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| Page Views: 8,159 | Growing up in ROCHESTER New York by Michael_D - last update: Aug 28, 2009 |
ROCHESTER mostly "winter" memories...SEVERE ONES | ROCHESTER.. I spent half my life here... |
I lived in Rochester 30 years and there ARE some good memories and good places and good people to be sure. Over the years old friends I did get in touch with sounded downright gloomy. Then again I did call in winter when its -20 there and 82F here in Florida. LOL
Maybe the gloom isnt so hard to understand, for the real downside of living in Rochester for me was ALWAYS is the WEATHER .
In a USA TODAY article 2007
Syracuse (#1)
Buffalo (#2)
Rochester (#3)
topped the list of places with the most snow in America>>>>averaging around 88 inches that year. Last year nearby Oswego NY was "#1" but Rochester was far behind.
-The average number of days falling to 32 degrees or lower is 134(Orlando Florida 2 days)
-The average number of cloudy days per year is 199(Orlando Florida 110 days)
-conversely number of sunny days 166(Orlando Florida 255)
-The averages number of inches of snow is 74.(Orlando Florida 0 inches)
-I remember 32 days straight it never got above ZERO F in Roch!
Ah..the memories..boots, coats, snowplows and shovelling the driveway??
On May 5th in 1970-something I drove to work on a clear cold snow free morning and by noon the snow was so high I had to walk home! As per USA Today "Since the late 1980s 1 in 4 people in upstate NY have migrated elsewhere." I was one of them.
But to be honest the summers in Rochester are great. There are festivals everywhere, Steam fest in Canandaigua, Potato fest in Wayland, Parades, picnics..they have to pack alot into 12 weeks of good summer weather.(there I go againLOL)
I kinda chuckle because several Rochestarians I know claims to "love the change of seasons" from May to Sept and from Oct-April they get a tad grumpier about it...hehe...you have to be tough to live in Rochester!
My rule in Florida is ..
-80 degrees or under seems like fall to me
-70 degrees or under I wear a sweater with my shorts
-60 degrees or under I dont leave the house(what for??LOL)
I like to email Rochfolks in Feb/Mar when its 82 and sunny in Florida;-)
I am gonna guess they would like to email me when its July and its 92F here and 78 there...but you wont get an immediate answer from me as I usually turn my cellphone OFF when I am at the beach or pool LOL
Give me 88 degrees and sunny..I havent worn long pants(or even socks)
other than in a church, in Temple or in a play/onstage since 1982..why ruin a good thing!
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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/Frenches Mustard/Bausch and Lomb, Mitch Miller, Chuck Mangione, Lou Gramm(aka Lou Grammatico)actors Pernell Roberts, Peter Duel and Hugh O'Brien. Florida writer and Pulitzer Prize winner Marjorie Kinnan Rawlins also lived here awhile and the city Deland Florida and my own city of Eustis Florida was founded and 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.
In general upstate NY had changed so much I hardly recognised it. Places like Binghamton, Geneva, Utica, Lockport, Buffalo and especially Niagara Falls seemed tattered and undoubtedly have seen better days. Places like Brockport, Albion, Spencerport, Fairport and Pittsford really looked great and "stood out" nicely.
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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 in summer 2007last 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. there was an Monroe High School reunion I couldnt attend in 2009, but I connected electronically with 10 old classmates. Roz Cohn was kind enough to send me 2 cds and there were 2 old pics of me in them. Nice touch!
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. For 5 years I gad 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 | | | | |
Gillybob Tue Nov 3, 2009 12:58 UTC
Oh dear, back at work. What a wonderful set of memories from Orlando though - sounds like you had a great time too!! Next time, maybe a few degrees cooler? Gillybob greetings | annk Sun Oct 18, 2009 16:28 UTC
Thanks for the B-day wishes Mike! Sounds like you had a fabulous VT meeting. This Californian is soon to be a Floridian ;-) We are moving to SW Fl hopefully in a few months. | SONG Fri Oct 16, 2009 17:57 UTC
Looks like you and I should be Florida ambassadors....we both love it and promote it. Nice meeting you in person at the Orlando meet. Kathy in Sunny Florida | richiecdisc Thu Oct 15, 2009 14:00 UTC
I didn't know about it, Michael. I'm still mostly a page builder as you can see. Most of my VT meetings have been one-on-one. Ironically, I was in Orlando yesterday but just for one night, meeting my brother and his wife for the day, down from NE. |
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