
Yeah, yeah.
Is that the updated version?
That's the updated version?
Yeah.
I just tried to business card know.
Thank you.
You know.
Yeah.
There's a new Haitian restaurant.
They just opened on State Street, so I'm going to go over there now.
I didn't know where you're going with that.
That's where you're going.
That's it.
I'm doing a plug for the news Asian restaurant stage three, because I want it to stay open.
Oh, there you go.
Bye, Gino.
Thank you very much.
We're talking about the home issue of City Magazine.
Gino finale's piece in there is on Sanctuary Cities.
A lot of different stuff that we're covering in the issue this hour.
Let's take our only break.
The arrow will welcome back our colleague.
Well, Jake will come back for the hour's up.
We're going to talk to Veronica Volk about her story.
From corn mazes to kangaroos.
We're going to talk to Patrick Hosking about talking to Roger Rochester expats about what home means to them, talking about home on connections.
I'm having Dawson Monday on the next connections.
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Welcome back to connections.
Listen to this note from Jess who wrote to the program to say, Hi Evan.
In my mind, I have physical images of home from the houses I grew up in to the house that I currently live in, but my fiercest image of home is my mother, Joan, who died seven months ago.
I'm crying in my office knowing that I can never go home again because she is gone.
Oh, wow.
Sorry.
Yeah.
Jess, first of all, we are all sorry for your loss.
And thank you for sharing that.
And I would just say, you know, your loss is really fresh, and I, everybody responds differently to that.
But it may be over time that that image of home of your mother that will always be home to you.
But you might eventually find comfort in that, that that memory that you have with her in so many ways, in so many ways.
I think about, you know, my family, which has changed a lot, but there's a lot of comfort even in those I've lost.
And that does feel like home.
So thanks for sharing that.
But that's that drives home the point that the editor of city was making.
Leah Stacy's point is it's not just a physical place.
It's often an experience, a set of memories, a connection, often family related, but not always.
And that's true for Jess.
Yeah, very often tied to people.
People?
Yeah.
Jess, thank you for that.
We're going to, a lot of people going out to the farm markets in our area.
And Veronica Volk story takes us to a couple of different places.
I was really, really keen on hearing how some of them have developed over time.
I didn't realize that the pandemic was a pretty a pretty big spur for even more of the growth, what farm markets are doing and the stories called from corn mazes to kangaroos.
So fun for you.
Hopefully you maybe fun for your for your family as well.
Here.
Yeah.
No.
You know, making memories, talking about home.
I mean, that just resonates with me so much because, like, I'm a mom now, so it's like trying to be responsible for making that childhood and creating that home.
But yeah, so this is like a story that I started pursuing because if you, like me, have a small child in your life, in the fall, you might be drawn to, like, these farms where they have pumpkins and hay rides, but also, I guess, kangaroos.
I know that's when I was like, what?
Like why?
I think EMUs.
EMUs, porcupines.
So it's about agritourism.
So agritourism is this concept where you turn your farm into a business, where you invite people to come and spend time there to be educated, but also hopefully buy stuff on the way out?
Like wineries do this, you pick berries, do this.
But then this picture from Natasha Kiser too.
And as we talk, if you're joining us on YouTube, you're going to see some of the images.
Go ahead.
Yeah.
No.
So, across the state there's been like this explosion of agritourism.
And one of the places I went to, if you're watching on YouTube, you can see Welcome Farms right now, but I also went to Skokie Farms in Scottsville.
And I think we might have a video of that.
We have a video of Suzanne Stokes.
She runs there Harvest Fest, and is also the owner of a Roux ranch.
And she a Roux ranch.
She invited us out there and we got to meet her baby wallaby, Arlo, this is two days out of his mom's pouch into our pouch.
So he is just getting adjusted.
It's so sweet.
Yeah, I mean, that was a great trip.
I am melting, I know, so cute.
So the farm is full of little baby animals, and it really speaks to this idea of like, drawing people in using farm adjacent attractions.
According to USDA data, let's just like, talk about the numbers really quick.
So you were talking about the pandemic being a Petsch point for people.
What I was drawn to was that in the last, not the last ten years, but from 2012 to 2022, there was like an explosion of agritourism, 78% increase in growth.
When you look at like how farms make money otherwise either like sales direct or sales to distributors, it's still like a small part of the market share.
But it was just that growth that was really interesting to me.
And also, of course, like to tie it all back to this like city home idea.
