And then there was Bucky….
Bob and Veronica Bennett’s son John was born in 1947. He had some health issues early in his life but he struggled on ahead and became the plucky little fellow known as “Bucky”.
Bucky became a central figure in Cazenovia culture for many years. He, along with Mark “Spook” Goldacker, were the town criers. They knew the story, and backstory, of nearly everyone in the area. From the Black Moonshiner high in the hills of Fenner to that wild looking old couple George and Hazel from New Woodstock to the career of Cazenovia sports legend Paul Johnson they could tell you the whole story and then some. Some called them the heart and soul of Cazenovia.
I first met Bucky when I was around seven. It immediately struck me that in some ways this young boy was like a jovial old shopkeeper. He shared this trait with his classmate Larry “Doc” Larkin. They both wore their pants a bit high and really enjoyed a good joke or story. The Great Doctor Larkin is another story.
Due to his health issues Bucky was uncoordinated and unathletic. He had thick glasses and squinted a lot. He lumbered a bit when he walked. When he genuflected in church sometimes he had a little trouble getting back up. Despite this, from early on, he was always a presence at local sporting events. He was often a referee or announcer. Later on in life he would become the official broadcaster at Cazenovia High School football games. He could talk knowledgeably about sports all day long.
Veronica was a devout Catholic and so the somewhat sickly Bucky was given a lot of attention from our priests and nuns. St. James had Father Lynch, Father Gorman and Father Burke. All these good men preceded Father Casey who was hands down the most popular priest in Central New York. Anyway some of this rubbed off on Bucky and often after a brief greeting there was a hand on the shoulder and a bit of sincere “How’s your soul?” from Buck.
Sometimes Bucky’s mostly good natured kidding went a bit too far. One day Leo, after enduring a summer long ribbing about his weight, snapped. Leo was also not very athletic and normally he was an easygoing but somewhat emotional kid. He was very strong however. There were about twenty of us eleven- twelve year olds at Legion Field. We were getting ready to choose sides for a baseball game that day. The day Leo snapped.
He grabbed Bucky, threw him to the ground and sat on him, fists clenched. Leo was red faced, apoplectic and speechless in his anger that had built up for so long . Bucky was terrified but from early on he had a sense for the dramatic. When several guys made a move to pull Leo off Bucky yelled “Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him!” Bucky was going to “talk him down”. He spoke slowly, priest-like and after a while he calmed down the nearly murderous Leo. It was all an unexpected eye popping event for us guys. I expect most who were there remember it well.
In 1962 ABC television opened up it’s affiliate in Syracuse. Channel 9 wanted to pick up interest with local programming. So there was a talent show on Saturday morning. Soon word was going around that Bucky had tried out, made the cut and he was GOING TO BE ON TV!! This was a real big deal. Cazenovia was rarely mentioned on television back then and we thought of ourselves as being out in the sticks. So Bucky had made the big time as a sit down comedian.
All of Cazenovia sat glued to their sets as Bucky performed. I hadn’t seen much of Bob Newhart at the time so I did not recognize that Bucky had borrowed a lot of his material from him and added some local flavor. No Matter. Bucky had ambition and guts and did pretty darn well. We were proud of him. Damn proud.
Ten years later I was working with Bucky at the Town & Country IGA up the hill east of the village. Don Callahan’s store was Cazenovia’s Wegman’s. It was a very, very popular place. Bucky told me years later that some marketing outfit had determined Mr. Callahan’s mercantile had 90% of the area’s grocery business. The other store near the tracks downtown was almost deserted. People went to the IGA to people watch and catch up on local events and gossip.
This was a great place to work for the outgoing Bucky. Fridays and Saturdays were almost circus-like up there on the hill and Bucky was very busy being Bucky.
One day I was stocking a shelf off in a corner in the back of the store. No one noticed that I was there. I had a good view of the “center stage” that was the meat department. Bill Waffner was in the cooler taking inventory. A cocky young salesman stood in the middle of this stage. Then Bucky walked by.
Bucky was snapping his fingers and whistling and well, being Bucky as he moved along across the meat displays and exited stage right. All the while this arrogant salesman has his eye on him. As soon as Bucky was out of earshot the hotshot salesman said aloud to himself ”Executive Material” …with a sneer.
Executive material? Executive material? What the….?
Well, Bucky may have not been “Executive Material” but he meant a lot to most folks in Cazenovia.
Bucky was a popular MC at many local events and a darn good public speaker. He developed a little harder edge as he moved into middle age. The years will do that to you sometimes. However he remained a Cazenovia fixture and a good hearted neighbor to many and he left us way too soon.
