17 photos but not 17,000 words but a gallant effort. 1. The tall fella looked familiar but Kulk didnt know where from. They didnt get to the names and faces and places till well into the paces of a chat with questions this morning. Steve and Evelyn bought a booze tap for their son Kyle the senior at San Diego State University. Education in paradise. Biology major. He takes after his mother, Dad deadpanned. He works in the Vermont Department of Health on Main Street. Mom is director of the quality program at the hospital. Mom and Dad spent a quality chunk of time in the gallery, most of it in front of the booze taps, bedazzled. She just couldnt get over how cool the granite and steel contraptions are. Kyle would be the only kid in the Diego with one of these, she said. He agreed with all of her oohs and ahhs. Kulk watched them and it was cute. Turns out they moved to Bennington from Hanover New Hampshire and here we go. I was the sports editor of a weekly paper in West Lebanon, the Connecticut Valley Spectator and-- and Evelyn cut in excitedly We remember the Spectator! Their son Kyle played sports in Hanover but after Kulk had left for Trenton. But theres a chance he photographed Hanovers middle school football team -- which Kyle wouldve been a part of back then -- because Kulk liked to spread the love to all levels of athletes, and he spent a few days photographing Hanovers middle school footballers, once at Hartford, another time at Lebanon. Bet your bottom dollar Kulk snapped Kyle Schlosser at some point because he was a big ol hoss of a pulling guard. If only Kulk had access to those photos, which may be impossible at this point almost 10 years later. I covered Hanovers back-to-back championship football teams, Kulk said and Evelyn cut in excitedly by saying Coach I! Indeed, Coach I, Mike Ivanoski, the mad dog, college linebacker, big fan of Jack Lambert (or maybe its Jack Ham), and one of the great personalities Kulk ever covered. Larger than life without being TOO much larger. Coach I. Hanover football in 2004 and 2005 was a sportswriters paradise. Save those memories for another day. Theres a thing called the Dartmouth Effect though no ones ever heard of the term because Kulk made it up. Theres a reason Hanover High athletes have won an insane number of New Hampshire state titles. Hanover High sits across the street from Dartmouth and the higher-education connection between them is so deep and integrated that it would take too much time to explain here, but rest assured Hanover High thrives more than most because of its interconnectedness to Dartmouth. Its a real thing. Of every school Kulk covered from California to New England, Hanover High is tops in terms of student-athlete. They win not just because of their natural athleticism but because you need to be smarter than the next kid and Hanover kids bring the mental every day. Doesnt mean youll win every game, or a majority of them, it just means that someone like Tim Winslow, who teaches at Lebanon High just down the road, can implement high-end game plans because he knows his basketballers have the aptitude to execute high-end ideas. Hanover kids think on their feet. Was a playoff baseball game circa 06 or 07 and senior Trevor Dodds awaited in the on-deck circle. He noticed infielders playing too deep and told Coach Mike Jackson he wanted to drop down a bunt, which he did, and reached, then came around to score. Hanover athletes did these little things all the time. Kulk left the Upper Valley in 07 so its hard to know if Hanover athletes continue to do those little things that win games. But Dartmouth hasnt changed addresses so we can assume they do. Kyle Schlosser played football growing up. His dad Steve coached him throughout the years. During Kyles sophomore year, Hanovers football program took part in Dartmouths study of helmets vis-a-vis brain injuries, its because of that study that doctors found a tumor deep in Kyles brain. He had brain surgery right away, which meant he sat out sports that year. Another brain trauma required surgery and Evelyns eyes glossed over as she talked about the day Hanover football creamed a foe and every player walked off the field and made a beeline to Kyle to hug him to make him feel like he was part of the school when his identity was shaken. Doctors cleared him to resume sports and he made the varsity hoops team. Moms eyes glossed again as she said At the end of games when we were winning the crowd would start chanting WE WANT KY-LE! WE WANT KY-LE! Hed go onto the court and everyone went wild. Five years later he studies biology in paradise. Hes doing well, Steve said and then Evelyn said He still has some deficits but nothing significant. Hes quite a magnificent kid. Kulk wishes he had