The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Eastwick Press

Wesley Vars – Obituary

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Grafton – Wesley Vars passed from this life in the comfort of his home surrounded by his loving family on Tuesday, December 21, 2021. He was 65 years old.

Born in Troy, he was son of the late Wesley Vars, Sr. and Marion (Burdick) Vars. Wesley lived in Cropseyville for most of his life and attended Berlin Central Schools. He was initially employed by W.J. Cowee of Berlin and later by Saint Gobain in Hoosick Falls from where he retired.

Wesley enjoyed hunting, fishing and ice fishing, cutting wood and the times spent at home with his family.

He was the beloved husband of Pamela (Laperle) Vars; father of Mark (Amy) Vars, Joseph (Erin) Vars, Stephanie (Jason) White and the late Dawn Cummins; grandfather of Dawn, Brent, Blake, Candace, Zachary, Zoey, Trinity, Brianna, Logan, Joey, Jakob, Madison and Stephen; great-grandfather of Cade, Benjamin and Bellamy; brother of Edward (Louise) Vars, Brian (Barbara) Vars, Alan (Gloria) Bentley, the late Brenda Vars and Clayton Bentley; as well and many nieces and nephews.

Wesley’s family wishes to extend a heartfelt thank you to the nurses and staff of the Community Hospice for the wonderful care given to Wesley and for the support offered to his family during a difficult time.

There will be no formal services held and for those wishing to remember him in a special way, donations in Wesley’s memory may be made to the Community Hospice Foundation, 310 South Manning Blvd., Albany, NY 12208.

Arrangements were entrusted to the Thomas M. Barber Funeral Home of Petersburgh, NY.

Visit www.parkerbrosmemroial.com to leave a pleasant memory or to express your sympathy to Wesley’s family.

John T. Bossoni – Obituary

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Petersburgh – John Thomas Bossoni, 87, a resident of Rabbit College Road, passed away December 30, 2021 at his home. John was born in Brooklyn, on February 10, 1934. He was the son of the late Frank and Lillian (Webb) Bossoni and attended local schools. John worked as a Sergeant for the NYPD for 20 years, retiring in 1977. Upon retirement he moved to Petersburgh, where he owned and operated a real estate business for over 40 years. He served his country as a member of the United States Navy during the Korean Conflict. He was a member of the American Legion and the Knights of Columbus and enjoyed playing chess, playing his guitar and loved salt water fishing. He enjoyed watching cowboy movies, especially John Wayne, listening to country and classical music and spending time with his family. John is survived by his wife Anne Philibosian Bossoni of Petersburgh, NY, his children, Jonathan Bossoni of Petersburgh, NY, Susan Barry (Paul) of Saratoga, NY and Holly Rosenberg (Paul) of Florida, as well as six grandchildren. He was predeceased by his sister Ruth “Penny” Quiles in November 2016. A Mass of Christian Death and Burial will be celebrated Friday, January 7, 2022 at 11 am at Sacred Heart St. Francis deSales Catholic Church in Bennington. Interment will follow in St. Mary’s Cemetery in Hoosick Falls. If friends desire, memorial gifts in John’s memory may be made to Missions of the Month, Oblate Missions, c/o Hanson Walbridge & Shea Funeral Home, P.O. Box 957 Bennington, VT 05201. To send the family personal condolences please visit www.sheafuneralhomes.com. [Read more…] about John T. Bossoni – Obituary

Area Schools Prepare for Home COVID-19 Testing

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Governor Kathy Hochul announced over the weekend she would like to see a process where if a child in a school district tests positive for COVID-19, not all the classmates need to be quarantined. Her proposal is for schools to send “at home test kits” to the families of school children, and if they test negative, they could continue in classroom learning. Area school superintendents we spoke with indicated they have not officially received such a notice from the NYS Department of Health, but all now have the test kits in hand, and will be sending them home with students or holding for parental pick up this week. Most plan for distribution on Tuesday, January 4. The Brunswick, Berlin, Hoosick Falls and New Lebanon school districts have already posted the information on their websites or Facebook pages, or will be doing so shortly. If you cannot access the sites, you are asked to simply call your particular district for more information.

