Something to see on Hallowe'en!

(Click to enlarge!)


Bigger and Better than Ever!
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The Jack o' Lantern display

at the Jurczak home

188 Sanger Avenue!!


(I think there are about 100 pumpkins!)

FOUND: Black Lab!

Male, wearing a blue collar;

No Tags.

Very Friendly; Very Hungry!

has been taken in by the Nagy family
on Route 12B south of Deansboro.

821 - 6115

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"Utica College Skates to a 4 - 4 Tie...."



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Everyone's Invited

to a Hallowe'en Party at the

North Brookfield Fire House

tonight at 7:00!

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It's Hallowe'en!

It's 54 degrees F. / 12.2 C.

blustery but dry.

WKTV predicts that: "A cold front moves in for Halloween, dragging in some rain showers. Rain looks to arrive, along with windy conditions during the mid morning and continue into the afternoon. Temperatures will quickly rise into the mid 60s by the early afternoon, before the actual cold front passes. We will keep an eye on the cold front for Saturday afternoon and evening, but as of right now, rain showers will stick around during the early evening, so you may need the umbrella for some early trick or treaters. Rain should end from west to east by 7-9 PM. Improving conditions by Sunday with partly sunny skies but much cooler with highs near 50 degrees. Much cooler weather by next week!

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A year ago!



For the history of both the holiday and the symbols of Hallowe'en, click HERE.

This "Snopes" site will explain about the Black Cats!

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REMEMBER

to Set Your Clocks BACK an Hour Tonight!

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Have a great day, everyone!

50.5 degrees F. / 10.3 C. and overcast

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WKTV forecasts: "... highs in the low 60's by the afternoon. Mostly cloudy skies and breezy with showers possible after dark.

A cold front moves in for Halloween, dragging in some rain showers. The first half of the day is expected to be dry and mild, with highs in the mid 60's. As the cold front approaches, clouds and showers will arrive near or after dark.
Breezy, cool, and wet weather expected on Sunday. Much cooler weather by next week!

Also, don't forget to change your clocks Saturday night at 2am as Daylight Saving Times ends and we "fall back" an hour."

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Charles H. "Chuck" Tanner

1928 - 2009


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At the Library Tonight

Halloween Festival & Magic Show

Friday, October 30th | 5-8pm

Kids can dress up in their Halloween costumes, get candy, play some ghoulish games, make spooky crafts, watch a Magic Show @ 6:30pm, get their face painted and more!

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IN THE MAIL

A note from DPW Superintendent Jamie Bechy reminding everyone that

Trick or Treat Time

in the Village of Waterville

is Saturday, Oct. 31, from 5:00 - 7:00 P.M.



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Ready for ghosts and goblins ... on E. Main Street .........

.......... and Sanger Avenue.



But wait: what's this?

It's Here!



It's brand new and yes - it's name is ....

"Big Orange!"


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FOR THE RECORD

"Friendship" - or "candle lights" - are on
in the house and barn in The Hollow!

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NEXT GAME: SATURDAY AT 7:57 IN PHILADELPHIA.

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Have a Great Weekend, Everyone!

46 degrees F / 7.77 C and overcast

IT'S GARBAGE DAY!

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I'm tired!

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The Weather Channel

WKTV''s meteorologist's prediction: "Good morning Central New York! Stubborn clouds linger around for most of the day. Warmer weather expected by tomorrow and Saturday.

A damp, cloudy, misty start to the day. Some areas of drizzle are possible this morning, but mostly dry weather is expected by the afternoon.

Slow improvements as we progress into the afternoon. High pressure will build in, but have limited sucess in drawing away the clouds. Mostly cloudy this afternoon, with highs in the mid to upper 50's. Mostly cloudy skies tonight with some patchy fog. Overnight lows in the low 40's.

Warming up for Friday, with highs in the low 60's by the afternoon. Mostly cloudy skies and breezy with showers possible after dark.

A cold front moves in for Halloween, dragging in some rain showers. The first half of the day is expected to be dry and mild, with highs in the mid 60's. As the cold front approaches, clouds and showers will arrive near or after dark.

Breezy, cool, and wet weather expected on Sunday. Much cooler weather by next week!"

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We had a LOT of rain on Tuesday! The little creek that flows under Osborn Avenue was out of its banks ...............



......... "Lake Sangerfield" was deep, yesterday .......



.............. but not as deep as the beaver pond on the Marshall Trail next to Burnham Road!



The little waterfall on Gridley-Paige Road was as loud as Big Creek but much prettier!

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More Seasonal Scenery: this on Gridley-Paige Road in Forge Hollow .........

.................. and on Route 315 at California Road.

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Rushing the season - Black Alder / American Holly is bright, already, and, as always, well-protected from my clippers by dense underbrush and knee-deep mud!

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Refurbishments are being made to the old Barton Homestead on Fuess-Cleary Road, probably built in the early 1800s and most recently the home of the Misses Ella and Margaret Cleary. It's nice to see the old place being fixed up!

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A CORRECTION!

