Oz Legacies

First there was Hi-Fi, then came stereo, and now we have Wi-Fi, Hi-Fi and stereo through Bluetooth. I guess that's called progress. Stereo sound is amazing because it has two sides to it. You hear the left and the right, and the blend in between.

I got thinking about the history of stereo, and as a former disc jockey, I lived through the progression of radio from monaural to stereo, from 45s to 33/13 LPs and from AM to FM, and then it hit me. When I was growing up, Oswego had two different kinds of Sterios, Big Nick and Little Nick. One played a sax and led a band, while the other played records and made us listen to bands. I am talking, of course, about longtime Oswego orchestra leader Little Nick Sterio, who ran a men's clothing store for years, and on the side, served as a kind of local Lawrence Welk, and Big Nick Sterio, who was a beverage salesman and county legislator who hosted a weekly Italian American hour on the local radio station, WOSC.

Big Nick was big, very big, and little Nick was, and still is, little and short, thus their monikers fit, and as fate would have it, they were raised in the same household. Big Nick Sterio, along with his wife Henrietta (" Hank") lived at the corner of West Seventh and Albany streets, with their brood of seven children. Nick was a sales rep for a liquor distributor, and was elected supervisor and then county legislator from Oswego's 5th Ward. He served his constituents for more than 17 years. He was very involved in the creation of the Oswego County Health Department. In fact, the County Health Department building on Bunner Street today still bears his name.

He was a proud Republican representative in the best sense of the word, in the glory days of Oswego's Republican Party and he served with distinction alongside such legislative giants as Bob Chetney, Gene Saloga and my predecessors from the 1st Ward, J.B. Kelly Jr. and Art Vincent.

He also was the sole person to broadcast live, and actually spin records from the downtown Oswego studio of WOSC, at the end of the bridge, next to Spereno's Tailor shop, every Sunday. Big Nick hosted the Italian American hour, and featured music by the likes of Lou Monte, Al Martino, Connie Francis, Domenico Modungo and Jerry Vale.

Nick was as fond of cigars as he was of saluting his listener's birthdays on the radio on Sunday. He was also a prominent personality in the annual live March of Dimes Tune Auction that the station would do every year, broadcasting live from the Oswego Elk's Club. That was always a big deal, and famous emcees like Phil Markert from Channel 9 would come to Oswego to moderate the program, which featured talents like Chickie Caruso on the accordion, and Joe Bosco and others from St. Mary's men's choir singing Irish songs.

In his later years, you could find often Nick pontificating from a barstool at the end of the bar at Vona's restaurant. Nick also made his own homemade wine and his own homemade sausage. I hear that both were to die for.

I enjoyed Big Nick's stories, his humor and overall approach to life, if not his political persuasion. He and his wife Henrietta (Hank) had seven children, four boys and three girls, Joanne, John, Nancy, Susan, Michael and Patrick. Nancy became the city clerk, Mike a policemen and later a politician in his father's mold and a town judge, and John a fireman. Little Nick Sterio was our choice to play at my inaugural ball as mayor.

There was none finer than Nick Sterio and his big band, back in the day. I remember we had his orchestra flanked on either side by two sailboats that we hauled into the Armory to carry on the theme of " Sail with Sullivan" at the black tie ball. Seven hundred people showed up on a snowy January night, dressed to the nines, to help us kick off the new administration, and Nick's band provided the music to dance to.

And dance, we did.

Little Nick and his two sisters were raised by Big Nick's parents, Carmelina and Onofrio, after his own parents died very young. They wound up in an orphanage, briefly, until taken in by Big Nick's parents. They were cousins who became like brothers.

Little Nick was one of the most talented band leaders ever to play on the central New York music scene. He was also a very dapper dresser and purveyor of fine men's clothing. His wife Adele was the daughter of my barber, Johnny Stracuzzi, and they became the parents of two children, David and Judy. I have often bumped into Nick and Adele at Canale's when I visit Oswego, and it is great to see both of them still going strong.

Big Nick and Little Nick Sterio broadcast their own kinds of music, and enjoyed a wide audience of appreciative Oswegonians, who still savor the many memories the two Sterio boys created by whistling their own respective happy tunes.

Now that's Italian!