Along The Mohawk #12

 For the Mohawk Valley, Central New York region. 

Along the Mohawk features local music and interviews with musicians, storytellers, restaurateurs, and manufacturers and also features Soundscapes with local naturalist Matt Perry. The show will also include a short weekly old-time radio serial, Annie and the Loomis Gang, written and produced by Sharry Whitney and performed by a cast of local voice actors. 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Steve Ponty Chevrolet and Herkimer, your local family-owned and operated Chevy dealer, presents Along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_03 0:10

Come with me as we travel along the Mohawk, sharing the stories of the people and places where we belong.

SPEAKER_02 0:21

Good morning, and thank you for traveling along the Mohawk with me today. I'm Sherry Whitney. Later in this show, we'll meet local singer-songwriter Mordecai Rosenblatt and talk about his band Home Visitor. Matt Perry talks about the arrival of neotropical songbirds and we'll explore some local history, big and small. First, we'll learn about some of the smallest relics found at Fort Stanwix in Rome. I speak with Park Ranger Kelly Cardwell at the Mariness Willet Center about a couple of her personal favorite artifacts.

SPEAKER_16 0:52

So my favorite artifacts are some of the pins and needles that are on display. Many of them were found in the ditch, which is where the women would have been living most of the time. Women's clothing didn't traditionally have buttons. They were considered too clunky and fussy. So you used pins to hold your layers of clothing together. And the very first year I worked here, I was terrified of my clothing falling off. I was wearing the regular clothing on an 18th-century lady would be a jacket and an underlayer and a petticoat. And the only thing that's sure not to fall down is your petticoat because you tie it. Everything else, it's those pins that hold them together. Terrified of losing my clothes. I literally would walk around while doing all my other work and find pins, and I just line them up on my apron just in case I lost one. I had probably 30 pins. And all I could imagine was these poor ladies losing their pins in the ditch and never seeing them again, and then their clothing falling apart, and how embarrassing and beat down they had to be at that point. Now, at 20 something years later, I can probably get away with only using two pins to create. I'm good at it now. So was it as much of a concern for them as it was for me? Probably not. And honestly, many of the women of the Continental Army were described as destitute naked. So yeah, horrible, awful creatures, quote unquote, and the children even worse. Their clothes were falling off after 10 years. Um yeah.

SPEAKER_02 2:23

So to describe a little bit here, in this display, we have an image of the bear clan mother. So these are some of the things that would be in her world.

SPEAKER_16 2:31

Possibly, yes, yeah. And some of them are European, um, and some of them are native in origin. A really good pair of things that were relevant in both worlds is on one side of this case are what's called tinkling cones, and they are little bits of copper that were found along the shores of the Great Lakes and the riverbeds in New York, and they're hammered out till they're flat and they are curled up into a cone shape, and they're strung like the size of a pencil tip. Yeah, yeah. And they're strung along your clothing, and when they hit each other, when you move, they make a tinkling noise. Something as simple as that was eventually replaced by European jingle bells. Within these cases, we have four of them that show what would have been in these people's worlds from different sides of the fight. What I like is that it shows the overlap and how these cultures interacted. And in a lot of um ceremonial clothing today, if you look at people dancing at powwows, you'll definitely see jinkling cones, but you'll also see lots of jingle bells too.

SPEAKER_02 3:34

To learn more about Rome history and to plan your visit to the Marinus Willet Center in Rome, visit alongthemohawkradio.com.

SPEAKER_10 3:45

Attention, listeners, your Mohawk Valley time travel experiment is about to commence. Stand by as we recalibrate the decades.

SPEAKER_06 3:57

Welcome to 1851 Rome, New York. I'm standing beside a busy dirt road where workers are hammering away at what may become one of the most important buildings in American food history. The first cheese factory in the United States. Right now it just looks like a rough wooden building, but soon farmers from miles around will bring their milk here instead of making cheese separately on their own farms. And there, I think that's the man behind it all now. Excuse me, sir, are you Jesse Williams?

SPEAKER_05 4:36

I surely am. And if these men keep working at this pace, we'll have this place running before long. People are saying this idea of yours could change cheese making forever. Well, that's the hope. Instead of every farmer making small batches different ways, we'll make one consistent cheese here at the factory using milk brought in daily. Better quality and a whole lot more of it. So this could become a model for factories across the country? Could be. Folks always need good cheese. And New York farmers know a thing or two about dairy. Well, Jesse, I should let you get back to work.

SPEAKER_06 5:19

Hard to believe that this little construction site in Rome, New York is about to make history. History? Well, that would be something, wouldn't it? From the first cheese factory in America in 1851 Rome, New York, it's time to get back to the future.

