Two major Madison County arts and
historical organizations are collaborating on a series of events to
commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Civil War.
The Earlville
Opera House Multi-Arts Center and the Annual Peterboro Civil War
Weekend have developed two historical and musical programs to provide
education and entertainment about the War Between the States.
The 20th annual Peterboro Civil War Weekend will be held June 19 and 20.
The
first collaborative event took place on May 19 at the historic Madison
Hall in Morrisville. Hugh C. Humphreys hosted “John Brown’s Ghost: From
Madison County to Harpers Ferry,” which highlighted Madison County’s
profound role in the support of John Brown. Greg Artzner and Terri
Leonino comprised the musical duo “Magpie,” which entertained in the
performance.
On Friday, June 8 at 7:30 p.m. the
Earlville Opera House presents “Four Seasons, Four Years - The Civil
War, A Musical Journey.” Magpie returns with nine other upstate New York
musicians performing popular songs of the era (1820-1865).
Tickets for this event are available at the door, by calling 691-3551 and online at :
www.earlvilleoperahouse.com
The
Peterboro Weekend will be held June 9 and 10 and if you have never
visited one of the weekends this is the year to do so with the 20th
annual event and the 150th anniversary of the Civil War. There is
something going on those two days to attract everyone. Special programs
for the children are planned with participation for those interested.
The general admission is $8 for adults, $3 for children 6-12 and younger
than 5 free. Family rates are available - ask at the gate. The hours
are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday.
A
mock battle will be held at 2 p.m. both days, music of the times,
military camps will be exhibited, costumed historians will be available.
A special Saturday evening concert will be held at 8 p.m. with the 77th
NY Regimental Balladeers to be held at the Community Center. Tickets
are $10 at the door.
There will be food available booth days
supplied by various organizations including the Peterboro United
Methodist Church and the Smithfield Fire Department. A unique country
store in the manner of Civil War days offers a souvenirs and books.
Modern day production of clothing, utensils and articles are also
offered for purchase.
Each year a Civil War ballroom
dance has been held at the firemen’s building with those attending
invited to wear period costumes of the times or conventional dress is
also welcomed.
The Peterboro Civil War Weekend is a wonderful
opportunity for children as well as adults to learn additional
information on the War Between the States to be revisited by adults and
extra points for school-age kids when they study history.
Proceeds
from the Peterboro event are used to preserve and promote the Gerrit
Smith Estate, a National Historic Landmark, and the Smithfield Community
Center, home of the National Abolition Hall of Fame and Museum.
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Memorial Day signals start of summer, but also bears a solemn meaning
Here comes Memorial Day weekend, the first long holiday for the summer. Isn’t it great?
By now you have probably made lots of plans. The camp is open; the boat is in the lake; the garden is planted.
Outdoor grills have been out since March, along with the picnic tables and chairs
The deck is cleaned and you can sit back and enjoy a holiday weekend.
Memorial Day is still an old-fashioned holiday where the ones who have died are remembered and the holiday is celebrated much as it was a hundred years ago.
The festivities begin with the parade in which all of the armed forces are represented and politicians make speeches. All of the veterans’ graves are clearly marked with American flags and cemeteries are all mowed and spruced up for the occasion.
People who have moved away make the trip back to their hometown to take part in the celebration or to decorate the burial places of their loved ones. It is a time when folks who are visiting the cemetery run into former neighbors and it’s just like “old home week,” catching up with old friends.
Fortunately in Canastota we have two veterans’ organizations, the Charles Miller Post No. 140 American Legion and the VFW Post No. 600 that organize a parade and prepare a ceremony at our veterans’ memorial in Clark Park.
There are speakers and the placing of flags representing all the persons from our community who sacrificed their lives to keep our country free.
Our community is fortunate in having these veterans’ groups that perform so many ceremonies at various occasions.
They are always so willing to assist when called upon to help in the community.
So, this weekend your neighbors will have the pool filled to capacity, the grill will be going full steam, the sound system will have music playing the latest tunes and the young people will be enjoying themselves.
The seniors will be watching them enjoying their activities.
Mom and Dad will be doing most of work, running back and forth to the house, standing over the grill and being sure everyone is happy and safe.
Mom or Grandma will be looking after the smaller children, seeing to it that the little ones have their swim suits on and, once in the water, keep watch of them.
