From WXXI news.

This is connections.

I'm Raquel Stephen.

Today we're back with another stop in our Summer Finger Lakes tour, where we explore the stories, people, and places that make this region so vibrant.

This hour, we're heading to the northern tip of Seneca Lake, the deepest and in many ways, the most iconic of the Finger Lakes.

This is Geneva.

It's a city with deep indigenous and agricultural roots and interesting history and a dynamic present.

Known to some as the Lake Trout Capital of the world and to others as a lakeside arts haven, a culinary gem, or a sustainability trailblazer.

But all of those identities live side by side in this small city with a big personality.

And whether you've driven through it on your way to a wine tasting or you've lived there, your whole life.

Geneva always has something new to discover.

Today we're going to explore what makes Geneva tick.

Joining me in studio, Steve Valentino, the mayor of Geneva.

Nice to have you, Steve.

Thank you.

Recall.

Happy to be here.

Jessica VanderMeer, the marketing director at Finger Lakes.

Visitors Connection.

Hi, Jessica.

Hello.

And Jen Regan, photographer.

Oh, we're going to go down the list listing photographer, board member of Geneva's Industrial Development agency and the president of Reuse Systems Incorporated.

Wow.

We expect you to talk a lot today.

Okay.

Thank you so much.

And thank you for being here.

Thanks for showcasing Geneva.

Of course.

And our listeners love this series.

So I expect a lot of engagement from our, our listeners.

And joining us remotely, we have Susie Monaghan, executive director of the iconic Smith Opera House.

Hi, Susie, are on the line.

Hello.

Thanks for having me.

Of course.

Thank you for joining us.

And we have a lot of guests here today.

So this is going to be a wide ranging conversation.

And we know our listeners have been loving this series.

So keep the calls and messages coming.

All right I let's jump in first.

Let's set the scene.

Jessica, you help people fall in love with this region every day.

What is it about this place that draws people in and keeps them coming back?

We do.

We market the entire Finger Lakes region, Ontario County specifically.

And I mean, if you just look outside when you're at the lakes, it speaks for itself.

But really with Geneva, it is very central to the entire Finger Lakes region.

You can get to day trips to Canandaigua, Rochester.

You can go down to the southern area of the Finger Lakes.

And it really is a great spot that people like to hub.

We call it hub and spoke.

Stay in one spot.

Travel outside of it.

So a lot of people like staying in Geneva and then traveling outside to Cayuga Lake, Canandaigua Lake and other areas in the Finger Lakes.

So, so, Jessica, what kinds of visitors are discovering Geneva today, and how has that changed in the last 5 or 10 years?

We see a lot of leisure travel, but also a lot of group travel.

So when you see the giant motor coaches out on the interstates, the Thruway is they're coming in from other areas of New York State, but also outside of New York State.

And it's a busload of 50 people, and they're all coming in to explore the region.

So we see a lot of that coming in.

And really a generally a lot of outdoor enthusiasts, a lot of foodies.

And of course, the wine region, everyone comes for the wine and craft beverage too.

Yes.

And is it Linden Avenue?

Is that the industry?

Linden Street, that's the hot spot, right?

Yeah, it's Linden Street is a amazing spot, especially there's a number of wine shops and stories on that front and almost every single one of them has a certified Somalia that works there.

So really top notch wine on Linden Street.

And then it also closes off to, the driving traffic.

So on the weekends it'll close off to the driving track.

At fact, Be Pedestrian Only has a beautiful mural on it really just lights, you know.

Sets the scene for the nightlife in Geneva and Geneva.

Seems to have like the sweet spot between a small town with a little urban flair.

Right?

What is that?

What is that urban flair?

What do we mean by urban flair?

What is that like?

Jean, if you want to share.

Yeah, sure.

Well, we do have a tagline.

Uniquely urban.

Yes.

And I think some of what you've indicated, even Linden Street and, just, it's a place with its own identity.

I would add, there's we can all speak to the beauty of the place, and, even the architecture, etc..

But one of the things and this probably adds to the uniquely urban, aspect of Geneva is, is the people who live there because we have, Hobart, William Smith Colleges.

That brings in a dynamic group of smart and creative people.

We have Cornell AG Tech, which, also similarly, but also people who, are more on a scientific bent than the liberal arts approach of Hobart.

William Smith.

And they you meet people who are, developing new apples and new grapes.

You have, the people who are the winemakers living in our city and followed closely by the culinary people.

And on top of all that, or at the base of all that, are the people who live there all their lives and know the traditions and the special things about Geneva.

And together, that vibrant community just makes Geneva particularly special place.

How do you balance it?

All right.

How do you take this hidden gem and balance the growing industry and the new people that are coming in, and how do we keep that identity?

Let me jump in.

I think the challenge there is, taking a look historically at Geneva, back in the 50s and 60s, we had Seneca Army Depot on the Sampson Naval Air Base.

So the population in Geneva and the industry in Geneva was huge back then.

It was the go to place to be.

And throughout the 70s and 80s, things kind of changed as the economy changed and as those basis dwindled down and close.

So for us to create that balance, it takes a lot of effort.

