On the morning of Dec. 4, local musician and handyman Paul Duffy was sitting down to a steaming breakfast prepared by his daughter in St. Petersburg, Florida, when his cellphone rang.
The caller was a neighbor from De Witt Road in Accord, known to many as “Hoppy,” the bear carver. He delivered grim news: Duffy’s home and studio were on fire. He promised to call back within minutes.
Duffy purchased the Accord property in 1987, following his divorce, and initially lived there in a converted school bus, complete with a woodstove and chimney extending through a window. After memorizing a “Popular Mechanics” book on home construction, he built his own house, completing it in 1990.
He did the work so well that musician friends—including Tim Moore and Elly Wininger—soon began hiring him for repairs and additions to their own homes. Both performed at a benefit in Duffy’s honor on Jan. 6 at The Colony in Woodstock.
“And so I was soon making a far better living as a handyman than as a musician,” Duffy said in a phone interview. “Which I realize is far from breaking news in and around Woodstock and its neighboring townships.”
In 1995, Duffy added a stand-alone studio to the property, eventually moving into it after renting his house to a friend. Over the years, he endured personal tragedies with a characteristically stoic good humor, friends said.
Less than five minutes after the first call, Hoppy phoned again. The studio, he said through tears, had burned to the ground. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
And so even before boarding a train bound for Rhinecliff, Duffy knew what he had lost: a six-foot, 1907 Baldwin grand piano—rebuilt in 1990 with its original ivory keys reset—along with a Fazer practice piano, Roland RD-300 and RD-700 keyboards, and nearly all of his personal belongings.
A benefit concert has been organized to help Duffy recover from the loss. The Paul Duffy Benefit Extravaganza, scheduled for Jan. 6 at The Colony in Woodstock, will feature performances by friends and fellow musicians, with proceeds going toward helping Duffy rebuild after the fire.
“The good news,” Duffy said, “is that I’ll be the guest of an angel named Deborah Mellen through the spring. And another angel—and extraordinarily gifted artist—Sylvia Bullett immediately came to my aid.”
Bullett, Duffy said, quickly reached out to a wide circle of musicians, singers and composers, all of whom volunteered their talents. Neil Howard of The Colony also donated use of the venue for the night.
“The whole of it profoundly humbles me,” Duffy said.
While Woodstock has changed in many ways over the years, the tradition of musicians rallying to support one another in times of hardship remains intact— and was on display at the Jan. 6 benefit.
Tad Wise is a contributing writer. Send correspondence to reporting@theoverlooknews.com.