No dog days of summer in Tim Tam Shostak’s beautiful neighborhood

HEIDI WARREN
Contributing Writer

A lifetime Chautauquan, Tim Tam Shostak is still active in his twilight years despite being totally blind and mostly deaf. During the season, he waters as much grass and as many flowers as possible, to the point of dehydration.

Better known as Timmy, he feels immense pride in his multiple daily reconnaissance missions to rescue lost candy, or his personal favorite, Sunday Firehouse chicken. 

Named for a popular Australian cookie, Timmy is incredibly food-motivated. Despite his faculties waning, the English Springer Spaniel has the nose of a bloodhound. While no narc — just a few excessive sniffs — he can smell Amphitheater-goers sneaking snacks as far as Section 7 while he rests on the family porch on Bowman Avenue. 

With wavy, glossy black-and-white hair, he looks younger than his almost-14 years. He gets lots of compliments on his handsome looks while regularly patrolling Bestor Plaza. 

“He looks like black patent leather,” a passerby called across Pratt Avenue. “He’s gorgeous!”

Timmy is a bit of a celebrity in the Amp corridor. All the Institution’s Navigators know him by name, as do many, many others.

Timmy lives with his parents, Dean and Valerie Shostak. The couple has been restoring their historic, on-grounds home for the past two years. Overseeing the work, including a new foundation, has been a full-time job for Timmy.

However, he has not let it interfere with his main occupation of accompanying Dean absolutely everywhere.

If — and he rarely is — left to his own devices, Timmy will bark. Due to his purebred lineage, his voice never falters. But due to impeccable English manners, Timmy would never interrupt an Amp performance. He has standards. Timmy is not afraid to be alone; he is simply terrified that Dean is hopelessly lost. 

“He is very expressive,” big brother Arden Shostak, Dean and Valerie’s son, explained. “Timmy requires a lot of love.”

While showing no signs of needing constant supervision, Dean is an acclaimed musician.

He was first invited to perform in Chautauqua 30 years ago and has played in several chamber concerts. He was also the final artistic guest on “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.” A multi-instrumentalist, Dean taught himself to play the glass harmonica — alternatively, armonica or bowl organ — invented by Benjamin Franklin in 1761. A series of graduated bowls uses friction to produce a sound similar to a glockenspiel.

The Shostaks were immediately hooked with the locality of Chautauqua, and they have attended every year since. In addition to Arden, the couple also has twin daughters, Trish and Josie.

Valerie often travels back to the Old Dominion to stay with her father, so Timmy and Dean solo host family and friends. They keep busy with countless activities and volunteerism on the grounds.

Dean is a fixture at informal daily jam sessions on Bestor Plaza. With community members circled together on green benches donning a variety of instruments, Timmy lies at Dean’s feet, guarding. Chautauqua is an easy gig, so the dog usually sleeps. 

Timmy’s hearing can still register Dean’s “fiddle” playing. Even in a dead sleep on their porch, Timmy will raise his head and sniff aggressively to “see” if it’s Dean when CSO strings start to play.

Under Timmy’s direction, of course, the couple removed non-original wall paneling at the family’s summer refuge. They discovered and preserved wall autographs of 19th-century Chautauqua attendees. 

Timmy doesn’t ask for much, besides more treats. He only wants ear scratches, a nap on the kitchen’s cool wood flooring and plenty of walks in his beautiful Chautauqua neighborhood. However, Timmy might like an inky paw print added to his home’s historic walls.

Heidi Greene Warren is a longtime Chautauquan who, in a former life, was a writer for The Virginian-Pilot, based in Norfolk, Virginia. Send suggestions of interesting Chautauquans to feature in a story to:
HeyHeidiGW@gmail.com