Right?
You have Suzanne Stocky, who was who we saw on that video.
And we also went out to Wickham Farms in Webster.
And you look at people like Dale and Suzanne.
Suzanne Stocky is a seventh generation farmer, and she's turned her family's home into a place where she invites people in.
And, Dale Wickham actually had this great quote when I talked to him where he talked about how he wants Wickham Farms to be everyone's farm and like, that's sweet and cozy.
And then you go there on a Saturday and it is just brimming with people and kids.
Yeah.
I think we have more photos from Kaiser.
The zip lines are awesome.
The obstacle courses are awesome.
I mean, like, it's it's a little bit past the pumpkins and hay rides, but it's still like a really cool time.
Well, what was cool for me seeing your story on this is I was at Wickham a lot when my older son was little.
Little, and I've been back in a little while, so like the zip line, the some of that stuff's new.
It's a whole new world.
It was the big bounce pillow.
He was three years old.
He was going, the big boys are going to bounce me over.
He would always say, the big boys are going to bounce me over.
And I'm like, they're not going to bounce you over.
I'll say that's a very cute way of describing it, but it's going to be they have two pillows now.
They have two pillows my age.
So the big boys will no longer bounce now versus Bruno's brother would be holding back with restraint.
My brother would be absolutely just a night kid.
But I also think the one of the things, if my older son was here, he would probably say that home in the fall feels a little bit like the corn maze there.
So at the corn maze, when he was just learning his colors, you can do the maze on your own, or you can use the little, the little cues that they give you with the ribbons tied.
And sorry if I'm given this way, and if this is still the the key here, but it was blue above red, so he would go blue above red, and we kind of go for it with them.
Yeah.
They totally change that.
All right.
Phil's trivia now.
Oh yeah.
So you got to answer both trivia questions to find your way through the maze okay.
So I'm never getting out.
Yeah, I was literally taking this.
I was like, that's my nightmare toast.
If I said to my 13 year old right now, blue above red, what am I talking about?
He'd be like, oh, I'm back in that corn maze.
Yeah.
And that probably feels like home.
I think people in like Rochester in the Finger Lakes have a really special relationship to, like the farm community.
You hear like from a some people live there, but also from a tourism standpoint, at least from like living in the city of being able to like, go out and, you know, pick up a corn stalk and pick a pumpkin and like knowing that those those farms are nearby, I think is like, nice.
I don't know, it's just, I'm cozy, you know, Leah, you brought up cornfields in your vision of home.
Is this just, do you view like those of us who didn't grow up on a farm is like, are we just cosplaying outdoors in this year, or is this, it's probably how people in New York City feel who, like, live there when we go there and we're like, Times Square.
I don't know, I mean, we yeah, we went to we we did the agritourism stuff.
We got apple cider donuts and corn mazes and got stuck and had to be rescued out of them sometimes.
Yeah, like apples and then pies and things.
Yeah.
Nice.
Did you just quit the National?
No.
Oh I wish you did that.
The timely reference.
Yeah.
Okay.
It's great stuff.
Nice visuals from Natasha.
Thanks for the work there.
And we've got, we got one more kangaroo video.
Oh.
It's just it's just B-roll.
So again, watch.
I use YouTube, or you should like and subscribe there.
Oh my gosh, look at those guys.
So yeah.
So what you're seeing there is a few of the, the farms kangaroos, for those of us who aren't watching and just listening, a few of the farms, kangaroos and one of their Joey kangaroos.
So they have, like, little babies up there too.
And I just want to say, this is not like a rescue.
They are just that Suzanne is very into, like, exotic animals.
She's always loved animals, and so she just wanted to make that sort of part of their niche.
That's part of it too, right?
As more and more farms get into this entertainment industry, you got to find something that sets you apart.
What, are you going to go out to Scottsville for?
Where do the kangaroos go in winter?
I'm gonna say.
Aren't they cold?
Yeah, just living.
So did everyone here in Austin.
Fact, they have all winter in Australia.
Okay, it's the opposite of our winter.
Yeah, but, yeah, it does get cold in Australia, so they're actually, well, acclimated.
Okay.
Climate.
So you look at that.
That's a good look at you and your stereotypes Patrick.
I guess he's just like I was wondering the same thing.
That's fair.
Great piece.
Thank you.
Thank you Sharon.
Yeah.
And thanks.
Thanks to city for allowing me to tell this story.
I think it was really fun.
