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You pass them in the village and sit near them at the diner—but everyone in the Hudson Valley has a story that would surprise you. This is a podcast for getting to know your neighbors. We’re stripping away the surface level to find the human heart of our region, proving that even the person next door has a journey worth sharing. Discover your community all over again.
Frank Pepe
We may disagree tremendously on the politics, but we must agree on our humanity.
Jen Lee
This is Hudson Valley Storycatcher, a podcast for curious residents that bridges the distance between our homes and hills with good stories that turn strangers into neighbors. I'm Jen Lee. This is an ad free, community based project, and you can support the show by leaving us a rating and review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you listen, and by sharing it with a friend.
You know, so often it feels like the world around us is flattening us into opposing viewpoints. But today's guest is adding the third dimension back in. I'm speaking with Frank Pepe, a man who's spent his career in education and his retirement serving the town of Stanford after the social turmoil of 2020. Frank helped launch a nonprofit called Stanford: a Caring Community that's dedicated to fostering unity across political, racial and religious divides.
Today, we're discussing the power of active listening, brotherly love as an antidote to hatred and the legacy of Charles Johnson, a young man who broke social barriers in the Hudson Valley decades ago and whose story Frank is now committed to share and tell.
Jen
Thanks for talking to me today, Frank.
Frank
My pleasure. I'm happy to be here.
Jen
What else should we know about you?
Frank
Well, I retired as a superintendent of schools. I spent my entire vocation in education.
Jen
What made you interested in running for town board?
Frank
Well, my wife and I moved here when politics were going downhill very fast. I joined a very small group who, was of the other party, and we worked hard. Got to know a lot of people, and we all discovered a community here that we never knew, was here. My wife and I thought we were alone in terms of our political perspectives and our views on life.
But once we began to work with other folks politically, we realized that there was a great community of artists and authors and teachers and professors that we didn't know was here. And, the richness of the community just really became apparent. And, so I served three years, but George Floyd was murdered. And society was in a great turmoil.
And so, I began to meet people and provide a view of community and unity for all people of all parties. And, it evolved as I brought people into our steering committee. One of them, Gail Goodwin, came up with the name that we have now, Stanford: a Caring Community. And it's become one of the passions that I have in my retirement.
I served for three years on the Dutchess County Human Rights Commission. And I'm now on my second year on the board of the Dutchess County Interfaith Council. And the presentations I give on Charlie Johnson take me somewhat far afield, and those are particularly rewarding.
Jen
Can you tell us more about the talks you're giving about Charlie Johnson?
Frank
When I arrived as the new superintendent of the Arlington Schools, I was presented with the story that came to me as a, a heroic battlefield story. The story became deeper the more I learned of it. And it was astonishing that this young man, Charles Johnson, graduated Arlington High School in 1951. He was only at Arlington for one year, and was the only African-American male in the school.
And yet he broke the color line and the students fell in love with him. In fact, they elected him class vice president within weeks of being there. He was athletic and musical and handsome.
And loving. He had a good heart. He was compassionate and sweet and always thinking of other people serving others.
And so he was a hero while he was there. Miraculously, two years later, he's on the frontlines of Korea at a place called outpost Harry. And then the bunker. He finds another kid from Arlington High School, little Arlington High School, in the Hudson Valley in New York.
Miraculous. They're overrun by the enemy.
And, his buddy and many others are wounded. Charles is also wounded, but is able to carry on. He pulls his friend and nine others to safety. He saves their lives and then goes back to the front to protect them, which he does for most of the night, and in the morning he's killed in action.
His friends and his family came to me when I arrived, and they wanted to put a photograph or a picture of Charles up somewhere in the high school. And by that time, I was learning more about him. His friends, and his family, who I got to know very, very well, and I declined their request to put a picture up in the high school because I told them, This is bigger than that.
This is a story of the greatest values that all of our religions tell us we should live our lives by. And, so that's the story I bring to others. It was a gift given to me. A gift like many, that came with a responsibility which I feel I have. And that's to tell this story of breaking social barriers, whether they today be political, social, racial, religious.
And so I try to bring that message as far as I can and as often as I can. He was a very good human being.
