Saturday quandry

A Tough Decision


I am quite torn between - on one hand - wanting to provide an open and informative website, and - on the other - not wanting to support a forum of free-for-all mud-slinging. That's NOT what this blog is about!

Blogspot.com does not offer me a way to block "anonymous" comments without restricting others, so - giving this as fair warning - I'll be completely eliminating any "Comment" capability later today.

I believe that there's been ample time for representatives of both Mr. Karram and Mr. LaTreille to make their own statements had they wished to.

Perhaps I'm wrong. You can always Email me, directly, to complain!


PsBrown

NYRI Quits.

NYRI APPLICATION DEAD

Click HERE.

and also HERE - for the story from the
Albany Times Union
"NYRI Withdraws its Application"

(Instant news thanks to my old buddy Jeff Gregg of the NY State DEC!)

Friday

The GOOD NEWS

is that

as of 8:40 a.m.

although "Michael's" is once again

BOARDED UP,

Mike himself told the people at Stewart's that


HE WILL BE OPEN TODAY !!!!!!


(Please make sure to read the
Comments
posted on yesterday's blog!)

**********

My computer has recovered from an early
morning "fit,"

there's no snow, and

It's WARM!

53 degrees and cloudy.


The ladies were out running, yesterday afternoon, but stopped to give a
big wave to the World!


Main Street was back to normal ........


.......... and Tom's sidewalk all but shouted

"Welcome Spring!"


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

Another "Welcome!"

to

Patrick and Erin McNamara's little girl,

Aislinn Grace,

who was born last Saturday.

Aislinn is Tom and Kate McNamara's fifth grandchild
and her other grandparents are
Ben and Darcy Louch of Skenevus.

**********

Welcome back to "work!"

The David O'Briens stopped to supervise Dave Lemery, who was out raking leaves.

It's great to see him out-and-about: it was just about six months ago that he was in Boston undergoing a bone marrow transplant and had the rest of us on pins and needles!


*******



Something new on Sanger Avenue ...... a new porch and two sets of stairs at Mrs. Lew's residence.

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



Here and there, in and around Waterville, there are several signs advertising the May 16 Auction of the Sanger Mansion.

At the Brothertown Optimist meeting, on Wednesday evening, one lady voiced the question that a great many people have had in mind: "How can we tell them (the McLanes) how much we appreciate what they've done for us by saving 'the mansion' from falling into complete ruin?"

I suppose that the answer is so very obvious that it's eluded many of us:

we simply write to them and say "Thank You!"!

*********


Out in the country, more little hepaticas are blooming - pink, lavender and white - and .......


......... the bright green leaves of wild leeks are just popping up. Next week: Soup!


In the meantime ................

SATURDAY


The Waterville Women's Club

will hold a

BAKE SALE

at Foodking AT 9:00 A.M.

Proceeds will benefit the Women's Club Scholarship Fund.


SUNDAY

Have Breakfast with the Easter Bunny

at the American Legion!

8:00 - 11:00

Breakfast: Adults: $6.00 Kids under 10: FREE!

Picture with the Easter Bunny, $5.

On the Menu: Pancakes, Eggs to Order, Bacon, Sausage, Toast Home Fries, Sausage Gravy w/ Biscuit, Coffee, Tea, Chocolate Milk and Juice!


AND THEN ..................


THE MOHAWK VALLEY CHAMBER BRASS
will appear in concert at

the North Brookfield Baptist Church,
(1 mile east of Rte 12 intersection, across from the firehouse).

on Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009, at 11:00 am.

All are welcome!

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

BARTON HOSE COMPANY

54th ANNUAL

PALM SUNDAY HAM DINNER

AT THE DEANSBORO FIREHOUSE

SERVING FROM NOON TO 3 p.m.

ADULT DINNER $9.00

ADULT TAKEOUT $9.00

CHILDREN (ages 5-12) DINNER $5.00

Under 5 FREE in dining area only –

No children takeouts

FAMILY STYLE – HOME MADE APPLE PIE


***********

SUNDAY EVENING

See the International Space Station!



Click HERE more information.

