Posted by: David Giacalone | November 13, 2011

the Stockade welcomes Stockade-athon 2011

 . . . This posting has over 50 images of the 2011 Gazette Stockade-athon as the race passed through our historic Stockade neighborhood on a sunny autumn Sunday.   The top winners are listed after the slideshow.  [The Gazette has the complete list of the record 1603 finishers at page C5 of Monday’s newspaper; online here.] Those who like people-watching or are hoping to see their own faces can find 60 more photos in our post “more faces from Stockade-athon 2011“.

– lovely day for a run through the Stockade –

– to share this posting use tinyURL.com/Stockade-athon2011 ; go here and here for our 2010 Stockade-athon photos, and there for images from the 2009 race.

 – You are welcome to use any image for noncommercial purposes.  If used online, please feel free to attribute it to suns along the Mohawk.

 The slideshow below begins with two dozen photos taken of the lead runners near Lawrence Circle, the half-way point of the 15K race — where the runners broke into bright sunshine from the shelter of tree-lined Front St.  A couple dozen more photos show runners, officials and spectators in shots that caught my eye.  If you’d like your image identified by name please leave me a comment describing the picture in question.  Apologies to all those runners who I was not quick enough to capture while you visited the Stockade.

– below is a Gallery with the same photos; you can click on a Gallery image for a larger version or scroll over it for a description –

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Winners (11:36 update): The Schenectady Gazette, sponsor of the Stockade-athon has listed the top winners in today’s race, and will have a complete list with photos and features Monday.

1st Place: Tim Chichester of Brockport (in 46:58); Tim came in second last year, and was the first runner to reach the Lawrence Circle halfway point this year and last year.  update (April 16, 2012): Chichester placed 11th today in the Boston Marathon. The 23-year-old native of Mt. Morris NY was the 2nd-fastest American in only his 2nd marathon. See Rochester Democrat & Chronicle and The Livingston County News.

2nd Place: Kieran O’Connor of New York; 3rd Place: Mark Andrews of Rochester.

1st Place, Women’s Division: Jodie Robertson of Voorheesville (in 54:47);

2nd Place, Women’s Division: Ashley Gore of Albany; 3rd Place, Sara Facteau of Plattsburgh.

 You can click on any photo in the following Gallery for a larger version and scroll over it for a description.

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Posted in Stockade Views, Stockade-athon

Posted by: David Giacalone | November 13, 2011

more faces from Stockade-athon 2011

  This posting is for Stockade-athon participants and fans who enjoy faces and people-watching.  The slideshow has over sixty photos taken this morning while the runners passed through the Stockade neighborhood.  Many emotions can be seen on the faces of runners of all ages brave enough to tackle 15K through our hilly city.

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The slideshow photos can be seen in the following Gallery.  Click on an image for a larger version.

You are welcome to use any image for noncommercial purposes.  If used online, please feel free to attribute it to suns along the Mohawk.  There are 50 more photos in our post “the Stockade welcomes Stockade-athon 2011“, which shows many of the leaders as they reached Lawrence the Indian at the half-way point of the race, along with candid shots of scores of other participants.

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Posted in Stockade Views, Stockade-athon

Posted by: David Giacalone | November 11, 2011

a few of my favorite Stockade-athon photos (2009 & 2010)

– full original photo here –

Over the past two years, I’ve posted well over 100 photos of the Stockade-athon race as it passes through the Stockade neighborhood. [See, here and here for 2010, and there for 2009. And here for 2011]  As my version of training and race preparation — in addition to planning on that proverbial pre-race pasta meal tomorrow — I’ve selected and posted here a dozen of my favorite Stockade-athon images, starting with one that is a nice fit with Veterans Day.

– click on a photo for a larger version; scroll over it for a description –

 

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– fascinating faces (click to see more) –

– the above photo was clicked on more than any other last year –

 . . .

 – repeat contestant heading up Front St. to N. Church St. in 2009 (top) and 2010 –

 – update: and again in 2011 –

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– I’m hoping for more sunlight filtering through colorful leaves this year –

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 . . . Arthur and Miles cheer on the 2010 Stockade-athon runners passing Cucumber Alley at Washington Ave.

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– finally, the lead and rear escort cars in the 2010 Stockade-athon –

If the creek/river don’t rise, I’ll be out taking more pictures Sunday, November 13, for Stockade-athon 2011. I hope to see you there and then back here for a photo array featuring the 2011 Gazette Stockade-athon.

