Dryden Is Home

Blogging about Blogging?

I just updated my blogroll (called 'My Favorite Bloggers') making an update to Gary's blog and adding James, Kathy, Melissa, and Steve to the list.

It appears as though everyone on the list is blogging - at least once in a while and some quite often. Check out my favorite bloggers to see a little of what I'm reading.

Kathy:

http://drydendailykaz.blogspot.com/

James:

http://www.picklesandbeer.blogspot.com/

Melissa:

http://www.rootandsprout.com/

Steve:

http://ithaca-blog.blogspot.com/

Gary:

http://grpottersblog3.blogspot.com/

Why Blog, Why Read Blogs

People ask why, here's a post that is reason enough to read...

http://melissagarrett.wordpress.com/2008/03/20/a-passionate-ride-home/

One of my favorite daily bloggers

Gary and Penny
Originally uploaded by dmakar

I wanted to give a quick shout out to local Dryden/Etna/Ithaca blogger Gary from Potter's Blog. Gary's been blogging for probably just about a year and a half now (since a little after he moved to Dryden - must be the water). He's posted thousands of posts, and usually posts 4 or 5 times a day.

I try to check in on him a couple of times a week to see what new wonders he's bringing to the world. From pigs to worms to fine art, he's building and creating every day.

Check out his pottery, his music selections, his dogs and cats, and his life at:
http://grpottersblog.blogspot.com/

Checking In

Blog readers from Freeville to Florida to Folsom (Hi Tamie, Hi Mom, Hi Roger) have checked in with me for more updates than the blog is providing. I'm going to try to blog each morning before getting into the work day. If there's something going on that you'd like to hear more about, let me know.

I'll start with a picture from March 23rd - 10 days ago. The snow was melting like crazy on Thursday and I made a pair of snowmen. On Friday I took another yard picture that goes along with the set of house pictures I've been taking for the last two and a half years.

Finally, on a gardening note, Matt Cooper from the Dryden Courier interviewed me on March 23rd for an article that appeared in the March 28th issue about Gardening and Blogging. I submitted the following picture that ran with the article.

Simon blogged about it here:

In the Home Garden section, Cooper talks with Dryden Town Board Member David Makar about his gardening and his blogging about his garden. He got started cheaply, paid attention to the plants but didn't devote his life to them, and got a sizable return for his efforts. He also notes fellow Board Member Mary Ann Sumner's blogging and my own efforts.

I tried to steer Matt in the direction of my neighbor Melissa's blog, as well as Mary Ann's blog - they both blog about gardening. Melissa: http://littlewoolgatherings.blogspot.com/, Mary Ann: http://fivewells.blogspot.com/

The article did encourage me to start planning for the 2007 season and over breakfast on Monday Arjan and I discussed fruits, vegetables and flowers for the yard and garden for this summer. I spent about an hour Saturday cultivating wild blackberries (can you cultivate something that is wild?) and cleaning up part of the yard that had a lot of uncontrolled brambles.

A Whole Other Reason to Blog

I'm the blogger. They turned to me first. I responded as well as I could with short notice.

http://krystofskommunity.wordpress.com/

Krystof is the son of my two good friends Dave and Marta. They live in Trumansburg, just across Ithaca from me. Krystof was diagnosed 8 days ago with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) and is currently undergoing chemotherapy at Strong Medical in Rochester. He'll be up there for a month. Then he'll be back here and will be recieving chemo treatments for the next two years. He's 4 years old.

We might use the blog to raise money soon, we'll post some pictures, maybe a video from Krystof for his extended family around the world. This gives us a whole other reason to blog.

http://krystofskommunity.wordpress.com/

David Makar, Dryden, Ontario?

I received an interesting email on October 5th (in the middle of the campaign):

Hi Dave this is too strange. Did you know there is another Dave Makar in the world and he lives in Dryden as well? But Dryden, Ontario Canada and he is 51. We came across your name when a co-worker googled Dave’s name. We thought it was a joke when we saw the Dave Makar was running for Democrat Party not realizing it was you and not the one we know. Anyway thought I would email you and let you know. I am his wife Julie. If you want to contact us our email is [email protected].  There are not to many Makar’s is the world with this spelling, or so we thought. Who knows maybe you are related somehow.