[Read more…] about Area Schools Prepare for Home COVID-19 Testing

Social Services Commissioner Retires

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Submitted by the Office of the County Executive

Rensselaer County Department of Social Services Commissioner Theresa Beaudoin is retiring from County service, and is being praised for her service to the County over four decades, County Executive Steve McLaughlin and members of the County Legislature announced on Monday.

Beaudoin’s last day with the County is today. The County will be announcing a temporary replacement [Read more…] about Social Services Commissioner Retires

A Super(intendent) Job of Thinking Outside the Box

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by Doug La Rocque

Word is getting around town about a substitute bus driver for the Brittonkill (Brunswick) Schools. Not because she is special (she makes it very clear she isn’t) but because of the uniqueness of the situation. District Superintendent Dr. Angelina Maloney is now also known as substitute school bus driver Angelina Maloney.

In a conversation with Dr. Maloney, The Eastwick Press asked her how she came up with the idea to add bus driver to her resume. She told us “We have been facing a shortage of drivers for some time and this year it reached a crisis point. I tried many avenues of recruitment which still did not eliminate the problem so [Read more…] about A Super(intendent) Job of Thinking Outside the Box

Drainage Work at Petersburgh Landfill Completed

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by Alex Brooks

Tom Berry said the drainage improvement work designed by the Town’s engineer to keep water runoff out of the landfill as much as possible has been completed by the Berlin and Petersburgh highway departments. “All water drainage issues have been resolved,” said Berry. He said Mark Millspaugh, the engineer from Sterling Environmental, visited the site and inspected the work when it was completed, and he will communicate with DEC about the completion of this phase of the work.

Berry said now that this work is completed, the engineers can start monitoring the volume of seepage coming out of the landfill, which will determine [Read more…] about Drainage Work at Petersburgh Landfill Completed

Schodack Planning Board Highlights 

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by Denise Wright

Even though the Christmas holiday is quickly approaching, the Schodack Planning Board was busy at their December 20 meeting. After the minutes were approved, a Schodack resident voiced questions about the Muslim Community of Troy cemetery project proposed on Phillips Road. The resident asked for clarification about the burial process, the phasing of the project and the impact on groundwater. Members of the Board explained that the burial ceremonies involve simple pine boxes with no embalming process. 

The project presenter from Environmental Designs updated the Board that a geotechnical consultant had completed an environmental study. According to the report, there will be [Read more…] about Schodack Planning Board Highlights 

Local Olympian Speaks at Tamarac High School

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by Amy Modesti 

Do you know what it takes to be an Olympian? Emma White does.

Tuesday, December 21, White spoke to students inside the Tamarac High School District Auditorium about her Olympic career. The 24-year-old, originally from Duanesburg, now residing in Jersey City, NJ, took up cycling at nine years old. Inspired by her older brother and family at their cycling outings, White made it her mission to become a cyclist. 

Upon becoming a cyclist, she majored in Computer Science at Union College. It was during her college years that she trained under famed coach Kristen Armstrong, and raised her cycling skills to new heights, even taking part in the 2014 and 2015 Junior World Championships. 

Eventually, White made the switch to track cycling and joined the USA Olympic Team [Read more…] about Local Olympian Speaks at Tamarac High School

Hoosick Falls School Board COVID-19 Threat Nearly Compels Remote Learning

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Hoosick Falls School Board

by Alex Brooks

At the Hoosick Falls School Board meeting on Thursday, December 16, there was discussion of a possible need to go to remote learning on short notice because of a high number of COVID-19 cases in the Hoosick Falls community, some of which had shown up among teachers and students. But in the latter part of that week the number of cases dropped and on Friday the District announced that it will not need to switch to remote learning this week.

The Board approved the District’s contract with managerial/confidential employees dated December 13, 2021, which is effective from July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2024.  It also approved a contract with the District’s support staff dated December 14, 2021, which is effective July 1, 2020 through June 30, 2025. Superintendent Pat Dailey said the District now has contracts in place with [Read more…] about Hoosick Falls School Board COVID-19 Threat Nearly Compels Remote Learning