The Camp Duffield Adventure

Here are some images from a fun weekend with a group from Saint Martin in the Fields Church in Grand Island, New York. We went to Camp Duffield in Delevan, New York. Camp Duffield was originally located in Allegany State Park, not as a camp, but as a yearly summer conference for young people. The name "Duffield" is in honor of the Rev. John Duffield of Olean, who passed away in 1937. According to the Camp Duffield website, the Rev. Duffield was a leader in organizing conferences for young people. The camp was moved to its present site in 1950. There are a series of camping programs for children and for adults with developmental disabilities during the summer. During the rest of the year, the camp is available for rental to groups.

About 22 people came for the camping adventure. We arrived on Friday evening and enjoyed conversation and a campfire. On Saturday morning, we were treated to a delicious breakfast of baked French toast and an egg bake. After eating that scrumptious food, we went for a hike through pine trees. They grow in long, straight rows, which was quite an amazing thing to see.

These trees are especially amazing if you look straight up.

Here we are, peering from behind those rows of trees. Notice the lovely one-point perspective in the photograph.

The last time that I was at Camp Duffield was three years ago. Since then, new tents were added to the campgrounds. Here, Mike Walker, Amy Heist, and Beth Boron pose in front of one of the tents. We stayed in cabins for the weekend and only discovered the tents when we were taking a morning hike. 

Tom and Sharon Petz peek out from inside a tent.

Trish and Ray Weiser discover the fun of peering out from a tent.

Here I am in the tent, with Ellen Valvo.

Eric Boron and Pete Schlau prefer to run through the woods.

There are many interesting things to see on the adventure. Here are mushrooms growing out of a tree.

We walked along a creek and found some interesting rocks and stones.

On this tree trunk, the mushrooms are oranges.

This is the pond at Camp Duffield.

Later in the morning, Paula Cramer, Amy Pickwell, and I took a second hike.We walked through the pine trees but went on different trails.

Of course, there were more mushrooms to photograph.

There is truly a never-ending supply of mushrooms. Since "mushroom hunter" is not on my resume, I photograph mushrooms and then leave them where they are. Some mushrooms are poisonous and will make you ill and others will cause you to pass away unpleasantly. Food is meant to be enjoyed, so I hunt for mushrooms in the supermarket! I usually don't want to skip an adventure but death by food... um... no.

Amy and Paula in a large lean-to.

After our hike, we went to enjoy lunch. No. Mushrooms were not on the menu. We had tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches. We talked and laughed and enjoyed our time together.

After lunch, I went to paint in my watercolor sketchbook. Before I could finish my painting, I was asked if I would like to hike to the waterfalls. It is a small waterfalls at the end of a moderately strenuous hike. 

Here is a group of hikers standing in front of the Duffield sign. We crossed the street and started on our hike. The hike was quite the adventure. It was steep in spots and slippery in other spots. Several people fell. Some of us avoided falling by crawling on our hands and feet. After much slipping, sliding, and climbing, we arrived at the waterfalls.

Marge Schlau enjoys being near the waterfalls.

Beth, Allison, and Eric Boron enjoy the waterfalls.

Engaged couple Allison Boron and Dave Porter add a touch of romance to the weekend adventure. They are both teachers. Allison teaches kindergarten, and Dave teaches high school science.

Here I am at the waterfalls.

Here is another photogenic mushroom.

After the fun of the hike, we walked back to the camp. There were words tacked onto trees.

After the hike, I went back to painting, finishing just before the rain started. I returned to my cabin to make sure that the camera didn't get wet. It did start to pour and, at one point, there was a tornado warning, which was very dramatic. Fortunately, there was no tornado, just rain and wind. That is why there are no pictures of the dinner or of evening activities. We had a delicious spaghetti dinner, thanks to Tom Davide and friends. Afterwards, we played a dice game called bunco. It was very entertaining and fun and there was much laughter. I had a good deal of beginner's luck, and some of my friends asked me why I had never told them that I was actually a gambler. Well, what can I say? I must never show my hand!

On Sunday morning, we had pancakes and the rest of the egg bake. We left, well-fed and happy to have spent the weekend with friends.

It was a fun weekend. 

Grover Cleveland's Buffalo

On September 1st, the Grand Island Historical Society had its first meeting of the 2016-2017 year. We had a potluck dinner at River Lea, and people brought a variety of tasty dishes. It is now late summer, and it was nice to observe the view from Beaver Island State Park, as well as eat a delicious meal with friends.

Another view.