– use the URL http://tinyurl.com/StockadeathonFaves to share this posting –

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Posted in Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | October 20, 2011

Stockade Home Market is coming soon [update: is open; then, gone]

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 – the venerable Arthur’s Market sign was replaced today (Oct. 20) with a handsome new one for the Stockade Home Market at the Lawrence Circle and Polachek Square –

(update: Oct. 24, 2011): they’re open for business . .

Sunshine replaced pouring rain this morning just as the new Stockade Home Market sign was hung outside the former Arthur’s Market, across from Lawrence the Indian.  A lot of us have been waiting a long time, it seems, for a new market to open at 35 N. Ferry St. in the Schenectady Stockade — the location that has been a market and community gathering place almost continuously since 1795. [click for the Google Map page]

  . . .

– while Guiseppe of the Sign Studio in Troy was putting up the new sign, Maein was helping workmen prepare store fixtures –

  Maein Nagi, the friendly young manager of the new market, is working hard to put all the facets of a modern market and convenience store in place in time to have his Grand Opening on Monday morning, October 24, 2011. Thanks to an interview yesterday with Maein by the tireless Stockade Spy editor Sylvie Briber, I learned that Maein came to America from Yemen 8 years ago, and has five years’ experience with grocery and deli stores.  He plans to open the market daily from 6 AM to 9 PM.

As you can see from the photos in the following Slideshow (repeated in the Gallery below, where you can click on an image for a larger version, or scroll over it for a description), the Stockade Home Market will have fresh fruit and vegetables, a coffee bar, a deli counter and grill, lots of cold beverages (no beer), an ATM machine, snacks, and a nice supply of groceries.  Maein has already placed a large envelope at the fruitstand that he hopes visitors will use to give him requests and comments to make the store better, and he told me he’s looking for someone to hire to make homemade soup, sandwiches, etc.  Sylvie will have more details in the November Spy. As I learn more about the store and its services, I will update this posting.

update (Oct. 25, 2011): The Gazette gave the market’s opening a nice spread in today’s newspaper.  (Kathleen Moore, “Reopened Stockade market sells basics,” online by subscription).

 . . .

– deli counter & fresh produce stand –

follow-up (Friday, October 28, 2011): My visit this afternoon to the Market found an optimistic and grateful Maein, plus a well-filled deli-counter and fresh fruit and vegetable stand.  Click to see the fresh produce price list, the list of subs and coldcuts, and a portion of the deli display.  I even got to have a cup of coffee ($1.00!) and a muffin with Sylvie, who brought over the November Spy, which features the new Market on the front page.

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  I send Maein my best wishes and hope to see him often and for many years at a spot that becomes a new Stockade tradition — a focal point for neighbors to meet and a convenient source of necessities, staples, treats, and community cheer.

. . . You can share this posting using this short URL:

http://tinyurl.com/StockadeHomeMarket

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 . . The above photos can be seen in the following Gallery.

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Posted in Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | October 3, 2011

an embarrasment of banners

– too much of a good thing? 

 . . .

– four of the new “Welcome to Stockade Historic District” banners on S. Church St., seen heading out of the Stockade toward State St. –

– Click on a photo for a larger version –

– 2 of the 3 banners placed on the south side of the short first block of Union St. looking east toward Church St. –

  . . . If you’ve driven or walked up Union or S. Church Streets lately, you’ve surely seen our banner crop of handsome Welcome to the Stockade banners.  With apologies to those who worked on and funded this project in an effort to improve the neighborhood, I feel compelled to say: there are far too many of them.

How many banners?   Thirty-one in total, I am told, located solely on Union St. and S. Church St., corresponding with the geographic jurisdiction of the Downtown Schenectady Improvement Corporation [“DSIC”], which funded the project.  Every lamppost on Union St. from Erie Blvd. to Washington Avenue has a banner, and so do several other Union St. utility poles. Every lamppost on S. Church also has a Welcome Banner.  The block of Union St. from N. Ferry to College St. has a dozen or more Welcome banners, and there are two more at Union and Erie Blvd.   Even with the leaves still on our trees, there are many spots from which 4 or 6 or more of the banners are visible when looking in a single direction.  There are simply too many banners.

 . . .

