[00:02:35:06 - 00:03:38:02] Collin This is an interview with Chris Capurso, conducted by her grandson, Collin Capurso, on June 26, 2025. Over the course of this conversation, we explore Kris's early life and family background, including cherished childhood memories and the profound influence of her mother, who notably served as the first woman mayor of Allian. We delve into her lifelong partnership in marriage, reflecting on love, resilience, and the joys and challenges she experienced. We also discuss her experiences raising children and the values she sought to instill in her family, alongside her deep involvement in the local community. As a devoted caregiver, Kris shares insights about love, patience, and the strength drawn from supporting family and neighbors. Finally, this interview offers personal reflections and life lessons, capturing the wisdom she hopes to pass on to future generations and the traditions that remain at the heart of her family's legacy. Through these stories and reflections, this interview not only illuminates a remarkable life, but also preserves the history, values, and spirit of a community shaped by dedication and love. [00:03:40:11 - 00:03:45:17] Collin So, Grandma, what can you tell me about your childhood? What were some fond memories that you had growing up? [00:03:45:17 - 00:03:52:15] Chris Very good. Well, the first thing was that I was raised on the canal bank, the Erie Canal, [00:03:53:16 - 00:03:56:04] Chris and it was my grandparents' home. [00:03:57:10 - 00:04:05:09] Chris So, as a very young child, I went back and forth between living in New York City and living in Albion on the canal bank. [00:04:06:13 - 00:04:08:09] Chris And both lives were very different. [00:04:08:09 - 00:04:12:10] Collin What can you tell me about the difference between those lives, maybe? [00:04:12:10 - 00:04:16:23] Chris So, my mother was working down in New York City. She was a radio and television producer. [00:04:18:06 - 00:04:24:15] Chris And in New York City, we had a very small apartment or living space. [00:04:26:04 - 00:04:56:01] Chris And most of the time, we tried to come back on the weekends to be with my grandmother. As I got to be more school age, I stayed more with my grandmother. Living on the canal bank was an incredible experience. We had the Erie Canal as our backyard. The hedge rope between the neighbors was just lilac bushes. The streets were filled with children. I mean, every night we would go out and play until it got too dark. [00:04:57:12 - 00:05:05:08] Chris It was an incredible childhood. And during the summer, during summer vacations, we would travel. [00:05:06:17 - 00:05:18:11] Chris So, quite often, as a child, I didn't have much time with my schoolmates after school and things or after the summer vacation because we were traveling. [00:05:18:11 - 00:05:32:23] Collin Very nice. And then, maybe perhaps more rooted in the canal house, so to speak. What was the home like, life like, when you were a child? What kind of things did your family value the most? Any experiences you may have had during that period of time? Okay. [00:05:32:23 - 00:05:48:00] Chris So, my grandfather was a judge and a lawyer. My grandmother was a teacher. And they had lived in many homes around the Albion area. But this home that I'm talking about on Bank Street was a Barlow home. [00:05:49:01 - 00:05:52:08] Chris And the same architect that built the courthouse. [00:05:53:23 - 00:06:31:14] Chris So, in our house, it was very large, and it stood out. There were three stories to it. And on the top was, sometimes they called it a widow's watch. Sometimes it was referred to as the attic or the cupola. And there was a winding staircase that was made out of cherry wood. That cherry wood, supposedly, was from that property. There was a cherry orchard on that property at one time. They saved some of it, and they used the spindles and made this three-story winding staircase all the way up through to the cupola. [00:06:32:23 - 00:06:38:18] Chris So, the house was a collection of both my mother's and my grandparents' [00:06:40:19 - 00:06:58:09] Chris items. And a lot of it was cherry wood. There was some walnuts. My grandfather had his law desk. That was just a drop-down desk. We still have it. And it stood on its own in the middle of the living room. [00:06:59:20 - 00:07:04:10] Chris Not too many people got to go into it, but when we did, there was all sorts of things to explore. [00:07:04:10 - 00:07:06:18] Collin So, it wasn't against the wall or anything just in the middle? [00:07:06:18 - 00:07:13:09] Chris Well, it was against the wall, but it was such a big piece. You just knew it had dominance over the room. [00:07:14:20 - 00:07:22:00] Chris And later, much, much later, his law office moved from the downtown area into one of the [00:07:23:01 - 00:07:34:15] Chris back rooms of this house. But the house had a mixture of antiques, some things that were from my grandmother's family, my grandfather's family, [00:07:36:05 - 00:07:38:22] Chris things that my mother had collected, then they were collectors. [00:07:40:11 - 00:07:55:12] Chris We had a back porch. We had an upstairs back porch. Every night, we'd go out and watch the boats. But what I remembered a lot about that, it is, and every May, there was spring cleaning, [00:07:56:20 - 00:07:57:13] Chris