Polish Ancestry

Happy Dyngus Day!

One in 3 residents in Cheektowaga and Lancaster are Polish Americans, one in 6 residents in Erie County are Polish Americans.
 
Śmigus-dyngus is a Roman Catholic celebration held on Easter Monday across Central Europe, and in small parts of Eastern and Southern Europe. The tradition is widely associated with Poland and is observed by Polish Diaspora communities, particularly among Polish Americans who call it Dyngus Day.
 
The Buffalo dyngus celebrations started in the 1960s as an effort by the Polish-American community in the city to find a new focus for its identity. It proved hugely successful, to the point that a local newspaper claimed that "everybody is Polish on Dyngus Day." It has become a fusion of Polish and American traditions, with polka bands, a parade, consumption of krupnik, and Polish food accompanying American patriotic songs sung in English. Party-goers dress up in the white-and-red colors of the Polish flag and carry balloons saying "Happy Dyngus Day" in English.
 
Take a look at individual counties, here: https://www.facebook.com/andybarthur/posts/10102136464130999

Polish Ancestry

Broken Roadway

Piles of broken roadway sit after the rebuilding of NY 8 along the East Branch, where a brief but severe rain storm hit the Adirondacks in late October 2019.

Saturday April 18, 2020 β€” East Branch Sacandaga River

Modern Route 10 overlaid on the old Arietta – Piseco Road (1954)

New York Route 10 is often said to be the last paved state highway in New York when the Glen Harris Highway was paved north of Arietta up through Piseco Lake in the early 1980s.

Due to constitutional constraints relating to the road running through forest preserve, with few exceptions, almost all of modern asphalt road follows the path of the dirt road, although during construction they did bank the curves and widen the road slightly from the horse and buggy road that existed in almost the same form since the 1800s.

I have the 1904 topographic maps of the area too but due to issues with the original map survey, the overlay is more difficult to do accurately compared to the more modern 1954 survey. 

The modern alignment is shown in orange while the topographic map below is from 1954.

Modern Route 10 overlaid on the old Arietta - Piseco Road (1954)