I had 11 minutes until 10pm. That was the deadline I gave myself to fully transcribe the interview I had with Alex White of Rochester, NY. Otherwise known as…. well, you’ll see, if you don’t know already. I first met Alex in person in February sometime. I was near manic, fully in myself. He was the first person I proudly declared myself with my “new” name. The name that summed up all my new energy into the being I was destined to be.

See, I entered Boldo’s Armory looking for exactly what I got. Metaphorically and literally. As Iniko sang, “I don’t need armor. I’m more than brave,” the truth of that (and that entire song) hit me hard with emotions… but we cannot win the war with just one or the other. We need both. So I sought the man I knew of in childhood. A legendary hero I knew as the heart of the Green Party and family friend of my best friend from back in the day. There was something about him that stood out in all the decades I knew of him. I knew of him. I got to authentically be the real me around him, in the armory that felt like a sanctity to me.

So of course, after experiencing that bliss of being me, obtaining armor for my soul, and two sets of dice (one which could be yours), calling and arranging an interview, I had to start with one major question.

Jak: …Who are you? Not just going off of me, who I know you as, how would you describe you? Like, who are you?

Alex: …I have no idea what you’re asking.

Which made me immediately laugh. I should start a counter for how many times I’ve heard that. He was kind enough to press on gently. Will I ever be able to come across clearly in this interview?

Alex: k, honestly, I have no idea what you’re asking.

Jak: That’s okay! So, I mean… are you your name? Are you…?

Alex: Okay, I’m Alex White. I run Boldo’s Armory, it is a co-op game store in Rochester, New York, been open for 29 and a half years. I grew up in Webster, graduated from St. John Fisher with degrees in history and math.Got a history degree in Brockport to get New York State Certification because I was teaching at the time and went to Brockport to work on a PHD in History, but all my professors died of cancer. Came back to Rochester, worked in teaching and security for a while, and then opened Boldo’s Armory with a couple of friends.

Jak: Awesome. So, you’re a small business owner, you are Alex White, you are a college graduate, you are… a lot of different things. Um…. Who is Boldo?

Pausing for a Trigger warning. The it’s not good in the least. Rhymes with tate. Kind of. Not really. Dare I say same vibe? >.>

Alex: Boldo was a Romanian Saint from the 8th or so century who, in the story I remember, may or may not be true… he was a holy man in Southern Russia, probably Ukraine area, maybe Moldova, who knows, when the Bolgars were moving through that area, the Prince of that area made a deal with the Bolgars to attack his neighbor. The Bolgars did, they come back for a feast, they kill the prince, rape his wife, all the “good” things, and while they are drunk, the wife escapes, runs to the hills to the holy man Boldo, who swears revenge, raises an army and kills all the Bolgars.

Dramatic pause for effect, or to let my head wrap around all that. If you skipped the above, Boldo is the one who killed the ones who did the bad things.

Jak: ….Okay!

Boldo: Saint Boldo.

Jak: Yeah! Here I was thinking it was just like a name of a DnD Character. That is insane! That is awesome!

Boldo: When I was in Binghamton I encountered him and looked him up cause the church was going through a process where they were removing bogus saints. He was a Romanian Saint, and the Romanian Church successfully petitioned to not have him removed, although he should have been. I was in the Society of Creative Anachronism, we did medieval recreation, ran into the group, joined it in Binghamton, been doing it ever since, and that was the name chosen for Boldo. I started making armor cause I like working in metal, and so when I was in the SCA, I started making armor for people, and a friend of mine said “Everyone knows you as your SCA name, ‘Boldo’… why don’t you get a DBA for ‘Boldo’s Armory,’ and they can just write checks and you don’t have ta….” And I’m like, “Great Idea!” So I did. And so, when the business opened, we had this DBA already, so we just went and used it. So, that’s Boldo.

Jak: That is so cool! Okay, okay okay okay. So you did SCA when you were in Binghamton. Then you came here, and you opened this up with-

Boldo: Well, I worked for a couple of years. I worked for Frontier and worked teaching, and had a relatively bad experience in teaching and decided to quit, and open Boldos. We had been going to conventions, selling games at conventions solely so we had excuses to our wives and girlfriends why we had to go for the whole weekend. And we had built up a relatively reasonable inventory and opened the store to basically to have a place to put it.

Jak: That is really awesome. Like.. I mean, I’m still new to board games and such, so seeing board game shops open is new to me. I would say… were you one of the first ones in Rochester?

Boldo: No. There’s a series of shops. None of which are still with us, that were here when I opened. There have been a series of shops opening since and most do not make it.

Jak: Okay, so many things I want to ask. Now, you’ve said that you opened up Boldos withe friends, a couple of friends.

Boldo: Yup.

Jak: ..I hope they’re still with us.

Boldo: Yup. Um, one of them unfortunately has dies, but the other two are still here, still partners. One has moved  out of the area and is basically inactive, but one is still here and helpful. Pat is wonderful, but he doesn’t much run the store.

Jak: That’s basically your gig.

Boldo: That’s what I do.

He do what he do. It’s not all of who he is, but it is a large part of who he is known as. I’ve visited a few times. Four times in total. I joined the DnD group that plays once a week. I stopped in to work on a project and to hang out. I’ve raved about it to friends and family members who may or may not have heard of it. It’s not the most pristine of places, but my word does it feel like home.

Or like home as it should be. Warm and welcoming. Could I be wrong? I don’t think so, but I’m planning to stick around and find out. After all, this was the first place I envisioned Adventure Hubs to be. I knew it as soon as I entered. I nearly cried in glee and relief. The best part is, I’m fairly certain if I did, I wouldn’t be judged. I would be welcomed.

But that’s enough about be, for now. This is about Boldo, otherwise known as Alex White. There will be more parts coming. At least five more. Maybe more. Again, I only transcribed 22 minutes of 33. There’s much more to hear, and more to be revealed. I’ll share what I can here.

Thanks to reading. May We Connect, if not now, in the future.