top to bottom. [00:07:59:00 - 00:08:38:05] Chris And that usually meant the attic, too. And the attic had things that were stored from way generations before, a lot of things that I remember having to be discarded. But that staircase that I talked about went well into the cupola. And so, you could even see remnants of it up there as well. Yeah. Very, very quick side story. In the summertime, my sister and I would go all the way up to that cupola, get a couple of boxes, climb out the window, and we would sunbathe up on the rooftop. Sounds like the best spot to be in. Oh, yeah. Nobody could see us, we could see everybody. [00:08:40:12 - 00:08:49:23] Collin Now, you're the daughter of Donna Rodden, who is the first woman mayor of Albion here. What do you remember most about your mother? What was she like as a parent and as a person? [00:08:51:06 - 00:08:52:08] Chris She was extremely busy. [00:08:53:10 - 00:08:56:15] Chris She was a librarian at the school. [00:08:57:19 - 00:09:07:08] Chris She was an inspirational public speaker to a lot of people in the community. She was passionate about making sure that [00:09:08:09 - 00:10:06:10] Chris rights were there and that people had equal rights for equal situations. She believed in fairness. She was dedicated to her neighborhood. She was the one that was always making something and taking it over, making sure that the ladies that lived next door had quality time with somebody. And our two neighbors were well, this is again, as I'm a teenager, were well until their 90s at that point. And they had to live there and they'd watch her grow up there as well. But she took care of them, all of them. She made sure that everybody that came into the house was welcomed. She would put on the biggest parties, the most glamorous Christmas affairs for everybody, not just for a single group. She'd have people from the church and people from the community and people from school and all come together. That was the place to come together. [00:10:06:10 - 00:10:22:19] Collin And regarding her political career as the first woman mayor in town, what was that like on your end, being on the opposite end and kind of seeing her go through that with her life? Did it affect your view of women in leadership perhaps or how did that influence you in any ways? [00:10:22:19 - 00:10:45:00] Chris So it goes back beyond or before the time that she became mayor. She was already doing a program called Experiment in International Living. And this was a program similar to like we have in schools where we have foreign students come and stay with family. Only this was for adults. [00:10:46:09 - 00:11:10:00] Chris And they would be, my mother would be in charge of making sure that they had a chance to be with the family, learn the customs, culture, language, and give them an experience that many of them wouldn't have had. We had over a hundred different exchange students. We had over 70 in our home. [00:11:11:01 - 00:11:24:19] Chris And so I got this flavor of it was important to know about people, to listen to people, to hear their stories. And that's kind of the flavor that she took into when she went into politics. [00:11:25:21 - 00:11:49:20] Chris And she often, because of her ability to communicate with others, was invited to various programs. She was part of the Business and Professional Women's Club, the Experiment in International Living. She was invited to the White House several times under a couple of different administrations because she also had another event that took [00:11:50:20 - 00:12:09:14] Chris place, which was an exchange program for people. We have magazines here. They didn't, so we sent on magazines to people in the countries. Often she would tell me the most important thing is to listen to people. And that's what I walked away with from her. Yeah. [00:12:09:14 - 00:12:11:18] Collin Sounds like she led an incredible career. [00:12:11:18 - 00:12:22:11] Chris Yes. And it was, I held, my oldest son, your father, held the Bible that my grandfather used as a judge. Yes. As she was sworn in. [00:12:22:11 - 00:12:24:13] Collin I didn't know that. [00:12:24:13 - 00:12:25:09] Chris Yeah. Yeah. [00:12:25:09 - 00:12:32:20] Collin Yeah. For those watching, this is also a little walk through my own family history and certain things that I'm learning along the way as well. [00:12:33:22 - 00:12:43:02] Collin And regarding my grandfather, your late husband, Al Capurso, you've been married to him for the majority of your life before he passed away. How did you meet him? What drew you towards him? [00:12:43:02 - 00:12:57:19] Chris Well, we were in school together. And as it happened to be, we were doing a community play. It was a group called Topa, Theater of Performing Arts. My mother was the director. She did that for many years as well. [00:12:59:02 - 00:13:07:20] Chris Your grandpa got the role. We were doing this show called Carousel. And he had the role of the bad boy and I had a role of the bad girl. [00:13:08:20 - 00:13:27:16] Chris So that kind of got matched because we were both men. So, you know, funny in the play. But because we had attended and we were in the cast together, we had many cast parties and sure enough, one night I got asked out and I think that just started the whole thing. That's amazing. But yes. [00:13:28:16 - 