Saturday

It's about 50 degrees and gray.

It rained most of the night, I think, but there's no precipitation right now.

• Saturday: Scattered rain showers in the morning and early afternoon. Otherwise, sun and clouds. High: 64
• Saturday Night: Mainly clear and cold. Frost possible in the North Country. Low: 43, but pockets of 30s in the Adirondacks and North Country
• Sunday: A mix of sun and clouds. High: 68, Low: 50

IDOL competition starts at 8:00 P.M.
with doors opening between 7:15 and 7:30 P.M.

Judging depends, in part, on audience reaction!

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This gives new meaning to the word "OPEN"!

Something's happening!
(The other bays are in working order, so you don't have to drive around with a dirty car!)


The signs in Mac's windows read:
"Coming Soon - HAP'S"
and, for many, it can't be soon enough!

There was a fairly steady stream of traffic in this part of Waterville, today: people getting a last look and taking a last picture or two of "Putnam Hall" - a.k.a. "the mill." According to Mr. Bechy, large equipment is now scheduled to arrive on Monday morning.

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About those BIG hay bales: Mabel Bushee wrote that: "In answer to your question on square bales - farmers are starting to use the larger bales (bales between 1,000 to 2,000 pounds) because one bale is the equivalent of 20-40 small bales - thus making less handling. The balers have a larger capacity when picking up hay so less windrows are needed; saving ground time. Disadvantages - hard to utilize in smaller tie stall barns because of weight and lack of room." And later on she told me that the wagons that are used to collect those huge bales actually pre-stack them, automatically, into the sort of "walls" that I'd seen up North and deposit them, that way, right into the storage area - whether it's indoors or out.

You don't need to go to Bouckville to find Antiques and Treasures: the Boy Scout Rummage Sale on Hanover Road offers everything from lovely old rocking chairs to skiis and boots; computers pieces and parts, household goods, clothing and toys and .............. whatever you want, I'm sure they have it! Open again today from 9:00 to 5:00.


Have you notice how pretty the Furness home on Osborn Avenue looks with its new pale green paint? It was a Christmas gift, actually, from "the kids" who gave Bill and Myrt a present of Bill Vetter and his crew and their ladders and brushes and paint cans all wrapped up with the Season's Best Wishes!

First it was Mrs. Davis who picked out house paint that looked just like Coffee Ice Cream (with French Vanilla trim!) and now the residence at 202 Sanger Avenue has that same, lovely combination.

It's been very busy at the Burbacks', recently, but I don't think the the color of their home has changed - or has it?

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SPECIAL NOTE!

The "MOHAWK VALLEY LIVING" film crew will be in Waterville on Wednesday! The last time they were here, we were covered in mud and dust. What a change they'll find, when the see us now!!!

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Have a great weekend. See you Monday Morning!

Friday morning

It's 49 degrees and sunny.

Great Day for the Boy Scout Rummage Sale
at 1518 Hanover Road!

• Friday: A mix of sun and clouds. Afternoon rain showers likely, with a few thunderstorms containing small hail possible. High in the upper 60s to near 70.

• Friday night: Partly cloudy with rain showers likely. Low in the upper 40s.
• Saturday: Scattered rain showers. Otherwise, sun and clouds. High: 66
• Saturday Night: Mainly clear and cold. Frost possible in the North Country. Low: 43, but pockets of 30s in the Adirondacks and North Country
• Sunday: A mix of sun and clouds. High: 68, Low: 50

From the Observer-Dispatch: Last Surviving Ward Brother Dies in Munnsville.

Yesterday afternoon/evening's thunderstorm missed Waterville, but areas to the North got whipped.

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This might be the day that you'll get your last look at a landmark;
one which played a large part in Waterville's history.

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The next REO photographs were taken yesterday.





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Over in Bouckville, it was getting busy. At around noontime, traffic on Route 20 was bumper-to-bumper.


There were lots of lookers ...........


and a fair number of shoppers.

On Canal Road - between the Landmark Tavern and Route 46 North of Hamilton, hundreds of dealers waited for one o'clock and the opening of the main field.

Quite unaware and unruffled by any other events in the world, a beautiful white egret fished in the pond at Lyon's Mills.

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Today, if you're driving from Waterville to Clinton by way of Hanover - where the view is best - slow down and give a thought to a man who was born in the white farmhouse on Grant Hill two-hundred years ago today.


In June 1835 Asahel Grant, M.D., sailed from Boston with his bride Judith to heal the sick and save the world. Their destination: the town of Urmia, in northwest Iran. Their intended flock: the Nestorian Christians who lived there and in the mountains of Hakkari, across the border in Turkish Kurdistan.

Into the next eight years Grant packed ten lifetimes’ worth of danger, traversing deserts and glaciers, tending the sick, breaking bread with thieves and murderers, and narrowly escaping death from drowning, disease, and assassination. By 1840 he had lost Judith and two daughters to disease; yet by the time he died, at age 36, everyone in the mountains knew his name, and thirty years later Muslims, Christians, and Jews still spoke of "Hakim Grant" with reverence. Grant is buried in Mosul, Iraq, where he died in 1844.

Gordon Taylor's book about Grant - Fever & Thirst - is available at the Waterville Public Library and the Deansboro Library.

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It'll be a twin bill at Fenway, starting at 1:05, when the Sox host the Angels.

Have a Great Weekend!

Thursday

It's Garbage Day, Again!


