Last night's Town Board meeting started out with a pretty full room, because of the public hearing on the Yellow Barn water district. The Town will be taking over the infrastructure of the Yellow Barn Water Company, whose board members...
Just saw this on the Facebook page for Jerry Dell Farm Store: Now for the sad news......If you don't already know we are giving up our RAW Milk License and will no longer be able to sell raw milk as...
There was a fire yesterday at 1822 Dryden Road, which damaged one apartment but required residents of four others to leave for a few days. There were also two farm summits in the area. Cooperative Extension held a Tompkins County...
and more, as always, in Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk....
George Frantz, once the consultant on the Dryden Comprehensive Plan, sent the Sustainable Tompkins list a note last week about the American Farmland Trust's No Farms, No Food rally day, coming on February 15th. He included their agenda for lobbying...
Or almost here, anyway - to downtown Ithaca, since the DEC seemed too afraid of local feedback to put an event any closer than Binghamton. (Dansville, way outside the fairway for these, no problem! And NYC, well, they had to...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Jerry Dell Farm's raw milk has been taken off the market for now, and anyone who has some should discard it: The New York State Department of Health received two reports of campylobacter enteritis...
I'd meant to post this earlier, but: Tonight, September 20th, from 6:30-8 at the Dryden Community Center Cafe (1 West Main St, Dryden), community member Nancy Norton will be teaching a class on lacto-fermenting your garden produce! Lacto-fermentation is the...
The Ithaca Journal noticed "developer and Republican candidate for town supervisor" Bruno Schickel and has an article discussing his claims and the response from incumbent Democratic Town Supervisor Mary Ann Sumner. It's been a few years since I watched the...
I hate to see these kinds of signs: RPM Ecosystems goes to auction. The picture isn't great, but the nurseryauction.com site has lots of information on the pieces - pot filling machine, hoop houses, and a lot of equipment, including...
Apparently RPM Ecosystems, one of the bigger companies to set up shop in Dryden in the last few years, didn't survive the current round of economic bleakness. I noted a bankruptcy filing last September. One small silver lining is that...
Or from Dryden, and to Freeville. This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Jerry Dell Farm has started offering raw milk to customers, after receiving a state license last month. The article is largely about the controversies around raw milk, but...
No, not this Dairy Day, though that's a good idea too. Dryden Dairy Day opens with a parade at 9:30am down Main Street in the Village of Dryden. From 10:00am to 3:00pm, organizations and vendors will be in Montgomery Park,...
Lately, I've mostly worried about threats to Dryden that come with large wallets and bad ideas, but some problems have humbler origins. This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that feral hogs are moving into the area, and "breeding in three New...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on yesterday's arrest of a suspect in an armed robbery on East Main Street last week. The Town of Dryden grew 7% over the last ten years, moving from 13,532 to 14,435. The villages of...
This morning's Ithaca Journal examines prospects for a moratorium on development in Varna while the Master Plan is underway. Yesterday, I reported a bit on the residents' petition. What's new here is some perspective from Dryden Planning Director Dan Kwasnowski:...
This probably affects Dryden more than many places because of Cornell's importance to the local economy, but state cuts in agriculture look pretty dire. I have no idea what genius in the Paterson administration thought abolishing the Integrated Pest Management...
While most of my concerns so far with the proposed zoning have had to do with complexity or density, another concern keeps nagging at me. A key reason we're updating the zoning, something discussed as long as I've been in...
Or at least that's what the Journal's print edition headlined their online article called Town of Dryden awards farm conservation easement funds. Faced with New York State's apparent inability to come up with money they'd committed to, the Town finished...
I wrote about Cayuga Pure Organics a few years ago in the context of their having local wheat, but now they've expanded their market to New York City and especially restaurants. I think this local food thing is catching on,...
Senator Kirsten Gillibrand visited Jerry Dell Farm yesterday, looking for input on the 2012 farm bill. The crowd had lots of suggestions, from biofuels beyond ethanol to clearer and better-financed farmland protection to making the market for milk make some...
