News from Up North
May 28th, 2013 · No Comments · Posted in News from Up North
The drummer was too cool
Seemed like everybody in Cambridge turned out for the Memorial Day parade. There were marching bands, boy scout troops, girl scout troups and tons of fire equipment from as far away as Johnsonville. I guess some of the area towns don’t have parades of their own, so they tag along with Cambridge.
The Cambridge Band played excellent renditions of Sousa marches. Apparently, the band has been around since the 19th century, so they are well practiced. Who knew?
The mayor drove down Main Street in a a classic Volvo. Among the other classic cars were a very spiffy Chrysler New Yorker and a cherry Ford Fairlane. Passengers in the cars threw candy out the windows for kids along the parade route. Our own daughter was unmoved. She doesn’t dive for candy any more, it seems.
Chicken and biscuits: more than a mouthful
This was another big week for church suppers. On Thursday, I drove to the Methodist church in Salem for chicken and biscuits. The food barely fit on the plate. At one of the tables I fell into a conversation with a young woman, Ivey Barker, who turned out to be program coordinator at the Salem Art Works.
If you haven’t heard of it, SAW–as it’s known in these parts–has put Salem on the map as an art destination. It’s run as a kind of camp for artists of all sorts–painters, sculpters, writers–who live on site during the summer months and just create. SAW puts on a series of exhibitions and concerts during the season.
Ivey invited me and the family for a tour. So after a pancake breakfast at the Salem Fish & Game Club Sunday morning, we stopped by the 150-acre campus at SAW, hooked up with Ivey and were introduced to the organization’s founder, none other than Anthony Cafritz. Yes, one of those D.C. Cafritzes, a family of well known socialites, arts patrons and philanthropists. If you follow the news in D.C.–or are just an arts lover–you may recall that Anthony’s aunt, Peggy Cooper Cafritz, lost an incredible African American art collection four years ago when her home on Chain Bridge Road NW went up in flames.
Visiting artists at SAW live in trailers
Anthony grew up in Georgetown and attended Georgetown Day School. So we traded stories about one of his neighbors (and my former boss) Katherine Graham as well as his alma mater and until recently the school where I was teaching my “food appreciation” classes.
The old farm on which SAW is located includes numerous large barns and other building that make perfect settings for studios and exhibition spaces. There are classes in ceramics and glass blowing that daughter could attend. We’ve decided to become members and visit more frequently.
Meanwhile, a group of pigs were serenaded by a renowned pianists over the weekend at Cambridge’s Hubbard Hall.
We are not making this up. Apparently, on an earlier visit to the area, Georgian pianist Goergi Latso toured a local pig farm and was so taken with the hogs he vowed to play for them one day. Well, arrangements were made. A small coral was erected in Hubbard Hall and six local pigs installed there there. Latso performed woks by Bach, Chopin and Rachmaninoff. We’re told he pigs rewarded Latso with a year’s supply of bacon.
Ending months of suspense, the proposed $18.8 million budget for the Cambridge Central School District was approved by an overwhelming margin, 708 votes to 458.
In other news, police in Renssellaer seized more than $1 million worth of steroids and other illicit pharmaceuticals and charged two persons, a 33-year-old man and a 28-year-old woman, following a joint investigation by postal inspectors, Homeland Security and the DEA.
In other news, the Green Bridge Gallery, located in the heart of Cambridge, will open June 14 with its inaugural show, “Lanscapes of Washington County by Matt Chinian.”
Sunday afternoon concerts return to the gazebo in Memorial Park in Cambridge June 16. Five summer performances are planned.
Don’t forget to enter the raffle for a free balloon ride in the upcoming balloon festival. Entry is free just by making a purchase at any participating store in Cambridge.
Congratulations to urban gardener Cathy DeDe for a big article in The Chronicle describing the wheat she grows in her 4,500-square-foot plot. The wheat is grown, harvested and milled by hand, using traditional tools such as a scythe and a hand-cranked threshing machine. DeDe used last season’s wheat to make pancakes. Now she’s thinking of growing hops to brew her own beer.
Here’s some exciting news: world experts will be strutting their stuff next weekend at a stone-skipping tournament in North Bennington, VT. Among the contestants: world record holder Russell F. Byars as well as former title holder Kurt “Mountain Man” Steiner.
Byars says he likes triangular stones for skipping, but urges heavier stones for rough, choppy water. But Byars isn’t fussy about technique. “My motto,” he says, “is just grip it and rip it.”
Finally, Rensselaer County Dairy Princess Lindsey McMahoon recently attended a town meeting in Hoosick to speak about the important of using milk instead of water to make oatmeal.
As part of the “Make It with Milk” campaign, Lindsey said the oatmeal effort is important because “out of the nine billion servings of oatmeal made each year less than 30 percent are made with milk.”
Lindsey also served a snack at the meeting: cheese and crackers.
This edition of The News from Up North was culled from actual news reports in the Washington County area and is presented here for the enjoyment and edification of our readers. As always, stay alert and please drive carefully.
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