Thursday

Sharon Stiles gives us a Morning Smile in her
Fingernail Corner at the "Totally-U" Salon on Main Street!!!

It's drippy out, again. (The cows WERE right!) 36 degrees on the nose, and it looks as if our days of Indian Summer are over.

It's Garbage Day, again, too!

Two truths, often discussed:

1. We must be very wasteful to need two garbage pickups every week!
2. We're very lucky that the Village of Waterville provides two garbage pickups every week!

Happy Birthday, Ann!

Headlines from the front page of this week's edition of the Waterville Times:

"Pop Warner to Regionals!" - Color pix and coverage of Waterville's Junion PeeWee Pop Warner team's Tri-Valley Division I championship.

"Sangerfield Meets Nov. 6." - Town Board will meet Monday, Nov. 6 at 7:00 P.M. for preliminary budget hearing.

"Lachut Case Adjourned" - Andrew Lachut's next court apperance will be a pre-trial conference on December 28.

"WCS Wants Healthy Students" - The district's Health and Wellness coordinator, Tammy Alcott, emphasises the importance of halting childhood obesity and improving students' overall health.

"Pataki Picks Brennan" - Patrick H. Brennan of Deansboro, New York State Agriculture Commissioner, will chair SUNYIT College Council.

"Three Months Missing" - Information is still being sought in re: the July 30 disappearance of Michelle Hutchings, 27, of Marshall.

Just Who was "Pop Warner" ?

Glenn Scobey Warner (April 5, 1871–September 7, 1954) was an American football coach, also known as Pop* Warner. During his 44-year career as a head coach (1895–1938), Warner had 319 major NCAA college football wins. He also helped start the popular youth American football organization, Pop Warner Little Scholars. (*When he started to play football, he was older than his teamates!)

When Pop Warner first played and coached, football was played under crude rules and conditions. The 1905 season alone resulted in 15 fatalities and the sport was almost outlawed. Football historians credit Warner with being in the forefront of the movement which transformed the game from one of brawn to one of skill. He developed the crouching stance, the body block, the spiral forward pass and punt, the single and double wing offenses, all of which have survived to the present. He also experimented with safety equipment and, at Pittsburgh, introduced the numbering of players, where, it is said, the expression "You can't tell the players without a program" originated. Still in the vanguard of new ideas in 1932, Pop Warner was among a handful of coaches who pressed for legislation of the free forward pass from anywhere behind the line of scrimmage, a rule adopted by the professionals a year later, which multiplied the offensive possibilities of the game. His interest in a player did not begin and end with the football season. A strong believer in the value of an education and the development of a well-rounded individual through athletic competition, Warner expected and received no less from his players in the classroom than he did on the playing field. Scores of boys became men under his tutelage and went on to careers as distinguished as they were varied. Thus, it is for many reasons that a junior league football player program carries on his name.

lll

At Michael's on Saturday evening at 10:00 P.M.

Halloween Costume Party!

$5 per person; 80's dance mix with The RetroPolitans.

View from Daytonville Road.

Driving southbound from New Hartford over Paris Hill, on Monday afternoon, we decided to take Daytonville Road, which runs from just south of Paris green to a bit north of the Village of Waterville. Reaching the little cluster of community that we have always presumed was the original "Daytonville," one or the other of us wondered, "Who was Dayton?" We've since then looked through the 1851 history of the Town of Marshall, by Pomroy Jones and searched both the 1852 and 1874 maps and can't find anyone with that name nor is there a "Dayton" in the 1869 Oneida County Directory! The only reference at all was one "hit" on the Oneida County GenWeb site: "Margaret Bradley of Daytonville, d. May, 1879."

Can any Blog Readers come up with this bit of trivia?

The Eastman Cemetery on Daytonville Road.

The Windmills on Stone Road, seen from Daytonville Road.

And MORE!!

It's Official:

Rick Garrett went to the trouble of tracking me down in Foodking, on Saturday, to tell me that
"The Deal is Off!"
and that
"Foodking is no longer on the market!"


It's a good sign!

Two gentlemen from Advanced Power & Light Electrical Contracting were out and around on Main Street, this morning, rifling through sheafs of plans and contemplating lamp bases. Dennis Jones, president of the company, said that indeed they expected the lamps "by the end of this month." He offered, "It'll look nice for the holidays!" and when I said I hoped that wintery weather wouldn't cause too much delay of installation, he grinned and said, "We're like the mailmen: 'neither rain nor sleet, nor.......' " So: things certainly are looking brighter!!

