Mohawk Valley Living #42 March 2017

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MARCH 2017

42

2017 Season

Presenting World-Class Music, Theater, & Dance!

Brainstorm!

Sunday, March 9th at 3pm Free Admission

Heather Buchman conducts the Hamilton College Orchestra in Brainstorm! New World Symphony – What Is American Music? featuring Antonin Dvoråk Symphony No. 9.

The Acting Company:

X, or Betty Shabazz vs. the Nation

A new play by Marcus Gardley brings the assassination of Malcolm X to vivid, lyrical life.

Saturday, April 1, 7:30pm

Julius Caesar by William Shakespeare

Tackling essential questions about the balance of ambition, personal loyalty, and love of country, this timless masterpiece has never been more relevant.

Sunday, April 2, 2pm Tickets: $20/$15/$5 Call (315) 859-4331

Box office information and tickets (315) 859-4331 www.hamilton.edu/college/performingarts

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Next Issue:

Get the Sap Flowing!

April 1st

by Sharry L. Whitney

Available exclusively at our sponsors.

Visit our website for a complete list of pick-up locations.

contents 6 10 13 14 16 22 25 27 30 32 35 38 40 41 50 54 55 61 64 67 73 74 75

Oneida County Historical Society ADK Journal MV Astronomy Club Consignment Shopping Family Fun at the Root Farm Murder Mystery Downtown Utica Gallery Guide Killabrew Saloon MV Nature, March On the Farm with Suzie MV Gardens & Recipes Local Arts Matt Perry’s Nature Maple Syrup Producers Local CD Review Restaurant Guide Antiques Guide Herkimer Co. Historical Society Tales from Shawangunk, Part 30 MV Comics Live & Local Music Scene Advertiser Directory

March is maple syrup month. The trees warm in the early spring sun and the sap begins to flow.

The trees aren’t the only things that seem to come back to life. Everyone and everything seems affected by the longer days and sunshine. My pale houseplants, that I just started to worry about, have new vigor. I think that’s why I enjoy the seasons in our area so much. Our lives are so connected to the changing weather. Spring is the season of anticipation. My father always told me, when I complained as a child about waiting in line for an event or attraction, that anticipation is part of the fun.

In this month’s issue, Denise Szarek writes about seeds and the hopes and plans she has for their farm this season. Gary VanRiper writes about eagerly prepping for his Adirondack hikes this year. Even after decades of following their pursuits, these writers are still like kids eagerly awaiting the return of their favorite activities.

We hope this issue inspires you and gets the sap flowing! •

Do you have the “Luck of the Irish”? Be sure to check out and “like” our Facebook page to be entered to win one of two $100 gift certificates to any Mohawk Valley Living restaurant!

Deadline is Friday, March 10th. Good luck!

Correction: In February’s recipe Copper Coins, we left out the 2 T. brown sugar and the final step: In a large bowl add the carrots, onions, and green peppers, pour in the marinade, cover and refrigerate at least 2 hours, but better overnight.

This will keep in your fridge for several days.

MOHAWK VALLEY LIVING MAGAZINE MARCH 2017

PUBLISHERS Lance and Sharry Whitney EDITOR Sharry L. Whitney DESIGN & LAYOUT Lance David Whitney ASSISTANT EDITORS Shelley Delosh Jorge L. Hernández ADVERTISING EXECUTIVE Susan Collea CONTRIBUTORS Peggy Spencer Behrendt, Carol Higgins, Jorge L. Hernández, Brian Howard, Suzie Jones, John Keller, Melinda Karastury, Frank Page, Susan Perkins, Matt Perry, Cynthia Quackenbush, Denise Szarek, Michelle Truett, Gary VanRiper CONTACT US (315) 853-7133 30 Kellogg Street Clinton, NY 13323 www.MohawkValleyLiving.com mohawkvalleyliving@hotmail.com Mohawk Valley Living is a monthly magazine & television show exploring the area’s arts, culture, and heritage.

Copyright © 2017. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the consent of Mohawk Valley Living, Inc. Printed at Vicks in Yorkville, NY.

Our mascot Riggie is roaming around the magazine again and is hiding in the advertising areas. Next to him will be a letter. Find all the Riggies and rearrange the letters to answer this month’s trivia question. Send in your answer by the 15th of the month of this issue and be entered to win a $250 Gift Certificate to any advertiser you see in our magazine!

This month’s riddle: According to Iroquois origin lore, 13 moons the great turtleNew did Hartford carry.

The full moon this month summons sweet sap to pour, Though its arrival in March does vary.

Hint: 3 words, 13 letters

Send entry to address by mail (postcard or letter) or email. (Address on this page to right in credits).

The answer to last month’s riddle: Grover Cleveland was our 22nd and 24th president. He was the only president to leave the White House and return for a second term. His childhood home still stands on Utica St. in Clinton. When Cleveland was 16 his parents moved to Holland Patent where they are now buried. Congratulations to our February winner, Tracey Stosal of Rome. She is spending her $250 shopping spree at DiCastro’s Brick Oven and Mohawk Village Market!

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Lost to Progress:

the Utica Weighlock By brian howard, executive director

This year we celebrate the bicentennial of the Erie Canal, which started in Rome on July 4, 1817. The canal’s history is well-documented. Entire books have been written about it, films made, tours given. Today the Erie and its branch canals make up the New York State Canal System, which in January 2017 was bestowed National Historic Landmark status. Cities across upstate New York developed as a direct result of the canal, and its legacy remains strong to this day.

Utica derived substantial benefits from the Erie. The canal went into operation in the city in 1819, six years before the system was completed. Freight and passenger tolls underwrote the canal’s success; passengers were easy to count, but determining freight charges was more difficult. An effective method of weighing canal boats and their cargo needed to be developed.

The Utica weighlock was built in 1829. It stood on the canal’s south side between John and Burnet Streets; the canal offices straddled what are now Jay Street and Oriskany Street East. The weighlock was attached to this building and stood entirely on modern-day Oriskany Street. For additional reference, this site is directly across from the Utica Observer-Dispatch newspaper building.

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Like the canal system itself, in its time the weighlock was a marvel of modern engineering. Upon entering the weighlock, canal boats were positioned in a cradle connected to massive scales. The gates were closed and the water was removed via a large sewer connected to the lock’s base that ran to the Mohawk River. The boat and its contents would then be weighed, with tolls figured from the weight and type(s) of cargo. Barring delays, this process generally took about 15 minutes.

The toll collector’s office kept records of all boats that passed through the weighlock.

Every month a report was sent to the Canal Department in Albany, detailing the revenue collected as well as the cargo volume and type. This created a detailed archive of the materials flowing through Utica—an invaluable resource for future researchers.

Business at the Utica weighlock received a boost with the opening of two “branch” canals in Oneida County. The Chenango Canal opened in 1837 and connected Utica to Binghamton; it joined the Erie about a half mile west of the weighlock, near the present site of

Syracuse weighlock, c. 1880s

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the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Black River Canal connected Rome to Lyons Falls and was completed in 1855. Timber from the Adirondacks and agricultural products from the rich southern valleys now had a direct connection to the Erie via these waterways.

By the 1880s, the Erie Canal had returned a handsome profit to its investors. Tolls more than covered the initial construction costs, upgrades (the whole system was enlarged between 1836 and 1862), maintenance, and operation.

In December 1882, the state discontinued tolls, making the weighlocks obsolete. This was partially due to the canal returning its original investment, but more so to keep the waterway competitive against the rapidly expanding network of railroads crisscrossing the state. The Utica weighlock scales were removed and the building was repurposed for the local superintendent’s use. It also housed machinery linked

Two aerial views of the weighlock, one from an 1850 map of Utica and the other a modern day view c/o Google Earth.

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to the nearby John Street lift bridge. Construction of the New York State Barge Canal commenced in 1905 and sealed the building’s fate, although it would remain standing into the early 1920s.

The Barge Canal opened in 1918 and ended the old Erie’s long service as an active waterway through downtown Utica.

The area was booming after World War I and the city’s leaders embraced the “car culture” that was rapidly developing across the country. Now obsolete, the canal bed was filled in and paved over for automobile use. From this project was created Oriskany Street, the main east-west route through downtown. Jay Street was also extended a block west, removing any visible sign of the former weighlock.

Utica was one of several cities along the canal route to feature a weighlock. Others were located in Albany, West Troy (now Watervliet), Syracuse, and Rochester. Constructed in 1850, the Syracuse weighlock building is the only one still standing. Since 1962, it has been home to the Erie Canal Museum.

Remnants of other weighlocks exist along the old canal system, but only the Syracuse building remains intact. The foundation of the West Troy structure can still be seen, as can the abandoned lock channel on the Champlain Canal at Waterford.

But for Utica, there is only the site and old pictures.•

Erie Canal Utica

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1608 Genesee Street, Utica (315) 735-3642 Open Tues.-Fri. 10-4, Sat 10-2 www.oneidacountyhistory.org

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Getting Ready to March into Spring

Eastern Bluebirds signal the arrival spring in the Mohawk Valley.

Story and Photos by Gary VanRiper

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March is when I begin to watch for those winged harbingers of spring.

For those living in the Mohawk Valley, that is the arrival of the Eastern Bluebird – the males arriving first on northern breeding grounds in search of possible nesting spots that they will show to later arriving females. In the Adirondacks, it is flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds with individuals in competition for prime breeding territory that each will aggressively defend.

For three-season hikers like me, the first bird song is accompanied with the onset of summit fever that usually breaks in another eight weeks. While the shadow sides and low spots of many of the highest Adirondack peaks may still host enough of the white stuff for a snowball fight, by then there should be enough choices for some warm-up hikes and climbing in earnest to help the fever subside.

A few pieces of gear and clothing may need replacement, but after more than a decade of hiking in the Adirondack high peaks wilderness area, it won’t take long to be ready to go.

There are a number of sites and books with checklists of vital gear and clothing to have while on the trail and to be best prepared for the unexpected.

I almost exclusively hike in the daytime and what follows is by no means a comprehensive list, but rather a short list of those things – some absolute essentials, some not – that have made my 8- to 12-hour excursions into the woods most comfortable and enjoyable.

A great hiking partner. I have hiked with a number of great people, but have been especially blessed for almost all my years of serious hiking to have found an exceptionally experienced mountaineer who also happens to be the same age and shares my world view and even my sense of humor. Mark Lowell is a 46er some

Several hours into the woods, Mark Lowell makes another map and compass check.

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seven times over and a winter 46er. He is one shy of having hiked all 100 of the highest peaks in the Adirondacks and has conquered the other high peaks throughout the Northeast. And that is just for starters. Over the years he has become one of my very best friends, and readers of Mohawk Valley Living have seen him in many of my photos numerous times. It helps to have a human form in pictures to give perspective with the landscape.

Hiking poles. I will never, ever hike without them–even on short hikes. Poles help with steep ascents, but especially help on the descent taking pressure off the knees. They also help tremendously with balance while crossing streams or hopping dry or slippery rocks. They aid in stabilization while negotiating muddy trails and slick logs and planks and boards of any man-made structures.

Insect Shield clothing. Lyme disease from ticks is becoming more and more prevalent, and so I try to wear light colored clothing that is also treated with Insect Shield. I just learned this past year that it is possible to send clothing that I like directly to the company and have them treat it– so I am no longer at the mercy of what a vendor might have in limited stock.

Details and instructions can be found online at www.insectshield.com.

Gaiters. You really want to baby your feet that are carrying you all those miles over such diverse terrain. Wrapped around comfortable boots and socks that wick away moisture, gaiters keep scree and pine needles and all manner of tiny debris from entering your footwear to stab and prick and poke your ankles and feet. I also carry some mole skin for those rare occasions when friction can cause blisters. As soon as I feel the heat, I stop and treat the feet!

Water filter. I cannot tell you how many people we have bailed out

Finding a great hiking partner is helpful when spending so many hours together in the trail. Gary VanRiper and Mark Lowell on the summit of Saddleback Mountain, the Adirondacks high peaks.

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2 who were unprepared for proper hydration. Along with water I carry some Gatorade. I’ve given a lot of that away to too many dehydrating hikers along the trail.

Headlamp. And an extra flashlight and batteries. Don’t want to sweat getting out of the woods too late to see.

Safety glasses and gloves. When bushwhacking.

Maps. Yes, maps plural. I usually carry several versions of the area we are hiking. Older maps sometimes show trails or old logging roads that have long since been abandoned. My friend is also a master with a compass, another MUST if you are hiking far at all, especially if bushwhacking or on unmarked herd paths! A GPS is fine, but you cannot always depend on getting a signal.

Something to celebrate the summit. A piece a pure maple candy is one favorite.

A camera. There is simply too much remarkable beauty to leave completely behind after working so hard and long to see it without at least trying to capture something to refresh any fading memory. And who knows, one day you might need a few of those images to help illustrate a magazine article or two. •

Poles help tremendously with balance while crossing streams or negotiating rough terrain.

Gary VanRiper is an author, photographer, and pastor at the Camden Wesleyan Church. He has written 15 children’s books with his son, Justin. Find out more at: www.adirondackkids.com

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GOLDILOCKS ZONE

Earth from the Moon as seen by the Apollo 8 crew, Dec. 24, 1968 Image credit: NASA/Astronaut Bill Anders

part 3: It’s just right! by carol higgins

Welcome to the final installment of the Goldilocks Zone series. We’ve visited some too hot and too cold places in our Solar System, so we’ll end our journey at a place that has just the right conditions to support life.

It is a small rocky planet not far from a star, with liquid water covering almost three-quarters of its surface. As you probably guessed, it is Earth!

We can easily see that life is abundant just by looking around the area at people, animals, plants, and even the mold growing on the forgotten chunk of cheese in the refrigerator. For hundreds of years scientists have struggled to count the number of species, and in 2011 the Census of Marine Life estimated 8.7 million species exist. Just last year another study released by Indiana University suggested the number may be more like 1 trillion. Humans are one of those species, and in 1800 there were about 1 billion of us.

By 1960 the number reached 3 billion, and today there are almost 7.5 billion people on the planet! What is so special about Earth that makes it a haven for life?

The answer isn’t simple because there is not just one thing to point to for an explanation. Our home offers a combination of important ingredients and special qualities, including adequate water and food sources, sunlight that serves as an energy source, and a layered atmosphere that helps moderate temperatures while trapping elements that create the air we breathe. It even has a

magnetic field that, coupled with the atmosphere, protects us from harmful solar radiation. But our millions of species are quite resilient, too, managing to survive and adapt to even the harshest conditions. Here of the geological history of the Mohawk Valley, it’s justCredit: a short drive are some examples.

Hanny’s Voorwerp.

Image NASA, ESA, away.

W. Keel, Galaxy Zoo Team In 1977, deep in the completely dark, Have you been on the NY State Thrucold, crushing depths of the Pacific Ocean way heading east a few miles past Herkimer, near the Galapagos Islands, three research- climbed a long hill toward Little Falls and ers inside a submersible made a startling noticed a striking rock-cut into the hill with discovery. On the ocean floor near a vent layers and layers of black, gray, and white that was spewing hot water and minerals–a colored lines? Well, you are a time traveler place where many believed was too harsh looking back at sediment and materials defor life–were crabs, tube worms, and small posited over millions of years! That rock-cut, shrimp. Antarctica’s Emperor penguins sur- and the one at Exit 29A in Little Falls, exposvive in a region where winds reach 122 mph es part of a huge formation called the Utica and temperatures plummet to -40 degrees Shale that dates back about 450 million years Fahrenheit. Microbial life called endoliths ago. live inside rock, and acidophiles thrive in hot Earth certainly is a place that is just right springs as acidic as the fluid in the battery of for life. As Dorothy reminded us in The Wizard of Oz, there’s no place like home. your car!

It took a long time for our numerous spe- Wishing you clear skies! • cies to get to the point where we are today, and so did our planet. Earth began to take Join us at 7:30 p.m. on March 8th at the shape during the formation of our solar sysKirkland Senior Center, 2 Mill St, Clark Mills tem roughly 4.5 billion years ago, and has changed significantly. It survived millions for our program: of years of heavy bombardment by other ce“Mathematics and the Universe, lestial bodies, extreme movement of tectonic from Fibonacci and Beyond” plates, islands rising while others sank, earthquakes, volcanoes, ice ages, floods and more.

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13

The Everyday Adventures of Mohawk Valley Girl

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Costume Quest When I need to look for a costume for one of my theatrical endeavors, I don’t go online, I go local. Recently, I needed a 1920s’ costume for a murder mystery.

My search took me all around the Valley, and I probably missed a few good places.

One memorable stop was at Cornerstone Consignments, run by Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion. I wanted my character to have an evening gown, so I headed upstairs to the fancy dresses. I confess, I did not have much luck. I tried on two red dresses (my character was named Ruby), but I felt they outlined my less than stellar figure in too much detail. Back on the South Beach Diet for me!

I had better luck with the shoes. I found a pair of pumps with a thick heel and a strap. Perhaps it was not exactly a 1920s’ shoe, but I thought it looked old-fashioned. I asked the girl who was working there at the time what she thought.

