It has its own amazing blog - you really just need to see it. (It's on Ed Hill Road near the Cornell Organic farm if you want to see it from the road, in the area where Angelika's orchard was....
You really just have to see this construction, underway on Ed Hill Road. via David Makar....
Freeville's non-partisan races are usually uncontested, with vote counts in the teens. This year was different, with a challenge to the Mayor from Ron Szymanski. Preliminary results show incumbent Lotte Carpenter beating Szymanski 62-33. In both the villages of Dryden...
The villages of Dryden and Freeville are having elections today. Polls are open from noon to 9:00pm at both village halls. Freeville has a contested mayor's race and two uncontested trustees' races, and Dryden has two uncontested trustees' races....
and the Ithaca Journal has guest viewpoints from incumbent Mayor Lotte Carpenter and challenger Ron Szymanski. Most of both pieces is pretty classical muncipal issues, but Szymanski really pushes the doubletalk envelope with: My ability to work with all interests...
I didn't know Jack, but I know lots of people who did. An obituary is here, and there's a letter from the Dryden school district here (222KB PDF). Via DrydenDailyKAZ, there's an excellent video of him singing with family. My...
Via commenter Jason C, I see that meteorologist Drew Montreuil of GrotonWeather.com is giving a talk in Freeville tomorrow night: What do snow, tornadoes and groundhogs have in common? Come to the Freeville Potluck Dinner THIS SATURDAY starting at 5:30pm!...
The Journal's regular coverage seems not to have noticed it, but David Fogel, Chair of the Village of Freeville Planning Board, writes the Ithaca Journal to say that passing the moratorium was the right thing to do, and tells a...
The Town of Dryden passed a ban on gas drilling back in August, but there are two places where that ban doesn't apply: the villages of Dryden and Freeville. The ban works through zoning, and the villages have their own...
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...
Sungiva and I sometimes go out Saturday morning to look for horses and cows. I drive around Dryden, and she calls out when she sees the animals. Today, though, we spent a lot of time around Freeville, visiting some places...
It looks like the Ellis Hollow Fair and the Freeville Harvest Festival will once again be on the same day - September 10th this year - as Cathy Wakeman reports in Dryden Town Talk. I wonder if the Etna Yard...
The Ithaca Journal reports that Home Necessities, whose offices and warehouse are on Johnson Road in Freevile, is opening its ninth store in Elmira Heights....
The villages of Dryden and Freeville held elections yesterday, all of them uncontested. Rachel Dickinson and Marco Cestaro were elected as Trustees in Freeville with 15 and 16 votes respectively. In Dryden, Mayor Randy Sterling was re-elected mayor with 70...
When I first heard there were big "Impeach Obama" signs in Freeville, complete with the Hitler mustache on Obama, I was worried that the worst of Tea Party excesses had arrived in Dryden. When I got to Freeville, though, I...
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,...
Dryden had a full set of events from Friday night into Saturday evening. I started at the Sertoma Spaghetti Dinner and finished with a fine Turkey Dinner at the Freeville Methodist Church, but I think it's best to just tell...
The Saturday after Labor Day is always a busy day in Dryden. I was worried Friday night about rain, but the rain came overnight, leaving the Freeville and Ellis Hollow events with a gray but dry day. After buying a...
Freeville is now on the web, at http://freevilleny.org/, with a village site that includes both the basic contact information you'd expect, as well as photos, history, a list of businesses, and more. This piece of the introductory page really struck...
Continuing our tour of Dryden's excellent fall festivals, here's today's Freeville Harvest Festival, which felt just a little bigger than usual to me. They continued their excellent chili and apple cookoffs, had the traditional chicken barbecue, and there were lots...
Today's Ithaca Journal is fairly busy. As always, Cathy Wakeman has a lot on Dryden: The Freeville Harvest Festival will be this Saturday, September 13th, from 8:30am to 3:00pm. It's always a lot of fun, especially for food. The Dryden...
[Update: I no longer think this is a good idea. See the category listing for more information on why. This piece in particular is a concise summary.] [This is long - it's a complex subject and a couple of years...
The April 16th issue of the Dryden Courier leads with an article on the end of Village of Dryden police covering the Village of Freeville. Freeville had been paying $42,000 a year, but according to Dryden Mayor Reba Taylor, "Their...
Finally catching up with a week or so of the Ithaca Journal - Freeville resident Rachel Dickinson reflects on her visit to Tibet in July 2006 in the light of recent riots, concluding sadly: It makes me so sad to...
