Things you should know!

From the Rome Daily Sentinal:

Annie and Daddy shine in Capitol spotlight (STARRING JULIANA SLOCUM and JESSICA DANILUK!)



Saturday at 7:30 p.m.
and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
at the Capitol, 220 W. Dominick St.

"Gather the kids and grandkids and head to the Capitol Theater this weekend because Annie’s in town.

The ageless classic about the poor little orphan who smiles her way into the heart of a billionaire tycoon and helps to show her depression era neighbors that "the sun will come out tomorrow," is being staged tonight and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. at the Capitol, 220 W. Dominick St.

Opening to a nice crowd Thursday night, the show stars adorable and very talented Juliana Slocum, of Waterville, in the title role. For someone so young, Slocum has an incredibly strong voice and she uses it well in belting out the show’s very familiar songs. With her singing, dancing and even dog handling, Slocum gave a strong and confident performance that absolutely carried the show from start to finish.

The cadre of orphan "little girls" in the show were also very good in their respective roles. Full of energy, they sang and danced wonderfully together and absolutely conveyed the joy they found in performing. Every face in the audience was plastered with a broad grin whenever the girls were on stage.

Carl DeFranco, of the town of Western, gave his role as "Daddy Warbucks" just the right combination of gruff businessman and tender-hearted guardian.

Warbucks’ personal secretary, Grace Farrell, was wonderfully played by Jessica Daniluck who gave beautiful vocal performances.

As the nasty Miss Hannigan, the mistress of the orphanage, Amy Surrette-Bumbolo had the audience both laughing at and booing her antics. Joined by Michael Youngs as her con-man brother "Rooster," and Amanda Dunlap, as his accomplice,"Lily St. Regis," these three gave a rollicking performance of the "Easy Street" number.

Jeff Isherwood was very good as President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Scott Charles did well as radio announcer Bert Healy, and Megan Rafte Bice gave a beautiful vocal performance as a Broadway star wanna-be.

The large cast was full of very good singers, dancers and actors who all added to the fun and musical magic of the show.

Even the role of "Sandy" was very well played by golden retriever Daisy Huxley, who may not have totally enjoyed her time on stage but was more than willing to put up with her moments in the spotlight for whatever treats Annie had in her apron pocket.

W.C. Fields may have said "never work with children or animals," but this cast of Annie would prove him wrong. Everyone involved in this production worked wonderfully together to give a fun and memorial performance that can be enjoyed by the whole family."

IN THE MORNING MAIL

From Cindy Gallagher, forwarding a letter from the New York Farm Bureau:

"Below please find USDA’s notice to all State and County Farm Service Agency (FSA) offices regarding the status and preparation for the Dairy Economic Loss Assistance Payment Program (DELAP) which will distribute $290 million in direct federal payments to dairy farmers. (Blogger's emphasis.)

NYFB continues to press USDA to deliver these direct payments as quickly as possible with our dairy farm families facing dire financial difficulties. NYFB worked hard with New York’s Congressional delegation to secure this funding in the FY 2010 Agriculture Appropriations Bill.

This notice provides limited information on DELAP, but does offer the following: 1) USDA intends to issue payments in mid-December; 2) Production data for dairy operations that participated in the MILC program during 2009 will be used to determine eligible payment quantities and benefit amounts under DELAP; and 3) Dairy operations that have participated in MILC for 2009 will NOT have to submit an application for DELAP at a local FSA office. These dairy operations will automatically be considered for DELAP by the FSA. 4) Dairy operations that did not participate in MILC for 2009 will have a 30 day application period to sign up for DELAP. This notice does NOT address how payment will be calculated and if payments will be subject to production caps. This information is being closely guarded by USDA at this time. Full program details, including signup, eligibility, payment formula and payment rate, will be available when DELAP regulations are published in the Federal Register before mid-December. USDA states that these regulations are currently in “departmental clearance”. As soon as these crucial details are available, NYFB will inform our dairy membership immediately. New York Farm Bureau 159 Wolf Rd. PO Box 5330 Albany, NY 12205 518-436-8495 / 800-342-4143 www.nyfb.org

*************

BEAVER POND UPDATE

An apparent calamity occurred a few days ago, when the County DPW set out to clear a culvert that would have drained water from the Marshall Trail next to Burnham Road. The beaver dam, itself, let go loosing a flood of worry about the beavers!

But look!

Karin of Country Folks sent me both this picture, taken yesterday, as well as the one above. Gary Ford told me that with help from the county and township, Eager Beaver has his dam back and it is the intention of the township to make whatever arrangements they can to keep both the beavers and human sportsmen happy.

THANK YOU!