We love to have you, Veronica Volk, popping in to talk about her piece in City's Home Edition.
It's the October issue that is out now.
Veronica is going to take off and we're going to bring Jake back, because I do want to talk about this beautiful cover.
And before we get to that, though, Patrick Hosking, can you take us through a little bit of this idea of talking to notable Rochester Koreans with some, as you say, strong roots?
That's the name of the piece there.
Yes.
So Lee and I talked about this, last month when we were planning this, but, there's I was like, okay, we're magazine, right?
Let's do something.
I think this is basically how I pitched it.
I was like, we're a magazine, right?
We should do something kind of magazine.
So, I guess even more so than what we already do.
So, the idea I had was really, you know, and again, I think this goes back to the kind of the recurring conversation throughout this, this discussion that we're having about home as a, a feeling or as much as it is a physical place and kind of what the, the emotional resonance of that is.
So I wanted to reach out to as many folks who are from here or grew up here, or kind of, in some cases, just claim this as their hometown.
And just ask them sort of open ended questions about home, what it means to them, how it's changed, especially since they, pretty much all these people, I think, all no longer live here or no longer live here like full time.
And I thought it'd be interesting to get folks who are, you know, notable in their field.
So we have, you know, actors and musicians.
We have a former deputy administrator of NASA.
And I figured, you know, in doing that, it's it's fun to get, you know, sort of notable people in city, but it's also fun to hear, people's different perspectives.
And so, yeah, I was actually really heartened by, you know, asking people like Chris Perfetti from I was at Jimmy Women's Show, Abbott Elementary at Abbott Elementary.
Jacob, an alum, Abbott Elementary is from Rochester.
He's grew up in Webster.
Yeah, I had I until your piece.
I had no idea why.
We need to get Chris Perfetti on it.
We need to get Chris Pratt.
Funny on connections.
That's a great one.
Wouldn't that be a really good one?
That shows us.
Why are you giving me that look, just so everyone knows, Evan is talking to the producers desk and not.
Okay, so Megan Mack already knew this and has already.
And that was the best.
I'm always the last to know.
I'm always the last to know.
So I think it's a great producer.
Yeah.
But, you know, she's looking at me like we've already had this conversation.
Is that.
Is that more it?
Okay, I knew it, but, Chris, you know, Chris Perfetti, John Gerardo who is just, he just had a great conversation with Hannah, mayor of the route.
And I think it was on Sky news as well, as Chaka Khan's touring guitar player.
There's just there's, you know, a number of people here in a number of disciplines who, when I kind of reached out to, their management or their press people, I was actually very heartened by the response, which was pretty enthusiastic.
And, yeah, people talking about, you know, there's, you know, there's in some cases, like Chris, I don't think has lived here since he was like 18.
And he's been in New York City in LA.
And then there's some folks who, you know, kind of come back more regularly, but, you know, everybody, I think it access, something, I think it access more that feeling that we've been talking about more than just, you know, talking about home or, you know, a family came up, as you can kind of read in the responses, but family Wegmans came up, you know, there's there's lot of these, like, signifiers for home.
But then I really also liked what Vijay Iyer said.
Figures, a composer and classical musician.
And, more than just classical.
But yeah, it's kind of where he's grounded.
But, you know, he kind of went really wide with it and said, you know, he was in Fairport Public Schools kind of starting his musical journey.
He gets a lot from the Buddhist teaching of coming home to yourself.
So he went really sort of wide and kind of metaphysical with it, which I really loved, because I think that that has just as much of a place in this issue as more sort of, as I was talking about those more common signifiers of, of Rochester or Finger Lakes.
So, yeah, I was really heartened by the, the level of love that that came through in a lot of these responses.
I'm just thrilled that they all wanted to do it.
I'm really glad they did.
And you've got the Vijay Iyer that you just mentioned, that very kind of, amorphous sense of home.
Is family appreciating his roots here in Fairport and Rochester?
But seeing home in a lot of places.
And then you have the very literal Jake Morris.
Can I read?
But Jake's there because I think I'm like, am I reading this correctly?
He says, I brought my wife to Rochester for the first time last year, and we had to go to the House of guitars and get a garbage plate.
The latter didn't work out so well, but it got us to Wegmans real fast, so we got to check that off the list too.
I'm like that.
He sent you something about bowel distress.
I think you did.
And to be fair, it was, when I emailed him directly, he said, hey, I'm actually doing a lot of home rental right now, so I'm just going to kind of bang this off real quick.