This morning's Ithaca Journal Jerry Dell Farm, which seems happy ten years after converting from conventional dairy to organic: "In the conventional world, it's all about volume and efficiency," he said. "Organics is more about taking care of the farmland...
Dryden Dairy Day was definitely a hit this year - reasonable weather, large crowds, a busy parade and lots happening in Montgomery Park. Ralph, a standard poodle, will be honorary Mayor of Dryden until next year, when Kiwanis holds their...
Today's Ithaca Journal reports that the Tompkins County Dairy Princess for 2010 will be Lacey Foote of Dryden, crowned at an event last month celebrating ten Dairies of Distinction in Tompkins County. Three of those are in Dryden, including the...
The Dryden Resource Awareness Coalition will be presenting petitions on zoning home rule and industrial noise to the Town Board tonight, having gathered 452 on noise and 389 on zoning. In a town of around 13,000 residents, that's a lot...
Every now and then the people who say that government is the problem are right, though perhaps not in the way they think. Two recent Ithaca Journal articles made clear just how strange our federal agriculture policy has become. The...
I don't have time to write as much as I'd like, but you should know: Freeville has a diner again - Casey's Diner is now open where Toad's Diner was, on 38. When I ran for Town Board last year,...
I guess it's only for a year, while Ithaca College sorts out construction, but TC3 will be hosting July 4th fireworks this year. (There are lots more comments here.) TC3 will also be having a summer course on local agriculture...
Looking for things to do this spring? Cathy Wakeman has a list, from community gardening through tractors, a capella singing, and kids' sports. There's also note about a meeting on an Agricultural Resource Focus Area Plan, and the study itself...
I didn't entirely understand how things were supposed to work in 2001 when I got a speeding ticket in Horseheads, but at least mailing in the fine listed on the ticket seemed to work. Losing a ticket and then trying...
Code Enforcement Officer Henry Slater used to remind the Planning Board about another category of farmer: tree farmers. There are Christmas tree farms, but also a lot of logging operations. Some of the logging is for firewood, some for lumber,...
They aren't exactly farms, but Dryden seems blessed with an abundance of nurseries and greenhouses. Driving along Dryden Road (Routes 366 and 13), you pass Saunders Greenhouse, The Orchid Place, Finger Lakes Fresh, and RPM Ecosystems. The Plantsmen up on...
While most of the large farms in Dryden are dairy farms, we have many more small farms. Driving around Dryden, I regularly see beef cattle, goats, sheep, and horses, not to mention beehives, U-pick farms, and orchards. These tend to...
When people think of farms in Dryden, they usually think of dairy farms and their supporting corn fields. (Dryden Dairy Day encourages that too!) Cows resting above Town Hall. Dryden's dairy farms are vastly more productive than they used to...
Too many people think that farming, especially in our rolling terrain, is a dying way of life. It's been a lousy year for milk prices, there's a "rural brain drain" going on, and farming seems stuck in a brutal cycle...
Tompkins County Farm City Day was at Angel Tree Farm last month, on Scofield Road near where Dryden, Groton, and Lansing all meet. They enjoyed showing off their alpacas (and chickens), and I think everyone had a good time. Alpacas...
Here's a quick listing of things in the Journal I normally would have written about in more detail, but didn't get to. Some of them are still on my list of things to write about. One of my neighbors,...
There's no Dryden Town Talk today, but Ulysses Town Talk leads off with this item, complete with Dryden phone numbers: The Tompkins County Dairy Promotion Committee is seeking young ladies between the ages of 12 and 24 for the roles...
Saturday's Cortland Standard is loaded with Dryden news. There's an article on the opening of the TC3 Learning Commons, an article on the agreement between the Town and Village of Dryden on the Cortland Road Sewer Contract, and an update...
The New York State Organic Advisory Task Force will have at least one participant from Dryden, Vaughn Sherman of Jerry Dell Farm. This morning's Journal also has an article comparing Governor Spitzer's plan for Upstate with the State Senate's plan....
