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| Page Views: 7,335 | Growing up in ROCHESTER New York by Michael_D - last update: Aug 29, 2008 |
ROCHESTER mostly "winter" memories...SEVERE ONES | COBBS HILL I spent half my life here... |
I lived here 30 years and there ARE some good memories and good places to be sure. Sometimes ROCHESTER is called the Lilac Capital because of its huge Highland Park and many surrounding parks and homes are full of them. The biggest problem I have is that the winters used to be SO bad!
Maybe the gloom isnt so hard to understand, for the real downside of living in Rochester is the WEATHER . In a USA TODAY article recently,
Even today(according to USA Today)
Syracuse (#1)
Buffalo (#2)
Rochester (#3)
topped the list of places with the most snow in America>>>>averaging around 88 inches a year in a recent USA Today article. YOU would be gloomy too!
-The average number of days falling to 32 degrees or lower is 134
-The average number of cloudy days per year is 199
-The averages number of inches of snow is 70.
-I remember 32 days straight it never got above ZERO Farenheit.
I kinda chuckle because most Rochestarians I know claims to "love the change of seasons"...(those that didnt leave for the sunbelt that is;-)
I like to email Rochfolks in Feb/Mar when its 82 and sunny in Florida;-)
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| ROCHESTER SKYLINE FROM THE GENESEE RIVER |
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Rochester has a rich history as the hometown of Frederick Douglas, George Eastman, Susan B Anthony, Xerox, Kodak, Bausch and Lomb, Mitch Miller, Chuck Mangione and actors Pernell Roberts, Peter Duel and Hugh O'Brien.Florida writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins also lived here awhile and Deland Florida was settled by residents of Rochester.
Rochester Trivia
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-The first known abolitionist group was founded here in 1838 and Susan B Anthony was born here and Frederick Douglas lived here.
-Rochester is the birthplace of many world famous companies including:
Eastman Kodak
Xerox
Bausch and Lomb
Frenchs Mustard
Genesee Beer
Zweigels Hots
Most of the above are moving out. Frenches has left. Xerox and Kodak are all but gone.
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*You know you're from Rochester, NY when:
-The thought of eating a 'garbage plate' makes your mouth water. (A tribute to Nick Tahou's Rest.)
-The only thing at the annual May Lilac Festival is snow.
-Your high school never had a football field(just a parking lot) and you won the city football league 2x when you played for Monroe High School.
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Tis true...you really never CAN go back
Rochester was founded by financier Nathaniel Rochester and was originally a flour mill town. This is a picture of the upper falls. It was later renamed THE FLOWER CITY due to the abundance of lilacs and the LILAC FESTIVAL is held here yearly.
Downtown Rochester has changed so much I hardly recognise it on a recent trip(summer 2006). Sibleys is no longer a department store, Red Wing Stadium(Frontier)is downtown, there is a new Bausch and Lomb Building and the streets are deserted after 5pm & on weekends.
I have 2 friends still in Rochester Chuck DeGaugh and Shelly Austin Zuck and BOTh live in the suburbs;-P.
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I credit mom for starting my wanderlust and for taking trips to places like
Niagara Falls
Hamlin Beach
Toronto
the Adirondaks
Letchworth
Fairhaven Beach
Lake George
Ft Ticonderoga
and
Florida/Miami/Daytona 4x...probably why I ended up in Florida...eh?
Thanks Mom;-)
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Almost all of the best stuff I remember is outside of the city. The greater Rochester area has many nice little surrounding towns Mendon, Churchville, Hilton, Hamlin, Avon, Spencerport, Penfield, Brockport, Fairport, Canandaigua, Pittsford, Webster. This picture is a small town quite far away,,,but look at the picture;-)HONEYOYE FALLS...looks every bit like New England.
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THE ERIE CANAL runs south of Rochester and its been touted as the best 100 miles in the entire Erie Canal System. The cites of Fairport and Pittsford have done a great deal to develop its shores. There are hiking/biking paths from Albany to Buffalo but I can vouch for the fact that the Rochester section is great...ive taken almost every mile of it either running or biking. The canal path would be one of the special treasures in ROCHESTER. I used to bike it alot. I still bike 5-10 miles daily.
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Drum corps started my travel addiction
When I was a kid I was in a musical activity called a Drum and Bugle Corps. The Statesmen, the 2x national champion Rochester Crusaders and 9x state champion St Josephs of Batavia.
This might not seem to be related to travel, but I just came accross a drum corps schedule (one of 12 years I was in drum corps)
In one summer we went to
Toronto Ontario
Revere Mass
Rochester NY
Batavia NY
Geneva NY
Utica NY
Warren PA
Garfield NJ
Hempstead NY
Emporia PA
Ogdesburg NY
Pittsfield Mass
Toronto(2nd time)
Seneca Falls NY
Marion Ohio
Ashtabula Ohio
Milwaukee Wisc
Auburn NY
That was just 1 summer of 12 summers we toured. I also went to Chicago, NYC, Montreal, Boston, and many other places as a teenager. We traveled almost constantly;-)
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| THE BEST PART...UPSTATE NEW YORK |
| | Miles from nowhere
I went back to Rochester last summer for the 1st time in 35 years.
From what I read on Classmates.com, most of my old high school friends live in California, Texas, Minnesota & Florida anyway. emailed Mary Santa Maria & Jan Levenburg a few times. Called Any Rencis & Joe Lupiani. Chuck DeGaugh & I still call about 1x a month. Shelly Austin and I have recently chatted quite a bit.
Upstate NY isnt all bad. The area outside Rochester called the Finger Lakes is an absolute gem. I went to university on Cayuga Lake(Cornell) and had a cottage on Canandaigua Lake for years. I now have a farm/cottage near Ithaca. See my Cornell & Ithaca pages.
I spend at least 2 weeks every summer in Ithaca NY. The people are downright friendly, its amazingly rural and I have a huge playground called Cornell University.
Sweeeeet!
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 Comments for Michael_D about World | | | | |
annk Sun Aug 24, 2008 16:35 UTC
Congrats on your continued weight loss Mike. But it looks like you've completely melted away! | margaretvn Sun Aug 10, 2008 11:44 UTC
I really enjoyed your HP and albums... found you while checking out tips for an upcoming trip to the States | hotsauce28 Fri Aug 8, 2008 21:36 UTC
holy crap!! it must be all that o.j you're drinking!! ;) | sugarpuff Mon Jul 28, 2008 03:44 UTC
You swam with Ryan Lochte's dad? Is there anything you HAVENT done!!! hahaa!!! |
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