Not such a good sign? The Gallaghers' cows and the Brouillette cows were in agreement, earlier this afternoon. (WKTV News Channel 2 weather also forecast showers.)

Geese circled and then came in for a landing in a puddly field on Madison Street

where a hundred - or two - of their Canada Cousins were already camped.

ll

R.F.B. saw Mr. Roger Gates, of Clinton, this morning, and phoned home with this news:

On Sunday morning at around 10:00,

take your camera to Skyline Drive in the vicinity of Reservoir Road.
A rare treat is in store, for that's when the horn will sound, the hounds will be loosed,
and scores of brightly-jacketed riders on magnificent horses will be off,
racing across the fields after them.

The "hunt" will be on and it's always a bright and beautiful sight to see.


To put a HUGELY bright SMILE
on someone's face, tomorrow morning,

wish Ann Ingersoll a
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Wednesday Add-ons!

John Savage has sent me the Pop Warner PeeWee Play Off Schedule:
it all begins on Saturday, at 10:00 A.M.!

(Click to enlarge!)

If we had been a bit closer to the village of Esperance, last evening,
the Oz Family would have visited us. They sent a photograph, instead!

Wearing their usual "costumes" - hard hats and safety vests - and carrying their usual props - surveying equipment and walkie-talkies - a D.O.T. crew is making a "Final" survey of the Rt. 12 Highway Reconstruction Project --- a step in declaring that it is entirely finished. The only place where any work at all is in progress is in what used to be the deep ravine behind homes on the southeasterly side of Sanger Avenue, where all of the old pavement was dumped. Property-owners were promised that their back yards would all be nicely terraced and finished off: no one has complained, so far!

Perhaps someone would send a photograph of that work for blog-readers to see?

And I'm hoping that sometime today some photographs will arrive from Hobie and Lois Morris taken, very recently, of a black bear that has been making himself at home around their Quaker Hill residence! He's investigated their cold-storage bins and given their truck a good look-see, but has done no damage, so far!

Wednesday

RECYCLABLE Collection, this morning!

It's nearly 40 degrees - no precipitation, right now.

It was mild out, last evening, and 'though there was a light rain the spirits of our costumed visitors and their parents were bright. Being somewhat "off the beaten path," or, in this case, the Candy Trail, our doorbell rang far less frequently than those up in the village.

Recognizable despite disguises......

"Granny" and "Pea Pod"

Our far from fearsome neighbors!

Tuesday afternoon

Just Wait 'til you see the Waterville TIMES!

I don't know if this is going to be a regular front-back page feature, but it sure is smashing!

And do you remember the fun "snow globes" that were on front
lawns last Christmas? This is the first Hallowe'en globe that I've seen:
the black cat and pumpkin are surrounded by a swirling storm of BATS!

On Hanover Road.

There are several websites devoted to Hallowe'en (or "Halloween") myths and legends. If you want to know more about Bats and Broomsticks, click here!


If you didn't happen to catch "Mohawk Valley Living" host Richard Enders splashing up the road to Tassel Hill, last Sunday morning, just go to the link that says "Watch Video" and have a chuckle! Richard warns viewers that you simply can NOT reach the top of the hill without a mud-loving 4-wheel-drive vehicle. We suspect that in drier years in times past the summit was a favorite spot for Hallowe'en gatherings. (Now don't blame ME if you get stuck!)

I remember the late Stephen Gates telling me that the fir trees were planted in a manner so to spell out "Tassell Hill" - with two "L"s on Tassell. Are there any readers who remember when that was done? and by whom? (The "C.C.C" - Civilian Conservation Corps rings a bell.) And is there anything more to be known about the name "Tassell Hill" than that - according to the history of the Town of Paris - it was named for an early settler, a Dutchman named Van Tassel (with one "L".)

It's Hallowe'en!

Happy Hallowe'en!

On Route 12 north.

It's a different story, up North, where they're still digging out, but here in Waterville

it's 45 degrees at 5:00 A.M. and going to be a fairly mild day,
'tho some showers are forecast for later on.

No TRASH pick-up today; no GREEN WASTE pick-up, today.