But did you ever know a two- or three-year-old who once in the water had to go to the bathroom so out they would come and on the way see the hot dogs on the griddle and would want one of those and wouldn’t go back in the pool again even though that was all they wanted to do originally?
Have a great time and a safe Memorial Day.
By now you have probably made lots of plans. The camp is open; the boat is in the lake; the garden is planted.
Outdoor grills have been out since March, along with the picnic tables and chairs
The deck is cleaned and you can sit back and enjoy a holiday weekend.
Memorial Day is still an old-fashioned holiday where the ones who have died are remembered and the holiday is celebrated much as it was a hundred years ago.
The festivities begin with the parade in which all of the armed forces are represented and politicians make speeches. All of the veterans’ graves are clearly marked with American flags and cemeteries are all mowed and spruced up for the occasion.
People who have moved away make the trip back to their hometown to take part in the celebration or to decorate the burial places of their loved ones. It is a time when folks who are visiting the cemetery run into former neighbors and it’s just like “old home week,” catching up with old friends.
Fortunately in Canastota we have two veterans’ organizations, the Charles Miller Post No. 140 American Legion and the VFW Post No. 600 that organize a parade and prepare a ceremony at our veterans’ memorial in Clark Park.
There are speakers and the placing of flags representing all the persons from our community who sacrificed their lives to keep our country free.
Our community is fortunate in having these veterans’ groups that perform so many ceremonies at various occasions.
They are always so willing to assist when called upon to help in the community.
So, this weekend your neighbors will have the pool filled to capacity, the grill will be going full steam, the sound system will have music playing the latest tunes and the young people will be enjoying themselves.
The seniors will be watching them enjoying their activities.
Mom and Dad will be doing most of work, running back and forth to the house, standing over the grill and being sure everyone is happy and safe.
Mom or Grandma will be looking after the smaller children, seeing to it that the little ones have their swim suits on and, once in the water, keep watch of them.
But did you ever know a two- or three-year-old who once in the water had to go to the bathroom so out they would come and on the way see the hot dogs on the griddle and would want one of those and wouldn’t go back in the pool again even though that was all they wanted to do originally?
Have a great time and a safe Memorial Day.
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Clothes don't grow on trees
They come in handy when you don’t have a closet or you a place to hang your garments.
We were discussing clothes trees the other day when we visited a shop with no place for customers’ coats.
One of the little children wanted to know what it was because she had never seen one.
They come in wood, brass, stainless steel, plastic as well as wicker. We have seen some modern ones in offices, restaurants and classrooms.
They can solve the problem of where to put your outer garment at work.
They provide a convenient place in the bathroom to hang your robe while bathing.
I came from a family of carpenters, so we has plenty of clothes trees.
We even had some small ones for the children to hang up their own coats.
Today, one of our nieces put a wicker one in her kids’ rooms for their night clothes.
In one of our bedrooms there isn’t a closet; there are two large clothes trees, one on each side of the bed.
There is a large closet down the hall where those who use that bedroom keep their garments.
A corner closet was always going to be built in that room, but it hasn’t happened yet.
In your children’s rooms are hooks low enough for the kids to hang their things? This is something so convenient for them.
When we were growing up, the kids had our own hooks and places for our footwear in inclement weather.
They are still there and when our small relatives come for visits they put the hooks into good use.
This is a wonderful arrangement because you don’t have coats, jackets and caps strung all over the house.
In stores, magazines and catalogs you see small stools decorated to attract children and they are quite expensive.
You can make your own wooden box as a step stool for the small children to place at the sink for them to wash up.
A few scraps of wood can be used to make the box for the children to stand on.
Sometimes a child will move a chair up to the sink, but the chair can slip and the child can fall and sometimes get hurt badly.There is a large closet down the hall where those who use that bedroom keep their garments.
A corner closet was always going to be built in that room, but it hasn’t happened yet.
In your children’s rooms are hooks low enough for the kids to hang their things? This is something so convenient for them.
When we were growing up, the kids had our own hooks and places for our footwear in inclement weather.
They are still there and when our small relatives come for visits they put the hooks into good use.
This is a wonderful arrangement because you don’t have coats, jackets and caps strung all over the house.
In stores, magazines and catalogs you see small stools decorated to attract children and they are quite expensive.
You can make your own wooden box as a step stool for the small children to place at the sink for them to wash up.
