The Ride in the Balloon!

With Thanks to Mabel Bushee for sharing her excellent photographs with all of us.

She and her husband, Richard, took this Hot Air Balloon Ride last Sunday.

Enjoy!

We fire up, near Munnsville...................

and look straight up as the balloon fills with air,

We're off - and looking toward the East, as we head South over farmland;

and turn for a Northwestern view of the countryside, looking toward Oneida Lake.

And then turning toward Stone Road and the Windmills;

Dwight Cramer, the pilot, "shows his stuff", by skimming the corn tassels but not knocking any corn over!

And we finally land on Water Street; a grand experience!

(Click to enlarge Photographs.)

Friday wrap-up

It seems to have been a very quiet day: the five- or six-person TIOGA crew (we say "person" because Nannette was on board!) continued topsoil maneuvers along the East side of Sanger Avenue.

There is always some excitement on Fridays: it's Fish Fry Day - a red letter occasion for many of us - and today gives baseball fans an occassion to develop red eyes from watching television for too long! (At 4 o'clock, in the bottom of the 7th, it's NYY 8 - Boston 3.) Game 2 of today's double-header begins at 8:05.

It almost seems as if there are as many people in Bouckville as there are at the Fenway (35,692) and although the main action is on the big field, the rows of crammed-together tents and crowds of browsers all along the sides of Route 20 from Madison westward provide plenty of action, color temptation for anyone just driving by.





(Click to enlarge Photographs.)

Earlier today I received a batch of fantastic photographs taken by a friend who had been on a hot-air balloon ride last Sunday. I've written, begging permission to post the pictures for all of you to see, and will do so as soon as I get an affirmative reply! They are a grand treat!

It'll be an even more quiet day, tomorrow. We hope that all of you will have a fine weekend!

Email the Writer

It's Friday! - with ride-around and add-ons

59.7 degrees at 6 o'clock and noticably darker than it was a few weeks ago!
The weather has been grand, but WKTV Channel 2 promises "Major Changes over the Weekend" and predicts:

Today: Partly to mostly cloudy. Warm and humid. Highs in the mid 80s.

Tonight: Partly to mostly cloudy. Slight chance of a shower. Low in the low to mid 60s.

Saturday: Becoming mostly cloudy. A good chance for a shower or storm Saturday afternoon, with a steady rain likely from Saturday evening through Saturday night. High: 79, Low: 65

Sunday: Steady to heavy rain likely in the morning, tapering off to showers in the afternoon. Mostly cloudy and muggy. High: 70, Low: 59

That may be fine for baseball fans, who intend to stay glued to their television sets ...........

........but it certainly won't play well in Bouckville!




Just received from Mr. J. W. Falk, President of the Waterville Historical Society. FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:


The Waterville Historical Society 40th Anniversary Gala Celebration
will be held on Sunday, September 10th at St. Bernard’s Social Hall. A
handicapped Stairchair was recently installed in the rear entrance of the
building making access to the hall easier. This event, which promises to
be one of the social highlights of the Fall season, will conclude in the
daylight so that driving home in the dark need not be a concern.

A Reception and a 1966 memorabilia exhibit will begin at 4 PM. The delicious buffet dinner, which includes a salad bar,will be provided by “Catering by Coky” and will begin promptly at 5 PM.

Ticket info: PRESOLD TICKETS ONLY - $12.00 each,
available at the Society headquarters on White Street - Wednesdays from
10 to 4 PM. or Mail your check to: Waterville Historical Society, PO Box
253, Waterville, NY 13480. The public is welcome - No Tickets will be
sold at the Door.
Ticket deadline is Tuesday, September 5th
For further information call 841- 4018

Program:

Reading of the first minutes of 1966 by Ms. Lurena McNamara

Dramatic Vignettes presented by our own “Standing Room Only Players”

What’s in a Name?
Rev. Kirk Hudson, Stan Sambora,
Bill O’Dowd and Kent Cole

Wake Up George!
Peg O’Dowd and Louie C. Langone

Home Sweet Home
Jean Davis, Ps Brown ,
WayneBrouillette & Bob Harding

The Historical Caroleers will also entertain.

