To the Editor,

Due to positive feedback from an earlier article “Eats and Treats of Madison County”, I would like to share a few more “treasures” of sorts found within a short distance of campus. Again, these sites serve as stepping-stones to experience the area of Central New York that surrounds campus and the village of Hamilton. Maybe waterfalls bore you and big pigs disgust you. If so, I challenge you to find your own points of interests and share them with others.

The Chittenango Falls are located about 30 minutes from campus. To get to the 167-foot falls, travel north on 12B, head west on Rte. 20 until you reach Cazenovia where you go north on Rte. 13 for six miles and find the entrance to Chittenango State Park. The park itself is a great place for a picnic along with several walking paths that showcase the waterfall.

The falls were sculpted over bedrock during the course of the last 40 million years. While they are no Niagara Falls, they are one of the natural gems of Central New York. The proximity of the walking trails allows one to hear the sounds of cascading water — in my opinion, one of the most enjoyable sounds of nature. If the sun ever returns, grab a few sandwiches from Parkside and spend a free afternoon exploring the falls with friends.

When Charlotte the spider of Charlotte’s Web spins “SOME PIG” she just may have been referring to Big Norm of Hubbardsville. Big Norm tips the scales at 1,600 lbs and is eight feet in length, which puts him in the same class as a Holstein cow or a Honda Civic. Norm was raised on normal pig feed but just kept on growing and growing, far surpassing the average pig weight of 500 lbs.

Although the rumors of Norm being the “World’s Largest Pig” may not be true (a pig in 1950s China once grew to be 2,500 lbs!), Norm is still a local celebrity in the Hamilton area. He can be visited in his barn — located minutes from campus — seven days a week from 9 a.m. – 7 p.m. Norm’s owners ask that guests make a $2 donation to help offset Norm’s massive food bill and upkeep costs.

For more information on Norm visit www.worldsbigpig.com to read the entire “Big Norm Story” and order Norm novelties at The Big Norm Mall. Norm’s residence is located at 7745 Hill Rd in Hubbardsville. To find Big Norm from campus, take a right at the Colgate Inn onto Payne St for 3.5 miles, then take a right onto Thayer Rd for half a mile then a quick left on to Hill Rd.

Those are all the sites for this week, but feel free to pass along any suggestions and keep searching for more treasures beyond Colgate!

Ben CallawayClass of 2007