And Jan's also been on council.

You missed that part.

Oh, she's been out.

Yeah.

You are a young woman show here.

Why don't you do that?

You know, and making decisions throughout, throughout the years to kind of bring back that vibrancy has been a major challenge.

One thing we've focused on is keeping our lakefront open, open for the public to be able to come and enjoy it.

So if you look at some of the other Finger Lakes, our lakefront on the north end of Seneca Lake is just gorgeous.

You can sit there and see a sunrise.

You can you can take in all the beauty.

I mean, there's walking paths and bicycle paths and so many things to do.

We just had a Muscle Man triathlon there and a huge draw.

So for us, you know, showcasing ourselves, interestingly enough, and the muscle man that brings people from all over the world.

So, you know, word gets out and you start seeing these people.

I love going downtown on Linden Street or elsewhere and talking to people.

And they're from Pittsburgh or they're from Maryland and from out of state and out of country and just makes me beam inside to know that people recognize the city of Geneva, which it was a hidden gem for years.

Yeah.

Yeah.

I was going to ask you to elaborate on that, like, because it's considered a hidden gem, but is it still hidden?

I think so, I think it hasn't reached its potential.

You know, we really are working on more marketing because, public and private investment gets you so far.

But tourism is one of our biggest attractions.

We don't we don't want big industries anymore.

We really want those nice food and beverage specialties.

And as Jen mentioned, Cornell is just such a great asset to us.

It has a viticulture program there and they do a lot of food research there.

We actually have a Agtech park, and we're trying to attract more businesses to come in and do their food research there, which helps the area.

And I know you, you grew up there, right?

Steve?

You're from there.

You grew up there.

How has Geneva changed over the years from your perspective and what are the biggest priorities right now?

Great question, mayor.

Yeah, I actually ignored Geneva until I came back from the Army when I was coming back, driving up route 14 along the lake, I'm like, wow, I live in a beautiful part of the country.

So, you know, when you're young and you grown up, you take things for granted.

But honestly, when you've been away and you come back just enamored over how beautiful the area you live in.

So, you know, for me, you know, the 70s and 80s were a little bit of a challenge.

We were moving the road on five and 20 away from the lake.

Our downtown was having challenges, losing businesses were losing population.

And, you know, that's what my father hollered at me, says, you can't complain.

You got to get involved.

So that's how I got on council in 96.

And the focus was, how do you revive Geneva?

How do you bring things back to the city of Geneva?

And that still to me is a challenge.

I think we haven't reached our potential yet.

We've seen some great strides with the $10 million DRI.

We've got great lakefront, great downtown.

We just in great neighborhoods are increasing, property values are increasing.

So for us, the biggest challenge is our economic development and housing right now.

Yeah.

So Jessica, when you're marketing Geneva, what are your what are your go tos?

What do you sell?

As Steve mentioned, the lakefront, and we always tell people when you're in Geneva, make a stop at the Finger Lakes Welcome Center of all the welcome centers in New York State.

I like to brag that we have the best view of all of them.

And you have the beautiful Isle of New York sculpture right there with the lake behind it.

What a prize to bring that picture home as a souvenir.

And we promote the shops that are there.

The downtown area really is a very walkable area with a lot of mom and pop shops, boutiques, bookstores.

And when you talk about revitalization, the way that different buildings are repurposing what they once were, I mean, you have Twisted rail in Geneva that moved into the old movie theater.

Who wants to go to a brewery that was in an old movie theater?

It's so awesome.

And then you have down outside of outside of the city, you go down a little bit, you have brewery are done in there, and an old sheep farm.

So the history that you have in the building is that these new businesses are and is just so unique that it really tells the story very well.

So it's a lot of that.

And the lakefront, outdoor activity.

You have Seneca Lake State Park that's right there.

It's got the splash pad for the kids.

You also have a disc golf course.

I don't really disc golf all that much, but my brother is very into it.

I told her I didn't tell him this yet, but I said, I'm going to have to grab my brother to help get some photos out at the disc golf course.

It's.

And I know you mentioned Geneva's uniqueness, right?

And I want to touch on that.

Geneva straddles two counties, Ontario and Seneca.

Does that impact the way the city operates or how residents experience community life?

Steve.

Well, I don't think it's a major impact by any means.

We are very friendly to our both.

Seneca County, you know, it's the shoreline is kind of the dividing line and then up by the state park.

And we work well with the Seneca County representatives.

So we're actually working on some infrastructure sharing and some fire protection sharing between the two counties.

So we have a great relationship right now.

And I think that's beneficial to kind of piggyback off each other.

Yeah.

And be able to draw more people into the area.

So there's no resentment, you know, no county line per se.

And I want to get into Geneva's history.

Steve, you know, Kerry's not here with us, so I'm counting on you and all of you as my historians.

Right.

What do we know about the indigenous presence and legacy of Geneva?

And what was Geneva before it was called?

Geneva?

And no one.

I heard that the name Geneva, no one knows where it came from.

Is that true?

Well, no, I can't say that's not true, because I can remember in 1998, I got invited to a Geneva other world's convention in Switzerland.

