The Barn Blog

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.

The talk was given by Alan Weiss,  a 6-time Emmy Award winning Executive Producer, Program Producer and Writer. He told stores about some of the experiences he’s had as a TV journalist. The most amazing story was about Alan he broke the story on the shooting of John Lennon, while in the emergency room awaiting treatment for a motorcycle accident. This won him an Emmy Award, which he brought to the barn and passed around. Other stores related to his experiences with the Lebanese Civil War, the Son of Sam, Mohammed Ali, and Geraldo Rivera.

Last year Brendon Tween performed Irish Rebel Songs at the barn. This year he returned to teach us some Irish Drinking Songs. We sang and clapped along, drank some Guinness, and got into the Irish spirit.  Two days later a bunch of us marched in the Eastchester St. Patrick’s Day Parade.

Bob Huerster is a scholar who has taken a great interest in the life of Abraham Lincoln. He gave a fascinating a talk on Lincoln, which is very timely given the recent Spielberg film and Lincoln’s Birthday this month. Bob gave us some insight into what Lincoln was really like. The talk stimulated much conversation and many interesting questions. For Bob’s list of Lincoln resources, click here.

The 73rd Barn Night was presented by Pepe Cardona of the band Alive N Kickn’. Alive N Kickn’ is best known for their 1970 hit single “Tighter, Tighter” which reached #7 in the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart. Pepe and his son Tim took us on a musical journey from the 1950’s through present day. Pepe told stories and shared entertaining anecdotes from rock history, including the story of his own one-hit-wonder. Pepe and Tim rocked the Barn to a standing ovation. The evening also included an honoring of Ben’s 50th birthday with a roast from several barn guys with gifts, cake, and a musical birthday salute by Pepe.

Rob Simonetti is a Concrete Batcher at Ferrara Bros. Building Materials. Rob began by telling us the difference between cement and concrete. He explained how concrete is made and delivered to job sites. Rob showed some great photos and videos of the mixing and pouring process. He told some entertaining stories about the business and some of the unusual demands of his customers.