The only collection today will be that of TREATS, tonight between 5:00 and 7:00!

There are a great many "histories" of Halloween on the internet. I like this page by PumpkinMaster.com. who also provides the following history of the "Jack o Lantern" - which I didn't know.


"The word Jack O Lantern was 1st used to describe a mysterious light seen at night flickering over marshes. When approached, it advances, always out of reach. The phenomenon is also known as will o the wisp and ignis fatuus (foolish fire). In pop legend it is considered ominous and is often thought to be the soul of one who has been rejected by hell carrying its own hell coal on its wanderings.

In Ireland, where Halloween began, the first jack-o'-lanterns weren't made of pumpkins. They were made out of rutabagas, potatoes, turnips, or even beets! There is an old Irish legend about a man named Stingy Jack who was too mean to get into heaven and had played too many tricks on the devil to go to hell. When he died, he had to walk the earth, carrying a lantern made out of a turnip with a burning coal inside. Stingy Jack became known as "Jack of the Lantern," or "Jack-o'-Lantern."

From this legend came the Irish tradition of placing jack-o'-lanterns made of turnips and other vegetables in windows or by doors on Halloween. The jack-o'-lanterns are meant to scare away Stingy Jack and all the other spirits that are said to walk the earth on that night. It wasn't until the tradition was brought to the United States by immigrants that pumpkins were used for jack-o'-lanterns."




And it wan't until Peter, Paul & Mary recorded it - a LONG time ago - that I'd ever heard the "Souling Song," which we should all sing tomorrow for "All Souls" - (November 1)!


I sent a "Cheers!" note to Pop Warner Head Coach John Savage, praising all the "kids" and thanking him for all time and energy he devotes to the boys, and he wrote back saying "My job is easy: I have a great group of coaches! - Bob Piersma, Jay Hemmeric, Shaun Harry & Mark Evans." (From my advanced chronological perspective, they are ALL a great bunch of "kids!")

John will let us know when the next game is scheduled.

R.F.B. Thanks those who sent him E-greetings, yesterday!

From a few conversations, yesterday, I gather that I'm not the only person who has trouble adjusting to "falling back!" And those whose households or barnyards include four-legged friends - not to discriminate against two-legged fowl - are simply not allowed to adjust easily because animals in general, and roosters in particular, simply do NOT approve of the practise of tinkering with their schedules no matter how reasonable a human tries to make it sound!

Pop Warner Report

... just in, from a spectator:

Waterville did indeed "Beat Herk"!

13 - 0!!!

Another Monday

...and GARBAGE DAY, again!

It's a good thing that the wind that we had yesterday has died down or there would be trash containers - or containerless trash - flying and rolling all over the village!



The wind brought down some wires on Route 20; medium-sized branches fell, here and there, and that solitary silo near California Road tilted and, finally, fell.

I still havn't received any word on the scores of yesterday's Pop Warner games at Brothertown Stadium, but I do know that the Annual Waterville Rotary Halloween Party that took place at Memorial Park School last Thursday evening was a great success. The children, age pre-K to grade 5, enjoyed a costume parade and dance, as well as a variety of games and activities. Cider and donut holes were served to all and each child took home a Halloween goodie bag, as well.

Ms. Machold says that 450 people were served at the Deansboro Congregational United Church of Christ's Turkey Supper on Saturday!

.. and at least two people will be eating out again, today: my treat!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DICK
(click the link)
!

Sunday morning Add-ons

Special Morning Treat!

In the blogger's early mail was a note from Kraig Pritts! One of his former students had told him where to find "At Home in the Huddle" and he's bookmarked the site and has been checking up to see what's been going on here!

(Click to enlarge photographs.)

At just a minute or two before 9 o'clock, the parkinglots outside Brothertown Stadium were nearly full. Fans were wrapping themselves in extra coats and scarves because the sky was gray and the wind very strong and gusty. It was just a bit above freezing and at least it wasn't raining or snowing!!!

Not very good weather for outdoor activities in general, but the coloring added contrast to a few photographs:

On Madison Street.

Tamaracks - or Larches, depending on what part of the country you're from - shining gold in the
swampy area across from St. Bernard's Cemetery on Tower Street.

On Gridley-Paige Road.

The wind had toppled a little scarecrow, but the old wagon on California Road was still a pretty sight.

