A Rookie's Guide to Twain Country

For Twain, Everyday Was Valentine's Day

2012-02-14T09:39:00.000-08:00

In the spirit of Valentine's, I thought I'd impart what I believe is a lesser-known fact about our buddy Samuel Clemens. Something he isn't remembered for as much as his many famous works in the genres of humor, adventure, and social commentary and criticism:

Twain at 32.

Twain was also a hopeless romantic.

The object of his affection, Livy Langdon, at 24.

This discovery was brought to me courtesy of a recent program held at The Park Church, "The Love Letters of Mark Twain and Livy Langdon Clemens."

The event, sponsored by the Community Arts of Elmira, Chemung Valley History Museum and the church, celebrated the 142nd Anniversary of Sam and Livy's marriage with a reading of some of their letters by husband-and-wife team Charles and Liz Raudat.

Twain and Livy couldn't have been from more different backgrounds. She was from a well-to-do family here in Elmira, struggled with her health to the point of spending years as an invalid, and was religious and educated. He was from Missouri, left school at a young age to become a printer's apprentice, and spent most of his young adult years being a steamboat pilot, doing work for newspapers and traveling out West.

And then he fell in love with her picture. He was traveling on a ship, where he met her brother Charles who had a picture of Livy, and he fell in love with her portrait before even meeting her.

Twain visited Livy and her family, but they courted mostly by letter for two years, and even having only heard a sampling of their correspondence, was he ever 1000% smitten with her, from her beauty to her intelligence to her disposition. He wrote her letters, for example, urging her to sleep later in the morning for the sake of her health. And one of his letters, literally, had about six post scripts in which he continued to profess his love for her.

She actually rejected him at first, including his first marriage propsal. They came from such different social, geographic and religious backgrounds, and had such different personalities, views and values, that she wouldn't accept him. Seemingly just to keep her in his life, though, he convinced her that they could have a platonic relationship:

My Honored “Sister” –

The impulse is strong upon me to say to you how grateful I am to you and to all of you, for the patience, the consideration & the unfailing kindness which has been shown me ever since I came within the shadow of this roof, and which has made the past fortnight the sole period of my life unmarred by a regret. Unmarred by a regret. I say it deliberately. For I do not regret that I have loved you, still love & shall always love you. I accept the situation, uncomplainingly, hard as it is. Of old I am acquainted with grief, disaster & disappointment, & have borne these troubles as became a man. So, also, I shall bear this last & bitterest, even though it break my heart. I would not dishonor this worthiest love that has yet been born within me by any puerile thought, or word, or deed. It is better to have loved & lost you than that my life should have remained forever the blank it was before. For once, at least, in the idle years that have drifted over me, I have seen the world all beautiful, & known what it was to hope. For once I have known what it was to feel my sluggish pulses stir with a living ambition. The world that was so beautiful, is dark again; the hope that shone as the sun, is gone; the brave ambition is dead. Yet I say again, it is better for me that I have loved & do love you; that with more than Eastern devotion I worship you; that I lay down all my life that is worth the living, upon this hopeless altar where no fires of love shall descend to consume it. If you could but –

But no more of this. I have said it only from that impulse which drives men to speak of great calamities which have befallen them, & so seek relief. I could not say it to give you pain. The words are spoken, & they have fallen upon forgiving ears. For you dear sake my tongue & my pen are now forbidden to repeat them ever again.

And so, henceforward, I claim only that you will let me freight my speeches to you with, simply, the sacred love a brother bears to a sister. I ask that you will write to me sometimes, as to a friend whom you feel will do all that a man may to be worthy of your friendship – or as to a brother whom you know will hold his sister’s honor as dearly as his own, her wishes as his law, her pure judgements above his blinded worldly wisdom. Being adrift, now, & rudderless, my voyage promises ill; but while the friendly beacon of your sisterly love beams, though, never so faintly through the fogs & the mists, I cannot be hopelessly wrecked. I shall not shame your confidence by speaking to you in future letters, of this dead love whose requiem I have been chanting. No, I will not offend. I will not misunderstand you.

My honored sister, you are so good & so beautiful - & I am so proud of you! Give me a little room in that great heart of yours – only the little you have promised me - & if I fail to deserve it may I remain forever the homeless vagabond I am! If you & mother Fairbanks will only scold me & upbraid me now & then, I shall fight my way through the world, never fear. Write me something from time to time – texts from the New Testament, if nothing else occurs to you – or dissertations on smoking – or extracts from your Book of Sermons – anything, whatever – the reflection that my matchless sister wrote it will be sufficient. If it be a suggestion, I will entertain it; if it be an injunction, I will honor it; if it be a command I will obey it or exhaust my energies, trying.

And now, good-bye, my precious sister - & may all the sorrows which fate has ordained for you fall upon this foolish head of mine, which would be so glad & so proud to suffer them in your stead. I leave you to the ministering angels – for, daughter of the earth as you are, they throng the air about you – they are with you, & such as you, always.

Sincerely & affectionately,

Sam L. Clemens

The line that gets me is "dead love whose requiem I have been chanting." Strong stuff.

Eventually through the course of courting her (and courting her family), though, he did win her affection. If you ever get the chance to experience their letters, they're really interesting and eloquent, and well-worth the time.

They were married at the Langdon Mansion, across the street from Park Church, by the Rev. Beecher at 7 p.m. on Feb. 2, 1870 (because the Reverend had a meeting at eight :) They didn't want a big wedding, but the Langdon family was so prominent that there were about 100 people in attendance.

The Park Church event (in addition to having take-home "wedding" cake slices), also featured several artifacts from their relationship provided by the Chemung County Historical Society, including a shoe that Livy owned, their marriage certificate, a tea cup and saucer from the Langdon family china, and stenograph cards of the Langdon home:

Yes, the shoe was part of a matching outfit.

So they were married, had four children, and the rest is history. As is the fact that Twain had this additional, sometimes overlooked dimension that I'll remember from here on out.

Happy Valentine's Day!

The Community Arts of Elmira Inc.

413 Lake Street, Elmira, (607) 846-2418

http://communityartsofelmira.com/index.php, http://www.facebook.com/communityartselmira

Chemung Valley History Museum

415 E. Water Street, Elmira, (607) 734-4167

www.chemungvalleymuseum.org, http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chemung-County-Historical-Society/115141548496444

The Park Church

208 West Gray Street, Elmira, (607) 733-9104

http://www.theparkchurch.org/, http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Park-Church-Elmira/176954225651556

Home for the Holidays

2011-12-23T08:50:00.000-08:00

Behold what I've affectionately termed my "Charlie Brown Christmas Tree":

It's one of those assembly-required numbers with holes in the "trunk" to stick the branches into. I was all ready to call it quits with this tree this year, to be honest. It's older than dirt, a pain in the butt to put together, and my attempts at forming it into the right shape have for sure been subject to more than their fair share of yuletide scrutiny ;)

But then my mother helped me put it together, and broke out with this line:

So...I decided to keep it around awhile longer.

I recently discovered that decking the halls is taken to a whole different level in Elmira every December. Annual Holiday Home Tours here feature some of my favorite qualities about the city, the gorgeous Victorian architecture of and history behind so many of its homes.

The Near Westside Neighborhood Association and Historic Maple Avenue featured tours on two consecutive weekends this year. I participated in the Near Westside's this time around, which included five amazing homes, the 4th Annual Gingerbread House Competition of New York State at the Ernie Davis Community Center, and a Dessert Reception and Open House at the Arnot Art Museum.

The tour is a great community event; tickets are sold at, raffle items are donated by, and tour volunteers come from local organizations.

There's also an element of storytelling to this tour that I really enjoy. A booklet is available to participants that tells about the background of each place, its architectural features, and highlights the decorative choices of the owners, all of whom put a tremendous amount of work into not just decorating, but repairing, restoring, renovating and maintaining these unique older homes.

So check out these feats of holiday grandeur:

528 West Water Street. Previous residents of which include Ida Langdon, the niece of Olivia Langdon Clemens and Mark Twain. She resided there from 1935 until her death in 1964.

I found it was also fun to appreciate the antiques in many of these homes.

627 West Gray Street. Built in 1868, and has radiators that have been sandblasted to imitate an original look, which I thought was pretty cool.

424 West Church Street. This one featured some upstairs apartments as well, and was a church parsonage for the Christ United Methodist Church from 1914-1970.

A 12-foot tree decorated with antique cards. Even had a bear skin rug tree skirt. It was hard core.

Yule Log!

I totally would have sat down and regaled my fellow tour participants with a tune, but I only have about four songs from my piano lesson days committed to memory. Zero of which are worthy of an 1876 Steinway & Sons Parlor Grand Piano that's only one of 250 in the U.S.

360 West Church Street. Full of apartments, and featuring its original circa 1876 porch boards, ceiling and banister, all restored.

318 West Clinton Street. It's a Stick Style Queen Anne painted in a Pacific Northwest color scheme. There was lots of talk of MacKenzie-Childs pieces here, which you could see throughout the house.

(Indeed, I learned myself a thing or two on this tour.)

There were even Christmas trees in the bathrooms!

Loved the light fixtures.

The 4th Annual Gingerbread House Competition at the Ernie Davis Community Center. Voting involves placing money in a container for the house you like the best. The house with the most money wins a prize, and all of the money collected goes to charity.

A whole different type o' architectural celebration going on here :)

Yes, that IS the Wicked Witch of the East under that house.
Compliments of the Katie's Café team.

