May 9 – The Barryville Chamber of Commerce had a ribbon cutting last Saturday for another new business that has opened up in Yulan. It is a tattoo shop called “MJZ TAT2’S and it is located at 218 Airport Road in the same building as the Yulan Country Store. The owner is Michele Zuffanti who is a very experienced artist and has been doing tattooing for over a decade and has been a piercer since she was eighteen years old. Michele is a military veteran and spent nineteen years in the Air Force. When she left the military, she started looking for a new career and a friend gave her a tattoo gun. “Art has always been an important aspect of my life and by combining art and tattoos, I like that I can help people tell their story- and everyone has a story to tell. Having been in the Air Force I was used to being of service to others so I was looking for something positive to do and tattooing was a natural progression for me. In 2010 Michele had an accident that left her with significant second- and third-degree burns all over her body. She said that when she would be driving in hot weather with her sleeves rolled up, she would get angry looking at her scars that would trigger bad memories of her accident, so she took up the skill of tattooing herself and began drawing things that were sentimental to her and now every tattoo on her body has meaning and tells the story of her life.” And a new passion was created. “I want to help produce joy and gladness for people instead of sadness and anger-so this is the main reason why I tattoo. There are very few female tattooists and I consider myself to be a surreal custom artist which means although there are standard designs, I basically create art for my customers-and her business vision is where Creativity and Artistry Collide.”  

Michele is also a devoted therapeutic foster mother with six children having either physical or emotional issues so her life is very challenging. When asked why she chose to locate her business in Yulan, she said that her grandpa had a house here and after her discharge she came back home to Yulan and now lives very close to her new shop. Her shop is comfortable and artistic and has all of the latest equipment for maintaining a sanitized working environment and she is licensed in both New York and Pennsylvania and is certified in bloodborne pathogens training, first aid and CPR. For now, the hours are by appointment only and very soon she will be doing piercing in the shop as well. All military, ministry, medical personnel, teachers, law enforcement, first responders and bar tenders get a twenty-five percent discount. Michele also has a loyalty program-buy four sessions and get one free. To make an appointment call Michele at 646-598-2827 and visit the shop’s website at www.mjlifeablaze.com.

After nine straight days of nothing but rain and cold weather, it is time to start getting to our gardening chores of cleaning up and planting. There is a new local resource that I located that sells plants. Over the bridge in Shohola at Harry’s Gas station they now have a good variety of plants. On Saturdays during the months of May and June, Harry’s will be having “Plant Sale Saturdays selling nursery quality vegetable, herbs, annuals, combination pots and beautiful hanging baskets at very reasonable prices. So, if you feel you may want just a few more veggies to plant, get yourself over to Harrys Gas Station and Convenience Store. Harrys is located right over the Shohola Bridge from Barryville at 128 PA- 434. The sale is held rain or shine and get there early for the finest selection.