“Maybe without the socks,” she said. I guess purple ankle socks were not the best choice.

I made two visits to New 2 You Consignments, also in Ilion. The first time, the lady nicely held a dress for me, a dusty rose with ruffles. I decided not to take it (after all, rose is not the same as ruby), then kept forgetting to call and tell her.

You know how that goes: When I would think of it, I wasn’t near a phone; when I was near a phone, I wouldn’t think of it. My bad! Finally, I stopped in after work one day.

I spent some time walking around the shop looking for a red shawl or scarf, thinking I could accessorize a dress I already have. I did not find one, but I noticed a book I wanted to read. While paying for that, I saw two long strings of beads, which I also purchased. You can’t have too many long strings of beads, and they are very 1920s-looking.

When I had the time to drive to Yorkville, I tried my luck at Queen’s Closet and Attic Addicts. I saw some lovely dresses that would have tempted me had I been looking for something other than 1920s. OK, they did tempt me, but I refrained (for now). I almost purchased a pair of ankle-strap pumps but decided they were too similar to a pair I already own.

I asked to look at some jewelry in the case: a brooch and pair of earrings with red stones. They did look like rubies, but I felt I wanted something showier. The lady helping me pointed out that they were clip-on earrings so probably not very

Queen’s Closet and Attic Addicts in Yorkville

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comfortable.

“Unless they were loose,” I said. “Then I might lose one and it could be a clue.” I explained that it was for a murder mystery at the Overlook in Little Falls. We chatted a bit about the Overlook, which she said had been written about in Mohawk Valley Living.

I missed that.

“I usually read that magazine cover to cover,” I said. “But I’ve been so busy lately.” Don’t worry; I’ll find time to read it. It is my favorite magazine.

I am still searching for a dress for Ruby. I feel certain I will find something. In the meantime, I love prowling the consignment shops! •

The Cornerstone Shop in Ilion

The Cornerstone Shop is located at 68 Morgan St., Ilion, 315-894-0477. They are open Tuesday, Wednesday and Saturday 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.

New 2 You Consignments is located at 10 Central Plaza, Ilion, 315-894-2220. They are open Tuesday through Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Queen’s Closet and Attic Addicts is located at 22 Oriskany Blvd, Yorkville, 315-736-9160. They are open Monday through Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

Cynthia M. Quackenbush, a.k.a. “Mohawk Valley Girl,” writes a daily blog about her everyday adventures in the Mohawk Valley. Follow her frugal fun at: mohawkvalleygirl.wordpress.com

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The Root of Healing Equine-Assisted Therapy

The Root Farm was started in 1999 by Alice Root. The program was run in Vernon until 2004 when it became affiliated with Upstate Caring Partners. The decision was made to build a new facility in Sauquoit and create employment opportunities for people who typically face challenges finding employment.

Photos and captions by Melinda Karastury Executive Director Jeremy Earl is our personal tour guide. He shares that the farm celebrated its one year anniversary in October 2016.

The Root Farm is a non-profit organization located at 2860 King Road in Sauquoit. In collaboration with Upstate Cerebral Palsy, they provide state-of-the-art services and programs to children and adults utilizing the healing power of equine-assisted therapy.

The Root Farm 2860 King Rd, Sauquoit, NY (315) 520-7046 www.rootfarm.org

Joshua Karastury is ready and his helmet is adjusted for his first time on a horse.

Recreation Program Coordinator Rodger Pape assists Susan Love with her helmet to prepare her for vaulting

Susan Love and Josh Karastury practice on the vaulting barrels before riding a horse.

Since 1928

See us for your favorite treats!

Now in new location

CONSIGNMENT SHOPPE

Wedding & specialty cakes, Italian pastries, miniatures, and cookies. Also serving coffee, cappuccino, espresso, lattes, and pastries in our dining room.

Manager - Jared Alesia, pastry chef C.I.A. Martin Alesia, cake decorator

33

(315) 896-2050

667 Bleecker Street, Utica (315) 724-8032

16

Quality pre-owned ladies, junior, & plus size clothing, shoes, handbags, jewelry & household items.

Open Mon: 8-3, closed Tues, Wed-Sun: 8-5

8024 Route 12, Barneveld

Pohl’s Feed • Feed (locally made), Purina, Buckeye, & Nutrena • Garden supplies, garden seed, fertilizer • Pet food & bird seed • Farm supplies, equine supplies

On staff dairy nutritionist & horse specialist!

4560 Verona St., Vernon 315-829-2753 www.pohlsfeed.com M-F 7-5, Sat. 7-1, Closed Sundays

Jewett’s Cheese House

A family business since 1970 NY State aged cheddar 1-20 years old!

Over 400 items of cheese & gourmet foods.

(800) 638-3836 934 Earlville Road, Earlville (between Poolville and Earlville) Open Mon-Fri: 9:30-5, Most Sundays 10:30-3, closed Sat. www.jewettscheese.com

Melinda closes her eyes to feel the horse’s movements. Riders are guided at all times by side walkers Rodger Pape, Olivia Cunningham, Ryan Wallace, and Alexis Lalor.

Vaulting improves confidence, balance, timing, and strength and is an excellent way for therapeutic students to set and achieve goals.

Vaulting is the art of gymnastics on horseback that is exciting for both participants and onlookers. The benefits and challenges of the sport may be adapted to the needs of all ages and abilities. The Root Farm welcomes all ages 2 years old to 80 years old.

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For information about riding sessions, call (315) 520-7046 ext. 221 or email info@rootfarm.org.

“Chance” poses with Alexis Lalor, (animal care worker), Alana Karastury, Susan Love, Courtney Hartman, and Josh Karastury after a unique and fantastic time equestrian vaulting.

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New to the farm are two hydroponic greenhouses. Partnering with The Community Foundation, The Root Farm became one of the first growers in New York State to utilize Freight Farms technology. The technology is an extremely efficient hydroponic system. The greenhouses will be able to provide locally grown fresh produce year round for local establishments.

Agriculture assistant/animal care worker Olivia Cunningham gives us a tour of the hydroponic greenhouses. The two are very different in temperatures and aromas. We try a taste of fresh lettuce and basil.

The Root Farm will offer their produce at Snacks on the Tracks at Union Station 321 Main St., Utica in Spring 2017.

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Friday, March 31 | 7:00 PM Herkimer College’s Sarkus-Busch Theater

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The Everyday Adventures of Mohawk Valley Girl

Murder,

Cast of Engaged to be Murdered, photo by Mark Hanna

She Writes Something a lot of people don’t know about Mohawk Valley Girl is that I write murder mysteries. OK, that is not exactly accurate. A lot of people do know about it, because I mention it at almost every opportunity. It is fun to talk about murder mysteries.

When we lived in northern New York, my husband, Steven, and I had a part-time business called Murder for Hire. We put together interactive dinner theater mysteries that we presented at restaurants and clubs and even the occasional private home.

These evening usually begin with a cocktail hour. The characters walk around mingling with the audience, talking about themselves and telling each other’s dirty little secrets. This is followed by a more structured performance in which the clues are laid out in a fairly orderly fashion (but not so orderly that it’s easy to guess the killer). Then we have a Q&A where the audience can ask whatever questions are on their minds. Eventually, they write down their guesses (they don’t vote on the killer; I’ve already decided that and planted the proper clues). Another short performance reveals the solution.

When Steven and I eventually settled in the Mohawk Valley, I was interested in, not starting another business (which can be a whole lot of trouble), but in writing and presenting that sort of a show. I talked up the idea at the Ilion Little Theatre (ILT) and to my friends at the Herkimer County Historical Society. I finally got my opportunity last year when Morning Star Methodist Church in Ilion approached ILT and asked for help in making their pork dinner fund-raiser more memorable.

I got to work. I always start with the situation. One of my favorites is a rich family with a rich matriarch or patriarch. Money is always a good motive, and playing a rich family gives the actors a chance to wear their fanciest clothes. In this case, I knew I wanted to use ILT member Margaret Nemyier.

I felt she would make an admirable matriarch.

Why would a rich family be at a pork dinner, I asked myself. To celebrate

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Actor Kim Darling is hysterical

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an engagement, I decided. So there would be two families represented. Of course, in a murder mystery, people are not what they seem, so I made one family be con artists, pretending to be rich. Then I added a ne’er-do-well cousin who was playing both sides.

I’ve used this plot device before: I try to make the audience think the rich matriarch is going to get knocked off for for the money. But no, it’s the ne’er-do-well cousin. I had the further inspiration that we could actually see the murder! You see, usually the audience never meets the victim. The suspects spend the cocktail hour wondering where so-and-so is. The performance begins with the startling announcement: that person has been murdered!

For Engaged To Be Murdered, as I eventually titled last year’s production, I decreed that Margaret would spend the entire cocktail hour sitting at a table while the other cast members brought her drinks, because they were trying to butter her up.

The performance would begin with a toast to the happy couple.

The matriarch, a frugal soul, would insist they use her supposedly untouched drinks. They all drink–and the ne’er-do-well cousin drops dead! Did someone just that minute put the poison in the drink? Or was the poison already there, meant for the matriarch?

And so the plot thickened.

We had a great deal of fun with our show at Morning Star Methodist, and the audience enjoyed it as well. I was quite delighted when the church contacted ILT again, requesting another show. That show will be April 1. I am still writing it, and all I will tell you right now is that I hope to incorporate the April Fool’s Day holiday. I wonder how you could kill somebody

Cindy Shepherd strangles Steven Quackenbush

Kara Buttermore, Cynthia, and Steven Quackenbush are horrified by the demise of actor Kim Darling

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using plastic poo. Hmmm….

The event will take place at Morningstar Methodist Church, 36 Second St., Ilion. For more information contact the church office at 315-894-4093, Tuesdays through Thursdays from 9 a.m. to noon.

I have another murder mystery to look forward to as well. This one will benefit the Herkimer County Historical Society. I can tell you a little more about the plot for this one, because I think it is pretty fun.

Some people may remember in 2015 when area writer Jack Sherman wrote a wonderful play called Roxy, about Roxalana Druse, who murdered her husband, was tried in the Herkimer County Courthouse, and hanged behind the 1834 Jail. I had the honor to play Roxy. Well, when I met with Caryl Hopson and Russeen Young at the Historical Society, I pitched them the following: A diva movie star wants to become a stage actress, specifically by starring in a play about a local murder, similar to Roxy. She has a contest in which playwrights have written a play. Jack Sherman is to judge the contest. And he mysteriously gets killed!

Caryl was immediately enthusiastic about the idea. “Yes, let’s kill off Jack!” she said. I emailed Jack and he agreed. •

What are actors Kim Darling and Cynthia Quackenbush up to?

The Historical Society mystery is planned for April 22nd at the Elks Club in Herkimer. For more information, contact the society at 315-866-6413.

Cynthia M. Quackenbush, a.k.a. “Mohawk Valley Girl,” writes a daily blog about her everyday adventures in the Mohawk Valley. Follow her frugal fun at: mohawkvalleygirl.wordpress.com

COMING SOON! 259 GENESEE STREET, UTICA, NEW YORK

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SHApING SOUND A YANKEE TRADER 2617 Genesee Street, Utica • (315) 732-3113

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Wed | Mar 1 | 7:30 pm

Broker/Owner

Cell: (315) 723-0477 artvanvechten@gmail.com

NAC ENTERTAINMENT pRESENTS

RIVERDANCE 3 performances!

Mar 7, 8 & 9 | 7:30 pm

MVCC

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FINE FOOD + CRAFT BEER pAIRING DINNER Sun | Apr 2 | 4 pm

VSTAR pROMOTIONS pRESENTS

SESAME STREET LIVE! MAKE A NEW FRIEND

Tue | April 11 | 3 pm & 6:30 pm

MOHA WK VALLEY COM MUNITY CO LLEGE

Girls in STEM Expo 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

Saturday, April 8 Alumni College Center A day for girls in grades 9-12 to explore the sciences. $10 admission includes lunch and prizes.

If you have questions, email wise@mvcc.edu.

Register at mvcc.edu/cced or call 315.792.5330

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BROADWAY UTICA pRESENTS

pIppIN

Wed | Mar 22 | 7:30 pm Thurs | Mar 23 | 7:30 pm THE ELDERS, KESSLER pROMOTIONS THE BLARNEY REBEL pRESENTS BAND & BARLEYJUICE

AN IRISH NIGHT

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Fri | Mar 31 | 7:30 pm

BROADWAY UTICA pRESENTS

RENT 20th

ANNIVERSARY TOUR

Wed | Apr 26 | 7:30 pm Thurs | Apr 27 | 7:30 pm BROADWAY UTICA pRESENTS

DIRTY DANCING

Tues | May 30 | 7:30 pm Wed | May 31 | 7:30 pm

downtown utica

what’s up downtown by michelle truett

ESTABLISHED BUSINESS, NEW LOCATION

Ed Lasek Optical World

Book by Local Artist!

In a garden, amongst the beans and carrots, lives a young tomato who just doesn’t fit in. Follow his adventures as he wanders into the depths of the garden and learns about jealousy, appreciation, and fate from the other garden dwellers.

Available at: Amazon Your purchase of this book helps www.barnesandnoble.com local author and artist Autumn Kuhn and www.rosedogbookstore.com pay off her student loans.

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MUSEUM & COUNTRY STORE

See Remington firearms and artifacts from the 1800s to today.

Shop for clothing, hats, and souvenirs in the Country Store.

14 Hoefler Avenue, Ilion (315) 895-3200 FREE! Mon-Fri. 8am-5pm (store closes 4:30pm)

Ed Lasek of Ed Lasek Optical World

er w o fl rals tu

a

Ed Lasek Optical World is the place to go for glasses that fit you prescription-wise, but also fit you personality-wise as well. Ed is fanatical about every aspect of glasses—frames, fit, style, accuracy and lens. He offers thorough, conscientious service and an excellent product.

He does his buying in New York City, so has walls full of impressive styles and name brands to choose from.

Ed is Utica born and bred and has worn glasses since he was eight years old. When he played baseball when he was younger, he was a catcher and he broke many a pair. He recalls his dad saying “with all of the money I’m spending on these...you should go into the eyeglass business!”

Ironically, that’s just what he did. (His good friend Gary will also claim he influenced him!) Ed got a degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing in Buffalo and then came back to the area. On February 1, 1982, at age 26, he started Ed Lasek Optical World in Downtown Utica. He operated out of the same space until this February (his 35th anniversary!) when he moved one storefront over, as the developers renovating the building needed his old space for a foyer and staircase to access the new apartments being constructed on the floors above him.

Sun N

Background photo by Matt Ossowski

228 Genesee Street • (315) 738-1754

foods

Feed your body, nurture your soul.

Quality Products for 21 years!

Open Mon: 10-5, Tues-Fri: 10-6 8024 Route 12, Barneveld 896-2820

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ESTABLISHED BUSINESS UNDER NEW OWNERSHIP

Urbanik’s Paint

Early Polley and owner Christopher Read of Urbanik’s Paint

506 State Street • (315) 724-5129 • www.urbanikspaintco.com

Urbanik’s Paint has been downtown since 1948 and was owned by three generations of the family before being purchased in September, 2015 by Christopher Read. It began as a gas station and repair shop and eventually started offering wallpaper and paint. They are a paint store, not just a paint department. They offer the “best paint at the best price with the largest inventory and best service.” It is what they know and do best. The staff at Urbanik’s is like family, many having worked there for eight up to twenty years, so they know their stuff. They offer products and services to residential, commercial and industrial clients and they also rent equipment such as floor sanders, paint sprayers and pressure washers.

Chris loves paint. When he was 14 years old, he began working at Meldrim’s Paint Store in his hometown of Cortland, New York and by the time he was 15 years old, he was “all in.” He ended up purchasing Meldrim’s from the owners and still operates it. He also recently purchased Spectrum Paint in Rome. To this day, he’s intrigued by the industry, loves the products, meeting people and helping customers create and complete great projects. Chris still lives in Cortland with his wife and three kids, wakes up earlier than most of us, and commutes to Utica each day. •

Find out more on Facebook: “Downtown Utica”

Where family happens

Welcome to a

Lifetime of Memories 132 E. Main Street,POOLS Ilion 3989 Oneida St., Washington Mills Swan Pools & Spas SWAN (315) 895-4321 (315) 982-9760 132 E. Main St Ilion NY, 13357 (315) 895-4321

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3989 Oneida St New Hartford NY, 13413 (315) 982-9760

Simply Blue-tiful!

Featuring The Clothing Boutique Baby Boutique Country Style Curtains

Retirement Sale!

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Mon-Sat: 9:30am-5:30pm; Sun: 12-5pm

29 S. Main St., Sherburne, NY • (607) 674-9440

march

GAllery Guide

Landscape painting by local artist Karen Burns. Her paintings, along with other artists’ work, are on display this month at the Broad Street Gallery in Hamilton.

