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FARMERS MARKET TODAY!


There was a little bit of rain during the night, but it's 58 degrees and dry at 7:30.

From WKTV: "A small area of high pressure returns today, bringing mostly sunny skies to Central New York. Cooler air arrives on the back side of yesterday's cold front. Temperatures today will be 10-15 degrees cooler this afternoon with highs in the upper 60s to near 70 degrees. Increasing clouds tonight with rain showers developing before daybreak. Overnight lows in the upper 50s.

Nice weather is short lived as another cold front arrives on Thursday morning, bringing along widespread light rain throughout the day. It will be cloudy and chilly with highs only in the 50s. Overnight lows will dip into the 30s in most areas later in the week, with the potential for some frost on the cold spots.

Lots of sunshine and beautiful weather expected for the weekend. Highs in the upper 60s to near 70."

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NOW ON THE AIR

KROCK Music Intensive Morning Show 6-10am

with "Ryno" - Mark Masca!

94.9 in Utica and the Mohawk Valley.

100.9 in Syracuse and 106.5 in Fulton and Oswego.

******

IN THE NEWS

Primary Election Results

Oneida Co. Leg. 3rd Dist. GOP


Patrick H. Brennan [GOP] 289 71%
John J. Douglas Sr. [GOP] 120 29%

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CUB SCOUT SIGN-UPS

6:30 p.m. September 16th

at the Waterville Elementary School

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Time to start looking for "horse chestnuts" ...........

Aescalus Grabra - otherwise known as "the Buckeye Tree"

that will soon start to drop it's fruit on the gr0und for greedy squirrels to start hoarding.



I, myself, much prefer the sort of "buckeye" that's made with peanut butter and chocolate!
Click HERE for recipes.


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All about Wooly-bears!

from the old Farmer's Almanac.


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IN THE MAIL

The link to a Youtube video about modern Hop Harvesting in Yakima Valley, Washington, thanks to John Ogden!

All of our "old timer" hop pickers will enjoy watching it, for sure!

I think I'll go over to the Foothill Hop Farm south of Munnsville and see if they're still picking. I think they have some modern harvesting machines, too.


********

A couple more cards from the Historical Society Arhives.

In the Condon Hop Yard on Canning Factory Road, 1894.

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Are you ready for Cruise-in?
Starts at 7:00 on Saturday!

****

Have a great weekend, everyone!

I'm off on a "blog-break" for a few days.
Back early next week.

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Today is Primary Day

Polls open at noon.

ONEIDA COUNTY PRIMARIES

Coroner (vote for two): Kevin T. Barry, R; David P. Julian, R; Greg T. Mills, R

LEGISLATURE

District 2: Kenneth G. Fort, D; Peter Pascucci, D

District 3: Patrick H. Brennan, R; John J. Douglas, Sr., R

District 22: Harmony l. Speciale, I

District 25: Franklin D. Davis, D; James Mason, Sr., D

A Complete list of all area contests can be found in the Observer-Dispatch.

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It's 59 degrees and dry and 5:30

The WKTV forecast: "Mostly sunny skies on Tuesday morning.Sunshine will fade behind clouds by the early afternoon as a cold front approaches the region. The cold front arrives later in the day, bringing the chance of a round of afternoon thunderstorms. Any thunderstorms that do develop may be on the strong side with gusty winds and small hail.

Behind the front expect very cool, autumn air, with highs only in the 50s for Thursday and Friday. Overnight lows will dip into the 30s in most areas later in the week, with the potential for some frost on the cold spots. More details as we head later into the week."

Lookin' good for Cruisin' !

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IN THE MAIL

Good News from Carol Aldrich!

"Our cat appeared on our porch last evening. We were so glad to see him. He’s quite thin and was very thirsty. I was curious if he was held up somewhere and if so, who is responsible for setting him free. We thank you very much."

*******

Reminds me of an old, old folk song:

"But the cat came back, the very next day,
Thought he was a goner, but the cat came back

`Cause he wouldn't stay away."

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From Ilene Langone and the Tenants Assoc. of the Schoolhouse Apartments:

Attention Alumni of Waterville Central School,
residents of Waterville and visitors:


The Tenants Association of the Schoolhouse Apartments
is holding a free
Open House on September 17th
in conjunction with “Crusin into Waterville”.

Tours will be given at 10:00 am and 2:00 pm.

Walk the halls and remember your “Good old School Days”.


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From Jody Barnes and the PTA.

Please click to enlarge and print this release / waiver!


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Annual Treats


Bottle Gentian, in the Brookfield Horse Trail System.

(And Oh! Some of the roads are still very muddy!)



All that rain brought out Northern Toothed Mushrooms.
Looks interesting, but it's not edible.

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I'm trying to put together - all in one place - a collection of everything that I've accumulated over the years having to do with HOPS and Waterville, where hops were introduced in 1820;
where many implements, including the Harris and Beardsley Hop Presses and the Beardsley Hop Stove - essential to hop processing - were invented; where the National (or international) Hop Exchange was established*, and where the world's first liquid Hop Extract was developed and produced and where the "new" railway made Waterville a major hop-shipping center.