SPEAKER_02 5:41

After the break, we explore the historic Four Corners in Herkimer, and we talk about the new album by the band Home Visitor being released later this month.

SPEAKER_03 5:51

Come with me as we travel along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_06 5:59

Big Apple Music in New Hartford has served Central New York and the best musicians since 1979. Guitars, amps, drums, sound systems, digital pianos, and school instruments, and providing sales, rentals, repairs, and musical instrument private lessons. Got an instrument that needs a little love? Let Big Apple Music repair it for you. Check us out for Sound System installs and repairs, the best brands for the best bands. Shop local, shop smart, shop Big Apple Music in New Hartford. Loving people for over 46 years. Check us out on Facebook and our website.

SPEAKER_09 6:31

Since 1917, NGMs Flooring America has delivered quality floors and expert installations, save on carpeting, laminate flooring, ceramic tiles, and more. Plus, we offer 12 months of interest-free financing for qualified buyers. Stop by our location today.

SPEAKER_12 6:46

You work hard here in the Mohawk Valley. You make a difference. You leave your mark. You deserve a financial advisor who works hard to make a difference for your future.

SPEAKER_08 6:56

Investing for retirement, college, thinking about your legacy. We have spent most of our adult lives giving you straightforward answers for your financial decisions.

SPEAKER_12 7:06

We pride ourselves on being local, prudent, and trustworthy for you. Van Meter and Van Meter, with three offices to serve your financial future.

SPEAKER_06 7:17

For 18 years, Primo Pizza Route 5 and Clinton has been making fresh dough daily for the best pizza around: New York style, upside-down, and cauliflower gluten-free pizza. If you live in their delivery area like Kirkland and Hamilton College residents, lucky you, you can have it delivered to your door. If not, stop by and pick up some hot, delicious pizza and crispy wings from Primo Pizza. Call 315-381-3231 or order online at enjoypremopizza.com. Shop Clinton's oldest grocery store Turned Food Co-op. Tom's Natural Foods in Clinton is a vibrant community food hub carrying local produce from area farmers like Jake's Gouda, Jones Family Farm, Shaw's Maple, and Kingfisher Farm. Shop Tom's Natural Foods in Clinton. Open Wednesday through Saturday at 3 Fountain Street in Clinton.

SPEAKER_02 8:16

On May 30th, the band Home Visitor will release their first full-length album, Welcome, at the Traumentane Cafe in Utica. Band founder Mordecai Rosenblatt moved to the Utica area from the West Coast four years ago and hopes to introduce people in the Mohawk Valley to his music through his new album. I meet up with him at Emerson Ave Coffee in Utica and ask him about his early musical influences.

SPEAKER_14 8:40

Growing up, I heard a lot of soul music from the 60s, jazz and blues. As I became a teenager and got into some of my my own types of artists, fans like The Clash, Bruce Springsteen, and then some of the more quirky types of idiosyncratic songwriters, Jonathan Richman, Daniel Johnston, Vic Chestnut, Violent Femzer, Huge Influence, Velvet Underground, sort of the the the classic weirdos, the the people with with lots of rough edges who walk a a line between humor and depth, something much darker.

SPEAKER_17 9:33

Yeah, I see that you have humor in a lot of it, but you you can take humor seriously.

SPEAKER_14 9:37

Yeah, I mean life is funny, and when I can take take a step back and and maybe be a little more objective about it, there's there's usually something funny, and people seem to connect with that.

SPEAKER_02 9:53

You write your own music, but Bruce Springsteen has been a big influence and you have covered him. Tell me what it was about him and why you perform his music.

SPEAKER_14 10:02

Yeah, so well, I'm from New Jersey, for one, and uh culturally it is a thing there. As a as a teenager, there's just a deep connection there. I feel like he really captures an essence of rock and roll music. I feel like his music encompasses the entire range of human experience and emotion. He'll play you a really serious song about a very real loss and follow it up with a classic Friday night party rock song. That's what life is like. It's it's not one or the other.

SPEAKER_02 10:43

Tell me about your new album coming up and some of the influences there and what you're trying to say with your new album.

SPEAKER_14 10:48

So I started writing some of these songs in 2018, 2019, right when I conceived of the band. I was coming out of a nine-year marriage. I was living on the West Coast with none of my family there. That was a perfect environment for me to take a a step back and look at myself in in very honest ways. So the the big theme of the album is coming back to and accepting myself after uh such hardships.

SPEAKER_02 11:27

Yeah. Sometimes the best songs come out of the worst times.