Update: The more I've learned about this grant, the more it seems clear that it's a grant to Clarity Connect for expanding service in the Town of Dryden, not a grant to the Town exactly. This morning's Ithaca Journal reports...
The polls are open at the Dryden Village Hall, 16 South Street, Dryden (map) from noon to 9:00pm today. Registered voters who live in the Village have a choice of four trustee candidates for two seats. The Ithaca Journal spoke...
I'm still recovering from my trip to Texas, and was happy to hear to from the Freeville United Methodist Church folks with a ready-made story about this coming weekend: Freeville United Methodist Church is selling their world famous - well...
Freeville held its annual harvest festival last weekend, and as always it was delicious fun. They had games for kids, a white elephant sale, a haircuts tent, music, and piles and piles of food. I was especially fond of the...
This morning's Journal notes, in Briefly in Tompkins, that the W.B. Strong Fire Company, also known as the Freeville Fire Department, will be 100 years old next April 7th. They're hoping to put together more information on the company: Those...
I'm very happy to report that it looks like the Ellis Hollow Fair and the Freeville Harvest Festival will be on different days this year, making it easier for Dryden residents to attend both. The Ellis Hollow Fair will be...
This week's Dryden Courier just arrived. It reports on Dryden Schools Superintendent Mark Crawford's impending departure for his hometown of Hamburg, where he'll be taking the Superintendent's job.There's also an article on the Lower Creek Road curve that's been a...
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits Amy Dickinson, the Ask Amy advice columnist, at her home in Freeville. She'll be presenting tonight at the Dryden Village Hall to benefit the Southworth Library, though, alas, the event is sold out. In other...
This week's issue of Tompkins Weekly offers not just its usual one, but three stories on Dryden. The first, on page 3, examines the continuing divide between the east and west sides of Dryden, looking at the question of recreation...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that two incumbent Village trustees are up for re-election in Freeville's non-partisan races. Rachel Dickinson and Lloyd Purdy (appointed to replace the late former Mayor Thomas Lyson) of the Citizens Party face no opponents in...
Dryden had an action-packed Saturday this past weekend, with the Etna Community Association yard sale, the Freeville Harvest Festival, and the Ellis Hollow Fair as well. A busy Etna yard sale. Booths at the Freeville Harvest Festival. Eating at the...
There are fairs, festivals, and fun all over town this Saturday: The Etna Community Association will be having a yard sale on Saturday, September 9th from 9:00am to noon at Houtz Hall, at the intersection of Lower Creek Road and...
It's been a while since I reported on the Dryden Courier, but it's time to get back into it. This week's cover has a picture of plants growing at Cornell's Freeville Organic Research Farm, which just received certification that it...
This morning's Ithaca Journal is quiet on Dryden again, but an empty building in Freeville is a story. I was up early and rather hungry this morning, so I thought I'd go up to Gramma's (where Toad's used to be)...
This week's issue of The Shopper includes this notice: Open House Saturday, May 63:00-5:00 P.M.Freeville Village Hall Celebrating the opening of the Freeville Village History Room! Chat with Village Historian Joan Manning Visit with friends about times past.Enjoy homemade snacks.Check...
If you live in the Village of Dryden or the Village of Freeville, you have an opportunity to vote tomorrow. Freeville's races are non-partisan and uncontested, while Dryden's are partisan and contested. Elections will be held at the Dryden Village...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the Dryden and Freeville village elections. For Dryden, a contested race, the Journal talks with Democrats Mary Ellen Bossack and Jim Willer and Republicans Dan Wakeman and Randy Sterling. Incumbent Bossack and challenger Willer...
This morning's Elmira Star-Gazette has a interview with Amy Dickinson, known locally both for her Ask Amy column and for living in Freeville. She was speaking today in Corning, where I grew up. I wonder if it was anything like...
This morning's Ithaca Journal (which isn't online yet) reports on the re-opening of the Freeville food bank at the Methodist Church, talking with volunteers, supporters, and visitors. There's also an article on an accident that jammed up Route 13 between...
This morning's Ithaca Journal was quiet on Dryden, but the current issue (January 4th) of the Dryden Courier has lots of news. Freeville United Methodist Church opened a food pantry again today after five years without Freeville having one. Distributions...
Reading the Ithaca Journal lately, I get a sense that Dryden is a very sleepy place. Reading the December 28th Dryden Courier, though, I see a very active community with all kinds of things happening. I'm not positive, but I...
This week's Dryden Courier (December 21st) leads with Margaret Brownell Lorenzen's latest Slinky Slithertail book, Petunia Patch Pockets and the Golden Locket. Lorenzen wrote the first version of the story back in 1961, but this version, with illustrations by Jocelyn...