00:13:34:05] Collin And together, what were some of your favorite things to do together, whether it be early or later in your relationship? [00:13:34:05 - 00:13:44:05] Chris So we were, like you said, married 50, we had been together 55 years. And during that time, I think some of our favorite times were traveling. [00:13:45:06 - 00:14:17:13] Chris And in those early days, basically what we did was camp. So we'd go all across the United States, different states, several of them. We'd go to many different places within New York State, always trying to culturally try the food out or see what was different. Definitely we were into some of the museums, a lot to do with music. Grandpa was big into music. So he learned and he'd practice in the evening. And yes, those were just great memories. [00:14:17:13 - 00:14:26:13] Collin And our family, we used to own a cabin up in the Adirondacks. What can you tell me about maybe those vacations and getting that place and cultivating it? [00:14:27:16 - 00:14:59:01] Chris So that was part of our travels. We made it a practice to go to the Adirondacks every year. My mother had a cabin up there for many years that she rented, but we'd go and visit. And when we started having children, we just said, this is the area that we want to expose them to, again, in history, the fun, the excitement. And sure enough, we ended up in this cute little place up in Old Forge. On a Hollywood Road or? On Hollywood Road, that's right. Right next to the lake. [00:14:59:01 - 00:15:07:19] Collin And then regarding the longevity of your relationship, what advice would you give for a lasting marriage and keeping it long and fulfilling? [00:15:08:19 - 00:15:13:17] Chris It takes practice. You have to learn each other. You have to ask questions. [00:15:14:18 - 00:15:17:13] Chris You have to have a respect for each other. [00:15:19:01 - 00:15:26:22] Chris There was always, if we were too tired, too hot, too hot, too hot, too hot, too hot, too hot, too hot. Let's talk later. You'll often come back to it later. Yep, exactly. [00:15:26:22 - 00:15:30:11] Collin Making concessions and sacrifices for the other person. [00:15:30:11 - 00:15:35:11] Chris Yes. So I think that part of it was when we were first married, [00:15:36:15 - 00:15:54:11] Chris your grandpa wanted to go back to school and finish up his BSW program. So I worked full time and was taking care of the kids so he could do that. But in return, he helped me out through some of the programs that I went through, which was more of a medical-based program. But yeah, it was giving back and forth. [00:15:54:11 - 00:15:55:06] Collin That's beautiful. [00:15:56:09 - 00:16:04:21] Collin And then what were some of the happiest or even on the other end, some of the most challenging moments in your marriage? Well. You would go on either side of the spectrum. [00:16:04:21 - 00:16:08:01] Chris So the happiest had to be our children. [00:16:09:02 - 00:16:10:14] Chris That was incredible. [00:16:11:15 - 00:16:19:18] Chris We had two and we were still fairly young. And then there was this gap of getting jobs and doing things. And then we had another two. [00:16:21:03 - 00:16:33:01] Chris And it was really putting that all together. The Christmases we had, the family vacations. I mean, we had traditions and that was so important to building this whole family. [00:16:34:11 - 00:16:42:23] Chris The hardest times were when our parents became ill or sick or needed something. [00:16:44:09 - 00:16:56:19] Chris We were there for them, but that was the most tolling on how are you going to carry for an older parent and losing them. So those were probably some of the most challenging. [00:16:56:19 - 00:17:05:03] Collin Definitely. And then because you mentioned your children, just for the sake of the audience, can you say the names of all four and the years they were born? [00:17:05:03 - 00:17:07:12] Chris I, you know, you're really challenging. [00:17:08:17 - 00:17:26:17] Chris Dan was our oldest and he was 1978. He was followed by his sister, Marsha. Oh, I should, let me say their middle names too. So it was Daniel Joseph and he was actually named after some relatives. Marsha Jean. [00:17:27:17 - 00:17:33:09] Chris Not that she was named after anybody, but we have this Jay thing going in the middle name. She was in 1981. [00:17:34:20 - 00:17:41:01] Chris Then Carly Jane came along and she was in 1991. [00:17:42:06 - 00:17:47:05] Chris And then we have my youngest who is Kenneth Joseph. [00:17:48:05 - 00:17:54:09] Chris Oh, Kenneth Jay, Daniel Joseph Kenneth Jay. And he was born in 1998. [00:17:54:09 - 00:17:57:13] Collin Doesn't hope that my middle name is Joseph either, does she? [00:17:57:13 - 00:17:59:19] Chris But there was a reason for that as well. [00:18:00:19 - 00:18:02:09] Chris What [00:18:02:09 - 00:18:12:12] Collin was it like raising children in your time? What did a typical day look like for you outside of maybe the financial or occupational hardships? What was it like being a mother? [00:18:12:12 - 00:18:29:08] Chris Well, we chose to live in the country. So we knew that we wanted to maybe have a small farm, raise some animals. So our day went from working a very hectic social work careers that we had [00:18:30:13 - 00:18:59:19] Chris into coming home and working on a garden and taking care of the animals and making