Auburn Road (Route 34) was the place to be on Saturday as Bakers Acres and The John Joseph Inn each held their annual fall festival.  Each offered a clown, games, hay rides, animals, apple picking, and plenty of activities, but they also managed to be two distinct experiences.  Many people went to both for a full day of fun.

Bakers Acres offered fresh-made doughnuts, fresh cold cider, and a variety of home made goodies, along with their famous barbecued chicken.  The event featured the 4-H Cultural Exchange Club, alpacas from Angel Tree Farm, Jack Flick's Petting Zoo, Cheryl the Clown, reptiles from Cayuga Nature Center, adoptable SPCA pets, and story reading by Susan Rosenkoetter.

Down the road the John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Restaurant offered tours of the newly restored inn and property, plenty of animals including their signature Prep the Pig, sheep, ducks, and chickens, a (plastic) spider hunt, special foods and baked goods, and balloon animals and juggling by Crossroads the Clown.

{niftycolumn background=khaki,textcolor=#FFF}Bakers Acres Annual
Apple Harvest Festival


{niftynextcolumn background=#ccddee}John Joseph Inn & Elizabeth Restaurant Orchard Fest


{/niftycolumn}

Lansing Community Library Center hosted a reception for the 'Mandalas: Radial Imagery' exhibit currently running there through October 22.  Mandalas are ritualistic geometric designs used in Buddhism and Hinduism to aid meditation, but creating them offered many lessons to the 9th grade artists.  "The thing I like about them is that they are all from exactly the same assignment with a very specific rubric," says Lansing High Scool art teacher Robin Rogers.  "But each one is so completely different in the way they did their design work and the subject matter that they picked, and how they handled the materials."

Lansing's Town Board recognized two young athletes and Lansing youth Services Wednesday.  Town Supervisor Steve Farkas presented certificates honoring John Duthe and Kyle Dake, State champions in golf and wrestling, and the Town Board proclaimed November 15, 2007 as Lansing Youth Service Committee Day.

Lansing Community Council Vice President and Harbor Festival Chairwoman Karen Veaner told Lansing's Town Council Wednesday that the first annual Lansing Harbor Festival finished in the black.  She says that while the intent was to break even on the community celebration at Myers Park on September 1, that the festival actually made money despite a last minute postponement when a freak storm swept through the town.  "Honestly we were hoping just to break even," Veaner said.  "We didn't anticipate that we would make money this year.  I'm happy to say not only have we paid our bills, but thanks to our sponsors, sales, and contributions we made a minimum of $1,200."

Veaner said that a conservative estimate of 2,000 people attended, including 400 who were bussed from overflow parking at the Lansing schools,making nearly $1,000 of donations that day alone.  With one bill for bus services pending, she says the profit could go as high as $1,900 depending on the final amount of that bill.  She said the Community Council has not yet voted on how to use the money, but Veaner anticipated that most would be used to seed the 2008 festival, and if the profits are on the high side of that range the Community Council might choose to make an award to a Lansing service group.

Pet of the WeekHi there, my name is Cher. I am a female black cat who needs a loving home. I am an adult cat and I need a great family to take care of me. So please come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

----
v3i39

More than eighty Cub Scouts and dozens of adult leaders and parents spent the weekend of October 6th-7th in "Ancient Egypt" at the Baden-Powell Council's fall Cub Family Weekend. The Cubs gathered at Camp Barton in Trumansburg on Saturday, and spent the day marking hieroglyphics onto t-shirts, building pyramids and making bricks and papyrus, shooting arrows at the archery range, having their picture taken in Egyptian costume, and generally having fun in the perfect weather on the shore of Cayuga Lake. The day ended with a campfire program, and the Cubs and parents retired to their tents for a well-earned rest.

The Village of Lansing had a chance to show off its new rain garden Saturday.  One of 25 stops in the three-county Green Buildings Open House, the garden served as an example of how site landscaping is an important part of green design.  Cayuga Lake Watershed Network 's Sharon Anderson was on hand to tell people about the garden and make a presentation about rain gardens.  "It helps with the recharge of ground water and aquifer," Anderson says.  "It helps the water soak back into the ground, because once it hits the driveway it doesn't go back in, but when it goes into the rain garden it soaks down."

