Rosendale Ramblings By Sari Botton

As promised last week, I’m hereby launching a new feature on rosendaleramblings.com, called “Get to Know a Rosendalian.” It seems appropriate that the maiden post should feature the original founder of the Rosendale Street Festival, the colorful “Uncle Willy.”

Name: W. J. Guldy, Jr.
Age: “How old do you like your men?”
Occupation: “I’ve always been in the bar business. But I got hit by a car in May, so I’m not working right now.”

If you attended the Rosendale Street Festival this weekend – or any summer in the past – chances are you crossed paths at some point with the local legend known as “Uncle Willy.” You wouldn’t have been able to miss him, decked out in high hippie regalia, introducing bands on all five stages, and telling tales up and down Main Street. “I once lived in that house right there,” he tells one woman, pointing to an old Victorian. “There were ghosts there – lots of them.”

Rosendale owes at least some of its reputation as a good time to Uncle Willy. Not only did he start the town’s annual two-day bash, he also owned some of its legendary bars.

“In 1970, I opened a bar that became the most famous one in the area,” he boasts. That would have been “The Well,” site these days of The Alternative Baker. “The Well was my heart. We had live music every night. Some great music legends got their start there.”

He’s more than a little vague about what led to The Well shutting down: “There were some people who didn’t want anyone to have any fun,” is his explanation. But I’ve heard all kinds of stories about The Well serving up more than beer, wine and other legal spirits. We’re talking tabs of acid.

That didn’t stop Unclie Willy. He picked himself up and moved on to the Astoria Hotel, where he had another bar. “That had a lifespan, but then they got me there, too.” Who were “they”? “Politics. Jealousy. Taxes. I was never on time paying my taxes.” He later opened bars in Kingston and Belize.

At one point, he ran for mayor of the former Village of Rosendale (there is no longer a Village separate from the Town of Rosendale). “I lost by 22 points,” he says, seemingly still disappointed. “They knew I was winning the vote, and so they came out.” (This seems to be a different “they.”)

In 1976, he also ran for the U.S. Presidency. “I ran on the Heart party,” he says. “If my heart had a window, you could look right through it.”