Wednesday, November 09, 2011

Squirreled Away In Olean

Today we're in Olean, New York, just about forty miles north of where we delivered our load in Coudersport, Pennsylvania; we headed this way because it was the town closest to an interstate. We're still looking for a load out of here, but so far the places they're going and the money they're paying hasn't thrilled us.

What has thrilled us, are the painted squirrels of Olean!
You can click on the image to enlarge it, but when you do, you might want to open it in another window because these here sqwhirls (as Ed calls them) have names! In the top row, from left to rigth we have Ronald McSquirrel, Starry Night Squirrel, Hey Mom, Guess What..., Life's Images and Lady Justice. The bottom row is lead by Olean Patriot (he has an American flag tail!), then Squirrel World, Country Folk Squirrel, Nutty O' St. Nick and Pop Arthur.

There was the
Cow Parade in Chicago, Guitar Mania in Cleveland, and now Squirrels in Olean! The town is quite cute, with several parks and a busy main street. Just a few miles over, in the town of Allegany, is St. Bonaventure University, which is well known in the Western Region of New York.

According to Wikipedia, among the other things Olean has been known for (timber, oil and being a major railroad hub, St. Bonaventure University), Olean also garnered notoriety as "a major stop on bootlegging routes during Prohibition in 1920s. Local police turned a blind eye to organized crime activity. Olean was nicknamed "Little Chicago" in the press, due to its connection with mobsters and bootleggers, and Al Capone was a frequent visitor." Really? Interesting.

If you ever swing through Olean and want to check out the Squirrels, click
here to find out where in town they're located.


~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO:
Home Sweet Home
2 YEARS AGO:
You Build It, We’ll Haul It
3 YEARS AGO:
The Canadian MJ II
4 YEARS AGO:
Eddie In The Half Moon Hall Friday
5 YEARS AGO:
The Italian Death March
6 YEARS AGO:
How You Doin’?

2 comments:

Gil said...

Never knew about the bootleggers, no wonder my cousin was so happy at St. Boonys!

Anonymous said...

Hey Salena, I wish I had known you were in Olean - my daughter Maria is a student at St. Bonaventure! She would have loved to have seen you since the last time you guys saw each other was at the family reunion a few years ago. Looking forward to seeing you soon. Love ya, Cousin Maria in City Island