sure that we had time for the kids. At nighttime, we were often working on the computer. We were all learning computers, but the kids were learning things as they were going along too. And homework, I mean, again, it was so important to us to have some routines. And that's, I think, how we survived too, is to make sure we had a little bit of time for everything. Gotcha. [00:18:59:19 - 00:19:13:18] Collin And then kind of in that same realm, what kind of values did you hope to pass on to your children? You mentioned these traditions of these big lavish Christmases and going on vacations. How does that play into the hopes and values that you try to instill within them? [00:19:13:18 - 00:19:36:08] Chris What we really wanted them to see through those holiday events and the traveling was being together and making sure that no matter how busy things get, you just need to connect. You always need to make sure that if something was going on, you at least had a family member to talk to. Very, very important. [00:19:37:09 - 00:19:48:19] Collin And then were there any moments that really stood out to you from when your kids were growing up? Maybe it could be a funny memory of them maybe stubbing their toe or something or any accomplishments they may have achieved in their life. [00:19:48:19 - 00:20:03:07] Chris They all had different things that they were creating. Your dad had just learned how to drive a car. And he was told not to take friends home from school. [00:20:04:11 - 00:20:08:21] Chris And that was just a safety thing for until he got to be a seasoned driver. [00:20:10:22 - 00:20:41:07] Chris Well, there was this one day that he felt really bad for one of his friends. Got very hot out. So he drove his friends home in the car conked out. Now we didn't have cell phones back then. So he had to run like a mile to the closest house to give us a call to come out and get him and then admit that he had done something he wasn't supposed to. So that one kind of stands out. But it showed us that again, he values people. And that was important. [00:20:41:07 - 00:20:45:19] Collin Are there any other memories of my aunts and uncles that were in the similar realm? [00:20:45:19 - 00:21:10:02] Chris Marsha was our traveler. Marsha, in fact, went to Puerto Rico when she was in college. She studied a full semester there. And this was a young lady that knew a little bit of Spanish. But when she got there, everybody, that's all they spoke. And the second week she wanted to come home. And I was like, give it one more week. Just if you tell me after a week, well, her friends rallied around her. And the next week she called saying, I'm staying. [00:21:11:17 - 00:21:28:08] Chris Carly was, she drew in the most amount of friends. She always had people around her. And I remember just come to home and you were never sure if you're going to have one, two, or five different friends there. [00:21:30:02 - 00:21:41:16] Chris And Kenny takes, I think after his grandfather in that he loves a little farming. So he is taking this and revisiting the farming, gardening, homesteading life. [00:21:41:16 - 00:21:54:20] Collin Yeah. That's amazing. And then you've also throughout your life been very active in community service and other types of community engagement. And what ways have you been involved in the community over the years? Some of the things that you participated in or maybe things that you've done? [00:21:54:20 - 00:21:59:08] Chris Well, I was a Girl Scout leader or a Girl Assistant. [00:22:00:12 - 00:22:03:05] Chris And that was with Carly. And we had done, [00:22:04:11 - 00:22:07:22] Chris all of her badges were a challenge to all of us. [00:22:09:11 - 00:22:26:05] Chris I was the director of an outpatient drug and alcohol program. And in that time, set up some prevention programs and really kind of a grassroots of what treatment would look like for the smaller county. [00:22:27:13 - 00:22:30:23] Chris And I think, you know, traveling to different places. [00:22:32:08 - 00:22:37:21] Chris In the more recent since I've retired, I have this joy of being [00:22:39:08 - 00:23:22:06] Chris a part of the Cobblestone Museum, which is giving me a reliving of appreciation for history and culture. I'm also a part of the Orleans County Historical Society. I'm on their board. And again, we're still working at trying to refurbish and protect things that are hopefully going to be here another 200 years. Yeah, hopefully. I've been a part of working with individuals and many of the individuals and homes around the county with the purpose of even if they're in their 90s, being able to keep them in their homes as long as they possibly can. [00:23:23:23 - 00:23:26:19] Chris Those are a few things that I'm kind of proud of. [00:23:26:19 - 00:23:27:01] Collin For sure. [00:23:27:01 - 00:23:27:22] Chris Yeah. [00:23:27:22 - 00:23:40:15] Collin And then you mentioned the Cobblestone Society here and, you know, grandpa Al Capersa was a very big member of this. What can you tell me about his experiences through here and maybe how that potentially influenced you into joining as well? [00:23:40:15 - 00:23:58:07] Chris Well, you know where it started from? My mother again. My mother was a part of the Cobblestone and she helped kind of set up that gift shop initially. Oh, she loved it. So when we moved back