Our Annual Membership Meeting is Thursday, January 16, 2025, 7:00 p.m. at GCSD Transportation Center, at 1790 Latta Road. At the annual meeting, you can receive a copy of our 2024 Annual Report. You can also view a photo montage of our activities from 2024. Additionally, you will hear about our future plans.
Our treasurer Bill Peeck will give a financial report and an election of trustees will be conducted.
Trustees serve a term of three years. Those currently seeking re-election are Bill Peeck, Deborah Whitt, and Bridget O’Toole. Deborah Cole Myers will be seeking election to fill the position currently held by Ruth Curchoe. All GHS members are invited to attend. Below is each board member and a brief bio about them.
Bill Peeck Bill Peeck brings a distinguished background in finance, engineering, and management to his role as Treasurer of the Greece Historical Society, a position he has held since 2015. A retired U.S. Army Finance Officer and former Business Analyst for Eastman Kodak Company, Bill holds a BS in Mechanical Engineering and an MS in Systems Management, reflecting his strong analytical and organizational expertise.
Deborah Whitt Deborah Whitt is a dedicated community leader and longtime resident of Greece, where she has owned and operated a successful State Farm Insurance agency for over 40 years. Passionate about preserving the rich history of all ethnic groups, Deborah is committed to ensuring their significant contributions to the community are recognized and celebrated.
Bridget O’Toole Bridget O’Toole brings a wealth of expertise as an environmental, land use, and municipal attorney with Heath & O’Toole PLLC. With a Bachelor of Science in American History, she combines her professional acumen with a deep appreciation for historical perspectives, drawing inspiration from her family’s rich tradition of amateur historians.
Deborah Cole Myers Deborah Cole Myers has deep family roots in Greece, where she grew up and chose to return as her permanent home seven years ago. With a career spanning over 40 years, she brings extensive leadership experience, including 12 years at Eastman Kodak Company and over 30 years as a third-party insurance administrator, retiring as Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. Her strong ties to the community and professional expertise make her a valuable member of the board.
On January 14th at 7 p.m., the Greece Historical Society will host its Second Tuesday of the Month History Talks at the Greece Arcadia Auditorium. This one will cover Wegmans Food Markets’ origins in Rochester, New York. It will also discuss its growth through the early 20th century. Additionally, it will cover its expansion beyond Rochester, the greater Rochester area, and Upstate New York. The Speaker will be Gary Harris, the Historical Asset Coordinator for Wegmans. Due to the possibility of this program’s large turnout, we ask that you reserve your seats early. The cut-off for reserving your tickets to the event will be at noon on January 14th.
This is the map of where to park, enter, and attend the program. A Section V game is set to tip off at 7:15 pm in the gym at the school. Please plan on arriving early to get a parking spot closest to the building. Note the Green Box is the Auditorium. Red Arrows indicate the two doors you will be able to enter. The Blue Information symbol marks where our registration table will be for the event.
Parking and Entrance map to the Arcadia High School Auditorium
Please reserve your tickets. The ticket reservation is live. Click the Read More button on the embedded post to reserve your tickets via the ticket engine. You can also call 585-225-7221 or email greecehistoricalsociety@yahoo.com
Are you ready to make a difference in your community? Please mark your calendars for December 3, 2024, because it’s time to ROC the Day with the Greater Rochester community! This 24-hour event is all about coming together. We encourage giving back to our region. We need YOU to join us in making a real impact.
At the Greece Historical Society & Museum, we are dedicated to preserving and celebrating our area’s rich history. Participate in ROC the Day on December 3rd. You can help support our mission. This ensures that future generations can continue to learn about our past.
This Donate button sends you to our Roc The Day Page for the Organization
Join us in supporting our community and ROC the Day on December 3, 2024. Whether you donate your time, money, or resources, every contribution makes a difference. Together, we can make a real impact right here in the Greater Rochester region.
So, what are you waiting for? Mark your calendars, spread the word, and get ready to ROC the Day with the Greece Historical Society & Museum. So on December 3rd, let’s come together and make a difference. See you there!