So I was I went with another representative, Doctor Marshall.

We went to Geneva, Switzerland, in 28.

Geneva is in the world.

So that's where Geneva.

Geneva being on the base of a lake.

And I will brag because besides Geneva, Switzerland, Geneva, New York is the only one that's on a lake that is representative, except for Geneva, Ohio, which is on the huge Lake Erie.

Yeah.

The rest of them are not even un bodies of water.

So that's kind of where the name came from.

As far as the, the indigenous.

I mean, there's there's some great histories and great landmarks all throughout the city of Geneva and the town of Geneva, where you can kind of look at that information and feel confident.

I wish I could remember the Iroquois tribe jam reaching out because it's it's it's it's difficult to pronounce, for one thing.

Yeah.

It's not going to come.

It's not on the tip of my tongue, I'm afraid.

And we recently had General Lafayette come to the city.

Geneva.

There was a reenactment of General Lafayette.

So up on the, the east side, the east side of our.

On the what?

Excuse me?

The west side of our city.

There's a stone there that talks about over 100 years ago.

How general Lafayette actually, 200 years ago, how General Lafayette came to the city of Geneva and General Lafayette did great things.

But the reenactment was so cool.

People from France came over and we did the whole reenactment and the firing of the muskets and everything.

It was it was phenomenal.

Oh my God, it sounds great.

That's the stuff you see on television, right?

And I would love to see that in in live in person.

That sounds so much fun.

Geneva later became the center for agriculture and then military hub like you mentioned.

Steve, what parts of Geneva's past are you, think still echoes today?

That's more present?

Well, you know, I think the building structures, the architecture is huge.

For us, we try to do our best.

You have Suzanne on who can talk a lot about the Smith Opera House, which is a great anchor in our city of Geneva.

So I think architecture is huge.

Some of the history, you know, we have a glass plant in Geneva, and it was interesting because there was a glass plant over 100 years ago there.

So you see some of the resurgence of some of the businesses.

One thing that we, we still have a gap in is we have a lot of industries that left Geneva.

So our challenge is there are remediating some of those sites or reusing some of those buildings similar.

Here in Rochester, when Kodak vacates a large number of buildings, you have a large challenge on, what to do with those?

Yeah.

We want to ask Susie to join the conversation.

We're going to we're going to talk about the Smith Opera House.

Susie, tell us about the Smith House.

What makes it special not to not just to, those living in Geneva, but to the to the region.

What makes it special?

Yeah.

I mean, it's a fascinating place.

I feel so privileged to come here every day to work.

It was started in 1894, so we just celebrated our 130th birthday last year.

And my staff and I just recently went to a conference of the League of Historic American Theaters, in Pittsburgh.

And there's, you know, hundreds of these across the country.

And really, the Smith is one of the oldest and one of the most continually operating.

So in terms of legacy, it just really points to the generations of Geneva and who has made the Smith its priority, not only by going to shows, but certainly once it became a not for profit organization in, in the late 70s, making it tick, you know, doing the donations, writing the grants to make sure this place survived.

And it's incredible inside you.

Really.

It's it's so deceiving from out on the sidewalk.

I mean, we have a beautiful facade, but there is no way you can really get a sense of it until you walk through those doors.

And I'm really privileged to be in the lobby when visitors come through the door and are like, wow, this place is incredible.

So, you know, it's the is too often musical artists who bring people through the doors.

You know, recently we had Los Lobos Old Crow Medicine Show.

Mandy Patinkin played earlier this year.

You know, that's when we have a thousand or more people through the door.

And we have a lot of visitors from, you know, within 100 miles or more come to the Smiths to see their favorite artist.

But they don't necessarily know the Smith is a building.

And that's when it's really exciting to see people engage with it the first time.

So we're, just over 1300 seats.

And, as I said, you know, though, it's 130 years old, obviously, we have updates that we need to do every year to keep it sound and to keep it in step with the 21st century artists who come through and the audience and what their expectations are.

And for my guests in studio, the Smith Opera House, what is your feelings towards it?

What are what are your reactions when walking in?

I've, I've been quite involved with the Smith over, over time.

And, as an audience member, I photograph all their events and things like that.

But I was also on the board, and I'm one of my proudest achievements is, helping to hire Susie has done a wonderful job for us.

And another thing about, I think, where you see that reaction that's so amazing and it tells a little bit about the Smith being involved with the community, is, through the children's programing, art smart.

And we, they bring in, kids, you know, even if they live in Geneva, they may not have been to the Smith and just the wonder on a child's face.

We adults kind of, don't always show our emotions quite as much as that.

But it's really wonderful to be there and see kids coming in for the first time.

And I, I to this day, you know, I think there's been a change in theaters.

A lot of people want standing, locations, you know, for or, you know, to watch their concerts.

And, it is really a sit and listen kind of place, but it's so beautiful.

And you can look around above there's, in the theater itself is it's, you know, it's supposed to bring about the, feeling of, nighttime sky.

So there's stars up above and, when things are really on, you can even do, like, a sunset there and have the stars come up, and it's quite it's a beautiful place to sit and really listen and hear the music that's in front of you.