The Arnot Art Museum. (P.S. If you're looking for a last minute gift, the Holiday Art Market 2011 continues in the museum's Reading Room through December 30th.)

This sled belonged to the Clemens family!

If you didn't get a chance to sneak a peek inside some of Elmira's most beautiful homes this time around, this marked the tour's 27th year, so be sure to catch its 28th! Tickets usually go on sale around mid-November at various area businesses, and it's a great way to support the community and get in the holiday spirit.

Please enjoy this Yule Log as a token of my Happy Holidays wishes to all! ;)

Near Westside Neighborhood Association

353 Davis Street, Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 733-4924, http://www.nwnainc.com/,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Near-Westside-Neighborhood-Assoc-Inc/147589922098

The Arnot Art Museum, 235 Lake Street, Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 734-3697, http://www.arnotartmuseum.org/

An Ode to Fall. And Critters.

2011-12-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

Well, it's December. Which means that, to coin a phrase from Game of Thrones, "Winter is Coming."

It's officially coming in about two weeks, actually, which makes this seem like a perfect time to reflect upon autumn before it completely vanishes. And one of the best places I've come across to take in the beauty of any season locally is Tanglewood Nature Center and Museum.

(P.S. Check out their mailbox.)

Tanglewood is situated up on Harris Hill, so the views are fantastic, and is well-known for its nine-mile trail system through Gleason Meadows and Frenchman's Bluff, which is open from sunrise to sunset, year-round.

There are trails for all ability levels and of varying lengths. Which is lucky for me because when it comes to hiking, I like to opt for "Easy." Or better yet:

;)

So, I ventured out a bit to take in some of the foliage and the sights on the grounds, which I found quite gorgeous.

The good news where Old Man Winter is concerned is that even though all of this will be covered in snow soon, you can still get out there and enjoy some snowshoeing. Rentals are only $4-$5 an hour depending on if an indvidual is a Tanglewood Member, $12-$15 a day, and there are group rates available as well.

Burns up to 1,000 calories an hour. For reals.

And regardless of season, you can always go and pay Tanglewood's many awesome critters a visit. If you've stopped in before, you're sure to have passed by Bernice, the sulcata tortoise.

She's the Welcome Wagon :)

I was introduced to several other residents by Tanglewood's Ian McLaughlin, including "The Queen of the Forest," Great Horned Owl Sophie:

Regal, indeed.

Sophie hails from Alaska, and I learned that she has more of a Western camouflage because it's mostly pine forest where she's from. Her kind eats small birds, rats, chipmunks, squirrels...and can take down a Great Blue Heron?

Not gonna lie, before learning that, my money might have been on the heron.

Sophie's also an aggressive hunter and can fly silently because the tears in her feathers are in a criss-cross pattern; whenever wind passes through, it creates practically no sound. I sort of feel like she's the Chuck Norris of the animal kingdom, but that's...probably just me.

Many of the animals here are rehab animals that wouldn't make it out in the wild, and in discussing the injuries some of these birds have, Ian likened broken bird bones to cutting a straw in half and trying to glue it back together. Tricky business. But Tanglewood provides the injured with a safe home.

Meet Lucy.

Lucy's kind eats snakes, and even small skunks. Apparently, though they have great ears, an owl's sense of smell is terrible, so they don't care if they get sprayed. (Which is more than I can say for myself a few weeks ago when a skunk held me hostage for half an hour on my back porch.)

If the prey is small enough, the owl will even gobble it down whole. "Have to eat quick in the wild," Ian noted. "There's a lot of competition."

Other Tanglewood dwellers include Paco the African Grey Parrot. These parrots can crack walnuts with their beaks. Paco really seems to enjoy peanuts, annnnnnnnd attention. Never has an animal, or any other living being for that matter, been as enthusiastic to get in front of my camera as Paco was.

There's also the nocturnal Jack the Hedgehog.

Aw. That's pretty much my attitude in the morning, too.

A scorpion, which is classified as an arthropod because it has bones on the outside of its body. There was all sorts of venom on its stinger.

Kid-Friendliness Factor of Zero

The spotted salamander.

Turtles!

And a couple of turtle buddies.

And Roger, the timber rattlesnake.

Timber rattlesnakes are native to this area (we're in the most northern region for them) and actually not very aggressive.

(I also learned that sunbathing timber rattlesnakes have gotten a rest stop on I-86 near Corning shut down in the past...most likely pregnant females who needed the warmth for their embryos.)

Also keep your eye out for the blind fish in the museum, they're really cool. They have sonar, but don't have eyes because they never had a necessity to see living in dark caves in Mexico.

Out of all the interesting animal factoids I learned during my visit, there was but one that I already knew firsthand, and it was about bullfrogs, which will eat their own species. Nothing will teach you that faster than a younger cousin with a tank full of bullfrogs that kept disappearing one by one.

Here was my biggest lesson learned at Tanglewood, though. There is just a tremendous amount of upkeep that goes into taking care of all of these animals. As Ian put it, you couldn't be even remotely close to germaphobic to take that on, and you have to love the animals enough to not care about how dirty they are.

There's cleaning filters, taking care of water dishes, refilling tanks when water evaporates, fixing lights that blow, preparing the right types of foods for different animals (some of that food is provided by organizations like Minier's Supermarket in Big Flats...Tanglewood has an impressive array of interns and volunteers who contribute to its mission in various ways), pulling the food at night to avoid fruit flies...it's a veritable slew of tasks you don't think about when you're just there to see the animals.

It's like this "turtle water" here. Ian mentioned water turtles as the most high maintenance, as their shells are always wet and fungusy, they carry a lot of bacteria, and whenever they grow they have to peel. Exhibit A:

Exhibit B:

Believe me when I tell you that when I passed this clean water a mere few minutes later, it was dirty again. It's a neverending cycle, but surely much appreciated both by the animals and all who benefit from learning about them at the museum.

If you haven't checked out Tanglewood's Events Calendar, you'll find it here. Upcoming events include two Astronomy Club gatherings (a Geminid Meteor Shower Party outside with a toasty bonfire, and a Winter Solstice Party/Potluck) as well as a Holiday Trail 5K.

We might be saying farewell to fall, but stop by Tanglewood sometime; you'll find activities for any season!

Tanglewood Nature Center & Museum

443 Coleman Avenue, Elmira, NY 14903

(607) 732-6060, http://www.tanglewoodnaturecenter.com/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Tanglewood-Nature-Center-Museum/46068679569

Healthy Places Everywhere

2011-11-04T13:27:00.000-07:00

And I'm back. Sorry for the hiatus, but the good news is that I'm about to infuse all sorts of healthiness into this blog. It's about to get ALL healthy up in here.

Remember a few months ago, when I tried to eat my way through this?

Defeat, thy name is Belly Buster Challenge.

Man, my body just recoiled remembering the mere attempt. In any case, I recently returned to the scene of this adventure of a sandwich, Classic Café, to make a complete culinary 180. Because as it turns out, Classic Café also takes part in a local initiative I recently learned about called "Creating Healthy Places."

"Creating Healthy Places" uses a New York State Department of Health Grant of $875,000 for a five-year project to make Elmira a healthier place to live. Its focus is on improvement of parks, increased access to public spaces, community gardens, and working with restaurants to provide healthy options for diners.

The list of participants? Too huge to list here, but includes a wide variety of local organizations that continuously work toward those goals, and representatives from each who come together monthly to collaborate on their progress.

So I ventured out to see some of the fruits of their labors, with my first stop being the café, which is one of three restaurants on board so far (the others being The Starlite Room - where they don't fry anything, they bake - and Hill Top Inn). If you've visited any of them lately, you might have noticed this type of signage:

All three have healthy menu options, and if you choose one, you receive a coupon for $2 off that entree. So this Chicken Caesar Wrap I got? Cost me $5.83. It was a freakin' steal.

Other healthy items at Classic Café, all marked in the menu, include a Garden Burger, Classic House, Grilled Chicken, and Chef Salads (low-cal dressings available), Deli or Garden Salad Wraps, a Woodstock Veggie Sandwich and a Veggie Panini.

(There's also Mrs. Dash available on the tables, and I'll be honest, I had no idea what that was, but it's a brand of salt-free seasonings. Live and learn, and find cool recipes.)

My next stop was this site, located at 362 West Church Street:

It's a vacant lot with a water spigot sticking out of it right now, but that spigot is the first step toward its becoming a Community Garden. The Near Westside Neighborhood Association is looking to plant fruit trees, fruit bushes and vegetables, and to put in a gazebo and seating area so small events can be held there as well.

The "Creating Healthy Places" folks are also looking to utilize MEWUs at various locations, including Divan Elementary. (Does that not sound like a great name for a "Star Wars" robot? MEWU?)

MEWU could have been 3P0 and R2's buddy.

MEWU, though, stands for Mobile Edible Wall Unit, and looks like this:

The MEWU is a great source of fresh fruits and vegetables that can easily be moved around to make sure its plants get enough sun, and in the case of the school, is a great way to teach kids about growing their own healthy food.

My last two stops were to check out the first playgrounds that have been completely revamped as a result of this initiative. And I mean completely revamped.

Here's "The Before Picture" for McKinnon Park:

It's not even practically screaming for a makeover. It's flat-out screaming for one.

And here's what it looks like now:

Poof! Beautiful.

They...did not make fancy kid swings like this in my day.

Fact: The surface temperature of Saturn is -288 degrees Fahrenheit.