Finally - here's the BAD NEWS:

The forecast from WKTV: "Temperatures starting out in the low 50s across many locations! However, our next storm system is fast approaching, and we do expect rain showers to start falling between 8-10 AM this morning. Rain will be with us on and off this afternoon, with temperatures staying in the 50s through the day. There will be a stiff east wind day, sustained 12-25mph. Rain will continue this evening and overnight, with total rainfall amounts by tomorrow morning between 0.50-1.00".

Colder air will draw into the region on the back end of this storm system. Temperatures are expected to drop into the low 40s shortly before daybreak tomorrow. Rain showers will continue on and off through the day, with the potential for some wet snow in the higher elevations. Any snow we do see is not expected to accumulate. Temperatures will only stay in the low 40s through the day. With a northwest wind between 15-30mph, it's going to feel like a raw, chilly day.

A break from the storminess for Sunday, with a return to some sunshine. High temperatures will rebound to near 50 degrees with less wind.

Our next storm system will arrive Monday morning, giving us more clouds and rain. "

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

Just keep smiling, and Have a Great Weekend!


Remembering RfB: October 30, 1931 - April 3, 2007

Special Add-on forThursday!!!

The rear doors are open,

I imagine that the signs are down, out front, too.

and

"MICHAEL'S" IS OPEN, AGAIN!

I just received an Email that said,

"The judicial powers that be gave them access to re-enter the building and resume operations."


ANYONE FOR LUNCH????

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


MISSING:

Two dogs; escaped from their yard on White Street.

One is a small-to-medium sized white dog with a black collar and the other a large, 13 yrs. old black dog with a red collar.

The owner reports that both dogs are friendly.
If anyone sees them, call 724-2342.

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

DAN FORD

(That's birthday #60!)

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

It's Garbage Day. 38 degrees and overcast.


Walking, Running & Biking Classes start tonight
at the WCS Fitness Center at 6:00!

******

From WKTV: "Good morning Central New York! After a cloudy, chilly, rain filled Wednesday, we're going to see a return to spring today! Unfortunately, it's not going to last.
Starting out the day with some patchy fog. Expect the fog to lift before 9AM this morning, with sunshine building all across the region. Temperatures by this afternoon are expected to be in the low to mid 60s! Enjoy it, because this is going to be the only warm spring day we'll see for a while.
An area of low pressure developing in Texas will swing northeast through the day today and will eventually impact our weather by tomorrow. Clouds will roll in tonight ahead of our next storm system. Low temperatures are expected to be quite mild, in the mid to upper 40s. Friday will start out cloudy, with rain showers developing in the late morning. Expect a warm rain Friday afternoon, with highs in the mid to upper 50s."

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

YESTERDAY

Michael LaTreille and his staff may not have been completely surprised to find the restaurant's rear entrances boarded up and these signs in the front windows, but customer Helen Voll certainly was, when she arrived for an early lunch, and many more who followed!

The words - "'Michael's' is closed!" - spread faster than any wildfire could have and, a little after lunch time, these notices were appearing on Main Street and filling Emails:


"From Michael’s Fine Food & Spirits

To our loyal patrons and friends:

Due to certain circumstances, Michael’s will be temporarily closed. We are in the process of re-opening on Main Street as soon as we can. We look forward to serving all of our customers with the same high quality food and service you all deserve. Thank you, in advance, for your patience and support."

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

(It became obvious, yesterday, that this young, 34 year-old man who has only been in Waterville for four years, has earned the admiration, respect and support of the entire community. That sort of stuff you just can't buy with money. Good luck, Mike!)

ALSO IN MY MAIL:

"The Waterville Methodist Church Sunday School thanks everyone for their support of the Pasta Dinner. The profit was nearly $600.00. We plan to be back next year with a similar menu and even more pasta. We cooked 15 pounds of penne pasta and still ran out. We apologize to anyone who came after 6:15 P. M. for dinner and found that we had run out of pasta."

*******

THE MOHAWK VALLEY CHAMBER BRASS
will appear in concert at

the North Brookfield Baptist Church,
(1 mile east of Rte 12 intersection, across from the firehouse).

on Palm Sunday, April 5, 2009, at 11:00 am.

All are welcome!

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

Jill Getman wrote from the Waterville Public Library to say that she still needs a few more participants to "go" to Chicago with her on April 23rd and participate in the second in a series of Murder Mystery Nights at the Library!

