Kimberly Annis and Gerald Annis

00:00 I'm Kimberly Maureen anise. I am 46 years old. Today's date is Saturday June 20th. 2003 Montana and I'm talking today with my dad Gerald Annis.

00:19 I'm Gerald anthonyanus. I'm 70 years old. Today's date is June 20th 2020 and I'm in Webster New York having a conversation with my wonderful daughter Kimberly.

00:37 Absolutely.

00:40 Yeah, we have that between me and my sister weather. Who is the good daughter today?

00:48 Yes, it does appear that tomorrow is Father's day. Both of your daughters. Wanted to wanted to do this story car interview or discussion or conversation with with you and Mom. But today we're going to do it with just you and one of the primary things that all three of us need Becky and Jamie wanted to know was we want to hear about your dad.

01:18 Well, why don't I start from the beginning the

01:27 I made the second oldest of five kids and we're all born in Rochester New York. I was born in 1950.

01:38 My parents were Irving and Cecilia and I understand our first apartment was out on Appleton Street.

01:50 What does in the city of Rochester?

01:53 And I really don't have any recall of it, but I saw pictures of me sitting in a high chair with my older brother Tom teasing me shortly thereafter apparently with my addition to the household. We made a move and I was told we moved to our house in Latta Road, which is near Charlotte beach.

02:21 I am the Beach area.

02:25 Am I early memories? So I was when we moved there.

02:31 It was a three bedroom house one bath and the our room was over the garage. That was the boys room. There are three of us.

02:53 All three of you, my brother John and and I shared that started out with the time my older brother and I in bunk beds and renovated be apparently when they bought the house they did a renovation because the garage was below this and the room was wasn't anything so they finished off the room and added a cedar closet. It was probably I don't know 20 ft long.

03:29 So we aren't that was one of our forts going through the cedar closet.

03:34 Amongst all the clothes the other for it was outside. My father had a it started business and that with his brother and they had various items from that scrap that we ended up building a fort out back. I don't want to get ahead of myself, but they had the restaurant had a walkway that was partitions that were built in 1 predictions needed replacement. The old partitions became our Ford.

04:23 They all came to the fort and the four it bad that I ever have early days of, you know, like a dozen kids. It was King of the mountain and of course younger brother was always sacrificed off the roof of the 4th to the crowd to save the older brother. You would Tom Thomas your ear consummate teaser constantly teased you challenged one another he was also my rescuer.

05:04 Viber call cuz

05:07 In this said this area as we grew up there was a Dairy Farmer cross the street and neighborhood girl next door used to babysit for us and I hope this was the early days of TV. And when will we have the first TV and our parents left the house first thing we watched was Dracula.

05:36 And yet, of course directly, we were supposed to watch it and we went to bed and we treat head rosaries around our neck and terrified.

05:49 We started both remember that you know, because we figured the bats were going to come get us at night like my memory of watching the movie Jaws. That's another favored by the

06:07 Yoga thing that that came about when we lived out there we weren't far from the Genesee River or shellac Beach and there was a railroad that was two houses down.

06:24 That went to the city and then went to the Old hojack Trail and in various areas and we would walk the tracks and we would find all kinds of thing. I mean old vintage stuff that lanterns and railroad stuff and you know, despite.

06:49 Oh, yeah, we were we were the bad boys of the neighborhood or some sort of story about a field.

06:59 Well, yeah, you're getting it heavy the we have two railroad detective show up on day. Of course, they were canvassing the neighborhood because the train I was telling you about apparently tipped over one day and they wanted to know if we had put any Pennies on the railroad tracks. You were well known to them where you talk to their Ricky was his name had all kinds of Critters that love snakes and he we go over there with Chris and he would have the reaches hand into a a box full of snakes pull up maybe six of them and he go all know a bit me in.

07:59 HC blue lines are red lines running up and down his arm from the fight. And you got a Ricky keep the snakes away from me. What about your sis? What about your sisters? Did you do that? Mostly between you and Tom? So we you asked about something about a brush fire well,

08:32 Where we lived at Latta Road there. It was all Woods that went straight back to essentially to Charlotte beach, which would be about 5 miles during the year olds six-year-olds was the manage the the leaf pile in the fire and and you know being young the challenge was if we included our neighbors next door. We have a bigger fire.

09:12 And everything was going well until this wind came up.