Yeah, I went down the slide. Found out that doesn't go QUITE as smoothly when you're 28.
The swings were delightful, though.

And there was just as impressive a change over at Southside's Millers Pond Park. Then:

And now:

Fact: A black rhino's horn is composed of congealed hair.

If you've never been to Millers Pond, by the way (as I hadn't), you should check it out. It's a pretty spot.

The best part about all of this is that it's only the beginning. The initiative aims to include more restaurants and healthy dining options, more park makeovers, increased, safer accessibility (addressing sidewalk, crosswalk, street light, signage issues, etc.), and more. So I'm excited to see what this transformative group rolls out in the next few years!

For questions about "Creating Healthy Places" contact:

Connie Scudder, Creating Healthy Places Grant Facilitator

St. Joseph's Hospital, 555 St. Joseph's Blvd., Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 795-8001, CScudder@stjosephs.org

Girls DO Just Wanna Have Fun

2011-08-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

During a recent stop at The Christmas House, I ran across these:

Which reminded me of some of the greatest holiday characters of all time (I'm partial to The Bumble and Yukon Cornelius, myself), and twenty-eight out of twenty-eight consecutive Christmases spent watching them. (Plus listening to my father's yearly rendition of "Silver and Gold.")

Ah, what the heck:

See how the transportational quality of The Christmas House makes it the kind of place you are instantly in a good mood for having visited?

I had been once before, but it was so long ago that this visit was like going for the first time.

This is a pretty awesome house, by the way. It's a Queen Anne Victorian Mansion, built all the way back in 1894. In 1988, it was recolored as a "Painted Lady" (in sixteen different colors!), and it has been featured in this coffee table book:

Of course, what's inside of the house is pretty awesome, too. Run by Julie and Mark Delgrosso, it is filled to the brim with all things yuletide.

Its stylin' trees are inspiring me to be a more creative Christmas tree decorator...my little Charlie Brown tree might be in for a good decking this year.

Love Nutcrackers.

Even an upside down tree!

Let's put it this way...there's an entire room devoted to holiday villages. I always like to stop and appreciate the detail that goes into these.

Including a Halloween village.

The Christmas House also manages to remedy my age-old battle with myself about which is my favorite holiday: Halloween or Christmas. (It's a pretty tough call. I always want to say Christmas, but then I remember that I can watch horror movie marathons on TV all week before Halloween. And there's no such thing as watching every Michael Myers movie ever created too many times, as far as I'm concerned.)

Don't have to choose between those two holidays here, because you get both.

My favorite part, though (aside from the consolidation of my split holiday personalities), is the ornaments. Folks, you could find an ornament for anybody. ANYBODY. Got a brother who loves cheeseburgers?

Bam.

An aunt who loves Elvis?

Hunka Bam.

A cousin who loves to camp?

Watch Out For Bears Bam.

A mom who loves "I Love Lucy"?

Vitameatavegamin Bam.

A pal who loves to travel?

"London, Baby!" Bam.

My friend who stopped in with me to shop this past weekend? She'd gotten a new corgi, and picked up a corgi ornament. There's just something for everyone, or for any kind of themed tree you might want to do.

"And then, the true meaning of Christmas came through, and the Grinch found the strength of TEN grinches. Plus two."

Aside from retail therapy, The Christmas House also offers a wide variety of events for community members and tourists alike. Coming up this weekend is a So Long Summer Bereavement Party featuring lots of lemon-themed offerings and activities to symbolize how sour people are feeling about that.

Other events include (but are, for sure, not limited to) a 100 Days to Christmas Party, Harvest Open House Weekend, Celebrate National Bake & Decorate Month, Mummy's Martini Madness, and a Deck the Halls Weekend. You can also find a Christmas House booth at many local events including the Street Painting Festival, River Fest and Octagon Fair. (For a full schedule, click here.)

In relating my first experience attending one of these events, it's necessary to channel a little slice of 80s classic tuneage:

(A few things that rock about that video? The casting job on the father - professional wrestler Lou Albano, also known as "Captain Lou" - and that mind-blowing display of eighties graphics.)

This song served as the motto for the recent "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Weekend," where there were several activities to take part in out on the covered porch. You could get a massage, or check out some decorative glasses:

Have a wine slushie:

Enjoy some scented candles:

Have a brownie with giant marshmallows pressed on top of it:

Try some ChocoVine chocolate wine:

Decorate a Christmas cookie!

One of my better cookie-decoration feats, actually.

Or my personal favorite, get your craft on:

Not gonna lie, I had loads of help from the lovely ladies at the crafting table on these ;)

Suffice it to say, the girls who attended did Cyndi Lauper proud.

So whether you're looking to shop or looking for something to do, stop on by The Christmas House. And make sure to tell The Bumble and Yukon I said hello :)

The Christmas House

361 Maple Avenue, Elmira, NY 14904

(607) 734-9547, info@christmas-house.com

www.christmas-house.com, http://www.facebook.com/ChristmasHouse, @ChristmasHouse

Starlite, Stars Bright

2011-08-12T11:09:00.000-07:00

So, The Starlite Room recently had some big doings! In the form of a major jazz show that took place last Friday evening.

This was two-for-one as far as new experiences for me. Not only had I never visited The Starlite Room, but I had NEVER BEEN TO AN ACTUAL JAZZ SHOW. There, I said it.

I did take jazz dance lessons for a year when I was a kid, but that involved me donning a robotic-type silver wig, a truly regrettable metallic unitard, and doing some routine to the classic 90s techno tune "Rhythm is a Dancer."

It's by a group called Snap! Ha, I can't type that without giggling.

(I can't believe I'm even mentioning this in the company of the quality of music I heard at The Starlite Room show, so I'll stop.) ;)

The performance that evening featured Chad Lefkowitz-Brown and Kate Davis:

When I mentioned in passing to a few folks that I was going to see Chad perform, I found out pretty quickly that he's well-known around here. Turns out he's a Horseheads native.

Talk about a great local export.

She has a West Coast background in Portland, Oregon, but studies at the Manhattan School of Music.

Between them, they've performed at Carnegie Hall, the Kennedy Center, Dizzy's Club Coca Cola at Lincoln Center, The Blue Note. They've won about 1,094,233 (my crack estimation skills hard at work) awards and played with all sorts of jazz icons. They're both undoubtedly rising stars, and now Elmira can say she knew them when.

The music itself was indescribably impressive. Kate's got an excellent, bluesy voice, Chad's an extremely talented saxophonist, and what I liked about the music was that it felt kinda...unstructured? Like the
musicians were free to take it where they wanted, in a way. Which is really fun to watch.

To be honest, I don't think I can do their music justice with words alone. Check out some of these samples on her website, and the samples on his, and I think you'll understand what I'm talking about.

On the whole, though, here's what I came away with from this performance:

One, that I should look into incorporating some jazz on my iTunes playlist. I'm so far behind on appreciation of this genre that it's not even funny.

Two, The Starlite Room has a fantastically cool, friendly vibe, and is MORE than worth checking out. There's a ton going on there, from the live music to trivia nights to dance lessons. There's Winey Tuesdays, featuring Finger Lakes wines.

You can order from a full menu or from the huge martini menu, featuring creations such as the "Affair to Remember," "Assassin," "Blue Hawaiian," "Chocolate Covered Cherry," "Lounge Lizard," "Love Shack," "Pink Squirrel" and the "Rhett Butler" or "Scarlett O'Hara."

That's just a fraction of the martini selection. (Personally, they had me at drinks named after "Gone With the Wind" characters.)

And as for three, I think a performance like this speaks to the quality of music and arts available in this area if you just take a second to look. Having the opportunity to check out a show like this locally? I don't know about anyone else, but it made me feel pretty positive about living in this community.

And I think I'll end on that...note.

(Oh yeah, I DID just go there. You're welcome, punsters.)

The Starlite Room

3018 Lake Road, Elmira, NY 14903

(607) 733-3333, info@thestarliteroomelmira.com

www.thestarliteroomelmira.com, http://www.facebook.com/pages/the-Starlite-Room/93536164540?sk=app_2309869772

Museum Monday

2011-08-05T12:18:00.000-07:00

This week I learned that once upon a time, a cow marched along with soldiers in the Civil War.

And I mean, this cow didn't just follow the soldiers for a bit and then go off to graze somewhere. This cow traveled hundreds of miles through battles from Atlanta to the Carolinas to Virginia. She provided the soldiers with milk to help keep them going. (She even passed Army review when she got to Washington.)

This interesting factoid was brought to me courtesy of the storytime element of a program called "Museum Mondays" over at the Chemung Valley History Museum.

"Museum Mondays" are weekly morning (mostly hour-long) sessions all this month that feature various historical themes. They're FREE and open to the public. The Monday I attended was all about the Civil War, and as such, Education Coordinator Kerry Lippincott read the book "Dadblamed Union Army Cow" to the group. Based on a true story.

Yeah, it HAD been awhile since I'd had a good storytime.

(P.S. If you want to check out some more information about the book, click here. It's a great children's read.)

The hour kicked off with some Civil War background information, during which the kids were encouraged to answer questions about subjects such as general lifestyle, life during wartime, slavery, and the states. A new bit of info for me was that boys as young as eight (eight!) could join the Army. They couldn't carry guns, but there was a myriad of other stuff they could do.

Speaking of guns, everybody also got to hold a real Civil War gun.

Caution: Heavy

Some soldiers could load and fire a gun like this three times in a minute.