about 50,000 photos that he knows probably got lost in the ether of life. Bothers him so. He KNOWS he photographed Steve Schlosser during the Hanover-Hartford middle school game but such is life. The more Steve chatted Kulk up the more he began to recognize him. Hes in charge of the emergency management system for 6 towns in South Vermont, including Brattleboro, which has a nuke, and he and Kulk talked about for a bit. Turns out he lived in New Mexico for a stretch -- Los Alamos -- and Kulks eyes lit up and he talked about his days as a sports editor at the Roswell rag, and Steves eyes lit up because he attended Boys State at NMMI, the military high school and juco in Roswell, and Kulk could write 17,000 words about his experiences with the Old Post, just not today, bubba. So, about that booze tap, made of granite from the Granite State ... Its different, Evelyn said, and a reminder of home. And Kyle likes conversation pieces, and its something that will touch his spirit. Oof! 1,019 words. 2. After all of that, Evelyn turned and walked back to the ProPanel and plucked one of the Sylvia Grantins acrylic paintings off its hook. She came in the other day with her daughter Holly, a freshman at University of Vermont who loved the painting -- Kulks favorite piece by Sylvia, who lives 450 miles north of Buffalo. Hollys an apprentice artist who worked on a Mount Fuji project and the reflections in this Grantins piece reminded her of the reflections in the Mount Fuji piece. Steve and Evelyn left and before they exited the vestibule Kulk could overhear her schoolgirl giddiness at the gifts and experience. 3. Soon afterward, a redhead by the name of Janice walked in and asked Kulk about Brian Hewitts paintings. She saw them at Merchants Bank on Northside Drive and fell in love with Main Street piece from Brians North Bennington series. You cant buy them at the bank, you have to come to the gallery -- local business collaboration is great that way. Brian earmarked some of the proceeds toward an animal shelter dear to his heart. Kulk photographed Janice in such a way to show the mezzanine, where Brians works have been on display for years. Main Street -- with its fish-eye effect -- features several businesses from the Roaring 20s, including the Panos Building. I used to own the Panos building in the early 80s, Janice said. She ran a business out of it, Quality Plumbing and Heating. 4. James and Michelle from Syracuse Upstate New York. He bought a cobalty bowl for the wife for the shape and color while daughter bought a chunky air-bubbled lemon-line glass tumbler for the color and pattern. Kulk pressed the issue a bit and Michelle -- the starting goalie -- led her JV field team to a 14-0-2 record. She posted 12 shutouts and allowed 5 goals all season. Her winter club team is playing a tournament at Siena this weekend so Daddy-Daughter Day included a jaunt into Vermont for a little Christmas shopping. And oh, by the way, Kulk asked, Whats the trippiest thing about playing goalie in field hockey, considering the fact girls with long sticks are whacking hard plastic balls straight at you? Michelle is shy but she answered: Just the possibility of getting hit where youre not protected. Yeah but youre like Robo-Cop with all that protection. Where can you possibly get hit that it would hurt? She smiled. In the arm. 5. Then Cait Kocsis came in with her dad Jim Kocsis. Loyal readers of the Bennington Banner would recognize his name. Im the one who writes the letters, he said. Earlier he explained that a bombardment of letters to the editor regarding town auditing and school budgets led to him getting a job with the Southwest Vermont Supervisory Union because he was so thorough that they wanted him on their team. Cait graduated Mount Anthony in 2011. She played striker on Scott Dickeys soccer team before tearing her left ACL. Before then she scored a goal and set up 5 others. She attends Saint Michaels College and majors in biology. Wants to be a physical therapist. Upon Kulks urging she chalked it up in the Graffiti Vault. Funny story about Cait in relation to her hometown of Pownal. One day shes talking to her lab professor, who said she lived near Bennington. Oh yeah, Cait said, me too, near Bennington. Both were from Pownal, Jim interjected, but neither of them wanted to say it. Indeed, say Pownal and some folks snicker. Sometimes it has a bad reputation, Cait said, but it has a lot of good qualities. No one knows about Pownal unless its about the racetrack. Kulk challenged her by asking her to complete the following sentence in one word: Pownal is _______ and she answered home. ... Its where my family is, where my dog is. 6. Later, a cutie by the name of Charlotte approached Kulk and handed him a chunky