Weekend Specials

What a Fantastic Day!

It was a great day to be outdoors.

Down in Dicksville, the Winter Aconite in front of the Fehlner-Peach residence is in bloom.



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Missy Brouillette's crocuses (or crocii) are open and there's a big patch of snowdrops on the front lawn of the Hughes' on Barton Avenue.


The front door of the Tanners' home on Route 20.


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


Red-winged Blackbirds are back.
(Photo from BirdQuote.com)

Hundreds of Canada Geese were loafing on a pond next to Route 20 in Madison ........



............. more at Lyons Mills ..........

............... and the "snowbird" pair were at their usual nesting spot next to Madison Street.

(Yes - "she" is there, too, hiding behind bushes on the left-hand edge of the image. )



He's Ba-a-a-ck!



Drifting on a small pond across the road from Woodman Pond, in Hamilton.

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

Lynn Curtis phoned me at around 4:30 to say that she had just seen SNOW GEESE in a field across from the Decker home on Hanover Road!

(Perhaps they'll be there tomorrow, too.)


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SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

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SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Marissa Cornelius, who recently won a gold medal in luge competition in the Empire State Games at Lake Placid, will be racing again, tomorrow, at Mt. VanHoevenberg in the Norton Youth Championships.

To watch Saturday’s Norton Youth Seeding Race at 8 AM ET, click here
To watch Sunday’s Norton Youth National Championships at 8 AM ET, click here
The race is used to determine next year’s Junior Development Team and also presents a chance for those competing to be seen by the entire USA Luge coaching staff. This is your chance to watch the future stars of USA Luge in action!

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

SATURDAY NIGHT SHOW

A "Super Moon" will rise in the east at sunset on Saturday evening. This unusually large full moon -- known as a super "perigee moon" -- will be the biggest in almost 20 years, according to NASA.

"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1983," says Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. "I'd say it's worth a look."

And the forecast for sky-watching looks good!


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

First Day of Spring is on Sunday, March 20, 2011

Astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere as defined by the International Astronomical Union begins with the Vernal Equinox on March 20, 2011, at 7:21 pm EDT.

**********

"Sticks 'n Stones" on E. Main Street, John Lincoln-Lovely, prop.,
will open at Noon on Monday!


******


I've spent the past hour or so debating whether or not to even type this, but - in reply to several queries from blog readers .............


"A news story that appeared on the WKTV website and also in the Observer-Dispatch, this afternoon, has shocked and distressed the community."

And that's all.

I have no way of knowing whether or not the accounts are accurate and I am certainly not going to make any comments.

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

Have a great weekend!

HAPPY SPRING!

Weekend Specials

What a Fantastic Day!

It was a great day to be outdoors.

Down in Dicksville, the Winter Aconite in front of the Fehlner-Peach residence is in bloom.



*******

Missy Brouillette's crocuses (or crocii) are open and there's a big patch of snowdrops on the front lawn of the Hughes' on Barton Avenue.


The front door of the Tanners' home on Route 20.


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


Red-winged Blackbirds are back.
(Photo from BirdQuote.com)

Hundreds of Canada Geese were loafing on a pond next to Route 20 in Madison ........



............. more at Lyons Mills ..........

............... and the "snowbird" pair were at their usual nesting spot next to Madison Street.

(Yes - "she" is there, too, hiding behind bushes on the left-hand edge of the image. )



He's Ba-a-a-ck!



Drifting on a small pond across the road from Woodman Pond, in Hamilton.

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

Lynn Curtis phoned me at around 4:30 to say that she had just seen SNOW GEESE in a field across from the Decker home on Hanover Road!

(Perhaps they'll be there tomorrow, too.)


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

SPECIAL EVENTS THIS WEEKEND

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

SATURDAY AND SUNDAY

Marissa Cornelius, who recently won a gold medal in luge competition in the Empire State Games at Lake Placid, will be racing again, tomorrow, at Mt. VanHoevenberg in the Norton Youth Championships.

To watch Saturday’s Norton Youth Seeding Race at 8 AM ET, click here
To watch Sunday’s Norton Youth National Championships at 8 AM ET, click here
The race is used to determine next year’s Junior Development Team and also presents a chance for those competing to be seen by the entire USA Luge coaching staff. This is your chance to watch the future stars of USA Luge in action!

