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Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

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Hoosick Draft Land Use Law Presented

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Town Supervisor Marilyn Douglas addressed the dozen people attending the Land Use Law Meeting. Members of the Zoning Commission in attendance were (l-r) John Cooney, Marianne Zwicklbauer (hidden), consultant Linda von der Heide from Rensselaer County, Gail Delurey, John Smith, Ellen Scott and Wally Sheffer, Sr. (Bea Peterson photo)
Town Supervisor Marilyn Douglas addressed the dozen people attending the Land Use Law Meeting. Members of the Zoning Commission in attendance were (l-r) John Cooney, Marianne Zwicklbauer (hidden), consultant Linda von der Heide from Rensselaer County, Gail Delurey, John Smith, Ellen Scott and Wally Sheffer, Sr. (Bea Peterson photo)

by Bea Peterson

On Wednesday evening the Zoning Commission of the Town of Hoosick presented a first draft of the Land Use Law of the Town of Hoosick. In her opening remarks Town Supervisor Marilyn Douglas said Hoosick is one of three towns in Rensselaer County that do not have zoning. The other two are Grafton and Petersburgh. This new plan will complement the Comprehensive Plan that was adopted by the Town in 2004. Some laws, she said, such as the cell tower law have been piecemealed together over time. The draft presented to the public Wednesday has been reviewed by the Highway Superintendent, the Building Inspector, the Town Attorney and the Town Board. “We want you to look it over,” she told everyone at the meeting. “We want your involvement.”

Marianne Zwicklbauer, a member of the Commission addressed the group. “We all love it here,” she began. “Six year ago I was not in favor of zoning,” she said. What has happened in the Town during those six years has changed my mind.” She expressed the importance of encouraging development in appropriate places and seeing that water quality is maintained. Individuals and businesses look for land use laws, she continued. “Reputable businesses do not fear land use laws.” She believes the Commission can implement laws without impinging on individual rights.

Linda von der Heide, Principal Planner with Rensselaer County Economic Development then went over the Land Use draft chapter by chapter.

Chapter one states the purpose of the Land Use Law is to encourage: 

• The management of agriculture resources; 

• The rural character of the Town;

• The opportunities for growth recognizing the constraints of the natural resources; 

• Economic development; and to

• Support hamlets as centers for commerce and new residential development;

• Protect key natural features that create the feeling of openness and natural beauty;

• Gradually eliminate non-conforming uses;

• Assure privacy for residences and protection against loud, unsightly, obtrusive or unneighborly land uses or operations;

• Recognize the residents of the Town of Hoosick have a personal and monetary investment in their property and that they need to protect the value of their investment;

• Assure adequate sites of residential, agricultural, industrial and commercial uses;

• Facilitate the efficient, economical and adequate provision of public utilities and services;

• Prevent and reduce traffic congestion, to promote efficient and safe circulation of vehicles and pedestrians.

Chapter two will establish districts in the Town. No maps have been developed at this time. They will be put together at the Public Workshop Meetings to be held during September and October.

Chapter three establishes use regulations, Chapter four covers acreage amounts for various uses. Chapter five covers non-conforming uses and non-complying structures. Chapter six covers supplemental regulations, chapter seven deals with special permits, chapters eight, nine and ten cover laws already in use. Chapter eleven covers special district requirements, Chapter twelve deals with administration and enforcement, Chapter thirteen covers definitions and other terms used in the regulations. Chapter fourteen discusses amendments and applicability. 

Von der Heide said this plan was better than most communities have. Copies of the draft are available at the Town Hall and a copy can be read at the Cheney Library.

Workshops And 

Meetings

The first Public Workshop meeting will be next Thursday, September 11, at the Town Hall at 7 pm. Comments were already forthcoming from those at this meeting before they left the first session. The text will be reviewed next week. The following meetings will include review of the text and map plans.