This is the entrance to River Lea. The house was designed by Lewis F. Allen. He was a Buffalo businessman and community leader. Allen Street in Buffalo is named for him. He owned a house in Buffalo that was burned down during the War of 1812. Then he built another house to replaced the torched house. He bought land in Williamsville and had a cattle farm. However, he sold much of that land because it became quite valuable. Later, he bought land in Grand Island and established a farm called Allenton Farms. He had cows and pigs at the farm. He also planted orchards. Fruits that he grew included apples, pears, and cherries.

Lewis F. Allen was elected to the New York State Legislature in 1838.

He had a nephew who was called "Big Steve" because he was... big. Steve Cichon gave a presentation to the Historical Society about Big Steve. We don't remember him as Big Steve but that's what he was called when he was young. He was the son of a Presbyterian minister, Richard Falley Cleveland, and the former Ann Neal. He had eight siblings. He was born in New Jersey but his family moved around a great deal and he grew up in central New York. When Big Steve was sixteen, his father passed away. Big Steve quit school and went to work to help support his family.

Two years later, Big Steve decided to move to Cleveland, Ohio, to find his fortune. Interestingly enough, Big Steve was a distant relative of Moses Cleaveland (1754-1806), for whom Cleveland, Ohio, is named. But Uncle Lewis F. Allen had other plans for Big Steve. He offered him a job on Allenton Farms, keeping records of the animals. He did that job. When he wasn't in Grand Island, he got a job at a Buffalo law firm. He read the law and became a lawyer. Back then, you could study law books under the tutelage of an attorney and become a lawyer.

At some point, Big Steve decided that he didn't really like being called Big Steve. He dropped his first name and, from that point on, was known as Grover Cleveland. He fit in well in Buffalo. After he moved out of his uncle's house, he lived in boarding houses in downtown Buffalo and did Buffalo stuff. According to Steve Cichon, Grover Cleveland "spent a lot of time in taverns and ate pickled pigs' feet and pigs' knuckles." He also ate potato pancakes. Mike Ulrich, who later was the owner of the famous Buffalo landmark, Ulrich's Tavern, claimed that he served Grover Cleveland potato pancakes in the Niagara Hotel in downtown Buffalo. Mike Ulrich, who immigrated to Buffalo from Germany, probably was not fluent in English at that point.  It is more likely, according to Steve Cichon, that Mike Ulrich made potato pancakes for William McKinley.

Grover Cleveland got into a fight with a guy named Mike Falvey, mainly because Falvey called Cleveland a liar. Cleveland smacked him, causing him to fall in the gutter. The two guys rolled around in the gutter, but, after the battle was over, they made up and went out for drinks together.

Places that Grover Cleveland did eat included Louis Goetz's restaurant. It was one of his favorites. The restaurant was open until the 1920s.

Grover Cleveland wrote down that he played "peanuckle" at the taverns. 

Grover Cleveland got into politics and had a falling out with his uncle, Lewis F. Allen, who was a Republican. Grover Cleveland was a Democrat. Some things never change. Grover Cleveland's rise in politics was amazingly fast. His goal was to get rid of crime and corruption.

In the 1870s, crime and corruption were a way of life. There were hundreds of groggeries and disorderly houses. A groggery was a disreputable barroom. It's amazing that anyone was sober at all. Apparently, there were a bunch of jails in Buffalo. Grover Cleveland, as mayor, cleaned up the bars and the jails.

Grover Cleveland was elected sheriff of Erie County, and he also served as executioner. He had a gallows built on Batavia Street, which is now known as Broadway, where two men were executed. One was a man named Patrick Morrissey who stabbed his mother to death with a bread knife and the other was a man named John Gaffney, who killed a guy in an "alcohol-fueled rage" at the Canal Street Saloon. Cleveland became the executioner because the deputy who had previously executed prisoners truly was mortified at having to kill people and at being called "Hangman Emerick."

Grover Cleveland later was elected Governor of New York and then president of the United States. He was elected president of the United States twice. There were many rumors about Grover Cleveland having an illegitimate son named Oscar Folsom Cleveland. It had to do with a woman named Maria Halpin, who "had relations with many in the legal community," said Steve Cichon. "She was everyone's girlfriend."

After Everyone's Girlfriend had a baby, Grover Cleveland had her placed in the Providence Insane Asylum, where she was determined to be drunk but not insane. The baby was put up for adoption. Providence Insane Asylum no longer exists. Sisters Hospital actually constructed its building around the Providence Insane Asylum.

When Grover Cleveland entered the White House, he was a bachelor. Shortly afterward, he married a young lady named Frances Folsom. She was Grover Cleveland's ward and was the half sister of Oscar Folsom Cleveland. To me, it sounds like a soap opera. He was 49 and she was 21. She became the first lady and had five children. Their wedding was the only wedding that occurred in the White House.