We also got to see a cannonball:

We were shown what was typically in a haversack that the soldiers carried.

There's a plate, match box, dip pen, some playing cards and a toothbrush made with....pig's hair :0

What I really liked about this program were all of the hands-on activities. I had as much fun with them as the kids (ha, and needed a lot more help with the paper-cup exercise than they did).

There was the chance to try on a Civil War soldier's uniform :)

We all made "housewives," or sewing kits that soldiers carried for when they needed to mend something.

For our purposes, we used staples to hold the fabric together, but back in the day they would have been handsewn:

You could put your sewing needles, etc., in the pockets.

We also did a sort of mystery tasting in which we tried food that the soldiers typically would have had, and then tried to identify what everything was.

So from top left, clockwise, there's dried beef jerky, hardtack (a cracker made of flour, salt and water, also known as "teeth grinders" or "teeth dullers"), dried apple and gingerbread.

I was sailing smoothly right along until we got to the paper-cup construction. Folks, it is hard to drink out of a paper cup you folded into existence yourself. And if you don't drink all the water, it eventually leaks out, so you have to drink quickly.

Cue Billy Joel's "Pressure."

As you'll notice, I pretty much got water everywhere. On my hand, the paper towels I put on the table, my clothes. I would have been dehydrated if I was living in Civil War time, for sure.

My being paper-cup challenged notwithstanding, activities like these are fantastic for kids. Learning by doing keeps them entertained and helps the lesson stay with them all the more, I think.

We made envelopes like those the soldiers used to send letters home. They would write their letters on a piece of paper and then fold it up so it could be mailed.

We also went on a scavenger hunt in the museum, which was a great opportunity to try and spot different facets of the exhibits.

The Elmira Prison Camp exhibit

On a side note, I also learned that the museum is in what used to be the Chemung Canal Bank.

Bank vault!

There are four more chances to attend the "Museum Mondays" program this month. Upcoming themes include "Haudenosaunee" (discovering local Native American culture), "The Underground Railroad," "Get On The Bus: Made in Chemung County" and "Colonial Games." For more information about them, please click here.

Stop by and kick off your week with some fun local history!

Chemung Valley History Museum

415 E. Water Street, Elmira, NY 14901, (607) 734-4167

http://www.chemungvalleymuseum.org/,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Chemung-County-Historical-Society/115141548496444

The Wind Beneath Our "Wings"

2011-07-28T12:54:00.000-07:00

I heard tell the other day that there was going to be some robot buildin' going on over at the Wings of Eagles Discovery Center. And since a sci-fi geek is never one to pass up robots...

In tribute to Eileen Collins

I had never been to Wings of Eagles before, and found it to be an interesting mix of classroom and museum. On the classroom end, I found the Science Academy in full swing, which is a fun and educational program for children from local schools that runs for a few weeks each summer.

When I visited, the kiddos were finishing up with a robotics lesson. They had not only built these little cars, but were also programming them via computer to take on various obstacles and complete mapped-out courses:

After the robots, they were moving on to building rockets, so it was a pretty busy morning. I gotta say...I'm not sure I could sit down at a table and successfully assemble a rocket, so more power to them.

I did, however, learn some new vocabulary from the rocket lesson that could easily make one of those "Word a Day" calendars. Like, for example, "apogee." Or the highest point something can reach.

As in, the apogee of a rocket I built probably would have been about 3.5 feet, but I'm sure that the apogees (apogi?) of the kids' rockets were MUCH higher :)

On the museum side of things, Wings of Eagles is home to some cool aircraft and engine specimens:

M*A*S*H*?

I was pretty floored by the variety of items packed into the encased displays. I took some time to read about them, and came away with an enhanced appreciation of the accomplishments and sacrifices of airmen and women. (And for what life was like during wartime, both in combat and back home.)

I mean, check out some of this stuff. Here's a display honoring the first female pilots:

We've all heard about Amelia Earhart, as well we should (and she's included here), but she also had company.

Like Blanche Stuart Scott, the first American woman to pilot a plane by herself, and also famous for completing a "Death Dive" from 4,000 to 200 feet. She retired at 27 because she felt that people were paying money "to see me risk my neck, more as a freak - a woman freak pilot - than as a skilled flier."

Makes you appreciate how far we've come from that mentality.

Or Bessie Coleman. Did you know that the first African-American pilot in the world was a woman? Because I didn't. AND she had to learn French and then travel to France to earn her license, because no American flight instructor would teach her.

You can also see some huge old aerial cameras:

A pamphlet that the Germans used in the 1940s to identify U.S. and British armored vehicles:

A piece of fabric commonly sewn into U.S. Air Force jackets in case an airman went down in Korea. The message states that rewards would be offered for delivering him to the U.N.

Did I translate that Korean myself? The world is full of possibilities.

Special currency that was used after Pearl Harbor. The U.S. was worried that the Japanese might overrun Hawaii, and in doing so, capture large amounts of money to fund their war effort, so the bills were stamped in brown so that they'd only be accepted in Hawaii.

The jacket worn by members of the 1941 Hickham Field baseball team. Hickham Field was the airfield right next to Pearl Harbor, and any memento from the base at the time of the attack is extremely rare.

A telegram addressed to a mother stating that her son was a prisoner of war of the German government:

Information about what to do in the case of an atomic bombing:

Scary.

There's also shuttle memorabilia, like this 205 lb. space shuttle tire.

Shuttle window glass, made through a process developed by Corning Inc.:

Space rations. That yummy-looking stuff at the bottom? Rice Krispies.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and say there's not a whole lotta "Snap, Crackle, Pop!" going on there.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg as far as historical offerings that are well-worth stopping by to explore; it's a great collection in tribute to airmen and women.

Wings of Eagles also has a new facility currently under construction and is expanding its educational role, reconditioning exhibits and looking to run a soaring school on a 1940s-style airfield...so there are lots of exciting things to keep an eye out for in the future!

Wings of Eagles Discovery Center, 343 Daniel Zenker Drive

Horseheads, NY 14845, (607) 358-4247

info@wingsofeagles.com, www.wingsofeagles.com,

http://www.facebook.com/WingsOfEagles

Elmira in Bloom

2011-07-20T09:17:00.000-07:00

In the midst of all that street painting fun recently, there was another very cool event taking place called the "'Elmira Blooms' Garden Tour."

Presented by the Near Westside Neighborhood Association, this was the sixth year of the self-guided tour, which features local gardens selected for being "lovingly created, distinct and original."

Garden at 955 West Church St.

So I picked up a ticket ($12, which goes to benefit the Near Westside) and was given a list of addresses that could be visited in any order throughout Sunday afternoon.

Then I hit the road with "Daniel," my trusty GPS. Daniel is the lovely British fella who helps me not get lost. (Except for this one time, in the middle of the New Mexico desert, when he decided that I should drive through some hills on a dastardly looking dirt road with a name like "Rattlesnake Pass." No, thank you.)

Outside every participating location was a sign, table and some kind folks to greet you.

There were also the opportunities to enjoy refreshments (it was HOT, so I was all about the lemonade) and purchase raffle tickets.

A pamphlet was provided, listing the garden owners and the stories behind their creations. The owners were all present during the tour and I listened to many of them chat about their work with and identify different types of flowers for visitors.

I'm not a gardener in any sense of the word (I'm trying not to kill a spider plant in my living room at present), but I definitely appreciated the talent and labors of love displayed in the participating gardens.

Garden at 41 Meadow Lane in Pine City

Hope you enjoy these pictures from the afternoon. You can catch the tour next summer if you didn't get the chance this time around!

955 West Church Street:

213 Columbia Street:

714 Falck Street:

41 Meadow Lane, Pine City:

25 Hickory Lane, Pine City:

83 Greenridge Drive East:

824 Broadway Street (Chamberlain Acres Private Gardens):

Near Westside Neighborhood Association

353 Davis Street, Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 733-4924, http://www.nwnainc.com/,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Near-Westside-Neighborhood-Assoc-Inc/147589922098

Painting the Town

2011-07-14T12:34:00.000-07:00

Let me tell you something about my artistic background...

it's pretty much nonexistent. Aside from the obligatory grade school classes, I only took one painting and one ceramics class in college. And I took them pass/fail, because I suspected that my G.P.A. would not appreciate an actual letter grade from either.

That has never meant that I don't enjoy artistic pursuits, though, which is why I was excited about Elmira Downtown Development's Street Painting Festival, held annually in July.

Early morning beginnings.

The whole premise of the festival reminded me a little of that great scene in "Mary Poppins" when Dick Van Dyke is working as a sidewalk artist and then they all jump into one of his drawings? So I had decided to give street painting a try, just for fun.

When I told my father that I thought I was undoubtedly in over my head considering all of the incredible artists who do this, his response was, "Well, anything you draw is going to be better than what was there before, right?"

Touché.

If you want to be an artist, the process is not only free and open to all ages, but simple. You just turn in an application with a sketch of what you plan to draw.

Elmira Downtown Development supplies the chalk (including extra if you need it) and a very helpful tent for artists with snacks, water and paint. Also supplied is a list of items to consider bringing along, including rags, brushes, a tarp to cover your drawing overnight, etc.

I set up camp at Square #29 on W. Water Street, where I opted to prime the area with the tempera paint.

As per usual, I wasted zero time getting paint all over myself.

