Amy Dickinson looks to bring eatery to Freeville

Advice columnist Amy Dickinson is taking a leap of faith.

The village of Freeville native, writer of the syndicated advice column Ask Amy and author of a couple of memoirs, recently made a large purchase in the village.

Dickinson is now the owner of a two-unit building at 24 Main St., which is about 3,500 square feet in size. She purchased it for $150,000 back in October.

Her main goal for the property is to bring a food-based business into the unit on the building’s left side.

“I was very happy to get the opportunity to purchase the building,” Dickinson said, who wasted no time in purchasing the building once it hit the market.

The idea, Dickinson said, is to bring food back to Freeville. As a kid, Dickinson had grocery stores like the Red & White Food Store and IGA. More recently, the space housed the Park-It Market.

Through the years, Dickinson has seen her hometown become “somewhat of a food desert.” Nowadays, she added, it’s an uncommon experience to walk or ride a bike to a grocery store.

“It loomed large in my life and the life of any local resident who was around at the time,” Dickinson said of the Red & White Food Store and other stores that have been in the village.

For the future, Dickinson wants a food-based business where village residents and out-of-towners can buy milk, eggs and bread, pick up ingredients to make a pizza or choose from the selections provided by a bakery.

She also had some inspiration from the popular Freeville Farmers Market, a staple in the village and surrounding areas.

“It’s great to see people walking through the farmers market with their bags full of fresh produce,” Dickinson said.

Dickinson, a writer at heart, has never taken on a project like this one before.

“I’m sort of leaving my own comfort zone,” she said. “This is a vision I’ve had for a long time. I see it as a give-back to the community that raised me and that’s helped me to be who I am.”

Thankfully for Dickinson, her husband Bruno Schickel, a builder and owner of Schickel Construction Co., is assisting her in renovating the building.

“We’re looking to create a space that’s very attractive and inviting,” she said, noting that she and Schickel will work with any business “to renovate to their liking.”

Dickinson noted a couple of advantages of the property. It has 20 parking spaces, and Dickinson added that parking in the village is hard to come by. Another advantage is two entrances – front and back – for the left side of the building.

Freeville is also part of the main commuting route between the cities of Cortland and Ithaca, and Dickinson noted that several hundred cars go through the village on a daily basis.

Whether a commuter is heading to work or driving back home, Dickinson said they can grab a cup of coffee, a sandwich for lunch or groceries for the evening.

“My goal is to give people a reason to stop and a place to park,” she added.

The right side of the building is where Dickinson will conduct a literacy-based project. Details of that project have yet to be determined.

For Dickinson, the plans she has for the Main Street building are part of her vision of “reinvigorating the center of the village.”

“I feel like we’re in an era where a lot of us want to go local,” she said. “In my opinion, this is a great way to keep things locally based.”

Much like the famous words from the 1989 film “Field of Dreams,” Dickinson believes that “If you build it, they will come.”

“That’s the hope,” she said.

Dryden Dispatch appears every week in Tompkins Weekly. Send story ideas to editorial@vizellamedia.com.

In brief:

Memorial event for late town board member is March 25

A memorial event celebrating the life of the late James Edward “Jim” Skaley will be held at 2 p.m. March 25 at the First Unitarian Society of Ithaca on 306 N. Aurora St. in downtown Ithaca.

Skaley, a former Dryden town board member who was an expert in planning and an advocate for the hamlet of Varna, passed away on Christmas Eve following his battle with an undisclosed illness.

All are welcome to attend this celebration in honor of Skaley.

Registration open for Dryden Youth Lacrosse

Registration for various Dryden Youth Lacrosse programs is officially open, according to the Town of Dryden Recreation Department.

The co-ed lacrosse program for kindergarten through second grade will be held every Saturday from 9 to 10 a.m. at Dryden Elementary School between April 22 and May 27.

The boys’ youth lacrosse program for grades three through six will begin on April 4 and run until May 27. Practice will be held every Tuesday and Thursday from 5:30 to 7 p.m. at Dryden Elementary School. Teams will be formed as third/fourth grade and fifth/sixth grade. Games will be against the Ithaca Youth Lacrosse program every Sunday morning.

The girls’ youth lacrosse program for grades three through six will run between April 4 and May 27. Practice is every Tuesday and Thursday from 6 to 7:15 p.m. at Dryden Elementary School. Games will be against the Ithaca Youth Bureau Lacrosse program, with game times to be determined.

Equipment for each program can be provided by the Dryden Recreation Department. For more information or to register, click here.