This "play" is called the "Unhappy Hour":

"When the lights go out on Disco Fever, it's lights out for Dexter Doyle, too. A gun shot shatters the fun, the dance floor clears and there's poor Dex, not dead on his feet, but dead on the floor. So who's spoiling all the fun in this Chicago bar, the greedy bartender, a mysterious barfly, or is it really you who's been doing the hustle?"

As you can see there will be plently of humorous plays on words and more in this! I realize (now) that a lot of people are probably tied up in the running/walking program on a Thursday, so that if I get enough interest from others I could change it to a Tuesday night on the 21st or 28th... Of course, it would be wonderful to just keep everything as planned and get 3 more people to jump in on the fun!"

315-841-4651
www.midyork.org/waterville

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

Yesterday, of course, was the first day of Fishing Season,
but I saw NO sign along Big Creek that any fishermen had caught a reason to smile.

So - I went to Foodking, where the new owner, Gary Wandley, led directly to the meat department and, with a big grin, picked up enough fresh fish to fill a good-sized creel!

(There's more than one way to fill a fish photo!)


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

It was a gray day, but not at the Ashforth's on East Bacon Street.


The answers to yesterday's quiz: click to enlarge!

How did YOU do?


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

I had the honor and pleasure of being a guest speaker at the Brothertown Optimist Club, last evening at Municipal Hall. The real stars of the evening actually were Youth of the Month Alyssa Louden, whose accomplishments as a student at WCS were - to me - overwhelming and dazzling, and then "the blog!"

After we'd talked "Blogging" for quite a while, someone brought up the subject of Tom Tryniski's website, Old Fulton Postcards, and what fun it is to have internet access to old newspapers. Another member suggested that one could probably even look up the first meetings of the Brothertown Optimists, and so - late last night - I did! (Click the images to enlarge!)

Oct 15, 1985

December 11, 1985

***********


A reminder from Tom Eisenhut


(Click the image for more information.)

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

Have a Great Day, Everyone!

Wednesday

WOW!

What a storm; what a night!

Roads are closed in all directions.

There will be no Recyclables Collection and

SCHOOL IS CLOSED, TOO!

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

If you believe that, you'll also believe that all the fish in Big Creek have left the water, put on their best outfits and gone shopping!

!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

The truth is ......


it's 40 Degrees and overcast.

You can be reassured that

"BIG ORANGE"

will be collecting

RECYCLABLES

****

SCHOOL IS OPEN

AND THE FISH ARE IN THE CREEK

waiting for Bob and Helen and all the other fishermen who will be along any time now!!

*******

From WKTV: "t's been a slow process but dry air has finally made its way into CNY. Under clear skies, temperatures tonight will fall back to 30-35. Winds will be a bit breezy out of the east southeast.

Our dry stretch of weather will be short-lived. A cold front will approach the region from the west tomorrow. Clouds will thicken up in the morning and showers will be likely by early afternoon. Temperatures will reach the lower 50's for highs.

Showers will continue into early Wednesday Night before slow improvement by daybreak Thursday as the front clears the area. Temperatures will fall back to near 40. A weak ridge of high pressure will promote partly sunny skies and pleasant conditions for Thursday. Look for highs to reach the lower 60's. Our next chance of rain will return on Friday."

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

*********

New signs in the Park remind Village Residents to put raked-up leaves and green waste in containers that can be picked up and dumped!

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

The weather turned quite nice again yesterday, and there were plenty of people out raking lawns while others had decorated "Easter Trees." This one is at the corner of Grant Hill Road and Barker Road.

At "Bell Top" Farm, the cross that holds a scarecrow in the Fall and Christmas decorations later on now has a Spring look.


"The Girls" at Bell Top were out for their own look at Spring.

The WCS Golf Team had its first outing at the range in Sangerfield.

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

COMING THIS WEEKEND

The Waterville Women's Club

will sponsor a

BAKE SALE

at Foodking

on Saturday morning.

Proceeds will benefit the Women's Club Scholarship Fund.

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

ON SUNDAY

before the Ham Dinner in Deansboro ........

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

If "The Arterial" is part of your daily commute, you'll want to read this morning's press re: the DOT's proposed plan to "improve" that section of Route 12, 12B and 5. See: News10Now; WKTV Newschannel2.