– 6 or more banners can be seen from midblock on Union St., looking east toward College St. –

The Stockade is not a downtown commercial district, much less an amusement park, used car lot, or ongoing festival or special event.   It is a functioning, historic residential neighborhood, filled with people who love its historic charm and protected streetscape.   Although the banners have a good-looking design, the overabundance of banners is exactly the kind of visual clutter our neighborhood association should be vigorously fighting.  Instead, the Stockade Association has been working with DSIC to have the banners designed, made and installed — using DSIC “beautification” funds.

. . .  It does indeed make sense to have a welcome banner at the various entryways to the Historic District, aimed at both intentional visitors to the district, and accidental or inadvertent visitors or through-farers.  But, it’s rather difficult for me to fathom why anyone would want these banners on virtually every lamppost of our high-traffic blocks once you’ve entered the Stockade — unless, perhaps, you truly believe the banners do “beautify” our neighborhood; or, with a bit of irony, that they might help remind some scofflaw homeowners this is indeed a specially-protected historic district.  And, what will the banners look like after they’ve been through a couple years of our weather extremes?

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Posted in opinion-advocacy, Stockade Views

Posted by: David Giacalone | September 28, 2011

a special sunset after the Walkabout

While sorting through my Walkabout 2011 photos Saturday evening (see “walking into history,” September 24, 2011), I glanced out my bay window to see some promising sunset colors reflected in the Eastern sky.  Since I’ve been neglectful of Stockade sunsets this year, I took my camera outside for the fourth or fifth time that day.  A fiery tree on the riverbank in our backyard first grabbed my attention, and then the entire western sky and its reflection in the Mohawk.

The photos in this webpost were taken from the sidewalk between 10 and 16 Washington Ave., near Cucumber Alley, and from the rear of 16 Washington Avenue, near Cucumber Alley.  I only took 6 pictures, and liked 5 of them enough to share here.  The colors have not been intensified.  It was a very special ending to a historic Walkabout kind of day.

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– as always, click on a photo for a larger version –

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Posted by: David Giacalone | September 25, 2011

walking into history

 . . .

– doff & curtsy for a classy Stockade Walkabout –

. .    . . September 24, 2011

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  The 52nd Annual Stockade Walkabout offered “A Walk Through History 1661-1795” as a way to celebrate the 350 years of Schenectady’s evolution from a Dutch colonial village to an American City.  I didn’t make it to every Tour or History Stop, church, or watering hole [see the Map], but I took quite a few photos, and you can see the ones I like the most in the Slideshow below.  As always, I apologize for not knowing everyone’s name.

Sincere thanks goes out to all of the people who worked hard on this special Stockade event — including organizers, directors, actors, storytellers, musicians, volunteers — and to the sponsors who helped make it happen.

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 . . .

– click to see a list of Walkabout sponsors & partners (L) and the Map of Tour & History Stops –

– for more Walkabout fever, see “Walkabout 2010 shines” and check out our connection to WMHT’s Our Town Schenectady–

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 You’ll find almost all of the pictures above in the following Gallery.  Click on an image for a larger version.

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Posted by: David Giacalone | September 22, 2011

foggy doggy morning

 . . . Heavy fog had me rushing out the door with my camera yesterday a little after 7 AM.    As far as I can tell, catching the fog at just the right stage to make interesting photos is a matter of luck and patience; I had more of the former than the later yesterday.  My first stroll in the neighborhood found Lawrence the Indian already clear-headed.  So, I hurried down to Riverside Park, where the Mohawk River was still totally-obscured, with the Park itself being revealed eerily as the fog lifted.

  . .

As has happened before (see this photo and that one from a webpost exactly two years ago today), the playlot critters and structures helped me show just how “disappeared” the River was around 7:30 AM.  Only a few neighbors, including two dog-walkers, got to view the fog curtain over the Mohawk while I was there, so I’m sharing a few shots with you here at suns along the Mohawk..

 When I returned around 8:30, after enjoying a a second mug of coffee, I was a bit late, and the River had only a slight mist over it, leaving little to work with for creating photographic magic.

In this Slideshow, there are a dozen images from my foggy photo-shoot on the penultimate day of summer.   I’ve put the same photos in a Gallery at the bottom of this posting; scroll over any image in the Gallery for a description, and double-click on it for a (more revealing) larger version.

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  . . . 

– compare the view of the River and slide on Sept. 8, after tropical storm Lee (L), and Sept. 21, 2011 –

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Posted in river seasons, Stockade Views

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