Sunday, March 25 

Learn the basics of identifying the many architectural styles of the houses in our community, including Federal, Greek Revival, Gothic Revival, Queen Anne and others, presented by Margaret Mosher

Location:  Willard Memorial Chapel, 17 Nelson Street, Auburn
Contact:  Kathy Walker
Starting Time:  2 p.m.
Ending Time:  4 p.m.
Admission:  FREE

Date: April 14, 2007
Time: 07:00 PM – 08:30 PM
http://counties.cce.cornell.edu/onondaga/watersheds/skanhome.htm
Event Description
Cornell Cooperative Extension of Onondaga County will offer a twilight program about local frogs and what their songs can tell us about our water and Skaneateles Lake.

The young and young at heart will learn about frogs using a miniature lake model and the ?Name That Frog!? listening game. Participants will then be led on a short, guided walk along fields and wetlands at the south end of Skaneateles Lake to listen for the peeps, ribbits, hums, and croaks of various springtime singers.

To register, call Cooperative Extension at (315) 424-9485 ext 0. Space is limited. Bring a flashlight and dress for the weather!

While we realize this might not rise to the National news, we live here and our identity is at stake. Small wonder that this debate consumes us all.

One thing all York Staters have in common is Indian. American Indian that is. And specifically The Iroquois Confederacy. [Remember the Six Nations from High School history?]

What we know for sure is that after the American Revolution we were broke, so we gave away land grants in Upstate New York to everybody we owed money to. As an aside we also know the beaurocratic clerk who drew up the maps was an aficionado of Roman History. [Thus all the Brutus's and Cato's and Marcellus's.] We also know that the owners of the Land Grants didn’t want them, so they sold them. Cheap.

Thus, people bought the then-cheap land and starting in 1795, moved here in droves and re-settled the Indian villages and in many cases kept the names. For most of you, this is not a Big Deal. Happily, you live in a Genesee,or Cayuga, or Onondaga. Not so for us; we have an identity crisis in the StoryBook Village.

Is it Skan-E-At-Las or Skinny-Atlas? We have also seen or heard: Skaneatelis, Skanapolis, Skanateles, Scaneatles, Skaneatles, Skanetelas, Skaneatlas, Skaneatelas, Skaneatele, Skan-e-a-ties and of course, Skana-telles.

I have lived here for 56 years and I say SKAN-E-AT-LES. So does the Village website and the Historical Society and the American Heritage Dictionary of English Language. BUT… many locals say Skinny. Is a simple matter that 5 syllable words are difficult to pronounce after several beers? Any linguists out there?

Further, we cannot agree amongst ourselves about the Indian derivation meaning.

Conventional wisdom is that it means: “long,beautiful lake” but there is another argument it means: “long, lanky squaw who likes to make of babies”. Ha! I like the latter.

Skaneateles is a StoryBook Village. We live here and we know why: Walk to everything, sit on park benches with your neighbors, run to the Community Center to then work out, shop in one of the very unusual shops (like Angels on the Lake or Bella Blue) before you have lunch at Joe’s Pasta Garage.

Guess What? You can live here too, in one of our luxury Village Condos. Call Curt for details at 315-685-7568.

April 19th
A Day of My Own

Ever wish you could have “A Day of My Own”? Now you can! On the third Thursday of each month we offer you the opportunity to come to Stella Maris Retreat Center and enjoy time to rest, pray, walk, be nourished in body and spirit in any way that fits your needs.

Arrival time is anytime after 9:00 a.m., you can come and leave at your
convenience.
 
Offering: $12 includes lunch