turquoise and black mug. I love this one, he said. She smiled and said My mom loves chunky mugs. Oh yeah, whos your mom? Charlottes mom is Tammy White, who owns Wing and a Prayer Farm in Shaftsbury. And here we go. Riiiight, I wrote a story about your mom and the farm. She has Noahs Ark over there with the sheep and the chickens and the horses and giraffes and the rhinos and the--- and Charlotte smiled. Sos it like to grow up on a farm like that? The sophomore at Mount Holyoke College said Its a lot of hard work but a lot of fun too though because you get to share the sheep and its rewarding because theres a lot you can do with fleeces. Kulk asked for a lesson in sheep. The ewe is the female, rams are unfixed males and wethers are fixed males. For a split second Kulks mind drifted to Susan Rosss father in the Jerry Seinfeld bit when Costanzas father asks about chickens, roosters and hens; theres really nothing in life that you cant connect to a Seinfeldian moment. But I digress. You guys have great names for your sheep -- like Winky and Darcy and Bingley and Padme and Aisling and Ruva -- so whats been your favorite sheep name throughout the years? Didnt take Charlotte long to answer. My special pet was a wether named Angus, who was born very tiny and had pneumonia when he was 6 days old, but we bottle-fed him the rest of the summer and he got better. 7. Heres a familiar face: Brian McKenna. He brought his adorable daughter Nieve so that the 5-year-old could buy a Christmas gift for her older sister Claire. She picked out a red glass butterfly pin-dant, meaning you can wear it as a pin or lace the loops with a chain and wear it as a necklace. Nieve thinks Claire is going to love it. Nameology: Nieve, Brian said, is one of the most popular names in Ireland. So its like their Michelle or Debbie? Kulk said. Brian smirked. Or grinned. Or grin-smirked. Hey, its the effort that counts. Speaking of which, Brian gave Kulk some insider baseball regarding last months Tech@Bennington gathering that was awesome and drew in about 80 participants eager to hear a presentation about venture capitalists financing a business incubator in town. A statement was made by Bennington, Brian said. He gave Kulk a few more details but asked him to sit on them a while longer. Tune in. 8 and 9: Polly the piano teacher from the piano mansion in Old B brought her sons Taylor and Austin for a bit of the Christmas shopping. While Polly and Taylor browsed, Kulk pulled Austin aside and asked him to say something nice about his older brother, like what his defining feature is. Didnt take him long to answer: He is very determined. Once we tried ice skating but he didnt do well but he tried his hardest the whole time. He never stopped giving up. ... Polly bought a glass necklace for a friend in California while Austin bought a polymer clay and steel winestopper for a gorgeous woman in his life. ... Kulk will have more on Polly in a few days, no doubt. He enjoys writing about the piano teacher at the piano mansion in Old B. 10: Speaking of Darcy, a North Ber bought the other great mug with a message that reads THERES A CHANCE THIS IS TEQUILA. Her name is Darcy too. 11 and 12: Jon Davis approached Kulk with a framed John DeAmicis litho-print with a century-old oak tree in full leafiness, and the quote to the right reads, If you live to be a hudnred I want to live to be a hundred minus one day so I never have to live without you. Hes buying it for Tracy, his girlfriend of 15 years. One thing leads to another ... and turns out Jon reads Fiddleheads Facebook page all the time and knows many of the regulars here such as Annette Joly Griffith. He split after graduating Mount Anthony in 73 and hit the road to Florida and never looked back. Came back for his 25-year reunion in 98 and ran into Tracy. They never talked in high school but with age comes maturity, or something to that effect, and Jon and Tracy started to talk, and it felt right, and here they are 15 years later. The DeAmicis is a stocking stuffer but, he quickly added, I like the sentiment. Jon is a scale technician for Gerhart. I test and calibrate and repair scales. Oh yeah, Kulk wondered, what kind of scales? From lab scales to truck scales ... but not the scales of justice. Jon pointed to Kulks computer that showed Fiddleheads Facebook page. That photo was taken by one of my friends, Annette Joly Griffith. They spent the next 10 minutes talking about photography and the fan of Ansel Adams said I was a photo geek in school. Carried a Minolta wherever he went. Kulk mentioned his days at the Banner when reporters shot their own stories and processed their own film in the darkroom. These days he carries a Canon EOS Rebel T3 everywhere he goes and he shoots so much of what he sees and posts it on his page https://facebook/jondavisphotography 13 and 14: The second story of the day featured Jessica Katz, and what a story that was for Kulk. Several hours later, a fellow by the name of David Katz walked into the gallery. No relation to Jessica but relative to Fiddlehead potter Nina Berinstein -- the subject of todays first story. Indeed, as Kulk wrote a few days ago, You can connect almost any facet of life to another, if you try, though lifes facets tend to connect without any help at all. A few things took place during David Katzs hour in the gallery. 