What is it with Sharon retail anyways?

For a number of years now, there has been a constant but a small growing buzz amongst numerous locals about the "slow death of Sharon". Death? Sharon? Well, maybe not dead per se, but sinking deeper into the title of "an old boring, life-less business town" sure seems to be at least, more appropriate. 

Got any thoughts or better yet, any answers? 

couple of items....

#1-- UConn Basketball---still rolling along! The men's team is headed to the Final Four in Detroit. Next up for them is Michigan State. Is that fair? It will be like MS is playing at home, for that Michigan team. It will probably be louder than a Lion's game. Tip-off is 6:07 on Saturday, the 4th, on CBS™. Come on UConn!

#2-- UConn Women's Basketball also is continuing to roll along through their tournament. Still the only undefeated team in college basketball, (either men's or women's) our Huskies have one heck of a good team. They are not the deepest in talent from one to twelve, but their starting five is pretty incredible. Handled correctly, as they have been thus far by Coach Geno, the Italian stallion from Philly, they have the potential to play it out with an undefeated season. Next up for them are the Arizona Sun Devils @ 7pm, Tuesday, on ESPN2™. Win that, and its on to the Final Four in St. Louis, where Clare, Cat, Tammy and I went about 8 years ago now to see them. Trouble was, they lost in the first round to Notre Dame, the eventual champion that year. Hope if they get there and they have better luck this time around.

#3-- Some have asked why so much on UConn Basketball from my little Country Lane blog? Well, if you live here, you kind of know there really isn't a lot going on right now except the mud season is pretty much in full swing, so if you have a dirt driveway, or live off a "country lane", your cars are taking a beating right now. There is no news on a replacement for our empty market in town. Small businesses, mine included, are hurting big-time. Many have laid-off employees, cut their hours, or eliminated positions entirely. As always, we are all hoping for warmer times to get here sooner than it ever does, and also hoping that those warmer times will bring some life back into the community. We may be a pretty place to live and visit, but we sure aren't recession-proof. Oh, there is one really good bit of news, at least to me. Jenny Hansell again has started up her blog, which had been on hiatus for much of the winter. I am anxious to see her work again. I bet she has been stock-piling a few special items that will probably cheer us all up! What-ever, I welcome her back, and hope you all check out her work. Now I can add her to one of my favorite places to visit out in web-world.

still in the running!

Congratulations Coach! You've made it to the Final 4 again! What an exciting thing for a coach and his team. Good luck in Detroit!

Since our little state has nothing but monstrous debt, and no real answers for it except to take 20% from lottery agents commissions, our UConn teams give us reasons to cheer.

So go get'em UConn, men's and women's teams both. We'll be rootin' for ya!

angelfood comes to Sharon!

Perhaps you have heard of angelfood ministries, perhaps you haven't. But if these economic times have you in any struggle what-so-ever financially, just perhaps you should check it out. Young. Old. Singles and families. Open to everyone. And what is really neat,  now it is available here in Sharon thru The Sharon Congregational Church. It is a program to acquire quality food at some rather unbelievable prices. It is a monthly offering where you basically place your order during the first two weeks of each month and on the last Saturday of the month your food will be available for pickup at the church in the morning. Anyone can participate. Food Stamps™ are even accepted. It just seems to be something very timely coming to our area. I repeat the part about anyone can participate. If you have questions, please do not hesitate to visit the store and let me explain how it works or visit here. I have the April menu and order forms available, and there will be dates announced soon when orders will be taken for April orders. Please use my links to check it out ahead of time.

step by step

~3 to go... Go UConn!

just 24 days ago......

 ~By the first of March, I usually start thinking about shedding the big winter jacket for just a fleece and a sweater underneath. But the old man (Mr.Winter) had other ideas this year. He gave us a snowstorm. We picked up over 9" up on the hill, and it turned bitter cold the next two days following. The furnace was like at a track meet---running and running. But yesterday it was in the 50's, and tomorrow it is supposed to be in the 60's! But today, the best thing I saw -----forsythia starting to turn a little green, which will soon be yellow.... Spring IS just around the corner!

one of the few remaining Sharon Elms.........