And we're just glad that it's it has been thriving for as long as it has.

Yeah.

And 130 years.

Susie, what are some moments in its history that stand out to you?

Well, they're we're very proud to have had Bruce Springsteen play here three different times in the 70s, which is, incredible to imagine him being here.

Yeah, there was a period, it was a movie theater for a very long time.

And then, as I said, got saved in the late 70s.

And this is a very common story across the country that, you know, these theaters have their their behemoths, you know, they're so huge to try to take care of.

And so they sort of lapsed in their communities minds.

And then people, you know, brought them back.

But yeah, you know, I just feel like there's such a wide variety.

You know, we just had Geneva Light Opera here last weekend doing Falstaff.

They're here every year.

And, you know, those performers and the musicians and the singers are unmatched.

And this building is so incredible for hearing people, you know, 1300 seats, there are no microphones.

And those folks are heard perfectly beautifully throughout the building, as clear as a bell.

So there's just something about the acoustics of the building that are worth experiencing.

But then, of course, when we had your favorite rock show in here, they're all like, to the Hills.

And you definitely hear them, too.

Yeah.

And, you know, I like kind of piggybacking on what Chan said.

I love that we have the dance studios from throughout the region coming to their recitals here.

And, you know, with some of the rehearsals, it's just getting those three, 4 or 5 year olds up on stage.

They don't rehearse their dance.

They just rehearse their, struck notes of having been on this giant stage looking at those 1300 seats, you know, and then they bring them back out again.

But, you know, these are the kids who are going to inherit Geneva, community and are going to inherit running this smith.

And they need to fall in love with it.

And we need to keep giving reasons for them to walk through the door and having those transforming experiences.

Thank you.

Susie.

And I know Jessica when you're, when you're doing your, your marketing, where does the Smith house line up.

As far as the masses of the Finger Lakes.

The Smith is one of the top attractions that we do mention for people to see when they come through Geneva, especially, those groups that I mentioned that come through because you get a vast array of experiences that you can get if you want to do history tours.

Susie's great at helping out with groups and doing history tours or the array of performing arts as it was mentioned.

The dancing, the music, the movies you really get a whole family atmosphere, something for everybody there.

And with it being such a historic, location and long standing, it just adds to that vibrancy of downtown Geneva.

And we talk a lot about the arts.

Right.

How important is the arts in Geneva's identity?

Well, I think it's huge.

You know, it's one of the big draws.

You can talk about wine and culinary all you want, but when it comes to arts and architecture, Geneva has a lot for people to, to enjoy.

We've actually had a historical walk before, which has been very beneficial.

The thing for me with the Smith is I can remember seven and eight year olds.

I was there in the late 60s, going on Saturday matinees and watching Bela Lugosi and Dracula and Frankenstein.

As Jan mentioned, the stars.

When the lights went out, there was oohs and eyes and you can look up and it felt like you were outside.

It was amazing.

I did go to Bruce Springsteen once they go to Giles.

So great venues, and we've even had, very famous person Chevy McCoy in the gym class heroes grow up in the Smith Opera House, and they just got inducted into the Boston Music Hall of Fame, which was phenomenal.

And it was great because they they did the throwback, the Geneve on the thank you to the Geneva area for that.

Yeah.

And you grew up in the Smith House as well, right.

Mayor Steve definitely.

So how has it changed?

You still get that same ol feeling when you, when you walk in that you did when you were 7 or 8 years old?

I can't compliment the volunteers and the staff that have really kept the Smith up to date, and even better than it has been ever before for me.

You know, I can remember the old films that would run and I don't know the mechanics behind it, but there was like a flame.

Well, you'd be watching the movie and also in the film would break, you know, and that doesn't happen anymore because I guess it got too hot or something like that.

But the technology advancements and the Smith is phenomenal.

And down in the basement, the meeting areas and there's a little wine area in the basement, it's just it's just amazing from top to bottom.

And we can't we can't talk about the arts without having Jean speak on.

On her skill set photography.

You've captured Geneva through your lens for years.

When you think about what makes this place visually distinct, what comes to mind?

You can't.

You know, I consider myself, really a people photographer first.

But I like the spaces people are in.

And you can't help but be drawn, you know, to the beauty that's around Geneva.

That is Geneva.

You know, we spend many, weekends at the lake, and we're always there as the sun goes down and you know that everyone's up there with their cell phones and, I usually have a bigger camera with me that I can capture some of that.

You know, there's boats on the lake that are beautiful.

I'm not a boater myself, but I can appreciate them.

And, you know, it's it's just a really wonderful place to be.

And it's small enough you can get around, you know?

But I also, in terms of the art, I just have to mention a couple other little things that are, they're growing.

And, you know, Steve mentioned the music.

We've had a lot of really wonderful, artists, musicians who grew up in Geneva.

One thing that's come back is the Geneva music Festival.

That's, classical music almost primarily.

But they started introducing jazz and, a few, you know, bluegrass kinds of, performances as well.

That's about three weeks, every year in May ish, May to June.