Any amount you donate today will help the Society’s Mission. Its mission is to preserve the History of the Town of Greece.
This Donate button sends you to our Roc The Day Page for the Organization
Are you ready to make a difference? As a volunteer with the Greece Historical Society, you have the power to influence how we connect our community with the rich tapestry of our shared history. This is your moment to step up and unleash your potential! We are excited to announce a series of regular meetings designed to reinvigorate our Society, discuss what has been lost, and brainstorm new, innovative ideas that can propel us into the future. It’s time to rally together, share our voices, and cultivate a space where history thrives!
On July 10 we lost one of our long-time members and volunteer, Betty Fetter. Betty passed away peacefully at the age of 102. She was born in Rochester, graduated from Charlotte High School, and was a proud resident of the Town of Greece for decades. Betty was a longtime employee of Eastman Kodak who also volunteered at the Greece Historical Society, the Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, and the Greece Public Library. She was a life member and former officer of the Rochester Lapidary Society and was a member of Greece Baptist Church. Throughout her life Betty touched many lives with her kindness, zest for life, and love of local history. We agree with her obituary “Betty was a marvel, living independently to age 100, and she served as a wonderful example of a life well-lived.” She enjoyed traveling, especially to the Adirondack Mountains with family.
Here at GHS, Betty was our volunteer registrar, coming every Monday to sort through and catalog our collection. Before the days of computers that meant handwritten entries in the registry and typing catalogue cards. She also attended training seminars on collection care and the duties of a registrar. She would be seen attending nearly every program and event held by us and would join a group of fellow volunteers every Monday for lunch.
Betty at Greece Historical Society
Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse from the Rochester Public Library Historical Division
Betty was at the Charlotte Genesee Lighthouse almost every Tuesday reviewing many documents and filing them and then met others at a restaurant where she shared local history. In later years a bus would drive her to and take her home from her volunteer duties and lunch outings.
When Secondhand Prose, operated by the Friends of the Greece Public Library, opened in a small room just inside the library entrance, Betty was a volunteer almost from the beginning. She helped sort donated books twice a month. She participated in their twice-yearly sales at the Greece Town Mall, on location at the library, or at sorting areas. She was always a cheerful and willing helper whether sorting or selling books.
Because of her community volunteerism, she received the Greece Historical Society Volunteer of the Year award in 2011 and a certificate of Merit from Senator Joe Robach in 2012.
However, with her tendency to downplay her own accomplishments, Betty had another highly significant volunteer “career,” about which few apparently knew. For nearly 25 years she was on the Race Communications Committee at Watkins Glen, performing vital services for the race organizers, in those glorious years of Formula One (from 1961 until 1980) racing at Watkins Glen. She was much appreciated for her devotion and skill and probably knew many of the drivers and race organizers. She may have met drivers like Geoffrey Eli Bodine, Brett Bodine, and Todd Bodine, from Chemung, New York and she was there from inception of “Six Hours at The Glen” in 1968 and would run until 1981, helping with the “Six Hours at The Glen” endurance race featured top drivers such as Mario Andretti, Jacky Ickx, Pedro Rodríguez, and Derek Bell.
Betty was the sole grandchild of Rochester residents John Kannewischer, a German-born tailor, and his wife, whose six children continued to live in Rochester/Greece their entire lives (1880s-1980s). A remarkable and extensive archive of Kannewischer family memorabilia was preserved by Betty and will be donated to the University of Rochester’s Rush Rhees Library Department of Rare Books, Special Collections and Preservation. Our April 2024 program by Cynthia Howk on the family was based on these materials.
Thank you, Betty, for your service to the community. We will all miss you.
Hots, Burgers, Sausages, etc. will be available for purchase.
ALL WHILE SUPPLIES LAST!