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits Nancy Carver and Lorraine Buonviri's Christmas spectacular in their home in Freeville. Fifty Santas on a piano? Is that enough? Perhaps not. It takes three days to set up the decorations, starting the day after...
Somehow I've fallen behind on covering the Dryden Courier again, and I'd like to at least cover last week's issue while it's still available on newsstands. The November 30th issue of the Courier visited the Freeville Thanksgiving Dinner held at...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that 52 acres of northwest Freeville will become a wildlife preserve, as Millie Sherwood donated it to the Finger Lakes Land Trust, which then donated it to the Village of Freeville with a conservation easement...
This morning's Ithaca Journal visits the Freeville United Methodist Church Thanksgiving meal, talking both with guests and those serving the food. Yesterday's article on Thanksgiving traditions noted that the The Antlers restaurant was open for a Thanksgiving dinner as well....
I enjoyed the Freeville Harvest Festival this morning, watching the crowds, visiting the booths, and eating a tasty italian sausage sandwich. Pie by the slice at the Freeville Harvest Festival. If you'd like to see more, I've posted a gallery...
This week's issue of The Shopper adds another item to Saturday's busy schedule of Dryden events: the Etna Community Yard Sale, which will be Saturday from 9:00am to noon at Houtz Hall in Etna. There's also a schedule for the...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on two big events to be held this Saturday: the Ellis Hollow Fair, from noon to 4:00pm, and the Freeville Harvest Festival, from 8:00am to 3:00pm. Briefly in Dryden lists even more events, with a...
Syndicated advice columnist Amy Dickinson, of Ask Amy fame, gave a talk this evening at Freeville United Methodist Church, raising over $200 in donations for the church. Dickinson reprised several pieces she'd done for National Public Radio, including one on...
A four-apartment building at 12 Railroad Street in Freeville caught fire last night. Firefighters from the Dryden, Freeville, Etna, Groton, McLean and Cayuga Heights fire departments responded at 6:30pm, and had the blaze out by 7:15pm. No one was injured,...
Thomas Guihan, 81, of Groton, died yesterday afternoon in a one-car accident on Brooklyn Road in the Village of Freeville. Dryden police, the Freeville and Dryden fire departments, and Bangs Ambulance all responded to the accident....
The Village of Freeville is busy this morning, with a barbecue (sponsored by Freeville United Methodist Church), yard sales, and a quilt show at the church. There are still a few hours left to join the fun! Barbecuing chicken in...
The Ithaca Journal reports this morning that Jason Kelly was sentenced to 90 days in jail and five years probation for a DWI last June that cost the lives of two friends riding in the car. Dryden Town Talk reports...
In today's Ithaca Journal, reporter Jennie Daley talks with Freeville resident Tim Gallagher, one of the two ornithologists who rediscovered the ivory-billed woodpecker in Arkansas after over fifty years without a confirmed sighting. Gallagher, who had to keep the discovery...
Minutes are available for both the March 2nd hearing on the possible annexation of the Dryden Mutual Property to the Village of Dryden and the Town Board's regular meeting on March 10th, which I missed. The March 2nd minutes are...
Village elections held yesterday returned incumbents to their seats in both Dryden and Freeville. In Dryden, Mayor Reba Taylor and Village Trustees Bob Witty and Mark Strom were re-elected over new Village Trustee challenger Jerry Carbo, while in Freeville Tom...
This morning's Journal reports that there are elections today in the Villages of Dryden and Freeville. Polls will be open from noon to 9:00pm at the the Dryden Village Hall (map) and the the Freeville Village Hall (map). Freeville's election...
This morning's Ithaca Journal has a profile and picture of Peter "Pete" Tyler, "the first African-American in IPD to reach the rank of sergeant." Tyler is a member of the Ithaca Police Department SWAT team, as well as a member...
The survey in the 1968 General Plan for the Village of Freeville continues to be amazing, again listing use for every parcel as it was in 1966. This graphic shows an inset concentrating on the now vanished railroad tracks in...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports that the Village of Dryden will have a contested race for Village Trustee on March 15th. Jerry Carbo will be running as a Democrat against incumbent Republicans Robert Witty and Mark Strom. Carbo, 32, makes...
At Mayer's last night, I noticed a headline on The Atlantic about the "Ask Amy" advice column. I remember Amy Dickinson having a Freeville connection, and sure enough, it's an article about her. You can read the opening of the...
I had a few questions after Friday's Ithaca Journal article on fire company news, which says: Stelick and Michaels have long served as town liaisons to the emergency service providers and have found themselves wishing they had permanent, experienced staff...