into the area, [00:23:59:10 - 00:24:14:06] Chris Marsha was probably about six months old and my mother said, "The Cobblestone is having an event. We're going to be making a calendar and that calendar is going to have babies and children." Well, Aunt Marsha's on that. It goes back until 1981. [00:24:15:06 - 00:24:44:04] Chris But she started and she kind of got us excited and she was always, you know, mentioning new things. And then grandpa was sat on the board of the Cobblestone. He was also the county or the historian for the Town of Gaines for quite a while. And he just every night you could see him even physically. He wasn't able to walk a lot. He was studying. He was learning and that's what really kept him going. [00:24:44:04 - 00:24:51:05] Collin I have a lot of memories of him just sitting at the desk with a little desk light there pondering over a bunch of documents and stuff like that. [00:24:51:05 - 00:24:54:01] Chris And that was my grandfather's desk that he sat at. [00:24:54:01 - 00:24:54:20] Collin Yeah. Okay. [00:24:54:20 - 00:24:55:06] Chris Yeah. [00:24:55:06 - 00:25:10:22] Collin And then, you know, as a town historian as part of the museum and he was once president of the Orleans County Historical Association, he's had many numerous accomplishments in this area. What are some of the historical findings or preservation efforts that he's done in this area? [00:25:10:22 - 00:25:18:04] Chris He named quite a few creeks or made sure that they had names like Proctor Brook, which is [00:25:19:04 - 00:25:20:05] Chris goes through the museum. [00:25:21:10 - 00:25:29:12] Chris There's several of them around. He wanted to make sure that, you know, creeks and things were stood out in this area. [00:25:31:02 - 00:25:41:21] Chris There's so many things. He made sure, again, that people knew that the history was just as important as the future. [00:25:43:09 - 00:25:53:12] Chris And often when he would talk to individuals, he would say to them, whatever you're doing today, that's important, but it's important because of tomorrow. [00:25:55:11 - 00:26:03:10] Collin And on the topic of creeks, we have a historical marker in town with the Capurso name on it outside of the courthouse. What can you tell me about that? [00:26:03:10 - 00:26:10:14] Chris All right. So again, I'm going to try to remember the details. It is a historical marker that marks [00:26:11:16 - 00:26:43:05] Chris the spot where the first settler came into the area. And it is on the front lawn of the courthouse area and the surrogate court there. And he wanted to make sure that people knew that the pioneers that came in, they had a lot to not only in developing the land and things like that, but they needed to be remembered out of respect. [00:26:44:11 - 00:26:50:04] Chris So yes, that little marker, I went by the other day. It needs to be painted again, by the way. [00:26:50:04 - 00:27:04:02] Collin I believe it was last, I think it was erected in 2013, if I remember correctly. And then he also, Grandpa took under this huge project, preserving a certain building on Gaines Basin Road, the old Gaines Basin schoolhouse. [00:27:04:02 - 00:27:05:12] Chris Yes, it was the schoolhouse. [00:27:05:12 - 00:27:06:11] Collin What can you tell me about that? [00:27:06:11 - 00:27:29:15] Chris He drove by it almost every day going to work and he saw it getting deteriorating quite a bit. And so he set out first, you know, whose property, we found that. It took several years for him to connect to the property owners and they did, "Oh, we're just going to bulldoze it down well, that's all he hit here." That was not going to happen. [00:27:30:20 - 00:27:36:17] Chris So after talking to them and explaining what he wanted to do, they agreed [00:27:37:18 - 00:27:55:07] Chris to give him that little portion, which had the schoolhouse and a little area around it. But there was the schoolhouse and I had pictures of the first day we walked in where there was literally no floor. What there was, was a blackboard hanging on the wall, [00:27:56:08 - 00:28:56:13] Chris an old school desk, which has been refurbished to be there in the schoolhouse now. But he had this vision of what it was going to look like and it was going to be a meeting place for the Orleans County Historical Society. So they, you know, would have a regular place instead of having them to rent out places and that it would be a place where people could come for history and to learn. And he saw most of it all the way through. There's also a little cabin in the back and that little cabin was moved there from Albion and I think it was Linwood Avenue area. And it was originally put up by the Boy Scouts Project. But he thought it would be a nice addition. Again, pioneers lived in log cabins. This was not going to stay in its original place and get any kind of notice. So we actually moved it over there piece by piece and put it in place. [00:28:57:16 - 00:29:11:18] Chris And then with Bill Lanton's help, we were able to, you know, look at things like even the color of the wooden structure that's painted was as close to what we could find during the time that the children lived there. [00:29:11:18 - 00:29:12:11] Collin Kind of made it authentic, so to speak. [00:29:12:11 - 00:29:20:17] Chris Yeah. And we at the open house, they had a few of the children, at