At 77 years old, Frank Pieczarka has worn quite a few hats. Beginning a career in real estate when he was just 17 years old, he parlayed his success into the purchase of a farm for his family and children, a lifestyle he became accustomed to growing up on a farm himself.

An active gardener, Pieczarka’s Yorkville garden is a sight to behold. It is not uncommon for a passerby to take notice as they drive past his home, turn around, and stop, asking him if any of the beautiful arrangements of flowers are for sale.

Barbara Moran of Oriskany was on her way to her daughter’s house when her eye caught the flowers outside Pieczarka’s home. “I didn’t know he was selling them,” Moran said. “Otherwise I would’ve been here a long time ago.”

When one of the flowers in Moran’s bouquet broke, Pieczarka quickly grabbed his shears and cut another fresh flower out of his garden to replace it. There was no doubt that Moran was happy with the product she was walking away with at a bargain price.

“You see the color of these? They’re beautiful!” she exclaimed.

Pieczarka moved to the area from Watertown several years ago, purchasing his current residence in most part, due to the large amount of land it gives him for planting. Retired for the past sixteen years, he tries to keep busy as often as possible.

“I’ve always been accustomed to working a 15-16 hour day,” Pieczarka said. “You can’t stop. I need to have something to do. I love to keep busy.”

That busy schedule includes a daily routine that starts at 5 a.m. every morning in his garden.

“How can you not enjoy it?” Pieczarka asked. “Every day you come out here and it’s prettier.”

An avid polka dancer to this day, Pieczarka for years would load up his van with 1,000 pounds of fresh tomatoes from his garden, distributing them at the dances he would attend throughout the area, as well as in other states such as Connecticut, or New Jersey.

“Do you dance?” he asked as he moved about his garden. “It’ll change your life!”

With dance attendants from all over going home with eight to ten pounds of fresh tomatoes a piece, it’s no wonder that he became known all over as “The Tomato King of New York State,” a nickname that sticks to this day.

Marion Scibior of Yorkville has been a longtime friend, as well as polka partner of Pieczarka.

“When he came into this area, or any area…whenever there was a dance, he’d give them a van full of those vegetables,” Scibior said. “He was known across the country. He’d get up at 2 or 3 in the morning, pick it and give it all away. Everyone knew Frank as the Tomato King.”

As Scibior spoke of her good friend, someone from a local flower shop was actually at Pieczarka’s home picking 160 flowers for wedding arrangements.

“He is really an artist when it comes to growing things,” Scibior said. “His hands treat the earth and anything he touches like a baby. It’s unbelievable.”

For Pieczarka, it’s just another day.

“The Lord gave me so much. I’ve given the last two or three years to this in return,” Pieczarka said.

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