pictures

GoArt!'s annual 4th of July "Picnic in the Park" got a pretty good turnout this year, with families and people of all ages coming over to enjoy the food, shows and activities.

For those who missed it, here are some photos:

Andrew Richardson, a pastoral intern at Batavia Assembly of God Church, gets "dunked."

Fencing competition sponsored by Batavia's new En Garde Fencing Academy.

Pictured the Fraterrigo Family, who came to play some bluegrass for the folks in Batavia.

Members of the group Diaspora Drumming play some Latin American drumbeats.

A spectator "jigs" to Irish tunes.

ANIMALS IN THE PARK:

Over the last several months, I've been spending some of my free time exploring Batavia. Not just walking along the side of the road, but finding trails and paths that are relatively untraveled and unknown for the most part. As of late, my exploring and roots in technology have lead me to the OpenStreetMap (OSM) project.

My latest cellphone features a built-in GPS radio and a 5MP camera. Earlier today (yesterday), I went out and mapped part of an abandoned railroad track that was previously owned by Conrail for the OSM project. The tracks were removed long ago and if it weren't for still being listed as part of the Conrail railroad on several mapping services, there would be no way to know otherwise. Eventually, the trail intersects with the Conrail tracks that are still presently used (the tracks that go under part of Rt. 5, intersect with Seven Springs Road/Rt. 63, etc).

While I was out, I took (geotagged) pictures. I've chucked them all into a Picasa album ingeniously labeled "Batavia". Do keep in mind that this isn't the first time I've been out to this location. Most of the pictures in the album were taken in the same general area and the geotags will reflect this. When looking at an album/picture, Picasa shows a terrain view map in the bottom-right corner of the page with a mark point showing the GPS location(s) of the picture(s) being looked at. 

Some of the better pictures are shown after the jump.

I happened to stop in Terry Platt's office today and the conversation eventually got around to dog tricks. It turns out his dog, Kiwi, likes to chew gum. That was entertaining to watch.

Around 6 p.m. I happened across some construction work on Park Road. I stopped and took this picture. The worker only wanted to be identified as "Welder Guy."  He said the company he's working for has a contract to put in a new sewer system for Batavia Downs.

I remain fascinated by the old barns of Genesee County. Yesterday, coming back from the incident on Mullen Road, I spotted this one at Horseshoe Lake and Sanders roads in Stafford.

   Its fall again!!My favorite time of year.The light is great.Happy fall everyone>..Dan

Arcadia Publishing has rereleased Barbara Ann Toal's book, Images of America: Batavia. The book was originally published in 2000 and has been sold out and unavailable for the past four years.

The book is available at the Joseph Ellicott Museum Store at the Holland Land Office Museum and contains more than 180 photographs, postcards, maps and drawings. The book makes an excellent gift and retails for $19.99.

The Holland Land Office Museum located at 131 West Main Street in Batavia is open Tuesday through Saturday from 10:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m.

Arcadia Publishing, based in South Carolina, are experts in publishing short run local history books. They have published local histories on thousands of cities, towns and villages across the United States.

For more information, contact the Museum at 585-343-4727

I had to go to Tractor Supply Co. in Batavia, NY on Friday 10/17/08 to return a ball mount that didn't have a deep enough drop for my camper. 

When I pulled in, I looked to my left and there was a wagon and four absolutely beautiful large work horses with wonderful halters on.  Now, I am absolutely curious, but I have to make sure that I don't get sidetracked and that I make sure that I keep my focus. 

I went in and made the return, trying to rush to get back outside to investigate.  After what seems to be hours, I finally get back outside and I start walking towards these beautiful creatures that are contently huddling around an odd looking wagon. 

As I begin to look at one of the horses, I hear some rustling to my left.  A middle-aged man comes walking around and we make the make our introductions.  With making conversation, I was able to to collect some interesting information: the man's name is Bob; his horses are of Percheron breed; their names are Doc, Dolly, Joyce and Dee Dee; he travels with his horses and wagon; and he is currently packing up to head back west. 

After chatting with Bob, I noticed some spectators starting to show interest, so I figured I would take one more look at the horses and then go on my way.  As I am walking back to my vehicle, I figure that I should take some quick pictures of this unique situation.  Though I am not a professional photographer by any means, I grabbed my camera from my vehicle and took as many pictures as I could before they could leave.  I figured this would be a perfect addition for my calendar that I plan to make of various nature pictures I have taken over the years.  So, photo after photo, I am scurrying to always get that last picture before they can leave. 

As they begin to exit the parking lot and make their way left, across Rte. 5,  I rush to my vehicle and slowly drive ahead of them.  I pull over into the parking lot of a small welding business that is about 300 feet in front where they are currently traveling.  I jump out of my vehicle with my camera and started taking pictures of them coming at me on the main roadway.  It is neat to watch these four horses loyally and proudly pulling their friend and his wagon. 

As they begin to pass by me, I wave to Bob and tell him thank you.  Thank you for being you, thank you for caring and keeping these beautiful animals, thank you for being so courageous and unique to travel all over the American north east with them, and a much bigger thank you for providing and showing this neat phenomena to the world.  In response to my thanks, he gave a very kind gentleman's nod and replied, "Your welcome." 

I snapped a few more photos as they continued down the road and muttered to myself, with the utmost amount of satisfaction, "Right place.  Right time."

 (For more info, visit their website: www.wagonteamster.com)

Here is a picture of my son and my Tesla Coil mind you it's very safe as long as you respect it's power and more of this can be found on my YouTube channle here

A picture one of many I took of that October storm we had awhile back

I took a time lapsed photo of the planet Jupiter well trying to anyways and when I took this photo is was pitch black out

The fire that happened on liberty street awhile back