Helga Hulse, a popular local piano teacher, poses with a piano at First Lutheran Church. Hulse turned 100 years old this year. P-J file photo by Katrina Fuller

Editor’s Note: This is the fifth of five stories highlighting some of the most-read stories in The Post-Journal during the past year. Today’s series focuses on area residents who made headlines for the right reasons.

The Post-Journal profiled dozens of area residents throughout the course of the year — but the beautiful music of Helga Hulse caught the most ears and eyes of our readers.

Hulse turned 100 years old earlier this year.

Ever the showman, she struck a pose in front of the piano at First Lutheran Church for our Katrina Fuller and regaled Fuller with her story.

Hulse, born Sept. 21, 1921, in Honolulu, Hawaii, has been teaching piano since she was 19 years old. Her mother, Florence Booco Johnson, began giving her lessons at the age of 3. Hulse said her mother was a master pianist and a graduate of the New England Conservatory who taught many students.

Pictured are members of the Burns family. From left are Kevin Burns, middle son; Meghan Burns, eldest; Dan Burns; Linda Burns; and Jeff Tampe. Submitted photo

At age 13, Johnson sent Hulse to learn piano in Los Angeles, and she later traveled to Philadelphia to study at the famed Curtis Institute. On the train ride to Philadelphia, Hulse’s mother sent her with a companion — a small Chihuahua named Chiquita.

“I’d had a lot of training, and I studied with some great names in piano and music,” Hulse said. “When I started teaching, it was a very short time later when I started my first studio. That was in the slums of Los Angeles.”

While Hulse has been in the Jamestown area since 1973, she has traversed the world. She was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, but later lived in Los Angeles, Denmark and other parts of Europe. When asked how she got to Jamestown, she laughed and said, “By aeroplane.”

Hulse has taught many major piano students across the area, but wouldn’t mention their names as she believes they’re all equally important and didn’t want to leave anyone out.

To this day, she continues to teach piano students, practices the piano every week, and is currently working on a book about her experiences.

Pictured are Dr. Lynn Dunham and her daughter, Sarah Gibson, a third-year medical student. Gibson had the chance to learn from her mom at Jamestown Pediatric Associates in July Submitted photo

“It will be done when it is ready,” she said, smiling. “I’m writing a music book that is different from everything I’ve ever seen. I have read everything that people wrote about private piano studios, and they all say the same thing. I’m going to write a whole different slant from the human point of view, and the student’s point of view and the fun that is in it.”

Brian Bogey, minister of music at First Lutheran Church where Hulse often practices, said Hulse is known as the “First Lady of the Piano” in this area.

“Everyone in the area knows Helga, she’s a musical icon,” Bogey said. “We all love her.

‘HE WAS SO FEARLESS’

A random act of kindness by Dan Burns, a former New York state trooper, resonated with county residents after Burns’ untimely passing earlier this year.

Ryan Dustin had to be about 2 years old around 1999 or 2000 when he first met Dan Burns, a trooper with the New York State Police who had visited the Jamestown YWCA that day for an event where kids could interact with police officers.

A moment from that day was captured in a couple of photographs showing the youngster being fingerprinted by Burns in uniform. It was those photos Dustin’s family pointed to when he decided to become a trooper himself, noting that he likely had inclinations at a very young age.

“I’ve wanted to be a trooper since ninth grade so my family would comment about my desire to be a trooper started that day,” said Dustin, who added that no one knew the name of the trooper in the iconic photos.

However, the moment decades ago was so important to Dustin, a 2015 Falconer Central High School graduate, he posted one of them with his New York State Police graduation photo online. It was then that several commented on the image, stating the trooper in the shot looked a lot like “a young Dan Burns.”

The pair was eventually reunited after Dustin completed field training and was taking part in a road check in Bemus Point. Burns came up — the road check just happened to take place in front of Burns’ home — when the name rang familiar to Dustin. He showed another trooper the photograph of him being fingerprinted, and it was confirmed the man was most certainly Burns.

The moment meant a lot to Dustin, who knew by that point that Burns — then retired from the New York State Police — had become ill.

“He was a super cool guy,” said Dustin, adding that he stayed in touch with Burns and valued the advice given to him as a young trooper.

Daniel K. Burns was born in June 1966 to James and Judith Burns. He graduated from Maple Grove Junior-Senior High School in 1984 and attended Gannon University where he studied accounting. The Bemus Point native started his law enforcement career at Chautauqua Institution, moved then to the Jamestown Police Department and later graduated from the New York State Police Academy in 1989.

Burns’ father was a 25-year member of the New York State Police himself and also served as a judge for the town of Ellery.

Burns passed away on Sunday, July 4. During a Celebration of Life at The Village Casino in Bemus Point, about 800 people attended. “It just shows how he was so respected,” Linda Burns said of the gathering, later adding, “We’re relieved because he’s not in pain, but we really miss him.”

Some of his former coworkers brought coffee and donuts to the Burns’ home in Bemus Point. As Burns became more sick, the more his friends reached out. She recalled one particular day when she was expecting two people to show up. Instead, 20 came by and lined the street.

Many of those who offered support were police officers. “I think the thing that really touched me, even though he retired from the State Police, there’s that fraternity of friends and family he made through that,” she said.

