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up front Don Simpkin, Director of the St. Martin Boxing Club Murray—the goal of the program isn’t looking for the next champion. It is creating successful people. What is “success,” though? Collazo, who started boxing as a 12-year-old in Puerto Rico, says, “Success is when they amount to something. I want them to become better people. Even if they quit boxing.” Can the measurement of success be found in the list of adult graduates who have become counselors, social workers, police officers, pastors, tradesmen, and teachers, which Simkin says he needs to update? Is it making it to adulthood alive, which most have, but some have not? Can success be measured in a percentage? Simkin doesn’t think so. “It’s hard to measure exactly,” he says. “It’s a little bit of an issue with me. You can make any figure you want. When you get into social sciences, there’s no way to do this number stuff. The best way you can tell is to interview these people—a year, five years, 10 years—after they leave. All you can do is see the effect you have.” Charlie Fitch, 44, of Macedon, saw the effect first-hand. “To me, (Simkin)’s the closest of anybody I’ve met to being a saint. He’s got a huge heart. I’m not saying he’s perfect, but he’s trying to do the right thing. He’s affected so many lives. Thousands of lives. He provides a good place for them. He gives them a place they can be more productive members of society.” Growing up boxing in Syracuse, Fitch developed a healthy respect for St. Martin’s boxers. He says, every time he faced one, he lost. When Fitch moved to Rochester after high school, he decided if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em. He says his time at the club helped mold him into the man he is today. “Winning the fight in boxing is the same as winning the fight of life. You don’t give up. If something doesn’t work out, you try a different avenue.” Fitch admires how Simkin keeps St. Martin’s plugging along. “It’s not getting the money coming in, but it’s a super successful program,” he says. “He doesn’t have time to write grants because he’s too busy helping these kids to be successful. Successful in the sense of kids being active. Kids becoming better human beings.” St. Martin’s Tracey McGruder, a 23-year-old student at Monroe Community College, is no kid, but he sees his life changing because of boxing. McGruder, who was introduced to boxing to train for football, says his dedication to the sport keeps him out of trouble. “I don’t have time to think about trouble,” he says. “There are no negative influences pulling me in. I’m focused on this.” Although some younger members have been with the club longer, some for as long as seven years, McGruder says the team turns to him for leadership. “Even though I was new, I learned quick. The kids looked up to me. I always try to set a positive example.” With older members acting as mentors and additional guidance from coaches (Simkin, Collazo, Orlando Santiago, Genardo Ortiz, Larry King, Eric Martinez, and other volunteers), the current crop of St. Martin’s 15 to 20 boxers have a chance at a bright future. Inside the ring and out. —Kyle Johnson Sometimes You Feel Like a Nut “I like to eat breakfast alone, and almost never before noon; anybody with a terminally jangled lifestyle needs at least one psychic anchor every twenty-four hours, and mine is breakfast. In Hong Kong, Dallas or at home — and regardless of whether or not I have been to bed — breakfast is a personal ritual that can only be properly observed alone, and in a spirit of genuine excess. The food factor should always be massive: four Bloody Marys, two grapefruits, a pot of coffee, Rangoon crepes, a half-pound of either sausage, bacon, or corned beef hash with diced chiles, a Spanish omelette or eggs Benedict, a quart of milk, a chopped lemon for random seasoning, and something like a slice of Key lime pie, two margaritas, and six lines of the best cocaine for dessert… Right, and there should also be two or three newspapers, all mail and messages, a telephone, a notebook for planning the next twenty-four hours and at least one source of good music… All of which should be dealt with outside, in the warmth of a hot sun, and preferably stone naked.” —Hunter S. Thompson, from “The Great Shark Hunt,” originally published in 1979 42 POST | Issue 9 January / February 2015 Mike Martinez
Semaj Cruz, an 8th grader at School of the Arts, with Seedfolk founders Lisa Barker and Josiah Krause Grow, baby, grow Urban gardens teach teens how to grow food The teens involved in Seedfolk City Farm’s urban agriculture program can talk easily about how they grow garlic, use it to make hummus, and teach others how to do the same. From low-income neighborhoods with access mainly to corner stores that specialize in unhealthy, processed foods, these teens are gaining the knowledge and skills to create a more equitable and accessible community food system. “I’ve found that if youth, especially at-risk youth, are given opportunities to do work that is meaningful and can actually impact their community, they really rise to the occasion,” says Lisa Barker, Seedfolk City Farm cofounder. “I’ve seen this be transformative for young people in ways that I think surprise even themselves.” Seedfolk City Farm maintains growing spaces at the M.K. Gandhi Institute for Nonviolence on South Plymouth Avenue and the Greenhouse Cafe on East Main Street, and hopes to expand to more sites in the future. Its Operation Green Winter campaign aims to raise funds to continue operating its greenhouse year-round and provide consistent after-school employment for four teens who have been with the program—a partnership between ProsperRochester’s Seedfolk Store and In The City/Off The Grid—since its inception in 2013. In all, 26 teens have been given the chance to learn how locally and sustainably grown produce can help combat food insecurity. Some of the teens have even started gardens at home with their families. “I really believe that if we want to see change in how the food system operates, youth are the people who have to be involved,” Barker says. “They tend to have the most genuine perspectives, and they have the most at stake.” www.facebook.com/seedfolkstore —Robin L. Flanigan Matt Calabrese Issue 9 January / February 2015 | POST 43
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Page 3 and 4: CONTENTS 8 PROUST QUESTIONNAIRE Ins
Page 5 and 6: CONTRIBUTORS Founder/Publisher Mike
Page 7 and 8: LETTER FROM THE EDITOR Do you think
Page 9 and 10: THE ALL-NEW XC90 The stunning exter
Page 11 and 12: DICK STORMS, CO-OWNER OF THE RECORD
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Page 27 and 28: ONE OF EIGHT CHILDREN GROWING UP IN
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Page 39 and 40: need to cure, he says, while the ca
Page 41 and 42: POST: Right. But doctors have this
Page 43: As St. Martin Boxing Club’s pract
Page 47 and 48: “I got a banjo in 1972 because I
Page 49 and 50: AN Advisor WHo KNoWs HoW To Help Yo
Page 51 and 52: makers Carol Acquilano Trevor Cranm
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Page 55 and 56: Repurposed wood makes its way to th
Page 57 and 58: It’s 10:05 a.m. and we’re in Je
Page 59 and 60: Assisted and Independent Senior Liv
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Page 65 and 66: Hart’s Local Grocer’s cheese ex
Page 67 and 68: Cornmeal gets its due in Keuka Coun
Page 70 and 71: fiction De Potter’s Grand Tour He
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POST January/February 2015

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