From left to right are Chad Buck, Warren Kosel, Deb Smith, Tim, Smith and Jody Gage with signed hockey sticks. Photo by Tim Darrow
BY DEB AND TIM SMITH
The six-month mark of our charity book signing tour turned out to be a landmark day. We got to meet the top brass of the Rochester Americans hockey team, as well as the man known as “Mr. Amerk.” That would be the all-time franchise leader in both games played and scoring, namely Jody Gage.
But before we get to the specifics of that, please allow us to recap the storyline on this one as the last time it came up in the Sentinel was in the issue of July 24, 2025. Here’s the scoop… We published our 7th book this past spring which was called Royally Regaling Greater Rochester ~ Taking Stock of the ROC. After the book came out, we had the idea of taking a couple copies of the book and having them signed by as many people as possible who are actually in the book, and then donating those signed books to local charity auctions in the spring.
The entire concept has morphed into something much larger than we had anticipated. Because the content of the book is all about the Greater Rochester area, we had a wealth of opportunities to get people to sign for either themselves, or as representatives of organizations we covered. We had at least one story from each of the 19 towns and 10 villages which comprise Monroe County.
Our sojourn began on June 5, 2025 when Honeoye Falls-Mendon Historical Society Vice President Charles Woolever, Mendon Town Supervisor John Moffitt, and Honeoye Falls Village Mayor Rick Milne became the first three people to sign the book. That initiated a concept where we set aside at least one day a week to map out an itinerary where we would try to cover one general portion of the Greater Rochester area and set up as many appointments as possible to have people sign the book.
For example, we designated one day to cover the northwest quadrant of Monroe County. It was interesting because we went to some communities that we’d actually never visited before such as Clarkson, Sweden, Riga and Parma. And then by the time we hit some other spots like Brockport, Spencerport, Greece and Hilton it made for pretty much a full day’s work!
We kept an accurate log of what happened on every single day that anyone signed the charity books knowing that documentation of everything we put together would certainly serve to enhance the appeal to potential buyers bidding in an auction. It’s somewhat similar to having a valid Certificate of Authenticity.
So returning to today’s sojourn into the city, it was doubly exciting because, in addition to having three top men in the Amerks organization sign our books, the hockey team had also decided to contribute two hockey sticks signed by every man on the roster. Amerks’ Media Director Warren Kosel spearheaded that initiative for us and the team’s Vice President Chad Buck was also involved. But of course, the biggest thrill for us as longtime Amerks fans was to meet Jody Gage. (Please see the included picture.)
If there is one player who has been synonymous with the Rochester Americans, it is “Mr. Amerk,” Jody Gage. After joining the organization in 1985, Gage helped lead Rochester to a Calder Cup Championship in 1987 and went on to become the franchise’s all-time leader in every major category, including goals (351), assists (377), points (728), and games played (653).
After being inducted into the Amerks Hall of Fame in 1999, Gage was enshrined in the American Hockey League Hall of Fame as part of the inaugural class of 2006. After transitioning to the front office following his retirement as a player in 1996, Gage held several roles in the organization, including general manager, and remains a pivotal piece of the management team to this day.
There are a couple additional points that occurred to us after looking at the picture. Tim had dug deep into his sports jersey collection to pull out his vintage Rochester Cardinals hockey jersey, knowing it would draw some reactions from the current generation of the Rochester hockey hierarchy.
The Rochester Cardinals were the city’s first professional hockey team, playing their home games at the Edgerton Park Sports Arena for just one year, during the 1935-36 season.
So as you see a local sports jersey you’ve probably never seen before, notice what happens in the picture as Tim puts his arms around Deb, in the center, and Jody Gage on the far right. Deb is such a petite peanut, and Jody is such a giant athlete, that the horizontal stripes on Tim’s jersey take on a significant angle pointing up towards Jody.
We just wanted to point out that, while the Rochester Cardinals hockey team did not achieve significant success on the ice, they were able to purchase jerseys that were actually symmetrical, even during the deep days of the Great Depression.
So upon reaching our six-month mark, we decided to do an overall assessment of where we are at with this project. We’ve traveled over a thousand miles. Our calendar log shows 40 different days upon which someone has signed. And as of today, including all the players’ names on the hockey sticks, each set of charity items now includes 191 signees and 344 signatures!
Obviously having an entire hockey team contribute their signatures serves to push those numbers up quite a bit in one fell swoop. And, for the record, we’ll note that the entire Rochester Knighthawks lacrosse team has also signed for us.
We’ll finish this by sharing our chart which identifies our signees by category…
Supervisors–
Batavia, Brighton, Canandaigua, Chili, Clarkson, East Bloomfield, Farmington, Greece, Henrietta, Lima, Mendon, Ogden, Pittsford, Riga, Rush, Victor, Webster, West Bloomfield, Wheatland
Mayors–
Bloomfield, Brockport, Churchville, East Rochester, Honeoye Falls (2), Irondequoit, LeRoy, Lima, Pittsford, Scottsville, Spencerport, Victor, Webster,
Historians–Batavia, Bristol, Brockport, Chili, Churchville, Clarkson, Gates, Greece, Honeoye Falls, Ionia, Lima, Medina, Mendon, Pittsford, Riga, Rush, Scottsville, South Lima, Sweden, Victor, West Bloomfield, Wheatland,
Librarians–Bloomfield, Brockport, Charlotte, Chili, Clarkson, East Rochester, HF-L, Irondequoit, Lima, Mendon, Ogden, Parma, Riga, Rush, Scottsville, Spencerport, Sweden, Victor, Wheatland
Business Owners–Seabreeze, Garth Fagan Dance, Zweigles, American Hotel, Cottage Hotel, Ye Mendon Tavern, Fanatics, Markus Tatoo, White’s Farm Market
Organizations–Mt. Hope Cemetery, Seneca Park Zoo, New York State Kiwanis, Rush Fire Department, CMAC- Constellation Brands Marvin Sands Performing Arts Center, Ionia United Methodist Church, Caledonia Fish Hatchery, National Women’s Hall of Fame, Susan B. Anthony Home and Museum, Lima Masons, Rochester City Council, Monroe County Legislature
Sports–Rochester Red Wings, Rochester Americans, Rochester Knighthawks, Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, Doug Miller, Joe Bock, Jody Gage, University of Rochester Athletic Department
School Superintendents–
HF-L, Victor
Celebrities–Brennan Swain, Mary Therese Friel, Steve Grills