*Back in 1971, two elderly "Waterville boys," Mssrs. Dan Conger and Charles Brainard, sat in the Centennial Office, just chatting about history, and told Jean Davis and me that it was really the "Hop Exchange" that was the reason Waterville was called the "Hop Capital of the World" and not because the hops were the best or the quantity raised the largest. It was where the national (or international) insurance rates - therefore, the PRICE per pound - of hops was established on a day-to-day basis.

Oh, how I wish I'd taken lots of notes or recorded that conversation!

But - when you get right down to the importance of hops -----

(Click to enlarge.)

This may be incorrectly labeled: considering the background, this scene may have been painted at a Conger Hop Yard 'way out on White Street (or Reservoir Road) with Tassell Hill in the background.




I don't know how many of the vines that have survived in hedgerows around the countryside or that are still grown for sentimental reasons come from early vine stock, but Pete Kane has some of the best. His dad, Roger, ran one of the very last hop yards in Waterville - the State Experiment Station, 1934 - 1951 - and was considered a leading authority on hop production.

Some of the most spectacular hops that I've seen this year are on a vine that climbs a telephone pole guy-wire in front of the little house atop Grant Hill where Sarah Schachtler used to live.
I took this picture of her in 2007.

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More later.

In the meantime, have a good day, everyone!

Another Week

It's 59 degrees and dry at 6:00 a.m.

GARBAGE DAY

WKTV predicts: "A dry start to Monday with partly sunny skies. Once again, an isolated shower or thunderstorm is possible during the afternoon. Temperatures will once again climb into the mid to upper 70s.

Quiet weather continues on Tuesday before a cold front passes late Tuesday night into Wednesday. Behind the front expect cool, autumn air, with highs only near 60 for Thursday and Friday."

Full "Harvest Moon" Tonight.

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As did many others, I spent a great deal of time, over the weekend, either attending special serices or watching televised events marking the Tenth Anniversary of "9/11."

If you were uptown, yesterday morning, you will have heard Nancy Ayala playing "God Bless America" and "God be with you til we meet again" on the bells in the tower of the Masonic Temple on Sanger Avenue. (She had intended to begin at exactly 8:46, a.m., but was delayed by a stuck door!)

Thank you Nancy!

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I only took one picture worth posting:

Golden Soy in fields next to Route 12.

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IN THE MAIL


On Thursday afternoon, Mary Anne Younes sent me a zip file of photographs she'd taken over the past day as she and Jim, who live on Buell Avenue in Whiskey Hollow, watched the "landscape" of their back yard change - once again.

Big Creek at 5 p.m. Wednesday.



Big Creek Thursday morning.

Big Creek after "Irene."



Big Creek now.

She wrote: "We have lost an estimated 12 ft of the point of the island in the storms, not to mention half of one side. In the first photo you can see a tall tree, that is laying down in the final picture. stripped of leaves etc."

***********

From Trisha Cowen, from Waterville, who is in graduate school in Binghamton:

"I am a former resident of Waterville and I have been looking through your blog site! I moved to Binghamton, New York to attend graduate school at the university. As you may know, Binghamton was hit really hard in the flood. My grandfather, Louis Langone, mentioned that you may be interested in seeing some photos from the flood that I have been experiencing in Binghamton, New York. It has been very terrible on many families and businesses close to the Susquehanna River. The university is now being used as a shelter for individuals that have been evacuated from their homes. Unfortunately, there were some victims to the flood here. Many animals in Petco in Johnson City, NY were trapped inside during the flood. Even though this doesn't take place in Waterville, my grandfather thought I should still pass the information along.

Thank you both for sending those pictures for all of us to see!

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



Special Delivery

That's a picture that Dale Meszler took of his foot next to a puffball that he found in his back yard!

Not being sure that it really was a "puffball," and not being a mushroom fancier even if it were one, he brought it to me for further study (which I was most happy to carry out!)



Ah, yes! Peeled, sliced and gently sauteéd in just a little butter,
puffball tastes more like chicken than mushroom.

(I forgot to take a picture of the cooking process, myself, so have "borrowed" one from the internet.)

Thank you, Dale!

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COMING EVENTS

Next Saturday - the 17th

Cruisin in to Waterville

*****

If you didn't catch it in last week's posts, please note that the Alumni Community Dinner sponsored by the WCSD Foundation and originally schedule for Saturday the 17th has been canceled, due to lack of timely response.

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WCS SPORTS

You can view the entire week's schedule of games by clicking HERE.

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

For the complete

Waterville Public Library Newsletter,

which gives a colorful listing of ALL special events,

please click HERE.

*******

FOR YOUR CALENDAR


SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 24

10:00 - 1:00

Deansboro Congregational United Church of Christ

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

Tucked away in the Sunday O-D:

1911, 100 years ago Hops high

"Hop growers in Waterville, Bridgewater and Sangerfield are a happy lot these days because for the first time in 20 years, the price of hops has risen to 50 cents a pound. This week, a New York City firm purchases the entire crop grown in Waterville by John D. Jones and C. L. Terry."

also:

1936, 75 years ago

Freshmen

"The chapel bell tolls the opening of classes at Hamilton College. The freshman class of 125 includes 24 area youths." In the list that followed appears the name of one John Upcraft.

(Someone we know?)

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More when it happens!

Have a good week, everyone!