Jen
One thing I'm really hearing in both your description of different places where you've served, different work you've done, and also in what about the story of Charles Johnson most resonated with you, is this kind of common theme of connecting people across various divides, whether it's political or religious. The time you talked about years ago–I feel like the, that feeling of divide has only felt like it's grown and the tensions have only heightened.
And sometimes it can feel like, is it even possible to connect across the things that divide us?
Frank
I think one of the struggles in one's lifetime, when you see. A greater good something beyond yourself. The question is, where do I fit in?
Jen
Right.
Frank
What can I do? And the genesis of all of this was that I grew up during the 50s and 60s. And watched the rioting police in, in the South and the deaths of a good number of our civil rights activists–often seeing it on TV as a kid, young adult–and I just knew it was wrong.
And I was lucky enough to have my father as a great mentor. And coming back from World War II, starting his little delicatessen business. He went out of his way to make sure that he introduced me to all of the customers who were of a minority, his, African-American customers and, his Jewish customers and so forth.
The lesson I learned and was very clear about it is that you will respect everyone. And so he opened the door in a loving, affirming way that we were to love one another. And through my Catholic education, both at Villanova and in my high school in New Jersey, that message was really very, very clear. The quest has been: Where do I fit in?
That's been a quest my whole life. But never did I see an opportunity greater than the story of Charles Johnson. When I heard the story and then met Charles' family, I knew that I was given a gift. A gift that came with a responsibility to make sure I told others. And it was during this period of extreme political, social violence and disharmony that I knew that I had a role to play.
And even though I no longer have 10,000 students and 20,000 parents to speak to, you know my wings are clipped, but at least I can make a difference.
I can try to make a difference. I can try to introduce this wonderful human being and his character. Values of compassion and selflessness, love, patriotism. It has meant a great deal to me, especially after concluding my career in education and serving children, high school students. I leave with this gift, which I try to pass forward.
Jen
And what is the impact that you've seen of sharing a story like this?
Frank
Almost universally, the people we've presented to, have been appreciative.
And the light end. Most people say it was really uplifting. It was a good story. But on the deeper end, it has people thinking about: What am I doing with my life?
Jen
That's one position that you're engaging from, is that of someone who is feeling entrusted with a story you're trying to bear witness to and share. But then some of the work that you're doing is actually working directly with people, either on the town board or about human rights or interfaith communities.
What can you share with us about trying to work for common goals with people who come to the table from different lived experiences, holding different world views? What have you learned along the way?
Frank
I have taken, particularly in retirement, a great interest in studying the beginnings of religion, of religions. And, that effort has reinforced the messages from all of our great religious books. This wise message from ancient times is love one another, help one another.
I find that in the Interfaith Council, and I've made wonderful friends of every religion you can think of. If Stanford: a Caring Community was a religious organization, we would use different terms, different words.
We're not. But we certainly try to live and demonstrate the values that those religious backgrounds have presented to the world since time immemorial.
Jen
Can you tell us a little bit more about the work you've done there with Stanford: a Caring Community, as an organization?
Frank
Well, like I said, earlier, I was very upset at the death, at the murder of George Floyd. And in the reaction in society. And I saw the expressions of hate kind of blow up and become sanctioned over and over and over publicly. And I again, like I did when I was in high school watching social unrest because of racism, I felt the need to do something again.
And, I began to gather folks, and we came up with a name that we thought would be positive and reflect a dual mission. Primarily, we stand with all of those people whose identity has been attacked by hatred, hate speech, violence.
When it happens anywhere, we feel it vicariously. When there is anti-Asian violence in the subways, in New York City, my Asian friends and neighbors here certainly feel that.
Jen
Yeah.
Frank
So we try to stand with all those who see their backgrounds as being diverse and who have received expressions of hatred. So we do things with the Jewish community, the Black community, the LGBTQ community, the Asian community, as we can, the Muslim community. We don't necessarily do all of our activities here because we are a very small town and our diversity is somewhat limited.
So we try to bring into communication, into dialog, those things going on in our county, which is much more diverse. So we will include in our newsletter announcements of activities elsewhere, the ending of Ramadan, a celebration for that, religious organizations, activities from the Interfaith Council.