Good luck with the Democrats in Dryden US

Julie Makar

Funny story...my sister's name is Julie.

Map from Dryden, NY to Dryden, ON, Canada (Google puts this trip at 1,363 miles and 24 hours of driving - each way! Who's up for a road trip?)

Here's my response:

Hi Julie and David,

Thanks for the email. The campaign has been incredibly busy and I’ve been a little behind in responding to emails. My sister’s name is Julie!

Well, you almost couldn’t have put Dryden, Ontario and further away from Dryden, NY and still been in Ontario. My first thought was I could drive up to the border (2 hours north), but then I saw the map! Whoah! I went to Duluth once – that was a long way from home (in Massachusetts at the time).

What does the David 51 Makar do? Is he Ukrainian? How long has he been in North America?

Back to the campaign.

Dave

And then they replied back:

Hi We were not sure you would respond. Yes the two Dryden's are a distance apart. It takes us about 7 hours to get to Duluth and haven't been there for years.

Dave is a Ukrainian but born in Grandview, Manitoba. His parents were both born in Rossburn Manitoba and their parents were from Austria. Dave's dad Mike- parents were William Makar and Annie Matskiw and his mom Florence was a Leshchyshyn. (not sure if I have the spelling right) Both Dave's parents are still living and his dad is 86 and mom is 79.

I know that other family names are Lazaruk, Kokorutz and others I'm not sure how to spell. Would have to quiz Dave's parents a bit more.

There does not seen to be too many Makar's spelled the same way and it is always interesting to find out if somehow we are related.

Glad things are going well with the campaign and let us know your family tree as well.

Talk to you soon.

Dave 51 and Julie

So there you have it. I replied back with the family tree on my side. Our family tree doesn't go back too far, mainly because my dad and aunt and uncle and grandparents were all born in Europe and moved here in the 1949. I don't have anything documented beyond the five of them. If I'm ever in Dryden, Ontario, I'll have to find David Makar.

Dryden is Bloggers

Ithaca is Gorges + Dryden is Home = Dryden is Bloggers

A lot of people have moved to the Finger Lakes region because of Cornell. Someone in their life brought them here. They might have even picked this university or this job because of the breathtaking gorges that are all over Tompkins County. Some of them have found Dryden to be a good mix of housing prices, community, distance to shops, beautiful farms, and an entertaining town board and have decided to move here. Some of those who have moved here blog. Actually a lot. If you are thinking of moving to Tompkins County or Ithaca, check out Dryden. See what we are all about. Email our bloggers, they love to write.

Simon, "Living in Dryden"

Mary Ann, "Five Wells"

Melissa, "Little Wool Gatherings"

Aaron, "DIY Poetics"

Mary Beth and Chris, "Stirred not Shaken"

Kathy, "Daily Kaz"

Gary, "Potter's Blog"

(me), "Dryden is Home"

Do you have a blog and live in Dryden, New York? Let me know and I'll list you here. Do you live in Dryden and want to start a blog? Let me know and I'll help you out.

Stirred not shaken

There's a new blogger in town - actually two new bloggers in town - the town being Dryden. Many months ago - on August 17th - Mary Beth from "Stirred not Shaken" emailed me:

Hi David,

I've been enjoying your blog for the last couple of months.  My husband, Chris, just accepted a job in the "Office of XXXXX YYYYY" at ZZZZZ so we'll be moving to the Ithaca area soon with our 18 month old son.  Reading your blog has provided a nice insight into the community.  We are moving from MMMMM, TX, so I'm sure there will be a little culture shock to start with, but since we were both born and raised in the northeast (him - Philly, me - Western NY) hopefully the adjustment will come easily.

Congrats on your Town Board nomination.  We're working with a realtor right now to find a house and should we end up in Dryden, you can count on two more votes.

