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Fall tour 2002
Follow the River Don Quixote
By Rhonda and Tim Rizzo
This year's tour could have been called the "A La Carte" tour. So many people participated in so many different ways. Some of the club members just had brunch, some did brunch and the first part of the tour, some did the tour only, some did the bake sale only and some club members graciously volunteered their time. For instance, Paul Wheeler, a resident of Gates, rented the shelter saving the club $50. Dave Avery and his daughter Caroline couldn' t drive the tour however they arrived at the shelter in time to decorate the tables and had the coffee, hot water and hot cider ready for us. (Dave had an encounter with my Lucas electric coffeepot, which is why the regular coffee was late). Thank you Scott Perry for recording the day in pictures. That's right, my camera was dead again!
The tour route started in Perry N.Y. with brunch at Lumber Yard. The food was great. (The home made cinnamon buns were the best I have had in years as well as the service.) Our private room upstairs was going to be a problem for some of our members so a special table was reserved down stairs and those people were given the VIP treatment. There was time after brunch to visit, Bonnie (better known as the Farmers Wife) who had a free gift waiting for all MGCC members who paid her a visit at the Antique Co-op. The tour started promptly at 12:00.
We drove along Silver Lake before heading to Java Lake by way of Weathersfield Rd and the windmills. I can't imagine why there is no overlook at Wiscoy falls but I hope you all enjoyed the view as you drove over the bridge. Then we headed north, picked up the Genesee River at the south end of Letchworth Park and followed the river on the east side to the Mt. Morris Dam Visitors center.
Wilma at the Mt. Morris Dam had coffee, lemonade and cookies waiting for us. Thanks to all who left a donation. When we called Wilma to make sure her expenses were covered she invited us back next spring for a private dam tour with special access to a scenic parking spot at the waters edge for pictures. (Details will be provided in the Spring.)
After refreshments and taking advantage of the nice, dry warm building we continued to follow East River roads right into the city where we ended at a shelter in Gates for our bake sale.
We want to give a special thank you to all who donated food for the bake sale and to all those who bought food and/or gave donations. The sale was a huge success. We raised $100 for the endowment fund!
Tim and I get a great sense of satisfaction planning the tour for you. We try to find interesting roads and places you may never have been to. We don't consider it work, but it does take planning. However there are two things that are completely out of our control, the weather and road construction. We apologize for the stoned roads, the detour around Spencerport and I wish it had been a "top down day". However the fog/mist did add a special quality to the day. Many club members commented how beaut iful some of the valleys looked in the mist and the way the windmills on Weathersfield road appeared; seemingly out of no where.
The mist helped to make it very easy to imagine Don Quixote drawing his sword and engaging the windmills in battle.