09:20 And before you know it we were we were watching the five miles of field being at all being up in her bedroom looking out the window at the field at the fireman and the police and the Apparently that little fire just got out of control.

09:44 Never heard this story before

09:55 You know, you got to be real careful when you burn leaves. Apparently, that's at age. Tell me I M don't know much about your dad and his family. Where did where did your dad grow up? And and when did he meet grandma?

10:19 Okay, so let me see.

10:26 In Rochester, the Heritage sort of broke up you had Italians you had all those shoe had Irish you had and it seemed that everybody melded in various regions and so was her parents her parents came from see it would be

10:59 The world has changed so much but there with you know in Lithuania Poland and everything melted together there and my mom's father. Was it work cutter and this is back in the 18.

11:19 And his wife Julia have Dorothy their youngest and then Mary Mary and Julia and Dorothy came over at a boat.

11:38 To Ellis Island and after the father had enough money and he had settled in Medina New York Head Start of the farm and a bakery.

11:58 And the they arrived and they're ended up with a total of 9 girls in that family the crew there. Let's see Helen Mary Dorothy Joan, Francis, Paula Cecilia

12:23 Am I missing?

12:27 But all we didn't know Joan and I and everybody else your cousin Casas. Mom. Remember her the back deck crew lived in Medina, and they had all kinds of stories about Aunt Francis rabbit crawling out the window in the middle of the night and The Farmhouse and and Grandpa would show up and then be waiting for her to crawl back in the window after her.

13:06 Of course, they went through my mom was born in 1920 and the and they had a bakery in labor call people coming to the front door begging for food and they would always have something but word travels fast back then and your line could be a hundred people deep if you were careful, and you couldn't do it for them. So.

13:41 Then marry one of the sisters.

13:47 Married Bob Nestle who turned out he was in this is during the Roaring Twenties. He started that he was one of the founders of standard Brewery in Rochester and they lived in what I called a mansion in one of the better areas in Rochester and I always used to have to play on their iron gates that opened into their driveway and he said his house was built so bitter beer trucks could come in and be stored. So it was a multi-purpose place and it was built since he was German.

14:35 It was a flash or a German style house that was huge and love her house was the coolest house or one of the grandfather clocks that we have is probably think it's from like 1850 or something at still works and and then when they pass that was one of the things that we might hear it.

15:08 What are was interesting and in the stories and all that stuff on my father? You mentioned you mentioned family business was I mean there was quite a few of them. I'm between your father's and his brother is Becca nerves, but there's also we have a connection to Andy's candies to well. Let me let me start with my father's family. Okay, because my middle name is Anthony. So I'm named after my Grandpa Tony or Anthony or unique individual again. He migrated here and brought the family.

15:58 And there were four siblings as part of that and he and they lived on Dayton Street. And if I backup at Mary's parents were moved from Medina to

16:32 One of the streets bordered State and Street, which is where my father or what?

16:42 Okay, so they were like two blocks away and the they grew up in that neighborhood and the interesting thing about that time or one of the things that I've learned. Was it the value of relationships friendship. He went to high school with technical school, at least one of the technical high schools and he ended up one of the things that he did was early on was he was a test driver in the end I think for Ford at in Detroit for a little while.

17:25 Elderly vehicle said he knew everything about cars and driving the they he and his brother after World War II.

17:42 Before World War 2 Beta worked together up near across from the park amusement park and sea breeze him but that was a area that if you look back in time, the it had pools that had carousels that had it was well if you wanted to go someplace it was one of the resorts or places to go to.

18:20 So they they started a small restaurant top of the hill didn't own the property or anything, but got it going and after World War II that you bought the property down there at the bottom of the hill and and built by hand the restaurant and because materials were unavailable because of the war their entrances were essentially garage doors, but they started with so and it was unique and it was one of the places it was the place in town. If you are a politician and you wanted to be re-elected you showed up the neck and Irv's + + + press the flesh with everybody who is there it was I me from the sheriff to the county managers to the state senators that I mean,

19:20 All the all the state police on a first-name basis amazing and

19:31 That business when did they start building? And when did they decide to do it after 6, but they were in business before that up the hill and so this became their place and the when you it was the kind of place where they had to have people managing the traffic in their parking lot.

19:59 Add to to find a space and so I remember the gentleman to know he was out there directing traffic. And and if you looked at that thing because they were headed open counter type of face huge place and people would be five deep trying to to you know, get service and then they were well known for what they did. So it was the place to go and it was amazing all over again people coming back from the war was thinking about everybody's trying to get a job at all of our relatives at one time or another all work their husbands.

