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OFF THE BEATEN TRACK John Paul Park - Brooklyn, New York
At 101 Street and between 4th Ave. and Ft. Hamilton Parkway stands the five and a quarter acre John Paul Jones Park. Just outside the entrance to Ft. Hamilton, the park lies virtually underneath the Verazzano-Narrows Bridge which connects Brooklyn to Staten Island. A large cannon and many cannon balls are a part of the Ft. Hamilton Harbor Defense Museum. The park is named for John Paul Jones, who was born in Kirkcudbright Scotland. He is considered by many to be the father of the American Navy On Memorial Day, Monday May 30th 2002, the route of the oldest continual Memorial Day parade in country terminated in this park, where on that day a Vietnam War Memorial was dedicated The park has a number of important memorials in it, including one to the Dover Patrol and one which commemorates the first resistance to British arms in the State of New York in 1778. In what can only be called an unqualified success, the parade ended all too soon. The big question that was on everyone's lips was "Is this going to become an annual event?". We sure hope so!. Click here for a slide show of John Paul Jones Park
HOPE BAKERY IN ALLOA
The Hope Bakery in Alloa, Clackmannanshire, Scotland is nearly 200 years old. Not far from Stirling Castle (one of its customers), the bakery, established in 1810 during the reign of King George III, supplied bread to conscripts sailing off to the Napoleonic Wars. Tom Baxter is the current owner of the bakery. He bought it in 1994 from the Hope family, who themselves had purchased it around 1900 from the original owners. Changes in shopping habits have caused sales to drop to the point where it is no longer possible to keep the bakery open. Usually staffed by 11 full time workers who still use the original brick ovens, the bakery turned out goods for a variety of customers. But with the arrival of supermarkets and "one stop shopping" many smaller business began to fail. Currently there is a move on to help the bakery reestablish itself and develop in new ways. Hopefully it will become a tourist attraction and perhaps contain a small school for baking. We would welcome hearing from anyone having ideas that would help save this historical business! Please write and let us know. All responses will be sent on to Mr. Baxter. Click here for a slide show of The Hope Bakery in Alloa
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