Tuning up two passions under one roof

The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.
Natalia Zukerman
The Webb Family in the workshop. From left: Phyllis, Dale, Ben and Josh Webb, and project manager Hannah Schiffer.
Magic Fluke Ukulele Shop and True Wheels Bicycle Shop are not only under the same roof in a beautiful solar powered building on Route 7 in Sheffield, but they are also both run by the Webb family, telling a tale of familial passion, innovation and a steadfast commitment to sustainability.
In the late ‘90s, Dale Webb was working in engineering and product design at a corporate job. “I took up instrument manufacturing as a fun challenge,” said Dale. After an exhibit at The National Association of Music Merchants in Anaheim, California, in 1999, The Magic Fluke company was born. “We were casting finger boards and gluing these things together in our basement in New Hartford and it just took off,” Dale explained. “It was really a wild ride, it kind of had a life of its own.”
For the first few years of business, Dale and Phyllis Webb were making and shipping 3,000 to 4,000 instruments a year. They soon moved out of their basement and into an old, abandoned service station in New Hartford where they were also fulfilling orders for books written by Phyllis’s brother, Jim Beloff. “He was a guitarist, songwriter and performer,” said Dale of his brother-in-law. “He picked up a ukulele at a flea market and he never went back to guitar.” Beloff established Flea Market Music, which published the wildly popular Jumpin’ Jim’s Ukulele Songbook series. Beloff’s songbooks, instructional books, DVDs and the Webb Family’s Fluke and Flea ukuleles have contributed greatly to the popularity of the instrument.
Developed in the 1880s, the ukulele is based on several small, guitar-like instruments of Portuguese origin that were introduced to the Hawaiian Islands by immigrants from Madeira, the Azores and Cape Verde. In the Hawaiian language the word ukulele roughly translates as “jumping flea.”
Since its first shipment of concert Flukes in three distinct color options in June of 1999, the product line has expanded exponentially with a diverse array of offerings. From the traditional Soprano, Concert, Tenor and Baritone Uke Banjos to the more contemporary solid body Electric Uke and Timber Bass, Magic Fluke has carved out a niche in the world of stringed instruments. Said Dale, “Our niche has been the nontraditional look, which, I think, has served us well. We have an iconic, unique headstock and then we do a lot of customizing with either laser engraving or printing. We can print anything on a face, and we do that in-house. People send us their pictures or artwork and we can put that right on the instrument.” Recent additions, such as the five-string violin introduced in 2021, signify the company’s ongoing commitment to innovation. A short-scale electric cello is slated for release later in 2024.
With a keen eye for locally sourced materials and a commitment to eco-friendly practices, Magic Fluke stands as a testament to the power of conscientious craftsmanship. This ethos of environmental responsibility has been proudly passed on to the three Webb boys: Josh, Ben and Sam, who are not only continuing the family ukulele business, but expanding to include their own interests and areas of expertise. Ben Webb is building an inventory of furniture and home objects, “highly functional, very simple forms that are made of local hardwoods,” he explained. “The whole idea is to build something of quality and put it in the hands of as many people as possible. I feel like it’s often one or the other. It’s like, build something of quality and put it in the hands of people that can afford it or put it in as many hands as possible but compromise on quality.”
The Webbs do not compromise on quality, while forging deep relationships within all their various networks. “It feels really good to be able to sell something that is made with dignity and has a really thoughtful environmental impact,” Ben explained.
This careful and skilled craftsmanship doesn’t end with ukuleles or handmade home objects: enter True Wheels Bicycle Shop.
Led by Josh Webb in partnership with his younger brother Sam, the foray into bicycle rental and repairs seamlessly intertwines with Magic Fluke’s mission of creativity and sustainability. Said Josh, “The whole family has been into cycling from a young age and then in college I did some competitive riding and found out about this company called Seven Cycles in Watertown.” After studying mechanical engineering in college, Josh went to work for Seven Cycles for a time before returning to the family business.
“I guess in the back of my mind since then it has been a goal to have some kind of a bike shop, just because I enjoy repairing bicycles and keeping things rolling for people.” Asked how the skills of instrument building and bike maintenance are related, Ben offered, “It’s the same, really. It’s attention to detail, understanding how things work and having the fine motor skills to do anything.” He laughed, “You know, sometimes I think if I wasn’t so queasy, I could go into surgery.” Josh added, “I’m reminded of a quote that I stumbled on recently that talks about how the Shakers and the Native Americans both shared a love of craft without materialism. They were not materialistic people, but they had a love of craft. And that for me, is something I strive for.”