And so that's one of the ways in which we try to reach out and conduct things here. We also go to other places to honor and show our support and our solidarity, without politics. All focused on humans.
We've been very helpful, I think, to the LGBTQ community here on Stanford, we helped them get started and we continue to be of help. But they, they're the most successful organization we've allied with, because they are now a standalone 501(c)(3) on their own, and they conduct wonderful events and we table and have a booth at their events and show our support in that way.
Coming up on our schedule is a Juneteenth celebration in June honoring the legacy and the citizenship of some of our Black residents and lots of folks from nearby. We also have coming up a chili fest. I like to say that those events are parties for the parties, and we try to encourage members of both parties to come together and be neighbors.
And let's let the national and international things go for just a moment or two so that we can show our care and interest to one another.
Jen
That's one thing I really appreciate in what you're talking about is that you're looking around and saying, Okay, we maybe have some limited diversity in our town, but we're going to reach out to communities in the county and find ways to partner with them, to bring them to us, to bring us to them. I'm also interested in the nitty gritty of like, how are you actually finding people to reach out to?
Frank
Well, Stanford: a Caring Community emerged on the ground. And, I think the key to its development, and the key to life, is listening: really, really carefully listening without your ego getting in the way, listening without having an answer to something someone's telling you. That by listening and keeping your eyes open, it became evident that we did have members of the LGBT, LGBT community living here, and they were wonderfully proud, but not yet organized.
So it's listening, keeping your eyes open, proceeding gently, asking questions, going forward with permission. And if and when you find you don't have real permission or or there may be some feedback, you stop, then you find another way. It's kind of like making friends, you know, some you don't make friends in the same way all the time.
But if you listen and really pay attention to them and give them ultimate respect, they can move forward. And with respect to our organization, I think, simply hearing the phrase that we try to be a caring community has some value.
Jen
Yeah, I totally would see that. And through the listening that you're describing and the respect that you're bringing, you also must be creating a sense of safety for people, for them to share with you parts of their identity or experience that they’re maybe feeling under threat in other situations about, you know. So you must be creating a certain amount of safety for the partners and people that you're connecting with.
Frank
That happens all the time within the organization and within life in general. I, I try very hard to make eye contact even when I'm in the supermarket or when I'm visiting a hospital.
And if there's a moment to open a conversation, very often it will. And strangers who feel comfortable and safe and who know that you may be interested in them, it develops so quickly.
People want to be heard. People want to be understood. They want respect and dignity.
I think kindness and openness and listening carefully and making eye contact is a way to give people a sense of security and affirmation.
Jen
Well, even when you're talking about the way you listen and the posture you take with listening, a big piece of that is the space that you're allowing for the other person to take up in a conversation. Right?
Frank
Very well put.
Jen
It's like you're creating space for them that isn't just like, this is me coming at you. But it's like you're being present and you're also like in your presence and attention offering an invitation, even if it's a silent one, that's just like an extended moment of eye contact. And then a general posture of openness to the other person, an acknowledgment that they are there in a waiting room with you.
Frank
It, it takes a lot of practice and learning. I've been fortunate to have had four either exposures or training in active listening. And having lost my first wife, I had the experience of other people–of men–coming to me who had lost their wives. And it was pretty evident that my role was simply to listen, to affirm, to give respect
And in doing that, you both realize you're not alone. You know, that others have had this terrible tragedy and challenge, and how to carry on. But it has to do with deep, listening without your ego just opening up and giving people, as you say, a safe space to speak of their pain.
Jen
I'm interested for people in other parts of the Valley just to hear this story. People who are living in a community but not really feeling connected to it, or not knowing: How do I find my kindreds here?
How do I find my neighbors? You know, whether we have differences or similarities. What would you want to say to people who are looking to strengthen the connective bonds of their own towns and villages?
Frank
Well we're not alone and we don't have all the answers. There are similar organizations in Red Hook and Rhinebeck. Sometimes they're related to groups such as the Rotary or the Lions Club. Sometimes individuals pick up the torch. So it's finding them and participating. Some do that through food banks or food delivery programs or visiting the sick or whatever.
You know, we're a very small community. And if we get, 400 people at an event, that's a huge success, you know? Yeah. And even if they take away the understanding that there's a group of people here who see us as a caring community, that's been at least a tiny success.