Here's what I learned about keeping comfortable out on the hot street all day Saturday, and for some artists, most of the day Sunday as well. It's totally doable if you have something to kneel or sit on (some folks rocked the knee pads...I went with a gym mat), tons of water, and above all else, the holy of holies:

Going into this, I thought maybe I could get by with just a hat and loads of sunscreen? Some braver souls than I certainly did. But being as how I once got second-degree burns on my arms from sitting on a beach on an overcast day in Rhode Island, I went the umbrella route, and highly recommend it.

I decided to draw bubbles because it'd been suggested to me that something with a pattern might be easiest for my first time street painting. (These bubbles were actually the first thing I learned to paint in that one class; we started with them to learn about shading and dimensionality.)

I had fun doing the actual drawing, but the other part of being a street painter that I enjoyed was all of the people who stopped by to chat. Many observed or commented as they walked, but I also got to have a bunch of different conversations with folks I otherwise might never have met.

Incidentally, people also had all sorts of interpretations of what these orbs were, including planets, marbles and, my personal favorite, "space balls." Also known as a late-eighties Mel Brooks "Star Wars" spoof.

A few people teased that tracing buckets was shattering the illusion

that I had the talent to draw circles that well freehand ;)

Bands that played throughout the afternoon provided a nice soundtrack to draw to, and on breaks I walked around to check out the vendors. (The festival also featured a well-attended evening concert in Wisner Park with The Town Pants.)

I went back on Sunday to take a look at the finished products of the other artists. The range and quality of which I think speak for themselves:

Marvin the Martian maintaining relevance today makes me happy.

"Duck Tales, whoo-ooh!"

The winner!

Matt Dunn, the Youth Award winner, was drawing across the street from me. Only 13 years old!

So when the Street Painting Festival rolls around next year, don't be afraid to jump in on the artistic action. Or just come down and enjoy a dual celebration of creativity and the community.

http://www.elmirastreetpaintingfestival.org/

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Street-Painting-Festival-Elmira-New-York/83174245790

All Aboard!

2011-07-07T09:07:00.000-07:00

Take it from a Rookie...if you want to learn what Elmira is all about, take a trolley tour on "The Elmiran" and prepare to get schooled.

Rides are available Tuesdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. through September 3rd, departing from the Holiday Inn Riverview.

"The Elmiran" is one of the few historical trolley reproductions existing in the U.S.

It's no secret that Elmira sometimes gets a bad rap, but I think a spin on the trolley will make a believer out of anyone that it's steeped in loads of fascinating history that contributes to the uniqueness of its character today.

Oops. Sorry. "X-Files" fan.

I went on the Downtown Elmira tour, which runs earlier in the day, and then on the Harris Hill tour, which runs at 2 p.m. Here are a few of the pieces of trivia I learned that contributed to some newfound appreciation of my place of residence:

1. Elmira was once a Vaudeville capital, hosting greats such as Mae West, the Marx brothers and George Burns. The Near Westside Historic District was once home to many boarding houses, where performers were likely to have stayed.

And speaking of the Near Westside, it's also the largest area EVER to be placed on the National Register of Historic Places. At 22 square blocks, it has the highest concentration of Victorian architecture of anywhere in the U.S. That's pretty amazing.

Hello, Painted Lady.

2. The spire of the Trinity Episcopal Church is made of brick, which is extremely rare. The Park Congregational Church's minister for 40 years was Thomas Beecher, whose sister was Harriet Beecher Stowe, author of "Uncle Tom's Cabin." And the First Baptist Church was used as part of the Underground Railroad.

Basically, we've got some pretty cool churches.

Park Congregational

First Baptist

3. Elmira College, which was founded in 1855 exclusively for women, was the first college in the world to grant women a degree equal to men. Needless to say, it incurred a lot of bad press back in those days for its stance on gender equality.

(I knew the EC trivia going in, but only because I'm an alum. It was still pretty cool to hear it included on the tour. And the college actually remains predominately female, at about 70%.)

Olivia Langdon, future wife of Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain, attended college at what was then called the Elmira Female College. (Her future husband, however, didn't make it much past sixth grade. Score one for the ol' "opposites attract" theory.)

Another fun campus fact? It was believed that after a couple walked three times around "The Puddle" (also known as the "Passion Puddle"), no man could resist proposing marriage.

The power of "The Puddle"

In contrast to all this romanticism, Cowles Hall, which is currently undergoing a major renovation, is widely believed to be haunted. That was the rumor when I was in school, and apparently two construction workers just recently left because of strange happenings. So the trolley tour even has stuff for enthusiasts of the spooky.

4. Mark Twain's Study, where he wrote his most famous works during twenty summers spent in Elmira, is in an octagonal shape because Susan Crane, his sister-in-law, designed it to look like a riverboat pilothouse. (Twain had been a riverboat pilot.)

Twain also smoked, like, 30-40 cigars a day. Susie gave him privacy to write AND smoke.

Twain was very serious about his privacy whilst writing, by the way. His own daughters had to make an appointment before coming to see him in the study.

The study's original location was up at Quarry Farm (on East Hill, overlooking the Chemung River, "the view that inspired Twain"). It was moved in 1952 because of threats of brush fire and vandalism.

5. Another local structure patterned after a boat? The giant Chemung Canal Trust Company building, which was built to resemble a canal barge.

6. The Brand Park Pool is one of only six surviving Binst pools in the nation. Binst pools date back to 1936, and Binst Pool Corp. salesman used to sell them by upturning their own straw brimmed hats to illustrate the shape the pool would have.

Trolley Master Mark Delgrosso demonstrates Binst pool selling.

7. The New York State Fair had its beginnings here. We were home to the fairgrounds for 20 years before the event was moved to Syracuse. The trolley tour includes where the large cast iron gates used to stand, and Dunn Field sits on what used to be the fairgrounds.

8. Maple Avenue was best-known for its trolley run back in the day. Passengers used to travel to Wellsburg, home of mineral springs that were believed to have healing qualities.

Today, one of the highlights of Maple Avenue is The Christmas House, which is painted in sixteen colors.

9. A Civil War prison camp known as "Hellmira" once stood here, which held 12,000 Confederate soldiers. 3,000 of them would die because of the notoriously bad conditions.

As Trolley Master Delgrosso put it, it's not a proud moment in our history, but one that deserves to be commemorated.

John W. Jones, a former slave who fled north and helped with the Underground Railroad, buried the Confederate soldiers here, including an individual earthen crock for each containing a handwritten personal account of each man.

When the Daughters of the Confederacy came to bring the soldiers' bodies home after the war, they discovered Jones' act of compassion and decided to leave the soldiers resting in Woodlawn Cemetery, taking only the earthen crocks.

They are some of the last Confederate graves still in the north, and the cemetery is also home to the northernmost Confederate monument in the whole U.S.

The cemetery holds more than 80,000 graves, which is triple the population of the city. Famous folks buried here, aside from Twain, include film and television producer Hal Roach (of Laurel & Hardy and "Little Rascals"), Ernie Davis (the first African American to ever win the Heisman Trophy) and the aforementioned John W. Jones.

10. You won't ever find gliders sharing the air with hot air balloons. They require completely opposite conditions. Hot air balloons need still, quiet air, while gliders need thermals.

Learned that one on the Harris Hill tour.

The gliders were in action when the trolley made its fifteen minute stop at the National Soaring Museum, which I was really happy about because I hadn't yet seen them soaring:

"The Elmiran" is only $4 to ride (or $2 for children 12 and younger), so hop aboard, hear the stories of Elmira's past, and enjoy the sights!

The Arnot Art Museum

City Hall

Chemung Valley History Museum

More information about "The Elmiran" is available at www.marktwaincountry.com

All Along the Bell Tower

2011-06-30T19:05:00.000-07:00

Hey, so remember a couple of weeks ago, when I said I hoped I could go see the bell in the Chemung County Courthouse up close? Well, thanks to the folks over at Buildings and Grounds, I got that chance this week:

Hello!

This is one big, old bell. I knew that it would be from hearing its history, but it was pretty interesting to get to see its age and craftsmanship up close. The bell is functional, I found out; it's hooked up and everything. It's just that it doesn't get rung. Instead, this is responsible for the chimes heard daily:

It's the technological age, I suppose.

Walking up the tower was pretty routine, just normal stairs through a few small rooms and hallways....

Untiiiiiiiil I got to the ones right before the bell:

Ha, kidding. Those are the "Vertigo" stairs. These are the actual ones:

Not too tricky a climb, as it turned out. Well-worth getting to see what was at the top:

And the view :)

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

2011-06-23T13:21:00.000-07:00

On Tuesday, I attended my first Elmira Pioneers game. (And now that I've actually been to one, I feel like I can start calling them the "Pios" like everyone else.) They clocked the Amsterdam Mohawks, 5-0.

I think it does a community good to be home to this type of baseball. For one, it's a great opportunity to see some young up-and-comers play. I didn't realize before going that the Pios are part of the Perfect Game Collegiate League, so the players are from colleges around the country. These lads could be playing in the Majors someday...and you could say you saw them when.

The Perfect Game League also includes the Glens Falls Golden Eagles, Mohawk Valley Diamond Dawgs, Cooperstown Hawkeyes, Newark Pilots and Watertown Wizards.

Oh, and the Albany Dutchmen. Which I had to check out because my high school teams were also the Dutchmen, and I was wondering if these Dutchmen, too, were symbolized by a BOAT. But nope. Turns out Albany has what appears to be a pretty menacing looking Dutch man wielding a large bat instead.

More intimidating than a boat, for sure. But that was a pretty low bar.