And it was it's been built up by a young man who took violin in Geneva, you know, and then from that, you know, just one quick leap as the Saint Peter's Arts Academy, which is still instructing children.

That's what that violin program was morphed into eventually, in, in the city of Geneva, the dove flock historically, in terms of, and architecturally, something to look at.

They offer all kinds of arts programing there.

And it's, it's, it's new enough that it's not like maybe listed like the Smith Opera House might be as a stop by.

But they always have a show.

They have free workshops, for people and just to walk by and see that building that again was saved by some of the citizens in Geneva.

That's how that all started.

And you just, you know, you feel the community aspect, which is such an important component of Geneva in, I have some, you know, YouTube comments for, for my guest here today.

One, one person says is a drop in Canadian tourism affecting the number of tourists coming to Geneva?

It's been hard to say exactly because everything's changing so frequently, so we don't have exact data on it to showcase, for sure.

But we have seen, you know, some feedback from the Canadian visitation of people that just don't feel welcomed and ready.

But our goal is to put out a warm, welcoming message to our neighbors.

We did participate our office, along with others throughout New York State, and a Canada Day, posting on social media to just put out the message of when you feel welcome to come.

Geneva, Ontario County, the Finger Lakes, New York State, we welcome you.

So it will be interesting to see as the year continues and we get more concrete data to see.

But we're so close to the border and the Finger Lakes in general is such an economically friendly destination, because you do have so much you can do for free on a budget, or you can upscale if you want a more luxury experience.

It really ranges, so time will tell.

But yeah, yeah, we'll we'll see.

We'll check back in by the end of the year and see if anything, changes.

And I'll just a quick comment there because, I'm a license plate watcher.

You're a license plate.

Yeah.

I want to know where people are from.

So it's Jan, are you a license plate watcher?

Add that to your I. I think it's a new hobby.

Yeah, but, just to know, from just outside of Quebec was the winner of the Muscle Man.

So we're not scaring people away.

I think we're close enough to the border.

Maybe if you go further than our area, you might have more of an impact on Canadian tourist visitors.

But I think right now, especially with the exchange rates and everything, what we're doing pretty good.

Pretty well.

Okay, good.

That's that's good to know.

I hope our, our YouTube, our commenters, listen to that.

Also for Susie, we had one comment that says, so why is it called the opera House?

I haven't heard anything about operas last weekend.

Yeah, well, that that was the original name.

So, you know, again, it was opened up during, Oh, you know, probably the vaudeville era would best describe it in 1894, but the first performance was, you know, a performance of a solo, Shakespeare orator, you know, so back in the day, I think every, municipality might have their pretensions and, you know, thought that opera house sounded pretty good.

So, you know, they are all over the country, Lebanon opera House, on and on.

All over.

And then when the time came to, to turn the place, cam would know more about this into the, not for profit.

The decision was to make it the Smith Center for the Arts, but we are referred to both and in my mind, Smith center for the Arts is the organization.

Smith opera House is the building.

So I would say, you know, Geneva Light Opera is performed here every single year.

We are welcome to, more open and, to more opera.

Whoever wants to come in and do it, it's an exquisite place to present it, as I mentioned earlier.

But yeah.

Good.

Good observation.

Not a whole lot of opera at the opera up.

And if you want to, I piggyback off.

Well, the, there was a period where the Smith Opera House, was going under that name, Prime as the main name that we were carrying.

And the idea there was to try and get the word out.

I think every community has this problem about all that is happening in Geneva, all the arts programing.

And so we were trying to be the the place where, you'd have that, that beautiful website that people look for, where all the events are listed and, where we could help program for other organizations that, that, that had some impact.

But in the end, we, you know, we have some wonderful individual arts organizations and everyone kind of carried on on their own.

And little by little we've gone back to calling the Smith Opera House primarily, even just the Smith, which is kind of kind of nice, too.

Okay, we'll we'll take a quick little break.

We have more questions for our guests.

We're talking about Geneva as we tour the Finger Lakes right here on Sky.

I'm Evan Dawson, coming up in our second hour.

How do you separate the art from the artist?

We're bringing back a recent conversation in which we focused on how do we deal with as fans, separating what a musician does when a performer on stage does versus what they do in their personal lives.

And whether we like how they behave.

We'll talk about separating the art from the artist next, our.

Public radio brings you the kind of enlightened discussions that keep you informed.

We rely on listeners like you to help pay for this kind of programing.

And when you become a sustaining member of Sky, your monthly gift helps keep this vital service strong for the whole community.

Please make your gift at Sky dawg and welcome back to Sky connections.

We are touring the Finger Lakes and our stop right now is Geneva and joining me in studio I have Steve Valentino, the mayor of Geneva.

I have Jessica VanderMeer, the marketing director at Finger Lakes Visitors Connection.

I have Jen Regan, photographer, board member of Geneva's Industrial Development Agency and the president of Reuse Systems.

And on the line remotely, I have Susie Madigan, executive director of the iconic Smith Opera House, aka Smith House, aka Smith Art center.

She's on the phone with us now.

We want to talk about the good stuff.

