EVENTS IN 2009
Becoming a new member of the Empire State Antique Truck Association, has been very interesting we have monthly meetings at different locations through out the summer months and during the winter months we will be meeting at the Kwikfill Restaurant on Route 354 in Marilla, NY.  On April 18, we had our Spring Saturday Bus Trip to Cooperstown, NY.  Both Carol & I went along to visit the Baseball Hall Of Fame along with walking around the town and taking pictures at the Lighthouse on Otsego Lake and the Cooperstown Train Depot. Had lunch at the Cooperstown Diner on Main Street before boarding the bus to go to the Farmers Museum just outside of the village. We spent about 3 hours here going through all the old buildings and riding the Merry Go Round. Was a cloudy but, nice day for this. Leaving Cooperstown around 4:00PM our next stop was the Ponderosa Restaurant in Herkimer, NY. After having dinner it was 6:00PM and time to head back home. It was about a 3 hour trip on Route 90 to exit 48 in Batavia, NY. It was just before 9:00 when we pulled into Kmart Plaza. Took 550 Pictures today while on the trip. Very nice day for a trip. On Tuesday Evening April 21, 2009 I went to the 23rd Anniversary Party For the Empire State Antique Truck Club at Perkins on Transit Road in Amherst, NY. Had a good turnout of members, some I have never met. There was a beautiful cake made for the event. Had a good time here tonight talking to different people and I took one of my albums of pictures from when I started taking pictures at my first truck show at the Kmart Plaza on Walden Avenue across the street from the Galliera Mall in Cheektowaga, NY  back in 1995. Party lasted about 3 hours.  On Saturday April 25, 2009 Carol & I took a trip to Salamaca, NY to visit the old Erie & BR&P Railroad Depots and Museum in the downtown city district. The museum here was open and it was filled with railroad archives through out the whole depot and the person on duty here said that the freight house out back was filled with more archives. It was a sunny blue sky day but, Carol yesterday at work, hurt her back lifting and really didn't feeling like walking a whole lot, so, we didn't.  We used my 7D and A720 cameras and took 184 photos today and spent about 3 hours here taking pictures and visiting with the museum host on duty. At about 4:00 we then left for home. We will come back again when Carol feels better.  We got back home and and went to Top's Market in Warsaw and got 2 sirloin steaks and a can of beans to cook out on the grill. On May 05th was my birthday and Carol had to work so, I took my Mother to Hornell to visit her sister who is in the Hornell Gardens.  The three of us went to Pizza Hut there in Hornell for pizza. My Aunt has been here for 2 years now and she has sent me a birthday card every year since I was born except for the past two years. We go to see her about once a month but, she can no longer leave the Nursing Home due to her health declining.  On May 19, Steve & I went to the Springdale Farms on Colby Road in Brockport, NY. We had our meeting in the Recreation Hall along with having hot dogs and a pop and a brownie. Any member that wanted to could bring their truck for show. Had about 7 different trucks there to look at. Had a person give a speech on restoration of an antique truck. Back home around 10:00 PM.   It was on Wednesday May 20, 2009 I left with the camper heading for Almond Lake in Hornell. Takes about 1 hour pulling a camper but, had no problems. We will be spending 5 days here for the Memorial Day Weekend. Carol will come around noon on Friday. Got all setup in about 20 minutes. It gets easier each time I do it. One of the first places I went to after getting settled was the Erie Railroad Depot Museum to see what was new since the last time I visited here. I took 50 pictures today with my Canon A720 camera. Then I went to the Hornell Gardens to see my Aunt Gladys who is a resident there. I came back to the campsite and fixed some hot dogs on the grill. I sat in the sun to long and got a sunburn rash on my hands and arms. Put lots of lotion on them to get rid of the rash. It took a long time. It is not sore but, can see the rash clearly. On Friday Carol came and we had good meals all the rest of the weekend. I setup our Coleman Blue Road Trip Grill for cooking this weekend along with using the fireplace. On Memorial Day we checked out around 2:00 PM and headed back home. On Tuesday June 02, It was our monthly fire meeting. It was told to everyone there by the chief that nobody can no longer take any pictures at any alarms and put on to any website or on the Flickr or Webshots Website as I do. This is a Wyoming County rule starting today. Time to find other places to go to get great pictures. Maybe more Truck & Car Shows.    