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

SATURDAY NIGHT SHOW

A "Super Moon" will rise in the east at sunset on Saturday evening. This unusually large full moon -- known as a super "perigee moon" -- will be the biggest in almost 20 years, according to NASA.

"The last full moon so big and close to Earth occurred in March of 1983," says Geoff Chester of the U.S. Naval Observatory in Washington D.C. "I'd say it's worth a look."

And the forecast for sky-watching looks good!


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

First Day of Spring is on Sunday, March 20, 2011

Astronomical spring in the Northern Hemisphere as defined by the International Astronomical Union begins with the Vernal Equinox on March 20, 2011, at 7:21 pm EDT.

**********

"Sticks 'n Stones" on E. Main Street, John Lincoln-Lovely, prop.,
will open at Noon on Monday!


******


I've spent the past hour or so debating whether or not to even type this, but - in reply to several queries from blog readers .............


"A news story that appeared on the WKTV website and also in the Observer-Dispatch, this afternoon, has shocked and distressed the community."

And that's all.

I have no way of knowing whether or not the accounts are accurate and I am certainly not going to make any comments.

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

Have a great weekend!

HAPPY SPRING!

Thursday a.m. update

Today is Garbage Day

and

St. Patrick's Day.


It's 32 degrees at 7 o'clock.

WKTV forecast:"Low clouds, frost, and fog will greet you on the way out the door this morning. Mild weather is on the way this afternoon, with temperatures climbing over 50 degrees! A mix of sunshine and clouds throughout the day, with generally more sunshine later in the day.

Increasing clouds and the threat for rain showers late tonight as a cold front arrives from the west. Temperatures will stay very mild tonight, in the mid 40s.

A breezy Friday, with decreasing clouds. Highs climb again above 50 degrees.

Cooler, but generally drier weather expected for the weekend. Temperatures settle back into the 40s.

Unsettled and seasonably cool next week. "

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FINAL ELECTION RESULTS

Mayor: Jim Younes - 26

Trustee: Thomas McNamara - 27

Trustee: Bruce Treen - 22

********

HERE AND THERE



I stopped on Gridley Paige Road intending to take a picture of two deer (lower lefthand corner) but ended up with a much better photograph of the sun breaking through the overcast and shining on West Hill.


In Forge Hollow, the ice that had been hiding one of the caves has nearly all melted.


Best shot of the day: SKUNKS CABBAGES!

Not that they're good for anything - you certainly can't cook them! - but they are such a true sign of Spring that, smelly as they are, they bring great joy!

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

AT THE LIBRARY

TODAY

Evening Story Hour *

6:30pm | Ages 2-6 | Sign Up 841-4651

Animal Sleepover.

Let your stuffed friend spend the night in the library.
What silliness will the animals get into in the library at night?

Find out when you pick them up the next day.


FRIDAY

Art Extravaganza!

All ages, All day | Drop In
Get your creative thinking cap on and use our materials to create something wonderfully amazing! All art made will be displayed in the Gallery.

*********

From History.com:

"On this day in 461 A.D., Saint Patrick, Christian missionary, bishop and apostle of Ireland, dies at Saul, Downpatrick, Ireland."


"Much of what is known about Patrick's legendary life comes from the Confessio, a book he wrote during his last years. Born in Great Britain, probably in Scotland, to a well-to-do Christian family of Roman citizenship, Patrick was captured and enslaved at age 16 by Irish marauders. For the next six years, he worked as a herder in Ireland, turning to a deepening religious faith for comfort. Following the counsel of a voice he heard in a dream one night, he escaped and found passage on a ship to Britain, where he was eventually reunited with his family.

According to the Confessio, in Britain Patrick had another dream, in which an individual named Victoricus gave him a letter, entitled "The Voice of the Irish." As he read it, Patrick seemed to hear the voices of Irishmen pleading him to return to their country and walk among them once more. After studying for the priesthood, Patrick was ordained a bishop. He arrived in Ireland in 433 and began preaching the Gospel, converting many thousands of Irish and building churches around the country. After 40 years of living in poverty, teaching, traveling and working tirelessly, Patrick died on March 17, 461 in Saul, where he had built his first church.