A friend in Potsdam sent me a link to pictures of what remains of the Lehigh Valley railroad between Freeville and McLean, taken in 2003 and 2004 by Joshua K. Blay. It's a very nice collection of pictures with special...
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...
I wasn't able to make it to this weekend's fairs in Freeville and Ellis Hollow, but my lovely wife Tracey went and took some pictures. Here's a sampling of the weekend's fun. Freeville Harvest Festival sign. Enjoying a meal at...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports on the Ellis Hollow Fair, saying: As it has for more than a half century, the second Saturday in September brought legions of locals to the annual fair, with its booths, games and other traditional...
This week's edition of The Shopper includes an ad for the Village of Freeville's Summer Rec Program, which is running July 12th to 16th, 19th to 23rd, 26th to 30th, and August 2nd to 6th and 9th to 13th. (That's...
This morning's Ithaca Journal reports a rollover on Hanshaw Road north of Neimi Road that injured two women while two children avoided injury. There is also a chicken barbecue today at the Freeville United Methodist Church (map). Police arrested a...
This week's issue of The Shopper includes an announcement for the Dryden Veterans Memorial Home's Memorial Day parade, to be held Saturday, May 29th at 10:30am in the Village of Dryden, with a memorial service at 11am in tribute to...
After an organizational meeting for the Dryden Town Historical Society, a packed Village Hall listened to Daniel Armitage talk about the thrills of being the "kid from Freeville", riding and occasionally operating the Lehigh Valley Railroad's trains from the age...
Today's Ithaca Journal has lots of Dryden news, including the weekly Our Towns section. Last night's Dryden school budget hearing and candidates forum gets an article, examining reaction to the increases and listening to the four candidates for three seats...
Today's legal notices include this one from the Village of Freeville: PLEASE TAKE NOTICE that a public hearing will be held at the Village Hall of the Village of Freeville, 5 Factory Street, Freeville, New York on May 4th, 2004,...
Liva Brong, former bookkeeper for the Town of Dryden, has been indicted on multiple forgery-related counts connected to accusations of writing $17,900 in checks to her boyfriend's business, reports this morning's Ithaca Journal. Because it's a Wednesday and their new...
Back in December, I posted George Goodrich's telling of the first resident of Dryden with a valid claim to his land, George Robertson. The following chapter looks at the people who arrived shortly after Robertson and the work they did...
This week's Dryden Courier takes the recent uncontested elections as a good reason to take a close look at the Village of Freeville, how it operates, and what it provides to residents. There's also a piece on Dryden Central School's...
Today's Ithaca Journal takes a close look at the costs driving a 10.8% tax levy increase in the Village of Freeville. Costs beyond their control - retirement, workers compensation, and their contracted police coverage from the Village of Dryden -...
George Goodrich's Centennial History of the Town of Dryden includes a chapter on "Isaiah Giles and Gilesville". There was no Gilesville on any of the maps I had (including the one in Goodrich's book), so I asked about it last...
The Journal reports that unofficially, 211 people voted in yesterday's Dryden village election and 21 voted in Freeville's uncontested races. In the Village of Dryden's only contested race, Republican Robert Witty defeated Democrat David Potter 132-76. In the uncontested races,...
Elections will be held in the Villages of Dryden and Freeville today from noon to 9pm. In the Village of Dryden, voting will be on the second floor of the Village Hall (map). In the Village of Freeville, voting will...
The Shopper has an Election Notice for the Village of Freeville today. All of the candidates are on the "Citizens Party" line (Freeville elections aren't along traditional party lines) and there appear to be no contests this year. The nominees...
This week's Shopper includes a notice that Patricia Mooney is the new Clerk/Treasurer for the Village of Freeville. They also list village hall hours, which are Tuesday and Thursday 10am-3pm, Wednesday and Friday Noon-4pm, and Saturday 8am-Noon, closed Sunday and...
The Ithaca Journal has a piece on the challenges of keeping roads clear in winter, which has been especially difficult with recent cold temperatures and blowing snow. There aren't many Dryden-specific details to the story, but there is a list...
After visiting the weather station at Game Farm Road yesterday, I decided to go take some pictures of the weather station just north of Freeville, next to Cornell's Homer Thompson Vegetable Research Farm. The first picture shows the weather station;...
I've been away all week, so I didn't get to attend either the Varna or the Freeville informational meetings on the Draft Comprehensive Plan for Dryden. The Varna meeting seemed pretty well-covered in the paper, but I've seen no similar...