The challenge of the journey is far bigger than I am, or we are as an organization. And it's not short term. In fact, the essence of the values that we promote and that I try to promote in telling the story of Charles Johnson are as old as humanity. They've been written in the books of every great religion.
Jen
How do you let people know about your events? What does your communication look like in 2026?
Frank
I was out in these deep snow banks this winter putting up lawn signs for one of the events we had.
Jen
That's a great idea.
Frank
We had 40 lawn signs, 40, 50 lawn signs at one point or another, out in snow banks all around town. So we do that, we have a newsletter.
Jen
Is this an email newsletter?
Frank
It's delivered via email. We do welcome opportunities to have advertisements in the activities that other groups are engaging in the area. But all of that takes a little money. We have once in a while gotten small articles in, local news media, word of mouth.
Jen
I think in these, like, really local, locally focused endeavors, some of these analog, more physical, more one on one word of mouth make a lot of sense. I'm also thinking of like some of the coffee shops or places around town that have bulletin boards or places for people to put brochures.
Frank
Oh yes.
Jen
I'm always looking there just to see like what's happening.
Frank
One of the ways we spread our wings is by partnering with other organizations. So, the library partners with us. We partner with the local Grange, if you're familiar with that organization.
We conduct the chili fest by inviting people to be sponsors. All you have to do to become a sponsor is cook your favorite chili, bring it to the chili fest, give us a funky, fun little name for it, and you become a sponsor.
Jen
One thing I'm just appreciating that you keep kind of pointing to indirectly is both the story of our full humanity, and then the experience of it and each other.
It keeps things, like, more three dimensional than when we're siloed off in our homes, reading things that are designed to be inflammatory and, you know, flattening this idea of how we imagine the “other,” however we're defining that to be.
And by bringing people together, you're giving people an opportunity to come and be in space together and to have that experience of being three dimensional human beings, you know, who may have other things in common, even if they hold some differences.
Frank
Yeah, absolutely. The common view in our society today is, us and them, the other. I don't speak to them. We don't speak to them. We don't relate to them, we don't understand them. And we may disagree tremendously on the politics, but we must agree on our humanity.
Jen
Yeah.
Frank
We have a transfer station here in town. And so, you know, once or twice a month I bring my recycling and so forth. And there is one particular person who works there, a woman, whose mom owned the house that I live in now. This house.
Jen
Wow.
Frank
Because of the signs on her lawn, I know what political perspective she has. It's very different and oppositional to mine. But when I see her, we speak with kindness, and there's always a hug at the end. And we really do appreciate one another.
And there are times in our life where we can do two things at one time. We can, be active with our political interests, but we can also engage in brotherly love as neighbors and as friends.
Jen
It seems like that kind of brotherly love is like an antidote that you've really devoted yourself to, and it seems like the best way to meet any kind of hatred that is brewing or emerging around us.
Frank
I lost my first wife when she was 33. She left me with a little boy, and that was extremely painful. But I do think pain, deep, tragic pain–we can learn from that.
We can use it to expand our lives and our vision. We could recall it when we're desiring to be alone or silent, or selfish, to remind us that there are other people who are alone and suffering and that simply our presence, our kindness, our listening are valuable and healing to them.
If our nation is to continue to be a place that welcomes the stranger that feeds the poor, that visits the imprisoned, we need to pull together. We need to work individually and as a community. We can't let those values slip through our fingers. We can't let hate, and viewing the other as “the enemy”–we can't let that continue, or it will destroy us and our communities, and our civilization.
Jen
I appreciate so much of what you've shared, and I just want to thank you for taking the time to speak with me today.
Frank
It's my great pleasure. It's my great pleasure.
Jen
As Frank mentioned, the challenge of building a caring community isn't a short term project. It's a journey as old as humanity itself. Thank you for joining us for this episode of Hudson Valley Storycatcher. If you want to introduce us to someone doing good work in your community, send your recommendations for future guests to HudsonValleyStorycatcher at gmail.com.
Until next time, keep your heart open and your ears ready. Every neighbor has a story. I'm Jen Lee. Thanks for catching this story with me.