The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

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County Winner Selected for New York Farm Bureau Scholarship

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George Lamb Chosen As Rensselaer County Scholarship Winner

George Lamb was chosen as the Rensselaer County Farm Bureau winner by New York Farm Bureau’s Promotion and Education Committee.

George is the son of Terry and Christina Lamb of Buskirk, NY.  George is a very well rounded student and is a senior attending Hoosic Valley High School.  He has participated in a range of extracurricular activities: Schaghticoke Fair, 4-H Cornell’s Dairy Discovery, 4-H President, Past Vice President and Past Treasurer. He works on a local farm where he is responsible for night chores.

George plans to attend college and major in Agri-Business, Environmental Studies or Science for Agricultural Purposes.

The competition began at the county level where George and other students competed against one another for the right to be named the Rensselaer County scholarship winner.  George was required to write an essay answering the question “If you had the power to change something in your community or on your farm, what would you change and why?” His application and essay were both reviewed by the judges, and both factored into his final score.

“The world of agriculture has many bright young leaders,” said the NYFB Promotion and Education Committee. “George and all of the other finalists have clearly demonstrated their depth of knowledge and commitment to agriculture. With such talented and intelligent leaders on the horizon, the future of New York agriculture seems particularly bright. We are thrilled that our scholarship money will be put to good use in helping these students to reach their full potential.”

Friends Of Dyken Pond Seeking To Add A Parcel To the Preserve

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The Friends of Dyken Pond are seeking to purchase a parcel of land bordering the existing nature preserve, that will help protect wildlife habitat for river otter, great blue heron nesting sites, fox, beaver, coyote and bobcat. This parcel will connect two existing parcels and add an additional mile of trail.

The Friends of Dyken Pond completed purchase of a 40 acre parcel on Newcomb Pond in the spring of 2014. A new trail is in place connecting the Center’s existing trails to this first Newcomb Pond parcel, although permanent trail markers still need to go up in 2015.

With the purchase of this second parcel, the Friends of the Dyken Pond Center will protect high quality beech, maple and hemlock forestland, a 9 acre pond, emergent wetland and forested shrub wetland. And there’s more! With the additional fifty-six acres, the trail to Newcomb Pond will be extended to connect to the existing Spring Trail forming a complete looped trail.

With this additional purchase, the protected open space corridor around the Dyken Pond Center will include 489 acres of private and public conservation lands. Acquisition of the new parcel also ensures that it remains a component of the open space of the Rensselaer Plateau, home of one of the largest forest blocks in New York State. These large forest tracts provide habitat for wildlife found at the Center that require large areas of unbroken forest, such as fisher, bear, moose, and porcupine.

Visitors to Dyken Pond will have access to fifty-six more acres for hiking, snowshoeing, cross country skiing, birding, and Dyken Pond Center educational programs.

The Friends need help paying for it. They need to fundraise $100,000 to purchase this land, and are asking the public to help. Donations can be made by making checks to Friends of Dyken Pond and mailing to: 475 Dyken Pond Road, Cropseyville, New York 12052.

For more information about the Friends of Dyken Pond and the Dyken Pond Environemental Education Center, please visit our website at: http://www.dykenpond.org.

If you would like more information, please contact Friends President, Leonard Tremblay at bones0655@aol.com or 518.429-0393.

Hoosick Grange News

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On January 14, Hoosick Grange had a great turnout with good weather too. It was the Mennonites Concert. It was cold but that’s what you get in January.

The lecturer said it was a Christmas, New Years and Hoosick Grange 107th Birthday Anniversary Concert. There were lots of families with children, guests and Grangers.

They sang many Christmas songs and ended with a prayer.

Afterward the Grange had lots of delicious refreshments. Ice Cream was provided by the Stewart Store. The Rensselaer County Dairy Princess, Miss Abbie Tarbox and her mother helped with serving drinks.

Grangers – remember to prepare for the contests – Photography, Art and Zucchini Bread Contests. Also there are other contests so check in with lecturer. Contests are in March, check your program book. Our next meeting will hopefully be on February 11 or 25 depending on the weather.

If it’s good, it will be movie night with pop corn and drink. Everyone is invited to come and enjoy the program.

Berlin Free Town Library Sweet Fundraiser

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Are you thinking about something special for your Sweetheart this Valentine’s Day?  The Berlin Free Town Library can help.  We are selling a carton of eight chocolate-dipped and decorated strawberries, in a very pretty container, for a special price of only $10. (Or if you wish, we will sell individual strawberries at $1 a piece.)  You can’t find that price anywhere else!

Order forms (available at the Library) along with payment must be made no later than Wednesday, February 11 by 5 pm.   For your convenience, we have several locations for pick-up on Friday, February 13 or Saturday, February 14.  The locations are listed on the order form with the times for pick-up.  Don’t miss these great treats!  Stay local and help the Library jump start its 2015 “Love Your Library” Fundraising Campaign.

The Library will host a Valentine’s Day craft program.  Learn to make some easy origami figures (hearts, naturally) to use as decorations or bookmarks.  This one-hour program is on February 14 and will begin at 10:30 am.  This craft is suitable for all ages – bring the grandparents!

