Wiser’s Wramblings-2026 Wrambling With Veterans

2/6/26 Special: Maple Tree Inn with Allegany County Veterans, teaching and being taught, snow poem

By Chuck Wiser, I write the words to share what my eyes see and my heart feels

Once again, I am honored to announce several late winter, early spring events open to veterans and their guests. Again, this year veterans will be able to partake of the very early spring-time luxury of maple syrup products, served up by the great folks at Cartwrights Maple Tree Inn, in Canaseraga, NY.

PFC JOSEPH P. DWYER PEER SUPPORT PROGRAM

Honoring the memory of PFC Joseph P. Dwyer and his legacy of service, the mission of our PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program is to empower Veterans to reconnect with one another. These connections create strong bonds which foster hope and resilience as they transition from military to Veteran life – and there is NO timeline for transition.

​The PFC Joseph P. Dwyer Peer Support Program brings United States Armed Forces Veterans, service members, and their families together through free programs. Veteran centered peer-to-peer collaborative services, social activities, and community service.

​This program is facilitated through a collaborative team from the Administrator’s Office, Community Services, Treasurer’s Office, Personnel Office and Veterans Service Agency.

The Allegany County Dwyer Program is one of many Dwyer Programs in New York State. If you’re looking for different events, visit the NYS Dwyer Coalition website for other events any Veteran may choose to attend. Their website is: https://www.josephpdwyerpeerproject.org/nys-county-events-calendar

It was my honor to have served in the US Navy, starting before my 18th birthday by a few months in 1963, and then was honorably discharged before my 21st birthday as per regulations attached to my early enlistment. Early on I anticipated perhaps re-enlisting but love came into my life and I accepted my discharge so that I might marry the “girl of my dreams.” That was just shy of six decades ago and I am still blessed to be a Veteran, and a spouse, for all those years.

Due to my earned Veteran’s Benefits, and the generosity of the APCO educational program, my out-of-pocket educational expenses were minimal.

I owe a good portion of my post high school, post military service, and educational career to my veterans’ status. Upon my discharge from the Navy I was employed at Acme Electric Co., at that time at the main plant in Cuba, NY, first as the “Blue-Print” machine operator and then as a fledgling draftsman. At the time I commenced taking a LaSalle Training Institute home study course in Mechanical Drafting. I’m not sure that I learned anything beyond what I had learned in High School from Mrs. Nancy McDermott in her 4-year drafting sequence, but it did give me “credentials” of advanced education in that specialty, and allowed me to accept a highly paying job at The Air Preheater Company (APCO). My salary of $91 per week seemed OK at the time. Alex Dahar was my first “boss” but I moved through several product specific areas of the company under tutelage of Dick Brunell, and then ended up working for Noel Hazzard in the Product Development Lab. At that point, for some reason they thought that I was capable of being a Contract Administrator aka “Project Manager.” I remained in that position for several years until for reasons unbeknownst to me they decided that they didn’t need me as badly as I thought they did and they let me go. I believe it was something political within. During that time of employment I had attended Alfred State College (ASC), and then Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), all as a night school student, and had earned my Bachelor’s Degree. Two nights a week for 8 years was most likely more of an inconvenience for my wife and family as it was for me. Throughout that “night school” educational process I had established a familiarity with the ASC personnel, and they offered me a teaching position. All the above has formerly been Wrambled about so I won’t go any deeper into that reverie. As a coincidence however, I ended up teaching in the ASC department headed by Bob Stahlman, a former short time boss at APCO.

While teaching at ASC I had evolved into teaching Computer Aided Manufacturing and Computer Numerical Control (CNC–CAD-CAM) classes and that led to my “moonlighting” educational training opportunities. I taught for, or at, a number of additional companies and institutions. For a couple of years, I would teach classes for both Corning Community College (CCC) and Jamestown Community College (JCC). On Tuesday nights I would teach at CCC in Corning and then on Thursday nights I would teach at JCC in Jamestown.

If you are familiar with teaching “credit hours,” or not, a credit hour basically is an explanation of the time “earned” taking (or teaching) a one semester course three times per week. At that time in my career I was teaching 28 Credit Hours per week in my “day job” in addition to the Tuesday/Thursday extra service training. I taught anything related to computers and manufacturing including advanced manufacturing systems and robotics. I even dabbled in Artificial Intelligence (AI). I used to tell my students that I was a product of “artificial intelligence.” I had the distinct pleasure of not only having had people like Bob Stahlman and Don Smith as my professors during my learning stage but who then became teaching colleagues in my teaching execution stage.

On a musical note🎶The Genesee Valley Chorus is gearing up for couple of Lenten Season performances. The religious Lenten season spans Wed, Feb 18, 2026 to Thu, Apr 2, 2026.

The main concert will be on March 22nd, and I will provide additional information as it develops.

I will end with an inspirational poem celebrating rather than denigrating the beauty that surrounds us this time of year. If you have any comments, cares, or concerns regarding my Wramblings please feel free to reach out to me at IM.Wiserdad@gmail.com.