Dedication

This blog address is in memory of our first pet together as a married couple.  Laika 1 was a black & white smooth fox terrier who came to us from our breeder with a nickname of  “Houdina” for her ability to escape from every type of enclosure.  She certainly lived up to her nickname as she was able to escape from her locked cage when we left her home by herself.  One day I decided to place a camcorder in her room in front of the cage and try and catch her in the act of escaping.  Sure enough the camcorder caught her escape act, and as soon as she emerged from the now open cage she went over and knocked down the camcorder.

Laika (from the Russian: Лайка, literally meaning “Barker” or “Howler”) was a Soviet space dog (c. 1954 – November 3, 1957) who became the first animal to orbit the Earth and the first orbital death.

Laika 1 is gone now but her memory lives on thru our latest Laika (3) a black & white smooth-haired fox terrier.

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The Beginning

This is my first attempt at blogging so please bare with me as I begin this journey.  My desire is to put down in words what its been like growing up and living in the Town of Dryden.  Some of my fondest memories of growing up were the stories told by my relatives and friends about happenings in and around Dryden.  I would like to share these memories before they are lost in time.

For anyone that knows me well, my passions for family, rollercoasters, Nebraska Cornhuskers Football, Smooth-Haired Fox Terriers, Houston Astros Baseball, St. Louis Rams Football and last but not least Dryden Town Board/Dryden Recreation happenings will be well represented in my ramblings.

Gas Drilling in Marcellus Shale & Aquifer

Recently the issue of drilling in Marcellus Shale has been brought to the forefront of local governments.  I am a strong proponent of being proactive in protecting the environment, the roads, private properties, and residents with regard to the true issues the process of gas drilling or “hydro-fracturing” causes.  At the Board level I have gone on record at numerous meetings concerning the need to be ahead of the curve when it comes to this issue.  While many municipalities struggle with issues of the possibility of contamination of their ground water supplies, during my first term on the Town Board, I supported a $600,000 aquifer study to identify and map the aquifer and it’s recharge point.  With this study complete, and the knowledge of where our recharge point is, the Town is out front in protecting one of it’s main water sources.  Having been around during the time when there was ground water contamination in a neighboring Town, and watching the far reaching ramifications of that contamination, I am very aware and concerned of what can happen to our water supply.  Protection of our water supply is why I initially supported the Town Board’s original and subsequent studies and have been pushing the current Town Board to being very aggressive to our approach in addressing this issue.

Proud Grandparents

14 years ago my wife and I began the youth flag football program for the Town of Dryden with our daughter Kendra being one of the first participants in the new program.  To this day Kendra’s exploits on the flag football field are legendary and never ceases to amaze me that people still remember the fast little blonde girl that got around the corner and was gone for another score.

Well last night our granddaughter Hailie began her flag football career on the same field that we began the program so many years ago.  It was with great pride to sit back and watch Hailie run around on the same field that my little blonde daughter did and also remember back when it first began.

Hailie at Flag Football Practice

Hailies First Day of School 2009

Hailies First Day of School.

I awoke with the alarm clock at 5:30am and prepared for my day.  At  6am I went out to the kitchen to get some breakfast and who should appear out of the livingroom was my oldest granddaughter 6 year old Hailie, whose  response to me was that she was up and ready for her first day of school.  She had her shoes on the right feet and even had her backpack on ready for the day.  I had a hard time breaking it to her that the school bus wouldn’t arrive for another 2 1/2 hours.

I will use this text as a motivational tool down the road as I know that she won’t always be this anxious to go to school.