Music for the event is provided by:
DJ Flyin Brian of Party Productions
Other Activities include:
Children Activities
Grease Paint Alley Clowns
Community Displays
There will be Door Prizes
“Pick A Prize” Raffle
A Square Dance demonstration at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
A Square Dance demonstration at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. put on by The Western New York Federation of Square and Round Dancers
A Square Dance demonstration at 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m.
Grease Paint Alley Clowns
Face-Paintings, Ballon Animals
Thank you to the Sponsors of the 2024 Strawberry & Dessert Tastings Festival
If you want to post the Flyer at any of the community boards around town or if your workplace has a what’s happing around town board the link to the flyer is below.
Historian Cynthia Howk presents an illustrated talk about the remarkable local Fetter family, covering 150 years of their life, work, and experiences through an extensive archive of historical photographs and documents previously unseen outside the family. This tribute honors 102-year-old Betty Fetter, custodian of this unique American story.
The Stream Will Go Live at this link here https://www.youtube.com/live/scsHuvT0nz4?si=VPrQMBjQO19kdgjM at 6:45 pm to ensure the video and audio settings are working and then the program will start at 7 pm broadcasted from the Greece Central School District Transportation and Student Services building on Latta Road at Mount Read Blvd.
On April 21, 2024, from 2 pm to 4 pm, we will be hosting two of our top researchers and presenters Maureen Whalen and Marie Poinan are often the face of Local History in our town and the broader community. They both have given many informative talks at the Greece Museum, the Charlotte Branch Library, and several other sites around town. Their subjects have covered a wide range of topics from “A to Z” (ancestors to zoo!) Each has published and assisted others in numerous books and articles. Their audiences are always eager to hear their well-researched presentations.
M & M Sunday will honor them, along with other leaders of the Greece Historical Society. Come to thank Maureen and Marie along with other “behind the scenes” folks who make our historical society one of the best in New York State.
While there, enjoy M & M Sundaes, prepared by Jane Grant.
On display at the Museum are artifacts from the game’s beginnings in the early 1800s to a jersey from the champion 2023 Greece Post American Legion team. Started on March 10, 2024, and runs till the end of the year.
Town of Greece resident Joe Territo, a co-founder and past President of the Rochester Baseball Historical Society is curating the exhibit. He also serves as the official team photographer for the Rochester Red Wings.
Little is known about baseball playing during the very early days of the sport in the Town of Greece. Accounts of organized games are extremely rare. Most of the town was farmland during the 19th century. It is likely that the children of hard-working farmers played the game more often than their parents. Back then, the game would not have included gloves because baseball was played barehanded during most of the 1800s. It is also likely that these youngsters played an early form of the game called town ball. Bases could have consisted of various objects including stones or even tall stakes driven into the ground that players had to touch to be counted as safe. Farm tools, such as ax handles, were commonly converted into bats, and balls were handmade from tightly wound twine or yarn wrapped in cloth or leather.
As Greece grew in population with farmlands becoming housing tracts and the town evolving into a vibrant suburb of Rochester, organized baseball became commonplace. Businesses such as the Hotel DeMay and the Dutch Mill sponsored youth teams and men’s softball teams. Visitors will also learn that a semi-pro team called the Town of Greece home and was very popular during the early part of the 20th century.
If you want to learn about some of our local hometown athletes who have gone on to the pro level or just had some records set at local high schools besides Jerome A Combs, then get yourself a copy of our publication written by Marie Villone Poinan the late Tom Sawnor.
Join Us on Tuesday, February 13, 2024, at 7 PM, at the Greece Central School District’s Transportation & Support Services Building, 1790 Latta Road, for a program on the History of WDKX the first and only African-American-owned station in Rochester, New York. The station was founded by Andrew Langston. Andre Langston & Andria B. Langston are the current owners of the radio station. The reason they chose the call sign WDKX is an acronym for and keeping with its urban contemporary format used the call letters to honor African-American Heros and one of them was a Rochesterian at the time of their death;
Wstands for radio stations located east of the Mississippi River
Dstands for Frederick Douglass
Kstands for Martin Luther King, Jr.
