All Over Albany

Altamont's Home Front Cafe

Artifacts of war are usually reserved for museums and memorials, but for the last 14 years they've been showing up in the form of letters, flags and photos at Altamont's Home Front Café.

The cafe's owner, Cindy Pollard, feels that paying tribute to veterans is something of a calling.

The inspiration

Much of the memorabilia at The Home Front Cafe comes from World War II. Cindy, now 75, was a child during the war and remembers the impact it had on her family.

She grew up in Albany and, at the age of 8, heard her Grandmother get the phone call that one of her sons had died overseas. It was years later before she would understand the true impact of that call.

When she set out to open a cafe, Cindy didn't have a theme in mind -- but she was thinking about her mother's 1940s style tablecloths. Then she felt what she describes as a nudge from her mother. She put a layer of plastic over the cloths, and under that she placed war memorabilia. And that memorabilia became the theme for the Home Front Café.

The memorabilia

Outside the cafe is a life-size soldier statue -- he went missing for about a month last summer. There's also a tank that was restored by Cindy's husband, Jack.

The café houses a rare piece from a WWII POW. The Orsini flag was created while Altamont native Millard Orsini was a prisoner of war during World War II. The flag has been featured on CNN and Fox news, but because it is so delicate, it is usually protected by a handmade quilt.

A work of art hangs on a front window, a stained glass depiction of the café by artist Edward Crowley.

The café has a Veterans Wall where the public is invited to place photos of themselves or loved ones who have served.

There's also a Medal of Honor display case and there are four spots around the cafe that honor each of the four different Medal of Honor recipients that have visited The Home Front (that's Cindy and Medal of Honor Recipient John Finn in the photo).

A submarine periscope and signal lamp are conversation pieces and opportunities for the many schoolchildren she has come in to learn about the era.

Cindy also has a few pieces from recent wars. There are jackets worn by soldiers in Afghanistan and flags that were flown in the Middle East. There are also a few younger faces on the Veterans Wall.

One of the pieces of particular importance to Cindy is her copy of the World War II Memorial in Washington, autographed by its architect. She spearheaded a community campaign that raised over $17,000 for the WWII memorial.

All this memorabilia leads lots of folks to share their stories with Cindy. One patron said her husband hadn't spoken about the war in 50 years -- until he visited The Home Front Cafe.

The food

Cindy says her first priority at The Home Front is the food -- and even that pays tribute to great military leaders.

Their sandwiches are named after presidents and military terms, and cafe gets big kudos on its breakfasts. Come mid-May they'll be serving their own ice cream and gelato from their old-time parlor seats.