On Saturday June 06, Carol & I went see the car show at the Delevan Drive-In in Delevan, NY. It was a nice sunny day for the about 50 car display. I got a couple shot's of each car that was entered in todays show. Spent a couple of hours here today and then headed for Springville for the Dairy Fest. Members of our truck club had brought some of there own trucks and tractors for display and a table to have a membership drive. More pictures were taken here along with some of the carnival held in the parking lot off Main Street. I took 273 photos today. Carol & I left Springville and decided to go to Buffalo RV at 1200 SouthWestern Blvd. in West Seneca and look at campers. Always looking for something better. She, had sold her's a month ago due to the 5 more years of payments. Looking for something between $500 and $1,000 that will not result in big payments. They had a 1992 Coleman Pioneer Popup Camper and was just taken in this past week. New canvas but, had no fridge, or heater. I have both of these to install so, I got a price and decided to buy it. It fit in my budget and will be paid off in less than a year and not 7 years. They will call me when its ready to pickup. Can't wait. On June 21, Carol & I went to the Father's Day Car Show at Almond Lake in Kanakadea Park in Hornell, NY. No camping this weekend here for us. Haven't got my camper yet. There was 150 cars here today and I took a shot or two of each car entered. Total of 782 photos today.On Friday July 10th I had to go to Buffalo RV and pick up my camper. They had to put a Brake Control Switch in my Dakota and wire the camper and the new seven pin wiring harness for the lights and signals. It took about 3 hours doing this then they showed me how everything worked. We did not plug the camper into the electric which we should have done, cause the power box is dead!! Nothing works when plug inside the outlets inside the camper. Will need to replace the power inverter unit which won't be an easy task. This unit isn't even manufactured any longer. Tried many places for a new one but, so far no luck. For now I will use a couple 25' orange outside extension cords. Carol made all new curtains for the inside and I installed all new curtain rods over the side windows where the curtains will be hung. Had 2 small cuts in the new canvas over the front bunk unit. I repaired them with some tent canvas material. I then got 6 - spray cans of Thompson's canvas sealer that I sprayed on all of the canvas with 4 coats and that worked out to be very successful and didn't drip  during any rain storms this week. I found this sealer at Valu Hardware in Warsaw. I will get somemore next spring and redo the whole canvas area again. I have done a lot to this within a week's time. I want to use it at our truck show on August 02, 2009. Last summer I purchased a Honda E2000i Generator to use when electricity is not available. This can be used at a lot of campsites if I need power.    On July 22, our truck had their monthly meeting at the Genesee County Fair helping parking cars for there Wednesday evening car show. Again, I got a shot of all the cars along with some carnival shots through out the evening. Had close to 60 cars here tonight and I took 179 pictures tonight.  On Saturday August 01, was our annual steak roast on the night before the big annual Empire State Antique Truck Association, Inc, Truck Show held at the Genesee County Fairgrounds in Batavia, NY. Everyone tonight was to bring a dish to pass for the dinner. I set up my camper tonight to stay here and get ready early to setup in the morning of August 02, for the photo shoot of each entry coming through the gate. It sure did rain during the night and at 8:00 am it was still pouring so, we got the canopy set up in the morning. We went to the Town / Country Restaurant across the street from the fairgrounds for breakfast before starting the truck show photo session it rained all morning long and trying to get some good pictures , well, It wasn't a morning for pictures. Then around noon the rain had quit and started to clear up and it turned out to be a half way decent kind of day. The ground was kind of soggy and wet and hopefully, it won't create a problem of anyone getting stuck. I did take 583 pictures today including some from 100' high off the top of a 1986 Pierce Platform Ladder truck which belongs to one of our members. At 2:00 there was a truck parade of about 20 trucks and the owners tell a little history about his truck or tractor. I got a photo or two of each and every truck that went through the registration process. At 4pm the awards were given out for 7 different categories with a nice trophy presented to the owner of the truck. Next year's show date is Sunday August 01, 2010. Congratulations to all of the winners in todays event. On Friday August 07, The Batava Holiday Inn was host to the Eastern Nash National Convention. This was a 5 day event that started on Monday and run to Saturday August 08, I went over on Friday due to the call for rain on Saturday. I met David Kloser who is the owner of a Metropoliton and I use to work with David at Lowes in Henrietta. He took this week off to come