Since that time, countless legends have grown up around Patrick. Made the patron saint of Ireland, he is said to have baptized hundreds of people on a single day, and to have used a three-leaf clover--the famous shamrock--to describe the Holy Trinity. In art, he is often portrayed trampling on snakes, in accordance with the belief that he drove those reptiles out of Ireland. For thousands of years, the Irish have observed the day of Saint Patrick's death as a religious holiday, attending church in the morning and celebrating with food and drink in the afternoon. The first St. Patrick's Day parade, though, took place not in Ireland, but the United States, when Irish soldiers serving in the English military marched through New York City in 1762. As the years went on, the parades became a show of unity and strength for persecuted Irish-American immigrants, and then a popular celebration of Irish-American heritage. The party went global in 1995, when the Irish government began a large-scale campaign to market St. Patrick's Day as a way of driving tourism and showcasing Ireland's many charms to the rest of the world. Today, March 17 is a day of international celebration, as millions of people around the globe put on their best green clothing to drink beer, watch parades and toast the luck of the Irish."

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Have a grand weekend, everyone!

Starting out Warm

It's really Wednesday morning and

It's Recyclables Day!

36.3 degrees at 6:30

The WKTV Weather Forecast as of Tuesday afternoon:

"*Winter Weather Advisory for Herkimer, Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery Counties*

Rain develops after midnight tonight, mixing with freezing rain or sleet north and east of Utica. Some icy spots are possible for a time early Wednesday , but any mixed precipitation is expected to change to plain rain by midmorning.

Occasional showers are expected during the day Wednesday as temperatures climb above 40.

Dry weather returns Thursday. A surge of warmer weather will bring high temperatures close to 50 on Thursday, and well into the 50s on Friday. Significant amounts of melting snow will continue all across the area throughout the week."

ELECTION RESULTS


I've searched YNN, The O-D, WKTV

but can only find results for

ORISKANY FALLS:

Two village trustee seats:

Collin Idzi, R: 59 votes.
(incumbent) Brian Bell, R: 46 votes.
(incumbent) Sheila Johnson, i: 44 votes.

****

I think voters in the Village of Waterville will be able to guess the results, since none of the incumbents were being contested!

Mayor: Jim Younes

Trustees elected: Thomas McNamara and Bruce Treen.



I stopped at Municipal Hall yesterday afternoon around 3:30 and, happening to arrive during a "lull" in voter activity, had a nice long chat with Betty Tanner, Dave O'Brien, Vicky Sabol and Lurena McNamara. We discussed where I got my unusual name, what colleges we and/or our children had attended, the price of gasoline, and covered a fair amount of local history.
(and Yes: I voted. I was voter #12.)



At a little after 4:00 Barb McNamara showed up - voter #13!

You can see what a busy day it was at the polls!

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

There was much more actvity, outdoors!



There were lots of walker and runners. I saw several groups of cyclists



............ and got big waves from Sheri and Jenn.

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


IN THE MAIL

A nice note and these pictures from Terry Tanner, who had attended Sunday’s program at the Historical Society. She wrote,

'There was a hearty ‘Abe Lincoln’ dinner, an adorable skit ‘1861 at Bissell’s Store’, and the most wonderful barbershop quartet imaginable! There’s also a new 1861 Exhibit for folks to check out if they get a chance."

Visiting Barbershop Quartet

"It was very nice that three of the barbershop quartet had had Mr. Langone as a teacher at Mt. Markham and were so pleased to see him again."



A friendly card game in Bissell's Store

from left: Joe Falk, Lou Langone and Kirk Hudson.

Thank you, Terry!

*******

(There are 1861 Exhibits and activities all over the country in commemoration of the 150th Anniversary of the start of the Civil War.)


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

Photo from yesterday's blog post.

Coincidentally, W. J. Bissell Sons, a popular gathering place for "locals" - including members of the Loomis Gang - was located on W. Main Street, just about here.



Bissell's Store c. 1880

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

TOMORROW IS ST. PATRICK'S DAY


C.J. Fulmer Post #92 American Legion, Waterville.
SATURDAY, MARCH 19TH
4:30 - 7:30 P.M.


Suzette Stephenson Baumgarten's Madison Street doorway.



Her parents' home on E. Bacon Street.



The Strohmeyer residence on Putnam Street.


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

PLUS.....


An Annual Treat:



Maple Weekend!

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NEXT WEEK



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As all of you know, there has been an horrendous disaster in Japan.
Many Watervillians are making contributions to various funds or asking WHERE to send their donations.

Are there any LOCAL fundraisers in process or planned?

otherwise......

AMERICAN RED CROSS
UNICEF


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Have a good day, everyone!