Foothills Weaving & Fiber Arts Guild Annual Members Exhibit

Animals in Bronze: The Michael and Mary Erlanger Collection of Animalier Bronzes

March 25 - April 27, 2017 Reception: Mon., March 27, 1-6pm

March 4 - June 11, 2017

This collection of 46 small bronze sculptures from the 19th and 20th centuries encompasses all manifestations of the animalier movement.

Edith Langley Barrett Art Gallery Utica College 1600 Burrstone Road, Utica, NY (315) 792-5289 www.utica.edu/gallery

Arkell Museum

2 Erie Boulevard, Canajoharie, NY (518) 673-2314 www.arkellmuseum.org

Davana Robedee, Keith Jones, Annual TeenART Exhibit

Broad Street Sampler, Members Show

March 18 - April 29, 2017 Reception: March 18, 12-3pm

Through March 25, 2017

Exhibit featuring the artwork of members of the Broad Street Gallery: Julia and David Will, Karen Burns, Johanna Lerwick, Lynn Plata and Wells Horton.

Earlville Opera House

18 East Main Street, Earlville, NY (315) 691-3550 www.earlvilleoperahouse.com

Broad Street Gallery

20 Broad Street, Hamilton, NY (315) 825-5235 www.hamiltoncenterforthearts.com

eflections Full Moon R Art Center

Kitchen & Bath Cabinets Hardwood Flooring & Countertops

Cabinetry for Every Budget!

FREE In-Home Estimates Installation Available Showroom Open Tues 11-6, Wed-Sat 11-4 or by appt. www.knottybynature.com

Full Mo

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Street

Cam ART CEN TdeEn, R NY 133 16 (315)82 80 Main St. Camden 0-4269

(315) 820-4269 jwillson3@yahoo.com

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Corner of Rte. 8 & 20, Bridgewater

et 80 Main Stre 13316 Camden, NY 9 (315)820-426

Cabinetry by Shiloh, Aspect & Waypoint

ery Art Gallsses Art Cla op Gift Sh

27

Works by Sylvia de Swaan and other artists

Heather Andrewski, Portraits in Pencil

March and April 2017 Open Sat. and Sun.: 12-4pm

March 1 - 31, 2017 Opening: Sat., March 4, 5:30-7:30pm

4 Elements Studio

Fusion Art Gallery

714 Washington Street, Utica, NY (315) 794-1689 www.4elementsonline.com

8584 Turin Rd, Rome, NY (315) 338-5712 photoshoppeofrome.com

Rachel Abrams Distorted Senses of Proportion

Anything Goes by the Art Cloth Network

March 21 - May 5, 2017 Exhibit exploring environmental concerns of non-native flora and fauna.

March 1 - April 1, 2017 Reception: Sun., March 5, 4-6pm

Kirkland Art Center

Juergensen Gallery

9 1/2 East Park Row, Clinton, NY (315) 853-8871 www.kacny.org

Information Technology building MVCC Campus 1101 Sherman Drive Utica, NY www.mvcc.edu/gallery

SYNTHESIZING

NATURE Roberley Bell Katrina Bello Tiffany Calvert Colin Edgington Abraham Ferraro

Nick Marshall Jonathan Ricci Autumn Richardson Richard Skelton Aaron Williamson

Dec. 3, 2016 - April 1, 2017

3273 STATE ROUTE 28, OLD FORGE, NY 315 369 6411 | WWW.VIEWARTS.ORG

A Way of Seeing, Lynda Naske

Silent Sensations, the Art of Robert Cimbalo

March 11 - April 8, 2017 Reception: Sat., March 11, 2-4pm

March 3 - 26, 2017 Opening: Friday, March 3, 5:30-7:30pm

Mohawk Valley Center for the Arts

The Other Side

2011 Genesee St., Utica, NY www.theothersideutica.org

401 Canal Place, Little Falls, NY (315) 823-0808 www.mohawkvalleyarts.org

Several exhibits including works by Renee Stark and Audrey Copperwheat

Susan Cox: Finding Home Through April 1, 2017 The sculptures of architect Susan Cox who discovered the immediacy of exploring ideas of space, light, and memory in glass.

March 9 - April 12, 2017

Rome Art & Community Center

View

308 West Bloomfield Street, Rome, NY (315) 336-1040 www.romeart.org

3273 Route 28, Old Forge, NY (315) 369-6411 www.viewarts.org

Having an art opening? Let us know. Email: mohawkvalleyliving@hotmail.com

Wine & Spirits Ilion

10 East Main St., Ilion • (315) 894-8142 Open Mon-Sat: 9-9, Sun: 12-5 • All credit cards accepted

Well-Seasoned Firewood

Approx. 14” long. Log loads available.

Immediate delivery

to the Utica-Rome area

Call Fran @ 315-853-3614

Interior Painting by

Dennis Polanowicz Reasonable Rates • References Available

No Job Too Small for this “Old Guy”!

315-839-5967 • 315-525-7664

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mohawk valley food

the killabrew saloon in new hartford

story and photos by Jorge L. Hernández Only in the Mohawk Valley, one of the most welcoming regions to immigrants currently and in the past, can you find such a melding of culinary cultures as an Irish pierogi. It’s worth the eating experience.

The twist on the traditional Polish dumpling is the brain child of Michael Volz at his Killabrew Saloon in New Hartford. “I worked with the Pulaski Meat Market in Utica, and we developed the Irish pierogi, which is basically a Reuben (corned beef, cabbage, and cheese) inside a pierogi.”

Served with a tangy homemade Thousand Islands dipping sauce, caramelized grilled onions, and sliced rounds of bangers (Irish sausage), this dish is not to be missed.

The pierogi is the centerpiece of the Irish Pub Menu at the saloon. Four years ago, Michael says, he concentrated on a dinner menu to draw in dining patrons to his already busy lunch, bar, and late night crowd. “It’s very popular,” the New Hartford resident says of the Irish fare.

The menu boasts Irish standards like shepherd’s pie, bangers and mash, Irish beef stew, fried haddock (fish ’n’ chips anyone?), and--what else?--the traditional corned beef and cabbage. It’s all homemade by Killabrew’s longtime cook Laura Waskiewicz, who stayed on when the business changed hands. “Everything is fresh, made from local products,” Volz says. “Our cole slaw comes from Holland Farms; we make every effort to buy local whenever we can.”

Michael is a personable and gracious host, providing a buffet sampling of multiple savory Irish entrées for this first-time visitor.

Food appears to be an international collaboration here, what with Pulaski’s Meat Market and Laura at the cooking helm and Michael himself with the Germanic surname. He rounds out the legit Irish side of his saloon by stating that his mother’s maiden name is McConnell.

Michael says he’s worked at the Killabrew since 1996 and took over the pub in 2005. How did the business get its name? “I don’t know,” he notes. “It came with the place that’s been here for 35 or 40 years, so I just kept the name Killabrew.”

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Wise man not to fool with a sure thing! Besides the Irish Pub Menu, the saloon boasts a large selection of burgers, hot and cold sandwiches, mac and cheese, salads, and dinner specials, such as prime rib and the ubiquitous Mohawk Valley special of the fresh Friday fish fry. The bar stocks 22 beers on tap, including trendy Irish brews and, naturally, Guinness.

The saloon serves a full menu till 2 a.m.; other services include take-out, catering, and hosting private parties.

The number one popular food item is chicken wings; indeed, Thursdays are known as Wing Night. The next most ordered items are, of course, corned beef and cabbage, and the Reuben sandwich.

Michael says he knows he will sell a lot of corned beef on his two planned St. Patrick’s Day celebrations this year. In addition to providing the traditional Irish fixings, he plans live music celebrations on March 11 beginning a 2 p.m. (the day of the Utica parade) and then again on the actual Irish date of March 17 beginning at 7 p.m.

He expects—and hospitably welcomes—crowds on those days, and every day. “Everyone that comes here is like family,” Michael says. “I see people and can tell you when they will come in, and what they’ll have.”

Michael notes that there’s a facile recipe for the success of his pub. “You get people in the door and keep them coming back with good food. That’s how you know you’re successful,” he says.

Future plans for the Killabrew are cosmetic renovations, including installation of a new bar and coolers for more craft beers. “And possibly an outside deck in the long term,” the owner says.

It’s clear that at the Killabrew Saloon the Irish saying céad míle fáilte (a hundred thousand welcomes in Gaelic) is the order of the day. Now, someone out there needs to tell me how to say that in German…and Polish. •

Killabrew Saloon

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Mohawk Valley Nature

Spring Arrives in the March Woods, Probably? story and photos by Matt Perry March is a time of transition, although the nature of the transition is not always clear cut, especially for those of us that experience it day by day in the fields and forests. The month could start out with the most severe winter weather only to end with spring-like conditions, complete with blooming flowers and singing birds, or it could be just the reverse. More typically, the climate in March oscillates between the two extremes–providing us with multiple mini-winters and mini-springs and, yes, everything in between. Weather-wise, just about anything is possible in March. Looking at the last few decades of climate data for Central New York for the month of March, it’s clear that even though it doesn’t always seem like it on the ground, the month as a whole has been trending warmer.

March is now the time when we see our very first spring ephemeral wildflowers. At least by the end of the month, if not earlier, Skunk Cabbage’s burgundy colored spathe (which is essentially a modified leaf) will begin to poke out from the frozen swamplands where it is most often occurs. In a process called thermogenesis, the coneshaped flower has the ability through cellular respiration to warm itself up enough to melt through ice and snow. The relatively

warm temperature it generates also helps it to disperse its foul odor and attract the earliest of the active pollinating insects. For the most part these obliging creatures are flies that are normally attracted to carrion. Coltsfoot is another wildflower that is only too eager to start pushing out of the ground. In fact, at the nature preserve for the last two decades, it has consistently been among the first three wildflower species to bloom in the spring. Coltsfoot prefers moist soils and so it’s primarily bottomlands and damp woods where you find its yellow dandelion-like flowers reaching up on scaly stalks. Coltsfoot’s leaves from the previous season are often still attached to the plant.

The old leaves are usually in tatters but often still recognizable and they may even retain some green. Meanwhile in the old woods,

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two additional plant species have just begun to bloom in the rich forest soil. One is the Eastern Spring Beauty and the other is bloodroot. When the bloodroot flower opens it looks as if the flower stem is being closely guarded by the plant’s single odd-shaped leaf. The leaf always looks to me like a hand that remains poised to clasp the stem at a second’s notice and protect it from danger, as if that were possible.

As the bloodroot leaf grows, it straightens and pulls away from the flower in an impossibly slow-motion gesture. As Bloodroot flowers bloom the flower bud opens, it spreads early in the old woods out a fan of eight to twelve delicate white petals. The center of the flower is made conspicuous by long yellow anthers.

In recent years, it seems like bloodroot is often caught by surprise by a resurgence of winter. The plants’ fragile flowers are not able to take much punishment and an inch

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or more of snow will usually destroy them. However, the leaves and leaf stalks are more pliable and can survive being pushed to the ground for a while. Even when the flower is not accosted by snow and ice, it usually lasts only a couple of short days, but fortunately that’s most often enough time for a pollinating insect to assist in consummating the plant’s reproductive mission.

I could never recommend setting one’s calendar on the blooming times of spring ephemerals. As anyone that monitors the crocuses in their yard knows, the bulbs may begin noticeably sprouting after experiencing only a week of mild temperatures, and that may happen as early as late January with those cultivars.

Thankfully, our native wildflowers manage to hold off a little longer, but a February blooming of some species has happened more than once in the last couple of decades. In former times, mid to late March would have be considered early for woodland wildflowers to bloom, but in this era of climate change, it has be-

come the norm.

Still, most of these perennials will bloom in April, and some will wait until May; it all depends upon the soil temperature and not on calendar dates.

Using animals as harbingers of spring can be just as The seldom seen Spring Peeper problematic as relying on plants. spring, but a certain population of robins The loud and high pitched piping calls of Spring Peepers may be heard from ponds remains in the Mohawk Valley throughout the winter and I challenge anyone to and wetlands as early as mid-winter following a profound thaw. In fact, you may discern the difference between one of our hear Spring Peepers calling for a few migrant robins returning from the south days, but that doesn’t mean that it’s time and one of our winter resident robins. to put the show shovels into storage. The Eastern Bluebirds also make unreliable American Robin is frequently thought harbingers of spring. If there’s a spate of mild weather any time after late Deof as a bird that appears at the advent of

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cember, they’re likely to come out to their breeding grounds and check out potential nest cavities–both naturally occurring and man-made. If you rely on the movements of Canada Geese or other waterfowl as signifiers of spring, they too may unintentionally deceive you. Although generally, waterfowl begin to push through the region in March, that too is weather dependent. If they encounter mild enough conditions they may come through in February or they may be forced to wait until April. Again, they take their cues from the weather and decide when to move. Eastern Striped Skunks and Virginia Opossums may become active in the evenings following a few warm winter days and especially after a prolonged thaw.

Although, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone that uses the appearance of a skunk to herald the coming of spring.

Whether or not spring truly arrives in March, by the end of the month we can take solace in the thought that spring will arrive soon, no matter what the weather happens to be dishing out at the time. And what March neglects to bring us, April is sure to provide. •

Some American Robins stay in the Mohawk Valley all winter

Eastern Bluebirds check out boxes well before nesting time

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On the farm with Suzie

Financing the Farm

by Suzie Jones

When we bought our farm almost 14 years ago, both my husband and I had “real” jobs. By real, I mean the jobs produced actual paychecks, with W-2s and all the usual reporting and withholdings. It was in that first year on the farm that we applied for a revolving line of credit, based on the equity we had in the house and the income from our real jobs. No problem, said the bank. We could use it for home improvement projects, farm equipment, fencing—you name it, we had a nice cushion to spend from, and could pay it down as we were able. Over the 10 years we had that line of credit, we maxed it out at least a few times, always diligently paying it down in between expenses with our farm’s cash flow. It worked out great and we never missed a payment.

The line of credit was limited to 10 years, however, and eventually ended. When we went to our bank to apply for a new loan, we were told we would not qualify. Our real jobs were a distant memory, along with any classic sense of “proof of income.” It was then that we realized farm income and assets are treated very differently by different types of lending institutions.

The bank that had served us so well all those years didn’t know what to do with a Schedule F (the form farmers use for filing their federal income taxes) or how to assess the value of the usual agricultural assets—equipment, animals, and land.

Granted, a home equity line of credit was a nice way to finance our early years on the farm. But what we needed was an actual business loan from

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E A S Y O N Y O U R W A L L E T,

HARD ON THE CHORES AT HAND.

a lender experienced with agriculture—someone comfortable and set up to deal with the very risky business of farming. Who knew?

Financing the farm can be tricky. Land, buildings, equipment, animals, seed…they all cost a lot of money! But as the old saying goes, “You’ve got to spend money to make money.” The farmer can’t harvest a crop without first buying the seed. The seed then has to be planted, the ground broken, fertilized, weeded (all requiring specialized equipment or hiring someone with the proper equipment)…and the paycheck will not come until the crop is harvested and sold. In order to bridge that time span, the farmer must either rely upon her savings or borrow money. She also must weigh current commodity prices against all these expenses (including interest on any loans) PLUS the likelihood of the unknown: drought, flooding, hail, pest damage, even the very real chance that prices for her crop will plummet before harvest. If you didn’t think farmers needed math or algebra to do their job, think again!

Ultimately, we were able to get a few types of financing that have helped us tremendously. We have a revolving line of credit and two short-term equipment loans—one for a baler and mower, the other for a piece of cheese-making equipment. We also were awarded two grants, one from USDA Rural Development and the other from New York State. Both require we that we have “skin in the game,” meaning we put in our fair share (one-third to one-half of the value of the grants).

A Novel Approach We have also happily stumbled upon a rather novel approach to financing our farm: Community-Supported Agriculture (“CSA”).

CSAs operate on the premise that consumers “buy in” to a local farm, pitching in to pay the expenses of running the farm and then, in return, receiving a portion of its bounty throughout the harvest. The model has been used in the U.S. since at least the mid-1980’s, but has certainly not gotten the same level of attention as farmers’ markets. There are literally dozens of farms in and around the Mohawk Valley that offer “shares” in their CSAs, with hundreds of customers receiving boxes full of

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*For Commercial use only. Customer participation subject to credit qualification and approval by CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. See your participating New Holland dealer for details and eligibility requirements. Down payment may be required. Offer good through March 31, 2017 at participating New Holland dealers in the United States. Not all customers or applicants may qualify for this rate or term. CNH Industrial Capital America LLC standard terms and conditions apply. Taxes, freight, set-up, deliver y, additional options or attachments not included i n p r i c e . Offer subject to change or cancellation without notice. © 2017 CNH Industrial Capital America LLC. All rights reser ved. New Holland Agriculture is a trademark registered in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates. CNH Industrial Capital is a trademark in the United States and many other countries, owned by or licensed to CNH Industrial N.V., its subsidiaries or affiliates.

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veggies, fruits, eggs, meats, cheeses, even gelato on a weekly basis throughout the summer.