PIERCE’S PERSNIKKITY PIES

One would be hard-pressed to find a more beautiful pie than those baked by Nikki Pierce.

The golden-brown works of art, not only look amazing, they are so delicious, the taste buds beg for more. She didn’t begin baking at her grandmother’s side as one would imagine. In fact, her pie-baking history is relatively short.

“An employer gave me a small cookbook when I went to college and when we got married, my mother-in-law gave me recipes for a shower gift.”

In the early years, when her husband attended the police academy, she prepared casseroles and inexpensive meals. After she started using all recipes.com, she stopped getting recipes from others and began experimenting with spices and a variety of oils. About 15 years ago, she began hosting Thanksgiving dinners for 10-15 people and holding parties for groups of as many as 20 friends.

“That’s when I started the pie thing. I called my mother-in-law and my mother for pie crust recipes.” She used their recipes to make the dough, but did not use the dough for her pies because it wasn’t the crust she had been looking for. When she eventually found the recipe she had been wanting, it ended up being one for a French pastry crust.

When baking pies became her passion, she made the decision to start a business to allow her to sell them to others. After having her kitchen inspected and her water tested, she acquired a New York State Article 20C Home Processor Waiver, which allows her to bake food to sell from her home. When she couldn’t decide on a name for her business, her husband suggested Persnikkity after the nickname her Uncle Bob Olson had given her as a child. Persnikkity Pies was started in March of 2021. All of her baked goods come in boxes that are labeled with a list of ingredients and allergens. Each one of the pie fillings has been created by Mrs. Pierce, including pumpkin, which she begins by roasting sugar pumpkins.

Persnikkity pies may be ordered by phone or purchased at pop-up events, which happen when a shop owner invites her to their business to sell her product. In order to make this possible, her father-in-law made a 2-piece mobile pie stand for these special events which she transports in her Tahoe. The pie stand’s curtains were made by her mother and her niece, Haley, painted the business’ name on the stand.

Pie baking is her side job. Her full-time job is with the Chautauqua County Probation Department. Prior to that she was a stay-at-home mom for ten years.

“All of my adult career has been working with at risk families, at risk youth and families who have been involved with law enforcement. I have always worked in human services and never in retail sales.”

MS. CONNECTICUT SENIOR AMERICA

Debra Lawergren Eccles has had a foot in pageantry ever since she was the first runner up in the Mrs. Jamestown America pageant in 1970.

Now a resident of Connecticut, Eccles was crowned Ms. Connecticut Senior America in May — something even more special to her because of her relationship with her grandson.

Eccles grew up on Fluvanna Townline Road, and graduated from Maple Grove High School in 1969. Since moving to Connecticut, she has come back to visit family and friends that still live in the area every year, including for her 50 class reunion in 2019.

Eccles ran for Ms. Connecticut Senior America for two main reasons: to prove myths about aging are wrong and because she is a single parent to her 8-year-old grandson.

My son was a motorcycle professional,” Eccles said. “At around age 21 or 22 he was hurt badly, and in the midst of that long struggle, he was put on oxycontin, and became addicted. His girlfriend at the time was also addicted, and when their son was born it became a question of me taking him or putting him into foster care. I didn’t want him to go into the system, so at 2 weeks old, I brought my grandson home with me.”

For Eccles, the pageant was an opportunity for her to show America that life does not end when you reach 65 years old — which is also the message of the pageant itself.

The Ms. Senior America pageant was started in 1972 with the philosophy that senior citizens are the foundation of America and one of the country’s most valuable treasures. The pageant looks for any woman over 60 who shows the dignity, maturity and interduty of senior Americans.

“Your life is not over at 65,” Eccles said. “You can still dream.”

MOTHER-DAUGHTER TEAM

Dr. Lynn Dunham and her daughter got some special bonding time together this summer while offering care to the youngest of patients.

Sarah Gibson was given the chance to shadow her mother, Dr. Dunham, through an elective clinical rotation with Upstate Medical University in Syracuse. Gibson is a third-year medical student and jumped at the chance to learn from her mom at Jamestown Pediatric Associates in July.

“She had an elective month that she could choose to take off, which she figured she would be home for anyway,” Dunham said. “So, she thought ‘Well, what the heck, maybe I could spend a month doing a pediatric elective with (me). She got approval from her school to do it here and she spent four weeks with us at Jamestown Pediatrics.”

Dunham has been with Jamestown Pediatrics since 2002 and is a Jamestown native, graduating from Jamestown High School. Her daughter also graduated from Jamestown High School, following in her mom’s footsteps in more than just medicine.

Dunham said she and her daughter had a great time working together while taking care of pediatric patients. She has always had a great relationship with her daughter, but it was interesting throwing the role of teacher into the mix.

She said it was a great experience to see her daughter in her element, learning and growing in the medical field before her eyes. Dunham said she wasn’t sure if her daughter will go into pediatrics, but it is an interest of hers, alongside women’s health.

“I had a fun time learning and working with my mom,” Gibson said. “She was a great teacher, and I felt comfortable asking questions.”

Asked whether she plans to return to Chautauqua County, Gibson said she hasn’t decided. She said she would like to do some traveling, but hasn’t shut the door on the area completely.

“I definitely love the area, and all that it has to offer,” she said. “Ultimately, it’s likely I’ll come back to the area.”