[This is the first in a series of three columns based on a recent trip to Western New York.]

CHAUTAUQUA, N.Y. – This is the second time my wife’s family has come together on Chautauqua Lake in Western New York State, to pay tribute and honor one of her parents.

My father-in-law died in the fall of 2019, and in June of 2020 we all met at a big house on the lake to honor his wishes of having his ashes spread between Chautauqua Lake and Lake Erie, two places where he enjoyed spending a lot of time while growing up and later taking his family.

This time, it was to do the same for her mother who died just over a year ago.

My wife has four siblings; three older brothers and a twin sister. There were nine of us who stayed at the same house, an Airbnb property, where we stayed six years ago. One of my wife’s brothers decided to stay at a different rental, because there were ten in his family that came.

On our first day, my brother-in-law rented a pontoon boat, and we all went out on Chautauqua Lake to do the ashes ceremony. Just being on and around the lake for a few days brought back so many memories for all of us.

For me, specifically, I remember going to a couple of the beaches around the lake, the amusement park known as Midway, going fishing with my cousin, crossing the lake on the Stow Ferry (which is still running), and doing what we called “Remote A-Floats” for a local radio station.

I miss those times on the lake.

On the second day, we went over to an area on the shore of Lake Erie known as Barcelona. It’s next to the town of Westfield, where Welch Food Factory No. 1 is located. This factory is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Although Welch’s (the grape jelly and juice company) is headquartered in Massachusetts, the company has had a large presence in Western New York for decades. This area produces a majority of the concord grapes used in Welch’s products, and since 1956, the company has been owned by the National Grape Cooperative Association. The NGCA is made up of 1,300 grape growers located in New York, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Washington and Ontario. As you drive around this part of Western New York, you will see dozens of grape vineyards.

At Lake Erie, we walked along the beach to a location where my father-in-law’s ashes were released six years earlier. When we got to that spot, it began raining very hard, so we all took cover under nearby trees. Thank goodness the rain only lasted a few minutes.

Tim, the former Navy Seal, waded out in the cold water up to his chest and released the ashes, while we all watched from the shore. It was a fitting tribute and memorial to my mother-in-law Joyce, whom we all miss.

FOOD TOUR

We can never come back to the Jamestown area without going to eat at some of our favorite restaurants; family-owned businesses that have existed for decades and have become extremely popular. You might say they have developed a cult following, in that they are vehemently defended against comparisons to other similar restaurants.

I might be one of those people who have vehemently defended the quality and taste of the food you get at places like Johnny’s Lunch and Davidson’s.

If you don’t know Johnny’s, you can look it up online, but the family has been in the T hot dog business since 1936. For a while in the late 1960s to early 1970s, my grandmother worked at Johnny’s, so it became a family staple. They serve a style of hot dogs known and “Texas Hots” which means that have a particular meat sauce that is not chili that they put on the hot dogs. To this day I love their hots with what they call “everything;” mustard, onions and their sauce. The sauce recipe is kept secret and only a couple members of the family know how to make it. In fact, I bought several jars of Johnny’s sauce to bring home with me. It was nice to walk in and still be recognized by a couple of the employees who have been there for years. Dianne was surprised to see me and is still taking orders at the counter. She asked me how we are doing in Oklahoma and how my parents are doing, and Giaconda is still prepping the food at the grill. She and I went to school together many years ago and now her daughter is working there with her.

Davidson’s fish fry has become famous over the years and although it wasn’t a Friday evening, we went to Davidson’s and of course I ordered the seafood platter which included a healthy portion of Icelandic haddock that is caught and delivered fresh to the restaurant each day. Davidson’s sells over three tons of fish each month. It was a wonderful meal and exactly the way I remembered it.

We also went to the Cherry Lounge in downtown Jamestown for lunch one day and I had their famous wings. However, I was disappointed with them this time. They were cooked well, nice and crisp, the way I like them, but the sauce seemed to be quite greasy (buttery) and didn’t stay on the wings. The last time I had them there, a few years ago, they were excellent.

Next week, I’ll share about how “Yippee!” did performing at the local baseball game.

TULSA BEACON RADIO

Tune in to “Tulsa Beacon Weekend” radio show every week, featuring interviews with local and national guests, talking about everything from politics to family issues. This week, my guests will include David Raymond, the original Phillie Phanatic, talking about mental health issues, plus speaker, author and networking guru Peter Biadisz talking about how to take a vacation if you own a business. The show airs on Saturday at 12:00 p.m. CST on 970am KCFO.