The average window for signing up for a CSA is December to April. This is a key period for many farmers, especially in the cold Northeast: These are typically low cash flow months. Our farm income (our only income) is fairly seasonal, while expenses are something we get to enjoy year-round. The CSA model helps us take some of the “high season” cash in-flows and stacks them in the spring when we are spending the most getting ready for the coming summer. In the past, we had to fall back on our farm’s line of credit to get us through the lean times. Thanks to our CSA customers, we can keep that line of credit available for capital improvements or emergencies. By not using our line of credit to finance survival, we are able to leverage it for expansion or increasing our efficiency.

The CSA approach also has the added benefit of creating a much closer relationship between consumer and farmer. Some CSA farms encourage their members to help on the farm as they are able—picking peas or thinning carrots—creating great learning opportunities for young and old. Other farms share recipes or newsletters, keeping their customers up to date on all the goings-on at “their farm.”

Of course, this model has its limitations. Dairy farmers, for example, cannot sell directly to the public unless they are licensed to do so—an involved and oftentimes expensive process. It’s too bad, really. Farmers take such great pride in feeding thousands of people they’ll never meet!

Do you want to learn more about CSAs in our area?

Head to the Herkimer County CSA Fair on March 18th at the Travelodge in Little Falls.

From 11a.m. to 1 p.m., CSA farmers from throughout the area will be on hand to talk about their farms and their offerings.

It’s a great opportunity to meet some farmers and see if buying a “share” in a local farm is right for you! •

Suzie Jones and her husband, Peter, own Jones Family Farm in Herkimer. Together, with their children, they produce specialty goat cheeses and gelato. Find them at local farmers’ markets and online: www.anotherjonesfamilyfarm.com

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mohawk valley Gardens

The Birth of a Seed Keeper

By Denise A. Szarek

“Whereas seeds are the Foundation of Life, and humans have a history of using and sharing seeds that have led to the creation and supported civilizations for more than 10,000 years; and Whereas, Seed Sovereignty–the right of farmers, gardeners and all individuals to use, exchange, and sell their own seeds and plants--is foundational to agriculture, food production, and life on this planet.” (Excerpt from the Seed Sovereignty Resolution from the 2017 NOFA-NY Annual Meeting.)

In January, I had the wonderful pleasure of spending a weekend with some amazing farmers, seed keepers, and gardeners. Every year Bernie and I attend the Northeast Organic Farmers Association-NY Winter Conference (NOFA-NY) in Saratoga Springs, N.Y. This year I had the distinct honor of taking workshops from a wonderful group of seed keepers. But one class in particular stood out from all the others and has had a profound impact on how I look at seeds for our farm--“Planting Sacred Seeds in a Modern World: Haudenosaunee/Iroquois Seed Stewardship.” The class was presented by Rowen White of Sierra Seeds; Ken Greene of the Hudson Valley Seed Library; and Steve McComber, a seed keeper. The main instructor was Rowen White. She is a seed keeper, farmer, and educator. She is from the Mohawk Community of Akwesasne on the New York/Canadian border and curates an

exclusive collection of rare northeast native seeds.

I love to grow my own food. What I love most about planting, harvesting, and cooking all that food is knowing every vegetable that lands on my plate has a story behind it. The lettuce that started from a speck of seed and turned into a season of salads. The zucchini that was attacked by squash beetles to survive and give me more zucchini muffins than I could pawn off on my neighbors. But beyond those stories that started in my garden are the ones that go back 100 years or more when you hold a packet of heirloom seeds in your hands.

What is an heirloom? The word denotes something of value, whether monetary or sentimental, handed down from generation to generation. If something threatened your family and you had to leave your home, what would you pack up? Perhaps family albums, jewelry, or works of art. Your ancestors, on the other hand, probably would have saved their seeds. And that’s one of the intriguing things about heirloom seeds. Imagine a variety of fruit or vegetable that was so important to your family history or homeland that you would bring it with you when you immigrated to the new world.

Most immigrants to North America did not come with treasures of gold in their pockets but treasures of a botanical nature–seeds.

Seeds so important they were sewn into the

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hems of dresses or into the brims of hats.

Immigrants experienced a full spectrum of emotions from fear to hope to delight. They had the security of seeds from their familiar garden plants as they planted a new life.

Indigenous people knew the rhythm of the rain and cycle of the seasons. From torrential rains to thirsty soils plants had to survive and produce in order for their caretakers to survive. Native Americans saved seeds that grew best and provided the most.

Another common attribute of heirlooms is open pollination. With open-pollinated plants the seeds produced from the promiscuous pollinating of bees yield plants that are fairly similar to the mother plants, the grandmother plants, and the great grandmother plants. Not the exact copy of grandmother but close enough you could pick out the grandkids out of an album. Gardeners can save seed from year to year of open-pollinated plants.

As farmers, Bernie and I have depended on small to mid-sized seed suppliers like Johnny’s Selected Seeds, High Mowing Seeds, Bakers Creek, etc. We, just like many small gardeners, love waiting for those seed catalogs to come just after Christmas every year. We were careful of where we sourced our seeds, making sure we sourced only organic heirloom or F-1 hybrids from suppliers who had taken the “Seed Pledge.” But after listening to Rowen in that class I realized that

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there was so much more we needed to be doing to make sure that the seeds we were planting were locally adapted seeds that would be the foundation of a durable and resilient local food system.

In Rowen’s words: “As I pored over the pages of seeds catalogs from vibrant seed collectives and companies across the country, I realized what a modern convenience these seed catalogs really are.

Up until 150 years ago, having access to a seed catalog was a luxury; 200 years ago on this soil there was virtually no commercial seed companies to speak of. Prior to 200 years ago in this country, all seeds were traded, swapped, and shared between farmers and gardeners. To be a farmer or gardener and not be a seed keeper was unheard of….the two roles were inherently linked together.”

This was my a-ha moment! It was the one piece of that resilient local food system that we were not practicing on the farm. Each year we waited for the seed catalogs to come so we could buy “fresh” seed. That seed was not grown in our bio-region. It wasn’t adapted to our area. So, with all that we learned from Rowen White and the others, we met with local seed keepers and local regional seed companies like Hudson Valley Seed Library and Fruition Seeds.

While we still have purchased open-pollinated seeds from our favorite catalog sources, we will now be doing more seed-keeping on the farm.

Why do seeds need saving? In the last century or so, the world has lost 75 percent of its edible plant varieties. That might be hard to perceive when many of us have enough food on our plates, but consider this: According to the United Nations’ Food and Agriculture Organization, only five cereal grains make up 60 percent of our calories. A system that depends so heavily on so few crops is quite fragile. Think of the Irish Potato Famine – the use of only one variety of potato led to the catastrophe. Diane Ott Whealy, co-founder of Seed Savers Exchange, explains: “We can only preserve heirloom seeds through active stewardship. If we don’t use them, if we don’t allow them to grow again, they become lost” But there is one more piece to creating a vibrant local food system. That involves seed swapping. Again, in Rowen’s words: “The seed swap is the most rich example of a gift economy. The seeds are talismans of abundance, they remind us that abundance and generosity is the innate nature of life. We witness the incredible alchemy of one seed turning into hundreds in the course of one season; in just a couple of seasons that seed is multiplied exponentially. How did we ever buy into the story of scarcity? Perhaps when we stopped caring about seeds? Food and seed sovereignty is our right; we accept the gifts that the earth so readily gives to us, and we protect them the best we know how. By using these seeds in our kitchens, sharing their stories with our children, and by sharing them with others for safe keeping.”

As we look forward to the coming season, we have a new vision and direction for the farm, centered around seed. We would like to engage in more seed-swapping with folks in the Mohawk Valley, and I will become much more of a seed keeper. •

MVL RECIPES

Fall Brittle

By Denise Szarek

1 C. almonds 1 C. sesame seeds ¾ C. pumpkin seeds 2/3 C. dried cranberries 2 ½ C. granulated sugar ½ C. honey 1 C. water ½ tsp, salt 1 T. cinnamon 1 T. butter Zest of 1 lemon, finely grated Zest of 1 orange, finely grated In a dry cast-iron pan toast nuts and seeds until lightly golden brown, about 8 mins., stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Put sugar, honey, butter, salt, and water in a saucepan and set it over medium-low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon frequently as the butter melts and the sugar dissolves and the syrup comes to a boil. Simmer until syrup is a deep caramel color, about 5 mins.

When the caramel is done, turn off the heat, and stir in the nuts, seeds, cranberries, citrus zests, and ground cinnamon.

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Our Beaver Colony The Year in Review part 2 story &photos by matt perry

A kit desperately tries to get Julia’s food

Mallard ducklings at the beaver pond

Cedar Waxwings catch insects over the ponds

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Secret Pond At the end of June, the mallard families began showing up at the nature preserve’s main beaver pond, called Morton’s Pond.

At least three mallard hens had produced ducklings and two of these families became regulars at the ponds. Unlike the colorful mallard drake, the adult females and ducklings have mottled brown plumage that allows them to easily hide among the floating logs and vegetation at the pond’s edge.

For the ducklings their only other defense against predators, like mink and snapping turtles, is to hide or flee–techniques they are quite good at. Of course, it’s always the smallest ducklings that are most vulnerable and, typically, most mother ducks will lose a few of their clutch to predation. Some ducklings simply get separated from their families and become lost. However, even at a young age, they are not dependent on their mother to give them food. This means that a young duckling that is fortunate enough to avoid predators may be able to survive on its own at least until it can be reunited with its family or be adopted into another hen’s entourage.

Other regulars at the ponds at this time of year were Green Herons and Great Blue Herons. Both reveled in the ponds’ abundant minnow supply. The Belted Kingfishers also seemed to have cause to celebrate.

Indeed, as the beavers made the ponds larger and deeper, the habitat for fish only improved. When feeding, the finger-sized minnows breached the surface of the water, thus creating concentric ripples. When they did this en masse, it looked as if raindrops were pelting the pond. Spawning time was also amazing to watch as cloud-like schools of minnows swirled and writhed in the clear water. The fish usually gathered in the shade of partially submerged tree trunks; there they enjoyed some protection from the saber-like bills of their bird predators.

On a day in early July, I finally got a

look at one of the season’s new beaver kits.

The kits were born nearly two months earlier, but they hadn’t been seen outside of the lodge yet. On that day, Julia, the colony’s matriarch, and her 5-year-old daughter (named Tippy) were at Morton’s Pond along with all three yearlings. Julia had been loitering in close proximity to the lodge for what I thought to be an unusually long time, when suddenly a kit popped out of the water like a cork and swam up next to her. The kit stayed very close to Julia and at one point even scampered up onto her back.

I waited at the blind for at least an hour, but the kit never left the immediate vicinity of the lodge.

At this point in time the main beaver ponds, with the exception of Sarah’s Pond, were being kept slightly below peak water levels. This is usually an indication that the beavers are concentrating their efforts on other projects and are not solely concerned with the maintenance of the primary ponds. It turned out that new work had begun downstream from Secret Pond. The large canal that GenLo (the colony’s Patriarch) constructed in 2015 was in the process of being converted into a true pond.

Needless to say, GenLo had been quite busy!

As July came to an end, it seemed clear that the beavers were again residing chiefly at Morton’s Pond and that’s where the new kits were. I still wasn’t seeing or hearing the kits very often, but both Julia and Tippy were taking food into the lodge and then immediately coming out empty handed. I took this as a clear indica-

tion they were feeding kits in the lodge.

Many of the beavers’ rodent cousins find good habitat at beaver ponds and some even live within the dams and lodges. Given their relatively large size and high level of activity, muskrats are the beavers’ most obvious lodgers. Some other rodent species are less conspicuous; they scurry about in the shadow of the beaver colony. These include Woodland Jumping Mice and White-footed Mice as well as two species of vole. Voles can be distinguished from mice by their relatively blunt faces, short tails, and stocky build. The vole species I encountered most often around the ponds was the Southern Red-backed Vole that, unlike the Meadow Vole, has an orange-tinged back and lacks hair on the back of its ears.

Despite its name, the Southern Red-backed Vole’s range extends into Canada and is not hard to find in Central New York. They are omnivores that feed primarily on plant material and fungi, but will also partake of insects and snails. Beaver constructions offer voles a vast area to forage, hide or nest in. Although I have seen hawks showing some interest in hunting voles at the dam, it is members of the weasel family, mainly

Tippy comes out of the pond

ermine and mink, which are their primary predators at the beaver ponds. The weasel’s long narrow body and short legs are well suited for pursuing prey through the labyrinth of closely intertwined branches that make up the dams. Although the literature claims that voles are largely nocturnal, I’ve been able to see them fairly frequently in the late afternoons while waiting for beavers to show up.

By the end of July, a second new beaver kit was finally seen outside the lodge.

This new kit was timid and wouldn’t stray far from its mother and aunt, even while its comparatively bold sibling had graduated to exploring the far reaches of the home pond. In fact, the first kit’s audaciousness led it right to where I sat on the shore. I was even able to give it a piece of apple! Soon a familiar dynamic began and it involved the young kits incessantly pestering their elders for food. They would swim up to Julia or another member of the family, make nasal whining calls, and try to get their hands on whatever was being chewed. You might think that Julia would be a soft touch for begging babies and that she’d be disposed to hand over whatever she had, but that was never the case. When besieged by in-

trusive kit paws, Julia would stand up high out of the water and hold her food just out of reach–leaning from one side and then to the other to keep the kits from attaining the prize. What was curious about this behavior was that the kits would do it even when food was readily available close by. Also, Julia could easily have traveled to a place where the kits couldn’t get to her, that is if she truly wanted to eat in peace. I recall that back when Julia’s original mate was still around, she had her own private den excavated in the pond’s bank for just this sort of thing.

In the more recent years, in the weeks when new kits are first becoming active in the pond, she puts herself in easy reach of them and therefore directly in line for harassment. Most likely Julia’s practice of withholding food is a technique used to get the kits on the path to independence. This gives them incentive to venture beyond the lodge and explore their surroundings. It also serves to increase their social interactions with oth-

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er family members, which is important for an animal that must someday work cooperatively on the colony’s projects.

At the start of August, the beavers were still quite active in the afternoons, although Tippy hadn’t been coming out for a while.

GenLo also remained elusive and was accomplishing most of his work in the overnight hours. No doubt he was being aided and assisted by a cadre of keen apprentices.

As a dam keeper and builder, GenLo had become quite skilled. His proven ability to simultaneously keep all of the major ponds

Muskrats share the Beavers’ habitat

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colony. Speaking of which, in early August, May Pond was allowed to remain at low levels and its edges began growing in with grasses and other perennial plants, some of which the beavers would be able to safely feed upon even after the pond was re-flooded.

In the first weeks of August, Julia, together with Southern Red-backed Voles are the yearlings and present at beaver dams new kits, were still at Morton’s Pond and they were coming out as early as 1:30 in (seven of them) and several canals at high the afternoon! That’s pretty early for bealevels was no mean feat. His expansion vers. The human equivalent would be like project that turned last season’s grand canal starting the morning at 1:30 a.m. At this project into “Blueberry Pond” was also an point in time it seemed conclusive that there impressive accomplishment. His inability were only two kits born in the 2016 season. to come up with a lasting solution for the I couldn’t help but recall two years back, “blow-out” problem at the May Pond dam when I kept thinking I had the complete can be forgiven, especially since May Pond count of new kits, only to discover another wasn’t a place of principle concern for the one swimming about in the pond. This kept

happening until the number reached six. But this time there would be no bonus kits and the final count would reach only two. This fact also appeared to put to rest the notion that both Julia and Tippy were producing young. In 2014, when six young were born, it was conceivable that two mothers were responsible (although one mature female beaver would be capable of producing a litter of six). The following year when a total of three kits were produced it seemed more likely there was only a single mother. 2016 served to cement in place the “one mother” theory and it jibed with the literature that claims there is only one reproducing female per colony. However, the fact that Tippy appeared to be able to produce milk without giving birth to kits remained an interesting anomaly.

In the last weeks of August, the beavers again inverted their schedule and stopped coming out in the afternoons. You could say they went back to the human equivalent of getting up at 7:30 a.m. I would sometimes see GenLo working on the dams in the hours just after dawn, but that was it. Not even Julia was showing up in the afternoon.

Of course, this was the time the beavers’ habitat was at its most beautiful. As we’ve seen many times over the years, in August

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A Belted Kingfisher launches from its perch

the beaver dams transform into something akin to raised garden beds. This was especially true of the oldest dam at Morton’s Pond, which grew a dense covering of Blue Vervain, Joe Pye Weed, Bittersweet Nightshade, and Boneset (among others).

Ruby-throated Hummingbirds were common visitors to the profusion of Orange Jewelweed flowers that grew on the dam’s inner rim. Virgin’s Bower, a small flowered clematis, draped the section of the dam alongside the beaver’s access ramp and its many white blooms resembled cascades of snow. A large Cranberry Viburnum bush sat behind the dam and made a natural centerpiece. Copious amounts of red berries grew in tight clusters on its boughs. They looked very enticing, but the birds ignore them and won’t partake of them unless compelled by great hunger. In contrast, the Bittersweet Nightshade berries festooning the dam were being gobbled up by mallards and Wood Ducks. The mallards would enthusiastically jump up out

of the water to reach the higher ones. The Bittersweet Nightshade plant is responsible for putting out a great variety of color all on its own.