Xstands for Malcolm X
WDKX uses an 800-watt transmitter to broadcast its radio station. The station went live on April 6, 1974, at 5:30 AM and has been broadcasting 24/7 ever since. WDKX is one of only two remaining Urban stations in New York State.
The Station received the first-ever Pioneer Award from the Rochester Radio Broadcasters Hall of Fame, Andrew A. Langston, founder, owner, and general manager of 103.9 WDKX FM, was among the inaugural inductees into the New York State Broadcasters Associations Hall of Fame in June 2014.
Andrew A. Langston, Founder, Owner, and General Manager of 103.9 WDKX
Andrew Langston died in 2010 at the age of 82. His son, Andre Langston, continues to operate the station as the current general manager and is our scheduled speaker.
Other Locations WDKX was featured or mentioned in:
mentioned on “Super Hoe” Boogie Down Productions Criminal Minded 1987
VH1 Hip Hop Honors 2005
Hart of the City in 2019 (Season 3, Episode 5) which was produced by Kevin Hart and Joey Wells in Episode 5 of Season 3 featured three African-American comedians from Rochester, New York, Joel Jones, Travis Blunt, and Zack Johnson, and was filmed at Photo City Improv & Comedy Club / Photo City Music Hall on the corner of Atlantic Ave and Culver Road.
The station has a wide-ranging playlist, from classic soul to current hip hop/R&B.
The Greece Historical Society proudly announces a scholarship in honor of Warren C. Crandell, to a highly motivated, graduating high school senior from the Town of Greece who plans to further their education as a History or History Education major or minor at a two- or four-year college or university. The number of scholarships may vary annually.
Warren C Crandell scholarship
Completed applications must be submitted, delivered, or postmarked by the last Monday in March. The committee will review all applications received. Three candidates will be selected as finalists and interviewed by the committee at a date and location to be determined. Announcement of Awards to be made by the last Monday in April.
To learn more about the scholarship click here which will have the link to the application, the requirements for the scholarship, and brief information on the donor of the scholarship.
From March 2022 through March 2023, in celebration of our town’s bicentennial, the Greece Historical Society produced 54 multimedia podcasts called Bicentennial Snapshots. Each snapshot, averaging five to 10 minutes, explored a different aspect of Greece’s history.
Even though all of them are available on our website, the complete series of Bicentennial Snapshots is also available on a set of four DVDs for $15.00. Click on the Buy Now button below to order your DVD set of our Bicentennial Snapshots.
If you liked our bicentennial snapshot series that was released on YouTube from March 22, 2022 through March 28, 2023, and like this short video podcast style of presenting Greece History, please let us know by sending an email to VideoProgram@GreeceHistoricalSociety.onmicrosoft.com.
If there is sufficient interest in seeing Greece history presented in this way, we will look into expanding the series beyond the snapshots that have already been produced.
Monroe County Bookmobile in front of the old town hall, 1955 from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division
Today, as we acknowledge all those who helped us produce these Bicentennial Snapshots, please enjoy photos of places and businesses no longer part of the Greece landscape.
We would like to thank the following individuals with their contributions to the snapshots:
First of all, we are tremendously thankful for all the photos provided by Society President Bill Sauers. He has a vast archive of photographs that he generously shared with us.
Edgewater Hotel from Bill Sauers
Odenbach Shipbuilding, 2012, photo by Bill Sauers
If he didn’t have a photo we needed, he went out and took one, especially for the snapshots.
We greatly appreciate Greece town historian Keith Suhr giving us permission to use photos from Greece Images.