• September 18 – Buskirk Fire Hall

• October 6 – North Hoosick Fire Hall

• October 15 – Hoosick Fire Hall

• October 22 – West Hoosick Fire Hall

After these meetings the Commission will review the material and in December or January another Public Hearing will be held.

6,000 Movie Extras Needed

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Open Casting Call  Thursday September 4

Focus Features’ movie Taking Woodstock, currently filming on location in Columbia County, NY, is looking for 6,000 extras to help recreate 1969. 

The Extras Casting Department for Taking Woodstock is holding an open casting call this Thursday, September 4, at Lebanon Valley Speedway Clubhouse, 1746 Route 20, New Lebanon  from 10 am to 8 pm. These extras jobs are paid positions, to start work immediately. Anyone who is 18 years of age or older and a U.S. resident is welcome, especially college age looking 18 to 30 year olds.  Please bring a recent, non-returnable photo of yourself as well as valid current identification. Given the film’s 1969 setting, long hair is a plus. If you have already applied, there is no need to re-register. For more information, log on to www.imeem.com/takingwoodstock.

Taking Woodstock is the new film from Academy Award winning director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain; Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon). It is a true story set in 1969 about a man, Elliot Tiber (Demetri Martin), who inadvertently played a pivotal role in making the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival into the famed happening it was. Working as an interior designer in Greenwich Village during culturally and politically exciting times,  Tiber felt empowered by the gay rights movement. But he was also still staked to the family business ą a Catskills motel. Upon hearing that a planned concert had lost its permit from the neighboring town of Wallkill, NY, Tiber called producer Michael Lang (Jonathan Groff) at Woodstock Ventures to offer his motel. Soon the Woodstock staff was moving into the El Monaco, half a million people were on their way to Tiber’s neighbor’s Max Yasgur’s (Eugene Levy) farm in White Lake, NY, and Tiber found himself swept up in a generation-defining experience that would change his life, and American culture, forever.

Taking Woodstock is directed by Mr. Ang Lee from a screenplay by James Schamus, based on the book by Elliot Tiber and Tom Monte. The film stars Demetri Martin, Imelda Staunton, Henry Goodman, Jonathan Groff, Emile Hirsch, Liev Schreiber, Dan Fogler, Skylar Astin, Richard Thomas, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan and Eugene Levy.

Focus Features , www.filminfocus.com, exists to produce, acquire and distribute original and daring films that challenge the mainstream to embrace and enjoy voices and visions from around the world that deliver global commercial success.

Focus Features is part of NBC Universal, one of the world’s leading media and entertainment companies in the development, production and marketing of entertainment, news and information to a global audience. Formed in May 2004 through the combining of NBC and Vivendi Universal Entertainment, NBC Universal owns and operates a valuable portfolio of news and entertainment networks, a premier motion picture company, significant television production operations, a leading television stations group and world-renowned theme parks. NBC Universal is 80% owned by General Electric and 20% owned by Vivendi.

Two New Principals At Berlin Central School

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by David Flint

“We will be ready, and school will open on time!” Berlin High School’s new Principal was looking forward last Friday to starting the school year and was enthusiastic about the “tremendous pool of talent he has found here. Dennis Healy said he met the new Guidance Counselor and new teachers for music, social studies, science and technology at orientation last week and found a lot of fresh experiences and new ideas. That, combined with the talent and energy that he said is already here, would be “a formidable combination to help kids advance better.” “I’m very optimistic and looking forward to a very good year,” he added.

New High School Principal Dennis Healy in his office. (David Flint photo)
New High School Principal Dennis Healy in his office. (David Flint photo)

 

 

Healy grew up on Long Island and later attended Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology and history. In the early 1990s he received a Master of Social Work degree from SUNY-Albany. He also has administration and building principal certificates from the College of St. Rose.