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

What street do YOU live on?

Here's a little quiz, suggested in part by Jack Youngs (who had even more ideas!)

(Click image to enlarge.)

These are the names given Waterville's streets at a special meeting held in August of 1857.

Match numbers to letters and

check back tomorrow for the answers.

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

Have a Great Day, Everyone!

Tuesday

It's 32 degrees and overcast.

From WKTV. this morning: "Starting out with clouds and a few flurries. An area of high pressure building in this morning will help to bust up the cloud cover. Expect increasing sunshine through the morning. With mostly sunny skies expected by the afternoon, temperatures will top off in the low 50s. Light winds expected.

High pressure will slide to our east tomorrow, allowing an advancing cold front to pass through by the afternoon. This front is expected to slow down, meaning the better part of Wednesday will be wet. Rain showers are expected to being as early as late morning, and end by the late evening. High temperatures will only be in the upper 40s to near 50."

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

Yesterday was a disappointment, compared to the previous days, but it could have been worse. In his 1851 "Recollections of Sangerfield," Daniel Livermore recalled:

"The greatest snow storm ever known in this country before or since commenced on the last day of March. it was very cold and the storm continued a week. A great body of snow fell and drifted badly.
Nearly one hundred inhabitants of the Huddle turned out with teams and shovels to break the road to the Center. About half way there they met the Center people working their way through the snow drifts to get to the Huddle. Thus it required the energies of these two villages all day to break one mile of road, the most public road in town, too."

********

Nothing ever slows down Sheri and Jenn and, out on Madison Street, Marilyn Maine has brought Spring to Dan's Woodworking Shop!

His

Hers

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

TONIGHT AT MPS

“IT’S A ZOO” 2009

“Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock”

Presented by Memorial Park School

Tuesday, March 31, 7 PM

MPS Auditorium

"Jungle birds, gorillas, monkeys, rhinos, elephants and zebras all join to perform Anansi and the Moss Covered Rock, an adaptation of a musical written by Ron Fink and John Heath. This performance will be judged by members of the Central New York Council on the Arts, and eight schools will be selected to perform on the Stanley Performing Arts Center stage during the weekend of June 6th and 7th, for the annual “It’s a Zoo” competition. Please come and cheer on this lively and colorful cast of 43 MPS students in 1st –4th grade who have all worked so hard!"

IN THE MAIL

From Bob Blunt, reporting on the Pop-Warner Chicken Barbecue: "We had a great day! we sold out of BBQ and our player-cheerleader sign ups went well, though we would like to see more girls signing up to cheer, that's an area we would like to see improve."

ALSO

After I mentioned the Deansboro's Fire Department's Annual Palm Sunday Ham Dinner on the blog, Doug Cornelius sent me these details:

BARTON HOSE COMPANY

54th ANNUAL

PALM SUNDAY HAM DINNER

AT THE DEANSBORO FIREHOUSE

PALM SUNDAY, APRIL 5, 2009

SERVING FROM NOON TO 3 p.m.

ADULT DINNER $9.00

ADULT TAKEOUT $9.00

CHILDREN (ages 5-12) DINNER $5.00

Under 5 FREE in dining area only –

No children takeouts

FAMILY STYLE – HOME MADE APPLE PIE

And when I asked him how many people they expected to serve, he sent me this letter - which I think all of you should see!

Each year, 2 - 3 weeks prior to the dinner we have what we call our kick-off, this is when we actually go door to door in our fire district, invite the residents by telling them of our upcoming event and offering tickets for purchase or leaving a notice in the door if no one is home. This has a dual purpose, one obviously notification, get the word out and the other to raise some start up cash to be able to purchase some of the supplies that have to be paid for prior to the dinner such as 620 lbs of ham, 150 doz. dinner rolls and ingredients for 150 apple pies. Most other supplies can be charged and paid for after the dinner. Speaking of pies, our Ladies Auxiliary made about 165 apple pies this past Sunday. They are all delicious! Many families do make it a yearly tradition of coming for dinner or getting takeouts for dinner at home. We have one family, from Utica that comes each year. They started coming because one of the family members did the masonry work on our fire house when it was built new in 1957. And they haven't missed one since! Not only that but there is usually no less than 10 in their group and normally twice that. We love them for their loyalty and support, as well as every one whose tradition continues or may be just starting. We typically serve around 600 takeouts and 300 sit down dinners in 3-4 hours. Loads of fun, rewarding and a learning experience. Hope to see you there, make sure you look for me. " (Will do, Doug! Thanks!)