The Village rain garden, located in front of the Village of Lansing Office, is only one of many that Anderson has been responsible for creating.  Since she planted one at her Ludlowville home, she has become the local expert on rain gardens, helping municipalities and organizations create them and lecturing on their benefits and how to make one of your own.  Last year she and Environmental Planner Darby Kiley planted a rain garden behind the Lansing Community Center.  This year she had nearly 30 volunteers from all over New York State who were in Ithaca for Cornell Cooperative Extension's Master Gardener training, as well as a handful of Village residents who volunteered.

After months of long hours and hard work John and Elizabeth Hamilton opened the John Joseph Inn and Elizabeth Restaurant last Spring on the grounds of the former Rose Inn.  Tomorrow (Saturday, October 13th from 10am - 5pm) they will be holding the first Orchard Festival, a kind of fun open-house where the community can come and see what they've done with the place. 

"It's going to be family-based," John Hamilton says.  "We're going to give free tours of the inn and have a whole series of activities.  For a nominal admission fee there will be games for kids, a bounce castle, apple picking in our orchard, hay rides.  All the animals will be running around.  Prep will be out with the kids, the ducks will be hanging out, and the chickens.  Hopefully some sheep will be stopping by.  Games will include pumpkin tosses, bean bag toss through a witch, plastic spider hunt in the garden.  Crossroads the clown will be there for a few hours, and local teens will offer face painting.  Kids will get to paint pumpkins."

Ask IMOAsk IMO

Lansing's Advice Column

Email your questions to IMO at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Dear IMO,

My children, ages 9 and 11, often play with the children who live next door. They are very sweet and polite kids, but their mother is a smoker. When they play inside with them, they return home with a heavy smell of cigarette smoke imbedded in their clothing. My kids always have a fun time over there, but I'm worried about the potential for health problems if they are exposed to second hand smoke? Should I be worried? If so, who should I do?

Sincerely,
Pamela

Dear Pamela,

You have every right to be concerned about your children's health when they are at their friends' house. Second hand smoke, even in small amounts, is harmful to children, adults, and even pets. It contains numerous toxins, such as lead, which can have a devastating effect on a child's development.

Swimming lessons for kids are pretty easy to find.  But there are fewer options for adults looking for coaching on endurance and speed.  That's where the Masters Swim Team program at the YMCA comes in.  The weekly session caters to adults who want to improve their swimming either for personal satisfaction, or to make themselves more competitive in swimming events.  On October 8th adult swimmers will get a chance to try the program out when the YMCA holds an open house.  "It's an opportunity for people to come and try out the Masters program for free, and to see what they do," says the Y's Aquatic Director Joe Donley.  "We want people to be aware of where they can go to get some really great coaching."

The program has been headed by Kevin Vallely for 18 years.  Vallely was a recognized competitive swimmer at Lansing High School and in college who still competes, often winning in his age group at the Empire State Games.  After college he started the Masters Swim program at the YMCA, and has been head coach ever since.  "He continued his love of swimming through this masters program at our YMCA once a week," says YMCA Associate Director Frank Towner.  "He affects a lot of peoples' lives."

Ithaca, NY: On Saturday, September 29, 2007 the Tompkins County SPCA held its 20th annual dog walk and its first ever PetFest 2007 raising over $12,000 for the animals. This year's dog walk was along the beautiful waterfront trail at Cass Park in Ithaca. After walkers completed their choice of a two-mile, one-mile or half-mile walk route, they were treated to agility and fly ball demonstrations by Pawsitively Fun Training, music by Polarus and magic by Eric Dittelman. PetFest also featured a Doggie Day Spa, pet portraits, art and crafts by Spirit & Kitsch, fun activities for kids and a variety of exhibitors and merchandise.

Top fundraisers for the annual Dog Walk competed for special prizes and bragging rights. This year's winners were Tina O'Dell in the adult individual category, Mutt-ley Crew, Bobbi Townsend team captain, in the adult team category, Emily Gray in the youth individual category and the Lab Luv Team, Vanessa Scott, team captain for the youth team category.

----
v3i38

Pet of the WeekHiya! My name is Edna. I am a brown tabby with white streaks. I am five years old and am about medium for my age. I am in need of a great home with humans who will pet me and love me. Please come and visit me at the SPCA.

Visit the SPCA Web Page

----
v3i38