Sunday morning!

Did you remember to reset your time pieces and "fall back" an hour?


35.6 degrees; windy, but there is no precipitation of any sort, right now.





Yesterday could not have been more wet! We drove eastward to rendezvous at the Palatine Bridge Pizza Hut with our daughter Allison and her husband Rick and our grandson, eight-year-old Iain, who had his Jedi Padawan costume - made by his very clever mother! - to show us.

(The Writer hesitated before including a picture of Iain, but is reminded by a very proud grandfather that it is, after all, her blog and she can do as she pleases!)





Quite a number of the farms in the countryside near Palatine Bridge are owned by Amish families. On such miserably cold, wet days, especially, we not only admire them for their adherance to a strict - and restrictive - lifestyle, but also wish that we had a much larger vehicle that we might offer them and their horse a dry ride to their home and barn.

On Osborn Avenue.

"Lake Sangerfield."

No water in the Underpass!

It was still raining when we came back to Waterville: water in a field pond on Hanover Road was lapping the edges of the pavement; a "wet spot" in a field next to Osborn Avenue was at least double its normal size and "Lake Sangerfield," had it not been right next to the highway, would have made a fine landing site for Canada Geese. The one spot that was NOT at all flooded was the underpass!!

Soggy Saturday

If you go to The Weather Channel's forecast for Waterville, you'll find WARNINGS for both FLOODING and HIGH WINDS - primarily for later today and tomorrow - but right at the moment the temperature's 43 degrees and there's just a light sprinkle.



I think it really is time to put away the lawn furniture and get the snow shovels ready!

Our two immediate concerns are for the Pop Warner game at 9:00 tomorrow morning at Brothertown Stadium and all of the pretty Halloween decorations around the town. This storm will probably take the last of our fall foliage with it, too.

On Route 20, out near Pleasant Valley.

Ornamental Pear Tree in Oriskany Falls.

"Black Alder" - American Holly - is brilliant, right now. This patch is
quite close to Route 20, but
- for those who are thinking of collecting a few branches for decoration -
it's growing in knee-deep COLD WATER!

Picture taken one morning when there really was "frost on the pumpkin," but surely all the
milkweed seeds will have blown far and wide, by now!

News from "Michael's" --- he's now open on Sundays: Serving breakfast from 8 'til noon and Home Style Specials from 1 until 8:00 P.M.

And "It's All Over Now!"

From the International Herald Tribune - ST. LOUIS Favored by few, the St. Louis Cardinals used an unlikely cast of characters to win their first World Series in 24 years by beating the Detroit Tigers 4-2 on Friday. Pitcher Jeff Weaver dominated, David Eckstein drove in two runs on balls that didn't leave the infield and the Cardinals took advantage of another wild throw by a Tigers pitcher to complete the best-of-seven Series 4-1. "I think we shocked the world," Cardinals center fielder Jim Edmonds said. "It's an unbelievable experience."

"Picture of the Day"

Learn who took this neat picture that appeared on The Weather Channel "Picture of the Day"!

Friday morning

28.2 degrees and a little freezy: at least RfB reports that the dew on our front railings wasn't exactly "dew" when he went out for the newspaper!




WCS Boys Varsity Soccer meets Cooperstown at Brothertown Stadium this afternoon at 3:00. The Girls Varsity Soccer plays Beaver River - perhaps at Beaver River? or perhaps later?

I had a note from Coach John Savage telling me that our Waterville Junior Pee Wee team that will play at 9am Sunday for the Pop Warner Tri-Valley Division 3 Championship "is the first ever un-defeated Waterville Pop Warner team in the thirty year history of the program." (I hadn't realized that! That makes it even more exciting!) As the car wash sign sign says,

"Go Pop Warner! Beat Herk!"

Sometime over the weekend, take a ride around the village AFTER DARK. There are some super Hallowe'en lighting displays - the Copes on White Street have gorgeous orange twinkle-light swags on their front porch; April Urben on Sanger Avenue has a super-bright Spider Web; the display at Terry Meadows is a delight both day and night, and there are "Hallowe'en "trees" all over the place! It's great!

I'll try, again, to take some pictures!

Boys Varsity Soccer also WON!

Vs. Notre Dame; score: 1 - 0.

Thursday morning

It's Garbage Day, again!