Which I also love, because I honestly think there's something to be said about not fussing over it too much.
So there you go.
There you go.
One of the great drummers out there, there's drummers for you.
Drummers named Jake.
Get it done.
Hey, drew, another drummer named Jake.
Now great stuff.
Really fun there, was there I you allowed to say this?
Was there anybody who didn't respond?
That is going to be on the next list.
That's.
Yeah, there were some.
Kristen Wiig will never respond.
I hate to say that now I'm in trouble.
If she ever hears me say that.
Kristen Wiig is great.
Are you kidding?
I'm a huge fan.
I'm an enormous fan of Kristen Wiig.
I've never met her, never talk to her.
She has roots and I think Brighton and Canandaigua, but I don't I don't have any sense that she does a lot back in the community.
I hope she does.
And if I'm wrong, she's going to make me look really foolish and come on the show and stick it to us.
When she's on the show soon, she's going to be like, yeah, that would be all those things.
Yeah, yeah, I don't know.
But yeah, there's there's some folks that we made a really long list and we only got, you know, these names.
So hopefully we can get some in the future.
I mean, these nine are great.
It's a great start.
It's a great concept.
I do love there is so much affection for Rochester in these responses.
So definitely that was really cool.
You probably saw the same thing as the editor is coming in.
Isn't it nice to see what people are saying about our city?
Yeah, I also, as a food and drink person, I that's another thing that really like rounds people to a place.
And I think almost every single one mentioned or at least half.
Yeah.
We'll go half.
That's, that's a little bit more realistic.
But just the, the mentioning whether it's Wegmans or Sollers or Ruby Nose and it's just, it's it's great.
Yeah.
And you mentioned in your editor's note sometimes it's being around the table, you know, with people you love and that's why I think I'm not surprised to see the responses about the food places.
It's the third place.
It's third places are home.
Right?
Your third place can feel like your favorite coffee shop.
That is, every time you walk in, you feel a little sense of comfort.
That is very much home, I think.
Yeah.
And we're lucky to have a number of this place.
So your favorite restaurant, you're, you know the place.
Do you get a cocktail that you can just relax for a bit when you feel like you can't slow down?
That's home.
And Rochester has such great examples of that.
So really, really cool.
Really cool piece that was like fun.
That was cool.
Did you do anything else in this issue?
I did, I wrote a piece about, soundtrack.
Yeah, which we won't cover because we just had.
But apart from that, you know, it just was hanging out.
I also had my appendix removed.
Thanks a lot for it.
I actually didn't even know that.
Did you?
No, no.
Are you doing okay?
I'm doing great.
Yeah, but I missed a little bit of work because I was in the hospital.
Okay?
I yanked it out of there for him, and I got it.
And by the way, I think I've reached the limit of how often I can use that because it's very outpatient.
And so I think this will be the the closing of the door on using that anymore.
Yeah.
You're right.
Like if you say something, I'm sorry, but I had my appendix out like, whoa.
And you're like in April.
Yeah.
Then they're like well.
Yeah.
Yeah.
There is a statute of limitations on the appendix came out.
Therefore it's been a lot of fun talking to the team from city about the home issue.
It's out now.
The cover is beautiful and I will once again show the YouTube audience this beautiful cover, kind of this haunting, gorgeous image here.
And Jake, tell us about this.
Oh, sure.
Well, thank you.
By the way, I didn't mean to sort of build up my re entrance onto the show by blocking my face.
I'm not doing this very well, but the team downstairs is like, what are you doing?
There we go.
Go ahead.
You, So for this one, as I do with a lot of these covers, I kind of looked back to things that kind of already exist in the space, and I'm deeply, deeply influenced in all corners of of doing graphic design stuff and art direction by, old magazines.
And I, I went back sort of into some archives, and I don't know if I have really much of a, a read on where the cameras are, but I did bring some visual aids.
I should maybe put it over here.
What do we got here?
Is this working?
Is this reading to the camera?
Here you go.
There we go.
And you talk about give to me, because here we go.
Here I'll have you shuffle.
And if you're not watching on YouTube, this is still going to be compelling because Jake's going to tell you about the I'm really gonna I'm really going to I'm going to sell and compel.
As Evan told me off mic.
Just kidding.
I never use that phrase.
So a lot of these, that there's only four of them, but most of them are from the mid 1900s, 1934, I think, is the year that I had randomly clicked on when I was looking through all of these.