His work history has largely been with disadvantaged and disturbed youth. His first job right out of college was working with young gang members in Brooklyn. He has worked at and managed residential centers and group homes and was for five years the Director of Residential Services at McQuade Children’s Services in New Windsor, NY, near Newburgh. Hired as a social worker at HFM BOCES serving Hamilton, Fulton and Montgomery counties, he stayed there for 16 years, becoming the Coordinator of Pupil Services. He worked primarily with behaviorally challenged students and developed and marketed a Career Assessment Program to establish student profiles facilitating placement in the Career & Technical Center or in internships. 

Healy said he had been looking for employment in a rural school district where he could apply his expertise in teaching, crisis intervention and cultivating and optimizing a good school climate, facilitating the building of a community within the school. He considered Berlin to be a good size school. He remarked on what he said was Berlin’s comprehensive selection process for new principals. He was quite impressed with the behavior, discussion and excellent questions on the part of members of the selection panel that included students as well as community members, teachers, non-instructional staff and the School Board. The process and the people involved, he said, made him feel comfortable with his decision to come to Berlin. 

Healy said he will spend some time assessing the situation at Berlin, speaking with all staff members and getting their take on things. “We will work together to meet the challenges and create a positive educational experience for faculty, staff and students. If there is a problem, the object is not to fix blame but rather to fix it and move on. I want to optimize achievement and help students to learn to think critically so that they can apply their learning to life experience in the future,” he said.

Healy will be the fifth High School principal at Berlin in eight years, following Fran DelSignore and before her Marla Yudin, Jeannie Henry and James Bedford. He noted that there has not been as much turnover at the elementary level here, but he believes that consistency is important in an educational setting, so he has made a commitment to being here “for quite a while.” 

Cathy Allain Takes Over At The Middle School

Cathy Allain is the new Principal at the Berlin Middle School. District residents have become familiar with her as the Principal of Grafton Elementary School for the past two years. Before that she was Principal of the Hoosick Falls Elementary School. Allain is replacing Interim Middle School Principal Patricia O’Grady who in April replaced Ed Kilmartin, the first Middle School Principal appointed last year. O’Grady will now function as Interim Principal at Grafton. 

Allain said she loved her position at Grafton but when asked by Interim Schools Superintendent Charlotte Gregory to take over the Middle School she said she would be happy to help out. The Berlin School District, she said, is a very welcoming place to work, and she believes she could be happy at any location. 

Allain believes the decision the Board made last year to more clearly set off the Middle School from the High School was a good one as it places a true focus on grades six, seven and eight and on the particular needs of these students and what they need to do to transition to the High School. These students, she said, need to develop many academic and social skills as they change and develop. One key to the success of the new school, she said, is the Steering Committee established by Kilmartin to determine specific needs and program changes. The Committee comprises teachers, parents and community members. It has good representation, she said, and is a very active committee. They look at test scores, student interests and teachers’ particular talents and seek to develop what a Middle School should look like, and specifically a Middle School in the Berlin community. Allain said she has already met with the staff and they have started to map out the critical issues for the coming year. The State standardized test scores are certainly one of these critical issues, and the Steering Committee will be working on ways to improve test taking skills as well as academic achievement. 

Another issue that concerns Allain is the dropout rate at the high school which she said could be improved. The high school dropout rate, she said, is a function of an attitude that starts at the middle school level. Thus it is important to find out what middle school student interests are and help staff to become more connected with students, perhaps by developing more opportunities for discussion in after school activities and enrichment programs. 

Allain said they would be ready to start school on September 4. Last Friday preparations were under way for an orientation night for sixth-graders and their parents. Among other things, students were to be introduced to their handbooks, helped with their schedules and shown their lockers and how to use their combination locks. “I’m looking forward enthusiastically,” Allain said, “and I would appreciate parent input. They can contact me at callain@berlincentral.org .”

Two New Principals At HFCS

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by Bea Peterson

 

“I love middle school and high school,” said Steven Leunig. “Here at Hoosick Falls I have the best of both worlds.” He is the new principal of the Middle and High School. “I also like small towns where the school is the focal point of the community,” he added. Leunig taught school on Long Island for 21 years.

