Thursday, November 19, 2015

It's 57 degrees and blustery at 7:30 a.m. 
with rain on the way.

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IN THE MAIL

From Dana O'Brien:

"The annual Garden Club Christmas decorating contest 
will be held on Thursday December 3rd. this year. 
Homes within the village limits will be judged in 2 categories, overall effect and doorway. The local businesses will be judged separately. Anyone living outside the village limits with a Waterville address that is interested in having their home judged, is asked to call Sue Buschor at 794-4252."

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IN THE NEWS

— FROM WKTV.

— FROM WKTV.

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NEWSWORTHY

At last Monday evening's Village Board Meeting, the Mayor and Trustees sold the vacant lot at #381 Putnam Street to Mr. David Sullivan who intends to construct a single building containing six apartments on the property.

The possibility of this sale had been the subject of intense controversy for the past several months and reaction from many Village residents was swift, with many expressing their extreme disappointment or their pleasure in telephone calls and Emails to me as well as to other area residents in casual gatherings at parking lots and diners.  Other residents, however, were neither familiar with the controversy nor did they have any opinion at all.

As clarification: It was my contention, all along, that because over $300,000 in taxpayers' money has been invested in acquiring and cleaning up the land plus the unique location of the property and the fact that it is the ONLY vacant area within Village limits suitable for some as yet unknown Municipal use, that it should not be sold at all, at this time. 

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It is only coincidental that this event occurred at the same time that I made a decision that has been a long time in coming:

TBT


I posted this picture on Thursday, October 28, 2010 — the day that Mike Tower put the finishing touches on the Memorial Bandstand.
After I took the picture I sat in my car, breathed a great sigh of relief, and said to myself, 
"There: that's done, and now I can quit blogging!" 

"At Home in the Huddle" was invented in 2006 to record the changes that occurred in Waterville during the two-year New York State Highway Reconstruction Project. Little by little, roads and sidewalks were paved, Victorian Street Lamps put in place and street trees planted. The last step was the construction of the Bandstand.

In the five years since then, maintaining this blog has become more and more tiresome and, frankly,  boring. The decision to actually "STOP" has been difficult because I know how important "the Huddle blog" has become to its hundreds of readers and the not-for-profit organizations who need a place to advertise events

Although it does take a fair amount of time, blogging on Blogspot is not so technologically demanding that many other Villagers couldn't do the same thing. 

The Waterville Times has reported that efforts are being made to establish a Village website, but the beauty of a blog, if you can call it that, is that every entry is archived and can be "searched" by anyone anywhere in the world  (or, even, on the International Space Station!) A website doesn't work that way.

I hope someone - or a team of bloggers - will offer to take over. I'll be glad to help any community-minded volunteers!

So, as of right now, "At Home in the Huddle" will become my personal blog with random posts that include photographs and bits of local history, from time to time. 

What else will I be doing? Well - there IS the matter of Christmas projects (cards, etc.) plus lots of writing family history for my grandson and his scores of cousins, and - of course - reviewing recordings, transcribing and organizing stories told by the wonderful "Old timers" so that their memories can be shared with all of you. Then there are more and more drawings of more old barns, breakfasts and lunches out, visits to "the Munstitute," fair-weather day-trips and - even - a possible escape southward, sometime,  with other "Snowbirds."  Don't worry: I'll be plenty busy!

Happy Thanksgiving and Merry Christmas to All of You.

Thank you, Everyone!