A few scraps of wood can be used to make the box for the children to stand on.
If you have a child who belongs to a Scout troop who has younger siblings, they could suggest to the leader they might construct such boxes to be used at home or maybe as a fundraiser
In many homes you might see low shelves holding trucks, cars, games, books, blocks, Legos and the like for the children to play with and then return to the shelves.
The person who thought of that construction was very smart and thoughtful to kids.
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Moms amaze me yet
Aren’t moms wonderful? We wonder how moms do it all. Moms are miracle workers who sometimes do what seems impossible.
Remember when you asked for cookies for the party in school? You forgot to tell Mom about it until the night before!
Or, you needed the right costume and, here again, you didn’t mention it until the day before you needed it; you knew Mom would come through with whatever it was.
My mom didn’t believe in corporal punishment. My sister and I were never spanked, and we weren’t perfect.
The only time I can remember my mom coming close was when my sister and I were scrapping and my sister hit the beautiful enormous fern that stood by the window - my mother’s favorite plant. Over it went with a crash that could be heard by mother. When she came into the living room she had to restrain herself from giving my sister a good slap.
Can you imagine our surprise? Mom was just as shocked.
The only reprimand she was ever known to give us when necessary was, “If you don’t stop it, I will tell your father,” and we knew it was time to straighten up and behave.
Poppa, when told about one of our misdeeds, would only have to give us “the look” as my sister and I called it, and we knew.
Father was of German descent and he could make us shrink when he looked at us sternly, as did our grandfather who lived in the other side of our duplex home.
Do you still remember any of the things you made in school to give to your mom? Does she still have it or them? Sometimes what you made wasn’t all that bad and she would tell you how great it was. Sometimes, even if it wasn’t so great, they would still praise it and place it in a spot where everyone could see it. Sometimes dad would take a gift to the office and place it on his desk. Didn’t that make you proud?
We all know that sometimes we would get pretty upset with our parents when they wouldn’t allow us to do something that we really wanted to do. They had the last word and you had to abide by it. But looking back, usually they were right and had your best interest at heart. You just didn’t recognize it at the time.
Remember Mom on Sunday. Take her out to dinner, buy her flowers, perfume, candy or all three. Take her for a ride to some place she would like visit.
She probably has a few odd jobs that need to be done. Take the time to do do them.
Whatever you do, wish her a happy Mother’s Day.
Remember when you asked for cookies for the party in school? You forgot to tell Mom about it until the night before!
Or, you needed the right costume and, here again, you didn’t mention it until the day before you needed it; you knew Mom would come through with whatever it was.
My mom didn’t believe in corporal punishment. My sister and I were never spanked, and we weren’t perfect.
The only time I can remember my mom coming close was when my sister and I were scrapping and my sister hit the beautiful enormous fern that stood by the window - my mother’s favorite plant. Over it went with a crash that could be heard by mother. When she came into the living room she had to restrain herself from giving my sister a good slap.
Can you imagine our surprise? Mom was just as shocked.
The only reprimand she was ever known to give us when necessary was, “If you don’t stop it, I will tell your father,” and we knew it was time to straighten up and behave.
Poppa, when told about one of our misdeeds, would only have to give us “the look” as my sister and I called it, and we knew.
Father was of German descent and he could make us shrink when he looked at us sternly, as did our grandfather who lived in the other side of our duplex home.
Do you still remember any of the things you made in school to give to your mom? Does she still have it or them? Sometimes what you made wasn’t all that bad and she would tell you how great it was. Sometimes, even if it wasn’t so great, they would still praise it and place it in a spot where everyone could see it. Sometimes dad would take a gift to the office and place it on his desk. Didn’t that make you proud?
We all know that sometimes we would get pretty upset with our parents when they wouldn’t allow us to do something that we really wanted to do. They had the last word and you had to abide by it. But looking back, usually they were right and had your best interest at heart. You just didn’t recognize it at the time.
Remember Mom on Sunday. Take her out to dinner, buy her flowers, perfume, candy or all three. Take her for a ride to some place she would like visit.
She probably has a few odd jobs that need to be done. Take the time to do do them.
Whatever you do, wish her a happy Mother’s Day.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Unpredictable weather leaves gardeners with questions
My bouquet of pussy willows and butterfly
bush needed refreshing. The yellow flowers are artificial but the pussy
willows come from my own tree.