New High School Principal Steven Leunig in his office. (Bea Peterson photo)
New High School Principal Steven Leunig in his office. (Bea Peterson photo)

He and his wife and children moved to Maine where he taught for seven years. “We loved it,” he said. “It was like one long vacation.” 

 

With their children in college, one at the University of Southern Maine majoring in Education and the other majoring in Business at SUNY New Paltz, the couple decided they wanted to come back to New York state. Last year Leunig was principal of Granville Junior/Senior High School. 

Size-wise he said HFCS is just right; not too big, not too small. “I’ll have a chance to get to know all the kids.” He is looking forward to working with all the teachers, especially the new ones. “There are so many good things I’ve learned over the years that I will do what I can to share these things with others,” he said.

Leunig attended SUNY Oswego and Hofstra University and completed his Administrative Program at the College of New Rochelle. He began his career as a shop teacher. Music is a big part of his life. He plays trumpet, guitar, bass and sings. He favors 60s music. He is a member of two bands, one in Wilton and the other in Whitehall. His wife is a member of the Sweet Adelines. He has heard all about the wonderful musicals the students have performed in the past and he can’t wait to see what they are going to do this year.

“I’m moving down but moving up,” said Patrick Dailey. “It’s exciting.” This year he is the new Elementary School Principal. Last year he was Assistant Principal at the Middle and High School. Dailey’s seven year teaching career has been at HFCS. He has taught Earth Science, Chemistry, Forensics and AP US History. In 2004 the Honor Society recognized him as their Teacher of the Year.

New Elementary School Principal Patrick Dailey in his office. (Bea Peterson photo)
New Elementary School Principal Patrick Dailey in his office. (Bea Peterson photo)

 

 

Dailey has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Anthropology and Environmental Education from SUNY Plattsburg. Teaching at the high school level made him the family “black sheep,” he said. “Most of my family worked in elementary schools. My Mom has been an elementary teacher for 35 years.” He has sisters in Lake Placid and  Norwood, NY, a brother in Utica and another sister in Mexico City.

Dailey enjoys traveling, woodworking and playing guitar. He has been JV girls soccer coach for several years. This year he is co-coach of the team with Lisa Ferrannini. He lives in Hoosick, about a mile from the Soccer Fields.

Dailey feels the strength he brings to his new position is the experience he has gained teaching in the higher grades. “I know where these younger students have to be to achieve success later. I know the goal we’re shooting for,” he said.

Pennies For A Pony

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by David Flint

Members of the Stephentown Historical Society spent most of Wednesday on an exciting field trip to the Berkshires, concluding with a visit to the Mission House of John Sergeant, missionary to the Stockbridge Mohicans.

The first part of the expedition was to the workshop of Berkshire Carousel on Merrill Road in Pittsfield. Berkshire Carousel is a community project to create an art attraction for downtown Pittsfield that the whole family can enjoy, a magnificent hand carved and hand painted wooden carousel.

Walt Reuss (r), Chief Carver for the Berkshire Carousel Project, describes for Stephentown Historical Society members the construction of a carousel horse. (David Flint)
Walt Reuss (r), Chief Carver for the Berkshire Carousel Project, describes for Stephentown Historical Society members the construction of a carousel horse. (David Flint)

SHS members learned from Project Director Maria Caccaviello that the project was the brainchild of former residents Jim and Jackie Shulman. They provided initial funding and conceived the idea that the whole Berkshire community could participate in all aspects of the project. Residents with carving experience or even without carving experience as long as they are willing to learn and have a sense of commitment, are encouraged to work as teams in creating the horses for the carousel under the direction of master carver Walt Reuss. Other artists and volunteers will work on the rounding boards, the fancy panels that go at the top of the carousel, which in this case will depict historic themes of the Berkshires. More volunteers are needed to help with fund raising. The grand opening of the carousel is planned for May 2011 which is the 250th anniversary of the City’s incorporation. 