We also want to know what you love about our Library.  Stop in and put your thoughts on a sticky note and we will display them on a poster to share with all our patrons.

And don’t forget the chocolate dipped strawberries.  Order forms are at the Library and must be returned by February 11 with payment to insure  availability.  Love Your Library!

Book Sale at Grafton Library

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The Grafton Community Library, located at 2455 NY Route 2, will be opening the doors at 9 am  on Saturday, February 21 for a book sale on Take Your Child to the Library Day. The sale will run until 1 pm in the basement.  Stop by the library to pick up some fresh reading material at bargain prices and stay for a morning of fun activities, snacks and more.  Hardcovers are one dollar, and paperbacks are fifty cents. You never know what you’ll find!

Visit the Grafton Community Library on Facebook or www.graftoncommunitylibrary.org for more news about programs and events, or call 279-0580.

Learn To Search For Information On The Computer

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Cheney Library will host, on February 19 at 6:30 pm, the next computer program presented by Sarah McFadden of Cornell Cooperative Extension Rensselaer County. The program will be Searching for Info (+ more) Online. The Internet puts endless information at your fingertips, but sometimes, a quick Google search isn’t enough to get you the results you need. This class will give you tools and tips for finding the best online information for your needs. Learn how to formulate a better search, evaluate a website for its safety and reliability, and save and organize online information for later use. Be sure to bring the electronic item you will be working with. To save a spot call the library at 686-9401. Any questions about this class or other upcoming computer classes, call Sarah McFadden at 272-4210.

Petersburgh Library Events

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The Petersburgh Public Library will have another Lego building event on Wednesday, February 11  from 4:30 to 6:30 pm.  Everyone is invited to stop by the library and use your imagination to build Lego creations.  The ones built last month are on display in the library and will be either dismantled or added to on Wednesday.

Drop in Valentine’s Day craft will be Tuesday, February 10 from 3:30 to 5:30, Wednesday, February 11 from 4:30 – 6:30 or Saturday, February 14 from 10 till noon.  Stop by to make a woven heart basket.

Everyone who enjoys knitting or crocheting or would like to learn is invited to come to the library on Wednesdays at 4 pm when the knitting group meets. It is fun to see the projects everyone is working on.

The library book discussion group will meet on Wednesday, February 11 at 7 pm.  Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand will be discussed.  Please join us for the discussion.

Preschool story hour is held on Tuesday mornings at 11 and will meet on February 10 and 24.  All preschoolers and their caregivers are invited to attend.  February 10 will be a Valentine’s Day celebration.

Take Your Child To the Library Day At Grafton Community Library

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On Saturday, February 21st, from 10:30 am – 1 pm kids and their families are invited to come over to Grafton Community Library for a morning of fun including games, a scavenger hunt, door prizes, stories, snacks and more.  The celebration this year will have a special “Frozen” theme.  If the weather cooperates there will be activities outside too. Take Your Child to the Library Day is a nation-wide event designed to get kids and their families excited about the magic of public libraries and all the opportunities they can offer for exploration, discovery, and a life time of learning. For little ones who don’t have their own library card yet, this is the chance to sign them up and give them free access to the more than 100,000 items available through the Upper Hudson Library System including books, DVDs, audiobooks, CDs, ebooks, magazines, and more. Grafton Community Library is located at 2455 NY Route 2 in Grafton. For more information visit graftoncommunitylibrary.org or call 279-0580.

HAYC3 Committed To Building Community And Business

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One aspect of HAYC3’s commitment to community often overlooked is its support of small  start-up businesses.

“One of our goals is to support our Village and Town’s sustainability and economic development. We do that, in part, by promoting and housing a number of small businesses,” said HAYC3 President Amanda Rudzik.

Presently HAYC3 provides reduced rental rates in the Armory to start-up businesses. including Akin Records, Sweet Sara’s Bakery, Vanessa Lewis Photography and Pawparazzi Pet Grooming.

“We see it as a win-win to help unseasoned businesses find their footing and get established,” said Rudzik. “It’s good for the businesses because it’s local and affordable and it’s good for the community to have desired services and products available right here in town.” Rudzik hopes more local businesses will consider utilizing the space in the Armory and the support that HAYC3 can offer.

“I would love to see other businesses utilize The Hoosick Kitchen,” said Aelish Nealon, Executive Director. A fully-equipped, share-use kitchen, The Hoosick Kitchen is available to anyone interested in making and packaging food products.

“We have so many talented cooks in our community who can’t afford to certify their kitchen and bring products to market,” she explained.  “We’ve eliminated one obstacle of bringing a dream to life by creating this shared, and certified, kitchen space.”

HAYC3 Armory has rental space available for a variety of business and community purposes. “Anyone needing space for a permanent location or to simply work on professional or creative projects that require more space than you have, should contact us,” added Nealon. “HAYC3 has offices and other spaces such as the Perry Room, the Owls Nest, gallery spaces, or the Arts & Soul art room that may fit your needs.”

HAYC3 (Hoosick Armory, Youth Center, and Community Coalition) is an organization which seeks to spark economic and cultural revival through arts, culture, education, and health. To learn more call 518-686-9050, email contacthayc3@gmail.com, or visit hayc3.org.