least one or two of the children, that went to school there. Wow. [00:29:22:02 - 00:29:24:19] Chris Including a man by the name of Ted Srewsinski. [00:29:24:19 - 00:29:39:02] Collin Who will later be interviewed by us as well. And one thing to note as well, just for our audience, is that the Gaines Basin Schoolhouse is the oldest documented cobblestone building in Orleans County. So it was a huge preservation effort. [00:29:41:10 - 00:29:49:05] Collin Regarding the town of Albion and Gaines, and generally just Orleans County as a whole, how do you think the town has changed since when you were a young girl? [00:29:50:19 - 00:30:03:18] Chris Tremendous. When I was a young girl, that Erie Canal was sometimes lined up with yachts and boats going up and down it. You don't really see any more. And it's a rare occurrence here and now. [00:30:05:08 - 00:30:25:16] Chris The village of Albion, I mean, every single storefront you could walk into, there was something, there were soda shops and there were record stores and there were clothing stores, there were sporting, I mean, every single store had something. Not only that, when you walked in, they knew who you were. Everybody was on a first name basis. [00:30:27:00 - 00:30:40:00] Chris And we would often, you know, be able to go in and sneak a soda pop or wrap a piece of candy. But they would know. And they would also know if you were due home too. [00:30:41:03 - 00:30:55:23] Chris But the whole Albion downtown area, they were proud of who they were. And they stuck together. And if one home owner of a store was having a hard time, somebody else would come in. [00:30:57:00 - 00:30:59:00] Chris There were places to eat downtown. [00:30:59:00 - 00:31:06:15] Collin Yeah, which is weird to think about nowadays, considering that downtown is not really well populated anymore. [00:31:06:15 - 00:31:07:18] Chris No, it's very, very empty. [00:31:07:18 - 00:31:15:00] Collin Would you say that over time, that kind of sense of community together has kind of dissipated a little bit and isn't really as prevalent anymore? [00:31:15:00 - 00:31:51:21] Chris Yeah, it is definitely a time now where people don't know each other as well. They don't stay connected as well. You're not going to the corner shop to talk to your friend and, you know, communicate about what's happening. It was also during those times, there were ways of resolving problems because you had everybody's ear. And we just don't have that. And I think that even though I was away for a period of time when I came back, I noticed already that businesses [00:31:53:05 - 00:31:55:13] Chris didn't seem to want to be in the downtown. [00:31:57:03 - 00:32:01:19] Chris They were worried about, you know, not getting the business, not getting the... [00:32:03:16 - 00:32:15:05] Chris When my mother was mayor, she had a way of attracting businesses. I don't know that it would work today, but I don't think that we should just give up and let it go, by the way. Definitely. [00:32:16:07 - 00:32:26:15] Collin And then in your later years, you've been very involved in caregiving and other types of family support and you've cared for various older members of the community over these years. And what has that experience been like? [00:32:28:17 - 00:33:02:04] Chris You know, and I think that some of that desire to do that came from helping grandpa through his end of life years. And I started thinking that I could be a person that at least I could go in and talk to and maybe do a few things to be helpful. I've been very lucky, very rich to help several people, many of them over the age of 90. I had a woman that was 98 years old who was a Holocaust survivor. [00:33:03:18 - 00:33:16:18] Chris And it might take me an hour or two to make a lunch and clean up a little bit. But the next two or three hours would be sitting and listen to her story and helping her remember things. [00:33:18:00 - 00:33:23:20] Chris I currently work with a 93 year old veteran that was in World War II. [00:33:25:00 - 00:33:39:08] Chris And he will bring out his uniform and talk about that. But I also keep a watchful eye to see if there's anything medically or physically that they need or make sure that they're cared for. [00:33:40:10 - 00:34:01:01] Chris I love it. I think anytime you love doing something, anytime you have a passion to do something, it comes naturally. So this was something that I maybe drifted into because of grandpa's health issues, but later became a very important part of me. [00:34:02:02 - 00:34:05:04] Collin Arguably the most fulfilling aspect is probably hearing those stories. [00:34:05:04 - 00:34:06:06] Chris Oh definitely. [00:34:06:06 - 00:34:13:03] Collin These things that will be lost to history one day, but the very local and public kind of aspect of it. [00:34:13:03 - 00:34:16:07] Chris I also learned that with going into their homes, [00:34:17:16 - 00:34:23:07] Chris each one of them through their own furnishings and the woman who was from the Holocaust, [00:34:24:09 - 00:34:38:19] Chris the story she had about each piece of furniture with my veteran that I'm working with. He can tell me where everything came from. There was a story to everything that they had in their house. Which is just incredible. Yes. [00:34:38:19 - 00:34:46:06] Collin And through this experience, what have you learned