- [Stephfond] Tonight on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories", spooky season is here.

Discover Brookside Cemetery in Watertown and some of the fascinating stories of folks buried here.

And what's Johnny Spezzano cooking up in the kitchen?

Join us as he makes apple dumplings and shares a few ghost stories with Cindy Steiner of the Burrville Cider Mill.

Also, Murney is back on the streets of the Limestone City.

Budget cuts couldn't keep this horse off the streets.

Meet the beloved horse and his new rider, Constable Amy Carter.

Your stories, your region coming up right now on "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories".

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation.

The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center.

Carthage Savings, CSX, The Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation, The Richard S. Shineman Foundation, and the Badenhausen Legacy Fund at the Northern New York Community Foundation.

- Good Tuesday evening, everyone, and welcome to this edition of "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories".

I'm Stephfond Brunson.

Brookside Cemetery in Watertown is iconic.

Founded in 1854, some of Jefferson County's most prominent citizens are buried there.

Director of Production, Tracy Duflo, shares some historic tidbits about these permanent Brookside residents.

(gentle music) - Located on farmland, donated by the Sawyer family, Brookside Cemetery in Watertown was formally dedicated in 1854, but burials there go much further back than that.

Back, in fact, to the late 1700s, at least 13 Revolutionary War and five War of 1812 soldiers are buried there.

It's also the final resting place of many figures prominent in Jefferson County history.

With Halloween just around the corner, the Jefferson County Historical Society has a unique way to help everyone celebrate while learning about local history and the cemetery's many monuments, mausoleums and graves.

They've teamed up with Brookside Cemetery to offer cemetery tours.

Here's a sneak peek.

- Henry Coffeen was the settler of Watertown.

He arrived here in 1800, and he was quite the entrepreneur through his lifetime.

He built a hotel where the Woolworth Building is now.

Henry Coffeen also was instrumental in creating the first newspaper.

He also was an assemblyman and a judge.

He actually built a bridge where the Coffeen Street Bridge is now.

Henry also created a business district on what is now called North Massey Street.

He wanted to copy how the success was for the public square.

However, back in the day, people didn't wanna relocate there because it was too far away from downtown, which is only two blocks.

But he did have great successes.

He also had several failures in terms of business.

He also donated a lot of land to the city.

The land where Public Square is now is what he donated to get that up and running.

He also donated the land where the old jail is currently, and his home after his log home that he built is where the Stewards is now.

So he created a lot, se was very instrumental in doing a lot of type of entrepreneur work.

Unfortunately, he passed away out of the state and he ended up being penniless.

- We are standing at the grave of John Byron Taylor.

He was a famous businessman in the city of Watertown, known for owning the Light and Power Company of Watertown.

He also combined all of the power companies in the area that were multiple different businesses, and he made them all one.

He was known as the father of power actually.

He was once married to the famous Emma Flower Taylor.

That marriage ended in divorce.

He then married his secretary, Ms. Greenwood, and she is buried here with him.

This grave site actually has room for 42 graves.

Only four of them are filled.

John, his second wife, one of his sons, and another relative.

- We're here at the grave site of James Black Wise.

Mr.

Wise started his business career early as a newspaper carrier, but he never neglected his studies.

He attended Watertown High School, and then went on a commercial college.

After the commercial college, he opened a newspaper and fruit stand at what is now known as JB Wise Place at the railroad Station.

Mr.

Wise then ran for mayor in 1890, but was defeated.

He ran again in 1891 and was again defeated.

He was asked to run again in 1892, and he graciously declined.

He then ran again in 1894, and he got the nomination, and became mayor in 1895 until 1899.

- John Nill was born in 1835 in Germany.

He came to the United States when he was 18 and he settled in Utica, where he was a candy maker.

He brought that skill to Watertown and he opened a shop on the corner of Coffeen and Arsenal Street.

He later partnered with his brother-in-law, Henry Jess, and together they opened a bakery.

Cigars were a big thing at that time and people were complaining that they were of poor quality.

So John and Henry decided to open a cigar factory.

They called it the Pink Perfection.

John was an abolitionist in his early years and joined the Republican Party during its organization.

He was also a member of the Masons, which meant a lot to him.

He had the 32nd degree rating.

John was elected mayor in Watertown in 1888, and he was a member until 1889.