If you go back to old photos of Sharon, say the late 1800's up until the 1960's, Sharon Green was known for its elm trees. I think somewhere there was a saying about Connecticut and her "stately elms". Anyways, along in the 60's or 70's our elms were attacked by the Dutch Elm Disease, and Sharon Green's landscape was pretty-much changed forever. Today there are just a few remaining, and this is one of the healthy ones, located on the Main green, just south of the town hall, near the location of the old flagpole. I took this shot almost a year ago from a bucket truck. Our green has been filled with all kinds of varieties of trees since the elm disease hit, and I guess our committee has done a good job with it. But for me, once you see how Sharon Green once looked, with all its magnificent elms,  for probably more than 100 years, I can't help but wish the Elm disease never hit our area with the vengeance that it did.

did you catch this on 60 Minutes?

I

I watched a great afternoon of NCAA Basketball yesterday, and my brackets are doing pretty well! My Wake Forest pick hurt me though! Last evening, following the games, I watched 60 Minutes, who had a good interview with The President of The U.S. and this was the story which followed, which I found to be very good. Check it out.

Two down...

~four to go.......

Getting down to 32...

UConn,  winner of its first game in the Men's Basketball Playoffs yesterday in Philly, was firing on all eight cylinders I guess, judging by the final score of 103 to 47. Of course, a one-seeded team versus a sixteen-seeded team certainly was a mismatch, (at least on paper) before the ball was ever tipped. Coach Calhoun missed being court side, due to an as-of-yet, untold illness. He spent the night in a Philly hospital get re-hydrated and some rest is all we've been told, according to a CNN web page. Assistant Coach Blaney was therefore in charge and the boys seemed to play up to their ability for him. If that continues, which for them to win needs to, this just could turn out to be a fun march to the finals for the school from Storrs, Connecticut.

It's March Madness, Baby!

~they say inside every man is the desire to either be or have been an athlete of some type. America is full of all kinds of great sports in which to participate or be a fan. I was born with two left feet, so sports for me was always more fun as a supporter. My greatest sport thrills were when we attended the NCAA Women's Basketball Final Four, once in Philly (when UConn won) and also in St. Louis, where they lost. (the day Diana Taurasi had her worst college game) Anyway, with that said, my brackets are filled, the UConn men won their first game in the Men's Tournament and the Madness has begun. Ya Bay-bee! Give em the rock! Its totally awesome baby!

are you free Friday night? a neighbor is in need...

I grabbed this from the FV Blog and wanted to help. John is a custodian @ the high school and has a terrible illness. He has been hospitalized for multiple months, and funds are needed badly. Please check you wallets and see if you can help a neighbor. I really appreciate it!

what were they thinking?

so, do these folks at AIG have a clue or am I out of it? I know I am a farmer, but geez-Louise! They get billions from the Fed, literally saving their arses, and on Saturday past they gave away 65 MILLION IN BONUSES to employees!!! I know Barry (Barack) is trying to get it stopped now, (like thats gonna happen--the horse has already left, little late on the gate) but if I were one of those who got the money, I might just be worried if one my neighbors learns of it or they may find themselves hanging from a tall oak tree...... oooooo, justice served the old way.

was that a nice day or what?

OK---all of you out there who are or were residents of Sharon, or the NW corner. Remember when Sharon had a car wash? It was a Softspray Coin-Op, two bays, orange and white in color and it was right where the Post Office is now.(before that was a house where the Donovan family lived), which incidentally Morris Movers jacked up and moved to the end of Still Meadow Road, along about Sept. 5th, 1965 or so. I was in a wicked dirt-ball fight with friends the night before school started is how I remember it so well. 5th grade started the next day. Not for me though cuz I caught one in the eye, and never started school till January or later. Boy, is that ancient history!

I tell all of that to tell you that is was so nice today! I hooked up an outside faucet and washed our two cars and my truck after church! And swept out the barn. And raked up some sticks. It was a great day! Hope you got out in it too! (and I sure hope there are more to come...soon!)

corned beef dinner @ the Legion Hall Today!

Today, Saturday, there is a fundraising supper @ the Sharon American Legion Post #126 on New Street from 5 -7 PM I believe. I can't attend but I hope lots of locals can find there way down and enjoy some fine food and help support the local legion post!