Our Vignette producer, S. Kelly Falk, promises a step back in history for all those in attendance.

This evening will be the culmination of our 40th Anniversary Year.
Thanks to all who assisted in making it a memorable one. Come and
join us and help us keep history alive for the greater Waterville area.
Remember that we are open for historical conversation every Wednesday and
our store is open as well. Check out our website at “watervilleny.com”

That event, of course, will be uniquely entertaining, but for those who seek energizing amusement on a more regular basis - i.e. three times a week - the staff at ProActive Physical Therapy are happy to oblige!

Never tell Sean Hopkins, r., that an exercise is too easy or that it doesn't hurt: he'll gladly oblige and order something that does!

Tim Francisco seems to take delight in twisting Paula into a pretzel. He, at least, knows from personal experience what muscle aches feel like and is still working out "ginches" (the writer's word) he acquired during last weekend's ascent of three High Peaks - Algonquin, Wright and Iroquois. (Actually, it's the DEscent that causes the most agony.)



His 26-mile triathlon bike race, tomorrow, should work the ginches out, for sure!




For the rest of us? All it takes is Sherri Carney's smile as she hands us next week's appointment list and aches and strains are forgotten and we're ready to come back for more!




On the morning Ride-around, we found only one TIOGA crew at work - and a small crew, at that. They were spreading topsoil in the "tree belt" up near Olmstead's Garage. Quite alot of the same soil has been spread in the Park, bringing some of the original grade up to that of the newly installed curbing and also covering areas which had been used as a parkinglot for heavy equipment. The BIG QUESTION remains: "Is this prep work for sod or for Hydroseed?" the consensus being that "SOD" was what was originally promised.




There is general consternation having to do with many more items than the one stretch of missing granite curbing on White Street mentioned by Ms. Louise in this week's issue of the Waterville Times, many having to do with the D.O.T. project, but some unconnected. One of the latter is the fact that, with the spiffy new sidewalks and pavers in the Business District, there seem to be more litter and trash than ever before. There may be the same general amount, but now it's much more noticable and several of the citizenry would suggest that it's time for the municipality - and the owner of the Green Acres Plaza - to invest in some standard, covered trash receptacles!

Mrs. Stephan once gave me a photograph of just such a container that bore this statement, attributed to Abraham Lincoln:

"I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives.
I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him."

Unfortunately, I've lost the photograph, but remember that the quotation was, well - a good one to remember.

Thursday morning ride-around

Working from the Masonic Temple Southward, nice-looking topsoil is being spread in the tree belt and in narrow strips next to the inside edge of the sidewalks on owners' lawns. I asked the crew whether this was in preparation for "sod" or for "Hydroseed" - one said "Sod!" and other said, "Or Hydroseed!" Let's just hope that the first answer was the correct one!




Nor does there seem to be an answer to the persistent question," How are they going to make THIS work?"



Sidewalk Superintendents wonder - with apparent good reason - just how the D.O.T. engineers plan to have the (as yet unpoured) sidewalk on Sanger Avenue meet the (as yet unpoured) sidewalk on Park Place meet in such a manner that will allow for Handicap - or snowplow - Accessibility.

While nothing has happened here, in front of the Woodman-Getman Law Offices on Main Street, there have been many additions to the gardens at the Library.

Along with bright green sod, more trees, shrubs and perennials have been added: hemorocallis, echinacea, sedums, ornamental grasses, rose bushes and, best of all, three or four graceful new Park Benches made of cast iron and painted to match the pergola.

If you havn't already, do take a walk and see for yourselves!

Tom must have picked the hottest part of the day to change his sign!

Perhaps someone could - any day now - remove or change their outdated announcements on the bulletin board in the Park. It almost seems that as soon as curbing was installed all around the Park and there was no longer any way to drive close to the bulletin board instead of carrying the "letter box" - which really IS heavy! - frequent changing of announcements ceased. Perhaps the bulletin Board has become more of a nuisance than the nicety that it has been.

