More relatives show up!

The couple above are Omar Olney, and Eunice Wilgus Rector Olney. I don't remember if I have talked about my great great grandfather Henry Cadmus Olney, and the diary we have of his from 1886? One day I want to post our pictures of his diary in blog format if I can find time. Below is page one of that diary. Omar - the oldest - and Bart - second oldest son are mentioned on January 1 and 2, and pretty much every day after! Henry pretty much concentrates on the day to day work on the farm. (not that Sarah wasn't working too of course with 11 kids ranging from 3 to 24 that year) Bart was my great grandfather, so I guess that makes Omar my great Uncle??? The picture above just turned up recently - a relative of Eunice posted a question on a genealogy bullitin board, and Dad knew the answer. The picture is from her. Omar and Eunice had no children - second marriage for both. Eunice was the daughter of Eliza Olney, decended from a different branch of the Olney family, but definitely related back to Thomas! Omar and Eunice were related (they were both Thomas's great great great -about 10 times- grandchildren.

Below is the opening page of Henry's diary - click on the image for good clear reading. Below the diary image is a listing of all the family members with ages, nicknames, etc. if you are interested? Jen - mentioned also on Jan 1, is the oldest daughter - I believe married at this time - 1886 - but she visits regularly! Picture of Henry and Sarah at the bottom.

Henry C. Olney Family in 1886 - family members
Henry Cadmus Sr. 48 - father
Sarah Esther (Hill) 45 - mother
Omar Addison 24
Jenny ? - Jen 22
Harriet Amelia - Hattie 21 Henry calls her Ettie?
Edward Barton - Bart 18 - my great grandfather

E. Mills - Mills 16
Lois ? 14
Sarah Esther - Esther 13
Henry Cadmus Jr. - Cad 10
Prudence Adelaide 8
Estella Martha - Stella 5
Nathaniel Kent - Kent 3

Henry and Sarah Olney

200th Blog Entry!!!!!!

Video of Wyatt's Chorus Performance

Pictures from the event below in yesterday's blog entry.

Wayland Cohocton Middle School Concert night!

We all gathered in Wayland tonight for the annual Middle School Concert, and the annual art show. Left to right - Mel, Peg, Anne, Maeve, Cheryl, Wyatt, and Don.
A great shot of Maeve and her grandmother.
Maeve and her friend Chris.
Wyatt on stage.
A couple of Wyatt's friends in 1950's garb?

All in all, a very talented bunch of kids!

And a whole lot of credit to Mom and Dad, and to Anne and Dave for turning out a great family! The ancestors would be pleased, and the decendants will be grateful! I sure wish Dave was here to see how great it is all turning out!

Rumors of a great t-shirt!

Rumors of a great t-shirt were flying around the show on Monday. Finally the shirt came by the booth, accompanied by a nice gentleman who was very pleased to be a minor celebrity for a day. He said I was the 10th person to mention his shirt - guess he was keeping count. Which ever direction the election goes, he is right!
Our Obama buttons were quite popular too!

Segway

About 2 years ago, Wyatt and I got to actually ride and operate a Segway. Today at the Paradise City show in North Hampton, MA, a delightful woman came gliding down the aisle on her Segway! Unable to walk distances, she uses her Segway in lieu of a wheelchair, with a lot better view, and about 1/3 the cost of an electric wheelchair.

Women on the Ball!

We acquired some neat wooden parts, and created these "Women on the Ball" --- so far just these 6 pieces....... we'll see what reaction is this weekend at our show. Introductory price of $25 each retail. Reserve one now! They are about 6" tall, and come with a wooden ring to keep them stable! We're off to a show for a few days --- no computer access. Will collect stories and pictures for next week!

A job worse than craft fairs?

About 30 minutes before the parade, things didn't look so good. A steady rain was coming down - see pic below. The young man above took shelter under the same awning I was under, and I asked him about his cart full of the usual parade stuff for kids, plus umbrellas usually, but somehow his cart did not have this essential item for inclement weather. Didn't really need them - a faint rainbow appeared a bit later, and the rest of the day was fine! Turns out this is a family venture...... he, along with his dad, his sister, and his brother-in-law run a full time business doing parades, festivals, etc..... traveling around the country to stay in places that are having parade weather. They are based in Elmira, so this guy spent the night in his own bed, but these folks travel more than we do! They don't have to set up a booth though, the merchandise is relatively waterproof, and the day at a parade is pretty short. They had 8 carts rolling up and down the street, and judging just from the number of Dora the Explorer balloons floating away into the sky, business must have been pretty good. There was competition however, from another outfit from Buffalo, with smaller carts - the kind you roll to the grocery store with in the city. A picture of that group packing the van after the parade is below..... yep, just like us they have to pack the van afterwards! Luckily by then the stuff was pretty dry.