The Rotary Club Hallowe'en Party
at Memorial Park School
will start at 6:30 this evening
- not at 6:00, as previously published!

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"Trick or Treat"

Saturday from 5:00 - 7:00.

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NEXT TUESDAY

ELECTIONS

polls open from 6:00 a.m - 9:00 p.m.


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FOR THE RECORD

Adrean Ann Camp

1981 - 2009

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It's a balmy 48 degrees with light rain.

RECYCLABLES DAY!

It would also be the

LAST FARMERS' MARKET

.................. however .................

The Weather Channel

WKTV predicts: "Cloudy with on and off rain showers Wednesday. Cooler, with highs in the low 50s.
High pressure returns Thursday with sunshine and highs in the upper 60s. There looks to be a quick warm up Friday, with highs in the low 60s, before another storm system moves in Saturday, dragging in some rain just in time for Halloween."

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Waste Not, Want Not.

In the same field where soybeans were being harvested on Monday, a baler was moving up and down rows of chaff on Tuesday. Sometimes when I search for information using Google, I'm given 'way too much information, but I gather (possibly erroneously?) that soybean chaff is a nutritional additive to cattle feed.

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On VanHyning Road

I've been told that, once complete, this will be a Bed & Breakfast.

It will certainly be a popular one!

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I noticed, last week, that Dan Maine's crew had finished shingling the roof of the hop house at Parkwood Farm on Sanger Hill Road.

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Hallowe'en at Hanover!

At the Edicks' on Brothertown Road.


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I stopped at "the straw house" on Austin Road, yesterday, and spoke for just a few minutes with the carpenter who was installing floorboards in the upper level. He told me that the owner, 'though not a local resident, was well-aware of what winters were like in Central New York and has obviously put a great deal of thought into planning this new home!

The bales/walls will be covered, both indoors and out, with three layers of plaster. The building is situated to make the most of passive solar heat and that will be augmented with heat from a wood stove. Under foot will be an earthen, or adobe, floor which, according to GreenEarth, is "an excellent option for passive solar homes, due to their thermal mass. For example, the heat of the sun striking the floor in the wintertime will be stored in the mass of the floor, making for a pleasantly warm surface. This heat can also slowly radiate into the living space over time."

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IN THE MAIL

From Lisa VanAuken, Oriskany Falls:

"A quick shout out to the WCS Modified Football team and their record breaking undefeated season.

My son Lawrence is a second year player on this team. They did not win a single game last year. I am proud of all of the players and coaches and parents for their support and a successful season.

If you could share this with your readers the kids would appreciate it."

Lisa added: "My son, Ben, tells me his Global Studies class follows your blog daily."


- now that puts some pressure on the blogger, for sure!

Thanks, Lisa!

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From Mike Burnham: "I read where Pat and Kathy McDonnell visited Waterville. Do you have an Email address for them or Phone #? I have not talked to them in years and would like to get back in touch."

Sorry: I can't help, but perhaps a blog reader can. If they would send the information to me I'll forward it along to Mike!

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I'm a little bit worried because I haven't heard anything from Glen Carroll in a couple of days! His last note said that he'd been to the Bazaar and had lots of fun because he'd learned how to "negotiate" --- I think the word is "haggle!" --- and had ended up paying only about 10% of original asking prices!

So, perhaps he's still buying souvenirs, or racing round Cairo in a dusty taxi or, even, climbing a pyramid?

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Speaking of pyramids.........

(and that's a very far stretch, for a seguay to a Hallowe'en Tale!)

In 1926, two Columbiad Cannons and eighty ten-inch cannonballs were placed in Monument Park - the artillery in a pyramid, as seen above. They were given to the scrap metal drive in WW II, but just before then, according to Mr. Roger Gates, this is what happened one Hallowe'en - hastening to add that he himself was much too young, at the time, to have taken part in the prank!

Anyhow ................ a group of lads, wandering through the village looking for a chance to create some excitement, decided to go bowling: not regular "bowling," of course, but - rather - to roll the cannon balls down the hill toward Main Street and see how many cars they could hit with them!

It didn't take long for motorists to go into retaliatory action and send straightway for the Police - in this case, Chief Bissell - who arrived in timely manner in his own automobile. He recognized the lads, of course, but before removing them from the scene, he gave them a short "talking to" and suggested that they roll the cannon balls back up the hill and place them as they had been at the start of the activity. (If a 6.5" cannonball weighs 38 lbs, a 10" ball weighs considerably more!)

Rebuilding the pyramid may have taken quite a while and, presumably, a sizable crowd gathered to watch! But then came the worst part of the boys' humiliation: Chief Bissell invited them to get into his car and ride with him. He delivered each boy to his parents along with an explaination of the miscreant's recent actions!

Roger summed it up, saying: "Parents being parents, back in those days, reprimands weren't light, and any of the boys would have much preferred being sent directly to jail and kept there for a long, long time!" They never went "bowling" again.

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No change.

Have a good day, everyone!