He married Dorothy and had two children and died in 1919.

The top row is the Knight's Templar, and the inscription on the symbol is in Latin, and it means in this sign you will conquer.

The next row is the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, which he was a member of.

And the bottom row is the Free Masonry, which is part of the Masons.

And John's philosophy of life was based on his connection with the Mason, and three principles, friendship, love, and truth.

- We're here in front of the Boon Mausoleum.

What's known about the family is that the first person and third here was Sarah Tilson Boon In the early 1900s.

Her family, probably a generation before her, was known for donating the land on Arsenal Street, which is where the Arsenal Street Cemetery is.

So they were very instrumental in helping that cemetery get started.

And of course, there is Boon Street, and that street was named after them as well.

The last family member that was interred here was in 1950.

- We are at the mausoleum of Colonel George Flower.

He was the first mayor of Watertown.

He's also a Civil War hero, and he started the company See Regiment.

He was a big businessman in Watertown, New York.

He helped bring the railroad from Sackets and Watertown to the area, and he also built the Armory in Watertown.

An interesting tidbit about this mausoleum is two little girls that he and his wife took in when their parents couldn't take care of them, actually helped financially fund building the mausoleum, which is pretty neat, and they're buried nearby him.

- We're at the final resting place of Edwin and Olive Paddock.

Edwin was a prominent banker in Watertown and lived at Paddock Mansion with his wife Olive.

Edwin passed away in 1909 and Olive passed away in 1922.

When Olive passed away in 1922, she bequeathed the Paddock mansion to the Jefferson County Historical Society to be used as a museum and a public park.

- [Announcer] This year, cemetery tours will take place on October 22nd, starting at 11:00 AM.

Register online at jeffersoncountyhistory.org.

- The mounted unit operated by Kingston Police has been a popular site and downtown Kingston since 1998.

Lack of funding had the force considering retiring the unit in 2019, but adjustments to the budget have changed all that.

Today, the well-known horse in the Limestone City has a new rider.

If you haven't met them already, you're about to be introduced to Murney and Constable Amy Carter.

(gentle music) - [Gail] The Mounted Police unit will once again be a common site in the city of Kingston, consisting of Constable Amy Carter, along with her partner, Murney, a Percheron Thoroughbred cross and backup horse, Henry.

- Murney and the mounted unit have been really part of our community since 1998, 1999.

So they've been here in our community for a long period of time.

So there's lots of history and nostalgia here.

And so their benefits are very much in terms of not just law enforcement, which can be done with respect to traffic stops and those kinds of things, but it's also for community building.

Importantly though, we're working with our most vulnerable populations as well.

Those that, that may mistrust the police in some sense.

And so there's a really unique bond between, you know, the animal and the rider and the community.

- [Gail] When the news broke in November 2019 that the mounted unit in Kingston and beloved Horse Murney wouldn't be returning the following spring, the community quickly responded through the collaborative fundraising efforts of the Downtown Business Association, the city of Kingston and community partners.

The mounted unit will return to continue this unique Kingston tradition.

- When the budget for 2020 was proposed and Murney was no longer in the budget, and there was very much that outcry.

So there was opportunities for fundraising.

And so that was in 2020.

And really the pandemic hit that year.

No one could have predicted that.

So the fundraising was limited in the first years.

And so we were able to have some fundraising, but we also had some of our police auctions.

And a little bit from our budget came to supply the total funds for the year 2020.

And as a result now, the fundraising for 2021 and 22 was well underway.

And by the end of 2021, we very much had the funding.

So right now we've completed all the payments for 2021 and majority of 2022.

So we're looking for additionally, another 32,000 from our community.

- [Gail] The mounted unit is well sourced.

It has its own owners, retired police, and first mounted officers of Kingston, Brad and Deb Wicklam.

With Brad and Deb's knowledge of horses, the stables to keep them in and the equipment to train them, Kingston continues to have a unique situation aiding greatly in the continuance of a mounted police unit.

Not only is the situation unique, but so are the horses they choose to tackle the job.

- We like a horse that's tall, we like a horse that's got some substance.

So, big horse.

And we like the bone structure on these horses and a big bell shaped foot on them.

So we have a good foundation.

You look at personality as well.

You want something that's not gonna be aggressive, something that's not going to be biting or nasty with the public or yourself.