Its flowers look like purple stars with yellow centers, while its berries start out green, turn yellow and then red when fully ripe. It’s typical to see flowers and berries at all different stages of maturity on the same nightshade vine.

In the last days of August, the beavers seemed to turn their attention to collecting food for their winter food reserve (called a food cache).

GenLo, along with some of the younger beavers, began purposefully cutting and dragging saplings and seedlings out of upland areas. Their fresh logging trails radiated out in several directions from Morton’s Pond and Sarah’s Pond, but their primary trails led to the eastern meadow and into a

A young Beaver quickly dismantles a poplar branch

thick grove of Pussy Willow trees. To digress for a moment, no animal in the Northeast makes a trail like a beaver. Their trails are over a foot wide and very smooth. In fact, they look like they have been rolled by mini steamrollers. In a way, they have been, since the beaver’s low carriage, flat-bottomed feet, and dragging tail serve to flatten out any trail they walk on. Trails that get heavy use appear particularly well groomed. Deer trails and even our own foot trails are not nearly so nice. Lining these logging trails were small-diameter willow whips that fell from the bundles the beavers carried back to the ponds. Logging and collecting activity normally is an indication of cache building, but at that point in time I could find no evidence of a food cache being started at any of the ponds. Of course, once the cache is located, I would know where the beavers intended on spending the winter. By the beginning of September, GenLo had begun taking trees down to Morton’s Pond and leaving them in one place near the shore. Did this mean they were settling on Morton’s Pond as their winter residence, or was this still pre-caching behavior? On an evening visit, I got to see most of the colony including Julia and Tippy. Tippy came right up to me and took a treat from my hand even though she hadn’t seen me in at least a month. As for GenLo, he was continuing to be seen in the early mornings when he was in the process of winding down his nighttime work shift. In early September yet another schedule shakeup occurred and Julia and the new kits began coming out in the afternoons again. At this time, I discovered that one of the kits seemed to have a problem with its left eye. It was par-

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tially closed and encrusted with mucus.

The kit was also rubbing at it. It looked like conjunctivitis but it could have been the result of an injury. Bumping into submerged objects or getting poked by branches is an ever-present danger for beavers. Beavers have nictitating membranes, which protect their eyes from underwater hazards, but nothing is infallible and I could only hope it didn’t develop into a serious problem. By mid-September, it was only Julia coming out in the afternoon and so it became difficult to keep close tabs on the kit with the eye problem. A trail camera left at Morton’s Pond showed both kits engaging in playful shoving matches and otherwise behaving normally. In the final days of September, the young kits began coming out in the afternoons with Julia again and I was able to determine that the one kit’s eye hadn’t noticeably improved.

At the start of October, suddenly all the major ponds were brought up to maximum levels and the kits’ little lodge (dubbed “the fort”) at Secret Pond was enlarged and improved. It was now obvious that the food cache had been started and for the second year in a row it was being assembled at Secret Pond. Soon Secret Pond’s water levels reached a historic high and it effectively

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flooded out my new rain shelter we erected the previous year. Suddenly, the shelter looked like a covered dock without the dock! Now to sit beneath it required sitting on a chair in a foot of water. It was both ridiculous and novel. You could say that being in the water alongside a beaver-built structure gave one a more authentic beaver experience. As for the beavers themselves, at first they didn’t quite know what to make of me joining them in the water, but they quickly habituated to my new perch and

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stream--ponds are capable of a quick recovery. At this time Julia had begun to travel back and forth between Morton’s Pond and Secret Pond. A problem with her left leg that I worried about earlier in the year no longer seemed to be an issue. However, she seemed to be moving slower than usual. I wondered if she would be able to cope with the coming winter. Around this time a trail cam video showed her grooming herself on shore and then nodding off. It was kind of a grandparent moment and something I hadn’t seen with our beavers before. Of course, Julia was currently about the same age as her parents were when they passed away. Fortunately, as October progressed, Julia again became more vibrant. For the most part she seemed content to remain at Secret Pond, but there she was quite active – dragging her meals all around the pond and walking quite far onto shore to look for things to nibble on. One day she surprised me by speeding over to get the carrot I brought. I thought at first it was one of the younger beavers, but Julia was the speed boat! There was other good news at Secret Pond; the kit’s eye had cleared up and now looked completely normal. As for logging activities, they were continuing at the willow grove and to a lesser degree along the north slope of the little valley.

Through mid-October, the beavers were very active in the afternoons. Trees and branches that were dragged down to Secret Pond were instantly cut up and stored in the food cache by single-minded yearlings and 2-year-olds. They did this work compulsively, even pulling branches away from the less-dedicated beavers who were more interested in having them for break-

Eastern Kingbirds nest over the beaver pond

Mallard female with ducklings at the beaver pond

fast. No time for feeding, these branches must be stored! And then suddenly the next week brought about an inexplicable lull in logging and cache building. The trail cam showed that a coyote had been hanging around the base of the logging trail one night, and this may have been what made the beavers so cautious about traveling up to the willow grove. Trail cam footage showed that when beavers came to the base of the trail, they would stand on their hind legs and give the air a really good sniff before deciding whether or not to proceed. At this point in time, coyotes and beavers had shared the habitat for 17 years will little or no sign of conflict. I believe that the caution showed by beavers is prudent, but not necessarily indicative of a real threat. However, teaching the kits (which are the most vulnerable members of the colony) that they

are in fact a prey species and must go about their activities with a degree of wariness is a good policy. It is one that will help them in their future lives no matter where they end up.

The beavers continued coming out in the afternoons through the rest of October.

Some evenings, the kits were more often heard than seen as they whined to their elders for a bite of whatever they were nibbling on. Again, the kits could have easily gotten their own food, but that would have deprived them of opportunities for social interactions, albeit contentious ones. By the end of October, logging operations had picked up again in the willow grove and along the slopes of the valley, and the food cache was visibly growing again. As happens each year around this time, the regular visitors to the ponds began to change.

Great Blue Herons were still showing up, but most Green Herons had flown south. A migrant American Bittern showed up and probably would have gone unnoticed if it hadn’t dramatically flushed upon approach.

While one kingfisher remained at the ponds, most of our ducks had gone.

A return to winter weather on November 19th hardly fazed the beavers. Fairly deep snow confined them to their pond system, but the lack of significant ice cover allowed them to remain active. In fact, Secret Pond was a hotbed of beaver activity. GenLo was starting to be seen in the afternoons, which was something he hadn’t done since spring.

It was around this time that the muskrats finally moved back to Secret Pond and began pilfering the beavers’ food supply. As usual, the beavers were nonchalant about their light-fingered cousins. In fact, they let muskrats do anything they wanted short of grabbing the food right out of their hands.

Muskrats nervously and adeptly weave in and out between beaver constructions and

the beavers themselves–all the while seek- sumption. I didn’t think it was possible for a ing food, which they can zero in on with beaver that I’ve known for nearly 10 years amazing speed. Beavers may be good at to still surprise me, but Julia managed it. I finding poplar trees, but muskrats can find had arrived at the pond in the early aftervirtually evnoon. She was erything else there in her Beaver kits engage in playful shoving matches edible in a usual place at fraction of the end of the the time. An dock. When I adult muskrat tried to offer weighs up to her a carrot, three pounds, she wasn’t while an adult interested beaver can and instead weight over pressed by me 65 pounds. and made her Muskrats that way up the live with beatrail toward vers truly live the poplar among giants branches. So and luckily far that much for them, they wasn’t unusuhappen to be al. What was gentle giants. In late December, I watched different is that she took a branch, dragged at least one of them test Julia’s good nature. it into the pond and added it to the food The muskrat learned that it could some- cache! After that she returned to take her times grab Julia’s food away from her by carrot. I know that this doesn’t seem parswimming up to her from underneath (like a ticularly Earth-shaking, but I don’t think shark) and quickly snatching the food item that I have ever seen Julia add anything to from her hands. any food cache before. That was not in her In late November, we put down some job description. In the middle of Decemplanks and made a very simple walkway/ ber, I happened to be at Secret Pond when dock at the access to Secret Pond. This was May Pond experienced one of its blow-out necessary due to the deep mud and shal- events. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the sounds low water we had to trudge through to get of May Pond’s surface ice buckling, I’m not close to the pond. I worried that the beavers sure that I would have noticed anything, but might pull the thing apart and just add it to the draining of May Pond caused a barely the dam. As it turned out, they did that with perceptible increase in the current at Secret only one of the boards. The rest they left in Pond. The sound of water flowing through place and soon Julia adopted it for her own and over Secret Pond’s dam became loudwalkway. In December, she was very active. er, but it was a subtle difference from the Virtually every day in the early afternoon norm. Surprisingly, the beavers that were she would walk up the dock and up the trail out at Secret Pond gave little notice to the to see if any branches had been gathered for loud cracking of the ice. But, finally, GenLo her. If she found some, she would immedi- climbed to the top of the dam at May Pond ately begin cutting off hunks and dragging and observed the situation for a few minthem back to the pond for immediate con- utes. I could just imagine him saying, “Oh,

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not again.” By the next morning GenLo had fixed the dam. May Pond had refilled and already there was a fresh sheet of ice over it. Easy come, easy go, and two days later the dam had sprung yet again, but this time unseasonably cold temperatures thwarted GenLo’s ability to repair it in the short term.

Thankfully, the beavers didn’t choose May Pond as their winter residence. If they had they would have risked their food cache becoming inaccessible as it would have been covered with snow and ice. In the latter half of December, the ponds were consistently iced over as the beaver colony settled in for the long winter ahead.

That concludes part two of a year in the life of our beaver colony. Over many years now the beavers have provided our nature preserve’s wildlife denizens with immensely valuable wetland habitat. Their ponds have been the centerpiece of the preserve and the epicenter of so much wildlife activity. At the same time the beavers have provided us with a wealth of information on their own lives and habits, some of which may be particularly useful as it challenges long-held conceptions regarding their behavior. Regardless of whether it’s valuable to science or not, I am most grateful for the opportunity to observe and study them and I look forward to relaying more of their life stories in future articles. •

Matt Perry is Conservation Director and resident naturalist at Spring Farm CARES in Clinton. He manages a 260 acre nature preserve which is open for tours by appointment. Matt is also regional editor of “The Kingbird”, which is a quarterly publication put out by the New York State Ornithological Association. Matt’s short nature videos can be viewed on the web. Look for Spring Farm CARES Nature Sanctuary on Facebook.

mohawk valley

Guide to maple producers Awaiting spring. Our Woods Maple Syrup sugar house in Cold Brook.

Maple Weekends 2017 March 18-19 & 25-26, 2017

One of the very first signs of spring in the Mohawk Valley is the appearance of maple syrup buckets hanging from the sides of sugar maples. Maple syrup was first introduced to Europeans by the indigenous peoples of North America. The full “Sap” or “Sugar” moon in March was celebrated by the Iroquois as the first sign of spring—inviting the robins to return and the maple sap to flow.

Ben & Judy’s

Sugarhouse

Pure maple products.

We can ship anywhere!

Call (315) 899-5864 to purchase products or schedule a tour!

Mark Your Calendars!

Maple Weekend Open House Sat & Sun, March 18th & 19th Sat & Sun, March 25th & 26th

Pancake Breakfasts Saturdays only on March 18th & 25th, 8am-1pm Also available at: Peter’s Cornucopia, Twin Orchards, and Stoltzfus Family Dairy 50

770 Beaver Creek Rd., West Edmeston • Find us on Facebook!

ALP Farms

Open year round Saturdays 1-5pm 383 Murray Hill Road, St Johnsville (518) 762-1182 www.alpfarms.com

Ben & Judy’s Sugarhouse

Open Saturday & Sunday March 18 & 19, 25 &26 Pancake breakfast Saturdays only: 8am-1pm Products available at several locations including Peter’s Cornucopia, Stoltzfus Dairy, and Twin Orchards 770 Beaver Creek Road, West Edmeston (315) 899-5864

GREAT FAMILY FUN! Discover the pure taste of maple!

Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School 5275 State Route 21, Verona

Burt Homestead Farm

Please call ahead. Will host tours for groups/schools.

200 Burt Road, Cold Brook (315) 826-3949 www.burthomesteadfarm.com

Cook’s Maple Syrup

Maple Weekends 10am-4pm, maple doughnuts, syrup, popcorn, and cotton candy!

247 County Rd 20, Sherburne (607) 674-9593 www.cooksmaple.com

The Farmers’ Museum

Open Maple Weekends with activities 9am-2pm; Pancake breakfasts 8:30am-1pm 5775 State Highway 80, Cooperstown (607) 547-1450 www.farmersmuseum.org

Frasier’s Sugar Shack

Open Maple Weekends 10am-4pm 144 Church Street, St. Johnsville (518) 568-7438 www.frasierssugarshack.com

Grant’s Maple

Available at local farmer’s markets.

3784 Mohawk Street, New Hartford (315) 737-5014

Grimm’s Maple Products

Unique bourbon barrel infused syrup available at local farmer’s markets 3546 Fishcreek Landing Rd, Blossvale Please call ahead. (315) 571-5151

Ingles Maple Products

Open House during Maple Weekends Open Daily 9-5 382 State Highway 28, Richfield Springs (315) 858-0368 www.inglesmapleproducts.com

Lincoln Davies

Maple syrup making supplies Open Mon-Fri: 7-5, Sat: 7-4, Closed Sunday 8689 Summit Road, Sauquoit (315) 839-5740 www.lincolndavies.com 40

V.V.S. FFA

Maple Weekend 2017

Saturday & Sunday, March 18th, 19th & 25th, 26th “A statewide event devoted to the recognition of the New York State Maple industry”

Schedule of Daily Activities:

7:30 AM – 12:00 PM- Pancake Breakfast with Fresh, Real Maple Syrup served in the V.V.S. High School Cafeteria.

Adult $ 8.00, Senior Citizens and children under 12 $6, Pre-schoolers -- free.

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM- Maple Sap House Tour and Open House, V.V.S. FFA Sap House 10:00 AM- Maple Queen and Princess Presentation Cooking with Maple at the V.V.S. H.S. Cafeteria

Free Wagon Rides to the Maple Sugarbush! Free tours!

9:00 AM – 3:00 PM- Sale of Maple Syrup and Maple Products

Sunday, March 26th Only:

11:00 AM- Official New York Maple Sunday Syrup Season 2017 Maple Tree Tapping Ceremony 11:15 AM- Maple Coloring Contest Award Winners at V.V.S. H.S. Lawn 41 51

Link Maple Farm

Murcray Sugar Shack

Open maple season through first week in April Mon-Thur: 2:30-5, Fri: 9-5, Sat: 9-1 Products available at local retailers.

4045 MacFarland Road, Taberg (315) 336-3030 www.linkmaplefarm.com

155 East Elwood Road, Fort Plain Please call ahead. (315) 868-8219

Our Woods

Single-source producer of real maple syrup, maple sugar, maple crumbles, maple dog treats and maple lemonade.

101 Dow Road, Cold Brook (973) 214-2872 www.ourwoodsmaple.com

Mill Creek Maple Supply

All the supplies you need to make maple syrup.

Open Mon-Fri: 8am-4:30pm 1551 County Highway 20, Edmeston (607) 965-6920

Paradise Maple

Available at local farmers markets.

Open any day of the week: 10am-7pm 291 Newville Road, Little Falls (315) 823-3436 or (315) 717-8595

Millers Mills Maple

955 Richfield Hill Road, Richfield Springs Please call ahead: (315) 858-2855

Renodin’s Produce

847 Hall Road, Cold Brook Please call ahead: (315) 826-7873

Mud Road Sugar House

Open Maple Weekends 10am-4pm Call ahead, open year round.

278 Mud Road, Ephratah (518) 863-6313 www.mudroadsugarhouse.com

Ringwood Farms Maple

3rd generation farm operated by the Bartlett family for 80 years. Pancake breakfasts Maple Weekends 8am-12pm Open Mon-Sat 10am-5pm. Please call ahead.

147 Bartlett Road, Cooperstown (607) 435-5701 www.ringwoodfarmsmaplesyrup.com

Fort Schuyler Trading Co. Coffee Roaster - tea & herb shop Maple Syrup & Sugar, Raw Honey, Beeswax Candles, Essential Oils, Handmade Soap, Natural Skin Care Products, Organic Cotton Twill

Custom Printing & Embroidery T-Shirts, Jackets, Hats, Polo Shirts, Sweatshirts, Hoodies, Tote Bags, Fleece Blankets, Dance & Spirit Wear, Cheerleading & Team Unifoms

Natural Stone Tile & Slabs Granite, Limestone, Marble, Onyx, Quartzite, Slate, Travertine North Utica Shopping Center Phone: 315-733-1043

For the child in all of us.

We offer candy, coffee & desserts!

Try our St. Patrick’s Day treats!