As the workshop buzzed with creativity and production, Phyllis Webb reflected on the 25 years of the family business as she and Dale prepare to take a step back. “I think we never expected to have our kids in the business. We never wanted anybody to feel obligated, so we wanted everybody to go off and do their own thing and feel like they had wings to spread. The fact that they’re here is wonderful.”
In an age of mass production and disposable consumerism, Magic Fluke and True Wheels stand as bastions of authenticity. “My brother Jim coined the phrase ‘uke can change the world,’” Phyllis mused, “and I feel like we have changed the world in our way.”
SHARON — Sharon Dennis Rosen, 83, died on Aug. 8, 2025, in New York City.
Born and raised in Sharon, Connecticut, she grew up on her parents’ farm and attended Sharon Center School and Housatonic Valley Regional High School. She went on to study at Skidmore College before moving to New York City, where she married Dr. Harvey Rosen and together they raised two children.
Sharon’s lifelong love of learning and the arts shaped both her work and her passions. For decades, she served as a tour guide at the American Museum of Natural History and the Asia Society, sharing her knowledge and enthusiasm with countless visitors. She also delighted in traveling widely, immersing herself in other cultures, and especially treasured time spent visiting her daughter and grandsons in Europe and Africa.
She was also deeply connected to her hometown, where in retirement she spent half her time and had many friends. She served as President of the Sharon East Side Cemetery until the time of her death, where generations of her family are buried and where she will also be laid to rest.
She is survived by her husband, Harvey; her children, Jennifer and Marc; and four beloved grandchildren.
Claire and Garland Jeffreys in the film “The King of In Between.”
There is a scene in “The King of In Between,” a documentary about musician Garland Jeffreys, that shows his name as the answer to a question on the TV show “Jeopardy!”
“This moment was the film in a nutshell,” said Claire Jeffreys, the film’s producer and director, and Garland’s wife of 40 years. “Nobody knows the answer,” she continued. “So, you’re cool enough to be a Jeopardy question, but you’re still obscure enough that not one of the contestants even had a glimmer of the answer.”
Garland Jeffreys never quite became a household name, but he carved out a singular place in American music by refusing to fit neatly into any category. A biracial New Yorker blending rock, reggae, soul and R&B, he used genre fusion as a kind of rebellion — against industry pigeonholes, racial boundaries and the musical status quo. Albums like “Ghost Writer” (1977) captured the tension of a post–civil rights America, while songs like “Wild in the Streets” made him an underground prophet of urban unrest. He moved alongside artists like Lou Reed and Bruce Springsteen but always in his own lane — part poet, part agitator, part bridge between cultures.
“I think what I tried to do with the film, wittingly or unwittingly, was just to show that we all have these lives and they don’t often meet our dreams of what we think we’re entitled to, we’re talented enough to get or whatever,” said Claire. “We all have these goals, but we’re sort of stymied. Often, it’s partly circumstance and luck, but it’s also very often something that we’re doing or not doing that’s impeding us.”
This is not the typical rock-and-roll redemption story. There are no smashed guitars, no heroic overdoses, no dramatic comeback tour. What we get instead is something quieter and more intimate: hours of archival footage that Claire spent years sorting through. The sheer effort behind the film is palpable — so much so that, as she admitted with a laugh, it cured her of any future ambitions in filmmaking.
“What I learned with this project was A, I’m never doing it again. It was just so hard. And B, you know, you can do anything if you collaborate with people that know what they’re doing.”
Claire worked with the editing team of Evan M. Johnson and Ben Sozanski and a slew of talented producers, and ended up with a truthful portrayal — a beautiful living document for Garland’s legions of fans and, perhaps most importantly, for the couple’s daughter, Savannah.
“She’s been in the audience with me maybe three or four times,” said Claire. “The last time, I could tell that she was beginning to feel very proud of the effort that went into it and also of being a part of it.”
Savannah pursued a career in music for a while herself but has changed tracks and become a video producer.