Email the Writer

Thursday: Back at the Huddle!

It's a bit over 50 degrees, this morning, in Waterville, and the Weather Channel forecast is delightful!



The RedSox bit back at the Tigers, 6 - 4 and New York lost to the Orioles, 3 - 2, and so Standings shift, again, with fans planning their entire weekend schedules around the five-game series between the Yanks and Sox.

And, from the Waterville Public Library's Website,

E-mail received yesterday reports that there are more and more plants in the garden at the Library and that small evergreens have been planted next to the side entryway at the Hotel. It has been suggested that some well-placed greenery, arranged "just so," in front of the first floor air conditioner, would be a welcome addition at the Brunswick, too.

Coming into the village, last evening, we could not fail to notice that "milling" of pavement has been taking place at points where the brand new, "reconstructed" highway meets the old and that rough spots can be expected on Stafford Avenue at Main Street; on Buell Avenue just North of Main and on Tower Street as well.

There are no doubt many more signs of progress to be seen, so I'll make a very early photo tour. Later today, I'll put together the rest of our Adirondack pictures in a separate blog posting for those who are interested in that sort of thing to peruse.

Wednesday

Absolutely no excuse at all for this tardiness: I could beg fatigue from yesterday's fresh air and strenuous exercise, or morning preoccupation with watching mist rise from the lake, but ..........


It looks, from a quick look at The Weather Channel as if it's going to be a good day in Bouckville.

This is the start of a really long and busy few days for members the Oriskany Falls & Madison and Waterville chapters of the Rotary Club who operate a Food Tent right at the center of the Antique Show grounds. (Look for the "1,000 Dealers" sign. They’re right under it!) I asked Rotarian Deb Mayne to tell me how it all works, and she did!

“The initial planning starts immediately after the clean up is done from one year to the next. There have been many additions and changes of how jobs get handled, from the ordering, months in advance, to the days of the show and right after. In all the years I have yet to see anyone sent home because there were too many people. The set-up starts weeks prior to the event with checking the cooking equipment as well as being sure all the food and supplies will be there when needed. Within the week of the show the tents come in and are put up by the tent company and then everything is brought to the field including the cooking equipment and the picnic tables from the Waterville Fire Dept. The first round of cooks gets started between 4:30 . and 5:00 A.M. on Friday and work in shifts till just after dinner time. The crews are set up in three shifts with the lunch time needing the most amount of staff. There have to be over twenty people a day working different shifts to have it work successfully with everyone helping each other when needed. Rotarians, friends of Rotary as well as many of the family members of Rotary get involved in the work. Rotary's Breakfast is important to the Vendors as it is the start of the day for many of them before the visitors get to the field. Rumors abound that the Waterville Rotary has added some Blueberries to the pancakes in the past - depending on picking schedules - and that’s has been a hit for the breakfast crowd. We've also strayed in other areas with the likes of chicken parm sandwiches at lunch time, but most of the menus are preset by the management of the show. The pricing is also preset and is the same at all the food areas.”

We're off to find a "food tent." Our favorite, for breakfast, is Howard Johnson's -
remember those restaurants with the orange roofs that used to be all over the country and offered those famous 28 flavors of ice cream? The one here in Lake Placid is one of only FOUR left in the country, and it's still run by the Butlers, who opened it 50 years ago!

We've been coming here nearly that long and are delighted that a huge company has been formed to resuscitate the whole Ho-Jo image and bring orange roofs (and twenty-eight flavors) back to the country!

They're Still Here!

The "High Peaks" are just where we left them:

"Avalanch" and "Algonquin," next to "Indian Pass," and all the rest of the forty-six summits that rise above 4,000 feet.


The Olympic Ski Jumps are still larger than life.

Neither the sky-high costs of gasoline nor lodging seem to be having any adverse effects on the Tourist Trade:
signs at hotels and motels say "No Vacancy" and Main Street is as jam-packed as we have ever seen it.

