Memorial Day

The LCA will celebrate Memorial Day this year on Sunday, May 24th.

We will conduct a small wreath laying ceremony with one cannon salute at the Veterans Memorial Park on Florence Street. 

A 5th grade student from Leeds Grammar will read the Gettysburg Address.  We will also have a color guard and bugler.

The Rev. David Whiteley, chaplain from the VAMC, will officiate. 

The services will begin at 1 pm.

Village-Wide Tag Sale

The Leeds Village Tag Sale will be

           Saturday, June 13th

So, drag out all that stuff from the basement, attic, and garage you don't need and sell it to someone who does.  Now's your chance!!

The LCA will run a "Village Wide Tag Sale" ad in the Gazette but this year we will be not list individual houses 
and we will not charge a fee for the ad.

 The LCA will have a large

 "Village-Wide Tag Sale Today"

sign posted at the beginning of Florence St (Rt 9 entrance).

Each street is responsible for putting up signs at each entrance to that street.

Spring in Leeds

As spring hits stride and leaves virtually appear overnight, it’s a good time to take note of our winged friends, so easily taken for granted, but so readily apparent if one takes advantage of the fine Leeds air and those absolutely beautiful and quiet early morning and late evening skies.  Lots of birds are nesting or in the midst of raising their young and in Leeds that story is no different.  The hairy woodpecker that had been banging repeatedly on our neighbor’s gutters has finally lured a mate with that entire racket and settled down somewhere nearby.  Meanwhile the blue jays apparently have already given birth as nearly a dozen of them have been in non-stop pursuit of one another throughout the day, going from treetop to treetop, full of piss and vinegar, their loud calls warning of no danger this time, just merely for the fun of it we think. 

The nervous little wrens, their tails a bobbing a mile a minute and their melodious song are sometimes easy to sneak up to – stay with them long enough and you might find where they nest.  One has been flying in and out of a neighbor’s shed – once having spent an entire evening in it when those crazy winds banged shut the windows (the same winds that carried away that Sunderland tobacco barn).  The young crows seem not as fearful of people and dogs, so much so that we witnessed a dog come upon a group of them that flew off at the last second and then went high off into the sky.  Somehow the dog though had no concept of how high as he chased and barked at the crows, running down the street as they just drifted off with the air currents.  Never had we seen a dog chase birds in the sky.

In Whately they’ve seen a rare painted bunting, but here in Leeds the indigo bunting is a sight beautiful enough – a neighbor reporting one at her feeder this past week.  A more beautiful blue is hard to imagine, although all those bluebirds along Spring St. may change your mind.  Baltimore orioles, stunning orange and black, were quite apparent before the leaves came, but now it’s their gorgeous call that alerts you to their everyday presence.  Hear it once and try to remember it as they are hard to see now so high up in the canopy of hardwood trees.

These are just a few of the many birds of Leeds.  There is so much more to tell and see.  The yellow warbler (“sweet, sweet, sweet, sweeter than sweet”), the ovenbird (“teacher, teacher, teacher”)

and the ever-mimicking mockingbird are always about, their calls we hear daily – or do we?  In Leeds you have a chance to hear and see things as beautiful as anywhere in the world.  All you need to do is walk out the door, stand still somewhere nearby and wait – it’ll come to you.  Be patient enough and you should be able to find at least one bird’s nest some where’s about your area – that in itself should be prize enough.

At the High Tea on The Hotel Bridge on Sunday May 17th, we had several requests for this recipe so, here it is.......

Greek Spinach Melts

1 loaf French bread (Baguette)

1 pkg. ( 9 oz.) frozen chopped spinach,   

   thawed and drained

1 plum tomato, seeded and chopped

1 cup onion, chopped

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 cup feta cheese, crumbled

1 cup each: mayonnaise and sour cream

1 teas. dried dill weed

1 teas. salt

Preheat oven to 375.

Meanwhile:

1. Slice bread into inch slices and set aside.

2.  Place spinach, and all other prepared ingredients, in bowl and mix well. (if you can do this the night before, or several hours before you intend to make the melts, the flavors have an opportunity to meld.)

3. Drop mixture onto bread slices, arranged on a cookie sheet or other shallow baking pan, using two spoons, spreading mixture to edge of bread.

4. Bake 15 min. or until heated through and the bread is slightly crisp.

(And click here to check out the photos of this event)

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