For us, because we're working downtown Kingston on the hard pavement, we went to the same horses that Toronto police shoes.

- [Gail] Until it comes to street work, the training of a police horse is much the same as the training of any horse, including building a bond, laying the groundwork, desensitizing and saddle training.

- Every rider is different in training them, and every horse is different in training them.

We start off doing ground training.

Ground training, we try to introduce them and show them pretty much everything that we're going to do with them when we get on the saddle.

Once you can get them so that their walk, trot, cantering, go right, go left, back up, go forward, then we move on from there to trail riding.

Then from trail riding, we go to street training.

And then from street training, we can do obstacle training.

We do use of force training.

By that time, you have developed a really good partnership with your horse.

- [Gail] Constable Amy Carter started policing in 1998 and joined the Kingston Police in 99.

After two and a half decades on the force, she has now become the new mounted officer.

Her job will be the same as any frontline officer, except for a few minor differences.

- I will arrive on horse and I'll have a much smaller geographical area that I would cover in my shift, and I'm gonna be much higher than the other officers.

And you would see us be called out for missing persons, some special events, things like that.

- [Gail] Public relations will be a big part of her role.

A mounted officer attracts a lot of attention, drawing crowds everywhere they go.

People love to meet and greet not only the horses, but the officers that ride them.

- I really want the citizens to come up and meet myself, being new.

Murney is the familiar face on the road.

So yeah, I'm really looking forward to connecting with the community and I'm a kingstonian, so it's near and dear to my heart, this city.

And yeah, I look forward to all the opportunities that are gonna come this summer.

- [Gail] A professed animal lover, Amy early on had interest in becoming a canine officer.

That didn't come to fruition, but now she finds herself being on Kingston's mounted unit.

- I have no formal training, so I rely heavily on Brad and Debora Wicklam, the owners and contractors to Murney.

And so they train Murney and myself.

- [Gail] Murney and Amy have been in intense training since April 11th.

As true partners, they are also building a bond that includes complete trust and communication.

- I'm still working on, you know, being safe and all the skills that are required.

She's very, very trained up.

I'm being trained more so than Murney right now, and she's very aid sensitive.

So there's a lot to learn.

You just do not jump on a horse like this, and make yourself downtown.

So I am just working on all the skills required to be a mounted officer.

- [Gail] For WPBS Weekly, I'm Gal Puckett.

- It's fall and it's almost Halloween.

What better time to start baking some of your favorite treats?

In this segment of "Johnny on Fire", Johnny Spezzano of the Watertown radio station The Border, teams up with Cindy Steiner of the Burrville Cider Mill to fire, grill, and Apple treat like no other.

Oh, there may be a ghost story in this segment too.

(gentle music) (rock music) - Hey, come on!

- Hello, Welcome to "Johnny on Fire", where we cook with fire.

My guest is Cindy Steiner from the Burrville Cider Mill.

Hello, Cindy.

- Yes.

Today we're making apple dumplings, so I'm kind of excited about this.

I'm gonna show you the ingredients right now.

Our pastry dough right here.

You can use your own, or you can use a Bisquick variety product.

So also apples, all right.

We're gonna core those, peel those.

- And they're how many crisp apples.

- Yeah, of course.

How many apple varieties do you have?

- Well, 14 to 18.

- The Burrville Cider Mill, best place for apples.

Of course we've got sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and of course, Burrville Cider Mill apple cider.

So let's make some apple dumplings.

- Okay, (upbeat music) Let's get started, Cindy.

shall we?

- Okay, all right.

- All right, so we want to combine our sugar and our cinnamon.

So if you hand me that, that would be great.

- There's your sugar.

- So the Burrville Cider Mill, I mean, it's just part of fall.

Everyone in the north country loves to head over for cider donuts and cider.

How long have you guys been doing it?

- 27 Years.

- Amazing.

- Yeah.

- Hand me that spoon over there.

27 years.

And I just feel like, you know, it just brings so much joy.

You probably have people who come from far away and return every year.

- All over the world.

- All over the world?

- All over the world.

We have a guest book and we've people sign in and they've been from all over the world.

- Amazing.

- Yeah.

- We're combining cinnamon and sugar together here.

So you need to core your apples.

I have to say, through the magic of television, our apples are magically cored.

We'll move this out of the way.