“I think she couldn’t quite see music happening for herself,” said Claire. “She was like, ‘I don’t know if I want to struggle the way I saw my dad struggling and I’m going to get a job with a salary.’”
The film doesn’t just track the arc of an underappreciated musician, however. The music, always playing, is the soundtrack of a life — of a man navigating racial, musical and personal boundaries while balancing marriage, parenthood, aging, addiction andrecovery. Garland and Claire speak plainly about getting sober in the film, a life choice that gave them both clarity and shows Claire as a co-conspirator in his survival.
“I did some work early on with a director,” said Claire. “He wanted the final cut, and I didn’t feel like I could do that — not because I wanted so much to control the story, but I didn’t want the story to be about Alzheimer’s.”
Diagnosed in 2017, Garland, now 81, is in the late stages of the disease. Claire serves as his primary caregiver. The film quietly acknowledges his diagnosis, but it doesn’t dwell — a restraint that feels intentional. Garland spent a career refusing to be reduced: not to one sound, one race or one scene. And so the documentary grants him that same dignity in aging. His memory may be slipping, but the film resists easy sentimentality. Instead, it shows what remains — his humor, his voice, his marriage, the echo of a life lived on the edges of fame and at the center of his own convictions.
The Moviehouse in Millerton will be screening “The King of In Between” on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m. Peter Aaron, arts editor of Chronogram Magazine will conduct a talkback and Q&A with Claire Jeffreys after the film. Purchase tickets at themoviehouse.net.
The Haystack Book Festival, a program of the Norfolk Hub, brings renowned writers and thinkers to Norfolk for conversation. Celebrating its fifth season this fall, the festival will gather 18 writers for discussions at the Norfolk Library on Sept. 20 and Oct. 3 through 5.
Jerome A. Cohen, author of the memoir “Eastward, Westward: A Lifein Law.”Haystack Book Festival
For example, “Never Take the Rule of Law for Granted: China and the Dissident,” will be held Saturday, Sept. 20, at 4 p.m. at the Norfolk Library. It brings together Jerome A. Cohen, author of “Eastward, Westward: A Life in Law,” and Mark Clifford, author of “The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong King’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic” in dialogue with journalist Richard Hornik to discuss the rule of law and China.
The Council on Foreign Relations stated, “Few Americans have done more than Jerome A. Cohen to advance the rule of law in East Asia. He established the study of Chinese law in the United States. An advocate for human rights, Cohen has been a scholar, teacher, lawyer, and activist for sixty years.”
Cohen, a professor at New York University School of Law and director of its U.S.-Asia Law Institute, revealed his long view on China: “We are now witnessing another extreme in the pendulum’s swing toward repression. Xi Jinping is likely to outlive me but ‘no life lives forever.’ There will eventually be another profound reaction to the current totalitarian era.”
Mark Clifford, author of “The Troublemaker: How Jimmy Lai Became a Billionaire, Hong Kong’s Greatest Dissident, and China’s Most Feared Critic.”Haystack Book Festival
In “The Troublemaker,” Clifford chronicles Lai’s life from child refugee to pro-democracy billionaire to his current imprisonment by the Chinese Communist Party. Clifford is president of the Committee for Freedom in Hong Kong Foundation, a Walter Bagehot Fellow at Columbia University, and holds a PhD in history from the University of Hong Kong. He was the former editor-in-chief of the South China Morning Post and The Standard (Hong Kong and Seoul).
Journalist Richard Hornik, adjunct senior fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu.Haystack Book Festival
Richard Hornik, adjunct senior fellow at the East-West Center, will moderate the discussion. Hornik is the former executive editor of AsiaWeek, news service director of Time magazine, and former Time bureau chief in Warsaw, Boston, Beijing and Hong Kong.
Betsy Lerner, author of “Shred Sisters,” is giving the 2025 Brendan Gill lecture at the Haystack Book Festival.Haystack Book Festival
The Brendan Gill Lecture is a highlight of the festival honoring longtime Norfolk resident Brendan Gill, who died in1997. Gill wrote for The New Yorker magazine for fifty years. Betsy Lerner, New York Times-recognized author of “Shred Sisters,” will deliver this year’s lecture on Friday, Oct. 3, at 6 p.m. at the Norfolk Library.
Visit haystackbookfestival.org to register. Admission is free.