1. I started working for Siena as a building trades supervisor in November of 2008. It was a major career change for me at the time. I went from being self-employed for 10 years to being employed. It was quite an adjustment. I had a good teacher back then. David Childs played a major role in helping me get familiar with how things were done at Siena. I am fortunate to have had his help and guidance when starting out.
2. I am a fourth generation carpenter on my mother’s side of the family. My grandfather was a carpenter and he learned the trade from his uncle. The trade was then passed down to my uncle and then to me. I started helping my grandfather and my uncle with carpenter work at the age 14 during school breaks. We did that together for about 15 years. I built my first building/cabin when I was 16 out of reclaimed materials. I now have 41 years’ experience in the field.
3. My grandfather was very good at carving wood ducks for fun and for gifts. I was always intrigued by them. So, after many years I decided to carve a few of them myself. Click below to see a picture of two of the ducks I have carved out of reclaimed cherry.
4. I have a small heated work shop where I work on all kinds of wood working and mechanical projects made from salvaged lumber or parts. For several years my oldest daughter, Brenna, and I have sold over 1,100 of these pieces on our ETSY shop. Two years ago, we were both invited to the VIP headquarters of ETSY in Hudson to spend the day with them. It was actually a brainstorming session for Etsy and for our shop. What a great day we had. They treated us to lunch, desert, coffee and the whole nine yards.
5. I have been married for 33 years to my wife Alana. We have been together since high school. We have known each other most of our lives. Her grandmother lived next door to my family and we would play together as children when she visited her grandmother. We have two daughters; Brenna is the oldest and is a self-employed personal trainer in the Capital District. Our youngest, Malaina, graduated from Siena about five years ago and is a paralegal for a law firm in the Capital District.
6. During Malaina’s third year at Siena she did an intern program at American University in Washington, D.C. through Siena. During that time, she also interned in Congressman Chris Gibson’s office. We were excited to hear years later that he would become President of Siena College. Such a great experience for Malaina at the time.
7. I ran my first two 5k runs this year. A big accomplishment for me. More to come in the future. For the past three years I have taken up cycling pretty seriously. I now have three bikes – a hybrid commuter bike, a mountain bike and a road bike. I expect to clear 2,000 biking miles by the end of the year.
8. Our favorite place to stay is at Mirror Lake Inn, Lake Placid. Our goal has been to make it to Lake Placed two times a year. It’s a special place for us. We have been going since our early twenties.
9. We have two black lab mixes. Charlie who is three and Lexi who is one. They bring a lot of joy and happiness to our lives. We have a lot of fun with them. When we have time, we go camping in the Adirondacks with our tear drop camper. We belong to a tear drop camper club called Tear Up the ADK. We camp with the group twice a year.
10. My mom, family, old friends and those who have known me a long time always call me Tommy.