34.3 degrees; NOT RAINING!

I couldn't find the results of last evening's Boys Varsity Soccer game, but the Girls Varsity Soccer team WON!

Both teams play again, today. See the "Sports Zone" for details!

(If someone would send me scores, I'd be more than glad to post them!)

According to an article in this morning's O-D, it's going to be a big day, Sunday, at Waterville's Brothertown Stadium, so we're starting to watch the weekend weather forecast:



We were beginning to wonder if it ever rained anywhere else: it does! Rain postponed Game 4 of the World Series and chances of it being played tonight, in St. Louis, aren't very good:

ST. LOUIS -- The World Series has been pushed back at least a day because Game 4 was rained out on Wednesday night at Busch Stadium, but the projected inclement weather here this week may make matters even worse.

Chances of playing Games 4 and 5 the next two days are "dicey," said Jimmie Lee Solomon, Major League Baseball's vice president of baseball operations after only the 19th washout in World Series history.

Thursday's weather report was horrible, with a full day of precipitation expected before the makeup night game at 8 p.m. ET. And Friday could be problematic as well. The weekend forecast, though, calls for sunny weather.


It doesn't make any difference WHAT the weather's like, outdoors, at the "Munstitute"! Check the MWPAI website for a complete schedule that includes films during the week and events like:

Coming to the Stanley Theater on Saturday, November 18 - - - -

Oh, Wow!

RfB and I first saw them perform in Kansas City in 1963!

For many more Events (including a Hallowee'en Ride on the Adirondack Scenic Railroad)
check the Oneida County Convention & Visitors Bureau's CALENDAR

Wednesday wrap-up

It rained; then it snowed. Hundreds of Canada geese, apparently grounded by low visibility, sat on the "runway" next to Madison Street waiting for conditions to improve.

An hour later they were gone and the sun was out, again, shining on these oak leaves in front of the Starring residence on White Street.....

... and making pumpkins bright on this Putnam Street porch.

Add-on

Look what Bev Gibbons just brought me!

(Click to enlarge!)

This photograph was taken in September when seven long-time girl-friends gathered at "Michael's" to celebrate a visit to town by Marlene Jones Fuks who now lives in Arizona. In the front row are: Pat Ireland, Bev Gibbons, Dana Broedel and Marilyn Jackson; and standing are Dee Gurdo, Marlene Jones Fuks and Shirley Hart. What a fine time they must have had!!




And now, at 11:00, it's not only NOT RAINING or SNOWING, but the SUN is out! And I bet that no three people could be happier than Sharry and Lance Whitney, producers of "Mohawk Valley Living" and Host Richard Enders, because today they're up at the top of Tassel Hill, filming.

"The fickle weather this week made filming a challenge. Over the last couple years we have been fortunate to have consistently fair weather on filming days.
We were eager to drive up Tassle Hill this week, but decided to wait for nicer weather. Hopefully we'll get some! We received many letters about Tassle Hill and have learned a little bit more about this area from people who know it well."

They tried getting to the summit a few days ago but gave up, fearing for the undercarriage of their car. Today they'll have a truck!

Remember to watch: Sundays 7:30am WKTV; NEW! 10am CW (Ch. 11) 12:05 Midnight WKTV

Wednesday Morning

It's recyclables day!

36 degrees and drippy! Snow flakes in the forecast!

It's 2 - 1 Cardinals, and Game 4 starts at 8:00 this evening in St. Louis.

At Brothertown Stadium today:

Girls Varsity Soccer vs. Fabius-Pompey at 5:00 and Boys Varsity Soccer meets Notre Dame at 7:00.

Front Page Headlines from the Waterville Times.

"Augusta Says No to Long Lease" - Town Board rejects Village of Oriskany Falls request for five-year lease of space in town office building.

"One Sold, One May Be" The Falls Village Market has changed hands but Foodking probably will not: at least right now.

"Still Going" The undefeated Waterville Eagle Junior PeeWee's Pop Warner Football team will play Herkimer on Sunday at 9:00 a.m. at Brothertown Stadium.

Hallowe'en Reminders

The annual Rotary Club Hallowe'en Party will take place tomorrow - Thursday - evening at 6:30 at Memorial Park School

"Trick or Treat" time in the Village of Waterville will be next Tuesday, October 31st, from 5 - 7 P.M.