Sunday, March 18 dawned with another 5 inches of new snow! I decided to take my cousin and his wife out for Sunday dinner. We went to a little restaurant in Norwich, Carmen's Cafe. After lunch we went to see my cousin's brother-in-law on a high hill east of South New Berlin, in Otsego County. He has a grand view of the valley but it's a tad windy and bitingly cold there. I was able to see and snap a photo of my uncle's previous home in the valley. It was a somewhat awkward visit, as his wife, my cousin, had passed away last May. I'd not seen them in 6 years prior to her untimely death from a brain tumor. The house is just as she left it and they had been married 29 years before her passing. All I can say folks is, visit or call your relatives while you still have them. Don't delay. Leaving there we went north along the river road in Otsego, more or less paralleling the meandering Unadilla River. We turned left at the first crossroads and came into New Berlin across the two span metal bridge on the south side of the village. There are so many memories that spring to mind as one travels over and again roads traveled as a child. Just past the bridge and before one rejoins State 8, the old roadbed of the Unadilla Valley Railroad lies. My mind goes back to the time in 1958 or 1959 seeing a small diesel engine pushing a lone boxcar across that intersection of road and rail-line. Going north we pass the old stone inn - a structure I've never been in but imagine would be one of the finest in the area. We turned beside it, traveling back to Green Street, where my grandparents once lived and where the old shoe factory building still stands. The place where my grandparents lived is now a parking lot for an insurance company. The remaining houses now seem so small - yet certainly remain large in my mind of yesteryear. Leaving our friend's house we traveled north on State 80 to Five Corners, then northwest to Columbus, then west to Sherburne, Smyrna, Upperville, and a bit beyond to see the matriarch of the family - my Dad's cousin's wife - who has outlived the cousin now by 38 years, and another husband besides. She's 83 and in failing health - a leaky heart valve. But what a treat to see her once again - still the warm smile, the years melting away as we talk of old times, those no longer with us - and out of the blue - a new bit of information as she tells me of the folks the property was brought from so many years ago (pre-1909). It seems that there were two families - one whose name escapes me at the moment - but the other (CARD) had owned part of the land. It was a name I'd seen a lot of in my scrapbooks - and here was the key as to why! A side note here - the stone for the Smyrna village tribute to its war dead came from this farm. A blurb of that will be added to the web site. It is non-characteristic stone for that region of the State, being a pink granite. Well that's it for this edition. It's 3 AM...bedtime! Tim Stowell Moderator Chenango County mailing list Coordinator Chenango County, NYGenWeb pages http://www.rootsweb.com/~nychenan