Andy grew up on his family's 180 year old dairy farm, located in the western foothills of the Catskill mountains in upstate NY.   He worked outside and in the barns with his father, Albert, various cousins, and his little brother. As a child, he had the responsibility of feeding about a dozen calves every morning before school. His mother, Judy, a beloved elementary school teacher, made sure he bathed between chores and going to school, to wash away the barn perfume. After school, there were more barn chores, the endless cycle of feeding and cleaning. It's a lifestyle Andy loves and continues to embrace and emulate.

Andy learned to drive a tractor around 9 years old. It's a skill involving geometry, physical coordination, quick thinking,  and a focus of complete alertness, that is imprinted in his every action.  Even though he no longer has big barns and a selection of tractors to choose from, his daily routines emulate farm life. Andy grew up appreciating nature. Everyday, no matter what the weather is or where Andy is, he takes time out to watch the sun set. It was always a treat to listen to Albert, Andy's dad, "read" the air and give an accurate weather report.

Motor head beginnings

Around 8 years old, another cousin, on a farm over the hill, gave Andy his 1st motorcycle experience on a Honda 50 Mini Trail. To this day he finds a source of joy and inspiration from talking about motorcycles and listening to one passing by. His tractor driving adventures, further fed his lifelong fascination with machinery. Andy keeps Ithaca Soap in fun and functional cars taking the mundane parts of running a small business, such as driving to market on a cold day, and making them a joy. 

He fixes everything the business relies on. All of the machinery, tools, vehicles. He makes it possible for everything  in the Ithaca Soap world moving forward. Andy is a fantastic soap maker, empowering each and every bar soap, Instant Liquid Soap, Solid Olive Oil Shampoo Bar, and Beeswax Lip Balm with the energies of love and well being. Click here to see their offerings.

Behind the scenes

On select weekends in high school, Andy and a few friends would chain together their stereos and play records (vinyl, remember that?) for school dances. During college, at SUNY Stony Brook, he produced sound and lighting designs,  and did some welding for the college theater department. This solidified his ability to make systems work from behind the scenes. During this time his Uncle Dan bequeathed his 1976 Saab to Andy, supplementing his experience in keeping machines in working order.

Many years later, after that car was retired, Andy pulled it out of the farm's junk yard for Wendy to drive while she was in between vehicles. That was a really fun car to drive. It was mostly mechanically sound, but the body was in poor shape. The headlights had a mind of their own.

That sound guy in the red velvet bell bottoms

After college, carpentry, landscaping, turning wrenches (including a stint at a SAAB dealership on LI, NY) and managing a 16 track recording studio, kept him busy for a few years until the call of country life landed him back on the farm. Working days on the farm, he became the defacto sound guy at a local coffee house (The Night Eagle) that a friend ran as a folk music venue.  Connecting with various musicians inevitably led him to Ithaca where he easily found work with sound companies who liked how he "plugged it in right the first time." Working at a nearby music festival is where Wendy walked into his movie. She was working there too and although they both knew right away, it took a while for them to go out on that fateful date...

Somewhere there has to be a photo of Andy wearing the red velvet bell bottom pants, work boots, and his sun hat at The FingerLakes GrassRoots Festival, that one very hot summer. At the festival, back in those days, Saturday nights were the time to dress in your festival best. It was a steamy summer evening, when Andy came out to change over the stage to the next band, in his Sat. night dress up attire. Someone up in the bleachers yelled out "Yeah to the sound guy in the red velvet pants!" The whole crowd of a few hundred sweaty, happy people waiting for the next band, went wild and cheered. Were you there? If so, and have a photo, please e mail it. We'd love to post it. Contact here

Click here to read about Magical Soap Properties