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Our Awesome Travels

Our Awesome Travels
Taken In Quartzsite Arizona Dec 7th 2015

Sunday, September 03, 2017

Steria reunion, and the Croghan Depot Museum

Where are we today ?
clic a picture to enlarge it
      Not so cold last night and no frost but we had rain, and the day is starting with overcast and drizzles. Hoping for the rain to let up for the Steria reunion which is outside early this afternoon.
      Got a short walkabout when the drizzles let up around through the cemetery across the road, no traffic and peaceful here.
       Laurie and Dave headed to their church at 8:15 this morning. Then at 10:15 I dropped  Suzie and her Dad down the road at a Mennonite church in Lowville. And I whipped into town for a few supplies that we can only get here in the states. Picked them up at 11:30 back to Laurie and Dave's and got a ride with them to the Steria Reunion for 1:00pm.
        They have it in a town park near  here every year outside in a pavilion. Next to no rain but it was quite cold, damp and windy. With a tarp on the one side to block the wind sure helped.
        We arrived and wandered about meeting some new people, distant relatives of Suzie's on the Steria (Stere). All related back to Joseph Stere who can to New York then Canada in the late 1800's.
Kieth Steria talking to Suzie's Dad Levi
food is starting to arrive
grilling hot dogs and burgers
Suzie chatting with another relative
who has been to Ontario a few years ago
to the Canadian Reunion,
I chatted with him for a while as well
tarp for wind protection
more great food
         Soon time to sample some of the goodies, and as usual tried to sample it all, not possible, but we prepared for this with no breakfast, and no supper planned for tonight.
it was all so tasty
I left no room for desert though
only a crumble sample
it all looked good though
     Then Suzie got into her genealogy and met lots more relatives checking out her information. She met more people. I did chat with a few people that knew of us and had some wonderful conversations. They had lots of door prizes and silent auction items, nothing for us to take home though.   EXCEPT. These 2 gifts below presented to us Canadian Relatives. Thanks you for such wonderful gifts, they will be enjoyed.
Maple Syrup Kisses
Chocolates from Croghan Candy Kitchen
     Suzie in her glory with the family tree information, gathering more info and passing some on.
Suzie with the white hat
        Then as things were winding down Keith wanted to get a group shot of everyone here today, at a rough count I came up with about 75 guests.
getting ready for the photo shoot
Keith ready with his camera.
and I will get the final shot from him in good time
This a photograph of the original Stere farm in Ontario
I got for Suzie
        From here back to Croghan and a quick stop Croghan Depot Museum. Of course not open today but  Laurie happens to be the executive director of  "Railway Historical Society of Northen New York" (RHSNNY) for a link to their wonderful website click HERE  just down the road from their house in Croghan. And if you are to make a donation to help this cause or you just love trains,  click on their website.
      And she just happens to have her keys with her so gave me a quick tour. What a wonder museum to check out if you are in the area when they are open and say Hi to Laurie for us if you do.

1918 Shay Steam Engine
one of only about a dozen still in existence.
photo of the Shay in operation
last run in 2001
in needs some maintenance to run again
1927 snow plow, pushed by the engine
Rutland Railroad combine car 1898
picture take from their website
the old train station
      Lots of inside info that we just skimmed through through for lack of time.
old railway records dating back to the 1800's
original bench from the train station
that's Laurie
        Then she took us back to the turnstile where they place the engines to turn them around.  This can be done with one man pushing the long steel bar when the Engine in balanced perfectly here. Amazing !
pushing that long bar on the left and you can turn the Engine around
winter storage shed
       From here back to Laurie and Dave's house. We hooked up our car to the coach between the rain getting ready for an early morning departure back to New Hamburg.
       Visited with them for a while and Laurie's Mom and Dad dropped over around 6 pm with some popcorn and sandwiches if we cared, for us to nibble on and they could browse through more genealogy books with Suzie. While Suzie nibbled the popcorn she had to give Rex a few nibbles as well, he loves popcorn.
yummy popcorn
Rex wants to say thanks for stopping by to visit us
here in Croghan New York.
            What a wonderful way to wrap up our weekend here in New York with the family reunion, too bad about the cool weather, but we all still had a wonderful time, meet more relatives especially for Suzie and her Dad.
         And a heartfelt thanks to Laurie, Dave as well as her Mom and Dad for the warm hospitality and amazing spreads of food we enjoyed while here. And all of the local sightseeing and history about this area as well as the Railway Museum.
         Now we can relax for the evening and will be up early to secure our coach and make our way north and east back home and with lotsa luck no major slow downs of traffic tie-ups.

Where have we been this summer ?

23 comments:

  1. You have had a great weekend visiting family and seeing some great sites. Safe travels home to New Hamburg.

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  2. I would say that you all definitely had an awesome weekend and made some extraordinary memories.

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    1. Awesome is right and more amazing memories as well.

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  3. Sounds like you had a really interesting weekend. You sure sampled a lot of food on that plate!

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  4. Safe travels. What an exciting way to spend a weekend reconnecting and meeting family. Sounds like a memory filled couple of days.

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    1. A lots of wonderful memories were made this weekend for sure.

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  5. All those relatives opened up their heart and home to you, What a blessing!
    That is a real witness to others.
    Karen

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    1. Thanks Karen, all these relatives, just like one huge family, We sure are blessed that is for sure.

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  6. Fantastic and fascinating museum. The coloring of station is similar to our old one which was on my steam train visit in April. Pretty well exactly the same.

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    1. The museum was fascinating and love the old station Amazing how the same colors all the way across the Atlantic Ocean.

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  7. So happy for Susie. Looks like a super time. What a thoughtful gift. Glad the cool weather didn't interfere with the celebration.

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    1. It worked out great for Suzie and her Dad, the celebration goes no matter what.

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  8. Weather sure isn't everything, it is the family conversing, museum trips, food and everything else that makes our days so enjoyable!
    Drive safe back to New Hamburg.

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    1. That is so true Patsy. We can always work around the weather, it was a fun weekend.

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  9. Looks like another great day and lots of family around to catch up with. What fun!

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  10. What? No peanut butter on your hotdog? You're slipping... ;c)

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    1. They did not have any peanut butter, but the dog had jalapeno peppers right in it so tasty !

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  11. A great gathering of family! The depot museum looks like a good stop to gather some history of the area, we've stopped at a few RR museums as they are always interesting. I also noticed the lack of PB on your dog.

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    1. Lots of great history in the area, and the museum was excellent!
      I did not think there would be hot dogs so I didn't take my PB.

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  12. The whole weekend was a success, and the train museum awesome as well.

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