Bob and Veronica Bennett’s son John was born in 1947. He had some health issues early in his life but he struggled on ahead and became the plucky little fellow known as “Bucky”.
Bucky became a central figure in Cazenovia culture for many years. He, along with Mark “Spook” Goldacker, were the town criers. They knew the story, and backstory, of nearly everyone in the area. From the Black Moonshiner high in the hills of Fenner to that wild looking old couple George and Hazel from New Woodstock to the career of Cazenovia sports legend Paul Johnson they could tell you the whole story and then some. Some called them the heart and soul of Cazenovia.
I first met Bucky when I was around seven. It immediately struck me that in some ways this young boy was like a jovial old shopkeeper. He shared this trait with his classmate Larry “Doc” Larkin. They both wore their pants a bit high and really enjoyed a good joke or story. The Great Doctor Larkin is another story.
Due to his health issues Bucky was uncoordinated and unathletic. He had thick glasses and squinted a lot. He lumbered a bit when he walked. When he genuflected in church sometimes he had a little trouble getting back up. Despite this, from early on, he was always a presence at local sporting events. He was often a referee or announcer. Later on in life he would become the official broadcaster at Cazenovia High School football games. He could talk knowledgeably about sports all day long.
Veronica was a devout Catholic and so the somewhat sickly Bucky was given a lot of attention from our priests and nuns. St. James had Father Lynch, Father Gorman and Father Burke. All these good men preceded Father Casey who was hands down the most popular priest in Central New York. Anyway some of this rubbed off on Bucky and often after a brief greeting there was a hand on the shoulder and a bit of sincere “How’s your soul?” from Buck.
Sometimes Bucky’s mostly good natured kidding went a bit too far. One day Leo, after enduring a summer long ribbing about his weight, snapped. Leo was also not very athletic and normally he was an easygoing but somewhat emotional kid. He was very strong however. There were about twenty of us eleven- twelve year olds at Legion Field. We were getting ready to choose sides for a baseball game that day. The day Leo snapped.
He grabbed Bucky, threw him to the ground and sat on him, fists clenched. Leo was red faced, apoplectic and speechless in his anger that had built up for so long . Bucky was terrified but from early on he had a sense for the dramatic. When several guys made a move to pull Leo off Bucky yelled “Don’t touch him! Don’t touch him!” Bucky was going to “talk him down”. He spoke slowly, priest-like and after a while he calmed down the nearly murderous Leo. It was all an unexpected eye popping event for us guys. I expect most who were there remember it well.
In 1962 ABC television opened up it’s affiliate in Syracuse. Channel 9 wanted to pick up interest with local programming. So there was a talent show on Saturday morning. Soon word was going around that Bucky had tried out, made the cut and he was GOING TO BE ON TV!! This was a real big deal. Cazenovia was rarely mentioned on television back then and we thought of ourselves as being out in the sticks. So Bucky had made the big time as a sit down comedian.
All of Cazenovia sat glued to their sets as Bucky performed. I hadn’t seen much of Bob Newhart at the time so I did not recognize that Bucky had borrowed a lot of his material from him and added some local flavor. No Matter. Bucky had ambition and guts and did pretty darn well. We were proud of him. Damn proud.
Ten years later I was working with Bucky at the Town & Country IGA up the hill east of the village. Don Callahan’s store was Cazenovia’s Wegman’s. It was a very, very popular place. Bucky told me years later that some marketing outfit had determined Mr. Callahan’s mercantile had 90% of the area’s grocery business. The other store near the tracks downtown was almost deserted. People went to the IGA to people watch and catch up on local events and gossip.
This was a great place to work for the outgoing Bucky. Fridays and Saturdays were almost circus-like up there on the hill and Bucky was very busy being Bucky.
One day I was stocking a shelf off in a corner in the back of the store. No one noticed that I was there. I had a good view of the “center stage” that was the meat department. Bill Waffner was in the cooler taking inventory. A cocky young salesman stood in the middle of this stage. Then Bucky walked by.
Bucky was snapping his fingers and whistling and well, being Bucky as he moved along across the meat displays and exited stage right. All the while this arrogant salesman has his eye on him. As soon as Bucky was out of earshot the hotshot salesman said aloud to himself ”Executive Material” …with a sneer.
Executive material? Executive material? What the….?
Well, Bucky may have not been “Executive Material” but he meant a lot to most folks in Cazenovia.
Bucky was a popular MC at many local events and a darn good public speaker. He developed a little harder edge as he moved into middle age. The years will do that to you sometimes. However he remained a Cazenovia fixture and a good hearted neighbor to many and he left us way too soon.