Life in Galway
Ted Lovelass –
The Friendly
Grocer
Lessons Learned
from 40 Years in
Galway
Photos above: Sacandaga Road south of Route 67, Charlton; Ted Lovelass
Summer 2017, Issue Twenty-Five Good News for you to peruse!
Free – Take One!
A Word from the Editor
Summer is nearly over. It was great to be
outside in the warm sun and fresh air. I hope
you are enjoying your summer.
The picture on the cover is the view from Ted
Lovelass’s home looking south around three
miles south of the Village of Galway. We live in a community of both wide
open spaces and woodland, and as the forest is starting to come back,
so is the wildlife. Just last Sunday, Michael Churchill, who lives on Perth
Road, said he had a black bear in his backyard. A few years ago a postal
worker I know had a moose at his door. He lives north of Route 29. In the
Village, a couple of nights ago we had a skunk outside our door. We didn’t
see him, but you don’t need to in order to know one is nearby! I talked to
a jogger recently while walking on Donnan Road, and she saw a bald
eagle. She went home, came back, and snapped a photo. I told her to
send it to me. If it is a good picture, I will publish it in Life in Galway. If you
have any good pictures of Galway’s landscape or wild critters, send them
my way. Just mention in the title of your e-mail that it is for Life in Galway
and send a jpeg attachment to [email protected]. I only accept
those that wish to be included without remuneration.
This whole endeavor involves no money except to pay the printer. The
time put in to write it and to proof it is without pay. So if you like Life in
Galway, please thank those who proof read it: Martha Brandow, Evelyn
Hanna, and Arlene Rhodes. If you would like to help with the cost of
printing, please send a check made out to the “Bible Baptist Church of
Galway” and designate it for Life in Galway to PO Box 112, Galway, NY
12074. We appreciate and acknowledge our donors.
Those who helped with printing since the last issue were Tim and Carole
Jones, Carol Schweizer, and Florence Reedy. I also want to thank the
Dockstader Charitable Trust for their continued giving to fund those items
of community interest in Life in Galway.
I hope that you enjoy this issue as much as I enjoyed writing it. Ted
Lovelass is a delightful person to interview. I learned so much about him
that I never knew before although I have known him for 40 years.
The closing article contains a little bit about what I have learned in my 40
years here as the pastor of the Baptist Church. I’m still learning, and the
more I learn, the more I realize that I do not know. A life-long learner’s
thinking goes something like this – If you think you are ripe, you will rot. If
you think you are green, you will grow. Pride draws lines in the sand. Love
builds bridges. You may not agree with everything I say in the closing
article, and that is okay. Nobody agrees on everything.
I hope you enjoy this edition. Boy, is it good to live in Galway, NY! There
is much to give thanks for here when you consider the people,
businesses, and organizations. Write me and tell me what you think!
Sincerely yours,
Wayne R. Brandow (phone, 518-488-4153)
Ted Lovelass -The Friendly Grocer
A Great Sense of Humor Will Galway ever be the same without Ted Lovelass running Galway Market? I don’t think so! Our good-natured grocer and his wife, Diane and the kids, Kevin and Jennifer, were a real plus to our village. We miss them as well as the store.
Ted got a kick out of the fact that I liked devil’s food cookies. Frankly, I like most any kind of cookie, but devil’s food? He didn’t let that pass. With a smile he wondered if that was fit food for a Baptist minister and he threatened to tell on me.
If you like Life in Galway, you can thank Ted. I printed up 20 copies of the first issue and went door to door with my fellow church elder, Michael Churchill, back in the summer of 2010. My original plan was to briefly visit with each person who was home and leave a copy. Once I told them that my vision was to tell the stories of the good people and organizations of Galway in Life in Galway, people wanted us to stay as they told us story after story and what ought to be included in the coming issues. We only made it to three or four houses! I took the copies I didn’t give away, around 17, and went to Galway Market and asked Ted if I could leave them for customers to pick up. It was free! He looked it over and said that it was okay. The rest is history. So if you like Life in Galway thank Ted Lovelass.
After I distributed the special Christmas issue drawing some Christmas analogies from my high school and college days as a beach lifeguard in South Florida, Ted told me I was good at Photo Shop. I really didn’t know what he meant because I hadn’t used Photo Shop before. Then Martha, my wife, went down to the store. Ted told her that Wayne was good at Photo Shop. He went on, “Wayne did a good job putting his head on that lifeguard body.” I had a picture of me when I was a lifeguard in the issue.