Dutch Mill, 2017, from the Office of the Town Historian
Mount Read Chase-Pitkin
Thank you also to our other photographers or those who provided photos for various episodes: Alan Mueller, Ben Kerr, Bonnie Stemen Fiser, Carolyn Kerheart, Dick Halsey, Deborah Cole Meyers,
Douglas Worboys, who worked at Chase-Pitkin and helped you find the tools and supplies for that home improvement project you had going on in your home,
Maiden Lanes Bowling Alley, photo by Mike Callen
Gene Preston(Retired North Greece Fire Department / Kodak Fire) and owner of Preston Fresh Produce on Long Pond Road, Gina DiBella, Gloria LaTragna, Gretchen Howe, Dr. George Sanders, “Booze, Barns, Boats and Brothers”by H. Dwight Bliss III, John Cranch, Jane Grant, Author of Barns of Greece, Kathy Gray who provided pictures of Frank Siebert that were added to the snapshot on Ridge Road Fire District, Jo Ann Ward Snyder co-author of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece, Joan Winghart Wilcox Sullivan who wrote about her father, Bernie Winghart, Gordon Massecar,
Joe Vitello, Marie Poinan co-author of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece as well as the co-author of two books with Maureen Whalen, one book with the late Tom Sawnor, and 5 books on her own, RRFD/Greece Ridge FD Historian and District Photographer Matthew Pillsbury, Battalion Chief Brian Gebo for providing Ridge Road/Greece Ridge Fire Districts 100 Years logo for our use,
Rochester Gas & Electric, Russell Station from GHS
Lincoln First Bank postcard at Dewey and Haviland
Patricia Conklin, Paul Pakusch who let us use the personal home video that he recorded on his way to work at News 10 (WHEC) NBC in 1991 during the ice storm, Mike Parker, Robert Bilsky, Ralph DeStephano, Ed Spelman, Tom DiBello, Travis Beaver, Francis Howard Whelehan, Stanley Hwalek, Mason Winfield the Author of “Haunted Rochester”, William Aeberli, Helen Edson Slocum, Virginia Tomkiewicz, Shirley Cox Husted
We would like to thank the following organizations, news outlets, local colleges and libraries
North Greece Fire Department, Greece Ridge/Ridge Road Fire District, Barnard Fire Department, Barnard Exempts, FDNY(Fire Department of the City of New York), Greece Police, Center for Governmental Research,
Island Cottage Hotel, 1977, from GHS
Streb’s Steak House from GHS
Rochester Public Library, Buffalo and Erie County Public Library’s Recording Studio in the Launch Pad Maker Space at the Central Library, The University of Rochester, Rochester Institute of Technology, Wayne State University, Princeton University, University of Iowa, nebraskastudies.org, SUNY School SOAR
Democrat and Chronicle, 13 Wham TV, WHEC, WROC, Spectrum News, Histrotic Detroit, The Hilton Record, Rochester Times-Union, The American Issue, New York Daily News, Global News a Division of Shaw Media, newspapers.com, Rochester Gas & Electric News Publication, Rochester Daily Advertiser,
Verhulst Brothers Farm Market from GHS
Our Lady of Mercy Rectory designed by James H. Johnson from GHS
Our Mother of Sorrows Church, Greece Baptist Church, Greece United Methodist Church,
Greece Central School District, Archive.org, BoxRec.com, US Treasury National Archives, FBI, National Archives, Department of Defense, U.S.C.G.S. ( United States Coast Guard), Library of Congress, USDA, Wikipedia, IMDB, National Weather Services, NOAA, NASA, Canadian Ice Service, US PTO(Patent and Trademark Office), Society for American Baseball Research (SABR), Rochester Baseball Historical Society, Monroe County GIS Map Gallery which contains 11 interactive maps that were used in some of the snapshots as well as the parcels map that was used to verify data on certain properties,
District School #5, 2007, photo by Bill Sauers
999 Long Pond Road from GHS
The Landmark Society of Western New York, Rochester Museum and Science Center, Henry Ford Museum of American Innovation, mcnygenealogy.com, New York State digital archive, Monroe Historical Society, Charlotte-Genesee Lighthouse, Cobblestone Museum, Buffalo Maritime Center, New York State Department of Transportation, Bob Johnson Chevrolet
We relied heavily on past newspaper accounts and are so grateful that the Greece Historical Society secured grants to have the Greece Press, Greater Greece Press, and Greece Post digitized.
