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ACAL NEWS - Week of 11/28/04

I was returning home to Boonville from Albany one night last week.  As I approached the familiar Main Street intersection, I was overcome with a feeling from my past; the look of the street lights, the welcoming invitation of the village from Route 12.  I remembered this exact scene from my childhood, and then excitement I felt knowing we were almost to my grandparentsı homes in Boonville and Port Leyden.

Visiting this area was always like coming home for me. Life in a small town was a bit different than the country suburban life I was used to.  Although my family lived on a road surrounded my farmland, visiting my grandparents offered something special.

Back in the 1960s and 70s, the Village of Port Leyden was lined with tidy homes and freshly trimmed lawns.  During our visits, my brother and I spent a lot of time with our cousins - exploring the woods, deciding what to buy at Hoageıs with our pocket change, and spending many hours at the school playground.  Kick-the-can was our favorite game, played at dusk on our grandparents' "lower lawn" until we could no longer see each other.

My other grandparents had a farm in Boonville which offered a totally different experience; beautiful open meadows, smelly cows, lots of hay in the summer and lots of snow and wind in the winter.  Farm life was a lot of hard work, but I loved it.  Especially driving the tractors.

There is a feeling you get when you drive a tractor through an open meadow on a summerıs day.  (A totally different feeling than when youıre plowing snow in the winter with a 25 below zero wind chill!)  Words canıt describe the feeling accurately, but itıs kind of like knowing a happy secret you promised not to tell.

In 1995, after my grandmother passed away, I inherited the family tractor.  This wasnıt just any old tractor. It was a Ford 600 Series Select-O-Speed automatic with power steering, purchased by my grandparents just a few months before I was born in 1959.  (Yes, now you all know how old I am!)  This tractor hayed the meadows and plowed the driveway hundreds of times over the years.  It was pretty tired by the time I received it, but I loved it just the same.

Soon after the tractor was transported to our home in Malta, I made a barter agreement with a close friend. He was a farmer, an excavator, and a tractor connoisseur.  We decided that I would tutor his son in reading for a year and he would renovate my tractor.

Needless to say, after 12 months, his son was doing much better in school and my tractor looked and ran like new.

In June 2002, Kevin and I brought the family tractor back to its home in Boonville.  I plowed our 900 foot driveway last winter (had a broken leg the first year) and this summer, I spent many hours in the meadow with the flail mower, loving every minute.

It is most appropriate I share a bit of my history with you, because, for the first time in its 45 year existence, I drove my tractor in the Woodsmenıs Parade this past August.  I must admit I was a little nervous about driving it all the way into town, wondering if I would correctly judge the turns along the parade route without wiping out any people.  I am happy to announce that no one was injured and better yet, the ACAL float I was pulling won third place!

I couldnıt help but feel pride as I drove past the judges in the fairgrounds.  Proud of my family tractor.  Proud to be a part of ACAL.  Proud to be a member of this community.

Boonville is more than just a place to live.  It is a part of my familyıs past and present. There is no coincidence Kevin and I decided to move here.  There is no question we are fighting to preserve the future of our community.  

Please help ACAL stop New York State from destroying our homes and our environment by building a 680-acre mega dump we don't want or need.  Thank you for your support.