Mon - Friday: 10 AM - 6:00 PM Sat & Sun: 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM

Maple Lane Roofing Professional metal and shingle roofing

Serving the Valley and Greater Utica area

Be assured the boss is on the job!

531 Varick St., Utica 765-6463 M-F 8-5:30, Sat 8-4, Sun 8-2, Closed Tues www.facebook.com/sosweetcandycafe

Call Reuben Blank (315) 823-0812

Finding High Quality Care Has Never Been Easier!

WWW.CCEONEIDA.COM/CHILDCARE

1-888-814-KIDS

Root Farm

Tibbitts Maple

Shaw’s Maple Products

V.V.S. FFA Maple Market

Maple syrup tapped from our own trees, as well as maple cream.

Call: (315) 520-7046, ext. 226 or email: info@rootfarm.org 2860 King Road, Sauquoit www.rootfarm.org/purchase-eggs-syrup-more Open Maple Weekends. Available at local farmer’s markets and at Clinton Tractor and Deansboro Superette.

7945 Maxwell Road Clinton (315) 853-7798 www.shawsmapleproducts.com

Open Maple Weekends. Free student-guided wagon rides to sugarbush woodlot and tours of maple sap house 9am-3pm.

Pancake breakfast 7:30am-noon.

5275 State Route 31 Vernon-Verona-Sherrill High School, Verona (315) 829-2520 or (315) 335-0887

Stannard’s Maple Farm

Available at local markets. Try our maple jelly!

166 Stannard Hill Road, Cherry Valley Please call ahead for tours: (607) 264-3090

Visit the American Maple Museum Open Maple Weekends March 18-19 and March 25-26 with pancake breakfasts 7am-12pm, Winter hours: Mon, Fri, Sat: 11am-4pm 9756 State Route 812, Croghan (315) 346-1107 www.americanmaplemuseum.org

Stone House Farm

Pancakes weekends through April 23: 8am-1pm.

Maple weekends: all-you-can-eat pancakes, waffles, sausage, and beverage. Maple products available.

305 Lynk Road, Sharon Springs (518) 284-2476 www.thesaphouseatstonehousefarm.com

s for u e e s Come Weekends!

Maple th & 19th, 10-4 8 March 1 26th, 10-4 25th &

8874 Tibbitts Rd., New Hartford 315-793-3114 www.tibbittsmaple.wordpress.com

We ship anywhere!

SHAW'S

MAPLE PRODUCTS Try our “Maple Sugar”

This 100% pure, natural and unprocessed sweetener is made by boiling down the sap from maple trees. It is a healthier alternative to white and brown sugar as it contains beneficial minerals such as Manganese, Riboflavin, Zinc, Magnesium, Calcium & Potassium.

Visit us on Maple Weekends March 18 & 19 and 25 & 26th, 10-4 each day

www.facebook.com/tibbittsmaple

• Maple syrup • Maple cream • Maple sugar • Maple drops • Extra dark cooking syrup • Maple popcorn • Maple herbal and bag tea • Maple BBQ sauce

Open Maple Weekends 10am-4pm. 4 generations and growing.

8874 Tibbitts Road, New Hartford (315) 793-3114 or (315) 794-2752 www.tibbittsmaple.wordpress.com

315-725-0547 7945 Maxwell Rd., Clinton (follow signs)

• Granulated maple sugar • Maple mustard • Maple lollipops • Maple cotton candy • Maple vinegar • Large variety of pancake mixes

382 State Highway 28, Richfield Springs

Open 9-5 daily • (315) 858-0368 • www.inglesmapleproducts.com

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Turnbull

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600 French Road, New Hartford • 315.735.9201 www.turnbull-insurance.com

local cd review

Kevin Alexander The Lovely

By John Keller People say, “It’s my life’s work” or “I worked forever on this.”

Many times it’s hyperbole, but in the case of Kevin Alexander’s album The Lovely it’s an actuality. Kevin spent eight or nine years from impetus to fruition. And to these ears, it was a well-worthy wait. ous Kevin is a solo performer as well as a member of Invisible Ren- power. “I am dezvous, a trio that creates amazing and unique versions of classic here, heart open and bleedrock and soul with bassist Elliot Clark and drummer Glenn As- ing.” noe. Both appear on this outing, adding another magic layer to the The final track, “Hawk Eye,” brings the album to a modsongs. ern country/bluegrass/swampy conclusion. The song is a haunting, The CD opens with a wonderful homage to old-time Western devilish tune reminiscent of CCR. styles, much like those of Roy Rogers and Gene Autry. “Late The Lovely is a great representation of Kevin Alexander’s inAfternoon Desire” has that ambling, rambling feelfluences and various styles he exudes in his performancing of riding through the prairie. Lazy harmonica, es. For a project that percolated over a lengthy span, snare with brushes, deep, rich vocals all blend to The Lovely sounds even and polished all around. sweep the listener along.

Kevin’s vocals are strong with all instruments Another track, “Sing to You,” is a sweet layered evenly. pop love song with a vocal group addition.

The Lovely will make a fine addition The lead guitar plays a light melody line to any CD collection. It’s well produced and during the break. musically eclectic enough to not grow weary Skipping ahead is “Bury My Crown.” upon multiple listens, yet it’s not aurally jarBass and hi-hats bring in the guitar and ring. It is on additional listens that one hears vocals for a slow ballad that builds to a the deeper dimensions that Kevin has woven www.mohawkvalleyliving.com rocking, funky groove swinging back to the in. Nine tracks in a lifetime of passion. balladry weaving back and forth throughout CDs will be available for purchase at The Mokeeping your ears happily busy. The coda is an hawk Valley Center for the Arts in Little Falls, extended acoustic instrumental with soft Asian The Tramontane Café and Off-Center Records in touches. Pretty and moving.

Utica, 16 Stone Brewpub in Holland Patent, as well as “My Darling” invokes a very slight Dave Matthews vibe several other locations throughout the Mohawk Valley. For to it.Acoustic guitar follows the heralding church bells. Glenn’s drums further information, contact Kevin at www.facebook.com/KevinAfill in after a verse. A piano and strings bring the song in to its glori- lexanderFolk •

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Helping Buyers & Sellers Meet Their Goals

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Fri. Fish Fry 11:30am-8pm

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clinton

Where good friends Meet to Eat! Enjoy breakfast or a quick lunch!

8170 Seneca Tpke., Clinton (315) 732-3631 Mon-Fri 6am-2pm, Sat & Sun 6am-1pm

1

Primo Pizza #

at the Kettle

2755 State Rt 8, Cold Brook, NY 13324 • 826-5050 Mon. 4 - 9pm • Tues. Closed • Wed. - Sun. 12 Noon - 9pm Great Food • Great Spirits • Great Times

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forestport

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Tues-Thurs: 11am-9pm, Fri & Sat: 11am-10pm, Sun: 1pm-8pm

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Herkimer

22 years in business!

RESTAURANT & BAR

Serving Breakfast and Lunch M-F: 7am-2:30pm FREE WI-FI

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good food, good wine, good friends, good times 123 Mohawk St., Herkimer • 866-1746 www.jamosrestaurantandbar.com Now Open 7 days! Sun-Thurs: 11-9, Fri: 11-11, Sat: 11-9

Wed-Thurs 11-7; Fri 11-8; Sat Noon-7

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little falls

Celebrating 30 Years!

Open Daily 7am-3pm

Now that’s a breakfast sandwich!

Serving healthy and delicious salads, grilled sandwiches, and homemade soups.

Heidelberg Bread & Café

823-3290

Breakfast, Lunch, Homemade Soups & Sandwiches and our delicious Desserts Including our Famous Cream Puffs!

Canal Place, Little Falls Next to Showcase Antiques

3056 Rte 28 N., Herkimer (315) 866-0999

Mon-Sat: 7am-6pm, Sun: 7am-5pm Find us on Facebook!

Baking all natural breads – available throughout New York State

Great food served in a relaxing atmosphere.

Lee Center

Have you Gone Coastal yet?

27 draft beers on tap featuring many NY state craft beers.

518 East Main Street, Little Falls (315) 508-5156

Open Mon-Thurs 4-10, Fri & Sat 4-11, closed Sun

Quality Food - Fresh Ingredients Relaxing Atmosphere Offering Daily Specials!

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MARCY

Catering & Banquets too! (315)533-7229

5345 Lee Center-Taberg Rd., Lee Center

Wed 3-9, Thurs 12-9, Fri & Sat 11:30-9, Sun 11:30-8, Closed Mon & Tues

www.gonecoastalrestaurant.com

9663 River Rd., Marcy A

Serving all your favorite homemade comfort foods!

Breakfast Served All Day! Take Out & Delivery!

56

Fresh Haddock • Giambotta

797-7709

Mushroom Stew • Chicken & Biscuits Meatloaf, Goulash & More!

Mon.-Thur. 6am-4pm, Fri. 6am-8pm Sat. and Sun. 6am-2pm

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Get Your Irish on at Killabrew!

Enjoy our favorite Irish dishes including Shepherd’s pie, Irish Beef Stew, Irish Pierogies, Corned Beef Reubens, and of course Corned Beef & Cabbage dinners!

Homemade comfort foods Full menu available til 2am!

21 beers on tap, specializing in NY State craft beers!

Craft Beer & Wine Available!

Voted “Best of the Best” for fish frys & wings!

10 Clinton Rd., New Hartford

Mon-Sat: 10am-2am, Sun: 12pm-2am www.killabrewsaloon.com

Specializing in Authentic Neopolitan Pizza!

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Pizzas only take 90 seconds in our 800+ oven!

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P h So Te An Ui Rc Ai aN nT R E Enjoy authentic Lebanese Cuisine Full Buffet & Salad Bar served Mon-Fri 11:30-2:30 Wednesday Night Buffet 4:30-8:30 Serving Lunch & Dinner Mon-Sat

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FrenchRoad, Road, New New Hartford 733-2709 623623 French Hartford(315) (315) 733-2709

Enjoy traditional, naturally flavored, healthy soup and entrées at Pho Ever Noodles Vietnamese Cuisine.

Come try our refreshing Bubble Tea and Traditional Pho or make your own noodle soup!

CHECK OUT OUR NEW SUSHI BAR! Plaza 5, 8469 Seneca Turnpike • New Hartford • (315) 733-6888 Open Mon-Sat: 10am-8pm, Sun: 10am-7pm • Like us on Facebook!

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Locally Owned & Operated

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Oneida

Specializing in the area’s only coal-fired pizza oven!

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ROME

Brenda’s Natural Foods Something Good & a Lot of It!

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sharon springs

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Yorkville

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Serving lunch and dinner 7 days a week. Open til 2am 7362 East Main Street, Westmoreland (315) 853-1351

KARAM’S Middle Eastern Bakery & Restaurant Traditional Lebanese fare for breakfast & lunch!

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ST. PATRICK’S DAY BASH!!

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uuuuuuuuuuu u u u u u u u u u u Canal Place, Little falls u u 375 next door to ann street deli u (315) 823-1177 u u u 75 Dealers in: u u Quality Antiques, u Primitives, Furniture, u u u Art and Jewelry u u u Open 7 days 10-5 u u www.showcaseantiquesofcny.com u uuuuuuuuuuu

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Weeden’ s Mini Mall 100 Shops Located under One Roof

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Schultz and Dooley collection at The Potting Shed Antiques in Whitesboro

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Herkimer county historical society

Herkimer Co. During WWI Part 3: american red cross

By Susan Perkins, Town of Manheim Historian

Since February’s issue came out more American Red Cross women were added to the list.

Anna Cecelia Purcell (1896-1981) was born in Herkimer, N.Y., the daughter of James and Katherine Devins Purcell. Anna was a graduate of Albany Nurses and Training School.

She was called to active service Feb. 20, 1918, from civilian life. She was head nurse at Ellis Island until May 1918, according to her grandniece Sue Pontius. Anna went to Base Hospital 33, which was in Portsmouth, England, attached to the 5th Southern General Hospital from May 2, 1918, until Feb. 24, 1919. She was at the demobilization station from February 24 through March 4, 1919. She was honorably discharged from service on March 30, 1919. Anna was a nurse at Marine Hospital in Savannah, GA, from 1923 through 1935.

In 1939, she was chief nurse in Staten Island. Anna later moved back to Herkimer and bought a house for her mother and sister. Anna and her parents are buried in Calvary Cemetery

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in Herkimer.

Mrs. Mary Lovell Longshore Madill (1853-?) was born in Canton, St. Lawrence County, N.Y., the daughter of Joseph and Samantha (Hurlburt) Lovell. Mary married Dr. Miles Longshore on June 24, 1879, in Burlington, VT. They lived in Cold Brook in 1880, where he served as a physician until his death in 1904. Mary was a Red Cross assistant nurse in New York during World War I. She married a Madill but I couldn’t find his first name in the census. In the 1920 Census, she was living with her brother, Dr. Frederick S. Lovell, in New York City. In the 1930 Census, she was living at the Eastern Star Home in Oriskany, and this is the last I find on her.

Edna Elizabeth Eagan Mannion (18951988) was born Frankfort, N.Y., the daughter of Peter and Edna Eagan. She graduated from St. Elizabeth’s Hospital Training School for Nurses. She served as a Red Cross nurse in the American Nurse Corps at Greenhut Hospital Upton Branch in NYC. She also served at Fox Hills Hospital No. 6 on Staten Island. She was ready to go overseas when the Armistice was signed. She enlisted Sept. 1, 1918, in the Army Nurse Corps. She served at the Debarkation Hospital No.1, Ellis Island, N.Y. She was discharged on July 26, 1919. She married Charles F. Mannion (1899-1988).

Mary Reardon (1888- ?) was born in Little Falls, N.Y., the daughter of Daniel and Margaret Sullivan Reardon. Mary was appointed an Army regular nurse on Sept. 25, 1918, from Civil Life stationed at Greenhut Hospital Upton Branch, NYC, on Nov.

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23, 1918. She was then stationed at Debarkation Hospital No. 3 until June 25, 1919, and served at Camp Merritt, N.J., until Sept. 19, 1919. She then served at Camp Delta, AZ, until discharge on Dec. 8, 1919. I couldn’t find anything more on Mary.

Myra E. Watkins Swanson (1892-1934) was born in West Exeter, N.Y., the daughter of John H. Watkins and Martha Elizabeth Huntley. Myra enlisted on Nov. 19, 1917, from Civil Life at Utica, NY. She was stationed at the Base Hospital at Camp Jackson, SC, as a Red Cross nurse until Sept. 21, 1918, and the Base Hospital No. 60, which was in Bazoilles-sur-Meuse, France, from Sept. 28, 1918, until June 19, 1919. She was discharged on July 28, 1919. Myra married Frederick J. Swanson (1891-1949); he served in the Army during the war. They were married September 1918 while she was serving as at Red Cross nurse. Myra is buried in Unadilla Forks, N.Y. Hazel Eunice Wood Noyes West (1887-1973) was born in Miller, SD, the daughter of Dr. Emory Wood and Eunice Brooks. Hazel lived in Salisbury Center, NY, at the time of her enlistment. She served in the Army Nurse Corps and was called in to active service June 18, 1918, from civil life. She served at the United State Base Hospital at Camp Lee, VA, until Dec. 3, 1918. She served at Debarkation Hospital 51 at Hampton, VA, until discharge on April 19, 1919.

Hazel married George Noyes (1883-1942) in 1921. George died and she married Clinton F. West (?-1965) of New Hartford, N.Y. Hazel and George are buried in Salisbury Rural Cemetery.•

The Herkimer County Historical Society’s World War I Exhibit will open at 7 p.m. on April 26, 2017.

There will be a program following the opening given by Cheryl Pula on the “Lost Battalion.”

Sue Perkins is the Executive Director of the Herkimer County Historical Society and historian for the town of Manheim.

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Shawangunk nature preserve, cold brook Tim plows with our VW Beetle

TALES FROM

SHAWANGUNK Chapter 30

by Peggy Spencer Behrendt

In 1974, Tim and Peggy Spencer Behrendt set off on an adventure. They began a new life in the woods of Cold Brook, NY, without modern conveniences like electricity or indoor plumbing. These are excerpts and reflections from Peggy’s journal chronicling their adventures and also her childhood memories growing up in Westmoreland.

Early March, 1989--A Day at Home I wonder if I’m still dreaming when my eyes open to an arabesque of pink-andwhite-tinged snowflakes floating below rose-blushed, heavy gray clouds outside our quiet little loft. Next to me, Tim is already sitting up, intently looking down at the manuscript of his latest book on the foot locker that serves as his desk at the side of the bed. I went to sleep seeing him proofing it; I saw him staring at it in the middle of

the night by candlelight; and now, when I wake up in the morning, “yep” there’s the manuscript in front of his face. I hope he gets some sleep in between.

Tim has always been a hard worker. It began when his older brother gave him a quarter to deliver three newspapers in 1944 when he was in second grade.

In fourth grade, he took on a route of 21 customers every evening, then later had a morning route until he succumbed to the lure of football.