about love, patience, and resilience through caregiving for these people? [00:34:46:06 - 00:34:48:04] Chris You have to have it. [00:34:50:09 - 00:34:51:17] Chris Love is... [00:34:54:07 - 00:35:13:09] Chris there's so many different kinds of love is what I found out and it comes out in so many different ways. And it's more about what you do and what you see than a feeling. I think a feeling is part of that, but love is your actions. [00:35:15:04 - 00:35:18:19] Chris And it grows very rapidly. [00:35:20:07 - 00:35:35:09] Collin That's amazing. And with caregiving, how has that shaped perhaps your outlook on aging, family, and community? Thinking about how you in a way got involved due to grandpa's health issues. How has that influenced your thinking and understanding through this process that you've gone through? [00:35:35:09 - 00:36:05:21] Chris So I think that we can have an appreciation for life and I think I've always had that with growing up and different jobs. I've always had an appreciation. I've always realized that time is very limited. But I think what I've learned is that you need just to have the patience of not scolding yourself. I'll put it that way. [00:36:06:21 - 00:36:30:19] Chris You know, "Oh, I forgot this." So there's so many things I could say, "Oh, I didn't do this today. I didn't do that." And I've come to learn through these folks that I've worked with and everything else I've done is that you have to go through and you have to say, "What did I do good today? What did I learn today? Where have I been today?" And be grateful for that because that's really what it's about. It's about what you're doing. [00:36:30:19 - 00:36:41:08] Collin Definitely. And then reflecting on your life and the things that you've accomplished, what are some of the accomplishments in your life that you're most proud of? The things that you've achieved or the things you've created? [00:36:42:20 - 00:36:50:05] Chris Well, a lot of the projects that grandpa and I did together, the marker at the [00:36:51:12 - 00:37:00:05] Chris front lawn of the courthouse, the schoolhouse, those are all things that we really did together that I'm very, very proud of. [00:37:01:06 - 00:37:02:01] Chris My family. [00:37:03:03 - 00:37:06:10] Chris Yeah, that's really a big part of it. [00:37:06:10 - 00:37:19:23] Collin And what are some of the biggest lessons that life has taught you throughout raising kids, going through over 50-year marriage, and being part of all these community service-oriented things? What have you learned and what has life taught you along the way? [00:37:21:07 - 00:37:26:07] Chris To be patient again. You have to be patient with yourself, with other people. [00:37:28:15 - 00:37:38:14] Chris Communication is a big part of it. When we communicate, we can't just make assumptions. They should know what I'm thinking or they should, you know, [00:37:39:19 - 00:37:44:06] Chris they've been here. They should know that. No, no, you have to be very, very clear. [00:37:48:04 - 00:38:03:09] Chris Attention to detail is important, but I think more of the sharing of the story is just as important. As I'm learning to be this docent for the museum, suddenly realizing it is about your storytelling skills. [00:38:03:09 - 00:38:05:04] Collin Yeah, kind of weaving it. [00:38:05:04 - 00:38:11:13] Chris Yes, and weaving it in with both experience and what's in front of you, you know, as well. [00:38:11:13 - 00:38:23:23] Collin That's part of what I've learned mostly in college, especially with writing these papers. They're all history-oriented, so start off and make a time when we create a story out of it. That's the beautiful thing. You can do that with just about anything. [00:38:23:23 - 00:38:27:06] Chris And that makes the communication so much more clear. [00:38:27:06 - 00:38:34:14] Collin And then kind of a funny question that I wanted to throw in here for you is if you could go back and talk to your younger self, what would you say to her? [00:38:34:14 - 00:38:39:20] Chris Oh, dear. I would say be patient because I wasn't a patient person. [00:38:42:10 - 00:38:45:18] Chris I would say don't take things so seriously. [00:38:48:11 - 00:38:51:13] Chris Things are going to change. Places are going to change. [00:38:54:04 - 00:38:58:08] Chris That's all in part, an important part of going through life. [00:38:58:08 - 00:39:07:05] Collin Yeah, knowing that it's never static. It's an ever dynamic and changing process. We all go through different phases of our lives and become who we are today. [00:39:08:06 - 00:39:17:23] Collin And kind of back in the family sense, what are some traditions or stories or any anecdotes and things that you hope to continue to carry forward with our family, with future generations? [00:39:19:03 - 00:39:41:03] Chris One of the things that, again, I was going through and giving a tour, and I'm constantly reminded of something my grandmother said, which is, I don't know if it was an Amish saying or just something that has come up through the years, but she always said, learn to use what you have got and you can do with what you have not. [00:39:42:04 - 00:39:57:20] Chris And so as I think of the cobblestones, I'm thinking of the resources that they had. And that came true when I'm stuck on something and it's what am I going to do to get through