 

The carousel will be located on a one acre site formerly occupied by a Cadillac dealership at Center and South Church Streets. It will be about 40 feet in diameter and will have 37 horses and two chariots. An exhibit hall housing the carousel will have space for a gallery, a gift shop, concessions and a hall for special events and parties. The carousel itself is expected to cost about $700,000. The total cost of the project will run close to $3 million. 

Reuss explained how the horses are carved and constructed. They will be made of bass wood from linden trees of the Northeast. Carousel carvers long ago determined that laminated hollow body construction makes for the most durable figures. In the head of a horse there will be about ten boards laminated together. Designs selected by the Board of Directors are projected onto a screen and a tracing is made on paper. The design is then transferred to the laminated blocks of wood that make up the body of the horse. Band saws and angle grinders are used to rough out the shapes. This is followed by many hours of carving and an equal number of hours of sanding. “How do you know when to stop carving?” is a question often asked of the master carver. “When it looks right,” is Reuss’s response.

Information on the Berkshire Carousel project is available at  www.berkshirecarousel.com. Those interested in contributing can sponsor a painted pony or other parts of the carousel or simply make a donation or save their loose change for “Pennies for a Pony.”

Going Green

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by Bea Peterson

The Riverside Laundromat & Car Wash on Church St. has ten solar panels on the roof of the car wash. They began hooking the system up for the laundromat in October 2007 and finished in January 2008. “Since January we’ve saved 1,100 gallons of propane,” said Bill Wyman. He and his wife Kristen have owned the facility for nine years. “We’ve been saving money for this for five years. Luckily we hit in front of the curve.”  During those years Bill read all he could on solar panels then perused the internet for a contractor. Pete Skinner of E2G Solar in West Sand Lake emailed and offered to set up a system for them. The Wymans looked at panels he had put together on a goat farm in Shushan and were impressed. 

Skinner, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field, knew NYSERDA (New York State Energy Research and Development Authority) was offering a half million dollars to ten small NYS businesses that wanted to convert to solar energy. He wrote a grant for the Wymans that was accepted by the Authority. He designed the laundromat system with input from RPI students and NYSERDA. The total cost of the project was $44,000. The Wyman’s investment was $27,000 and the NYSERDA grant covered $17,000. The couple saved close to $3,000 on the project with the help of Kirsten’s father Bill Grennan, Bill’s brother Don Wyman and the Wyman’s neighbor Steve Bellemare. “Pete thought we would get three panels up in a day. With the help of Bill, Don and Steve, we got all ten up in one day,” said Bill. After that Pete would leave them a list of things he wanted completed before his next visit, and Bill would see they were done. “It was a lot of work because we had to do everything after hours, after we closed, but it was worth it.”

The energy from the solar panels heats three 110 gallon water tanks and one 120 gallon tank off the furnace for a capacity of 450 gallons. The average water temperature is 150 degrees. “The system shuts off for safety at 170 degrees,” said Bill. NYSERDA monitors the temperature and humidity of the tanks at all times. 

Two years ago the Wymans replaced the 1968 steam boilers, which had been converted to oil,

Four hot water storage tanks and the Munchkin furnaces take up less space than the former heating system. (Bea Peterson photo)
Four hot water storage tanks and the Munchkin furnaces take up less space than the former heating system. (Bea Peterson photo)

and replaced them with two Munchkin propane heaters that are as small as their name implies. The system was designed and installed by Joe Magisano and JP Conway. “When the State boiler inspector came in, he said he’d never seen such a clean job,” said Bill. He added, the new system is very efficient. “It used to cost us $4,000 a month for heat and hot water. Now our propane bill is cut in half.”

 

The water temperature from the storage tank is controlled by the Munchkins. If the water comes in at more than 120 degrees, a valve automatically mixes cold water in with the hot until it reaches the lower temperature. Should something go wrong with the system a monitor on the roof sets off an alarm that goes directly to NYSERDA.

