Fall Improvements 2011

Improvements can come in all kinds of ways, from building a porch to cutting flowers for the dining room table. Looking ahead is one improvement Karen Bartomioli favors. Michael Marciano likes to see local history pre-served. For Dick Paddock, a roof that will last forever and will repel moss and other kinds of flora is his idea of a big improvement. Getting sound advice on remodeling kitchens is the way to start a complex and expensive improvement, Shaw Israel Izikson figures; and Asher Pavel makes the case for remodeling what you have rather than investing in a new house. We pass all this along in the hopes that you will be aided in your own improvements. — Marsden Epworth, editor

Fall Improvements

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Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.

Natalia Zukerman

Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.

In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”

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Robert Cray’s soulful blues coming to Infinity Hall

Robert Cray

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Blues legend Robert Cray will be bringing his stinging, funky guitar and soulful singing to Infinity Hall Norfolk on Friday, March 29.

A five-time Grammy winner, Cray has been inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame and earned The Americana Music Awards Lifetime Achievement for Performance. He has played with blues and rock icons including Albert Collins, Muddy Waters, John Lee Hooker, The Rolling Stones, Tina Turner, Eric Clapton and many more.

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