Pios games also provide a good family-friendly place to hang out on summer evenings when you want to get out of the house (as someone sitting behind me put it, "it's just nice to come and sit and relax"). The stadium even has servers walking around with trays; they'll bring the concession stand offerings to you!

Plus, I think this type of baseball does a lot to foster a sense of community. There were announcements and prizes throughout the game featuring local businesses, like when it was announced that "love is in the air" and the Pios mascot, Stitches...

Stitches is pleased to meet you.

...walked around with a bouquet of flowers from Zeigler Florists until he chose a "lucky lady" to give them to. Or when busting out the best YMCA dance moves won some fans a pizza from Pudgies. Hometown fans know these places, and such promotions give out-of-town folks ideas of places they might like to visit, so I think there's a real feeling of connectivity and supportiveness there.

Of course, the flower thing was after Stitches had caught his breath from racing a youngster around the field.

Stitches took a little "tumble." And the kid blazed on to glory.

There were lots of these entertaining types of activities, with young fans dizzy-bat racing, or seeing which one could put on a Pios uniform the fastest. There was a nice crowd rendition of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" as well.

And throughout the game, if you had gotten a program and a certain page had been signed in it, you won a prize.

My program? A dud. But maybe next time.

There were also some enjoyable song snippets to accompany what was happening in the game, including lots of clap-along tuneage. My personal favorite was when a player from the other team kept getting the "Jaws" theme when he came up to bat, and if he was struck out, spectators were treated to beer and soda for $1.

Man...I love the "Jaws" theme.

All of this made going to a Pios game seem delightfully old school to me, all the way up to the seats at the tippy top:

Plus, you get the chance to experience historic Dunn Field, which can be found over on Southside near the Chemung River.

I had never been to Dunn Field, or known anything about it, even though I played softball here in college. But the field's been home to professional and collegiate teams since 1888.

The field went through a couple of reincarnations; the first two ball parks there were named the Maple Avenue Driving Park and then Recreation Park, but the latter burned down in 1938. Dunn Field, circa 1939, was named for Edward Joseph Dunn, a local businessman who donated the land to the City.

"If you build it, he will come."

Cool fact? On November 21, 1902, when the field was the Maple Avenue Driving Park, it was the site of the first EVER professional football game played at night under electric lights. The Philadelphia Athletics football team - part of the first NFL - whomped Elmira's Kanaweola Athletic Club, 39-0.

(In their defense, though, the Kanaweola Athletic Club was originally a bicycling club before trying to branch out into football.)

That day also happened to be a Friday, so...it's like we're pretty much the ultimate origin of the phrase "Friday Night Lights." :) Think of that the next time you watch a football game at night.

And think of spending some time at Dunn Field this summer, where the Pios are keeping the tradition of playing under the lights alive and well.

Elmira Pioneers

546 Luce Street, Elmira, NY 14904

(607) 734-2690, http://www.elmirapioneers.com/,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elmira-Pioneers/113573616677?sk=wall&filter=12

For Whom the Bell Tolls

2011-06-17T09:37:00.000-07:00

Did You Know?

Working next to the Chemung County Courthouse, there is a particular sound I hear regularly all day:

Curious about the origins of what must be a very old bell, I paid a visit to Chemung County Historian J. Arthur "Archie" Kieffer at the Chemung Valley History Museum.

This is quite a guy, by the way. He's a WWII veteran who started working for Buildings and Grounds back in 1966, has written four books about Chemung County, has been involved in the community throughout the years in ways far too numerous to mention, and at age 90 can still be found in the museum preserving and sharing its history.

He has his own day, folks. March 27th, his birthday, was recently proclaimed J. Arthur Kieffer Day in Chemung County.

Pretty cool.

So, the bell in question? It isn't actually ringing. Go look sometime; it's not movin' when you hear it "toll." From what I understand, the sound is computerized now, and songs are programmed in.

But the bell does, indeed, maintain a place of honor up there, in a belfry that was apparently long, long overdue for one.

Here's your Top Five Things to Know About The Courthouse Bell:

1. It's the old Elmira First Presbyterian Church bell. It was subscribed for by the Presbyterians in 1857, and cast by Jones and Hitchcock of Troy, NY. The whole thing was cast, tuned (in the key of G), delivered, hung and paid for within four months.

Speedy.

2. The original cost of the bell was $847.53. That included freight charges, as the bell traveled by canal to Canandaigua, where the Elmira Railroad picked it up.

Sort of makes you want to sing "15 Miles on the Erie Canal," doesn't it?

3. The bell weighs in at 2,200 pounds, including the clapper (which Archie describes to a bell novice like me as the "bing bing bing").

4. The courthouse, built in the 1860s, had never had a bell before this one. The bell was fitted to a new yoke (what holds it up) and then hung in the tower on July 4, 1976, as part of the local Bicentennial Celebration.

The bell had been in storage; the Bicentennial Commission, who had made securing a bell for the tower their top priority, expressed interest in it when the Presbyterian church's tower was to be torn down.

The bell had been "reconcecrated to freedom" by Rev. Lloyd Peterson, and was rung at noon on July 4th by seven descendents of the 19th century Elmirans who helped purchase it (contributors included William and John Arnot).

In short, a bell made it into the belfry...a century late. But made it, it did.

5. The bell doesn't actually belong to the county. It's on permanent loan from the church. The original agreement states that the bell is to remain in the custody of the county until return is requested, or the county wants to return it.

That church could totally take that bell back.

In listening to Archie speak about bells in general, I think there's a lot that probably gets overlooked in the day to day of hearing them. As he put it, "bells are the voices of the past," and a bell is "the conveyor of sound to the greatest distance; it's first to convey the sound of our sorrows and it conveys our joys, also."

Back in the day, people used to have jobs as bell ringers, and bells were sounded for just aaaaallll sorts of things (some of which are still prevalent reasons for ringing them today): the start and end of religious services, when a soul departed from a body, start of a new year, summoning court, ringing a curfew, calling meetings to order, police and fire emergencies, and, my personal favorite, for tax dealings.

Someday, I'd like to get up in the tower and see this piece o' history up close. Hopefully the climb's not Jimmy-Stewart-"Vertigo" style, though ;)

A Dragon Boat? Sign Me Up.

2011-06-10T09:49:00.000-07:00

I am terrible at golf. In high school, I took golf in gym class one time, and to this day I can't believe how horrifically bad I was at it.

However...I love putt-putt. I'm no Chevy Chase:

But give me a bunch of happy little greens with obstacles surrounded by fountains, and I'm good to go. If there's a theme, even better. And at Eldridge Park, the theme for its new mini-golf course is...the Victorian Era.

C'mon. Where else in the world are you gonna find a Victorian themed golf course? How do you pass that up?

This gate...it's from a castle in Belgium.

Plus, you can ponder a different bit of wisdom from our pal Twain at every hole. Because this course is actually two-for-one as far as themes go.

The course's other homage to Twain can be found in the form of a replica of his study.

(Ah, note to prospective putt-putters...do not choose your club color based on your ball color. Doesn't work that way. Different colors of clubs represent different heights. Choose a pretty blue one to go with your pretty blue golf ball, and you might end up attempting to swing a club that only reaches your calf. Just sayin'.)

I cannot look at this and not think of Keats' "Ode on a Grecian Urn." (Keats wrote about 1,009,245 "Ode" poems...yes, a slight exaggeration, but the man for sure liked his "Odes"). Except that this is, in fact (according to its plaque), an Italian urn.

I managed to conquer this little beast right here with a hole-in-one:

Hey, it's a lot trickier than it looks!

Thing of beauty.

In addition to all this themeage, you've even got a train roundin' about the course. Awaiting your turn? Hop aboard and go for a spin. I thought it was just for kids, but it's actually all-age friendly.

It's a mini-golf course with a railroad crossing.

And if you're looking for a ride of a larger variety, go check out the fantastically restored 1920s carousel.

You buy tickets for the carousel, putt-putt, and the boats. Putt-putt is the most expensive, at only $5, so it's all super affordable.

All of the carousel animals have a name, and many of them have sponsors.

But some? Some don't have sponsors :( And I bet they'd really like one. Carousel residents like:

"Adopt me!"

(Yeah, that's also pretty much what I imagine every available animal on the SPCA's website saying to me.)

Gruff is looking especially sad not to have a sponsor, if you ask me ;)

All of the animals are really intricate, distinct, and interesting to look at. Plus, this particular carousel has an additional bonus in that turns all of its riders into Gollum ;)

"My precious."

As far as Wikipedia is concerned, you can only try to grab a brass ring on sixteen other carousels in the entire country. And they were used, in part, to get people to sit on the outside row, where folks wouldn't always want to sit because those horses didn't move up and down.

Apparently the outside of the carousel is the fastest-moving (I wouldn't know because I took physiology to get out of taking physics in high school). But that would explain why I was too much of a wimp to try reaching for the ring once the ride picked up speed. In my defense, though, this carousel is really MOVIN'. It's an actual ride; it's not one of those carousels that sort of putter along.

My friend Josh, though? Rocked the ring grabbing. And now he gets to ride again for free.

I think my personal favorite Eldridge activity is taking a ride on Jasper II, the Dragon Boat:

What can I say? He won me over.

If you check out http://www.eldridgepark.us/, you'll find some interesting accounts of Eldridge Park memories. Which is where I learned that once upon a time, because this (manmade) lake was widely rumored to be "bottomless," it was kind of spooky for kids to be riding a dragon around on it. But I found the circular trek on Jasper, who roars and blows smoke, to be pretty fun and relaxing at the same time.