Food and wine.

Well, my good stuff.

Jessica or Steve?

Geneva's farm to table scene is thriving right now.

What role do local farmers and producers play in shaping Geneva's identity?

Oh, I can talk too much.

So much.

Okay, okay, I'll go first and you can piggyback as well.

Really?

Our Ontario county as a whole is very agricultural based, and it's so interesting working with the different businesses to see the connections that get made from all the way from farm to table.

We work closely with Cornell Cooperative Extension.

So it was mentioned earlier about, Cornell's Agritech that's in, Geneva there where people can start testing to make their food new food creations, testing how they can better service crops on the farm.

And you see a lot of it with the local hops that people are using for the craft beverages.

You see it from the local organic farms, are getting into the restaurants.

A lot of the restaurants like to, promote.

We really like to promote those that are farm to table, because you get a lot of people that that's what they're looking for when they're considering also wellness and just supporting the amount of farm market that are around the area, too.

Geneva does a great job.

Summer, winter markets and it all goes even to vendors that are doing maple sirup.

And so you might not see it necessarily, but you have someone that has their maple sirup farm, and then they show up at the market and they're going to sell their sirup bottles there.

But their sirup products are also being used at the local restaurant that's using it for their recipes, whether it be your standard pancakes with maple sirup, or maybe they're putting maple sirup into one of their maple desserts that they're doing.

And so you really see the whole life span and different ways that everybody interacts.

And even the local breweries, have their beverages and other local restaurants.

So it's all so interconnected.

And just seeing agritourism as a whole between the places that are operating as farms where you can come and you can see an operating farm, I don't know if it's made its way out to Geneva, but every other year is fun.

On the farm, and that rotates around Ontario County, different farms, and it's really a great educational experience for people to learn again, start to finish operations of the farm from what you have to do to just feed the animals and then where it goes from there.

And then just crops in general.

I got to go to Cornell Agritech recently and heard about, some new technology that they're doing to work on being able to zap weeds in different ways.

And I'm like, this is incredible.

Wow.

And what does this do for the economy, Steve?

Well, I think it's it's one of the anchors.

Yeah, it's definitely one of the anchors of the economy.

And I think society's changing as a whole.

You know, our fast food chains are very minimal.

And on the outskirts of the city of Geneva, but you get into the heart of Geneva and most of it is food to table our farm to table.

Excuse me.

And I think, you know, the leverage.

There's been some businesses that have been around for quite some time, whether it's wine or food, you got the vinifera, you got an or you got, the land and social down on a lakefront.

You mentioned Twisted Rail before they advertise and it's so fresh.

I, you know, I think that's the biggest difference is when your taste buds are really tasting something that's had preservatives in it, as opposed to something that came right from the farm through the process to the table at flex table is phenomenal.

It's tough to get a table there.

So if you want to come to town, you got to think way ahead.

Well, that one specifically, in our lakefront, we had the permanent lakefront for the switch names, the 43 lakefront in there.

They have AT2 at T two.

I believe it was farm to table.

So the whole dynamics of what the farm to table has brought to the city of Geneva is huge.

Yeah.

And it's a big draw, as you mentioned.

You'll see busloads of people come.

You'll you'll see weddings come to the city of Geneva, you'll see, a lot of different, events when, girls are going to get married, they have their whole bridal party come to Geneva.

That makes life interesting in the city of Geneva.

Definitely, gets a little out of hand sometimes, but we actually enjoy the excitement.

Yeah.

So it's definitely been a great economic benefit to us.

And I know I told you, our callers love this series.

I have, on line one.

I have Pat from Geneva.

She one second.

Yes.

She moved a he oh, he moved to Geneva a year ago and, well, moved to Geneva a few years ago.

And he would like to make a comment on his experience there.

Pat, are you on the line?

I am hi, Pat.

Are you.

I'm great.

I moved here right at the beginning of Covid, so I spent two years remodeling the house.

But since I've been out and about, I realize that's decision I ever made.

I retired to Geneva and I was familiar with the Finger Lakes, but I didn't really know Geneva.

And just what a great experience it's been.

I did want to chime in.

The name of the Iroquois Confederacy is the holding authority.

That's the name we were coming up with.

Thank you, thank you.

Pat is a historian as well, right here.

Thank you Pat.

And you did get a thumbs up from mayor, Mayor Valentino here when you mentioned how great Geneva has been for you, great town.

So we hear so much about our wineries, but one of the things that I'm more of a beer drinker and there are just so many brew pubs around here, and, I frequent them.

The, the you mentioned the hop growers and, I was at the Big Alice, which is just south of Geneva, and, route 14 two nights ago, and the hop growers were actually having a meeting there.

There were like six of them just talking about growing hops.

And I'll go I'll end with this.

You mentioned maple sirup.

That's the big Alice.

They actually have a maple beer, which is very good.

It's not as sweet as you might expect.

Yeah.

Good beer.

Pat, I want to ask you this.

You said you moved right around the pandemic.

What does something about the pandemic influence you to move to Geneva?

And what about Geneva?

Was your decision?

It was.

