Building a downtown party into the right setting

Finally finding the right day, I met my dear wife Karen for lunch downtown Syracuse’s Festa Italiana. Set in big white tents in a major parking lot and city streets between City Hall, Key Bank, a big church and other buildings of architectural note, this festival sets itself apart from the others that call the…

A square with a water view

My dear wife Karen’s email asked if I’d like to meet her for lunch at Festa Italiana. I got there early enough to take out my iPhone 6 to share my view of the fountain at downtown Syracuse’s Hanover Square on a lovely 85º F mid-September afternoon. No mattter that Karen meant the next day…

Nice to see ya, Coach Mac

They stopped last Saturday’s football game between the first and second quarter to wheel a guy around the Carrier Dome field in a Pope Mobile. Well, a fancy cart, anyway. But for what he did to bring the Syracuse University football program back in the 1980s, Dick MacPherson could have been welcomed like the Pontiff.…

Things you don’t expect to see in downtown Syracuse on Sept. 18

After meeting my dear wife Karen for lunch at Festa Italiana this afternoon, I passed through Clinton Square, smack dab in the heart of downtown Syracuse, on the way back to my car. Oh, what I saw on this Friday, Sept. 18, in upstate New York. Nobody’s supposed to use the dancing waters in the…

Shades of Orange

They called it the Orange Out. Many fans cooperated, my dear wife Karen and I knew as we were walking up the hill Saturday in preparation to watch Syracuse tangle with Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference football opener for both squads. We planned a separate route from the opening Friday night, choosing the…

The big stage still revs Jimmy Cavallo at 88

I’ve had the chance to talk to Jimmy Cavallo for a quarter century now. Back when I worked for the big daily, he and his bud Stan Colella even allowed myself and a photographer colleague to tail them around a downtown Syracuse joint called Styleen’s Rhythm Palace as they posed for the cover of their…

We’re back on the lanes at Bowling Green

Let’s call it my awesome overlap. Golf season ended Wednesday night. Bowling season started Thursday night. The squad was rolling in Bowling Green. For some reason, my week one brain always tells me that 6:30 p.m. gives me plenty of time to get to North Syracuse to lace up my shoes for those precious minutes…

Dishing with the dog about home sales being for the birds

With the temperatures finally falling to match the calendar, I hooked the leash upon Ellie B aka Dogamous Pyle, and off we went from the Little Bitty around our Syracuse city neighborhood of Eastwood neighborhood. We spotted a gray house for sale two blocks over. Did they add another realtor since our last time by,…

Better luck next season, Chiefs

Yes, thank you Steven T, my dear wife Karen and I would love to join you for the last Syracuse Chiefs game of the season. And a lovely way it turned out to spend our Labor Day afternoon, indeed. Click on any gallery photo for a description. Click on the bottom right photo in any…

Asking for Help – Please Share and Help Me Find My Sister

Of course I’d like to help Jason find his sister at last. The digital world is capable of much. You never know which link in the chain will finally find the right eye. Good luck, OM. — Mark Source: Asking for Help – Please Share and Help Me Find My Sister