The universe bestows advice in unexpected ways by selecting people (no thunder, sans flash of light) to deliver profound wisdom in the most unlikely of circumstances. “If you don’t know what to do, do nothing,” Jarret D’Addario said to me after my beloved 1970 Oldsmobile Toronado suffered a freak seat fire (country mice are creatures to be reckoned with). Jarrett, all twenty years of him, gave me this advice, smiling through his ZZ Top beard after he transported my burned, scarred car home on his flatbed truck this past September. Jarrett, a West Kill native since the age of one, works full-time in his family’s auto shop, designs and builds custom hot rods and is already a 4 year veteran member of the Lexington Volunteer Fire Company because “they saved my house back in 1991 and I want to pay back my community.”

At what age did you become enamored of cars? I was eight years old when I started helping my Dad in his garage and with his tow jobs. At fourteen, I started getting paid for changing tires, changing the oil, stripping junk cars for parts. He’d make me take apart engines so I’d get to know them. I was 16 when I replaced my first V6 motor in a Jeep.

Why are cars so cool? They’re really just pieces of metal that will get you from Point A to Point B but when you modify them, suddenly, they go 200 MPH!

Why hot rods? Hot rods are generally old school antiques that go up to the 1970s that are modified and built by hand to express the owner’s personality and what they like and think about cars. There are some fast cars today but they don’t have that same rumble.

Are you working on a hot rod now? I will be. A Chevy truck from the '80s, in honor of my first truck, an '87 Chevy. It’ll be light blue.

What do you think of spinners? They’ll never be on any vehicle I own. I’m about old school style.

What are you driving right now? A Dodge 2500, diesel with performance exhaust and after-market rims.

What is your favorite classic car? '57 Chevy Bel Air. It was my Dad’s favorite and he kind of passed down the love.

How long have you been a firefighter? Since I was 16. I couldn’t wait. It was always a dream of mine.

Would you ever be a firefighter in New York City? It’d be cool but no, I’m happy where I am.

Would you live anywhere else beside the Catskills? No. I grew up here. This is my town. My family is here. It’s nice to visit other towns but I always feel so good coming home to West Kill. I have room here and I can find places in the mountains and woods to get lost.