After eating a lonely bowl of cold cereal at 5 a.m., he’d walk or bike to the pick-up house, fold, then carry his papers all over Ashtabula Harbor, Ohio, in a heavy bag hanging over one shoulder, slowly creating a fatty tumor that he would wear the rest of his life. He traipsed over ancient, rough,

cobblestone and paved streets with rutted shoulders through chill, foggy twilights as the morning sun slowly dissipated swirling mists rising from Lake Erie, gradually revealing gigantic coal piles, ships, and trains on the industrial harbor shoreline. Sometimes he wore heavy, buckle galoshes, slogging through snow, ice, and slush. He delivered the newspapers in blizzards, rain and wind, often forgetting to wear enough to stay warm and dry.

He warily approaches Mr. M’s house where the mean dog lives that bit him once; the folks in the next house often don’t answer the door when he comes to collect, which means he has to cover it out of his salary; but next to them are the people who always give him a dollar bonus at Christmas.

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He groans in dread as he approaches the skinny bridge on Lake Avenue for three deliveries on the other side. One time a bus hit his handlebars there, knocking him down. In a rough part of the lower harbor, where bars and upstairs brothels attract ship crews, he sees one of his papers turn red when it lands in a pool of blood in front of a bar.

One rainy day, a car drives alongside and a stranger not only offers, but insists that Tim get in and be driven along his route.

Tim knows enough to ignore him.

Tim’s office next to our bed in the loft

On V-P day 1945, the end of WWII, when he’d had just turned 8, there was a special paper to deliver. “Extra! Extra! War Is Over!” he called out in great excitement to each house on his route.

He’s often late to school, but always gets a pass. Maybe it’s because his father is a teacher. He earns enough (almost $3 per week) to buy some comics, an ice cream soda, and a burger, saving half for a new Columbia bicycle that he sneaks up to his third-story attic bedroom at night to admire.

I ask him, “Was it all worth it?

“I don’t know,” he answers, in wonderment. “I just thought that that was what I should do because my brother did it. It did teach me to be responsible, and now we’ve not only taken care of the kids, we’re building a nature sanctuary.”

“My brother delivered papers throughout Clark Mills and Westmoreland,” I add. “He used a bike but sometimes rode our horse for deliveries in 1960. I’ll bet that was a challenge because Flicka didn’t like to cross bridges! But my first jobs were baby-sitting, and I did a lot of it!

Tim’s older brother gave him a paper route when he was seven

First thing I liked to do when the parents left, was see what was in the fridge,” I admit, laughing. “But I did take the responsibility seriously and was often in demand.”

“What did you do with your money?”

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Peg’s brother, Jim, delivered papers on his horse in Clark Mills and Westmoreland 1960

“I often spent my money at Jimmy Nolan’s variety shop in Clark Mills. I bought comic books like Casper, the Friendly Ghost, Tarzan, Uncle Scrooge, Archie, and was furious when they went from 10 cents to 12 cents. And I always bought Smith Brothers Wild Cherry Cough drops. Maybe I learned to love beards because I associate them with the picture of the Smith Brothers on their box!

“In Ashtabula, I went to a tiny shop called Jenny’s for candy and soda,” Tim says. “There was a little grocery store next to it. Seems like there were little family grocery stores in every little community. The owners often lived above them.”

“My mom shopped at Meelan’s Market next to Jimmy Nolan’s in Clark Mills. They lived upstairs, too.”

I stretch. “I should get up, but

Our cat Sooty plays in the snow

it feels so good to be here in our cozy loft after camping in Florida last month. Seems like the wind blew like blazes for days!

“It blew the rain right through the sides of the tent” he recalls.

“And the noise! I couldn’t stand all that constant tent flapping. I finally wrapped up in some plastic bags and slept under a palm tree feeling like a homeless fugitive, but it was so much more peaceful!”

“It was better than hanging out in the rest rooms.”

“Next year, we have to finish eating before sunset. Those raccoons were trying to take the food off my plate while I was still eating! You had to fend them off with bags of sand. And no bananas or corn chips for us next year! They’ll just slice open the tent and pull them out!”

“Good thing you know how to sew.”

I crawl past Tim to the landing at the top of the ladder and toss layers of warm clothes down onto my chair before climbing down.

It’s peaceful here. Birds outside are chirping, wanting sunflower seeds. Sooty meows because his dish is empty. I use the chamber pot and hurriedly dress in the cold, but have trouble putting on my socks because I think I have bursitis in my right hip from

heavy snow shoveling two days ago.

No sit-ups or leg lifts for me today!

The wood stove is quiet. Only a few lambent embers are left.

I put on a coat, hat, and scarf, go out to feed the birds and shovel the walk to the road so I can bring in an armful of wood.

The pile looks tipsy.

The wood covers will have to be shoveled off today and the piles brought down and made level.

I let Sooty out, and after I scold him away from the bird feeder, he is a sinuous blur of ebony against alabaster as he darts about at pretend characters and climbs trees.

I clean out last night’s

Our cat Sooty plays outside the Childrens’ Cottage

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A forest home beneath a tree after housecleaning

teapot and put fresh water on to heat. Sooty climbs on my lap and purrs. Oatmeal boils. Raw milk from a local farm, cinnamon, walnuts and half a wild apple goes into each portion of organic oatmeal served in two small stainless-steel mixing bowls. I use a soup spoon and Tim likes the ice tea spoon. I pass one up to Tim. A flock of yellow grosbeaks arrive with a cacophony of squawking, hogging the feeder, sunflower hulls dribbling from their beaks. The fire needs more wood.

Tim asks, “Will you hand me an envelope and the solar electric catalog so I can order that ammeter?”

I hand them up and kneel down to lift the root-cellar door, pulling out eggs, mushrooms, cheese and milk for omelets. It looks like it needs cleaning. I then head outside and into the addition for frozen bread and peas.

Tim tosses down the envelope.

“Put a check in there for $23. That’ll be $11.50 each.

I whine, “I told you I spent my money this week.”

“Well, this is worth going into debt for, it’ll regulate the solar electricity. Our next car will probably be electric. Gasoline powered cars may become obsolete, like the old 12 cylinder I used to have.

I put bread slices on the wood stove to toast, start to eat my omelet and get out the checkbook.

But I’m interrupted because the sun has come out and the roof solar panels need to be swept of snow so we can make electricity. I grab the broom and carefully climb the outside ladder and onto the roof to sweep them.

The toast fills the cottage with the mouthwatering aroma of baked bread. I put wild apple sauce on top.

“My mom is enjoying the books I found that we

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71

sent her from Florida,” I say.

“That’s good because I almost got arrested mailing them!”

“Sorry I asked you to do that. Maybe you looked suspicious because of your beard.”

“When I got through the line at the Post Office, the clerk asked me what the contents of the package were. When I said it was romance novels for my mother-inlaw, he replied in a commanding voice, ‘Open it!’ I think he thought he’d caught a big fish. Everyone in there stopped talking and froze. The tension in the air was palpable.”

“What did he do when you pulled out the books?”

“Just looked disgusted, and put some fresh tape on the box.”

Tim comes down, dresses and takes the chamber pot out to empty and clean; does some snow plowing with the VW Beetle and homemade plow we had welded onto it; then tinkers with the windmill that is twirling at last, although it has to adjust constantly and loses power because of turbulence from our tall trees.

I don’t relish cleaning the root cellar. It reminds me of being sent to the basement to fetch a jar of home-canned

peaches or tomato sauce when I was a kid. You entered through an outside trap door, ducking under the low ceiling, spiders and cobwebs, the dusty, twisting furnace pipes and avoiding that mysterious old cement-lined cistern that I was certain harbored malevolent nightmares. But my root cellar is more like a reunion. I hope to find some old food friends, and renew our acquaintance, but often find relationships that are worn out and no longer worth pursuing. I start pulling out buckets and meet a couple of fat, sleepy slugs who evidently spent the winter there. A spider darts into a crack in the cement wall. Here are some strange looking fungi and molds. I find a few good carrots but the ones in the bottom have turned into squishy, stinky, black mush. Yuck! We’ll have fresh ones from the garden when it thaws, but we’ll have to eat them quickly because they’ll soon get woody and bitter as they start to re-grow.

The buckets are scrubbed clean at the creek and I carry the compost, struggling through the late winter snow, to a site in the woods, far from the garden. We don’t want to attract rodents that will eat the remaining root vegetables. I notice a little door in the snow below the roots of a tree

where a small forest dweller has been eating and left a fan of discarded pine cone scales and cores. Further along, a snowmantled log looks like a banquet table after a raucous party. The white snow linen is soiled and littered with leftover food, bits of red berries and more pine cone detritus. A plethora of squirrel and mouse tracks over the top makes it look like sullied lace.

A sough of warm air touches my face and I look up at magenta tree buds pregnant with embryonic leaves. Sap is quickening through the quiescent trees.

“Enough sleeping!” they say. “It’s time to make flowers and leaves, feast on sunshine, play in the wind, drink the nectar of nebulas, start a family. Wake up!

Wake up! The renaissance of spring has begun!” •

The Shawangunk Nature Preserve is a deep ecology, forever wild, 501©(3), learning and cultural center. Tim and Peggy still live there and can be contacted through their website.

www.shawangunknaturepreserve.com

NEW BOOK!

Tales from Shawangunk

by Peggy Spencer Behrendt 2016, 122 pages This memoir is a compilation of the first two years of articles first published in Mohawk Valley Living magazine about how Shawangunk Nature Preserve began.

Well documentated with pictures, these true stories describe days of adventure, struggle, commitment and comedy that are sure to entertain and inspire.

Available at Tom’s Natural Foods in Clinton, Peter’s Cornucopia in New Hartford, Brenda’s Natural Foods in Rome, Sunflower Naturals in Mapledale, Little Falls Food Co-op (all donations go directly to the Preserve)

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73

GENESEE JOE’S

live & local

March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb…or let’s hope.

Let’s talk local music. The Mohawk Valley Blues Society is an organization whose focus is keeping the blues alive. Their mission: “To bring the love of the blues to our area, through live performance and education, and to offer blues artists another outlet in which to carry on the tradition and art of the blues.”

The Mohawk Valley Blues Society was founded in March 2005 by an enthusiastic group of area blues and roots music fans, led by founder Rob Bishton. Since then, the society has hosted monthly blues jams, several major blues festivals, school presentations, charity events, and concerts by touring blues artists, including Magic Slim, Carl Weathersby, the Holmes Brothers, C.J. Chenier, Coco Montoya, Duke Robillard and Jerry Portnoy, Lil Ed and the Blues Imperials, John Hammond, the Nighthawks, Jimmy Thackery, and many others. Local bands who play these events are Blue Prints, King Kool and His Royal Blues, Jimmy Wolfe, Matt Lomeo, Bernie Clarke, and Tom Townsley. Look for more shows in the spring and another summer blues picnic in the park at Sylvan Beach this year.

The MVBS does monthly open jams at 7 p.m. at Utica Brews Cafe on the second Wednesday of each month and the last Wednesday of each month at Happy Sam’s Cocktail lounge in the Ramada Inn, New Hartford. These are great jams. They are hosted by a band that plays the first hour, followed by open jamming by the players who come to sit in. They are very relaxed and attended by a wide range of musicians with all levels of skill coming up to play a song or two. All players are welcome and encouraged to participate.

74

Mohawk Valley Blues Society

The public is invited, too. You can become a lifetime member for only $30.The Mohawk Valley Blues Society is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Check them out on Facebook or at: www.mvblues.org

News ’n’ Notes

Prog Rockers! Look for RAEL, the ultimate tribute to early Genesis! RAEL is focused on faithfully reproducing full album versions from the Peter Gabriel and Steve Hackett days of Genesis. Performances include tracks from Nursery Cryme, Foxtrot, Selling England by the Pound, The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway, and A Trick of the Tail. Concert audiences rave about their high energy shows and musical detail. RAEL also includes solo Peter Gabriel hits in their performances. RAEL hits the stage at Lukin’s on Varick Street Saturday, April 8th.

Look for 92.7 FM The DRIVE at America’s Greatest Heart Run and Walk at both the midpoint of Heartbreak Hill and this year the finish line, too. We will be in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade as well. The Drive is also proud to be a sponsor of the M&T Bank Fine Food and Craft Beer pairing on Sunday, April 2nd at The Stanley Theater. A four-course dinner will be prepared by the chefs of Daniele’s at Valley View and craft beer will be provided by Woodland Hop Farm and Brewery. Details and tickets at: www.thestanley.org or call 315-7244000.

Go listen to some live local music!

Listen to Genesee Joe live on 92.7FM, The DRIVE.

Advertiser Directory please support Our sponsors, they make this magazine possible Antiques Attic Addicts, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Black Cat Antiques, Earlville . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Butternut Barn, Richfield Springs . . . . . . . . 61 Canal House Antiques, Bouckville . . . . . . 61 Cool Stuff Consignment, Clinton . . . . . . . . 61 Foothills Mercantile, Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . 61 Fort Schuyler Trading Company, Utica . . . . . 52 Little Falls Antique Center, Little Falls . . . . . 61 Mohawk Antiques Mall, Mohawk . . . . . . . . . 62 Newport Marketplace, Newport . . . . . . . . . . 62 Odd & Old Trade Co., Munnsville . . . . . 62 The Online Exchange, Dolgeville . . . . . . . . . 62 Picker’s Dynasty, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . 62 The Potting Shed Antiques, Whitesboro . . . 63 Showcase Antiques, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . 63 Terri’s Treasures, Boonville . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Vernon Variety Shoppes, Vernon . . . . . . . . . 63 Victorian Rose, Bouckville . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Vintage Furnishings & Collectibles, Utica . . . 63 Weeden’s Mini Mall, Blossvale . . . . . . . . . . . 63 Westmoreland Antique Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63

Apartment Rentals Apartment Connection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35 Art Classes & Supplies Full Moon Art Center, Camden . . . . . . . . 27 Art Galleries Full Moon Art Center, Camden . . . . . . . . . 27 Fusion Art Gallery, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 View, Old Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Art and Picture Framing Fusion Art Gallery, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Fynmore Studios, New Hartford/Boonville 35 Artists and Art Studios Frank Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Attorneys Antonowicz Group, Rome/Utica . . . . . . . . . . 39 Harris-Courage & Grady . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 16 Authors Local Grumpy Tomatoes, Autumn Kuhn . . . . . . 25 Auto Dealerships Steet-Ponte Auto Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79 Automotive Repair Clinton Collision, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Precision Unlimited, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . 77 Automotive, Custom Fabrication Custom Fab, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Awards & Engraving Speedy Awards, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . 46 Bakeries, Pastry, and Candy Shops Bagel Grove, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Caruso’s Cafe, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Florentine Pastry Shop, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Heidelberg Baking Company, Herkimer . . . 56 Karam’s Middle East Bakery, Yorkville . . . . 60 Lizzy’s Cupcakery, New Hartford . . . . . . . 13 So Sweet Candy Cafe, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Star Bakery, Whitesboro and Utica . . . . . . . . 10

Sweet Escape Chocolate Lounge, Utica . . . 29 Wicked Sweets, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Bike Shops Dick’s Wheel Shop, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . 68 Books Berry Hill Book Shop, Deansboro . . . . . . . 29 Bowling Adirondack Diner and Lanes, Barneveld . . 55 State Bowl with Cosmic Bowling, Ilion . . . . . 7 Brewery Woodland Hop Farm, Utica . . . . . . . . . . 10 Cabinets and Kitchens Custom Woodcraft, Munnsville . . . . . . . . 27 Camping and Hiking Supply Plan B, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Catering A Moveable Feast, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . 57 Club Monarch, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Creative Chefs Catering, Oneida . . . . . . . . 59 Dominick’s Deli & Catering, Herkimer . . . . . 56 Gone Coastal, Lee Center . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Knuckleheads Brewhouse, Westmoreland . . . 60 Maria’s Pasta Shop, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 RoSo’s Cafe & Catering, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . 60

SZAREK’S Hanging Baskets Hydroponic Heirloom Tomatoes Vegetable Plants Fall Mums 7446 E. South St., Clinton 315.853.5901

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Cheese (see Produce) Child Care Child Care Council, 1-888-814-KIDS . . . . . 52 Chiropractors Dr. Michael Tucciarone, Clinton . . . . . . . . . 47 Clothing Paca Gardens, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 The Queen’s Closet, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . 61 The Village Crossing, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Walk-in Closet, Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Coffee and Coffee Shops Fort Schuyler Trading Company, Utica . . . . . 52 Community Organization Mohawk Valley Food Action . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Consignment Dawn Marie’s Treasures, Clinton . . . . . . . . 65 The Online Exchange, Dolgeville . . . . . . . . 62 The Queen’s Closet, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Walk-in Closet, Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Child Care Child Care Council, 1-888-814-KIDS . . . . . 52 CSAs (Community Supported Agriculture) Szarek Greenhouses, Clinton . . . . . . . . . 20 Debt Management/Student Loan Consultation Harris-Courage & Grady . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 16 Delis Olde Kountry Market, Vernon . . . . . . . . . 42 LaFamiglia Bosonne’s Sausage, Utica . . . . . 38