Martha came home laughing. She told me what Ted said. “Ted said that?” I replied. I laughed and took my camera down and snapped the picture on the cover of this issue of Life in Galway. I told him that I’d like to write a story about him. Then I went home, downloaded the Baywatch body off of my computer and “photo shopped” his head on the body.
Then I wrote, Not to be outdone by the Life in Galway photo of Wayne Brandow during his lifeguard days . . . Ted Lovelass
when he doubled for Baywatch!
I put it in a display frame and took it down to the store, and then Ted was laughing! He placed it by the
lifeguard issue of Life in Galway. Compare Ted’s head on the cover with this photo.
The humor displayed above in the lifeguard story surfaced out of a calm demeanor. I had no clue that he wasn’t serious. It sounded, at first, to be a normal conversation. Ted has a subtle wit!
Ted was not only friendly, he was usually found working. This brings us to the trait which characterizes him the most, competence. When it comes to running a business, he had a natural aptitude which surfaced at an early age. Let me tell you how he came to be so business savvy. Early Years On May 26, 1945, a baby boy was born to Theodore and Mary Lovelass in Ellis Hospital in Schenectady. They named him Theodore Jr. Ted’s father was a graduate of the University of Alabama (The Crimson Tide). During the war years (WW II) he was in the meat business. He worked for Swift and Company in Schenectady, NY, and he ran a small store on the side (a family business). Ted helped his parents in the store as a boy.
In the days Ted was growing up, the Freihofer’s Bakery would deliver bread to their store by horse and wagon. The horse actually knew the route and would stand outside until bread was unloaded at each stop. Those were also the days of the milkman making home deliveries.
It was not uncommon for the Italian families in his neighborhood to have a back yard grape arbor or a vegetable garden surrounded by hedges. Ted remembers a kindly neighbor named Leo, who gave him his first taste of a hot pepper as a boy. With
a thick Italian accent, he said, “Teddy, you like, try!” Ted has liked spicy foods ever since. I asked Ted if he was Italian. He said, “No, our family is of Scottish ancestry.” It was in this congenial neighborhood that Ted began to learn about business at the family store. Ted’s father even gave him some money and had him pick a stock so that he might learn about investing in the stock market.
Ted attended Mohonasen High School and was in the first class to graduate, having gone there through all four years. He graduated in 1963. His class came up with the school name which comes from the first three letters of Indian tribes: the Mohawk, Onondaga, and Seneca (Moh+Ono+Sen). They were known as “the Mighty Warriors.” In high school, Ted played basketball, soccer, and baseball. Baseball by far was his favorite in which he made the all-county team. He had an excellent coach, Bill Baker. If you live in Galway, you no doubt know Bill’s daughter, Debbie Baker Wilday, Galway High School’s girls soccer coach and physical education teacher for years! Ted knew her before she came to Galway, as a little girl tagging along with her father. Baseball also provided a source of extra income, as before Ted bought Galway Market, he would umpire on the side.
After high school, Ted went to Hudson Valley Community College, but he never finished. Work got in the way. He had started by working in a Carrols Drive-In (the precursor to Burger King). He became a manager and the store began to prosper. He would talk to customers on their lunch breaks. One fellow, an investment broker, sparked an interest in investing and Ted got a securities license. He added to that a life insurance license and a real estate license.
You are invited to a Celebration of Pastor Brandow’s 40 years in Galway on
Saturday, September 9th, from 1-3 PM at the Bible Baptist Church of
Galway
While working his way up in the Carrols Drive-In company, he managed stores at the corporate level. Ted ran a number of stores in Schenectady, two stores in Plymouth, MA, and one in Menands, NY. At 21 years of age, he had power of attorney. He handled a lot of money and was overseeing 35-40 people.
(Photo: Carrols on State Street, Schenectady, NY. Source: The Daily Gazette).Ted did not run this store but many just like it. Notice fifteen cents on the sign – that was the cost of a hamburger! Add fries for ten cents and a shake for twenty; you could get a meal for forty-five cents!
Then, one day, Ted was assigned to manage a Carrol’s Drive In on Nott Street, and a major change in his life took place.
Diane While working at the Nott Street store, he met a teller at the bank where he would make the store’s deposit. Her name was Diane. He became one of her regular bank customers. Ted would plop the money down on the counter and the bills would be facing every which way. She told him that he ought to “face all the bills.” Ted responded by saying, “That’s your job.”
Ted caught the attention of the other girls at the bank who told Diane that he was cute. Diane’s friend, the head teller, said to her, “Why don’t you date the cherub?” Ted ended up with Diane’s phone number, and talked for a while. Diane asked, “Are you going to ask me out or not?” So he did and the rest is history! They married on September 21, 1968. You know how it goes.