All right, we're gonna move these, okay.

Put these here.

We're gonna roll out some dough.

I've got a pastry dough that I put together, okay?

And I've got a little drawer with some flour in it, so if you'll pardon me, I'll reach in and grab some dust.

Do a little dust.

Now, what kind of stuff are you baking at the cider mill lately?

- Well, we have the donuts, apple pies, pumpkin pies, brownies.

My granddaughter, we're making all of the English muffins that we sell.

- My thing is I always eat the donuts before I get to the stop sign at the end of your road.

- Sure, yeah.

- Like they're gone.

And then I have to turn around and come back.

- Turn around and come back, exactly.

- All right, so we're gonna flatten out our pastry dough because we're gonna be wrapping these around these apples.

So we'll make a little more room here.

How am I doing?

Doing good.

- Does this look good?

- You're doing good.

- Now, apple dumplings was something we always had at my family's house, my mom used to make 'em.

I have fond memories.

And once they come outta the oven, they're so good, right?

- [Cindy] And they smell delicious.

- [Johnny] All right, so next thing we're gonna do- - You need a knife?

- Hand me a knife.

Okay, we're gonna cut this in four, okay?

All right.

Now with the cored apples, you have this cavern, we're gonna fill it, Cindy.

- Yep.

- So bring that cup over.

- There we go.

- Okay.

We're gonna fill it with that mixture, okay?

Which is the cinnamon and sugar.

So I'm gonna let you do that.

- All right.

- All right, so you fill it.

Go right into the apple.

- [Cindy] One more.

- Okay.

Now one other thing we're gonna do.

We're gonna put a little pad of butter on top of the apple, so that way that butter bakes down.

So take a little pad, I let this get room temperature.

Put it right on top, just like that.

Okay, perfect.

Now we're gonna move this right over here like this.

We're gonna wrap it just like this.

- Look at you doing good.

- Look at me!

Woo!

Doesn't this look good?

- It looks wonderful.

- These are gonna bake, and be wonderful.

(upbeat music) So Cindy, our final steps are little cinnamon and sugar over the dough.

And then we're gonna add our glaze that's made with Burrville cider and brown sugar.

What did I do?

You know what I did.

- You cooked it down until it's about maple syrup consistency.

- Yeah, we put 'em together over high heat.

And now we're gonna add it.

Ready, everybody?

- All right.

- Here we go, ooh.

Oh, look at that little over the top.

- Little over the top.

Oh, that's gonna be so good.

- Doesn't that look good?

- All right.

- All right, now we're gonna put it in the woodfired oven.

(upbeat music) So Cindy, those are gonna take about an hour, but while they're cooking, let's talk a little bit and let's have some cider.

- All right.

- I'd love to hear a little bit about the history of the Burrville Cider Mill, how did it start?

- It started out as a sawmill.

It was commissioned by the government to be built so that they could start Burrville.

It's the oldest wooden structure in and Jefferson County.

- What?!

- Yep.

And it became a saw mill and a grist mill, and what was called a card mill, where people would bring their wool and have it combed out and cleaned.

And it became a cider mill, probably well over 100 years ago, but it was as a service.

All the local farms had their own apple trees.

They would bring their apples to the cider mill, get pressed into cider, and then they would take that cider home.

About the 1940s, Homer Rev had it.

His father had it before him.

Homer built the cider press that we used when we first bought the cider mill.

And he would get the apples, press into cider and sell jugs of cider.

So that was when it became a first retail business.

- It really is a fascinating history for sure.

Did you mention that Burrville was actually established before Watertown?

- It was, it was a thriving community before Watertown was, because the Black River was too rapid, they didn't have the technology to harness that power, but they did have the technology to harness the power at the waterfall behind the cider mill.

- How many apples do you guys crush each year?

- Oh my gosh.

Thousands and thousands.

I'm not at that end of the business.

So I'm not exactly sure, but we press probably 40,000 gallons of cider a season.

In three months time.

- And do you add anything to it?

Is it just, I mean, cider is just pure apples, right?

- Right, when you add things to it, then it's apple juice.

Okay?

We just take an apple and squeeze it.

That's cider.

- Yeah.

- Okay?

- And there's nothing like it.

- Nothing like it.

- Can you freeze it?

- Yes, yes.

We actually run a sale the end of the season.

- Okay.

