Some impressions from the New York State Convention

I don't take pictures often, and rarely still take posed photos of officials lined up holding plaques and cheques, so you won't see any here. (If anyone else has Convention photos of the June 19-21 Convention in Johnstown NY Aerie 1575, I'll be happy to post them here so anyone can access them. Just email the photos to me and I'll take care of it.)

First, why did I go to New York?

Just a few days before I became President-Elect of the Ontario Provincial Aerie on June 7, the Eagles' Board of Grand Trustees announced a realignment of Regional boundaries, putting two aeries from Ontario (my own Toronto 2311 and London 4060) with Eastern Region (with New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware State Aeries), dissolving Eastern Canada Region (all of Ontario and all of Quebec).

The Ontario Provincial Aerie was formed 18 years ago. Before that, my Aerie 2311 had been part of New York State Aerie and Eastern Region. I had been a member for 16 years as part of New York, almost as long as I've been a member of the Ontario Provincial Aerie. It was time to reintroduce myself and get a better idea of the reception we'd get there.

I also wanted to take the train - Amtrak's Maple Leaf, which leaves Toronto at 8:20 am seven days a week on its way to New York City. The Maple Leaf provides ready access to 19 New York State aeries along the way. At least two of them, Depew-Lancaster Aerie 2692 and Rensselaer Aerie 4446, are within easy walking distance of the train station.

The Maple Leaf doesn't stop in Johnstown but does in nearby Amsterdam. The unattended station stop doesn't get much use - I was the only arriving passenger last Wednesday. The pay phone (pictured on the wall at the far corner) was out of order, so I couldn't phone a cab as I had planned. The picture below shows you the view of the other side of the tracks.

Fortunately a very nice lady who lived not far from the station invited me into her home to call for a taxi. Clearly Johnstown is in a much more rural area than I'm used to, though it's within commuting distance of the State capitol, Albany.

Because it is in a small town, real estate costs are lower. Johnstown Aerie is huge by Ontario standards. They've got unused space bigger than the used space of all five of Ontario's aeries. Toronto 2311 is too small for our membership, but most of us would hate to leave our prime downtown location. Some Johnstown members may feel the same way - their aerie is too big (which they have to heat and pay taxes on), but they're also in a prime location, a block from the main street in the midst of a beautiful historic district.

So with all this space, why is there such a large additional piece added as the member's entrance?