Just a random observation: there are MANY designated cross-walks on Main Street in Lake Placid and pedestrians have the right of way. As soon as anyone on foot steps into one of the cross-walks, traffic comes to a polite stop - in both directions - assuring them a speedy and safe cross-over to the other side of the street.

We found the parking lots out at ADK (the Adirondack Mountain Club) full, too. and guess that it's "bumper-to-bumper" foot traffic on the High Peaks trails, as well!

Away from trails, in the dark woods, Bunch Berries are bright even in the shade.

Tuesday

Happy Birthday, Allison!

The WKTV Weather forecast sounds good! Tuesday: Gradual clearing in the morning. Then sun and clouds, with perhaps a shower, primarily in the Adirondacks or hilltops south of Utica. High in the upper 70s
Tuesday night: Mainly clear and cool. Low around 55.
Wednesday: Mostly sunny and pleasant. High: 76, Low: 54

..... and the Weather Channel charts it this way:



Here in Lake Placid, there is alot of nice blue sky; the sun is shining, and the requisit layers of fog and mist hang in valleys between the mountains.

The Tigers chewed up Boston's Sox and the Yankees won, so the standings changer again!



A "reporter" in Waterville writes that, as far as she could tell, " Main St was relatively quiet yesterday. Crews were still fussing with brickwork here and there and continued to improve connecting bits between driveways and sidewalk.

Waterville Public Library booksale very busy at 10.30. Seemed to be selling well but thousands more books to sell ...
THE GARDEN at the Library was very dry and one fellow watering everything while others continued planting." She also remqarks that, " It is just great to see so much use being made of the Library. Older people using computers, mothers with strollers and even people enjoying the armchairs and reading various newspapers." She had been at the Hamilton Library on Saturday and thought that " it looked so old fashioned and crowded and dowdy."

And Mrs. Davis sent this jewel-like picture of berries on her Mt. Ash tree.



Here are just a few "Social Notes" excerpted from "In Timely Manner" - the writer's column for the Waterville Times - which reaches the "newsstands" soon after noon, today.

Mrs. Spearing, of Madison Street, accompanied by her daughter, LeeAnne Miller, spent a few days visiting her son Arthur and his family in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Joined there by her other daughter, Sharon, they all attended the high school graduation of Arthur’s son and then toured Amish country, which Sharon had never seen. Mrs. Spearing might have stayed in Harrisburg longer, but LeeAnne is the owner of Cottage Rose Antiques, one of the loveliest shops in Bouckville, and at this time of the year, no antique dealer would want to be elsewhere.

The Strohmeyers , of Putnam Street, have returned from visiting Mrs. Strohmeyer’s mother at her summer home in Bar Harbor, Maine. While there, they stuffed all the mussels, lobsters, clam chowder, tennis and kayaking into themselves and two short weeks’ time as was possible!

Mrs. Davis, of Sanger Avenue, was the weekend guest of her sister and brother-in-law, Joan and Clarence Carpenter, at their summer home on "Silver Birch Point," on First Lake in the Fulton Chain.

Congratulations to Jason Acker, the son of Gary Acker and Deborah Mayne, and Courtney Johnson, the daughter of Gary & Sheila Johnson of Oriskany Falls, who were married on July first at the White Eagle Conference Center in Hamilton. The newlyweds reside on Daytonville Road.

Mrs. Frances Mayne of Waterville had house guests on July 29th and 30th when her nephew Matt Manion and his daughters Olivia and Geneva stopped in on their way from a vacation in Rhode Island on their way back to their home in Richmond, Virginia. Frances, Doug & Deb Mayne, Matt, Olivia, Geneva, Lindsey Mayne and her guest, Brent Gilchrist, all met for dinner at Michael's on Saturday, the 29th.

That same day, a surprise birthday party was held at Cavallo's in New Hartford for twins Jason and Daniel Acker, who celebrated a "special" birthday!