Bull at Scarlett’s Island Cottage from GHS
Lake Shore Drive-in Sign from GHS
History writers of the future will have a more difficult time documenting the past with fewer newspapers available.
Cine 1234 Ridge Rd (FB Gina Beebee)
The maps digitized by the Rochester Public Library’s Local History and Genealogy Division are a marvelous resource.
St Charles Borromeo school photo by Bill Sauers
Movie Theatre in Stoneridge Plaza from GHS
If these Snapshots brought back memories or taught you something you didn’t know, then we succeeded in our endeavor. They will remain a resource for future students of local history.
We encourage you to get out and photograph what will be tomorrow’s history. Keep a journal documenting your lives and bequeath them to future generations.
Johnny Maier’s Hotel and Restaurant, 4454 Dewey Avenue, from GHS
Friendly’s Restaurant on Dewey Avenue from GHS
Lastly, we invite you to visit the Greece Historical Society and Museum to learn more about the history of the town of Greece.
Greece Volunteer Ambulance (GVA)
This is Maureen Whalen, on behalf of the Greece Historical Society, Pat Worboys, and myself, saying thank you to our loyal viewers and wishing you the best as Greece begins a new century.
Today we turn our attention to one of the most iconic businesses in Greece. We want to thank Jo Ann Ward Snyder and Bonnie Stemen Fiser for their collaboration on this Snapshot. Jo Ann is preparing a profile of the Buckman family for Volume II of Pioneer Families of the Town of Greece. This is just a small expert from the full profile of the Buckman’s not all photos from the profile are in this post you will have to wait for the book to come out.
Buckman’s Dairy, 1950s, from GHS, courtesy of Ralph DeStefano
Many Grecians have sweet memories (pun intended) of Buckman’s Dairy.
Homer Buckman was born in 1889, …
Homer Buckman, courtesy of Bonnie Stemen Fiser
May, Burl, George, Lucy Griffin, Homer Buckman, courtesy of Bonnie Stemen Fiser
… the eldest child of George Buckman and Lucy Griffin. In this photo, Homer is on the far right.
In 1906 he married Alice Mitchell, daughter of Greece pioneers Thomas and Alice Corby Mitchell. The couple had one daughter Emeroy.
Alice, Emeroy, and Homer Buckman, courtesy of Bonnie Stemen Fiser
1902 Map of Greece from the Rochester Public Library Local History and Genealogy Division
In 1911 Homer Buckman founded his dairy with a dozen cows. It was located on the farm his father purchased from the estate of Erastus and Sarah Walker at the northwest corner of what is today, Ridge and Long Pond Roads. Homer was able to buy the land from his father in 1915.
Homer delivered his milk in a horse-drawn wagon three seasons of the year, and used a horse-drawn sleigh in the winter. In the background of this photo is his home, located on Ridge Road adjacent to the Dairy.
Eventually, deliveries were made by a 1928 Ford Model AA 1-1/2 Ton stake truck and a Reo Truck. Homer constructed a plant to pasteurize the milk and eliminated the competition by buying out the only other dairy in Greece. To meet customer demand Homer began buying raw milk from other local farmers
Homer with his delivery truck, the 1920s, from the office of the Town Historian. The Turck in this picture most likely matches the 1928 Ford Model AA 1-1/2 Ton stake truck from 1928 in the front. The back of the 1928 Ford Model AA looks like the 1929 Ford Model AA 1-1/2 Ton stake truck in the rear. This Truck was probably built in Michigan. Based onupdated information from the Benson Ford Research Center at The Henry Ford Museum.
Antique milk churn from eBay
as well as importing it via railroad; he’d pick up the milk churns like this one on the left arriving at the Hojack railroad station in North Greece, transporting it to his pasteurization plant to ready it for delivery. By 1931, the dairy was bottling 300 quarts of milk a day.