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that a second Dryden farm, the Jerry Dell farm, will be having 419 acres protected. I didn't know that it is: the largest certified organic farm in the Northeast with 700 cows and some 1,200...
Cornell Cooperative Extension just posted a list of Christmas tree farms in Tompkins County. Red Barn Farm, on Neimi Road, is listed as offering both cut trees and trees you can cut yourself, while Ludgate Farms on Hanshaw Road has...
Freeville residents Siera Haley and Bec Groves-Haley appear in a picture accompanying an article on a Friday benefit for refugees in Darfur sponsored by the Northern Light Learning Center, a local home-schooling cooperative. There's also an article on increased bookings...
This morning's Journal reports that the County Legislature voted to apply for a grant to support a farm preservation grant at the Lew-Lin farm in Dryden. If the state grant is awarded, the Town of Dryden will purchase the development...
Yesterday was way too busy, and I only managed to cover the candidates forum, not getting to Cathy Wakeman's Dryden Town Talk. Unfortunately, the first event she mentions, the Bill Tiberio Group's visit to Dryden to work with students and...
This month, it seems like I can get most of my basic food needs around Tompkins County. It's a great time to Buy Local: Taste the Difference!, as a current campaign would have it. This weekend they had a Farm...
A lot happened while I was in the Adirondacks. The SPCA had a half-price dog adoption weekend, moving 13 dogs into new homes. They've also changed their policies about who can adopt dogs: While the half-price adoption offer is temporary,...
This week's Dryden Courier has a long article about the Dryden school lunch program's deficit. Last year's contingency budget forced benefits into the program's budget, creating problems, but there seem to be a lot of other issues as well. There...
This morning's Journal has a photo from the 4-H Fair that's happening on Lower Creek Road north of Route 13. I'm glad to see that the Journal issued an updated article on candidates for local races, this time including candidates...
It's time to start enjoying fresh local strawberries. These are right outside my backdoor. Strawberries getting ready. If you don't have your own plants, I see that Brookside Berry Farm is open today, though from the site it looks like...
This morning's Journal looks at the increasing risks of what used to be routine traffic enforcement for the New York State Police, as more traffic stops seem to be turning into dangerous situations. The troopers down the road on 13...
Christopher Ackley's dream of a skate park for Dryden was realized Saturday as the Town and Village of Dryden celebrated the opening of the Christopher Ackely Memorial Skateboard Park in Montgomery Park. There was a ceremony and skateboarding. The park...
Ithaca Journal columnist Cathy Wakeman celebrates 100 Dryden Town Talk articles with a look forward at some coming events. There will be a student recital tonight at the Dryden Middle School/High School auditorium at 7:00pm, and a Guest Artist workshop/performance...
Okay, it's money you need to work for, not just crates of gold sitting quietly and waiting for someone to discover them. The Life section of today's Journal reports on the How, When, and Why of Forest Farming resource center,...
I'm a little surprised that the Journal doesn't mention yesterday's surprising Easter weather, except in an article from Atlanta. We went for a walk on the Jim Schug trail and found it covered in white snow, and there are still...
The Village of Dryden's "stance against livestock" seems to have found the support of the county legislature, which blocked an ag district designation in the Village while passing the rest. Ken Miller will still be able to harvest hay on...
I seem to be getting the Dryden Courier later and later in its weekly cycle, and combining that with my being out of town Monday and Tuesday means that the issue I'm about to write about isn't the one in...
Today's sad news is not in Dryden, but to the north in Homer and to the south in Candor. Private Shawn Falter of Homer will be buried in Cortland tomorrow, while Pfc. Nathan Fairlie of Candor was killed near Baqubah,...
Fire coverage in Dryden is a very complicated and frequently explosive subject. It's had major impacts on Dryden politics, and keeps the Town Board occupied. A lot of it stems from the challenge of supervising four departments, each covering a...
This morning's Journal is light on Dryden news, but there's an article on the money that state senators have been doling out from their share of borrowed pork. Unfortunately it's only in the print edition, and doesn't list pork for...