Keep up the great blog,
Mary Beth

They almost bought a house in Ellis Hollow, but it got snatched up before they could get it. In mid-September they had their eye on a house in the Village of Dryden and asked me if I knew anything about it. Here's my email to Mike Lane, Dryden's living book of knowledge:

A friend of mine from Texas is thinking about buying the house at 10 Union Street (in the village of Dryden) – a house called Dr. Ferger’s House. He is wondering if I know anything about 10 Union Street or about the commute from there to Cornell. Do you have any thoughts on either of these having lived in the village?

     *It's a wonderful big old Italinate style Victorian house, circa, I think about 1870-1880.  It has a massive porch.  I don't know anything about its condition or the condition of its mechanicals.  It has village water and sewer.

     *The Fergers have lived there ever since I can remember.  At one time John had medical offices in the east part of the house before erecting his office on Evergreen Street.  Since John died, Martha downsized by moving to the small house next door that they owned and which had previously been occupied by his parents.

     *The house is in the Village's historic district and is written up in the book published when the district was formed.  That historic district is the only one in Tompkins County outside the City of Ithaca.  Union Street was cut in 1864 during the Civil War and hence the name.  It is a nice neighborhood, central village, a block from the Elementary School.  The commute to Ithaca is 20-30 minutes, a little shorter to Cornell.  There is a TCAT bus stop at the end of the street next to the Village Hall.

So I forwarded that on to Mary Beth and Chris and then we emailed a few more times and I didn't hear from them again after September 25th. At that point they were setting a closing date and were renting in T-burg. The election came and went and then last Tuesday night, at the monthly meeting of the Dryden Democrats the discussion about new residents to the town and village came up. Martha Ferger, who I had met a couple of times, but for some reason didn't connect to Mike's email in September mentioned that she had just sold her house. To two nice people from Texas. Two people with a young kid. Two people who didn't seem to mind having Dem yard signs out in their yard while they were working on closing on their house (The election was November 7th, the closing was November 12th).

Of course I chimmed in asking Martha about Chris and Mary Beth and I think I saw a few jaws drop. I guess that's the power of the blog. Chris and Mary Beth blog over at Stirred not Shaken: http://www.stirrednotshaken.com/

People I never met who are always far far away

Way back in the summer of 2002 my buddy Arthur and I roadtripped from Massachusetts to South Carolina. I told the whole story here: http://544online.com/dmakar/Events/2002/July/dixie/

While putting together the story I was looking for pictures of Charlotte, North Carolina. A little help from Google and I found a good set of skyline pictures here. Turns out this Candian couple had been traveling around the United States and Mexico and Canada from August 21st, 2001 to March 14th, 2002. Their map is here: http://roadtrip.beimers.com/map.html

Their trip inspired my 2003 trip (87 nights, 37 states) which I blogged about here: http://544online.com/tour/

Kevin and Aimee (the Beimers, officially the Beimers after they got hitched down under on their second big adventure) just about disappeared from the Internet after they finished their Austrailian Bike-About. They started to write about doing a hike-about, walking from one end of New Zealand to the other. Then they went underground. I looked about a year ago and couldn't find anything. Today I was looking through a list of old posts (On this day in 2002 - the crappy gift exchange!) I clicked on their gift exchange, went to their home page at http://australia.beimers.com/ and found out they are having a baby!

http://baby.beimers.com/ - and the baby is due like any day now! They've been blogging the baby adventure for the last 9 months. Looks like they are happy.

Just another way the Internet is inspiring.

Living in (Dryden) is Home

Simon of "Living in Dryden" is on vacation this week, so I'm helping out his reporting duties here at Dryden is Home with today's Dryden news.

Cathy Wakeman, who writes Dryden Notes for the Ithaca Journal every other Wednesday, reports:

-Dryden Middle School music teacher Robert McMahon has inspired a series of concerts begins tonight (Wednesday, September 27th) with local artists Djug Django, a five-man "gypsy swing band." At 6pm there will be a workshop for students. The concert begins at 7pm in the high school auditorium.