Dentistry Neighborhood Family Dentistry, Utica . . . . 9

Financial Services Van Meter & Van Meter, Little Falls . . . . . . 15

Diners Adirondack Diner and Lanes, Barneveld . . 55 Charlie’s Place, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Wendy’s Diner, Cassville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55

Firewood and Wood Pellets Firewood delivered . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Lincoln Davies, Sauquoit . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50

Dry Cleaners M & M Cleaners, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Estate Sales Attic Addicts, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61 Picker’s Dynasty, Little Falls and Mohawk . . 62 The Potting Shed Antiques, Whitesboro . . . 63 Events, Entertainment, and Activities CNY Arts, www.cnyart.org . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Farmers’ Museum, Cooperstown . . . . . . . 3 Fenimore Art Museum, Cooperstown . . . . 3 Foothills Performing Arts Center, Oneonta . . 21 Girls in STEM Expo, MVCC . . . . . . . . 24 Goodsell Museum, Old Forge . . . . . . . . . . 10 Herkimer College Great Artists . . . . . . . 21 Intro to Backyard Chickens . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Old Forge/Inlet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Remington Arms Museum, Ilion . . . . . . . . 25 Rolling Antiquer’s Antique Auto Show . . . 9 Schambach Center, Hamilton College . . . . 2 The Stanley, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 View, Old Forge . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 Farm Equipment Clinton Tractor, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Hobby Hill Farm Sales, Rome . . . . . . . . . . 66 White’s Farm Supply, Waterville/Canastota . . 80 Feed and Farm Needs Pohl’s Feed, Vernon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

Off-Center Records

Flooring D & D Carpets, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Lincoln Davies, Sauquoit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Florists Clinton Florist, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65 Village Florals, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Funeral Services Nunn & McGrath, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Prince-Boyd & Hyatt, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14 Furniture Ironwood Furniture, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Jeff ’s Amish Furniture, Jordanville . . . . . . . 37 Furniture Makers Custom Woodcraft, Munnsville . . . . . . . . . 70 Garden Centers and Greenhouses Top Notch Garden Center, Newport . . . . . 62 Gift Shops/Shopping Between Us Sisters, Munnsville . . . . . . . . . . 45 Butternut Barn, Richfield Springs . . . . . . . . 61 Cat’s Meow, Sherburne . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Fusion Art Gallery, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Little Falls Antique Center, Little Falls . . . . 61 Main Street Gift Shoppe, Newport . . . . . . . . 62 Newport Marketplace, Newport . . . . . . . . . 62 Paca Gardens, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18

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Fitness & Gyms Curves, Herkimer and Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

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Remington Country Store, Ilion . . . . . . . . . 25 Rose Quartz Stand, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . 13 Simply Primitives, Boonville . . . . . . . . . . . 64

Goldmine Jewelers, New Hartford . . . . . . . . 26 Lighting Mills Electrical Supply, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Golf Courses and Driving Range Twin Ponds Golf Club, NY Mills . . . . . . 21

Liquor Stores and Wine Ilion Wine & Spirits, Ilion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 TrentonStationLiquor&Wine,Barneveld. . . 70

Grocery/Convenience Stores The Country Store, Salisbury. . . . . . . . . . 59 Deansboro Superette, Deansboro . . . . . . . 35 Kountry Kupboard, Madison . . . . . . . . . . 68 Mohawk Village Market, Mohawk . . . . . . . 4 Olde Kountry Market, Vernon . . . . . . . . . . 42 Reilly’s Dairy, Inc., Sauquoit . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Hardware/Farm & Home Lincoln Davies, Sauquoit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50 Pohlig Enterprises, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Pohl’s Feed, Vernon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Poland Hardware, Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Morgan’s Hardware, Waterville . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Turner Lumber, Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Hearing Consultants Hearing Health Hearing Centers, Rome . . . . . 47 Insurance Gates-Cole Insurance, New Hartford . . . . . 37 Farm Family Insurance, Boonville . . . . . . . 46 Marshall Agency, Ilion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Turnbull Insurance, New Hartford . . . . . . . . 7 Interior Design/Custom Window Treatments TheAddedTouchDrapery,NewHartford . . . 39 Iron Work - Architectural & Ornamental Raulli’s Iron Works, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 Jewelry Alison’s Jewelry & Repair, Utica . . . . . . . . 33 Fall Hill Beads & Gems, Little Falls . . . . . . 66

Manufactured and Modular Home Builders Bono Brothers, Frankfort . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Maple Syrup (see Produce) Massage, Therapeutic Zensations, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33 Meats, locally raised (see Produce) Media 92.7 The Drive WXUR, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . 74 FOX33/WUTR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Weekly Adirondack, Old Forge . . . . . . . . . . 10 WKAL . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44 Monuments & Memorials Burdick & Enea Memorials, Clinton . . . . . . 31 Yorkville Memorials, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . 34 Motorcycle Speed/Service Center Natural Food Stores Brenda’s Natural Foods, Rome . . . . . . . . . . 59 Cooperstown Naturals, Cooperstown . . . . . 45 Peter’s Cornucopia, New Hartford . . . . . . . . 69 Sunflower Naturals, Barneveld . . . . . . . . . . 25 Tom’s Natural Foods, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . 45 Novelties and Specialty Items Fort Schuyler Trading Company, Utica . . . . . 52

Olive Oil ADK Olive Oil, Sangertown, New Hartford . . 34 Optometrist Towpath Vision Care, Little Falls . . . . . . . 33 Paint and Painting Supplies Pohlig Enterprises, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Urbanik’s Paint & Wallpaper Co., Utica . . . . . 8

Painting, Interior/Exterior Dennis Polanowicz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 Pet Memorialization and Cremation Burdick & Enea Memorials, Clinton . . . . . . 31 Pet Services Not Just Poodles Pet Salon, Whitesboro . . . . 39 One Paw at a Time, Whitesboro . . . . . . . . 30 Pet Supplies Gemini Pets & Things, Utica . . . . . . . . 20 Pharmacies Garro Drugs, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Photography Fusion Art/The Photo Shoppe, Rome . . . . . 29 Physical Therapy Inertia PT, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Pizzerias DiCastro’s Brick Oven, Rome . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mangia Macrina’s Pizza, New Hartford . . . 57 Mario’s Pizza, Oriskany Falls . . . . . . . . . . 59 Primo Pizzeria, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Tony’s Pizza, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Pools Swan Pools, Ilion and New Hartford . . . . . . 26

NYS INSPECTIONS • OIL CHANGES • TUNE UPS • COLLISION WORK • AC

Watch Mohawk Valley Living Sundays on FOX33 7:30am & 11pm WUTR TV20 11:30am

Celebrating Our 12th Year on TV!

Complete Collision and Mechanical Repair Since 1987

7509 Route 5 • Clinton, New York 13323 • Phone 315-853-8804

Portable Toilets and Bathrooms Mohawk Ltd. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Primitives Between Us Sisters, Munnsville . . . . . . . . . 45 Butternut Barn, Richfield Springs . . . . . . . . 61 Main Street Gift Shop, Newport . . . . . . . . . 62 Simply Primitives, Boonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64 Produce, Local Ben&Judy’sSugarhouse,WestEdmeston. . . . 50 Ingles Maple, Richfield Springs . . . . . . . . 53 Jewett’s Cheese, Earlville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 Jones Family Farm, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . 15 Meat Suite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Shaw’s Maple Products, Clinton . . . . . . . . . 53 Stoltzfus Family Dairy, Vernon Center . . . . 71 Sunnybrook Farm, Deansboro . . . . . . . . . 12 Three Village Cheese, Newport . . . . . . . . . . 16 Tibbits Maple, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . 53 VVS Maple Weekends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 WintersGrass Farm Raw Milk, Sauquoit . . . 73 Quilt and Yarn Shops Tiger Lily Quilt Co, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68 Real Estate Century 21, Art VanVechten, Utica . . . . . . 24 Scenic Byway Realty, Richfield Springs . . . . 54

Delta Lake Inn, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 DiCastro’s Brick Oven, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Dominick’s Deli, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Fat Cats, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Gone Coastal, Lee Center . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Heidelberg Baking Co., Herkimer . . . . . . . 56 Jamo’s Restaurant, Herkimer . . . . . . . . . . 56 Karam’s Middle East Bakery, Yorkville . . . . 60 Killabrew, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . . . 57 Knuckleheads Brewhouse, Westmoreland . . 60 Lakeview Restaurant and Bar, Sherrill . . . . 59 Main Street Ristorante, Newport . . . . . . . . 62 Mangia Macrina’s Pizza, New Hartford . . . 57 Mario’s Pizza, Oriskany Falls . . . . . . . . . . 59 Mi Casa, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Ohio Tavern, Cold Brook . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Origlio’s Wagon Wheel, Oneida . . . . . 58 Pho Ever Noodles, New Hartford . . . . . . . 57 Phoenician Restaurant, New Hartford . . . . 57 Raspberries Cafe, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Riverside Diner, Marcy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 RoSo’s Cafe & Catering, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Sammy & Annie Foods, Utica . . . . . . . . . . 60 Wendy’s Diner, Cassville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Wigwam Tavern, Forestport . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 The Willows, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Roofing Maple Lane Roofing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52

Record Stores Off-Center Records, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76

Schools Herkimer BOCES LPN Program . . . . . . . . 9

Restaurants and Cafés Ann St. Deli, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Bagel Grove, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Bite Bakery and Cafe, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Black Cat, Sharon Springs . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60 Chesterfield’s Tuscan Oven, Oneida . . . . . . 58 Copper Moose, Little Falls . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56 Club Monarch, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 The Country Store, Salisbury . . . . . . . . . . . 59

Shoes Karaz Shoes, New Hartford . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 The Village Crossing, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . 19 Small Engine Repair J.B.’s Small Engine Works, Utica . . . . . . . . 54 SD Power, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32

Rolling Antiquer’s Old Car Club 52nd Annual Antique Auto Show & Flea Market

May 27th Muscle Cars & Street Rods May 28th Antique Autos & Classic Cars 8 AM – 5 PM General admission $5

Children under 12 free!

Motorcycles, Miltary Vehicles, Trucks, Tractors & Antique Engines Variety of Food & Beverage Vendors

Snow Blowers J.B.’s Small Engine Works, Utica . . . . . . . . 54 SD Power, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Snowmobiles/ATVs Hobby Hill Farm, Rome . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66 Social Security Applications and Advice Antonowicz Group, Rome/Utica . . . . . . . . . 39 Specialty Wood Wightman Specialty Woods . . . . . . . . . . . . 49 Tax Services Brigg’s Tax Service, Whitesboro . . . . . . . . . . 30 Towing Services Clinton Collision, Clinton . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71 Travel Agencies The Cruise Wizards, Whitesboro . . . . . . . . 70 Websites Utica Remember When . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76 Weddings and Banquets Club Monarch, Yorkville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Twin Ponds Country Club, NY Mills . . 21 So Sweet Candy Cafe, Utica . . . . . . . . . . . . 52 Wellness Infinity Tree Healing, New Hartford . . . . . 14 Wineries Pail Shop Winery, Fly Creek . . . . . . . . . . . 233 Prospect Falls Winery, Prospect . . . . . . . . . 13 Yogurt Stoltzfus Family Dairy, Vernon Center . . . . 71

GROCERIES • GAS • CAR WASH • NYS REDEMPTION CENTER • DELI/PIZZA

Reilly’s Dairy, Inc. PLUS

SAUQUOIT SELF STORAGE!

Since 1942, when we delivered to you!

Chenango County Fairgrounds

168 East Main St, Norwich , NY 13815

Show Forms & more information: www.raocc.org

9553 Pinnacle Rd., Sauquoit (315) 737-5560

Stop in today and see why it’s so easy to do business with Steet-Ponte!

Steet-Ponte Chevrolet

Steet-Ponte Ford Lincoln Mazda

3036 State Route 28 Herkimer, NY 13350 (315) 866-5080

5074 Commercial Drive Yorkville, NY 13495 (315) 736-3381

Steet-Ponte Volkswagen

Steet Toyota Scion

5046 Commercial Drive Yorkville, NY 13495 (315) 736-8291

4991 Commercial Drive Yorkville, NY 13495 (315) 736-8241

Steet-Ponte auto group

L

www.steetponteautogroup.com

Opportunity OpportunityIsIsKnocking.

Knocking.

Save SaveononKubota’s Kubota’sversatile versatileBXBXSeries Seriessub-compact sub-compacttractors. tractors.

Opportunity Is Knocking.

Save on Kubota’s versatile BX Series sub-compact tractors.

00 % 0 Financing for for84 84 Months Months* * 84 Months* % % A.P.R. A.P.R. Financing Financing A.P.R.

for

500 500 500

$$

PLUS PLUS PLUS

****

** $ Customer Customer Instant Instant Rebate Rebate

on the on the purchase purchase of aofnew a new Kubota Kubota BX Series BX Series

sub-compact sub-compact tractor tractor equipped equipped Customer Instant Rebate

on the purchase ofnew aqualifying new Kubotaimplements.

BXimplements.

Series with with twotwo new qualifying sub-compact tractor equipped

Offers Offers end end 3/31/17.

3/31/17. with two new qualifying implements.

Offers end 3/31/17.

White’s Farm Supply, Inc. Canastota

4154 Route 31 (315) 697-2214

Lowville

8207 Route 26 (315) 376-0300

Waterville

962 Route 12 (315) 841-4181

www.whitesfarmsupply.com

*20% down, 0% A.P.R. financing for up to 84 months on purchases of new Kubota BX Series equipment is available to qualified purchasers from participating dealers’ in-stock inventory through 3/31/2017. Example: An 84-month monthly installment repayment term at 0% A.P.R. requires 84 payments of $11.90 per $1,000 financed. 0% A.P.R. interest is available to *20% *20% down, down, 0% A.P.R. 0% A.P.R. financing financing for up fortoup84topreparation months 84 months onfee purchases onispurchases of Dealer new of new Kubota Kubota BX Series BX Series equipment equipment is fee available isshall available to qualified purchasers purchasers fromfrom participating participating dealers’ dealers’ in-stock in-stock inventory inventory customers if no dealer documentation charged. charge for document preparation betoinqualified accordance with state laws.

Inclusion of ineligible equipment through through 3/31/2017.

3/31/2017.

84-month An 84-month monthly installment repayment term term atbe0% at A.P.R. 0% A.P.R. requires requires 84 payments 84 payments of $11.90 of $11.90 per $1,000 peris$1,000 financed. financed.

0%Kubota A.P.R. 0% A.P.R. interest interest is available is available to to may result Example: in a Example: higherAn blended A.P.R. monthly 0% A.P.R. andinstallment low-raterepayment financing may not available with customer instant rebate offers.

Financing available through Credit Corporation, Del Amo Blvd., Torrance, CA 90503; to credit approval.

Some exceptions apply.

Offer expires us for with details onstate these and other low-rate customers customers ifU.S.A., noifdealer no3401 dealer documentation documentation preparation preparation fee isfeesubject charged. is charged.

Dealer Dealer charge charge for document for document preparation preparation fee shall fee3/31/2017. shall be inbeaccordance inSee accordance with state laws.laws.

Inclusion Inclusion of ineligible of options ineligible equipment equipment or agoin toawww.kubota.com for moreA.P.R. information.

Optional equipment maymay be shown. instant rebates of $500 areoffers. available onFinancing purchases new Kubota BXKubota Series (including maymay resultresult in higher higher blended blended A.P.R. A.P.R. 0% 0% A.P.R. and and low-rate low-rate financing financing may not be notavailable be **Customer available withwith customer customer instant instant rebate rebate offers.

Financing is available isofavailable through through Kubota Credit Credit Corporation, Corporation, BX25/BX25D/BX25D-1) with two implements from participating dealers’ stock.apply.

Dealer subtracts rebate from dealer’s selling price qualifying U.S.A., U.S.A., 3401 3401 Del Amo Del Amo Blvd.,Blvd., Torrance, Torrance, CAnew 90503; CAqualifying 90503; subject subject to credit to credit approval. approval.

Some Some exceptions exceptions apply.

Offer Offer expires expires 3/31/2017.

3/31/2017.

Seepre-rebate See us for usdetails for details on these ononthese and and otherpurchases. other low-rate low-rate options options Rebate not available after completed sale. Some exceptions apply. Offer expires 3/31/2017. Optional equipment may be shown. © Kubota Tractor Corporation, 2017.

or goortogowww.kubota.com to www.kubota.com for more for more information. information.

Optional Optional equipment equipment maymay be shown. be shown. **Customer **Customer instant instant rebates rebates of $500 of $500 are available are available on purchases on purchases of new of new Kubota Kubota BX Series BX Series (including (including BX25/BX25D/BX25D-1) BX25/BX25D/BX25D-1) withwith two two newnew qualifying qualifying implements implements fromfrom participating participating dealers’ dealers’ stock. stock.

Dealer Dealer subtracts subtracts rebate rebate fromfrom dealer’s dealer’s pre-rebate pre-rebate selling selling priceprice on qualifying on qualifying purchases. purchases.