SPEAKER_14 11:31

Yeah, absolutely. And I hope, and the way that I experience art is like a mirror, right? When I hear a great song or am able to witness a great piece of art, it can show me something about myself and how I react to it.

SPEAKER_02 11:46

Now I see here a self-portrait on your album, so are you also an artist?

SPEAKER_14 11:50

I would not say that. This is one of the first things that I've drawn that isn't this same doodle that I draw everywhere of the the big Well, let's talk about the doodle.

SPEAKER_02 12:02

So you got these little, these little kind of meh looking little uh Tell me about the origin of this character.

SPEAKER_14 12:08

Yeah, so this is something that came up when I was talking to an artist, talking about my frustration with drawing, with illustration, painting, any of it. And they said, Well, just find a repeating a shape that you like to make. So I made all these shapes, and then I put faces on them, and I call it big toes icon. They are toes, they are a society of big toes, and that's as far as it goes. There there is not a greater expanded universe of it.

SPEAKER_02 12:41

Well, I what I find interesting about this very simple shape is are they happy? Are they sad? Are they indifferent? There you you can look at them and interpret your own feelings, which I think is kind of what you're trying to tell in your stories.

SPEAKER_14 12:58

Yeah, absolutely. And and when I've talked to people about drawing them, don't think about what mood you want to create on their faces, just draw the lines and see what happens. And I think that's that's more of art is like a mirror. And you just you you draw it quickly and they come out, and sometimes I'll do one and they all look mean and sad, and then I really I'm like, yep, that's that's actually how I feel right now.

SPEAKER_02 13:30

You can hear home visitors' music on Bandcamp, but to experience the music, it's best to see the band in action at their album release party at the Traumentane Cafe in Utica on Saturday, May 30th. Doors open at 6 p.m. Visit alongthemohawkradio.com for more information.

SPEAKER_15 13:47

I'm waiting around. I'm at the pizza shop. Feel like it's been hours. Did they go outside to grow the crops for the gluten-free flour? What's in that stuff anyway? I'm just glad that someone knows, and I hope it's still worth the wait. Well, it's still pizza, I suppose. We don't all get to Feels like I always blue. If you haven't heard it news, I've got the blue and three pizza crust blues. I'd kill for slice. There's an order up. Is that one mine? Here comes this guy just grabbing it, not even asking.

SPEAKER_02 15:20

He sees that I see. We head to Herkimer to take a tour of the historic four corners with town historian James M. Griner.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

As I say to everyone about the historic four corners, it's the most beautiful place in town. No doubt, hands down, we've got it right here. The Reformed Church across the way, historic tombstones in there, and with the Tiffany glass windows. I mean, it's beautiful. Uh, it's still in use today. Uh, over here we have the Suter Mansion, which is the real jewel in the crown, I think. A Walter Suter donating this historic Queen Anne style mansion to the Historical Society. And uh it's just a beautiful place. I put it this way: somebody asked me once, what's the most valuable thing we have in historical society? The most priceless object we have is that house. You could never replace it. You could never do something like that. Uh, the woodwork is just out of this world. And across this uh way on the other side is the uh courthouse. The courthouse that was built in the 1870s that's seen many a famous trial, including Roxalana Drews, and of course the most famous one being that of Chester Gillette. Uh it was still used up until recently, until the new courthouse was built. The sheriff's department is in there for about one more week, and they'll be vacating to go someplace else. So I really don't know what's going to happen in that building, but I do know what's happening with the 1834 jail, because I have that. When the county wanted to get rid of it, uh no need to use it anymore. We formed a little group, the Friends of Historic Kirkmer County, to take it over and sort of preserve it because it's part of the Four Corners. And so we've been working on that all for about 20 years now. So it's a it's a step-by-step, little baby step projects, but we're keeping it together.

SPEAKER_02 17:08

And you do tours in the girlfriend?

SPEAKER_01 17:10

All the time. The summertime is tour time. Uh we arrange them here at the Historical Society. We try to do Thursday tours. We are still very popular with the paranormal people. Uh that's they still love coming here and I still let them in. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 17:29

Take a trip to the beautiful Four Corners in Herkimer at 400 North Main Street. For summer tour information, visit our website, along the mohawkradio.com. After the break, Chapter 10 of Annie and the Loomis Gang and Matt Perry talks about the arrival of neotropical songbirds. So stay tuned as we travel along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_06 17:56

Big Apple Music in New Hartford has served Central New York and the best musicians since 1979. Guitars, amps, drums, sound systems, digital pianos, and school instruments, and providing sales, rentals, repairs, and musical instrument private lessons. Got an instrument that needs a little love? Let Big Apple Music repair it for you. Check us out for Sound System installs and repairs. The best brands for the best bands. Shop local, shop smart, shop Big Apple Music in New Hartford. Loving people for over 46 years. Check us out on Facebook and our website.