to the convention. I took 322 Pictures today being a nice sunny day. Tomorrow could bring as many as 140 cars to view but, with the rain coming I won't take my good camera out in the rain. Next week on August 12, The Austin / Bantam Truck Show comes to the Batavia Holiday Inn. I went over to Batavia to get some pictures. It was a sunny day and there were 20 trucks there on display. I took 220 pictures today of all these beautiful trucks. Its not everyday that you can see a show like this in this area. Later that evening the truck club had there monthly meeting at the John Schroder residence along with the 2 cylinder club we view about 100 tractors that John has in his collection. John lives on Route 354 just outside of Cowlesville, NY. I took 114 pictures here tonight using my A720 camera. On Saturday August 15, Carol & I went to Erie County Fair in Hamburg, NY. They had a great display of different kinds of tractors from Steam powered to mixed fuel to gas models. There was an old Case type Steam tractor that runs using wood to create the steam to power the tractor. I took 248 pictures using my 7D and A720 and S3 camera's. It's now Thursday the 3rd of September and what time is it !!!! Its White Truck Bash Time in Batavia at the Holiday Inn. These White Bash Truckers come from all over the USA to have a good time and see a lot of Western New York that only the Bash could bring. We start out by everyone meeting around noon at the Miss Batavia Diner on Route 5 for lunch. President Steve Slocum welcomed everyone here for a 3 day event. After finishing our lunch we all went to Demo's Auto Restoration on Route 33 in Bergen, NY just up the road about 10 miles on the left. Spending a couple hours going through there 100 acres of old cars, trucks and a whole lot of parts. After getting ther George Pursel who is the President of our Empire State Antique Truck Association, Inc. was there to show us around and through the auto parts maize. After we left here at Demo's we headed for Gulf Road in Leroy to show everyone the huge Marion Steam Shovel in an abandon gravel pit across from the Dolimite Plant on Gulf Road. This was a big treat to a lot of these guys that have never seen anything this huge. There have been many pictures taken of this shovel and I got a group shot of everyone today again, shooting into the sun which isn't my favorite thing to be doing. After spending a half hour here we then headed to the Consolidated Freight Terminal on Route 5 in Leroy, NY. There was a nice display of old trucks here for everyone to check out. There was some trucks on flatbeds along with engines that need some TLC. From here it is time to head back to the Holiday Inn in Batavia to eat and get ready to go with some of the members that have never seen Niagara Falls. This would take about 60 minutes using route 90 from Batavia to Williamsville then 290 to 190 over the Grand Island Bridge to Niagara Falls. We left Batavia at 6:00 PM. I haven't been here since 1998 when I went with a friend for the weekend for my birthday. Lot of changes now. Now nobody can leave the country without a passport or an New York State enhanced drivers license. A lot of changes costing any NY license holder an additional $40.00 for an 8 year license or spend $100.00 for a passport. Corky & Pat Shaw were our tour guides tonight. I loved taking pictures of the sunset skies with Niagara Falls, Ontario front and center. Got a lot of nice pictures here tonight. We left here and was back in Batavia about 10:30 PM. On Friday morning we all met at the Holiday Inn and President Steve Slocum brought his school bus that he uses during the school year which by the way starts next Wednesday, and we are going to explore some different places today and be back here at the Holiday Inn around 5:00 to get ready for tonights dinner. We started by going to Corky & Pat Shaw's Farm on Route 262 in  Byron, NY to see their truck and tractor collection. Corky has quite the collection of different trucks from Army Tow Trucks to Fire Engines with a lot in between. Had coffee and cookies there before we left. To bad we didn't have more time to get a closer look at every piece here. Leaving here we headed for Gregsville and stopped at Rose's Enterprise where he has a lot of construction equipment and antique trucks here on his lot. It being a nice warm sunny day there was a lot here to look at but, the clock was ticking and we had to move on to the Mount Morris Dam Site just off of Route 408 in Mount Morris, NY. Before having our tour Steve's wife Kathy and their Daughter - In - Law Patty Slocum had met us there with a bagged lunch with ham or turkey sandwich, a large cookie and a pop to tie everyone over till tonights dinner at 7:00 PM. Only having about 30 minutes before our 1:00 tour we ate with time to spare. This would be a guided tour by the US Army Corp. of Engineers stationed here at the dam site. Our tour guides name was Harmony and was very informative about how and why the dam