F. P. Dorchak

Speculative Fiction Author

fpdorchak

The Tail Gunner and His Ticket Taker

by

Same here. I’ve reblogged this to my Reality Check site, since I also don’t seem to find this post there, and it’s on this site where I’m, keeping a record of things-paranormal in my life!

Tail Gunner

by

I’ve reblogged this to my Reality Check site, since I don’t seem to find this post there, and it’s on this site where I’m, keeping a record of things-paranormal in my life!

Donnelly’s Corners

by

Donnelly's Corners, Saranac Lake, NY (Aug 12, 2014)
Donnelly’s Corners, Saranac Lake, NY (Aug 12, 2014)

If you go anywhere upstate New Yorkish during the summer, and by “upstate” I mean within an hour’s driving distance of the “Tri-Lakes” area (Saranac Lake, Lake Placid, Tupper Lake), you absolutely need to stop and partake of the heavenly delights at this little soft serve ice cream stand that has been in business for 61 years.

Donnelly’s Corners.

“Okay there are ice cream stands and then there is Donnelly’s…It was my first time there, after a 3 hour ride from Albany to have lunch in Lake Placid , you might as well go 45 mins more for this ice cream, it’s smooth, rich and creamy and nothing like you’ve tasted before.”

Kevin J., of Troy, N.Y., Yelp review, 7/9/14

Donnelly’s Corners is at the intersection of the Harrietstown Road and Route 186 (aka, Routes 86 and 186). The actual address is 1556 State Route 86, Saranac Lake, New York 12983.

I’m told they no longer make their own cream, but wherever they get it from, it continues to taste like I remember it. Outstanding. They also deliver “their” cream to at least one other ice cream soft serve stand, up in Brainardsville, called Harrigans, at the intersection of Brainardsville Road and Lake Street (aka, Routes 374 and 24/190). The actual address is RR 374, Brainardsville, NY 12915.

Donnelly’s is open 11 a.m. to 9 or 9:30 p.m., but only during the summer, so, sorry, you just missed ’em, having closed after Labor Day weekend (Harrigans also closes after Labor Day weekend; sorry, I tried to get these posts out quicker, but just didn’t happen…).

As to its history, here it is, from the yelp page:

“Established in 1953.

“Crystal Spring Dairy was purchased by Martin and Nora Donnelly in November 1920.  The dairy farm grew and expanded over the years. In 1953, their daughters, Rita and Mary, went to a trade show and saw the unique machine that made the Ice Cream that we still make today. Their son, Francis, turned the warming hut that had been used on the ski hill just down the road into the stand we have today.

“We opened in August of 1953 and haven’t missed a season since. In the early years the stand operated 6 days and were  closed on Mondays. It opened July 4th and closed before Labor Day. Family members worked the stand, and in the 1960’s, family friends were hired to help out.

“Peter (Francis’ oldest son) re-joined the dairy in 1968 and is still operating the stand today. In 1969 we started opening 7 days a week, and a year later pushed our opening date up to Memorial Day, and stayed open thru Labor Day. Over the years, the flavor offerings were expanded and hours have been extended.”

I went to school with one of the cousins (I believe the relation was) to that family. When we used to ride our bikes to high school (uphill both ways—if you don’t believe me, drive that route), we sometimes stopped at that house up on the rise to the stand’s left.

Donnelly’s does a twisted-with-vanilla, dual-flavored cone, the schedule of which is listed on their Facebook page. Vanilla is the constant flavor.

My favorite flavor?

Black raspberry. And, for once, the day we first went (we made two trips…), it was a Tuesday, so that was what we got!

Yes, we’d come here many times, when I was a kid, and even now, when I visit this stand, it’s never empty for very long.

But, there is one unknown lady I simply must call out: the second time we were there, this one lady and her family were walking back to their van (on the end of the parking lot), when she did a most heinous thing: without batting an eye, she took one more lick of her cone—then summarily dumped it all in the trash!

And…and…she never looked back!

I was…aghast.

Where were New York’s Finest when you really needed them, for cryin’ out loud?

The world wept that day.

Okay, don’t be like Unknown Donnelly’s Dumper…when you get your cone (sizes “small” and “large,” and by that I mean “large” and “HUGE“), relish it.

Enjoy it.

Revel in its flavor and texture.

But, not for too long, okay, ’cause, you know, it is soft ice cream, and it is summer.

Mark this as “Must See” for 2015…and the rest of your life.

Related articles

The Adirondack Carousel

by

Adirondack Carousel, William Morris Park, Saranac Lake, NY (Aug 15, 2014)
Adirondack Carousel, William Morris Park, Saranac Lake, NY (Aug 15, 2014)

I spent some time in the William Morris Memorial Park, (note: there are two separate links there), in Saranac Lake, as a kid, with my siblings. My mom would take us all into town as she ran her errands, and—now that I think of it—we seemed to have been left here on our own recognizance. Or maybe she was just elsewhere in the park, talking to her friends, or whatever, but in any case, I spent “some time” in “the park” (okay, after finding this link, it does look like it was a “day care” park).

One of the key memories I have of that park, was swinging on the swing set with a friend who was looking to become a priest. I often wonder where and how W. B. is doing.