Love and marriage, Love and marriage, Then comes _______ in a baby carriage.
Kevin was born in 1969 and Jennifer came along in 1970.
Now that you know a little about how Ted got his business acumen and his lovely wife and children, it is time to fast forward to what all Galway readers want to know about, their coming to Galway and purchasing the Galway Market. Galway Market
I’ve already mentioned the fact that Ted’s family was in the food industry. His uncle, Don Craig, originally was in the meat business, but he sold his business and went on the road with his wife selling equipment to supermarkets. One day, Ted’s uncle told him that the Denisons were selling their
market in Galway. Don asked Ted if he’d like to go into business with him and buy the market. All was going well, until Don’s wife told her husband that she liked traveling and did not want to settle down, so Ted’s uncle pulled out! The Denisons decided to sell to Ted. It was arranged that they would hold the note until it was paid off. So, in 1977, Denisons Store became Galway Market. (Photo: Ted and Diane during the early years in Galway).
Martha and I came to Galway the same year. Because we lived in the Village, the store became a part of our life. We’d always be running down for some grocery item. If we had unexpected company, we’d run down and pick up a pizza or subs. There was a stretch of years when the tastiest glazed donuts we’ve ever eaten were for sale on weekends. Ted picked them up from a bakery in Schenectady. The homemade cider donuts cooked right at Galway Market were the best around. Often we’d take them home freshly made and still hot!
Another treat was Donnan sweet corn. Hume Donnan brought fresh- picked sweet corn to the store every morning. You’d have to get to the store early because it would not last. If perchance any was left, Hume would take the day-old corn home when he brought the new day’s supply. Our family always looked forward to summer because of the fresh sweet corn at Galway Market.
Galway Market, like Chuck’s, was a gathering place for Galway residents. Dave Sherman could often be found there with a cup of coffee. Diane and other clerks at the register were always friendly. As Ted and Diane’s
children grew up they began working at the store. It truly was a family business.
Although the business took most of Ted’s time, he also was a charter member of the Lion’s Club, which has done so much for our community. It wasn’t too long ago that I asked Ted how old he was. He told me that he was seventy. I asked him when he was going to retire. He said to me, “Wayne, what will I do? I can’t play golf all day.” He truly loved the business and his customers. A Sudden Turn in the Story Then it happened! The Galway Preservation Society was having a meeting on the Denison Market. I expected Ted to be there. The presentation ended with a picture of Ted and Diane as the new proprietors of Galway Market back in 1977! We soon found out why Ted was not there. He was in the hospital! He had been suffering some pain, so he decided to check it out. Ted was admitted and after an extended stay in the hospital and some recovery at home, it was deemed that his working days were over. The Galway Market was to be closed.
Reader, I know you are probably wondering how Ted is doing. When I interviewed Ted for this article, he looked good. He is his cheerful old self. I asked him about Kevin and Jennifer. What will they do now that Galway Market is closed and for sale?
He told me that Kevin is working with Bill Palmer at Aeromed. Kevin runs the plant, while Bill travels the world selling an ultraviolet system that they manufacture to sterilize hospital rooms in third-world countries. Like father, like
son, Kevin appears to have his Dad’s business sense. (Photo: A happy grandma with her first grandchild, Ryan).
Jennifer married Steve Galarneau, a Galway High School student, who happened to be a pastor’s son. They have two adopted children, Matisha
and Joannis. Jennifer is very active in her church, Saratoga Abundant Life Church.
Kevin also married a Galway High School student, Melissa “Missy” Conigliaro. And they have two children, Ryan and Joshua. Ted and Diane’s children fared well by their coming to Galway back in 1977.
I asked Ted and Diane what they intend to do in this next chapter of their lives. They said, “Enjoy our family and friends, here in Galway.”
I saw Dave Sherman the other day at Stewarts and we both lamented the loss of Galway Market. I always razzed Dave when I saw him in Galway Market as being part of the coffee club. In response, he said I was a member of Galway Market’s “cookie club!” And yes, he had a cup of coffee in his hand! (Is that Dave in the photo below? Yes, with a coffee cup in his hand and at Galway Market, no less!)
We lost a real treasure when the doors of Galway Market closed and our friendly grocer stepped into retirement. All of us who went to Galway Market came home with more than a bag of groceries. We have great memories of a really fine family and of pleasant days in good old Galway! For past issues go to [email protected] Click on the tab in the menu bar.
Lessons Learned from 40 Years in Galway!