SPEAKER_09 18:28

Since 1917, NGMs Flooring America has delivered quality floors and expert installations, save on carpeting, laminate flooring, ceramic tiles, and more. Plus, we offer 12 months of interest-free financing for qualified buyers. Stop by our location today.

SPEAKER_12 18:43

You work hard here in the Mohawk Valley. You make a difference. You leave your mark. You deserve a financial advisor who works hard to make a difference for your future.

SPEAKER_08 18:53

Investing for retirement, college, thinking about your legacy. We have spent most of our adult lives giving you straightforward answers for your financial decisions.

SPEAKER_12 19:03

We pride ourselves on being local, prudent, and trustworthy for you. Van Meter and Van Meter, with three offices to serve your financial future.

SPEAKER_06 19:14

For 18 years, Primo Pizza Route 5 and Clinton has been making fresh dough daily for the best pizza around: New York style, upside-down, and cauliflower gluten-free pizza. If you live in their delivery area like Kirkland and Hamilton College residents, lucky you, you can have it delivered to your door. If not, stop by and pick up some hot, delicious pizza and crispy wings from Primo Pizza. Call 315-381-3231 or order online at enjoypremopizza.com. Shop Clinton's oldest grocery store, Turn Food Co-op. Tom's Natural Foods in Clinton is a vibrant community food hub carrying local produce from area farmers like Jake's Gouda, Jones Family Farm, Shaw's Maple, and Kingfisher Farm. Shop Tom's Natural Foods in Clinton, open Wednesday through Saturday at 3 Fountain Street in Clinton.

SPEAKER_00 20:03

Previously, on Annie and the Loomis Gang, one month before the fire in the swamp, Annie O'Connor left Brockett's Bridge to begin a new life as a teacher in Waterville. Her father warned her to stay out of trouble and away from the Loomises. But Annie has already crossed paths with several members of the notorious family, including the dangerous Rhoda Loomis. Annie has learned that Washington Loomis claims that her uncle owed him more than $800. Determined to uncover the truth, Annie rides straight in to the Lion's Den. Chapter 10: The Loomis Lair.

SPEAKER_02 20:39

Annie leaves the clerk's office in Sangerfield, the weight of her uncle's debt heavy on her shoulders. How could she hope to repay it on her teaching salary of only $16 a month? She continues across the street and enters the post office.

SPEAKER_09 20:55

Hello, I'm Annie O'Connor. I'm studying my residence.

SPEAKER_04 20:58

O'Connor's niece?

SPEAKER_09 20:59

Yes.

SPEAKER_04 21:00

Your uncle was a good man before he lost his wife and boy. After that, he changed.

SPEAKER_07 21:06

Pardon?

SPEAKER_04 21:07

Some said he kept strange company after that, mixed up in bad paper money.

SPEAKER_07 21:12

Bad paper money?

SPEAKER_04 21:13

Nothing proved, mind you. Talk travels faster than truth around here.

SPEAKER_02 21:18

He reaches under the counter and sets down a small bundle tied with twine. What is that?

SPEAKER_04 21:23

These have been sittin' a while. No one claimed them.

SPEAKER_02 21:26

He hands her four letters, aged and worn, addressed to her uncle in faded ink. She turns to leave.

SPEAKER_04 21:32

But people still talk about your uncle. Folks searched for him for days, same as they did that old peddler. That search once led them out to a well near the Loomis place, all filled in with stones on top of a boulder. Not saying that's what happened to Seamus, but around here, people talk.

SPEAKER_02 21:48

Annie leaves the post office. She slips the letters into her saddlebag, swings up on Hunter, and rides south on the road to Hubbardtsville. She passes her farm a half hour later. Hunter hesitates as They pass.

SPEAKER_07 22:01

I know, Hunter. We'll get you back and fed soon. But we are continuing on to meet Wash.

SPEAKER_02 22:06

She stops at the creek just past Jedediah's cabin for Hunter to drink, then continues on another mile when she sees the Loomis Farm.

SPEAKER_07 22:14

So this is his place. I can understand why people in town call it the Loomis Lair.

SPEAKER_02 22:20

The house stands high on a rise, large, plain, and watchful. Two full stories with an attic tucked beneath the roof. Annie is aware that no one comes to this house unseen.

SPEAKER_07 22:31

Then let him see me coming.