Anyway, one day while at Donnelly’s Corners a couple weeks ago, we saw a sign “talking” about an “Adirondack Carousel” in Saranac (the locals sometimes refer to “Saranac Lake” simply as “Saranac,” though there is a “Saranac, New York“), at the William Morris Park, so I thought we should check it out. Carousel information is here and here.

The carousel is composed of handcarved rides and was pretty cool looking. My favorite was the loon. There was also some nice “carnival” artwork on the above skirt as well. But, have to say, the interior of the building really needs an air-conditioner!

Related articles

St. John in the Wilderness Cemetery – Upstate New York Vacation 2014 – Part 4 of 4

by

St. John in the Wilderness Cemetery, Lake Clear, N.Y. (Aug 15, 2014)
St. John in the Wilderness Cemetery, Lake Clear, N.Y. (Aug 15, 2014)

After visiting Ausable Chasm, the St. Lawrence River, and Boldt Castle, we made a drive past the old homestead and surrounds, including visiting one of NYS’s fish hatcheries (I used to bike down to the “Adirondack Fish Hatchery,” as it is now called, as a kid; there was no fence, then, and I’d walk among the pools of little fishies), and the local cemetery.

I like visiting cemeteries…I know, sooner or later it won’t be a “visit” (not that I plan on being buried), but I like them for several reasons. Anyway, I realized I’d never documented the cemetery I grew up near, in Lake Clear, N.Y.

The cemetery is part of the church we used to attend for part of my childhood (my family and I are no longer Catholic), and happened to be a short bike ride down the road from where we lived, the church located at 6148 State Route 30, Lake Clear, NY 12945. The cemetery is located in the opposite direction, to Lake Clear Junction, where you take a left (remaining on Route 30), then drive up just a touch, and you’ll see it on your right, just before the turn-off for the dump.

Anyway, I know—knew—several interred here. One was a childhood friend (Dirk Ewan), and one was Mr. Hohmeyer, whom I’ve talked about before. Dirk was three years older than me and a big dude. He was 17 when he died. I remember him having been a gentle soul…an extremely kind-hearted individual…which is rare in a strapping, seventeen-year-old (I could be wrong, but my young-self’s recollections seem to recall him being kinda big). His mom was a friend of my mom, and he and his family used to come down to the lake and hang out with us. Dirk, however, would never go into water above his shins. He was deathly afraid of it, and made no bones about it.

In 1974, he drowned.

An accident, but he drowned.

The Trapl’s lived down a little way from us, past the church. When dad had had a landscaping business (additional job, he was still a Forest Ranger), I’d go with dad helping out in any way I could, digging, muscling trees and such around, chopping out tree trunks. That last part involved Mr. Trapl. He labeled his place, “Trapl’s Yalna.” I don’t know what that means, nor the language. Google Translate said it detected the language “Azerbaijani,” and translated it into “just.” Anyway, one later afternoon-into-early-evening we’d been down there trying our damnedest to remove a tree trunk. As some may know, you don’t just “remove” tree trunks. Their roots extend at least as far down as their foliage extends upward. But we did our best, into the darkness, employing my dad’s truck, chains, and grit. I could be wrong, but I don’t remember having completed that job, but we gave it our best. We might have just cut around the visible roots and had been done with it, but I just remember all the grit and effort with my dad, and how cool it was, and that we were working into the “fall of darkness”!

One of our family members was buried (or died) here, May 7, 1968. There used to be a temporary marker. It’s long since gone.

I went to school with one of the Sayles family.

There were a couple other family names I recognized, but didn’t recognize the interred individuals.

Except for more gravestones, it looks near exactly what it looked like when I lived there (sixties and seventies), except there was no chain link fence around the back…not sure about the front, but I don’t remember one, and it really wouldn’t make sense to have a fence in the front, if there wasn’t one surrounding its perimeter.

The only other memory I have concerning this cemetery is an amusing, odd one: I was 18 and was driving alone to the dump with a load, and as I passed this cemetery, the new (at the time, 1979) Styx (one of my favorite bands at the time) tune, “Renegade” popped on the radio. I thought that was “coincidental” at the time, which I would now term “synchronistic.”

“Oh mama, I’m in fear for my life from the long arm of the law
Lawman has put an end to my running and I’m so far from my home
Oh mama, I can hear your crying you’re so scared and all alone
Hangman is coming down from the gallows and I don’t have very long….”

Next post: Donnelly’s Corners—the best soft ice cream ever!

 

 

Related articles

 

Sunnyside

by

"Sunnyside" (Aug 15, 2014)
“Sunnyside” (Aug 15, 2014)

Every time I go back east, this house gets my interest. It’s a long abandoned hotel that used to be called, “Sunnyside.”

As you can see, it looks anything but.

And I’ve been in this place.

My dad, who was a Forest Ranger, occasionally took me with him to work. On at least one occasion I remember stopping here, when it was still operating. Don’t remember much about it, just that we were in a bar/restaurant area, darkly lit.

Now, it looks like this…and is for sale.

It calls to me.

One day, I’m gonna write a story about this place.

Related articles