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. . . Three Stockade families with pre-schoolers and toddlers got together on Thursday at Central Park for tennis lessons, a picnic, and kids’ music at Music Haven (with Ruth Pelham), and I tagged along. After a bit of extreme bocce on a hillside, I took a break from sampling the pot luck meal to snap a few pictures, aided by some great sunlight angles. Click on the collages or the above photos for a larger version.
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Posted in visits elsewhere
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. . . picnic traditions . . . 
Severe thunderstorms came early enough today to leave a gorgeous, sunny, mild evening in Riverside Park for the 2011 Stockade Neighborhood Picnic. The picnic was again “happily sponsored by the Stockade Neighborhood Watch with assistance from the Stockade Association”. Many thanks to Beverly, Linda, Carol, Mary and everyone else who organized and labored on this neighborly event, and to all who contributed and attended. And, thanks to the mosquitoes for staying home.
. . I got there too late to see the dinner crowd (and share a hotdog with Devin), but not too late to catch neighbors playing, schmoozing, and snoozing in pre-sunset lights and shadows. The slideshow gives you a small taste of the event. If anyone wants a larger version of any of the pictures, let me know.
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.. share this post: http://tinyurl.com/stockadepicnic2011 .. 
Posted in river seasons, Stockade Views
It was a lovely night and an enjoyable show over Scotia and the Mohawk. Thanks to the folks at Jumpin’ Jack’s and the other sponsors.
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– the slideshow was shot from the end of Cucumber Alley, across from the Isle of the Cayugas – in the Schenectady Stockade; each photo is also presented in the Gallery at the bottom of this posting and you can click on a Gallery photo for a larger version –
– update: Click here for our coverage of the 2012 fireworks –
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. here are some of my favorite bursts and blossoms (click on it for a lager version):
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. . . . . . You can use this URL to share this posting: 
http://tinyurl.com/2011JJFireworks
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Click on any photo in the Gallery below for a larger version. You may use any photo for a noncommercial purpose.
Posted in Fireworks (JJ & Casino), river seasons, Stockade Views
Yesterday’s article and interview in the Sunday Gazette reminded me that the past two years I have visited Schenectady’s much-honored Central Park Rose Garden past its peak weeks, which are thought to be mid-June to early July. So, this morning I grabbed my camera and headed [or, as Carl Strock likes to say, “hied“] over to the Wright Avenue gateway of Central Park for a brief visit. I found a crew tending the flowers and a few other strollers in the garden.
– click on a photo for a larger version –
The Gazette interviewed Matt Cuevas, president of the Rose Garden Restoration Committee, for yesterday’s piece. My continuing thanks goes out to the Committee for all of its hard work and fund-raising efforts to make the Rose Garden a special part of Schenectady.
My only gripe after visiting today: The little signs identifying each grouping of roses were not in evidence today. They are sorely needed by we who are florally-and-botanically- challenged.
I hope this short slideshow will encourage you to take the short trip (less than three miles from the Stockade) and see for yourselves.
– former entryway sign (July 31, 2010) –
Last year’s posting here at suns along the Mohawk, “July ends gracefully at the Rose Garden” (August 1, 2010), and the 2009 version, “rose garden escape” (Aug. 4, 2009), have many more photos of the Central Park Rose Garden, and demonstrate that — like other forms of beauty — the Garden is lovely and inspiring even past its prime.
– here are a few more images captured on June 20, 2011 –
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– click to see the bee (L) –
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– if you go, don’t forget the Rules of Etiquette:
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– click above to see the “Strictly Enforced” Rules/Guidelines –
Posted in visits elsewhere | Tags: Central Park Schenectady, Schenectady Rose Garden
– clouds over Scotia, seen from the end of Schenectady’s Washington Avenue (May 21, 2011) –
We’ve had a lot of cloudy days this Spring in Schenectady and all of upstate New York. Nonetheless, cloud formations with contrasting grayscale shades, cloud reflections on the river, and flowers in muted light on overcast days, have made for lovely views along the Mohawk in Riverside Park.
– click on a photo for a larger version –
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– clouds filled the sky and the river –
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– the petunias have been looking good at the west end of Riverside Park –
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– above: grayscale glory over Isle of the Cayugas-
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– view north from rear of 16 Washington Ave. (June 17, 2011) –
. . . follow-up: petunias aglow on a sunny afternoon (June 16, 2011):
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bonus: Two sunset shots from the rear of 1 Cucumber Alley (Jun 3, 2011):
– a painterly rose across from the Isle of the Cayugas –
Posted in river seasons, Stockade Views
– looking for the 2012 Valentine Flamingo posting? go here.
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– 21st Annual Stockade Sidewalk Sale –
Perfectly sunny early-June weather, and lots of friendly neighbors, made my walk around the Stockade delightful for the 2011 version of our neighborhood-wide sidewalk sale. The slideshow below has a couple dozen photos taken at random this morning. Many thanks to Diane DeMeo for all her hard work organizing the event.
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Let me know with an email or a Comment, if you’d like a jpg. version of any of the photographs in the Slideshow.
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Somehow, I resisted bringing the Briber’s Birthday Bear home . . . 
Posted in Stockade Views
St. George‘s celebrated the Feast Day of its namesake patron saint, George the Martyr, yesterday (April 23) with a Patronal Festival that included a traditional Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans ceremony.
The Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans 
“Kirk” is a Scottish word meaning church as a noun and “bring to church” as a verb. According to The Capitol Scot [Washington, D.C.] website, in an essay called Kirkin’ o’ the Tartans Ceremony, “Clan representatives carry lengths (or flags) of tartans forward to the altar rail and the Chaplain says a few words about the Scottish heritage and gives a blessing.” According to the Scottish Tartan Museum, having annual Kirkin’ ceremonies is apparently a wholly American-Scottish tradition that started in New York City in the early 1940s. But the rite harkens back to the days of the Act of Proscription, when wearing a kilt was banned, and Highlanders would hide pieces of tartan and bring them to church for a secret blessing.
When the procession started, I was at the wrong end of N. Ferry St., at the Indian, so quite a few of my initial photos feature the backs and backsides of the marchers. Eventually, I got a bit closer and got some faces. I hope you enjoy the slideshow of a Stockade and Scottish tradition that added some color to a gray-cloud morning.
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Posted in Stockade Views
– Symon gets a shiny new Ride: a $43,000 GMC Acadia Denali crossover vehicle –
General Motors’ truck-SUV division GMC sent a film crew to the Stockade early on May 3, 2011. Thanks to a posting at Don Rittner’s Times Union weblog titled “What do The Onrust Project and General Motors Corporation have in Common?” (May 11, 2011), I’ve learned more details to share, along with a few photos I took on May 3rd.
Shooting on Front St. at N. Church, the film crew was making a short documentary about the replica ship Onrust as part of a Community Projects program that will feature GMC vehicles in five “real-life community service projects” for their 2012 catalog and retailing efforts. Don is rightly proud of the Onrust project’s selection for the program, and his posting has the story, plus lots of links to relevant GMC materials. You can also read about the program at GMC Community Projects page on Facebook.
In a press release, GMC explains: 
Posted in Stockade Views
suns along the Mohawk 
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