In 1972, when Dr. Kenneth Bair was in college, his father suffered a huge blow when he was laid off. According to Bair, after Nixon was elected a lot of the defense contracts were sent to California and the elder Bair lost his job. His father suggested to his two sons that they study and prepare to be self-employed to hopefully avoid the same fate. A physics major at the time, Bair set his sights (no pun intended) on becoming an O.D., an optometric physician. His brother became a dentist. “My parents were so proud, they never had to worry about our employment,” Bair said. Born in New York City and raised in Syosset on Long Island, Bair attended Syosset High School, Hofstra University and the Pennsylvania College of Optometry, graduating in 1977. Bair, age 61, has been married to Rosemary, a special education administrator, for 33 years. They met on New Year’s Eve; he was still a student and didn’t have a date for the holiday. Attending a party at a friend’s house, he met Rosemary, and the rest is history. The Bairs have one son, 19-year old Adam, a student at George Washington University. “He’s doing very well, and he’s number one on the crew team,” the proud dad said. A member of the American Optometric Association, the New Jersey Society of Optometric Physicians and vice president of the Bergen-Passaic Society of Optometric Physicians, the Ridgewood resident opened his first practice in Pompton Plains in 1978. In 1981 he opened his West Milford office. He enjoys the fact that he is now seeing offspring of his early patients and considers it an honor that they entrust their child’s eye health to him. Bair spoke about the importance of having a child’s eyes checked and suggests that their first appointment should be by four years of age. He said that by depending only on limited school examinations up to 50 percent of problems may be overlooked. Bair participates in a program called InfantSEE, for children six months to two years of age. An assessment of the child helps to determine the development of vision and can detect eye conditions early. This service is provided free of charge. He also stressed the importance of yearly eye examinations for adults, especially for seniors. Don’t wait until it’s too late, he cautioned. With four full-time employees and one part-time optometric physician on staff in West Milford and a second office in Pompton Plains, Bair puts in a full day. He still makes time, however, to participate in the community by taking part in career day at the high school and opening up his office for interested students to spend time observing the profession. He noted that when he was finishing school there was an abundance of job opportunities - but not now. He truly likes his job and said it is one of the top salaried health care professions in the state. Three students he had taken under his wing have gone on to become professionals, and that pleases him greatly. When not busy seeing eye to eye with his patients, Bair enjoys golf and travel. When he’s at home and looking for relaxation he’s at his grand piano ripping out a few classical or Broadway tunes. “I started playing piano when I was 10 years old. When you’ve had a long day you just sit down and play and not think about anything else,” he said. On Sundays -and he may get the husband-of-the-year award for this - he does the grocery shopping. Topping that, he clips coupons before he ventures out to the supermarket. He does a little cooking, having learned to be self sufficient in college, and has been known to improvise fantastic dishes that could not be duplicated, simply because he couldn’t remember how he put it together. He suggests really enjoying the original and not expect an encore. He sent along a family treasure, his grandmother’s recipe for a Hungarian strudel.
Grandma’s Mandel Broit
4 cups all purpose flour
3 tsp. baking soda
3 whole eggs
2 sticks butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
Grated rind from 1/2 an orange
Appx. 1 tsp. cinnamon
1 cup raisins
Apricot or raspberry jam
Make well in flour and add all ingredients except for cinnamon, raisins and jam
Consistency should be on soft side, add flour if needed
Make 5-6 medium balls, wrap each in wax paper
Refrigerate for at least 3 hours
Mix cinnamon, raisins and a little sugar
Roll out dough one ball at a time, using a lot of flour on board to prevent sticking, roll out thin
Spread jam over the rolled dough
Sprinkle cinnamon/raisin mixture evenly over jam
Roll up and crimp edges all around dough
Place in baking pan, use toothpick to make a few small holes on top
Repeat process - unused dough can be frozen
Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes until top is browned
Makes 6 servings