The good news for Mountaindale is the population of our small hamlet is growing. The bad news for Mountaindale is our population is growing. With this latest population boom we are experiencing comes a certain stress on available services. To relieve some of that stress requires a certain civility among those of us living here and taking the time to realize others are also using those services just as we are, making certain we are attune to their needs, just as we would want them in tune with ours.
For anyone who has enjoyed a meal in Mountaindale's new Uccelli Restaurant, you cannot help but notice the stunning photographs from around the world that adorn the walls of Robert's restaurant taken by renowned artist and photograph Louis H. Jawitz who now resides in our area. This Saturday November 12th, 2011 Robert will be holding an Artist Reception for the artist from 2:00-4:00 PM, and you are invited. Please stop by for some wine and cheese, meet Lou, and enjoy his beautiful photographic studies from around the world, including a breathtaking picture of the Twin Towers.It was decades ago when I picked up my first camera, shot that first photograph that drew me into this mystical world that allows one with a simple lens to capture the essence of humanity, its foils, its toils and its triumphs.
I had gotten my first camera while serving on the nuclear aircraft carrier "Enterprise" and being in such close quarters found myself taking pictures of my shipmates, working at their assigned tasks, relaxing down below in the crew quarters. Back then, it was a waiting process, sending my film off to be developed, waiting with anticipation to see my first photographs. On the day the photos arrived, I carefully laid each one on my blanket, was amazed that the camera had not just captured the image of my friends, but had also caught the essence of who they were. Many of my ship mates started to buy my photos from me. They started to ask for shots of themselves and little did I know those early orders would lead not only to a lifetime love of photography, but would also set me on my life long career path.All these years later and I'm still taking people shots, capturing the essence of them in my photographs.
There are a lot of counties, the towns and hamlets in them that got hit a lot harder than we here in Mountaindale got hit...that said, we took our share of the pounding that Hurricane Irene (which is shaping up financially to be one of the top ten disasters America has ever witnessed) delivered to the East Coast this past weekend. Many people are still without electricity, and some small towns have been hit so hard they may never recover. Governments up and down the coast have their hands full, and in many cases, they need citizens to step up and help with some of the heavy lifting as cleanup after Hurricane Irene progresses forward.
the summer months. Ken and Barb Schmitt from Diversified Realty Services brought in the 
heavy equipment, sending their backhoe onto the trail to do some of the serious lifting. Charlie Sanborn of Cinder Track Bicycles and Mike Yavaniski (who is still without electricity in his own home) were out there with chainsaws, rakes and shovels. It took a couple hours, but the trail is now at least open and available, though it may take weeks, even months to repair some parts of the trail here in Mountaindale, as the Hurricane washed away a lot of the foundation base on the rail head, the water even causing land collapse in a couple of areas.
Last night as I walked across Main Street here in downtown Mountaindale, saw the first large billowing snowflakes dropping down from the heavens above, and knew we were not done with winter just yet. This despite my own best efforts too speed the onset of spring by spending the past week and a half in shorts...I know, just a tad eccentric on my part, but think of it as a modern reincarnation of the rain dance, only this time calling on the heavens above to bring us spring, and bring it right now. By very early this morning, the streets of our small hamlet were covered in heavy, wet, slushy , even ugly snow that was resembling something more along the lines of a dirty gray, overly gigantic ice cone that had spilled from its cup onto our streets.
Lindsay Perricone started the event off letting those gathered get UP CLOSE and PERSONAL with her two harps as she explained the inner workings of the instrument, and gave us all a brief history . Who knew a harp had so many working parts in it, or that most pieces composed for the piano are so easily adapted for this beautiful melodic instrument? Lindsay fell in love with the harp at the age of 14, and her love and passion for this instrument, which can trace its root back to Ancient Egypt, and the year 2500BC, was clearly evident in her 90 minute performance.