40 degrees and overcast

From WKTV: "Good morning Central New York! A quiet, pleasant start to the day, with some changes over the next 24 hours.
Mainly clear and seasonably cool this morning. You'll need the jacket this morning, but you may not need it by the afternoon.
High pressure moves out of the area today. We'll start out with sunshine this morning, but clouds will slowly build through the day as our next storm system approaches from the Midwest. High temperatures today in the upper 50s, about as warm as it was yesterday.
Clouds tonight with a few sprinkles towards daybreak. Overnight lows in the mid 40s. Cloudy with on and off rain showers Wednesday. Cooler, with highs in the low 50s.
High pressure returns Thursday with sunshien and highs in the upper 60s. There looks to be a quick warm up Friday, with highs in the low 60s, before another storm system moves in Saturday, dragging in some rain just in time for Halloween. Also, don't forget to change your clocks Saturday night at 2am as Daylight Saving Times ends and we "fall back" an hour."

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Leaf-rakers were out, yesterday afternoon ...........

........... especially on Babbott Avenue .......

............. where the Village's "leaf vacuum cleaner" will be challenged!




The huge tree in front of the Mack residence now has a name: according to Kathy and Pat McDonnell, who stopped by to visit their old home one day last week, it's a Cucumber Magnolia (Magnolia acuminata).



It's leaves haven't fallen, yet, but the ground is covered with these seed pods: a week or so ago they were bright red but now, as they darken, they are splitting to reveal bright orange seeds.

(I've been surprised how many blog readers are especially interested in learning the names of trees and widflowers in the area! That's neat!)

Other uncommon trees in the community: two GINGKO Biloba -
one at the Crowe residence on Buell Avenue and one at the Zwahlen's in Sangerfield -
and the huge Tulip Tree in front of the Coffman's just south of CVS.

Leaves still cling to Winged Euonymus shrubs, here and there. This - at Gary and Ellie Allen's - really did look like the plant's traditional nickname: a "Burnng Bush!"

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Out in Hanover, yesterday, a gleaner crept across a field, harvesting soy beans.

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On Austin Road, a new house is attracting quite a lot of attention because it's made of STRAW!


The North interior wall .......



.......... and the South. Passive Solar.

I don't think that I have ever seen one, before, but - obviously - lots of other people have!
THIS is what found when I searched Google for "Straw House!"

The owner and builders will be on site, today: I'll see what more can be learned!

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IN THE MAIL

Sandy Martin has sent a report of the "Crimson Bonnets' " latest adventure: "The Waterville Red Hats group, the 'Crimson Bonnets' meeting for October took place at the Poolville Country Store in Poolville.


"Everyone, after awhile, found the place as it is in a little out of the way adorable village. The restaurant was decorated beautifully and the meal was great. The 'Ingleside Meadows' salad was made with chicken, field greens, apples and walnuts and was delicious. For desert we had apple crisp that was out of this world. After lunch we went to the Jewett's Cheese House to sample some cheese and meats. After sampling many of the members purchased some of the many items in the store. Thanks for this wonderful get together go out to Lovina Staring and Pat Smith."

(Thanks, Sandy!)

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1048.5 lbs

Our "Pumpkin King" from Sanger Hill, Brian Staring, checked in with this! "I thought I would share with you my one and only pumpkin for 2009. I won fourth place out of 39 entries at Oswego Giant Pumpkin Fest. Oswego, New York. This is the biggest pumpkin I have ever grown. It's weight was 1048.5 . Attached is a picture of myself at the scales and also is a picture of my youngest grand daughter, Alessandrea Nevaeh Iannone. She is ten months old. Alessandrea is my daughter Jennifer's daughter. Now how big is big? The circumference of the pumpkin was 167 inches."

Thank you for that, Brian, and Congratulations!

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From Cindy Gallagher, this request:

Please watch "If You Eat it's Time to Speak."

"It is not exciting, breathtaking or even funny- but it's information we need to understand and get out to the consumer. There are 4 parts. I suggest you watch one each day."

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From Frank Carentz, re; The Zombie Walk!

"Unforunately we didn't have the turn-out we had hoped and only reached about 30 people. But the weather was against us, and in speaking with people at the walk, a lot of people who were planning on attending were home sick. We also had another problem when the Makeup artist never showed up. We were able to raise approximately $40 dollars of donated food and received a $10.00 cash donation as well.

The after party featured "The Ward," and they were fantastic. Courtney Crowell of Hamilton was the winner of our Walmart Gift Certificate for best Zombie.

Courtney Crowell

"We're already starting to plan next years 2nd annual walk and have a lot of great ideas to make it bigger and better, not to mention a lot more time to prepare."

Thanks, Frank!

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SPECIAL HALLOWE'EN EVENTS

THURSDAY

Annual Rotary Club Hallowe'en Party

at Memorial Park School.

6:00 P.M.

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AT THE LIBRARY ON THURSDAY

Family Movie Night

Thursday, October 29th @ 6pm


Come watch Hocus Pocus with your family and friends on the big screen.
Popcorn will be provided.

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FOR THE RECORD

From WKTV: "Gas Prices jump 18 cents in two weeks."

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Have a Great Day, Everyone!