I didn’t think they’d be in bloom in late March. Wrong.
The tree is not visible from the windows, so I walked to the far reaches of our “ranch” to see how the willows were coming.
Would you believe they had all blossomed (or whatever they do) and gone to seed? No fresh willows for the bouquet this year.
The tulips I’ve had for years came up
like they do every year, but no blossoms. Why? I read in the newspaper
that other long-time tulip growers didn’t get blossoms this year,
either. It was our extraordinary climate. Seems when the bud was
supposed to form, the temperature wasn’t right. New tulips planted last
fall weren’t affected and those folks had an array of blossoms.
I made up my mind that I would not mow any lawn in the month of March in New York state, so our grass became almost knee-deep before April arrived. I was tempted to find a farmer with goats to help me out, but I held my ground.
My service guy, Matt, delivered my tuned-up mower in March, but I didn’t start it up until April 6. Do you know how it is to mow through grass that high? My neighbor came over a few days after that and good-naturedly chastised me for mowing so early ... he’s waiting until May. Good luck to him.
When I called my lawnmower guy to remind him my machine needed to be serviced I chatted along with him as I usually do before getting to the reason I called. His answer was “when I get home I will be right down to get it, you are talking to me in Daytona Beach, Florida.” And I thought it was Clockville. I guess I will never get used to these cellphones.
Do you realize we will be mowing for at least seven months? That seems like an awful lot of lawnmowing. It’s good exercise, I’m told.
I’ve been asked if I’m going to plant a garden. Yes; I’ll have my tomatoes, squash, peppers and cukes. But what will the growing season be like? I have been in conversation with other small gardeners with the same questions.
Will it be unpredictable like our winter? Suppose we have all the wet rain to make up for the missing snow? Or will it be really hot because our winter was so mild? Or, will we get cool or abnormal temperatures? It’s whatever we get, so we will just have to take a chance and either decide to not garden this year, or plant and hope for the best. Mother Nature is the only one who decides what we will get, not the meteorologists who are as perplexed as we are.
Now, about the bugs. I’ve heard because of the mild winter, they will be out in record numbers this year. Isn’t that great? Mosquitoes are annoying, but can also be dangerous to our health. It’s probably best to stock up on all the sprays and lotions and try not to destroy the bugs that are good for our plant and environment.
I think it’s going to be an interesting summer, don’t you think?
I didn’t think they’d be in bloom in late March. Wrong.
The tree is not visible from the windows, so I walked to the far reaches of our “ranch” to see how the willows were coming.
Would you believe they had all blossomed (or whatever they do) and gone to seed? No fresh willows for the bouquet this year.
I made up my mind that I would not mow any lawn in the month of March in New York state, so our grass became almost knee-deep before April arrived. I was tempted to find a farmer with goats to help me out, but I held my ground.
My service guy, Matt, delivered my tuned-up mower in March, but I didn’t start it up until April 6. Do you know how it is to mow through grass that high? My neighbor came over a few days after that and good-naturedly chastised me for mowing so early ... he’s waiting until May. Good luck to him.
When I called my lawnmower guy to remind him my machine needed to be serviced I chatted along with him as I usually do before getting to the reason I called. His answer was “when I get home I will be right down to get it, you are talking to me in Daytona Beach, Florida.” And I thought it was Clockville. I guess I will never get used to these cellphones.
Do you realize we will be mowing for at least seven months? That seems like an awful lot of lawnmowing. It’s good exercise, I’m told.
I’ve been asked if I’m going to plant a garden. Yes; I’ll have my tomatoes, squash, peppers and cukes. But what will the growing season be like? I have been in conversation with other small gardeners with the same questions.
Will it be unpredictable like our winter? Suppose we have all the wet rain to make up for the missing snow? Or will it be really hot because our winter was so mild? Or, will we get cool or abnormal temperatures? It’s whatever we get, so we will just have to take a chance and either decide to not garden this year, or plant and hope for the best. Mother Nature is the only one who decides what we will get, not the meteorologists who are as perplexed as we are.
Now, about the bugs. I’ve heard because of the mild winter, they will be out in record numbers this year. Isn’t that great? Mosquitoes are annoying, but can also be dangerous to our health. It’s probably best to stock up on all the sprays and lotions and try not to destroy the bugs that are good for our plant and environment.
I think it’s going to be an interesting summer, don’t you think?
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