Hojack station, North Greece, from the Office of the Town Historian
Aerial view of Buckman’s, 1940, GHS
In the late 1920s, Homer remodeled the old barn and opened a small cash and carry store with milk, cream, and in season, ice cream. In 1931 he sold the business to Robert Peters, although he still owned all the property, lived on-site in his home, and helped out in the store.
In 1950 Ralph P. DeStephano, the owner of Bonnybrook Dairy on Lyell Avenue bought both the business and the property. He consolidated the milk processing operations on Ridge Road.
Bonnybrook Buckman’s Dairy, 2576 West Ridge Road, Photo Bill Sauers
Homer Buckman’s Obituary, on Page 7 in The Greece Post., November 16, 1972
Homer even continued to work in the store for a while. He died in 1972 at the age of 88. He was a Member of Greece Methodist Church on Maiden Lane, and a Member of the Greece Grange.
In 1966, DeStephano described to a reporter the history of the building: “The hayloft at the top of the barn is now three offices, mine and two others. The main floor where the hay was carried in is the main store. The ridge drops about 20 feet and cows came into the barn from a ramp in the back. They used the pasture out there. In the basement where the cattle were fed, is our ice cream room.”
Buckman’s, 1952, from the Office of the Town Historian
Old Menu board from Buckman’s, from GHS
Circa 1976, the shop was renovated, and an old-fashioned ice cream parlor was added. The name changed to Buckman’s Ice Cream Village. Donuts had been sold at the shop beginning in the late 1950s, now snack items and soup and sandwiches were on the menu, and of course, ice cream. Twenty-five flavors!
Original Kitchen Sink from Buckman’s, Ralph DeStefano
The Kitchen Sink (Happy Days), courtesy of Jo Ann Ward Snyder
They had fun inventing ice cream delights such as “the “Kitchen Sink” which had 8 scoops of ice cream (2 scoops each of vanilla, banana, chocolate, and strawberry), 4 bananas, 4 toppings, 8 shots of whip cream and 8 cherries. If you ate it all, you would get a free sundae certificate.”
Sign honoring Ralph DeStephano, 1970s, from GHS
DeStephano was also a community activist and was “instrumental in bringing ambulance services, a Rotary Club, a Chamber of Commerce, and Park Ridge Hospital to Greece.” It was Ralph DeStephano and Ray DeMay that started Greece Volunteer Ambulance. Greece Volunteer Ambulance Corps. (GVAC), which has since been disbanded in the last few years due to the four fire companies changing providers to Monroe Ambulance and the rising cost of Emergency services which the volunteer corp could not afford anymore.
The sign here on the left is from the Holiday Inn a few years before the tragic Holiday Inn Fire of 1978 which took the lives of ten people who were staying at that hotel.
You can learn more about Park Ave to Park Ridge from the May 2021 program that was recorded from Zoom and can be viewed by clicking the link below.
Ralph DeStephano sold the business to his son also named Ralph DeStephano Jr, in 1987.
Ralph DeStephano in his laundry center, 1970, from the Office of the Town Historian
Buckman’s Laundry Center, 1970, from the Office of the Town Historian
Buckman Enterprise also included a laundry
and a car wash.
Buckman’s car wash, 2023, photo by Bill Sauers
From Greece Post, December 2, 1981
Those were the days in 1981—six car washes for $15.00!
During the 1980s through the mid-2000s the dairy, ice cream, and donut businesses were leased to several different operators. It closed in 2006.
Buckman’s ice cream from GHS
Buckman Plaza as of 2-17-23, Photo by Bill Sauers
The DeStephano family continues to own the property and today there are a variety of businesses in Buckman’s plaza.
Walgreens took a long-term lease to erect a drugstore on the site of the old dairy and barn, torn down in 2009; the pharmacy closed in 2018. Today the former Homer Buckman dairy is the site of Orville’s Home Appliances.
More on Homer Buckman and his family will be printed in the upcoming release of The Pioneer Families of Greece, New York Volume 2 coming later this year.
Also, you can view the program titled Buckman’s Dairy and Bakery History, that Ralph Destephano put on that was recorded on July 16, 2017
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