The Barn Blog

Some have called this the best barn night ever. Dave McLaughlin and John Sirabella co-hosted this charity event to benefit the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF). We had 3 tables set up: craps, blackjack and roulette, all manned by croupiers in tuxedos. Attractive waitresses served beer, mixed drinks and cigars, further adding to Vegas-like atmosphere. Each man contributed $100 at the door and received $1,000 in chips to gamble. Some increased their holdings and some decreased them. About half way through the night a buy in opportunity was presented to bring some of the losers back into play. Prizes were awarded to the 3 men with the most chips at the end of the evening. The first place winner, Bill Supik, in an act of amazing generosity, initiated a spontaneous raffle of his prize (an iPod). This resulted in hundreds of dollars in additional donations. At the end of it all, everyone had a great time and we raised $1,740 for the JDRF. Charity events will undoubtedly become an annual tradition at the barn.

Mike Santoliquido co-hosted the barn’s first cigar tasting. He invited John, Dave and Brendon, owners of NY Cigar Co here in Eastchester. John gave an highly informative and entertaining talk on cigars as we enjoyed samples of their excellent cigars. We dedicated the evening to David Gutierrez, who passed away this week. David loved coming to the barn events and will be missed dearly. John donated a humidor and organized a raffle to raise some money for David’s childrens’ education. As a further act of generosity, the folks from NY Cigar Co. pledged 50 cigars for every barn night. What a great bunch of guys! Hopefully the barn goers will continue patronize their fine establishment.

Steve Quigley, who grew up in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, conducted a wine tasting of wines from the Finger Lakes.

The wines we tasted are, in order:

1) Dr. Frank Pinot Gris

2) Hosmer Dry Riesling

3) Anthony Road Semi-dry Riesling

4) Castel Grisch Trammentine

5) Miles Pinot Noir

6) Six Mile Creek Ithaca Red

The wines that had the best response from the group were Nos. 1 and 2.

As I mentioned, Finger Lakes wines are difficult to find around here.  However, most, if not all Finger Lakes Winerys will ship.  Some sources to check out are: www.fingerlakeswinegazette.org, www.senecalakewine.com, www.cayugawinetrail.com, and www.keukawinetrail.com.

Phil DeSantis, an accomplished carpenter and contractor led a practical discussion on home improvements, renovations, remodeling, etc. He began with a very inspiring story about how he discovered his calling to be a carpenter while in high school wood shop. Phil gave us the inside scoop on local contractors, touching on some controversial topics such as overcharging, illegal immigrant workers, and organized crime. Phil shared the saga of Ben’s Barn renovation project, which he spearheaded. The barn was about to collapse before he shored up the foundation and reinforced the walls and floor. Besides becoming emotionally attached to barn, Phil had a scaffolding accident in the barn which almost killed him. Whenever we enjoy the barn we can be grateful for Phil’s hard work and dedication to the restoration of this historic neighborhood landmark.

Jerry Ragano came up with the radical idea of bringing man’s best friends to the barn with us. He brought in a dog trainer named Ken Beronson who gave us a group lesson in dog training.  There were 12 dogs up to age 3 of all sizes and breeds. Along with their masters, they formed a large circle around trainer Ken and his lead pupil Sammy Dimarco. Ken gave a 1 1/2 hour lesson in obedience 101 while using dog treats as a reward system. After the dogs were returned home, usual barn festivities followed until the AM.

Brian Bull took us on a journey down under with Australian food, beer and music led us in a tasting of Australian wines. The wines we sampled were:

Jacobs Creek Chardonnay 2005Houghton Sauvignon Blanc 2005