This week's Dryden Courier reports on David Makar's victory Tuesday night in the Town Board race, and Cortland resident Dennis Wright's shopping spree, which he won from Dryden Rotary, enjoyed at Clark's, and donated to the Dryden Kitchen Cupboard. Inside,...
This morning's Cortland Standard has an article on the Lew-Lin dairy farm, looking at the challenges - and excitement - of passing a farm from one generation to the next: Steven Stuttle could have stayed in Pennsylvania after college, but...
I hoped yesterday that someone would get to the tour at the Sherman's dairy farm, and sure enough, this morning's Journal visits the farm and talks about what organic farming has to offer farmers and consumers: Even in the transition,...
I'm a little late with today's report on the Journal... which means I missed reporting on the tour of Sherman Farm today. If anyone went and can report on it, leave a comment! The local section's front page had an...
I noted Local Food Week earlier, but Cathy Wakeman goes one step further and explores the local food options in the Town of Dryden itself. I've wished for a while that there were more ways to enjoy food that's produced...
The 4-H Fair runs until 3:00pm today on Lower Creek Road, as this photo of Freeville resident Brian Lampman notes. There's also a report from the rape trial of Karel Westerling. On the opinion page, Dryden Sertoma has a large...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that TCAT will be abolishing the zone distinction for its fares on August 20th, making it cheaper to get from Ithaca to Dryden and vice-versa. They expect it will cost some revenue, but should increase...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports in depth on a project I'd heard bits and pieces about: the large-scale tree nursery planned by RPM on Route 13. They're negotiating tax abatements and sorting out permits, but if all goes well they...
Dryden is filled with streams and creeks, most of which flow into Cayuga Lake. Whatever goes in the streams here ends up there, making protecting the lake a much larger project than policing its edges. Recognizing that, the Cayuga Lake...
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits Freeville's Brookside Berry Farm, which just opened for the season a few minutes ago,in an article on U-Pick Strawberries. There's another article about the disaster training at Holy Cross Church that was held this past...
Last year's Dairy Day was sunny and sweltering; today's Dairy Day was wet and cold. Despite that, it was still fun both times. Watching in the rain. Dairy cow in the Dairy Day parade. Firetrucks. I was in the parade...
Wednesday used to be a big day for Dryden because of the Our Towns section, but lately it seems quieter. There is some vaguely Dryden-related news on the opinion page, with a look at the joint Ithaca-Cornell transportation study getting...
There's a lot of discussion of soil types at Town Hall. Soil types affect everything from agriculture to septic tank placement to erosion and runoff. The Town of Dryden Comprehensive Plan includes Map 4-1, Natural Constraints to Development (1.9MB PDF),...
Today's Ithaca Journal doesn't have much directly about Dryden, but the paper has some articles on Groton and Caroline with Dryden connections. There's a profile of the Space family dairy farm in Groton, which notes that two of their children...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that two Dryden fifth-graders will be hosting a craft sale tomorrow from 12:30pm to 5:30pm at the SPCA. Emily Gray and Allison Sullivan have: worked tirelessly for the past several weeks obtaining and creating holiday...
It's been a while since I wrote about the 1968 General Plan, but I've finally scanned in the section on the local economy. You can read it in clearer (1125KB PDF) or selectable form (1035KB PDF). Dryden in 1968 had...
This week's Dryden Courier visits last Saturday's Farm City Day, with a picture of a horse-drawn hay ride and coverage of the displays and activities as well. They also have an article and photo about work being done at the...
The sign by the hydroponic lettuce facility changed recently, and now includes a web site address where you can find out more about what goes on across Route 13 from the old NYSEG building. New sign for hydroponic grower. Hydroponic...
There's all kinds of Dryden news in this morning's Ithaca Journal. They have a story on the Dryden Youth Conservation Corps' work on trails in the area, including a bridge at 4-H Acres, signs at the O.D. von Engeln Preserve...
This morning's Ithaca Journal looks at a study on yields from organic farming and finds that their results - solid yields and higher soil quality - match up to local experience. They quote Troy Sherman of Dryden: “It's challenging. Anyone...
