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Tompsett hits new heights climbing mountains

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: April 30, 2012
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Stamina, endurance, courage and discipline are some of the words that come to mind when Kevin Tompsett, partner at Harris Beach PLLC, talks about his mountain climbing experiences. Knowledge, experience, supplies and equipment are equally important, and in putting together a hiking team, there are probably many more adjectives critical to the safety and survival [...]

Woodworking a passion for Chris Werner

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: March 16, 2012
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Bunk beds, desks, cabinets, an infant-changing table, kitchen stools and lamps are among the practical wood crafts Christopher K. Werner builds in his basement workshop. Candlesticks, picture frames, chess and backgammon boards, bowls, doors, fireplace mantle, tables and coat racks fill his Tudor home in Brighton. “My dad could fix anything or build anything,” Werner [...]

Beyond the Office: Helvi McClelland has a passion for piano

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: February 24, 2012
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Reading Helvi McClelland’s resume, one has to be impressed with the education, training and successful mediation practice that summarize many years of her life. What isn’t as apparent from her work history is the passion she has for the piano, and the role music has played throughout her life. A musical start McClelland’s family, in [...]

Judge Kohout shares her passion for dance

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: February 13, 2012
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Monroe County Family Court Judge Joan Kohout remembers watching The Mickey Mouse Club on television, seeing — perhaps for the first time — children singing and dancing. It was most likely one of the sparks that ignited her interest in dance. She also recalls going to New York City to see the Nutcracker Ballet when [...]

Skiing a family activity for F.L. Gorman

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: January 27, 2012
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With four sisters and one brother, Francis L. Gorman III celebrated his mother’s 75th birthday on the slopes in Deer Valley, Utah — all skiing, including mom. It is the same kind of family zest for downhill skiing that made Gorman’s four children avid and accomplished skiers. How it started Growing up in Homer, Cortland [...]

Beyond the Office: Jazz training helps Cooney fit it all together

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: December 7, 2011
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“Being part of a jazz group was great training,” Michael Cooney said. “It reinforced that people play different, but related roles. You need to be confident about what you are bringing to the performance, and cognizant of what everyone else is bringing.” Cooney, an attorney with Nixon Peabody, began his musical endeavors with piano lessons. [...]

Beyond the Office: Barbara James earned the title ‘Master Gardener’

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: November 18, 2011
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When many of us are putting away holiday decorations or rewriting New Year’s resolutions, Barbara R. H. James is studying her seed catalogs, preparing an order for flower and vegetable seeds. James isn’t just interested in gardening, she has the distinction of being a Master Gardener Volunteer for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Monroe County. To [...]

Beyond the Office: Tony Piazza plays the jazz trombone

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: October 25, 2011
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As a high school student in the 1970s, Anthony J. Piazza played trombone in the school band, taught by an enthusiastic teacher who took his students to Europe — four years in a row. Yes, before Piazza even started college, he’d been to Dublin, London, Nice and Rome, playing trombone as part of the Bishop Kearney Marching Band.

Judith Holender Loeb: Elder law attorney, musician

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: September 30, 2011
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You may know her as the first attorney in greater Rochester to establish an elder law practice (1991) and the only attorney in Western New York who is certified as an Elder Law Attorney by the National Elder Law Foundation, as approved by the American Bar Association.

Beyond the Office: Karla Wilsey has a passion for fabric (access required)

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: September 13, 2011
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Quilting requires precision; precision in making the quilt blocks; precision in selecting colors and tints and patterns of fabric; detailed consideration of the stitching pattern; selection of thread color and thickness; attention to design flow; and, of course, an artistic eye.

Beyond the Office: Jeffrey Clark expresses his creativity via guitar (access required)

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: August 1, 2011
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There are many guitar-playing techniques. Jeffrey R. Clark, senior counsel at Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC prefers finger picking. And he’s good at it. “James Taylor was a big influence in my musical development,” admitted Clark …

Permission to paint: Exploring attorney’s artistic side (access required)

By Nora A. Jones
POSTED: June 29, 2011
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Missing 13 out of 15 colors in a test for color-blindness, Sharon Stiller admits that she may see her art a little differently than some people. “It’s probably a matter of shades of related colors, but I am very likely seeing the finished product through a different lens,” she says.