It has finally arrived, a
personal landmark in
my own life. It was
forty years ago today
Sunday, August 28,
1977 that I preached
my first sermon in
Galway. It was about
David and Goliath! I
was twenty-five years
old, having been
married for just over a
year. That first Sunday
was the first weekend
of three, plus one
whole week with the
different families in the
church, so that
everybody would get a
good chance to look
Martha and me over,
to decide if they
wanted to call me to be their pastor. On Sunday evening, September 11,
1977, I was voted in, so the next day we drove back to Lockport, NY,
packed up our few belongings and came back to Galway as the new
pastor and his wife. (Photo: Galway Register, Sept. 29, 1977)
I’ve been going through my files to look over my correspondence and
application to come and be a candidate in the church and the records of
what we did during those early years. As I reminisce over those early
days, I marvel that one so young, but so full of zeal, one who felt confident
at the time, yet had so much to learn, was called here in the first place.
However, over the course of 40 years, one is bound to learn something
and I thought it would be good to put it down in writing rather than just
ponder what it was I learned in my mind. So here goes.
What I‘ve learned about being a pastor:
I’m called to preach the Bible and not my own opinion.
I’m called to be faithful in discharging my duties, not merely be
successful in the eyes of others. (Very helpful for a pastor of a
small church, as few would consider a small church a success)
I am called to be a witness for Christ by how I live, and not just by
what I say (a much harder task!)
I am called to be Christ-like (a truly impossible task but a goal to
aim at which requires diligent study of the life of Christ in the
Scriptures). I have much still to learn here!
What I’ve learned about living the Christian life:
God hears and answers prayer.
I can lead others no farther than I go myself.
A clear conscience is ten times better than the fruit of any sin.
The Christian really does have the power to overcome any sin, but
that power comes from God. Often, people look to the wrong
places for solutions.
There is no real communion and life with God apart from spending
time with Him daily in reading and meditating upon the Bible.
Life can become exceedingly messy due to our selfish and sinful
propensities. Often there are no quick fixes, but patient work,
discipline, and help from God is required to untangle the mess.
You cannot please everyone. There will be those who dislike you
and that is to be expected. This is especially true for pastors as
people hold pastors to a higher standard.
Some people find fault with everything. They have not found the
perfect church, the perfect pastor, the perfect job, the perfect
friend, etc. The problem is that no one is perfect (except God), so
happiness eludes them.
You can’t believe everything you hear (Pastors are particularly
seen as an easy touch by scammers). Yes, I’ve been lied to many
times! Therefore, it is hard not to be skeptical. When you realize
you are being baited, it is hard not to get angry. It is truly hard to
be calm, firm, direct, and Christ-like, looking beyond their sin to
their real need beyond money. This is especially true in dealing
with those who concoct stories to get money from the church.
What I’ve learned about the Bible
The Bible is the world’s greatest literature and God is the author
of it all. That means I need to read it as literature. I need to see
and understand the flow of every book to rightly understand its
parts. I don’t read Moby Dick and stop
at the first sentence “Call me Ishmael.”
The phrase has no meaning outside of
the story. In reading the Bible we must
always consider the author’s intent and
that God is that author! If we read it in
that way, instead of coming to it with a
preconceived theological grid, we
would, with God’s help, really
understand what God is trying to tell us.
Most people read the Bible and skip
over what they don’t understand and
just read for a devotional thought. If
God is truly the author, every word, phrase, and sentence has a
purpose. We need to stop and ask the Lord to help us understand
the whole.
What I’ve learned about God, myself, what He has done for us.
God is full of love and mercy. He has not dealt with us according
to our sins. The God who made us takes an interest in us and
seeks a relationship with us.
How can we know God? This past Fourth of July I heard the
Pulitzer Prize winning author, David McCullough, tell an
interviewer how he read hundreds of personal letters of John
Adams. As a result of reading those letters where John Adams
poured out his heart to friend and foe alike, McCullough said he
felt like he truly knew him. In the Bible, God has revealed His heart
to us. You can really know Him! Also, you can see Him at work in
your own life through His kind providence. He truly does guide
and direct those who look to Him.
We have all sinned, and Jesus came into the world to save us
from sin’s penalty and power. We are so far gone there is nothing
we can do to make us right with God. We need a Savior. Like a
swimmer floundering in the water, we need someone to come to
our rescue and bring us to shore. The only one and the only way
to that heavenly shore, which is to come is through Jesus. Blessed
is the one who looks to Him and finds life. As a pastor, I am here
to point the way. Talk to me. I’d like to help. – Wayne Brandow.
Special thanks to my proof-readers: Martha Brandow, Evelyn Hanna, Arlene Rhodes. Printing thanks to Hound Dog Graphics Saratoga Springs, NY
Copyright © 2017 by Wayne R. Brandow. All rights reserved