ANOTHER REMINDER!

NOT IN HEAPS OR TRASH BAGS!

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

The Great Blue Herons are back and, unhampered by the requirement to obtain Fishing Licenses and wait 'til April 1st, have been fishing in Big Creek! They won't be alone tomorrow!

********

Have a Great Day, Everyone!

Monday

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

It's Garbage Day!

36 degrees and raining.

******


Saturday was magnificent!

It was as if someone had said: "Go directly to Summer!"


Flip-flops, shorts, tank tops and even .........


............ bare feet!



The sign in front of "Roc's" read

SOFT SERVE IS HERE!

and it didn't take long for the word to spread!

Some runners are out in all kinds of weather .........

.......... but they were having an especially good time, running into Summer.

Wish you could do that?

Running, Walking and Bicycling Classes

start Thursday at 6:00 at the WCS Fitness Center!

*****

My neighbor Jim Crowe and his son, Jim, 11, have already begun daily runs or cycling workouts.
By July 12 they'll be more than ready!

Out on Shanley Road I saw this wagon, filled with flowers ........

........... and found the first Hepatica of the season on Fuess-Cleary Road.

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

WKTV's Weather Forecast: "Rain showers will be with us through most of the morning, with some snow showers possible on the higher elevations. No significant snowfall accumulation is expected. Temperatures will be the bigger deal today, with highs only in the low 40s. With clouds and a stiff west breeze today, it will feel quite chilly at times.

Clouds will slowly retreat tonight. Overnight lows will fall into the upper 20s. We'll start out Tuesday partly to mostly cloudy. A weak area of high pressure will build in by the afternoon, bring with it drier air and plenty of sunshine. High temperatures will top off in the low 50s. "

Here's what the week will bring.

Fishing Season starts Wednesday: looks good!

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

The Clark Family's new home on Gridley Paige Road, built during the winter by volunteers from Habitat for Humanity, is finished, according to an article in this morning's O-D!

Also in the newspaper's website, I was shocked and saddened to find a very brief obituary for "our Annie" - Anna Morgan Tarbox of White Street - who passed away on Sunday.

IN THE MAIL

Jill Getman lists this week's special activites at the Library:

THURSDAY, APRIL 2
we are showing "Marley and Me" at 6pm.

"We are also keeping all of our furry friends in mind and are taking donations for Spring Farm Cares at any time in the library (call for suggested donations).

That night the knitting circle will also meet at 6pm
(they can choose to knit and watch the movie!)
and we will also be starting a monthly
Bedtime Story Hour at 6:30 pm,
which will be the first Thursday of every month
in addition to the daytime story hour every Friday at 10:15.


FRIDAY, APRIL 3
from 6-10pm
in the Teens Lock-In Beach Party--
they do need to sign up in advance.

"I also hope to fill up the empty spaces this week for the Adult Murder Mystery on Thursday, April 23rd at 6:30 pm! Spring seems to be taking up everyone's time and we need 3-5 people!"

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

I think that the Library should be open another evening, now and then, and that there should be a "story hour" for grownups called "Once Upon a Time in Waterville!"

(Jack Youngs - certainly one of our master story-tellers! - likes the idea of that sort of discussion and he's suggested some topics that I'll put into "quiz" form and post here sometime this week!)


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



Even after the Methodist Church's Pasta Dinner on Saturday evening and WCS Outdoors Club's Pancake Breakfast early on Sunday, there was still a very big turnout for the Pop Warner Football Chicken Barbecue at the Firehouse, yesterday. (I seem to take a picture of Wayne Brouillette, there, every year, when I go to pick up my take-out!)

In case anyone is bemoaning the fact that they have no more
"eat out for a good cause" events on their calendar, don't forget the
Deansboro Fire Department's Annual
Palm Sunday Ham Dinner!

.......... and, for later on .......

Write this down, right now!
(Click to enlarge!)

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

Have a great day, everyone!