Friday "News on The Run"...Saving Train Garden

Greetings Sports Fans...another blast furnace day outside, the temperatures again slated to be up into the ninety's as the weather gives us a June taste of August and its sweltering temperatures.  Look for rain to move back into the hamlet later this evening, with a chance of some rain every day this weekend...that will cool things down a bit.

We have a lot of local goings on with Saturday a day which will provide folks with lots of choices of things to do.

Starting at 10 AM tomorrow morning there is the Rock Hill Farmers Market...was there last weekend for the official season kick off, and OMG...some serious goodies can be had.  I need to run over and get some more organic yogurt.  Hours are every Saturday from 10-1 PM.  A little bird told me that the meat guys chicken is INCREDIBLE cooked on the grill.  Get there early, as quantities of some items are limited.

Our own local belly dancer, Ahleana, is hosting Godiva Nights at Nadia's in Hurleyville...the fun starts at 6:00...come in your best festive garb for a chance to win a basket full of Godiva Chocolates.  Yours truly will be reading Lord Tennyson's Poem about Godiva's exploits.

Also Saturday night, come celebrate the Solstice at the "Church of Little Green Men"...yes, there is such a place, and a lot of talented musicians and performance artists perform.  The doors open for this event at 8:00 PM.

As many of you know, last year's Hurricane Irene saw our award winning "Train Garden" just inside the Trail entrance take a serious hit...plans are underway to save and restore this garden...look for an article on this subject in the coming days...we will be looking for some volunteers...one day of serious gardening should be all it will take if we can make arrangements to keep the garden watered for a few weeks while the plants adapt.

*Special Thanks to the reader that pointed out I put up the wrong day in title...nice to know people are paying attention.

After The Storm...a Couple Photographs

This week it has been more like winter here in Downtown Mountaindale, the temperatures today warmer, but still a bit nippy.  A lot of times (read that to mean most of the time) I have my Canon Rebel digital camera beside me in the car when I go out to run errands, and the other day was no exception.  One never knows when something or another will catch your eye, and sometimes lady luck shines on your camera and the results are a photograph or two worth sharing.  

Sitting here in my apartment trying to stay warm this afternoon I downloaded images from my camera, and a couple pictures I happen to really like and thought I would share them here for everyone to enjoy.

As you leave the "Town of Fallsburgh" heading toward the Shop Rite in Thompson, New York you'll see these power poles off to your left about two miles out of town.  It had stopped snowing, but there was a misting rain in the air, the sheen of ice could still be seen on many of the trees branches along the drive, and the road conditions saw me moving along slower than most days.  I've passed these power poles numerous times, and they just not not shout out to me, but on this day, the poles in unison just seemed to speak out in unison, "Take our picture".

I so covet these lens!

Seeing the results, very happy that this was a day when my camera was with me in the car, and that I happened to have my 55-250mm Zoom lens on the box.    For the money, you just cannot beat the Canon Rebel EOS, though, if I win the lottery, would love to have a full set of their top of the Zoom Lens with all the bells and whistles on them.  For that matter, I would love just being able to shoot with these lens for say one week...especially if I could pick any location in the world for that one week.  Wondering if Canon has any need for a product tester in Sullivan County NY?  I will work for free if I get to keep anything I test...can I give you a wish list?  Anything on this page I would so die for...OK, not die, but drool over in a covetous fashion...did I mention my birthday was last week?  Of course, thinking if I got that incredible EF 800mm f/5.6L IS USM   or the EF 400mm f/2.8L IS USM  I would need to invest in a new box for such incredible lens.

Another couple of pictures I snapped were at the entrance to our own "Rails to Trails" here in Mountaindale, including one of the Train Garden in the proverbial dead of winter.    This one is not as spectacular as the one above, but still liked it, perhaps because I spent so much of this past summer working on the trail during the installation of our "Train Garden".    I also just have an affinity for pictures that just seem to fade into infinity, almost always stop when I see a road or path that seems to present a feeling of great depth.  Streams are another one of those  subject matters that quickly catches my attention for the very same reason.

Sure for those of us who spent our summer working on the train garden will find this winter shot of our sculptural interpretation fun.  Waiting for spring so we can see how many of our garden perennials survived after the drubbing they took in last year's hurricane.  The garden is definitely going to need some TLC this spring, as is the portion of the trail just up from it that was all but washed out.  Of course, looking at how hard some of our neighboring communities were hit by Hurricane Irene, we here in Mountaindale can count ourselves very lucky.

For those of you who have gotten this far, just a reminder that Sunday March 10th, 2012 will  see Rock Hill hosting the Second Annual Rock Hill Saint Patrick's Day Parade beginning at 12 Noon.

Also on March 10th, the Sullivan Renaissance Annual Conference, which officially kicks off this years Sullivan Renaissance Project season.  Applications for the 2012 Sullivan Renaissance Program are available online, and due in their office no later than 5 PM on March 21, 2012.

Town of Fallsburg "Rails to Trails" Committee Applies For Grant

The Town of Fallsburg "Rails to Trails" Committee has spent the past few weeks racing to meet a grant deadline, are pleased to announce they have completed the necessary tasks, and have successfully gotten the application timely filed. The grant is offered by Parks & Trails New York, and if approved for the grant, the Committee will have the necessary funds for a new Trail Map/Membership brochure, be able too create a Town of Fallsburg "Rails to Trails" logo, and launch a fully interactive website.

The Parks & Trails New York "Capacity Building Grant" provides local parks and trails groups with grants of up to $3,000 to strengthen not-for-profit organizations that are working to build and protect parks and trails in communities across the state. The "Rails to Trails" Committee has paired up with Sullivan Renaissance who graciously agreed to act as our 501 (C) (3) sponsor, making it possible for us to be eligible for the "Capacity Building Grant". The committee would also like to thank our elected officials in the area, Alan Sorenson, Leni Binder, and Steve Vegliante who provided the group with letters of support. Hats off also go to the Brochure sub committee members, with special thanks to Allen Frishman.

Award recipients will be notified in mid January of 2012.