The first annual 5k run/walk for a cure is on April 20 at 9 am in Wood Memorial Park.
Early registration by March 15 costs $15, by April 15 – $20, anytime after April 15 and day of the race – $25. We encourage early registration as it will save time the day of the race. The first 50 registrants will receive a free T-shirt. Following the race there will be a Kids Fun Race with a $5 entry fee. The first 25 kids registered will receive a free T-shirt.Registration forms are available at Village Primary Care or Charity’s Hair Studio or email Gretchen at gyonconish@ roadrunner.com.
Local Students To Travel To China
Several students from Tech Valley High School will travel to China later this year as the school continues its partnership with a high school there.
The TVHS students will travel to Beijing and Tianjin, China with their counterparts from the Schoharie Central School. The delegation will leave the U.S. on March 29 and return April 6. While in Tianjin, the students will visit TVHS sister school Tianjin High School No. 41 as well as Schoharie sister school Tianjin High School No. 13.
“The students will undertake the most authentic way of learning the Chinese language and culture that China has to offer – by experiencing it,” said TVHS Mandarin Chinese teacher Sophia Hsia.
They will also visit the Forbidden City, the Great Wall and other cultural landmarks in Beijing and surrounding areas.
It’s the fourth year TVHS students have traveled to China. TVHS also hosts a delegation from Tianjin each year.
Local students traveling to China for TVHS are junior Elizabeth Cass from Berlin and sophomore Madeleine Welty from Averill Park.
Cheney Library Story Time – Dig Into Reading
The Cheney Library in Hoosick Falls will begin a Spring story time, “Dig Into Reading,” for preschool children and their caregivers. We will have stories, activities and snacks at 10 am in the Library on March 12, 19, 26 and continue into April on the 9th, 16th and 23rd. We will investigate gardens, dinosaurs, rabbits, underground animals, construction equipment that digs and mud. Please be sure to come and have a wonderful time.
Library Story Correction
by David Flint
In the story last week on the Stephentown Library’s proposal to become a Special Legislative District, I included data on the budgets and funding of the libraries in our area. I have been informed that the funding that the Grafton Community Library receives from the Town of Grafton is $24,250, not $28,600 as was reported. The data came from the Upper Hudson Library System’s Annual Report and was based on the year 2011, but the local funding in the report included funds also from the County and from the Brittonkill School District. In addition I was informed that 2011, with a budget of $37,086, was not a typical year and that a more representative budget would be that of the year 2010 in the amount of $42,602.
Therefore, using those figures, the percentage of funding coming from the Town of Grafton would be 57%, not the 77% that was reported. That is still more than, but much more comparable to, the 54% and 50% funding from the Towns of Hoosick and Stephentown respectively.
Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Company Breakfast
Members of the Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Company, serving Brainard and East Nassau and surrounding area, will hold their monthly breakfast on Sunday, St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, from 8 to 11:30 am at the firehouse located on Firehouse Lane behind the post office near the intersection of Routes 20 and 66N in Brainard.
Breakfast offers your choice of pancakes or French toast served with bacon or sausage, eggs cooked to your order, applesauce and an assortment of breakfast beverages at a cost of $6 over the age of 12; children under five eat for free. Special thanks is expressed to the Hannaford Corporation for their generous donation toward our breakfast menu and to the Cub Scouts who help in the serving.
Berlin Community Cemetery Meeting
The Berlin Community Cemetery Meeting will be held on March 11 at 7 pm at the Cherry Plain Church Building. All lot owners are welcome.
Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department Texas Hold’em
The Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department will hold a Texas Hold’em Tournament on Saturday, March 16, in the Stephentown Fire Hall, located at 35 Grange Hall Road in Stephentown. The doors will open at 5:30 pm and close at 6 pm. Play begins at 6:15 sharp.
A free buffet will be served at the first break, and refreshments will be available.
No advance registration is required, and a donation of $35 per player will be accepted. Players can make an additional $10 donation at the door for 1,000 extra chips. This tournament will pay one place for every ten players with a minimum of four places and a maximum of nine places.
For further information, please call John Linton at 518-733-0469.
Schaghticoke Fair Announces 2013 Fair Theme And Design Contest
The Schaghticoke Fair is very excited to announce the 2013 fair theme as “Who’s Your Super Hero?” This theme was chosen to represent the many different kinds of people who are super heroes every day. The fair will be introducing “Who’s Your Super Hero?” into the buildings, exhibits, fair entries and contests. In addition to Super Hero, the fair will be initiating for the first time a food drive. Building on the theme Souper, the contest design entries can incorporate this spelling and or design elements. We want the students to have fun with the idea, and we are looking for some creative input.
The contest is open to all currently enrolled high school students throughout Rensselaer County. The selected design will be used on the 2013 fair brochure, T-shirt and for marketing purposes. Each student who submits one design entry will receive a one day fair pass to the 2013 Schaghticoke Fair. In addition to having the winner’s work published, the winner will also receive a one day fair pass with one unlimited ride ticket, a 2013 “Who’s Your Super/Souper Hero?” T-shirt, a certificate of achievement presented during the week of the fair and will also become an honorary judge for future themed design contests. For more information on how to participate and the elements that are to be included in the design, please contact the art department at your high school or call Mary at the Fair office, 753-4411, x13. All entries must be must be submitted by June 7.
GLSP To Offer Maple Sugaring Demonstrations
To welcome spring, Grafton Lakes State Park is providing backyard maple sugaring demonstrations on Saturday, March 16, and Saturday, March 23, from 1 to 3 pm at the Park Office.
The program will demonstrate ten easy steps for making maple sugar at home. It encourages participants to try tapping trees, collecting and boiling the sap down and testing the flavor. This outdoor event is ideal for the whole family and an enjoyable way to celebrate the changing season. All participants can savor a sampling of sap as well as freshly made syrup. The fee for the program is $2 per participant or $5 per family. There are limited spots so pre-registration is required by calling 279-1155.
Even though spring is just around the corner, it is not here yet! The trails at Grafton Lakes State Park are still covered in a white blanket of snow. Conditions are perfect for cross-country skiing, snowshoeing, snowmobiling, ice fishing and ice skating. Snowshoe rentals are available at the Park Office. As weather can change conditions quickly, call the Park Office to confirm, or for directions, at 279-1155.
For additional information about other parks and historic sites in New York, visit www.nysparks.com.
Woods And Wildlife Workshop
“Caring for Your Woods and Wildlife” is a day long workshop for forest owners held at Tamarac High School in Brunswick, on Saturday, March 16. There will be seven presentations on a variety of topics in the morning, followed by a woods walk in the afternoon. The talks will be geared toward issues and concerns of woodland owners in the Rensselaer Plateau area. Speakers from the NYS Dept. of Environmental Conservation, the Hudson River Estuary Program and the Cornell Cooperative Extension will cover topics including wildlife ecology, forest regeneration, streamside management, woodland transfer and how to develop a forest management plan.
The afternoon walk in a nearby forest will give attendees the opportunity to see how some of the management topics can be applied in their woods. The workshop is sponsored by the Hudson River Estuary Program and the Cornell Cooperative Extension Biodiversity Program Work Team, with endorsement by the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance, Greene and Rensselaer County Cooperative Extension and the Capital District Chapter of the NY Forest Owners Association.
The $15 fee covers refreshments, lunch and an information packet. To register by March 9 online or to print a mail-in registration form, go to www2.dnr.cornell.edu/ext/pwt/bio/. For more information, email Kristi Sullivan at kls20@cornell.edu.