October 2016

On October 12th, 2006, the Buffalo area was hit by a very dramatic snowstorm. At about noon, wet, heavy snow began falling. After a few hours, the snowfall had become quite substantial. Because it was still early autumn, the leaves were still on the trees. In fact, most of them were green. Before long, limbs […]

Note: This is part two of my story about the farmers’ market at Kelly’s Country Store, held this past weekend. On the grounds of Kelly’s Country Store is an old one-room schoolhouse, which was, during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, a functional school. I had, until Sunday, never been inside the school. On Sunday, I had

Kelly’s Country Store is a family-owned business in Grand Island, New York. It opened in 1962 and it has become a destination for many visitors to Grand Island. They sell a large selection of candies from old fashioned jars, as well as many varieties of chocolates. The candies include licorice, peach stones, root beer barrels,

Today’s post is about the adventures that I had in learning to drive a car. Although I love traveling on foot, I realize that, at times, that method of transportation is too slow to be practical. Also, in the winter, I am sometimes risking hypothermia just to get in a good walk. A few years

This is the emerald ash borer.  The emerald ash borer’s home is in eastern Asia. It is native to northern China, Korea, eastern Russia, and Japan. In its natural habitat, the emerald ash borer is not a threat. Asian ash trees are resistant to the insect. In addition, because, in eastern Asia, there are numerous

Note: Yesterday evening, author Timothy Bohen was the featured speaker at the monthly meeting of the Grand Island Historical Society. His presentation was about Buffalo’s Old First Ward. He told the story of this Buffalo neighborhood, beginning in the 1830s. Tim said that his desire to learn more about the history of his family motivated

Note:  Today’s blog post is an interview with Mighty Mouth, the Republican candidate for president, and Midas Mouth, the Democratic candidate for president. The last time that I interviewed them was on April 14th. Since then, they have gone on to win their parties’ nominations. Since the presidential election is coming up in a month,

Yesterday, I went to a presentation on the emerald ash borer. The presentation was divided into two parts. The first part was the “hands-on” part, which took place outside, near the Grand Island Town Hall parking lot. There were several people who served as group leaders, and the participants chose which group they wanted to

Note: Today’s blog post is about one of the joys of autumn. Pumpkins symbolize autumn, so I thought that I would share pictures and poems about pumpkins. The pumpkin is a type of winter squash, and its origins are in North America. Pumpkins can be grown in every continent but Antarctica but that’s OK because penguins