Bill said the solar panel project “was costly, but I’m glad we did it.” His propane price increased 70 cents a gallon this year. “When we began the project, it was estimated it would take five years to pay for itself. Now, with prices going up, they’re saying it may only take four to four and a half years to reach that goal.” He’s glad they started the project last year because he believes they would have a long wait if they wanted to start it now since more companies are trying to cut rising energy costs.

Bill said, “Basically we’ve been trying to go kind of green all along without realizing that’s what we were doing.” Two years ago he replaced all the 20-year old car wash equipment. “With the new system we cut water consumption in half,” he said. 

They recently replaced all the dryers in the laundromat with Swedish made Wascomat dryers. They have two 50 pound dryers for sleeping bags and comforters and fourteen 30 pound commercial dryers. The machines are rated 25 to 28 percent more efficient than the old ones. “They’ve only been in about a month,” said Bill. “We’re down about 80 gallons of propane. It’s hard to tell yet. I’m hoping it will be much more than that.” The price to use the dryers has remained the same.

The next project is to replace the 18 top load 30 to 35 pound capacity washing machines with front load low water usage machines that will hold 30 to 50 pounds. “We can get three larger capacity machines in the space of two we have now,” said Bill. The washers are Swedish made. “I’d like to buy American, but these are better quality. Other countries are so far ahead of us in conserving energy.” The basic cost to use a machine will remain the same for a cold water wash but will increase for warm water and again for hot water wash. 

The solar panels have become a showcase for other businesses. Even more inspiring is the 50 percent tax break the  government

Jim Sutton Home On Leave

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Jim Sutton with his mom and dad, Jim and Ruth Sutton. On Sunday, August 24, family and friends gathered to celebrate his safe return from Iraq. (Bea Peterson photo)
Jim Sutton with his mom and dad, Jim and Ruth Sutton. On Sunday, August 24, family and friends gathered to celebrate his safe return from Iraq. (Bea Peterson photo)

by Bea Peterson

Jim Sutton of Hoosick is a specialist E-4 serving in Army Aviation. He is home on leave for 18 days. He recently completed 16 months in Baghdad repairing Blackhawk helicopters. This was his second tour in Iraq. He was stationed in Taji for a year in 2005.

Jim hasn’t been home since Christmas time 2006. He has spent some of his leave just driving around town. “You feel like you to have to catch up,” he said, noting it took him a couple of days to realize the Mechanic St. Bridge was finished.

In Bagdad he lived in a 20 man tent. It didn’t allow for much privacy. “Everybody is just one big family,” said Jim. “I made a lot of friends.” He believes the tours are harder on the families at home than they are on the soldiers. “All in all they take care of us,” he said. “We had a gym and basketball and organized events.” He missed everything from home, television, food, cell phones…

“We were constantly building stuff,” he added, “like schools and water mains. We did a lot of infrastructure work.”

Based near the airport Jim said the noise pollution was bad. “There were always generators running or airplanes coming in and taking off. And there was dust everywhere!”

Weather-wise, he said it was cold in the winter, getting down into the thirties. “They had snow last year for the first time in years,” he said. In the summer the temperature climbs into the 120s. “Whenever we go out we have to wear body armor and that adds 15 degrees to the outside temperature.”

Jim didn’t feel he and his unit were in a lot of danger. They had a couple of close calls though, and bombings were frequent. He said it was subjective if conditions were better or worse than during his first tour. “We’re just a giant police force. We’ve been here a long time, and it’s been a huge financial burden on our country,” he said. 

“The country [Iraq] is very slowly starting to come around. They have no middle class and a high unemployment rate.” He believes Iraq will be an autonomous country in the next decade or so, once they settle some of their differences among themselves. “It will be fun to go back for a visit ten years from now,” he said.