And what a Special way to celebrate their Fiftieth Anniversary: Norm and Carol Tower’s five children, their spouses and seventeen grandchildren were all together at the Towers’ Summer Camp on Madison Lake, last week. After a special Mass at St. Bernard's Catholic Church on Saturday, all twenty-nine of them had dinner at the Landmark, in Bouckville. It surely was a “golden” family gathering for all of them!

Monday A.M.

It's a little over 50 degrees out at 6:00; the sky's nice and blue and there are a few puffy clouds.

Here are the Weather Channel's forecast for the day.....

and the MLB standings following yesterday afternoon's games.

Lake Placid from Whiteface Mountain

We're aiming Northward for a few days of Mountain Scenery, stopping - of course - at the Old Forge Hardware Store, then in Eagle Bay for some of those doughnuts that are famous even this far away and slowing down to see if there are any early blooms on the Fringed Gentian south of Inlet.







We will have internet access up North and I'll be posting some "Social Notes," later on today. If you want to send me some "Breaking News" from Waterville, I'll be glad to post that, too!

Email the Writer

Browsing Bouckville

Surrounded by low hills, fields of corn and occasional pastures of cattle,
the Main Field sits empty, grids laid out
waiting for its 1,000 vendors to arrive.
The huge tents in the center of the field may be the food tents:
"first things first!"

Backstage, in the enormous parking lot, the story's the same:
no action, but aisles are marked and - in the far distance - a row of
"porta-potties" is in place.

In some fields next to the highway monster tents are being assembled by
six- and eight-man crews, and signs read:
"Spaces for Rent."

But in many front yards right along the sides of Route 20, the hurry and bustle is on and the vendors race to unpack campers, vans and trailers even as the first collectors slow down and browse from car windows.

There's something for everyone!



From postcards and sheet music to vintage jewelry and carved indians and Granny's rocker and Grandpa's Flexible Flyer ---



and, in most cases, "everyone" will have found "something" to take home.






Madison-Bouckville Information

A Shiney Sunday Morning

It looks as if it's going to be a bright and dazzling day, and The Weather Channel agrees.



Baseball fans will be torn: to play outdoors or watch the play inside!

The Yankees take on the Angels in the Bronx at 1:05 and Baltimore meets Boston again, today, at the Fenway at 2:05.

This blog was never intended to be my personal "soap box," but please bear with me for a minute or two.

My grandmother’s favorite grace, which she insisted be said before all meals, with everyone holding hands around the table, was: “For these and all His mercies, God’s Holy name be praised.” My first recollection of learning these words well enough to please her and join the ritual chorus - sometime during the Second World War, when we ate alot of oatmeal sweetened with Karo syrup - brings back the clear sense that, at that stage in my life, the best “mercies” were mashed potato, chicken with gravy and cranberry sauce. It certainly never occurred to me, then, that “mercies” could include the kindnesses and generosity of everyday people!

Early this morning, those words were brought back to me. “This is Mercy Flight. Our ETA is four minutes.”

"Mercy Flight's" spotlight shone across the village as the helicoptor rose from the high school grounds and turned toward Syracuse.

It had begun some time after two o’clock when the siren rang. Scanners throughout the community were clicked on and, for more than two hours, listeners followed the actions of first our own Waterville Volunteer Ambulance Corps as members rushed to the scene of a motor vehicle accident. Then the “mutual aid” of Oriskany Falls Volunteer Ambulance personnel, who brought the “jaws of life” to the site; a NYSEG crew, hurrying to deal with power lines, and - at around 4:30 - the sound of helicopter rotors as Mercy Flight circled to land at the High School in what must have been a carefully pre-planned rescue maneuver.

We don’t need to know how the accident happened or who the injured was to count the many “mercies” that saved a life, last night, and that are there for all of us to count - and count on.

You can read about Mercy Flight on the internet and find an address to write to, but I couldn’t find any web address or link to WAVAC (the Waterville Volunteer Ambulance Corps) or the Oriskany Falls Ambulance or the Waterville Fire Department. If I had, I’d have sent a quick E-mails to say: “Thanks for being there for all of us!”

Email the Writer