Jasper shares the water with some dragon paddle boats.

What I think are some very well-fed geese.

The park is open now from 5 to 9 p.m. Fridays, 12 to 9 p.m. Saturdays, and 12 to 8 p.m. Sundays (until June 29th, when it will also start being open on Wednesdays and Thursdays from 5 to 9 p.m.).

Be sure to stop by and see Jasper this summer...I think he likes visitors.

Eldridge Park, Elmira, NY

http://www.eldridgepark.us/carousel.html

Cake. In the Park. With Puppies.

2011-06-03T11:35:00.000-07:00

And that's only some of what I encountered during my first-ever visit to Wisner Market, which runs every Thursday (through September 22nd) from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Wisner Park.

If you'd asked me in the past if I thought Elmira had any sort of farmers' market going on, I might have said that I didn't think it was the type of place you'd find that sort of thing? Au contraire. (Yeah, I'm out to dazzle you all with my foreign language skills in this post. Read on for another stunning foray into a romantic language.) This event is actually celebrating its 15th anniversary this year.

Music by the versatile Pat Kane, who went from Irish tunes to Elton John's "Your Song."

I've driven by Wisner Park a billion times, but never spent any time there, and it's really quite nice with all of the huge trees and the church and the monuments. (I hadn't known what the monuments were for, even, until I got a closer look yesterday; many of them honor Chemung County residents who fought and died in wars.)

In exploring the tents, you can find all sorts of goods. And in the coming weeks, even more vendors are expected, including additional arts and crafts as well as produce:

That's CHOCOLATE shoo-fly pie over on the right. Who knew?

Too-pretty-to-eat-pies, and some peanut butter buns.

An informational tent on River Fest, which is being held tomorrow.

Hold the phone, though. A mammoth is the mascot for River Fest?

Sure is. And because I brake for one-tusked mammoths paddling in a canoe, I hopped on over to the Chemung Valley History Museum to find out what this is all about.

Turns out that the name "Chemung" comes from when the Lenilenape Tribe of the Algonquin Indians discovered the big horn of a mammoth here in 1757. In their language, "Chemung" means "place of the horn."
So I'm assuming this mammoth's missing tusk is symbolic of the big horn they found here. Huh.

Go to Wisner Market, and apparently you learn stuff.

This is excellent, because the plants are clearly grouped by how you need to take care of them.

"Sun Lovers." "Shade Lovers." I've killed four cactuses. I need this type of guidance.

What's also great about Wisner Market is that it provides folks with place to meet and enjoy lunch provided by a number of food vendors.

The Hill Top Inn's taco salad.

Global Gourmet.

Tamale.

We'll call this "The Before Picture."

"The After Picture." That's butter, parmesan cheese and cayenne pepper.

I had a taco, and it was delicious. AND only $2.00.

Express Café was also offering chicken salad and wasabi tuna sandwiches.

And for dessert, Express Café and Bakery made a cake specifically for the market's opening day:

Or you could try some of Global Gourmet's tres leches (Spanish for "three milks" :) cake:

You even pour milk over the top of it.

If you're just looking to snack, there's Italian Ice, carnival-type fare (funnel cake, fried dough or Oreos, pretzels, nachos, fries), and a popcorn vendor as well.

Actually, the popcorn vendor threw me off, because in walking to the park, I had passed by this:

Missing: One red truck.

I didn't know that it was a popcorn truck, or that it actually gets rolled out of there for use.

Apparently, this fella named Frank Romeo, a World War I veteran known for making the "best popcorn in town," started a popcorn business in 1922 with a pushcart. Then he started using this Chevrolet truck from 1930 to 1971. That's a whole lotta years in the popcorn-making business.

I wasn't aware that a Popcorn Truck Preservation Society existed, but it does, and it played a big role in the restoration and preservation of this one. (It's an interesting story that you can find on the side of the truck's enclosure.)

And while sampling the food, you can also enjoy things like an array of cuter-than-heck puppies.

For cryin' out loud. Try and be a little cuter next time. ;)

After stopping by, I was happy to know that this is going to be in full swing for the next few months, and that there will be plenty of opportunities to go visit again.

Elmira Downtown Development, 400 E. Church Street, Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 734-0341, http://www.elmiradowntown.com/,

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elmira-Downtown-Development-Inc/87812274123

The Wheels on the Bus

2011-05-27T13:15:00.000-07:00

Hold on to your seats, because I'm about to impart my Top 10 Reasons Why Hopping Aboard Chemung County Transit is a Great Idea.

Buses may not seem glamorous, but they're actually pretty awesome, and in a multitude of ways. Just ask Keanu ;)

I almost don't feel as if I need to say more than that in regards to the awesomeness of buses (or awesomely bad acting?). But I will.

I had never been to the Chemung County Transportation Center before, but since that's where you can get the lowdown on all of the available routes, I started there. (You can also very handily find the schedules online at http://www.chemungtransit.com/.)

I decided, at random, to take the Southtown, Elmira-Corning, Shopper Shuttle and Mall Express routes. And these were some of the many enjoyable aspects of my public transportation quest:

1. Unexpectedly enough...blasts from video games past. How pleasantly surprised was I to see this baby helping populate a game room in the Transit Center?

I haven't seen a "Game Over" screen like that since the late eighties. Nostalgic.

It reminded me of many a childhood hour spent trying to beat my little brother at Nintendo. And if you're waiting for a bus, it's always nice to have something to do.

2. Saving money. Gas prices are nuts. Opting for the bus, even if it's every once in awhile, gives you the opportunity to use funds you'd normally be spending on a tank of gas on something else.

For the vast majority of routes, you only pay $1.25 to ride. $1.25! And it's only .50 cents if you're a senior citizen (plus, you'd ride free on Mondays). Use the bus enough, and the amount you save will quickly add up. I was already feeling more cost-efficient.

Also, if you're taking to the skies and want to avoid airport parking costs, the Elmira-Corning bus that I rode includes the airport in its service area.

3. Exercise. I walked to the Transit Center, and a little throughout the afternoon to get to and from bus stops. It's a good way to get some extra steps in each day. And if you like to bike, you can easily leave your bike right at the Transit Center.

Bikes are trying to sneak their way back into another blog entry ;)

Plus, all of this increased healthiness for you is also healthier for the environment.

4. Route selection. You can get anywhere you'd want to go locally. The routes hit up plazas, schools, apartments, business districts, grocery stores, hospitals, fairgrounds, the Eldridge Park walking path, industries, service providers, museums, government buildings...it's extremely comprehensive, and you can also ask for route deviation and on-request stop service if need be.

LIFE IS A HIGHWAY. (Sorry...I can never help myself when it comes to that song.)

Powering on up the hill to Corning Community College.

Chemung County Transit also ventures out of the county (heck, it even ventures out of STATE, as you can hop a route to Sayre, Pa.) in the name of serving people who live or need to get here. Want to take a day trip to Ithaca? There's a bus for that, too.

5. Sense of community. I was pretty floored by how many of my fellow passengers knew each other by name, were happy to chat and catch up with each other, and knew where folks would be getting on or needed to be dropped off. At one stop, a woman who had gotten up out of a wheelchair was carefully boarding, and other passengers immediately greeted and helped her to a seat.

I mean, the bus obviously provides people with a mode of transportation, but it's also providing many of them with a valuable social component and support system as well.

You really do get to encounter people from all walks of life riding the bus. And I heard ALL sorts of conversations, ranging from the friendly to the routine to the humorously bizarre. You get to meet people you might never have otherwise. I think it all just makes your day a little more interesting.

6. Friendly drivers. I was regularly greeted when I got both on and off the buses. Plus, this is the only bus service I've ever been on where if the driver thought we were going to be even a few seconds past scheduled arrival time, he or she would radio ahead to other buses to have them wait a few moments so that their passengers were sure to make their connection, which is quite considerate.

7. Time to ponder. I find buses to be good places to sort of sit back and reflect on life. Color me crazy, I just do. Riding along instead of having to concentrate on driving gives you time to collect your thoughts. Or make a grocery list. Whatever suits your fancy.

8. Two words. Shopper. Shuttle. This was my personal favorite. And not just because it's free (though that didn't hurt!).

Last weekend, I had a bunch of errands to run over in Horseheads. I drove to the mall, then drove to one of the shopping plazas, then drove to another one of the plazas, and then drove to ANOTHER one of the plazas. Had I known that this shuttle existed, I would have saved myself some trouble. It runs between all of the plazas and the mall every half-hour, so it's a great option if you have a little or a bunch of shopping to do.

At the mall and want to know when the next bus is passing through?

Just in case all this bus riding has you working up an appetite.

9. A chance to explore some local regions that you otherwise might not go to. I had never really seen the part of Big Flats that the Elmira-Corning bus passes through, with Minier's. And I haven't spent much time over on Southside, either, so riding the Southtown route gave me the chance to see more of what's over the bridge.

There were some shops, parks and restaurants that I hadn't heard about and thought would be good to check out sometime, plus this route hits Notre Dame High School and Southside High School, and I hadn't known exactly where they were before, either. It's definitely a good way to get to know the area if you're a newcomer like me.

Southside is home to its own homage to the Mark Twain Study.

10. Trolleys! Chemung County Transit also keeps those running smoothly, and checking out a guided tour is definitely on my summer to-do list. (On Tuesdays through Saturdays, July 1st through August 31st, trolleys depart on the hour from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. from the Holiday Inn Riverview.)