It was coincidental because I have a greyhound and I came up for the grape hounds event that's held, further down the lake and, and the east side of the lake.

And, I drove through Geneva.

I'd been through Geneva, but had never been in Geneva.

I drove into Geneva.

I was getting ready to retire, and I turned to my dog and I said, this is the place.

It's good to hear.

That's great to hear that great.

Thank you.

Pat.

We appreciate your comments.

Thank you.

Yeah.

He drew he drove into Geneva and said, this is a place.

Is that where we're getting from a lot of people that stay?

I've heard that more than once.

Yeah.

You know, people that come and invest in the city of Geneva, whether it's in house, whether it's an old building, and we have a person on city council who came from New York City that actually invested in two buildings in the downtown Geneva.

Pat reminded me of something.

I think there's one of our gems is Lake John Brewery, which, does their own beer and they it's a graduate of Hobart Smith College.

And that that person has done such a great job.

We had a program called race for space, and he took advantage of the race for space program, which gives you a reduced rat in a building, and he's done nothing but make fantastic strides.

Has probably been 15 years, 10 or 15 years ago.

Yeah.

And just to connect, the whole farm to table and farmer, oriented, activity in Geneva.

I was there just last night actually at, at, Lake Drum.

They have a pickup at one of the local farmers comes and does their farm share pick up from there, from the, the, the bar.

And it's it's just such a lively, feel.

It's an outdoor pickup.

And they have outdoor seating.

They're the first is the first time I heard the word parklet.

Believe it or not, was in Geneva.

And there's.

They built one and before long before the pandemic.

So, you know, it's a little businesses like that that really thrive and just to get to Pat a little bit too, I meet and I'm sure we all do, lots of people who come to Geneva and I call them Geneva Inns by choice.

And I always think someday I'll get the Finger Lakes times to to back me on doing a, you know, profile of all the people who have chosen Geneva by choice because people who could go anywhere and come there not because they have a job or, or their kids live there, but because they picked it out.

It's, you know, the opera house, small college town, the lake, all those things come together and people choose to live there and, you know, thrive and grow in the community.

Yeah, that's that's beautiful.

Geneva by choice.

I have Gloria on line at two, and she wants to make a comment about the indigenous history of of Geneva.

Gloria, help us out here.

Hi.

Okay, I I'm going going to spell hood Mahoney.

Oh.

Okay.

D and o as a you and E I believe that's the spelling.

That's right.

Okay.

And there's, the wonderful thing about it, about this whole group, they were six nations that pulled together.

And there's a wonderful book that I read called Indian Roots of American Democracy.

We should all be aware of this.

I mean, they gave our founding fathers so much incredible good information about the democratic process.

Excellent.

Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.

Gloria, thank you so much for your comment.

And I definitely agree with indigenous people.

Definitely more.

And more recognition.

As far as environmental leadership, 100% renewable energy in Geneva, conservation areas and more.

Can you talk about some of those things and how they became a priority for the city?

Yeah, we actually became a silver certified, city in Jan Jan's doing some great efforts.

Listen, you didn't give her enough kudos because she was so many hats.

She deals with the recovery park, you know, talking about actually trying to recover processes, whether it's waste or whether it's building materials and things like that.

That's one of our focuses.

But, you know, and Ken Campbell, one of the previous consultants, was strong advocate for, you know, we have two giant landfills, one on each side of us.

And it's it's a major challenge because it's an economic boost for certain, communities, but not for the city of Geneva.

We get the bad part of it, unfortunately.

And, people like to think that it's easy, that your waste goes out to this giant mountain and you don't have to worry about it.

Well, you do have to worry about it.

Impacts our lakes and impacts our communities.

So we've taken initiatives to make sure that we we are making strides to do everything we can, whether it's solar power, wind power, whatever it might be.

We are dead set against landfills.

The majority of us are dead set against landfills.

We're dead set against the, storage of gas down in Watkins Glen.

We're dead set against, you know, and we might be too vocal sometimes.

It might not be happening in the city of Geneva, but it's happening around us.

We're going to say something about it.

There was a giant, project where they'll, do ethanol plants on the other side of the lake, and we did everything we can to stop that.

So, you know, it's not just, what are you doing about renewable energy or trying to reach, zero as far as the carbon footprint, it's.

What are you doing to stop the contamination that might be happening around you?

And can we talk about the is it the question?

Is it is it how you pronounce it?

The conservation area is is interesting.

Can you tell us about you can tell us about that.

Well, I don't know a lot about the conservation.

I'm not sure if anybody else on the line does.

I'm familiar with Keyshawn and Keyshawn.

Glen, and there's some beautiful waterfalls in that area, so that might be the focus of it.

I can tell you, as a young person growing up, we used to love going out there and jumping off the falls into the water.

There is an area there.

It's like mostly trails.

You can cross-country ski there.

It's open to the public, hike and so forth.

It is quite beautiful.

It's right near all the places that Steve just mentioned.

Yeah.

And I know Steve, you you mentioned a little bit about some of the challenges of building the sustainable city in a broad region.

Can you, can you elaborate on that?

The one that comes quick to mind?

