Happy Thursday
LIVE MUSIC - Music was in the air this past Pre-Eclipse Sunday Evening. A cosmic-inspired line-up of Emma Geiger traveling-up on a mini eclipse tour from North Carolina was supported by an opening-act of experimental saxophone musings delivered by Potsdam, NY's own William Eckert. Because the weather was right on the fringe of being "comfortable" outside, the show was setup WITHIN Otto's. Some houseplants and furniture were temporarily relocated to make room for everyone to gather. William Eckert opened the night with an ethereal soundscape of his voice and alto saxophone played and plugged into electro-acoustic elements - the hushed crowd locked-in on his inspiring experiential sonic musings. Up next was Emma Gaiger and back-up guitarist Joe. Emma's beautiful voice and her and Joe's mingling fingerpicking guitar work enchanted the packed house. In short: the evening could not have gone any better. Thanks EVERYONE for such a magical evening at the Abode.
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE - A week ago the TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE WAS QUICKLY APPROACHING... forecast looked amazing... downright perfect. They hype was thick... goosebumps! Starting Wednesday - WITH FRESH COLD SNOW - of last week folks started to roll into Wanakena. Thursday... more people arriving and everyone that came brought with them friends and family. It began to feel like a wonderful Wanakena Reunion. Around this time the forecast began to change... it appeared that clouds were forecast to be rolling in for the Monday Afternoon event. Seemed like no one wanted to talk about it. Didn't matter at the time though, the energy building in the village was too positive and contagious. The party was here! A marriage proposal (followed by "yes!") happened in the gazebo! Out of state folks arrived with canoes heading out onto Cranberry Lake fo the event. Out of state photographers' chasing the Milkey Way and its neighboring comet on Sunday's BEAUTIFUL crystal clear New Moon evening, and of course THE ECLIPSE! The village was rockin' full of old friends and new, family, neighbors and strangers. THE BIG DAY ARRIVED.... Some wispy clouds mixed with blue skies, and everything seemed good! The forecast looked like we were going to be okay. Folks gathered around 1pm for SOLAR FLING out in ZPARK... Music and crockpots galore, frier and grill, keg-o-Molson, croquet, lawn chairs coolers and blankets, telescopes and cameras! Around 2:00 the Moon began Eclipse the Sun... the anticipation was growing. There was an uninhibited view of the event. As the MAIN EVENT inched towards us, the party music was turned town to zero. The crowd became quiet. Everyone was transfixed on what was happening. Darker, and colder.... until BOOM! TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE! Glasses: off. Moon: smack dab in the middle. The crowd went wild and could be heard over at The Mill Pond. for three minutes and thirty-three seconds we were suspended together enchanted by the cosmic event. Clear skies with eerie golden, beige clouds near the horizon. Without exaggerating... it was perfect. Everything. Perfect. AND THEN THE MOSQUITOS CAME OUT (and they havn't gone away) haha... wow! And the music came back on... and the party continued as the Moon slowly pulled away from hiding the sun. SUBLIME! Scott the UPS guy said he was way down Columbian Road when it went dark, and that there was a confused dog wondering around down there. Some folks in town who were out and about said they heard coyotes. Another report was from out on Cranberry Lake where an owl was heard hooting. Mr. Opel said he heard turkeys down Brown Falls Road.
A LA BODE - We are happy to announce we are a part of Cornell Cooperative Extensions SNAP-Ed Coupon Program.... learn more here: Cornell Cooperative Extension | SNAP-Ed New York. We still have some WANAKENA TOTAL ECLIPSE long-sleeve t-shirts available... Lime Green or Gray Long Sleeve $23 Adult Sizes (out of small and only a few medum green left - L, XL & XXL available). Mary at the Post Office says they are looking for PART TIME SUMMER EMPLYMENT at the Newton Falls Post Office 13666. As of now the next PLANNED event will be THE RETURN OF OPEN-AIR OPEN MIC Memorial Day Weekend Sunday, May 26th 6-9PM. If and when something pops-up... we'll let you know! Until then.... your favorite INCONVENIENCE STORE rolls-on... SO, STOP IN, POKE AROUND AND STOCK UP! QUALITY YEAR-ROUND SERVICE IN THE HEART OF WANAKENA, NEXT TO THE POST OFFICE, AT THE EDGE OF THE FIVE PONDS WILDERNESS AND THE BOTTOM OF THE OSWEGATCHIE RIVER HEADWATERS, RIGHT AT THE MOUTH OF CRANBERRY LAKE! ART, LOCAL INFORMATION & HISTORY DISPLAYS ON VIEW, ROTATING ART & MUSIC EVENTS... AND CROQUET! HOT COFFEE AND BAKED GOODS! LOCAL RAW HONEY! NIGHT CRAWLERS! ICE! 2024 MAPLE SYRUP! DRY, COLD AND FROZEN GROCERIES! LOTS OF ORGANIC AND GLUTEN-FREE OPTIONS! NEARLY FOURTY DIFFERENT FRUIT & VEG OPTIONS! WALK-IN COOLER WITH OVER FIFTY VARIETIES OF COLD BEER/CIDER/SELTZER/N.A.! SNACKS, CANDY & ICE CREAM! HIKING AND FISHING GEAR! MAPS, MUSIC, BOOKS, GIFTS, ART AND MORE! WEE-KEENA LIBRARY ON THE PORCH! FOUR YEARS OF ARCHIVED "WANAKENA WEEKLY" NEWSLETTERS ONLINE AT WWW.OTTOSABODE.ORG
