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Andrew Landsman: Keep Those Goggles On

Andrew Landsman has his goggles ready and it’s not because he’s accessing virtual reality, swimming underwater, or working with welding equipment. The goggles are part of his outfit for the upcoming Lobster Fest on Saturday, Sept. 10 sponsored by Chester Rotary.

Andrew is the head cracker, which means he uses a hammer to break open the lobster claws, before another Rotarian further down the serving line cuts open the rest of the shell.

“You get completely covered with lobster stuff,” he says.

That’s the reason Andrew wears not only the goggles, but also gloves and a vintage anorak. He got the jacket as a 15-year-old in Scotland and reports that it still fits.

“And it’s hot,” he adds.

Andrew has been doing the job for at least seven years, which, at 800 lobsters per year, means he has cracked open the claws of some 5,600 lobsters. He has no complaints.

“It’s a fun role. I’m right at the line as people are coming in. I get to meet and greet them and do my best not to hit them with hot lobster juice,” he says.

For those who don’t want lobster, the Chester festival also serves steak. Before Andrew gets to bang the lobsters open, they are boiled in large pots that the late Frank Ferrari put together from old furnace burners.

The funds from the Lobster Fest support Rotary charitable giving both locally to organizations like Chester Park & Recreation, the Chester Hose Company, and the Shoreline Soup Kitchen and internationally to Rotary projects like the eradication of polio and helping communities turn unsanitary water sources into potable liquid. Andrew explains that the Lobster Festival is not the largest fundraiser that the Chester Rotary organizes every year, but, after 46 years, it is a fixture on the local calendar.

“It’s really a labor of love, something Rotary does as much for community good will as for the money,” Andrew says.

He notes that even the members of Chester Rotary who work at the event pay the standard fee for their own meals.

Another of Andrew’s Rotary exploits has left a lasting impression on Chester: his impersonation of Julia Child in the Womanless Beauty Pageant that Rotary used to organize. Andrew looked at YouTube videos to help him mimic Child’s distinctive voice and mannerisms. He says that people often ask him if he will recreate Julia and the good news is that Chester Rotary is thinking about bringing the Womanless Beauty Pageant back. If that happens, Andrew promises to return as Child. Meanwhile, Andrew himself also cooks, mostly on the grill at this time of year. But whatever the season, he never uses recipes.

“I’m self-taught,” he explains.

Food brought Andrew, who grew up in West Hartford, to this area at a challenging period in his life. He had lost his job as an insurance company executive; his marriage had failed. He came to Chester to work in Sig’s Water Street Café, a restaurant that has since closed and which was run by his best friend Michael Signor. Andrew joined Rotary shortly after he moved to town.

“I looked around for what groups were active and what groups I wanted to be involved in,” he says. Initially Andrew was known everywhere as Andy, but says the nickname was a departure and he wanted to return to the first name by which he had always been known.

Through Rotary, Andrew learned of a position as facilities manager at Aaron Manor Nursing and Rehabilitation Center in Chester. It led to a new career.

“I saw what my boss was doing and thought I could do that,” he recalls.

The result was that he returned to his alma mater, the University of Connecticut where he had earned a degree in political science, and earned his long term care administrator certification. Now he is the administrator of the Glastonbury Health Care Center, a 105-bed skilled nursing facility for both short-term and long-term patients with a staff of 225.

In 2011, Andrew ran against Ed Meehan for the first selectman’s job as the candidate of the Common Ground Party.

“The whole concept of Common Ground is that we were here to listen to the people of Chester,” he says.

Today he maintains he is glad Meehan, now retired, won. He says people still ask him whether he will ever seek the selectman’s post again, but he doesn’t think so.

“I don’t know that I would have done much differently than Ed or Lauren,” he says referring to the current First Selectman Lauren Gister. “Capable people are already doing the job.”

Much of Andrew’s free time is spent working on the house he now owns in Chester, where he now is involved in a project to replace most of the perennials in his garden with annuals.

“Leslie Strauss told me this home was perfect for me,” he says of the recently retired local realtor. “She was right.”

Andrew is now close to Cedar Lake where he kayaks and fishes. A catch-and-release angler, he uses flies or plugs for trout and striped bass,

“Never worms,” he says, explaining that removing the hooks often kills the fish.

He says he has a long-range notion to turn one of the outbuildings on his property into a Chester Rod and Scotch club.

As he looks back on nearly a decade in town, Andrew gives much of the credit to Chester for helping to revitalize his career.

“I couldn’t have done it without the support of friends here,” he says. “I love this town. I am never going to leave it.”

46th Annual Chester Rotary Lobster Festival

Saturday, Sept. 10 on the Chester Fair Grounds. Gates open at 4 p.m.; lobster or steak dinner is served from 5 to 7 p.m. For tickets and information, visit chesterrotary.org.