Grover Cleveland was also the only president to serve two nonconsecutive terms. He vetoed a large amount of legislation. He presided over the dedication of the Statue of Liberty.

But he was no longer interested in living in or even visiting Buffalo. After he left the White House, he lived in New Jersey. Steve Cichon said that Grover Cleveland felt let down by the people of Buffalo. He was, however, well loved in Buffalo. There are streets and schools named after him. He died in 1908. Frances Folsom Cleveland remarried in 1913 at the age of 48. Her second husband was Thomas Preston, a professor of archaeology at Wells College. She died in 1947 at the age of 83 and is buried in Princeton, New Jersey, next to her first husband.

Images of Labor Day weekend

The Labor Day weekend is considered to be the unofficial end of summer. Fortunately, summer continues because the autumnal equinox is actually on Thursday, September 22nd. The Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer because, immediately after it's over, school starts, bringing vacation time for students and teachers to a screeching halt.

Here are a bunch of images from my Labor Day weekend. I start with the mouse. There is nothing like getting ready for breakfast and finding a mouse sitting in the kitchen sink. In fact, the mouse found its way to the kitchen sink three days in a row. The mouse was removed from the kitchen sink three times. It tried to escape on its own by jumping. It failed to jump straight in the air and out of the sink.

The mouse, apparently, was incapable of doing the standing broad jump. To do a standing broad jump, you stand on a line, throw your arms forward, and jump as high as you can. The hope is that your arms will propel you forward. It is a very difficult athletic feat. It used to be an Olympic event, but it was eliminated in 1912. Apparently, most people cannot do a standing broad jump. To do a successful jump, most people need to have a running start. There are still plenty of Olympic jumping events that involve a running start.

The mouse was removed from the house and was placed in a wooded area, where it can learn to enjoy nature and eat whatever mice eat in the wild, which, apparently, does not include cat food (when the mouse was not in the sink, it was taste testing Zoe's cat food).

This is the luscious blood orange that I enjoyed. And no, I did not offer the mouse a taste test. The blood orange is lovely and colorful. The color is very vibrant, and this one is mostly likely a moro, which is one of several types of blood oranges. A blood orange has thick skin that has a reddish tint. The flavor is more intense than other oranges and the flesh of the orange can range in color from ruby to vivid crimson.

The juice of blood oranges would be red. The flavor would be fairly tart. Some of the foods and beverages that call for inclusion of blood orange juice would include Italian soda, vinaigrette-style salad dressings, sorbet, and gelato.

On Saturday, I worked on a garden. It was a warm and sunny day and it had recently rained. The soil was soft, and the weeds came out readily. 

Lovely lavender.

Back yard gem.

Closer view of the back yard gem.

On Sunday, I went to June and Roger's Labor Day picnic, held outside of their house, near the river. It is a big annual event and a good deal of fun. Here is Santiago Masferrer, the owner of El Buen Amigo, a store in Buffalo that sells fair traded clothing, jewelry, and other crafty sorts of items. The goods come from all over the world.

Small sweaters for small people.

Magical little car theme.

A jazz band performs.

Boats along the river.

River adventure.

More colorful stuff, courtesy of El Buen Amigo.

This is Janna Willoughby-Lohr. She is an artist and a musician. She is a member of the musical group "Blood Thirsty Vegans." The members of the group are storytellers in rhyme and rhythm. Janna is a vocalist and she plays the trumpet, but not at the same time.

What is a party without food?

On Monday, I visited the Grand Island Farmers Market, which was held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., instead of the usual 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. The farmers market is relatively new and it is already a social event.

Although these resemble cookies, don't try biting them. You may develop dental problems. These are actually stones that were collected by Steve and Trish Birtz, who spend a lot of time looking for rocks and minerals when they aren't collecting delicious produce from their farm.

Mmmm, tomatoes.

You can also find sweet treats at the farmers market.

Hot, spicy peppers for the brave folks.

Mmmm, cherry tomatoes.

There is so much to see and do at the Grand Island farmers market.

The chickens are not shy. They gladly greet humans.

Although the air is still warm and summer-y, autumn is coming, which means pumpkin bread, apple crisp, and more taste treats.

Trish Birtz focuses on the task at hand.

After visiting the farmers market, I went to my friend's apartment and weeded and pruned in her small garden. This is her one and only rose.

Labor Day drifted away, and, on Tuesday, September 6th, I woke up early to go take pictures of the first day of school at Huth Road Elementary School.

Of course, summer didn't disappear as rapidly as Labor Day. I heard from a teacher friend that the temperature in her classroom was 89 degrees. Fortunately, the first day of school came to an end, albeit a hot and melty one.