While in Iraq Jim toured Saddam Hussein’s palace in Al-Faw. It contains the second largest chandelier in the world. It’s still intact, he said. He saw other palaces, too. One has a picture of President Bush on the floor with the phrase Victory Over America written near it. A leftover from the Gulf War. Jim said Saddam loved the Flintstones and had a Bedrock Village built that was impressive.

Besides serving twice in Iraq, Jim spent a year in South Korea in a city north of Seoul. He has visited Kuwait, and another time spent 18 days traveling by train from Germany to Greece. 

Jim’s company is now based in Savannah, GA, where they are resetting and overhauling or replacing all their equipment to be ready for their next assignment.

Returning home from a war zone has its effects. Jim finds it a little difficult meeting new people. Big groups of people, especially in airports and train stations are intimidating. “We always traveled in small groups in Iraq,” he said. 

Jim joined the Army, he said, “to do something interesting while I was young.” He enjoys repairing Blackhawks. He has met people he never would have met otherwise. He expects to leave the Army in a year and a half. He’ll go for a college degree under the new GI bill. “There’s been a lot of support for the troops, and it’s really appreciated,” he said. His military experience hasn’t given him any more than he bargained for… not yet, he said.

Hoosick Grange News

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Hoosick Grange met on August 27 with Master David Cornell. They had the election of officers. There were only two changes in the officers, Marion Hynick was elected Pomona and Marion Cipperly was elected Chaplain. The fair committee reported that the fair booth was done but they didn’t know the scores. Since that time we found out Hoosick Grange came in first with the theme Heating With Firewood. The Master thanked the fair committee for their work. 

Betty Kipp was in charge of the program for the evening. She said she would try to do a tribute to Walter Cottrell Baker. He was a wonderful friend, neighbor and also a gentleman. She said she couldn’t do it justice at this short time. 

Betty had three jokes and one of them was – A husband wanted his wife to fix the breakfast coffee every morning. She said no she couldn’t, the bible says in several chapters that He-brews. She also had a couple of readings about Al (Scarface) Capone and about his lawyer Eddie. Eddie got feeling guilty about some of the things he had done for Capone, so he decided to testify against him, which had a very surprising ending. Betty also told the story about a boy who told how he had a drug problem when he was young. He was drug to get up in the morning, drug to go to church, drug to go to school, drug to pull weeds and drug to the woodshed when he disobeyed. He said those drugs are still in his veins and affect his behavior in everything be does, and if today’s children had this kind of drug problem, America would be a better place. 

Betty told us the signs of a stroke-crooked smile, slur in talk, can’t raise both arms and tongue to the side. If you see any of these signs call 911. She told us what WD 40 was good for. WD 40 stands for Water Displacement Compound. They put it on burns, on drawers, locks, sticky doors that don’t work good and on the Statue of Liberty. Betty had a game like bingo and had prizes. There were six lucky winners. Her closing thought was – Friends are like stars – you don’t always see them, but you know they are always there. 

The Lecturer thanked Betty for a very good, fun program. The Lecturer announced that Elsie Marpe will be in charge of the program on September 10 and Edna and Allen Cornell are in charge of the refreshments. Marion and Omer Brenenstuhl were in charge of the refreshments for this evening. They had an assortment of goodies.

Wet Down Of New Truck

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The Hoosick Falls Fire Department is holding a Hose Down to introduce its latest truck to the community. The 2007 Rosenbauer Fire Engine, number 17-2, has an eight man enclosed cab with five air pack seats. It holds 1,000 gallons of water and 30 gallons of Class A foam. The side mounted pump can put out 1,250 gallons of water per minute.

There will be plenty of activities for the youngsters and hot dogs for everyone. The event begins at 1 pm on Saturday, September 6.

K Of C Soccer Challenge

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Council #11071 of the Knights of Columbus in Hoosick Falls will be holding a Soccer Challenge on Saturday, September 13, at 12 noon at the George Helft Soccer Complex in Hoosick. It is open to all boys and girls 10 to 14 years of age. If you have questions, please contact Rich Dickinson at 686-4870.