20:47 Well myself, you know, I'm talking about everybody. So the older generation that that you know, they ended up working two jobs or second job was coming down to the restaurant to work. So is very interesting.

21:05 And it gave me an opportunity because I think at the ripe age of

21:12 Well wish 1314. This is back. When you wanted french fries while you had to peel potatoes to go into the machine that made them little square pieces that you've been fried and turned out wonderful. So you had the peel bags of Funyuns.

21:43 Yeah, so I don't cry when when I peel an onion. I got over them at a early age. I have to learn to make things one of their Specialties with a hot sauce and it was It was kind of thing that if you admit the recipe you could have sold it out to all of the restaurants, but they it was a family recipe and it will all of the items were stored in my grandfather's house and it was kind of a chemistry combination and what if you walked into the garage door the the area where the base materials were stored you needed a mask because the spices it was like I've been to India and

22:43 Go through the markets there and they have all the spices out. Well, this was ten times more potent than there. So you learned how to make hot sauce and you knew the combinations and the things that that made it great and you only use the top grade materials. So I learned a number of things back in the States is before calculators. So payroll, I would watch my father on a Friday doing payroll and doing everything on his head. He pull the pulled the time cards out and then have a time cards be writing it out doing the math all in his head and being right every time you know, so how many hours here's the all the taxes that you had to take out and then everybody got paid in cash and envelopes because it again this is before you nobody had.

23:43 Cards back then nobody has cash.

23:51 Interesting time but go ahead think of it is in the 40s until about 2000 is when a people was sold my uncle Vic who was living at the time. He didn't sell the business. He sold the rights for them to use the facility and their own Main and and run businesses in that when I'm probably up until

24:37 I think maybe eight years ago 6 years ago.

24:43 Property was sold off.

24:47 Long time on tag history recently that we realized our favorite candy maker in Rochester. There's we have a family relationship. Yes, Dayton Street and Hudson Avenue, which was across from Dayton Street and my uncle jack

25:22 Met his wife Freda who was the daughter of Andes Candies and at that time she was a soda jerk as they were going through high school and Andy's candies and that this is like, you know something I'm way out of the past with the the soda fountain and the ice cream and the all the goodies behind the counter including chocolate.

25:52 Which is what they're known for now. It's just outrageous family still own half of ownership in Andes Candies. I haven't checked recently to see what it is, but we know enough about everything that was an ethnic area where you had bakeries, you know, you had it didn't matter whether it was Jewish polish Italian, whatever it was all there and you go down the street and the food on the smells as you walk down the street you just go. Wow, and again, the lines were always free for deep to get service in all of these places very interesting and you know, everybody knew everybody everybody, you know.

26:52 Very very different they were married in st. Stanislaus Church, which was both my mom and and Ed and that was where you know for a while we went there because they had the world's best Carnival in the world. And of course, you know the for the kids that was great, but for the older generation, they had the Bingo they had the cards they had

27:29 So it was it was very interesting and very and I was right next door to Edison Tech of all places, which is where my father High School.

27:40 So, I mean it's kind of like this huge City but the neighborhood unique unique thing that I found about my grandfather or Anthony was that he spoke 12 languages and he was he was a got into insurance and and when because of where he lived in Europe you everybody was occupied by somebody and you reached you could reach out and touch your another country. So he knew Italian he knew polish a new Russian he knew I wanted out of that and he could talk to anybody is English was somewhat. I I wants it was not perfect.

28:36 Talk to him in German or you talk to him at Italian or if he's other languages. He was home. Boom. Boom.

28:45 And then I remember growing up and going to the echo Club.

28:55 And that was a club that time if you lived in the neighborhood and you go in and everybody knew everybody from that town and even if they've moved away, so it was like the place to go back to your roots in and say howdy and everybody knew everybody else and it was like a high school reunions repeating itself continuously.

29:33 Why do challenges now one of the things that happened was that I was probably

29:44 Oh, I can't remember how old I was when my mom was in a car accident and they were going back to my Medina for funeral. I think and my her sister Helen was driving and they hit a bridge above and my mom was like she was going to make it she went through the windshield. She broke her arms broke her leg Stroker Ace essentially and she probably took about a year for her to recover and it was so interesting the family came and took care of us during that time. And you know, I remember seeing her in the hospital at recognizer because it was all bandages. I mean something from The Mummy

30:39 Mom said it was different and after that well, my brother Tom and I have the opportunity to go to military school.