But here's one that I really love that I drew a lot of inspiration from for this cover, both in the imagery.
And then also sort of the format.
So this is, hey, this is house and garden.
Describe the image here.
House and garden.
So house and garden a, a Condé Nast publication, which is interesting to see as a subhead, but basically what you're seeing is strong typography up top that does not, obfuscate the image below.
And then and it's really all four of these images that Evan is, Vanna wading through, which I really appreciate, feature two things, which is strong typography and, central image.
And that really is the whole secret to me, especially for magazine covers, but specifically for interior design and architecture magazines.
Since the 20s, they have looked like this.
And I think that there is something very if it isn't broke, don't fix it about this type of thing.
It's my favorite type of design.
It is high contrast.
It's big and it's bold, and you'll see a lot of that in city.
But yeah.
And also it really, really rests on the on the quality of the photo that Berto took of, of the stone Tolan house.
I love the geometry of this picture.
I love the dynamic range of it.
I had the color for this cover set before I chose the image.
And once we plugged in this image, after looking at the architecture, no pun intended, of the cover, it was like, oh yeah, here, here's the whole thing.
It's here.
Here's all here.
Here it is.
So yeah, you know, I, I love drawing inspiration from things that are, three times my age.
I really love looking back to things that are in, like, as old as the concept of home and interior design, and I love replicating it here.
I really love uncomplicated things that, that sort of express a message.
And I think that's what this that's what I was trying to do here anyway.
I think it's been for, for as someone who's not in your world, I think you described it really well, and it's really fun.
As much as we can have fun and laugh on this program is really fun to go inside the craft, because I know you put a lot of work into it, and it's really cool to see you kind of pull back the layers on that because, city is for all of its quality that we talk about in the big 30,000ft view, there's a lot of little details that the team puts in here.
Birdhouse image is great.
You know, going back to a theme here, Berto, I'm looking at this thinking what comes to mind for me is there's natural light only in this image of the old stone stone tone house.
Right.
That was on purpose.
Every single photo is natural light.
Natural light is all shot on film and the photo that you like could potentially be the first, published image of, a photo that was taken on a film stock that was launched, I think, within the last two years out of, the United Kingdom.
Cool stuff.
Yeah.
I just think when I see a natural light, only I think in different eras, you had to get used to the darkness.
I mean, hopefully you had enough candles, hopefully you had matches.
If you can't find your matches at night and you just going to I guess it's just dark now.
I mean it's, I know there are different ways of lighting, I get it.
But boy oh boy.
We, we take modern convenience for granted.
And Stone tone House is a really cool illustration of that.
So, that takes us back to just one aspect of this, this issue.
But we've tried to cover a lot of it.
Pick up the new edition of city, the Home Edition, the October edition, which is out now.
And I just want to thank the team.
This was, this was a lot of fun here.
Take us home.
Leah.
Stacy.
So, you know, we have that really lovely email from a listener who's thinking about losing her mom and thinking about what's changed.
Can you people ask, can you still go home?
I mean, in general, that people are going to answer that differently, but this home still feel like home to you?
Yeah.
I mean, I think that was the whole point of my editor's letter is that it changes what you view as home.
And sometimes you have to make a conscious choice there.
And, yeah, I mean, as I wrote in my letter, part of working here has redefined how I see home, how I see Rochester, how much I value it and appreciate it.
And the other part of that is my average family here.
And I again, it's like, how how do you define home and, and making that choice.
City magazine is the onion against cynicism.
If you want to go ahead and use that as like a new tagline.
But, for people who are down on our city, in our region, city is such a love letter in so many ways to all the great things happening.
And I just, kudos, everybody.
Great stuff.
Thank you everyone.
This was a fun way to end the week here.
Can I quickly shout out best of oh yeah.
Oh my gosh, I should have mentioned that this is important and the music's going to be playing here to city mag.com.
Go and vote for the Best of Rochester Awards through November 28th.
We are at the final round.
So our winners will be announced January 3rd and anthology.
And we have something really fun planned for that this year.
So you have through the end of November, November 28th.
And where are people voting?
Rock city mag.com rock city mag.com best of Rochester.
Go vote now.
Hey thanks everybody.
Thank you.
Cheers everyone.
And we can from the whole team at connections.
A lot of great people doing great work here.
I'm merely Ivan Dawson saying thank you for listening.
Thank you for watching.
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