-Sertoma soccer continues on Saturday mornings. Sertoma (the name is derived from their motto SERvice TO MAn) funds soccer with a spaghetti dinner on Friday, October 13th from 5-7pm at the middle school cafeteria. Advance-sale tickets are $5 for adults and $3.50 for children ages 4-12. On the night of the dinner, the tickets are $5.50 for adults and $4 for children.

-That same night, from 5-8 p.m. across from the cafeteria in the high school gym, the parents of the class of 2006 will be hosting a silent action. The auction will help raise funds to provide an alcohol-free, drug-free and smoke-free celebration for the class of 2006 after graduation — known as the Senior All-Night Extravaganza.

-After dinner and a browse through the auction offerings, head outside to catch the Dryden football team take on Waverly at 7 p.m.

-The Varna United Methodist Church will offer chicken barbecue and dinners beginning at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 30, at their building on Route 366. Dinner will include a half-chicken, baked beans, potato salad, carrot salad, a roll and cake for $7. Half-chickens will be sold for $4.50.

-The Dryden Central School Athletic Department will be raising money for new uniforms with a chicken barbecue at Clark's Dryden Food Mart. Sales will start at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 7. A half-chicken will cost $4.50.

In other Dryden News, Stone Travel has been acquired by Western and Central New York. The only mention of Dryden is that Stone Travel is located on 1284 Dryden Road. The article takes place in Ithaca. Read the article here, or here:

Western and Central New York AAA branch acquires Stone Travel
By Tiffany Edwards
Journal Staff

ITHACA — AAA Western and Central New York has acquired Stone Travel of Ithaca and Cortland, one of the area's top travel companies, business leaders announced Tuesday.

David Moore, owner and president of Stone Travel, and Thomas Chestnut, president/CEO of AAA Western and Central New York, jointly made the announcement in a press conference at Stone Travel, 1284 Dryden Road.

The change will be official Oct. 1. Over the next 90 days, the travel company will slowly change its identity to AAA Travel, with the new signs in place Jan. 1.

AAA operates one office in Ithaca, at 723 S. Meadow St., and does not have an office in Cortland.
“We wanted a bigger presence in Cortland and Ithaca, and Stone Travel was the market leader,” Chestnut said.

The addition of Stone Travel's two offices will bring AAA's total number of Central New York offices to 17.

In time, employees at its Meadow Street office will join employees on Dryden Road and the Meadow Street office will close.

Moore informed Stone Travel employees of the acquisition earlier in the day. Many were still absorbing the news and declined to comment after the afternoon press conference.

“I hope everything works out well,” said Sue Deeley, who has worked for Stone Travel for 20 years. “I'm just very surprised right now.”

Stone Travel employs 24 people in its Ithaca and Cortland offices, and that number might increase, Moore said.

As part of AAA, Moore will take on the title of regional director of the Ithaca/Cortland region.

Moore will retain ownership of the office on Dryden Road. AAA has signed a long-term lease of the building, an action Moore sees as an indication of AAA's commitment to the local community. Moore rented the Stone Travel office at 13 Clinton Ave., Cortland, and AAA will assume the lease.

Charlotte Stone founded Stone Travel in December 1964 on Eddy Street. Moore joined the company in 1977 and purchased it eight years later. Stone Travel moved to its current location on Dryden Road in January 2006, after renovating the former New York State Police building.

[email protected], Originally published September 27, 2006

So here's the thing - - Stone Travel is located in a place central to both Cortland and Ithaca. That place is in Dryden. The AAA office on rt. 13 near Hollywood video will be closing and that staff will be moving to Stone Travel's office on Dryden Road (near Robertson's Corner / NYSEG / rt.13/366). At the end of the day, Dryden loses a local business, but gains a few employees. David Moore, Stone Travel's owner and president will become the regional director of Western and Central New York AAA for Ithaca and Cortland.

Simon would also like this news since Stone Travel is in his neighborhood. I like this news because it shows continues development of Robertson's Corner as a commercial district.