30:51 What two numbers add but it had the assistance of the US Marine Corps.

31:08 And there was a captain who led us is Cadets in learning and I'm to March and drill is a military unit and by 6th grade. I was a sergeant hypertune and it was a military brush cut you wore military uniforms you Head Start shirts that that you get when you put your arm through the sleeves you're breaking will starch any of this was crisp.

31:43 Yeah that I you had a military hat. You had dress uniforms and regular uniform black shoes you and Tom go to it. My brother John also went for a couple.

32:05 And sisters, where did your sisters go not made it is not Whisperers all boys. Wasn't it? Because of this, you know, I learned what a lavatory was you went to the lavatory.

32:29 And one of the highlights was that you did your urine essentially a young Marine at that early age because you did the sit-ups push-ups the running the jumping you had to in the gym. That was I don't know 40 feet high you had to climb the rope and ring the bell at the top of the Rope.

32:53 How long how long did was that just grade school and then was was different. Then he went to high school. Everything was Sir ma'am. Yes, you want discipline you had it and

33:22 You are so because our parents and we live maybe a half hour away so we can get it to this everyday. So in the car driving there, we would learn r x damn such math. Whiz by the time we got to school. We knew their division are you know, all of the things that we were tutored add that we were literally drilled as part of that also. Look at that young age. We rode the bus back. So we would walk up in a two or three blocks from from Nazareth Hall to get to the bus station bus stop.

34:09 Bayer pay your roof your your tokens or your fee and and ride the bus for I don't know maybe 20 minutes or so.

34:19 Get off the bus and walk two and a half miles to home and

34:25 Yeah, yeah, you didn't think much of it.

34:28 At the time of course, there was a of course there was a candy store on.

34:36 I have a comic store on the corner. So you had to make your stops. Oh one interesting thing. When I was in kindergarten Road time at Nazareth Hall was at Latta Road, too, but I went home with this young little girl in kindergarten and mother asked me if it was. All right, and I said sure and this is him. We showed up. Maybe I showed up at home. Maybe three hours after I should have.

35:17 And I was meant by the police in and I saw my mother right there crying and wondering if somebody has lost a young boy and it turned out I was the young boy.

35:35 He had no idea you even lost did you get there? So I have with all of all of this in the in the time on we've been talking about. When did you meet Mom?

35:55 I want to talk about the Soap Box Derby race because I came in sixth place.

36:05 Entrance and you built your own soap box derby racer and we use the bestest to cover the the ugliest race card my brother and I and and

36:23 I was the everybody had fathers were the kodak's rgm or wherever and then these Racers were beautiful and and they all I have one little boy tell me that he's going to win because his was lighter. Oh, wait a minute wait going down a ramp because you would be lifted up on these elevators and you had a regular racing wrap at 45 degree angle and it was a mile run in this racer and wait was everything and wind so we would suffer rolls of quarters in their pants Pockets put on the heaviest boots we had and whatever we could wear to add weight.

37:12 Cuz the racer and you could only weigh 250 pounds by the time we got done with that.

37:23 Eddie wait ended up winning a bicycle and everything else and being in the newspaper. So that was cool.

37:35 Oh God, I was probably.

37:38 11

37:41 Okay. Yeah, that's pretty cool. So, you know so between your grandfather and and and all of this I sent this being here with with the cars because you you get when you worked at Schlegel. That was one of your big things which is why exactly which is why you and I have the app.

38:29 Number one was this gold two to one of the comedians for a bunch of money.

38:38 Now all we need is another couple hours to get this thing done, but

38:52 Well, I do remember that. That Viper and I do remember you bringing that home and not being a a really cool. So if we have another couple hours, I tell you about all my worldwide travels from Europe to Asia to I've been in every state in the Union and traveled.

39:13 Many places favorite places Ireland because your mom's Irish.

39:21 Yeah, so that was unique. She had the opportunity through all of Europe with me and Australia you join me in Australia sofa lots of History lots of stuff and more to come if they say we just have to decide what

39:43 Thank you, Dad.

39:49 So

39:52 Did I help in answering some of the questions that you have?

39:58 Some of the many yes. Yep. Nope. That was great. Thanks, Dad have session 2 3 and 4.

40:12 Anything you want to say?

40:16 You're good. Okay. Well more to come next time around.