I mean, everybody wants to take the easy path, and easy path is usually less expensive.

It's like when you eat, if you eat healthier.

Kasha morphy fat because you're less right.

The same with renewable energy, the same with sustainability.

Recently we did an LED eye change of LED lights in the city of green.

The street lights.

We thought it was the best thing since sliced bread.

Well, we're running into some challenges with some with not only the technology, with the hardware that goes with that.

So, you know, one thing that I can point to is we have a solar village in Geneva and we highly supported.

It's right down by our lakefront.

It's just on the other side of the five and 20, there's probably a dozen different, facilities there.

They started like 180 to 220,000.

They have resold up in the high twos and threes now, and they are basically off the grid and they're, they're a stone's throw away from the lake.

So I'm very, new modern solar village.

Some people think that the looks of it is a little bit different, but I can tell you the younger generation loves that stuff.

And when we talk about rural areas, we can't help but mention health care.

Right.

And having access to health care in that region.

And I know some health systems have been pushing for that and making that a priority to prioritize health care in rural areas.

In in Geneva.

We have a comment here.

What health care facilities are there in Geneva, especially for senior citizens?

Yeah, Geneva is kind of in a, renaissance are definitely changes in the health care, area in that several Rochester institutions are strong and, Rochester General have, have, you know, incorporated with Geneva as our system.

But we have, you know, a hospital, which is wonderful, right?

In the community.

There are several senior, living, units there.

You know, one thing we're always looking for more of is aging in place types of residences.

And, you know, who knows down the road.

Maybe some of that will come up.

Yeah, that's, to me, is a great place to age in place.

Yeah.

You of ours has made major investments to the city of GM, just outside the city, in the town we used or used to be called Geneva General Hospital.

It still is Geneva General Hospital.

It was taken over by UVA.

There's a senior living area there.

There's also rehabilitation for cardio rehab and other rehabs there for seniors in our community.

And we we keep doing more.

There's a new project going on in High Street that's going to be a higher end senior retirement location.

We, work with the housing authority and they do senior living down in our Saint Francis area.

So we know that's a major focus.

Ontario County just did a major study on housing, and we know that there's a gap for seniors.

And interestingly enough, it said that we have a lot of 20 to 30 year olds living in the city of Geneva, which kind of shocked me because, you know, we have aging structures and aging people in the city of Geneva, but we have a strong growth because of our downtown for that younger group.

And just a piggy back off of that.

How are we engaging these young people, or new comers, in shaping what's next for Geneva?

You can reach out as much as you want to try to get people to be involved, and it is difficult because it takes time, time and energy.

But we are doing everything we can to make sure that we, reach out.

You know, we have an election season coming up this year.

And, you know, a lot of times our, our council doesn't mimic or look like the community itself.

So trying to get people involved.

We have, Councilman Whitfield who's on council right now who's doing a great job.

He's running again this year.

He, he is representing what I would consider more the the younger group.

It's not in the 20 and 30 range, but trying to get people involved in boards and commissions and different activities, is important for us.

Also having facilities for them to to.

Yeah, there's a lot that goes on through the children too of that that group you know, there's a group now that's looking to start a toy library, for example.

And I think when there's a good idea or a need, people step up.

And a lot of times it's that generation.

Yeah.

What are so Jan and Jessica, what are some of the things you wish more people knew or understood about Geneva?

You know, I spoke with someone yesterday who just moved here.

And she said, Geneva has got spunk and and, I mean, that's something you can't really, you know, spell out.

But I think the size of the community makes so much accessible.

And there's so much there, to access.

And, that's really, you know, don't be fooled by this, by the fact that we're not a huge population.

A lot happens there.

And, you know, come and experience it.

Yeah.

Jessica, who would you say?

No, it definitely has spunk.

And I always enjoy what I enjoy about all the Finger Lakes towns is each lake you go to, each town, city you go to, each one has a different, unique feel to it.

So you're not going to get the same thing from one town to the next.

And with Geneva, really all of the stores that you can walk into, and being by the lake front, and really we keep talking about the people and the people just make it so special.

You walk in and for the Finger Lakes in general and you see it in Geneva.

Everyone that visits say, the people here are so nice.

Yeah.

And it's such a warming feeling.

As a resident, as a visitor, we really in tourism you hear a lot live, work, play.

And that's the goal is to interconnect all of those, make it a place that you want to live.

You want to work and you want to play Geneva, the town where you can live, work and play.

Thank you to our guests.

Steve Valentino, the mayor.

Thank you.

Come visit us, I will, Jessica.

Thank you, grandma Jan, thank you for joining us.

And on the phone.

Susie, thank you for joining us.

Thank you.

And next Thursday, we continue our tour.

WXXI, thank you so much.

For.

This program is a production of WXXI Public Radio.

The views expressed do not necessarily represent those of this station.

Its staff, management, or underwriters.

The broadcast is meant for the private use of our audience.

Any rebroadcast or use in another medium without express written consent of WXXI is strictly prohibited.

Connections with Evan Dawson is available as a podcast.

Just click on the connections link.

At WXXI news.

Org.