is here and how long it took to build this project. Harmony took any questions that anyone had and gave answers to all of the questions asked. We all went down to ground level in an elevator and under the Genesee River. This was so neat but, I wasn't allowed to take any pictures once we entered the building up on top. Goverment Rules. A construction crew was using dosers and dump trucks to clean out all of the downed timbers in the river. This was done only on the Portageville side. After spending about an hour and a half here we left and took a ride through Letchworth Park with another tour guide and she told us all about all the different animals that are in the park along with the different trees that these animals feed off of. We stopped at most every check point through out the whole park. Stopped at Wolf Creek area so everyone can get a good look at the gorge. For some of the members this was the first time visiting Letchworth State Park. Went up to the Council Grounds to where the Mary Jemison Statute and 2 of the log cabins used back in the 1800's and are restored every so often. Then we went down to the museum and checked it out along with the middle and high falls area. I was hoping that a train would be crossing the bridge while we were there. I got a group shot while here at the high falls area. Had 20 or so members in the photo. Well, its about 4:15 PM and time to start heading back to the Holiday Inn for tonights awards banquet and silent auction. This starts at 7:00 PM for all members is the last harrah before the truck show in the morning. We had a grand time and meal tonight. Dan King who is a member of our Empire State Antique Truck Association is Tonights speaker on the White Manufacturing Company History. This was a very good program that Dan put together for this banquet. President Steve Slocum took to the potium and awarded past president Roland Smith a model to scale of his own original truck that he owned and drove every day. Roland was very pleased with this award. It was time for the silent auction to get underway. All winners will stake there claim on what they bid on. There was a lot of very nice archives that now have a happy home. It was just about 10:00 PM and time to get packed up and get ready for the big shoooow tomorrow morning at 9:00 AM at the Genesee County Fairgrounds. The evening sure did go quick and met a lot of new friends in the white bash group. Now! it's show time here at the fairgrounds just after 9:00 AM and the trucks are pulling in for the show. Members were on hand checking out the trucks as they come in. A friend of Steve & Myself brought his antique hose cart and chemical extinglusher for todays display. It may not be a White but, he sure got a lot of notice from a lot of people. Even got the owner Robert F. Poydock of Perry, NY to join our Empire State Antique Truck Association and be able to come to our meetings and monthly events that goes on through out the year. I was thankful that Steve had asked me to take pictures for this great 3 day event. I really had a grand time and met a lot of new friends and will have a lot of great memories to have forever. I took 1128 pictures in the past 3 days from start to finish.  Steve was elected President for another year. I couldn't have asked for a nicer bunch of people that were here this weekend for the 13th Annual White Truck Bash. Next years show will be in Kansas City, KS but, I know I won't be able to go due to the cost of being that far away. I did purchase a nice red Polo Shirt and hat today. I got a lot of nice letters from the members that wanted a CD that I put together for everyone that requested one.   On the following day Sunday September 06, was the New York State Festival Of Balloons and Car Show at the Dansville, NY Airport. Carol and I got there a little late cause Carol had got called into work for a few hours. She is on call all weekend till Tuesday Morning. We got there about 2:30 PM about enough time to get a shot of every car there at the show. There were more cars this year than usual. Around 4:00 PM the cars started leaving the grounds to get ready for the balloon launch at 6:00. Carol & I walked around the carnival grounds looking for something to eat. We both found Beef on Weck and fries which we both had. Got a can of Pepsi to boot. Being close to the time for the balloon launch we headed down toward the end of the fence line looking north so, the sun isn't shining in my eyes and into the camera lens. There are probably 50 balloons tonight and I will be using both my 7D and A720 camera's and Carol will be using her SX100. I took 752 pictures today for both the Car Show and Balloon Show. It was a beautiful day for cars and balloons. To see all of the pictures from all the events since April go to my flickr site at  http://www.flickr.com/photos/jimduellcollection  website and check them out. Still have 4 months left of 2009 to get some great pictures that will end up on this page by year's end.