.ambulance call @ the plaza..

Our great volunteer ambulance squad members came to the aide of a fallen patron outside in the cold this morning near the pharmacy. I know nothing about the patient but I know that the ambulance and just a whole group of help showed up in just a matter of minutes. Other people had comforted the patient with a blanket and such till they got here and whisked the patient away to Sharon Hospital I presume. Another little thing we are just so thankful for... our volunteer force in the ambulance!

do you know this guy?

~ after a number of nights of working on a house project, I took tonight off from work and watched some TV. I watched the show "Lie to Me" on Fox. Not sure about any of their other shows, how they have been or how they will be, but to me, tonight's episode was "two thumbs up." Check it out next week or find it on Hulu or one of the other internet TV show sites. Good entertainment to me.

oh, and by the way, the man in the picture is one of the stars, actor Tim Roth

..some friends are getting divorced.....damn!

~I hope she does~

its enuff' to give you nightmares.......

anybody besides me think that car problems are really an act of the devil? Just a test to see how much you can get worked up? The car that Cat drives to and from college acted up coming down the Taconic State last Saturday night. The "ETS" idiot light came on. Lost cruise control immediately. Ran rough when accelerating the rest of the way home, where she fortunately got o.k. Since then..... perfect! Of course, being responsible parents she took my truck back to college, so I can spend money I don't have on her car to try and find out whats up. I Googled it, and told the mechanic, but he's not convinced. It might be covered if its a certain thing. I sure hope its that......

daylight savings time has begun!

~so, I came to work today and worked all day. I had changed all the clocks at home, but never gave a thought about the ones at the store. Oops! I thought I had a couple hours to go, but its almost quitting time! Gotta move, work to do!!

a couple of days off...

~son Andrew is flying in tonight on Southwest for a visit til Sunday, and Cat will be home tomorrow night till Sunday too, so my postings are going on a break till next Monday at least I think. Hope everyone has a great weekend, where-ever you are....

well I guess it roared, but it was'nt too fierce of a roar..

The first scheduled snow on Sunday never really happened in Sharon, or at least not where I was. The second one, the "big" one, did however. It started sometime after 11 pm and was pretty much over by 9am in Sharon as far as dropping snow. It did snow most all day but really a very insignificant amount after about 9AM. I'm not sure it was all the storm they said it would be, but then again, they actually nailed it pretty good around here as far as forecasting amounts. It seemed to be a bit of an elevation storm from those I have talked with. I had to have shoveled and plowed a good 8-9 inches of light snow up on my hill. I don't think there was that much here at the plaza. Maybe, but I don't think so. I heard some spots on the hills in Cornwall had over 14", which is only 8-10 miles away as that old crow flies. But, it closed schools yesterday, opened them late today and if you weren't already, I am sure most everyone is now thinking about enough already, lets warm things up around here!

But a topic for discussion sometime might be, don't we live in New England, where it snows, and people still continue there lives? What is with all these delayed openings at the area schools? Two hours for each one multiplied by however many we are now up to this year makes for a number of lost days for our teachers to teach. Snow days, after exhausting the allowed number, are made-up in June but these delays..... you don't get them back. A friend of mine has a saying for when a person needs to toughen up...he'll say, "buck up, buttercup".. Perhaps some of the area school bosses and probably a few parents need to hear his words. Its snow. Deal with it. It comes with the territory. Do they have this many delays in Vt. N.H.,Me., and out west where it really snows? Somehow, I doubt it....

And on top of that, there are at least five thousand pick-ups with plows running around here. Everyone must be plowed out. And nine out of ten of us have SUV's and 4-wheel drive autos. Get in em' and go!

in like a lion.... (supposedly)

~the hill seems really quiet right now. I just came in and there is no noise of any kind. Nothing. It sort of is like a holiday with no noise from traffic or planes or anything. I think you have to live in a small town to totally understand the "quietness" I am referring to now. Almost eerie in a way. It really must be the "calm" before the storm. I'll let you know for sure tomorrow. In the mean time, we'll drink a little hot cocoa and listen to some modern country on the internet radio station. Hope everyone stays safe wherever the next 24 hours finds you....