SPEAKER_02 22:33

The yard is alive with movement. Too many horses, too many men. I said I wouldn't get involved. I'm riding straight into the lion's den. Annie ties off her horse and steps onto the porch. She pauses, then climbs the stairs. A few men sit there, watching. Uh, I'm here to see Mr.

SPEAKER_07 22:52

Loomis.

SPEAKER_02 22:53

A couple men laugh. Another man rises without a word, opens the door for Annie, and follows her inside. She enters a large foyer. A wide central hallway stretches ahead. The man continues down the hallway. Doors stand open on every side. Voices drift from the parlor to the left. Men pass through doorways and vanish. Then a tall, well-dressed man steps from one of the rooms and approaches Annie with easy confidence. His face is handsome and composed.

SPEAKER_07 23:23

I'm here to see Mr. Loomis.

SPEAKER_11 23:25

I'm afraid you'll have to be more specific.

SPEAKER_02 23:27

George Washington.

SPEAKER_11 23:29

I'm Grove Loomis. Come in, we'll speak in the parlor.

SPEAKER_02 23:32

He steps forward, easy and confident, guiding her to the parlor to her right.

SPEAKER_11 23:37

I saw you coming up the road. Hard to miss you on that horse. Fine animal. That horse of yours, Hunter. I'd know his line anywhere. That's one of my bogus hunter's offspring. I've got an eye for good breeding. Once I see it, I have to have it. Fast stock. Strong, too. Takes after his sire like Flora Temple. That bobtail mare was small, but she could outrun anything they put beside her. Now, what brings you to my door, Miss O'Connor?

SPEAKER_07 24:09

I need to speak to Wash about a private matter.

SPEAKER_11 24:12

Then you've come to the right place, if not the right Loomis. I'm afraid he's away.

SPEAKER_07 24:17

On business.

SPEAKER_11 24:18

Hello, Mother.

SPEAKER_07 24:19

Miss O'Connor, how thoughtful of you to call so soon. Shall I have tea brought in? That's very kind, Mrs. Loomis, but I've come to speak with Mr. Loomis. Since he isn't home, I won't trouble you. I assure you, Miss O'Connor, anything you have to say to Mr. Loomis can be said here.

SPEAKER_11 24:36

Mother?

SPEAKER_07 24:37

I raised my sons to think for themselves. It seems some of them have taken that a bit too far. I appreciate your hospitality, but I will call again when he is home. Good day. Good day, Miss O'Connor.

SPEAKER_11 24:52

Pleasure, Miss.

SPEAKER_02 24:53

Annie's steps are even but urgent. She descends the stairs, keeping her gaze forward. Figures linger on the porch, men in the yard, all watching. Steady now, Annie. She reaches Hunter, unties the reins, and mounts in one steady motion. The horse strains to go faster, but she holds him back, reins tight, controlled. They move forward at a measured pace, not a flight. The Loomis house fades behind her. The moment she is out of sight, her heels press in. Hunter answers at once, drawing from his blood and breeding and breaks into a driving gallop.

SPEAKER_07 25:31

I'm not running. I have entered the race now, and I will see it through.

SPEAKER_13 25:52

This is Mohawk Valley Soundscape for mid-May 2026. The tropics come to us in May. Under cover of darkness, waves of neotropical songbirds descend into our forests, wetlands, hedgerows, and meadows. Only days earlier, many were in the rainforests of Central and South America. Now instinct has carried them north, sometimes thousands of miles, to breed in the northeastern U.S. and Canada. By dawn, our forests erupt with their sounds. The flute-like whistles of wood thrushes, the rich caroling phrases of scarlet taningers, the clear quavering notes of rose-breasted gross beets, vireos delivering endless questions from the canopy, fly catchers calling from the woodland edges, veery songs spiraling downward into liquid echoes beneath the trees, and throughout the canopy, warblers, tiny migrants the size of chickadees, pouring music from every direction as they glean insects from the fresh spring foliage. Each species carries its own rhythm, pitch, and tone. Some sing in clear whistles, other in hurried trills, fuzzy phrases, or sweet tumbling notes. Some songs are so high pitched that they nearly escape our hearing. Alone, each voice is distinct. Together, they become a living orchestra spread across the woodlands. To walk through the forest in May is to hear another world lair over our own.

SPEAKER_02 28:07

Next week, we begin a new segment, Maggie's Minute, with Maggie Riley, who will give us simple ways to attract more birds and butterflies to our own backyards. Hope to see you again next week along the Mohawk.

SPEAKER_03 28:21

Come with me as we travel. Above the Mohawk, sharing the stories of the people and places.