The Barn Blog

Doug Paratore is a software engineer and amateur poet. He read some of his own poems as well those by famous poets such as Shakespeare and Thoreau. Doug told some stories from his own life, providing the backdrop for his deep and meaningful poetry.

Theodore “Burt” Burtis is an accomplished drag racer and muscle car restoration specialist. He explained the different classes of drag racing and the importance of reaction time, elapsed time, and speed in order to win a race. The audience was surprised to learn that you can lose a race by going too fast. Burt also talked about the technology used in drag racing on the track as well as in the cars.

Danny Lam is the Northeast Sales Manager at Altadis, one of the largest manufacturers of cigars in the world. He showed a short video depicting how cigars are made. Then Danny discussed the proper etiquette of cigar smoking including the correct way to cut and light a cigar. He brought 2 types of cigars which we enjoyed and discussed throughout the evening.

Matt Peters and Scott Bogetti are former undercover detectives with the NYPD. Their presentation began with a shocking reenactment of an undercover agent (Scott) attempting a drug buy. His cover was blown and the drug dealer pulled a gun on him. Moments later the backup agent (Matt) appeared and shot the drug dealer dead. A gun with blanks was used for the reenactment, so the sound of the gunshots in the barn added to the realism. The detectives did a great job of conveying the danger and intensity of their jobs.

Dr. Steve Rubenstein is an optometrist at Sound Shore Vision Center in Mamaroneck and Town Optical in Manhattan. He explained how our vision works and entertained us with some fascinating optical illusions. Steve answered questions about color blindness, nearsightedness, and LASIK surgery.

Lou Pfaff is a world class poker player and a scholar of statistics and game theory.  He explained how poker works, the etiquette, theory, and strategies. He shared valuable insights on “tells” and how to recognize when people are bluffing. Even those who don’t play poker were impressed with Lou’s passion and enthusiasm for the game.

Gary Greenbaum is a Supervising Fire Alarm Dispatcher for the FDNY. He shared stories from his 37 years of experience responding to emergencies. Gary showed us photos of some devastating fires and the equipment used to combat them. He got very emotional when discussing the events of 9/11 where many of his friends and coworkers lost their lives.

Scott Tarter, the President and Manager of Twin Lakes Farm brought a live horse named Wendy to the barn. Accompanying Scott was Ian Tsukroff, a farrier for over 20 years. Scott and Ian taught us a great deal about horses, with particular emphasis on the care of the hoofs. Ian pulled the old horse shoes off of Wendy, then trimmed and reshaped the hoof. He then fitted Wendy with a new set of shoes. It was fascinating to watch and participate in the process. Ian also demonstrated the art of creating a horseshoe from scratch, one of which is now permanently fixed to the barn entrance.