Farm Days!

The Dansville Dogwood Parade featured quite a few vintage tractors. Here are a few of them especially for my Dad and my friend Bert! (As always click on the pictures for bigger clearer views) Not sure what year the Allis-Chalmers model above is from, but I suspect in my lifetime. The other 3 are a bit older than me! I remember going the the State Fair a few years back with Bert. We spent quite a bit of time in the "antique" farm equipment tent, and were a bit dismayed at how much of the stuff we had worked with in our younger days!

Dansville Dogwood Parade

Another delightful day in the annals of Unclehood! I got to deliver, feed, and generally hang out with Maeve and Wyatt on the day of the Dansville Dogwood Parade! Their school band was part of the parade, and despite their pleas to the contrary, I of course took pictures! Maeve is part of the color guard (that's her behind Wyatt on the far side near the mailbox), and Wyatt became an honorary band member, when the marching band added an electric guitar -- possibly a first. Wyatt managed the portable wireless battery operated sound system!

A closer shot of Maeve below.

Not sure if I'll get more pictures of the parade on, but there are about 175 to choose from.... actually, I need to add the two below. Boarded up windows over a law office feature some great paintings of folks in the windows! Unfortunately the flakeboard is beginning to peel badly, but the peeling adds a great texture to the images. I would guess these images will be a lot less cool after another year in the sun, rain, and snow! These are nice ones to click on for a better look.

The blades aren't up yet, but the towers of the Cohocton Wind Farm are visible all over the old neighborhood where my Dad and Mom grew up. The view above is from the front yard of a house my Dad spent part of his youth in! (click picture for a closer view) The day was a bit too cloudy to get a nice clear shot, but these towers are visible from most everywhere around Ingleside and coming down main street in Naples. The picture below was taken across the road from my Mom's childhood home! I was in Naples for the funeral of my cousin Tom's mom. She was married to my Grandpa Olney's brother's kid - Harley. They were a big part of my childhood..... hosting the huge family reunions of the day, and a big part of church and sunday school.

Life goes on, as the wind farm transforms the old neighborhood, providing clean energy, despite the protests of those who think they are the end of the world as we know it. I heard a story yesterday that someone was convinced that wind farms raise the temperature of the surrounding area! I guess warming things up by burning coal, oil, and natural gas is a better way to do it, with toxic fumes thrown in for free???????????????? Evidently epileptics can have seizures if they watch the blades spin..... any statistics on asthma available? Seems like you can fairly easily avoid looking at windmills, but it is pretty hard to stop breathing. Did anybody ever just stop and watch a nuclear power plant?

William Saroyan

Appearing amid the junk at the place mentioned yesterday, was a 1948 Sentinel Model 400 7" television...... and it turns out William Saroyan had one? At least he had the owner's manual. Stanford University Library has an extensive collection of William Saroyan's papers, including the manual for this television! Since our garage used to be a TV repair shop, I wonder if any of these came through our place? This model was evidently very popular as TVs began to be mass produced around 1948 as materials for producing consumer goods became avaliable after WWII. This "suitcase" version was marketed as a portable television. A bit bigger than an iPod! Our first TV was delivered sometime in the early 1950's. I remember my immense joy as the first show that came on was the Sealtest Big Top! Click here to see a short clip!

Miscellaneous

Another "lights and shadows" picture --- I love this one!
Private sign on a building outside of Bath, NY. I've heard about this one for a while now, but I got to see the current version on the way home from the event yesterday.

And, below, we stopped at a junk place, and I mostly collected pictures!