1, the pottery tech at Bennington College talked up Nina Berinstein in the same ways Kulk has talked her up in his stories. Nina is a highly motivated ceramic artist with a very natural connection with her materials. He reiterated what Kulk learned the day he met Nina -- thats shes the kind of alpha go-getter one cant help but appreciate. She wanted to be in Fiddlehead and made it happen. She wanted to assist acclaimed potter Thaddeus Erdahl at the Penland School of Crafts in North Carolina and made it happen. The fire engine redhead wanted to get into the Society of Arts and Crafts in Boston -- and just found out she made it. The girls got it, and will always have it, because she wants it and goes after it. 2, He walked around the gallery time and again photographing many of the pottery pieces and texting them to his partner, also a potter. If theyre going to buy world-class pottery, its going to be the right world-class pottery. Giving the gift of art is personal. Davis took 2 or 3 dozen photos and awaited responses. Late in the game he brought dark-colored casseroles to the center of the showroom and photographed them on the white marble floor Made all the difference in the world. Kulk photographed David photographing pottery on marble and this was a total meta moment. He eventually found a casserole to go along with the 2 cruets. Twenty minutes earlier he remarked how wonderfully priced Fiddleheads pottery is. Couldnt get over it, really. Joel and Nina want people to go home with nice pottery. If they wanted to get rich theyd move to Manchester and triple the prices. 3, David, who wants a full-time teaching gig at some point, which is why he drives to Rhode Island once a week to adjunct-profess at Rhode Island School of Design, educated Kulk a bit about pottery and ceramics and glazes and what-not. One of Fiddleheads casseroles is dark brown and uber-shiny. He said its a Tenmoku glaze and features super high iron content. He briefly explailned that glazes contain (combos of) fluxes and oxides and sodium and aluminum and silica and theres a ratio to it all, and the elite potters understand those ratios best. Nina Berinstein understands but plans to learn more next semester in David Katzs glaze calculation course. Its pretty much chemistry, he said. 4, Check out Davids work -- think funky-large sculptures and installations -- at katzceramics. 5, He saw Emily Frees pottery for sale at Fiddlehead and said he knows her well through her work as director of the Archie Bray Foundation for the Ceramic Arts in Montana. Were not sure if Chris Jones has heard of it. 6, Who is Chris Jones? Eh, just some writer dude who taught a journalism course in Montana years ago. In all seriousness, you want to read the story of a lifetime?Activate The Google and type in Chris Jones and Joey Montgomery, and give yourself about 45 minutes, and make sure to have a few tissues by your side because it might get dusty in the room. 15, 16, and 17: So heres a funny one. Kulk posted the photo of Jennifer Sprague and her daughter Peighton chalking it up in the Graffiti Vault. Chastity, who is becoming a regular at Fiddlehead, showed the photo to her son Tayvor, and excitement filled the boy and he wanted to write his name on the wall too. So she brought him to the gallery to appease the 6-year-old. He wrote his name and made a rainbow, and Kulk photographed them, and then they walked around the gallery for about an hour. You might remember Chastity from the day the 2006 MAU grad bought a pair of turquoise-copper earrings made by Pownal native Robin Jana -- the first pair of Robins earrings that sold, just hours after we put them on display. She led the boy around the gallery and pointed out what she wants Daddy to buy Mommy for Christmas. Then she bought a soap rock. She and Kulk chatted each other up a bit longer, and he couldnt help but notice how dark Chastitys brown eyes are so he asked if he could photograph them and she said Yes. And that was just 3,392 words, and Kulk is out! He doubts any of you even made it this far. See you tomorrow!
Posted on: Sun, 21 Dec 2014 01:58:16 +0000
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