Since the 4-H Fair is close by, I'm stopping there periodically to take pictures. This morning, I stopped inside the pole barn to visit the animals. Cows resting, people talking. Goats saying hello. The scoreboard in the barn. I was...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the 4-H Fair running through Saturday, to be held at 4-H Acres (map). The schedule looks packed, with animal shows, all kinds of contests, and plenty of food including a pancake breakfast and barbecue....
I've wondered a bit about the Tompkins County Coalition for Change, not having been able to find much about it. Tom Hatfield, the Dryden Republican Committee chairman and the apparent spokesman for the group, was on WHCU this morning to...
Thursday night's public hearing on the proposed Town Comprehensive Plan demonstrated residents' concerns and hopes for these guidelines for future development in the Town of Dryden. The first speaker, after Supervisor Steve Trumbull had opened the hearing, noting that this...
The Dryden Courier leads with an article on Dryden High School students placing at the New York Olympics of the Visual Arts. (The article is available online from the Ithaca Times.) There's a picture of students modeling a Louis XVI...
On Monday afternoon, I went to see a presentation up on Mount Pleasant that may hold some promise for both agriculture and open space in Dryden. Cornell scientists have been working with various kinds of grass, working to find ways...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that Timothy Troy of Etna, accused of leading police on a chase through Collegetown and Dryden, may face more severe charges as his case is referred to a grand jury. The SPCA will be having...
On the opinion page of today's Ithaca Journal, Dryden Superintendent of Schools Mark Crawford writes about the changing mission of schools and the challenges of living up to it. Crawford writes of Dryden: I would also like to mention that...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on last night's public meeting to discuss the possible annexation of an area north of Dryden to the Village. Dryden Mutual Insurance has applied to be annexed to the Village, and there are large questions...
This week it looks like I'll manage to cover the Dryden Courier while it's still available, unlike my way-late reporting of the previous two weeks. There's lots in it this week. The lead article look at the Help A Needy...
This morning's Journal reports that Mao-Sheng Lin was convicted of kidnapping in a robbery of the Song Tao restaurant in November 2003. Lin had disappeared after posting $200,000 in bail and was returned from Texas in November 2004. Two other...
This morning's Ithaca Journal looks at a new after-school program in McLean, giving kids more to do in the hamlet. Lack of transportation keeps kids in the area after school, and there isn't a place for kids to hang out...
This week's Dryden Courier is stuffed full of Dryden news. The front page leads with coverage of Dryden Middle School's presentation of The Pirates of Penzance, including both a picture and a story on the musical and its production. An...
A week from tonight, the Dryden Town Historical Society will be taking a close look at the organization behind Dryden Dairy Day: the Dryden Grange. Mary Hornbuckle sent this notice: The Dryden Grange The Grange is the nation's oldest national...
Congressional candidate Jeff Miller came to Ithaca yesterday and spoke to a group of us from the 24th Congressional District. (At one point we'd considered having the event in Dryden, as he was going from an event in Cortland to...
The minutes for both the September 9th and September 24th Town Board meetings are available. I missed the September 9th meeting, so it's good to catch up. Highlights include: A very quiet public hearing on increased costs for upgrading the...
Today's Ithaca Journal explores the many issues around land-use planning and agriculture in Dryden. The article looks at farmers' concerns about disappearing ag land, their financial needs, and different possible ways of addressing the issue. There's also an article on...
The Dryden Planning Board met Thursday night, first approving a subdivision and changes to an existing subdivision, and then focusing on two of the more difficult parts of the Draft Comprehensive Plan, agriculture and trails. The first item on the...
An Ithaca Journal article on a celebration of 100 years of the Tompkins County Pomona Grange discusses how only two of its founding nineteen local granges still exist: Enfield Valley and Dryden. The Ithaca City School District is studying why...
I was away last week, so I'm covering two issues of the Dryden Courier in one article. Both issues focus on farming issues and the start of the school sports seasons. In the September 8th issue, Courier reporter Tony Hall...
