FVN Weblog

The Great Hayes Corn Maze

Richard — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 22:00:00 GMT

This past weekend while taking a Sunday drive through Granby, my family and I stumbled upon the Hayes Corn Maze. My son loves figuring out printed mazes, so it was a must see for us. None of us had ever experienced a corn maze which you can actually walk through. We sure are glad we took the time to stop in and check it out. Walking the corn maze was a lot of fun!

The Hayes Corn Maze is located on Sweet Pea Farm and was designed by Stanley Hayes. Each year Stanley designs a new maze based on a theme. In years past the themes have varied from agriculture, with "All About Cows", to History, with "The Granby Oak". This years theme was based on "The Circus".

After you enter the maze you come to a small clearing where there is an old tractor tire encircling two signs. One sign is an informational sign and the other is a multiple choice question based on the theme. The lettered answers coincide with the entrances to the next leg of the maze.

Answering the question correctly will lead you down the correct path and to an answer panel confirming you are correct. Answer incorrectly and you will end up at one of the many dead ends requiring you to back track to the question panel and try again. Each question has four possible answers and associated paths. There were five questions. I didn't time it but I think it took us about half an hour to get through.

The Hayes Corn Maze is open Friday, Saturday and Sundays with special hours on holidays. Prices are $7.00 for Adults and $5.00 for children. Kids four and under are free! Check their website for more information.

In addition to corn, Sweet Pea Farm also operates a dairy and produce a variety of different cheeses. They offer several flavors of Chevre and Feta cheese. Their Feta cheese took the Silver Medal in the 2008 Big E Cheese Competition.

So study up on your circus trivia and head over to North Granby for a picnic lunch (tables and drinks are available) and an adventure through the Great Hayes Corn Maze! It's a great time you won't soon forget!

Over 5,000 Motorcycles Roar Through the Farmington Valley for Special Olympics

Richard — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 21:02:00 GMT

On Sunday, August 24, 2008 over 5,000 motorcyclist roared through the Farmington Valley and other locations in a benefit ride for the Special Olympics of Connecticut. The Event is known as the "Dream Ride" and Sunday was the eighth annual ride organized and sponsored by Bozzuto's Inc and IGA Hometown Wheels. Bozzuto's Inc is a Cheshire Connecticut based wholesale distributor of food and household products for retailers throughout New England, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. Other sponsors included Crystal Farms, The Farmington Club, Papa's Chrysler Dodge Jeep, All Waste, Trantolo & Trantolo, Abel Womack, Aetna, Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Carrier Transicold of Southern New England and numerous others. Click here for the complete list of sponsors. Over the previous seven years, the benefit has raised over $740,000. It is estimated that this year, the largest benefit ride to date, will generate over $100,000 for the Special Olympics of Connecticut. The motorcyclists raise money by contributing a minimum donation of $30 per driver and $20 per passenger. Many of the bikes had passengers representing at least $50.00 per bike. I must say the sight was unbelievable. Two dozen police officers volunteered their time to escort the motorcyclists along the 40 mile route. The non-stop procession of motorcycles lasted for over 35 minutes. The sheer mass of bikes was unbelievable. All of the riders seemed to be enjoying themselves and many waved and beeped their horns as they passed impromptu groups of spectators along the way. Jodi Rell, Governor of the State of Connecticut, has officially proclaimed Sunday, August 24, 2008 as “Annual Dream Ride Day.” This years event also included a car show held at the Farmington Club, which was also the start and ending location for the benift ride. Below are some photos from the ride.

See you next year!

What's Your Latitude? (Part 3)

Richard — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 17:25:00 GMT

I've written a couple of articles (What's Your Latitude? Part 1 & Part 2) about Google Earth and Google Maps. Both applications continue to evolve. This article will focus on Google Maps, the 2D web based map application. Google Maps allows users to choose and customize the data that is presented on the maps. Users can toggle between a standard road map, satellite imagery or topographical representations of the maps. In addition users can turn on "Traffic" to view both "Live traffic" and predicted traffic data. Predicted data is based on past conditions.

Additional data can be presented on the maps by clicking the "more" button. Clicking the "Photos" check box will link geo-tagged photos from the Panoramio website. Panoramio is a photo sharing website owned by Google. Clicking the image will take you to the photo published on the Panoramio website. Similarly, clicking on a Wikipedia placemark will open a window with information and a link to the full article on Wikipedia. Wikipedia is an on-line encyclopedia anyone can edit.

In the previous articles I mentioned a feature in Google Maps called "Street View". Street View gives the user the ability to actually view imagery at the street level. Click on the "Street View" button and the roads with Street View available will be double lined in blue. Click between the double blue lines and the "Street View" image will be displayed in a window. Users can move through the "Street View", zoom images, pan around 360° and tilt the images up and down. Users can also view "Street View" in full screen mode Much of the Farmington Valley is now covered with Street View. Based on the below screen shot, I would say the images of the Farmington Valley were captured late last August or sometime in September.

To View the Google Maps Master Street View Map click here.

The Street View feature has raised some concerns over privacy issues. As a result Google now offers a way for users to report and request removal of inappropriate images. To request an image be removed or blurred click on the "Street View Help" link in the Street View window. At the bottom is a link to "Report inappropriate image". This link will lead users to the request removal form.

In addition to the features mention above, users can further customize the data presented on Google Maps by clicking on the "My Maps" link. A number of additional content layers are available. Google Real Estate Search, Videos from YouTube, Gas Prices from GasBuddy.com, Places of Interest and data from the Weather Channel are some of the available data layers.

Users who have a Google account can further customize data and even create, save and share custom maps.

There are literally hundreds of data layers available once logged in with your Google account Click here for video explanation.

There are other features and tools for developers. I hope you found this article informative and enjoy using Google maps as much as I do. I'm not sure how much better it can get for interactive mapping, but if it can, Google will figure out how to bring it to you.

Richard