So next time you have to get going somewhere, consider hopping aboard. You just might find that you enjoy all the benefits.

Chemung County Transit

Business Office - First Transit, 1201 Clemens Center Parkway

Elmira, NY 14901

(607) 734-5211, www.chemungtransit.com

Night at the Museum

2011-05-19T13:25:00.000-07:00

There's this book I read when I was a kid called "From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler." It's by E.L. Konigsburg and was published in 1967, and it's about two kids who run away from home to live in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. If you haven't encountered it before, it's a great read about how they manage to go undetected in the museum and get wrapped up in a mystery involving a Michelangelo statue.

If those kids had been from this area, however, I imagine that they might have trekked up Harris Hill to live in the National Soaring Museum. Judging by the night I recently spent there, they definitely would have had a fun stay. (Plus, they wouldn't have had to worry about food. That's for sure :)

I took part in the overnight program that the museum offers for kids so that they can learn about soaring. Lots of Scouts take part in this, as it helps them earn requirements toward badges, but it's open to all sorts of youth groups.

Not gonna lie, when I chose a night to stay over, I was kinda rooting that I'd be staying with...not all boys? And then the Powers That Be smiled down upon me and granted me...Girl Scouts. It was amazing.

Checking out a Harris Hill diorama.

The night starts with a tour, during which I enjoyed getting to examine the gliders and exhibits up close. There are all kinds of awesome moments in soaring history on display that'll really make you appreciate the innovation and progression that went into getting us off the ground:

These next three represent my personal museum favorites. The oldest glider in the collection, and then a piece of cloth from the wing of the Wright Brothers' 1903 glider (which they used for their historic first flight). There are only two places in the WORLD where you can find this cloth, the other being the Smithsonian.

Rockin' since 1928.

Behold a wing rib. Which we would shortly be building.

The Albatross. 1930s National Champ.

Airmail :)

That issue of Life featuring a war glider is from 1942, when it was 10 cents a copy and $4.50 for a yearly subscription.

Eileen Collins memorabilia.

After the tour, it's wing-rib buildin' time. Let me just say for the record...I'm pretty terrible at all things construction-related. I've got this truly tragic little wooden box I made in an eighth grade technology class to prove it. These Scouts, though? Like ducks to water in the shop. Ducks. To. Water.

I helped hold their wing ribs steady so that they could hammer, and supplied them with paper towels. It was the closest to being a Girl Scout that I'll ever get.

Impressive, no?

The overnight also includes trying out gliding and landing in flight simulators:

I was looking pretty good at this point in the landing. So I'll just leave it at that.

Then everybody hunkers down for the night...it was fun to be sleeping amongst all of those huge gliders and all that history. Easily the winner of the Most Unique Place I've Ever Slept Award.

Air mattresses are a wonderful thing.

I have to pause here for a moment to comment on the menu while you're staying at the museum, because when Norm Smith, the operations and education director, said that everybody would be "well-fed," he really wasn't kidding.

He's been doing this overnight program for years, and believe me when I tell you, in addition to all of his soaring expertise and how well he engages the kids, he's also got some finely-honed food preparation magic going on here. It'll blow you away how fast everything gets rolled out and then rolled back in.

A snack break during the wing-rib building process included nachos, mini corn dogs, mozzarella sticks and even some awesome, homemade "famous in Rochester" cookies sent along from Norm's mom. There were late-night ice cream sundaes:

Looks pretty professional, right? My first summer job was at Friendly's.

And the breakfast spread?

Regular AND blueberry.

After breakfast, there was paper airplane instruction, which resulted in the best paper airplanes I've ever made in my life. (Because, you know, they actually flew instead of nose-diving to the ground.) The Scouts then went to town with contests to see whose flew the farthest, and proceeded to try and drop their paper helicopters down into pots.

The morning wrapped up with a trip to the Glider Hangar, where the Scouts were able to climb in and out of glider cockpits to their hearts' content.

And because I don't think a trip to Harris Hill is complete without taking a few minutes to appreciate the view, I went down the road to do just that:

This is also a fantastic time to visit the museum because an exhibit from the Smithsonian is currently on display. It's called "In Plane View: Abstractions of Flight." The exhibit is made up of 56 photographs by Carolyn Russo that focus on the aesthetic quality of some of the National Air and Space Museum's aircraft.

I got to sneak a peek on the overnight, and I'm excited to check it out. The exhibit is running through August 5th.

So if you have the opportunity to go see what makes Harris Hill the Soaring Capital of America, definitely don't pass it up! You can explore the museum, go for a ride, or just hang out and watch the gliders in action.

Despite the fact that I'm a bit claustrophic AND have a fear of flying...I might have even inched closer to giving a glider ride a try :)

The National Soaring Museum, Harris Hill, 51 Soaring Hill Drive

Elmira, NY 14903, (607) 734-3128

www.soaringmuseum.org

Just Like Riding a Bike

2011-05-13T12:52:00.000-07:00

This week, I decided to determine just how much truth there is to the age-old saying, "It's just like riding a bike." And I mean put it to the test in the most literal way possible, because prior to this week, I hadn't been on a bike in probably ten to fifteen years. And my plan was to ride one.

This undertaking was inspired by hearing that Elmira's Painted Lady, a local bed and breakfast, is loaning out free bikes (with helmets) for adults and kids, an opportunity that isn't limited to guests. Anybody can take one out to enjoy the beautiful weather we've been having lately, explore different facets of Elmira, and get some exercise all at the same time.

By the way, should you stop by The Painted Lady to take advantage of this program, make sure you take a peek inside. It's a beautiful place to stay or recommend to friends or family coming into town, and Butch and Marilyn Monroe make their guests feel right at home:

I love the tree out front.

Check out the original stained glass windows.

The bikes are kept in a shed of their own out in back, all of which was provided by the Southern Tier Bike Association; you just have to ask for permission to take one out:

I was the very first person to sign a bike out!

Before I got on, though, I couldn't help but do a mental calculation. Statistical analysis and I don't tend to make nice, generally speaking, but I wasn't sure how I felt about my chances of not taking a header. I did shun the Bike Gods for an awfully long time. Plus, my problem-solving-on-wheels skills aren't exactly what I'd call up to par (I can't stop on rollerblades, folks. I've been running myself into the grass for years. Years.).

But let me tell you...that saying about riding a bike? True. It all came back to me once I got on. At which point, I was able to enjoy a ride around the Near Westside Historic District, where you can appreciate the unique architecture of the houses up close, as well as all of the trees in bloom.

Apparently, while I was coasting around on all of the sidewalks so proud of myself for not falling off, I was also...committing a criminal offense. Turns out that it's illegal to bike on the sidewalks in Elmira. Which, man, had I known that at the time, I would have sung what surely would have been a stirring rendition of Styx's "Renegade" as I pedaled along. Alas. It was not to be.

I think I'll call her Bessie.

When I thought about it, though, taking to the streets is the smoother option because some of the sidewalk panels tend to jut upward. The Painted Lady has handy pamphlets on bicycle safety that teach you how to safely share the road with cars, but there are also plenty of places to ride that are low-traffic, plus plenty of crosswalks to utilize.

Another place I'd heard about for biking is on the paths down by the Chemung River, which I decided to attempt even though I was about 88.39% sure that I wasn't quite prepared for off-roading.

(Plus, I'd taken out a different bike this time, one that turned out to bear the name "Mt. Fury Roadmaster." Come on. Mt. FURY? RoadMASTER? That's setting the ol' bar kind of high, right?)

Jim Pfiffer of Friends of the Chemung River Watershed was kind enough to show me several user-friendly places to bike, though, starting with traversing the tops of the levees, where there is a path so worn that it's an easygoing, pretty ride.

It's also an intriguing ride if you're interested in history. Check out the information available in front of the nearby Elmira Water Board building on the Civil War prison camp, because you can ride where it used to be. Also, on the trails in the woods, you can see several remnants of historical cottages that people used to reside in close to the water.

My favorite part of riding by the river was getting to bike in places that were both close to the water and next to these meadows. The trails here weren't even purposefully created; they were simply made by people wearing them in.

There are also several trail options within the woods to explore. And if there happened to be a particular spot that looked a little beyond my riding level, I just hopped off and walked the bike over it. No biggie.

There are all sorts of places to stop and admire the view of the water, or to fish. Jim also mentioned the possibility of, only when the water is way down and safely shallow, putting lawn chairs out and sitting in the river.

The Town of Elmira's Boat Launch.

Riding like the wind.

Lots of people have to trek to be able to find places like this, where you can get out into nature. In Elmira, though, all of this is conveniently right next to civilization, which makes its residents pretty lucky. And it's just as quiet as if you'd driven far away somewhere.

Plus, all of this is FREE. Just sayin'. Because I love free stuff.

Beginning in July, The Christmas House, located at 361 Maple Avenue, will also be participating in this program, which is great because depending on where you're interested in riding, you'll have two options in completely different parts of town.

Borrow a bike! Turns out I was glad that I did :)

Elmira's Painted Lady, 520 West Water Street, Elmira, NY 14905,
(607) 846-3500, www.elmiraspaintedlady.com,
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Elmiras-Painted-Lady-Bed-and-Breakfast/119445837017

Friends of the Chemung River Watershed, 111 N. Main Street, Elmira, NY 14901, (607) 846-2242, www.chemungriverfriends.org, http://www.facebook.com/ChemungRiver