As I just mentioned, there will be a meeting to discuss agriculture and planning in the Town of Dryden on Monday, September 13, at the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home (map) from 7:30pm to 9:30pm. Debbie Gross, the Dryden Environmental Planner,...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Town Board voted unanimously to support the purchase of conservation easements on local farms. Farmers will apply to the state through the Town of Dryden and with the help of Cornell Cooperative...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home was robbed last weekend. Thieves broke into a video lottery machine and an empty safe, and cut phone lines. Farm disaster aid is available for farmers whose crops were...
Governor Pataki's budget vetoes struck TC3 and Cornell yesterday, as the governor vetoed all capital funds for higher education, including $10.6 million for TC3's expansion and $12 million for Cornell renovations. A legislative override seem uncertain, though there's definitely some...
This week's Dryden Courier has fairly little about Dryden in it. Even one of the front page articles takes place over in Mecklenburg. On the bright side, the lead article on Dryden has a lot of detail on an important...
The August Town Board meeting was relatively brief and not very dramatic. Only three board members (Trumbull, Stelick, and Hattery) were there. It included: Nancy Zahler and Liz Vance presented on the Tompkins County Recreation Partnership, discussing Dryden's participation, the...
While I was traveling, my lovely wife Tracey visited last week's 4-H Fair, camera in hand. Here are a few of her highlights. Bean art makes kids smile. A goat looks out from the hay. 4-H is more than dairy...
At last night's Town Board meeting, the board heard five different public hearings, as well as two points of citizen's privilege. (The Recreation Partnership discussion was apparently postponed.) The first hearing was on an application by Andrew and Elaine Morenus...
If you read this in the next hour, you have time to get to a dairy walk at 9am this morning exploring how Lewie and Steve Stuttle "have successfully combined pasturing with high milk production on their farm in Dryden."...
For the second time this year, the Planning Board didn't have a quorum, so the meeting was purely discussion of the Draft Comprehensive Plan's agriculture section with the crowd of farmers and farm representatives who were there. (The three public...
This morning's parade had all kinds of floats, bands, and fun. Kids got lots of candy thrown from floats, and afterwards the crowd moved to Montgomery Park where tents offered ice cream, food, and all kinds of displays and games....
This morning's Ithaca Journal is overflowing with Dryden news. That's not unusual on Wednesday, when the Our Towns section features Dryden and Groton, but today there's news throughout the paper, much of it even good. A cow greets readers at...
Last night, the Planning Board approved a subdivision modification, scheduled a hearing for a subdivision, and had a sketch conference on yet another subdivision, before talking about the agricultural parts of the Draft Comprehensive Plan. The first discussion dealt with...
Since the Ithaca Journal instituted the Our Towns section, Wednesdays have consistently been a busy day for Dryden news. Today's paper includes: a story on beyondmeasure, the Dryden High School a cappella group that recently recorded a CD (and recorded...
Thursday night's Planning Board meeting included a sketch conference for a proposed sudivision on Sheldon and Wood roads near Etna (map) as well as continued discussion of the Draft Comprehensive Plan's sections on hamlets and agriculture. The Planning Board welcomed...
Today's Ithaca Journal reports on growing activity in the Democratic primary for the 24th Congressional District, which includes Dryden. Brian Goodell of Lansing is running against Jeff Miller of New Hartford, near Utica. Congressman Sherwood Boehlert, who currently holds the...
Cathy Wakeman reports the formation of a Red Hat Society. Requirements for membership are "being an older, retired woman, and wearing a red hat". She also reports on the Dryden Senior Citizens and the Christmas dinner at the Dryden Veterans...
I made it to last night's informational meeting on the Town's Draft Comprehensive Plan, held at the Dryden Town Hall. (The hearing on annexation was at the Village Hall, at the same time, and there was a bit of confusion.)...
Ever wonder what the brightly-lit greenhouse across from the NYSEG building is? The NYSEG site has information on various projects they're supporting, including a PDF on Controlled Environment Agriculture. They're growing Bibb lettuce in there, apparently, and you can buy...