54.3 degrees

WKTV predicts:

• Thursday: Clouds and some sun in the morning. Showers and thunderstorms likely anytime after Noon. Any storm has the ability to be strong and produce gusty, damaging winds. High in the low 80s.
• Thursday night: Partly cloudy with early storms, then a chance of showers. Low in the mid 50s.
• Friday: Clouds and sun with showers and a few thunderstorms. Breezy and much cooler. High: 69, Low: 49

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Over two weeks ago, while I was away, there was an impressive ceremony at the Sewage Treatment Plant and Lou Langone was presented - yet again - with an award from the DEC. (Photo by R. Ostreander.)

The plaque is in the display case at the Municipal Hall.

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More crunching took place at the old mill, yesterday, and by afternoon all of the frame structure had been demolished. The crew had also removed the boiler - made in Buffalo in 1864 and weighing, by their estimate, about 15 ton.

Over at the Historical Society, on White Street: two old men playing checkers!
(And I did ask their permission to refer to them, erroneously, as "old"!)

Out on Madison Street, I stopped to watch a lad driving a forklift, stacking bales of hay one atop another, while someone else drove a baler in another part of the field. To me, the bales seemed especially large - larger than our old-fashioned oblong bales. (Perhaps some reader will provide more information?)


I'd seen similar when I was driving up to the St. Lawrence, stacked in high rows - or walls - some more expertly than others.

Last evening in the Park.

A good gathering for a fun concert by John Savage and his band - "The Vintage Youth" - presenting American Idol hopeful, his daughter, Lucy Savage! Lucy's next competitive round for the Idol spot comes Saturday at RFA - with performances rated, in part, but audience reaction! (More specific time, when I can find out.)

The Smile of the Day!

Lucy's grandma! Lois Newsom.

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There will be more music - "The Wooden Spoon" will stir it up at "Michael's" on Saturday night.

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Don't Forget the

HUGE MULTI-FAMILY BOY SCOUT

GARAGE SALE

on Friday & Saturday from 9 - 5

at 1518 Hanover Road.

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Wednesday

It's 58 degrees.

Recyclables!

and Farmer's Market Day, too!

(I think it will still start at 1:00, and I do know that it will be in the Park.)




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The WKTV Forecast

• Wednesday: A hit or miss shower or storm possible in the morning and early afternoon. Otherwise a mix of sun and clouds. Highs in the upper 70s to near 80.
• Wednesday night: Partly cloudy to mainly clear. Pleasant. Low in the mid 50s.
• Thursday: A mix of sun and clouds with showers and locally heavy storms likely late in the day and into the night. High: 82, Low: 58

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There was a lovely gathering in the Garden at the Waterville Public Library, yesterday afternoon. Members of the Library Board and Director Jeff Reynolds had arranged a small reception - and absolutely beautiful weather! - to meet the smiling, white-haired lady from New Hartford whose generosity and love for her late husband have given this community that unusually beautiful spot.

"Betty" Lally, Library Director Jeff Reynolds and Board Member Nicki Suba.

Board President Steve Keating presented Mrs. Lally with a photograph album of some pictures I'd taken in the garden over the past year and Board Member Attorney Mark Barnes presented Mrs. Lally with a plaque naming the garden the Howard H. Lally Community Garden and two small, metal signs that were placed in the garden.

After lemonade and treats under the pergola, Mrs. Lally posed with the Board.

From left: Mark Barnes, Mrs. Lally, Mary Ann Ford, Beverly Gibbons, Mr. Reynolds, Christine Rudicoff, Nicki Suba and Board President, Steve Keating.

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On Main Street, the new "Subway" sign had been hung.

The Mill looks the same as it did day-before-yesterday: the crunched up remains of the frame portion are being shuffled into a pile close to the side driveway to C&H Plastics where a huge truck awaits.

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On Hanover Road, not far from town, I spotted first this Vegetable Stand .........

............. and then this car and driver! I don't know the gentleman's name, but (over the noise of the engine) I think he said, "Oh, I'm just having fun!)


Perhaps he's a descendant of George Snell, who invented this automobile, here in Waterville, around 1900. It ran at 15 m.p.h., and was considered too fast for village roads!

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Tuesday

First things first:

THANK YOU!

I don't know who did it, but someone picked up the litter!

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It's Metals Day!

48 degrees.

• Today: Mostly sunny and spectacular. High in the mid 70s.
• Tonight: Partly cloudy. A spotty t-storm late. Low in the mid 50s.
• Wednesday: A mix of sun and clouds with a chance of a few showers or thunderstorms, mainly early. High: 78, Low: 57

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The crunching began yesterday.


About half of the frame portion of the mill was razed ........

... and that section which had already collapsed was being compressed to kindling.

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There's a very nice article in today's O-D about Bob Card and Helen Zyma and the work that they've done to restore the old Strand Theater in Old Forge. Bob also owns the old Methodist Church on White Street and the Waterville Opera House. (Which we still hope to see restored, as well!)

I drove over the portion of Lewis Road that lies to the East of Route 12, yesterday afternoon.

There's just one house, there - a fairly new one -

with a really fantastic view!

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Mary Campbell sent me this photograph of Sean and Joel taken by Terry Tanner.

It was quite a site in Hamilton, Saturday, as Anaheim Ducks star Andy McDonald brought The Stanley Cup to Hamilton and his alma mater, Colgate University. McDonald graduated from Colgate in 2000, and fans were treated to an hour worth of autographs, pictures, and celebrating with McDonald and his family. Andy landed in the jet of another Colgate graduate and the cup had its own seat. His wife, his friends and his fans surrounded McDonald with his trophy by his side. You could clearly see his pride in winning the cup and sharing it with the Colgate community.

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LOOKING BACK

Six months ago today!


Roads closed!

East Main Street

Tom Stiles shoveling my sidewalk!

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Have a Great Day!