So that you can fill your freezer and have it for the rest of the year.

It freezes fine.

It does not change the flavor.

- There's some rumors that you have a friendly neighborhood ghost in the cider mill.

- There's more than one.

- Yeah.

- We named one of them Homer.

He was one of the owners, the guy that turned it into a retail business.

He liked his tools.

Tools would turn up missing and then they show up again.

Somebody stole, a spirit stole a 25-pound bag of sugar one time, and that never came back.

- Probably fell into the vortex.

- Probably.

(both laughing) But yeah, there's several ghosts there.

One medium told me at one moment there were 14 ghosts, spirits, and then a couple left, and here come a couple more, she says.

So there's several, they're very friendly, I never feel threatened or afraid.

- Of course.

- Yeah, friendly little ghosts.

- Yes.

- Probably in the back making sure the donuts are made right.

- Exactly.

- You guys have to pump out some serious donuts each day, don't you?

- Yes, I don't count them anymore.

You don't count them anymore, but lots of them, awesome - It's scary.

- Well, whenever I visit the cider mill, you're usually there.

- Yeah.

- You know, greeting everybody.

And it's just great to see a familiar face.

And your family does an amazing job, and it's just one of the things that makes the North country great, - The Burrville cider mill.

- Thank you, thank you.

I love it there, that's where my heart is.

And when I pass, I'm gonna haunt the place too.

(both laughing) - Cheers to that.

- Okay.

- There we go.

(upbeat music) - Woo, Cindy!

Oh my God!

Look it!

- Look at that.

- Look at these apple dumplings.

- [Cindy] Beautiful.

They look so good.

- Beautiful.

Let's put some syrup on top.

- Yeah, put a little of that on there.

This is so- - Whoa.

- Ooh, look at that.

- [Cindy] Oh my.

- This is one great job, John.

- I can't to dig in.

These apples are absolutely giant, too.

All right, so can you get one?

Can we get one out and put it?

- Yeah.

- Okay, let's use two.

- Okay, yeah.

- Whoa!

- Wow!

- Look at that.

- Wow!

- One for you, one for me.

- Quite a serving.

- Yeah, it is.

We'll do a scoop all ice cream now.

- All right.

- Okay.

This, just put it right on there like that.

One for that, and then we need a little more of that syrup.

- Little more glaze?

- Yeah, a little more glaze.

- Got it.

Look at that, oh my gosh.

- [Johnny] Apple dumplings, baby.

- [Cindy] I wish people could smell it.

- All right, let's dig in.

- Okay.

- Wanna try it?

- Yes.

- So Cindy Steiner, my guest from the Burrville Cider Mill.

We are enjoying some amazing apple dumplings.

Oh.

Mm!

So good.

It's another episode of "Johnny on Fire".

Thank you for being here with me.

- [Cindy] Thank you for having me.

- It's so delicious.

Check out the "Dinner at Johnny's" podcast and we will see you next time.

That does it for us this Tuesday evening.

- Normally, I would tell you to join us next week, but WPBS Weekly will be taking a brief hiatus to make room for our longest running regional show "Whiz Quiz".

Join host Jolene DesRosiers for season 42, starting tomorrow night at 7:30.

That's it for now, everyone.

We'll see you again real soon.

Good Night.

(upbeat music) - [Announcer] "WPBS Weekly: Inside the Stories" is brought to you by the Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation, dedicated to improving the wellbeing of communities by helping disadvantaged children and families.

Online at dmjf.org.

The Watertown Oswego Small Business Development Center, a free resource offering confidential business advice for those interested in starting or expanding their small business.

Serving Jefferson Lewis and Oswego Counties since 1986.

Online at watertown.nysbdc.org.

Carthage Savings has been here for generations.

Donated time and resources to this community.

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Carthage Savings, mortgage solutions since 1888.

Additional funding provided by CSX, the Oswego County Community Foundation at the Central New York Community Foundation, the Richard S. Shineman Foundation, and the Badenhausen and Legacy Fund at the Northern New York Community Foundation.

- This is one great Job, John.

- I can't wait to dig in.

These apples are absolutely giant, too.

All right, so can you get one?

Can we get one out and put it?

- Yeah, okay, let's use two.

- Okay, yeah.

- Whoa!

- Wow!

- Look at that.

- Wow!

(gentle music)