this? Learn to use it. You've got to look around, see what you have first, and then you move on from there. [00:39:57:20 - 00:40:07:08] Collin That's beautiful. And then kind of in that realm of future generations stuff, what do you hope that future generations will remember about you and your legacy and the family? [00:40:08:21 - 00:40:12:00] Chris Well, that's a good question. I need to ask my grandchildren about that. [00:40:13:19 - 00:40:19:23] Chris I think I want them to know or to remember that family is love. [00:40:21:19 - 00:40:30:07] Chris That we, whether we see each other every day or once a year, that there's still got to be that connection. [00:40:32:00 - 00:40:47:05] Collin That essentially concludes the questions that I have drafted for you. So I'll kind of open up the floor. Are there any stories or any memories that you want to share of Grandpa Al Capurso or Great Grandma Donna Rodden, anyone in the family or anything that you have throughout your life that you'd like to include? [00:40:47:05 - 00:40:52:07] Chris Well, there's a couple of funny things that I will share. First of all, [00:40:53:08 - 00:41:22:20] Chris it was your grandfather, mine or your great grandfather Capurso, that tell my mother how to drive a car. She didn't learn how to drive the car until she was well into her 50s. Yeah, never had a need to because her mother, her mother would drive her around every place she needed to go. So that was a little key. I also heard you say you're going to be interviewing Ted Shrosinski. Yes. [00:41:24:05 - 00:41:35:13] Chris And Ted married a woman by the name of Jerry or Jerry Dean. And she grew up in the house that we live in currently and that you kids came to every year for holidays and things. [00:41:36:16 - 00:41:39:19] Chris So that was a kind of a tie in to the community. [00:41:40:21 - 00:41:44:08] Chris And that was house was also a part of the Palmer farm. [00:41:45:10 - 00:42:04:05] Chris And I understand Mrs. Palmer had an incredible flower garden that people would come around to from all over the place to see these beautiful flowers. And there's a few, there's some lilies and lupins and things like that that are still there that every time I go out to see them, that was Mrs. Palmer's. Yes. [00:42:05:16 - 00:42:08:03] Chris What else? [00:42:08:03 - 00:42:12:06] Collin As I'm thinking about it with Grandpa Al Capurso, [00:42:13:08 - 00:42:16:03] Collin because I read it recently in the hub, the big fish. [00:42:16:03 - 00:42:18:07] Chris Oh my goodness. [00:42:20:05 - 00:42:23:11] Chris Well, it was part of our homesteading years. [00:42:24:19 - 00:42:32:03] Chris And he saw the industry kind of growing, but people would fish, [00:42:33:05 - 00:42:58:13] Chris but that's all they would do. So he wanted to bring a certainly, he wanted to elevate it, the fishing community. So he wanted to make sure that the streams and waterways were kept clean. So he was a part of that project. And then he said, you know, we need to make this a family affair. Let's bring in whole families. So we started doing that. We started this little bait and tackle shop in our solar room. [00:43:00:07 - 00:43:15:03] Chris Well, he had read an old article about this fish that was made as a project. It was made out of fiberglass and steel. And he went to look for it and he found it. And he asked if he could buy it. Well, they weren't sure. We bidded and we won the bid. [00:43:16:03 - 00:43:39:23] Chris And every year since then it sat in the front yard. I'm thinking it was out there probably a good 10 years or so, but every year it would get a different color. So, or it would look different. One year we had a white body with polka dots on it. Another year would be bright green or bright orange. The year that your aunt Carly graduated, they took it on as a mascot. [00:43:41:02 - 00:43:59:13] Chris And we actually had them painted under a tent and they took it to the school. That was kind of their senior day thing too. And they had the big fish out in front. And so many years after that, we'd have the fish out front, but with the shop, it closed down and people would stop and say, [00:44:00:13 - 00:44:03:03] Chris where, you know, where's the tackle shop? And we'd have to explain. [00:44:04:12 - 00:44:14:23] Chris We'd have pizza drivers coming by and they said to look for the big fish and that would be our marker. And I'd say, go north, you know, go south. [00:44:15:23 - 00:44:34:02] Chris So that fish became kind of a symbol in the middle of the, the staple of your house. Now, if you take a picture of the map of Orleans County and you did a crisscross, you would find us almost in the center of that crisscross where the big fish was. [00:44:34:02 - 00:44:34:23] Collin Amazing. [00:44:34:23 - 00:44:35:15] Chris Yeah. [00:44:35:15 - 00:44:41:12] Collin And then are there any other stories or any memories that you'd like to share about your life, the people within it? [00:44:43:00 - 00:44:45:15] Chris An incredible life, many wonderful people. [00:44:48:20 - 00:44:50:16] Chris And things are just going to keep growing. [00:44:50:16 - 00:44:51:11] Collin Definitely. [00:44:51:11 - 00:44:51:21] Chris Yeah. [00:44:51:21 - 00:44:58:18] Collin Well, that about concludes our interview. So thank you so much for joining us. It was an absolute pleasure to have you around.