Stuben County Intern Legislature

Chairperson, Hannah Shippee (left), of Hammondsport, NY kept things rolling along nicely as 17 young folks ran a "mock" meeting of the Stuben County Legislature yesterday. Maeve Olney (right) served as clerk, reading off the roll, and recording the votes as they voted to approve conversion of methane to electricity at the landfill, recycling initiatives at area schools, recycling of electronic equipment at the landfill, additional efforts to reduce teen pregnancy, prohibition of all tobacco use on the Stuben County office campus and facilities, establishment of a new county park, repairs to County Route 85, and extra efforts at improving the local economy! They did narrowly vote down money to purchase additional land for expansion of the landfill.

Our world will be in good hands if the young adults at the Stuben County Legislative Chamber yesterday afternoon are any measure!

Four Generations for Mother's Day!

Maya, her Mom, and the two grandmothers!
Great Grandmother!
Maya through the condiments!

I took lots of pictures of course, but I especially liked the through the condiments ones!

Maya even won over a couple of strangers while waiting for a table at the diner.

Maya's dad was there too of course!

Great grandpa too!

The Unveiling

We got the Baobab tree installed in time, and it was "veiled". Later there was a real un - veiling, and the picture below shows the tree in the window, and one of several student Slam poets who performed as part of the program. These kids were amazing, and give me great hope for the future!

The Baobab tree

A real Baobab tree - above

A "dry-fit" of the parts for our version - below
The Baobab tree is considered sacred in the tropical belt of Africa. People gather under its branches for social and political dialogue and for building social capital. It is also a place for celebrating important events. It commands honor and respect for the ancestors. It models resilience and humility to humankind.

Cheryl and I were asked to create a colorful and joyous version of the Baobab tree to become a signature part of The Baobab Cultural Center in Rochester, NY - our home. The center is sort of a local version of a place to gather for social and political dialogue and for building social capital.

We will be installing the piece later this morning, and will post a picture later in the day, or tomorrow? There is a big celebration of spring today, and a dialog with Dr. Al Simone – Past President, RIT, and Donna Turner – Director, HR- City of Rochester. $15 for non-members. This will be our first piece ever that is actually getting an official unveiling! Event starts at 3:30 - unveiling at 5:30!

A nice reflection on me!

Just a little silliness between myself and a security mirror!

Another view without the glass!

Another view of one of our neighbors! This picture is very crisp, and I love the shadow! This is a very good one to click on for a bigger view!

By the way yesterday's wasp did escape from between the windows!

Nature between the windows

There really wasn't any way out for this bee, flying around between our window and the storm window - no way for me to let it out, but I did get a couple of amazing pictures. Sorry the window wasn't very clean, but what a chance to see what this creature looks like when we aren't running away!

Climbing Snails?

Last spring it was snails climbing the thistle in our yard, and this spring these snails have climbed higher, but did not have to figure their way around hundreds of thorns!

Spinning Top Show

One of my favorite things in the world - I seem to have several -- is doing my spinning top show for kids of all ages. Last week at the Cobblestone School, I had someone to take pictures, and she caught a moment I've never had a picture of before. We used to make tops that could be spun on top of each other. Above I try to spin a top on top of another. Below - success, and below that, a close-up!

Mom!

After we ran a couple of errands, Mom and Dad and I rode up to Cobbs Hill ..... high over our neighborhood, and enjoyed the view! A great park with a wonderful history, including the site of a sort of "rest area" on the Erie Canal - a "wide water" - place to pull over and rest, etc out of the flow of traffic on the canal. Also the site of a POW camp during WWII - seems there were Italians there first --- About 60 Italian prisoners worked on area farms, and in local food processing plants. (10 hour/6 day @ $.80 per day wages) When Italy declared war on Germany the Italians were allowed to work unguarded, out of the camp, and local citizens brought food and organized weekend dances. They were replaced with about 100 Germans in the summer of 1944 - Area folks tried to bring food, etc, and gather outside the camp to listen to the POW's nightly choir practice, but conflicts arose between the guards and the locals because the Army was worried about the prisoners causing troubles, and wanted the locals banned from the area. Additional German prisoners were housed at Edgerton Park. The prisoners were used in snow removal in the winter of 1945 when several large storms paralyzed the whole area, further improving the local feelings of sympathy and friendship with the prisoners. Only the American Legion was opposed to having the POWs around! V-E Day, May 8, 1945 ended the need for the prisoners to be in the area. The barracks became housing for returning GI's, and the area of the camp is currently a senior housing complex located inside the park!