A Rabies Clinic will be held on Thursday, October 16, at the Berlin Highway Garage on Route 22 in Berlin. All rabies vaccines, dog-DHLPP vaccines and cat-FURCP vaccines cost $10 each; cash only! Cats will be treated from 6 to 7 pm, dogs from 7 to 8 pm. Call Doug Goodermote at 658-3308 if you have questions.
Berlin
Berlin Cub Scout Pack Wants YOU
Calling all first through fifth grade boys in the Berlin School District. The Berlin Cub Scout Pack 911 is looking for young men to join our pack. Along with learning responsibilities to yourself and others we do a variety of arts and crafts, community service and pack outings. This past year we did a trip to the Herkimer Diamond Mines.
Please come to our informational/sign-up night being held on Wednesday, September 24, at the Seventh Day Baptist Church at the north end of North Main Street in Berlin. If further information is needed please feel free to call Sarah Pettibone at 658-0088 or Amy Buck at 658-0213.
Pastor Matson Installed At Landmark Baptist Church
Scott Matson officially became the pastor of Landmark Baptist Church this Sunday when his father, Pastor Harold Matson, installed him as the Pastor of Landmark Baptist Church. He has been interim pastor since May. His trial period was until October but his leadership has so impressed the Church that the members decided to move his installment up a month.
Pastor Scott was born a pastor’s kid and was raised in East Poestenskill. He and his wife, Ginger Denue Matson, are graduates of the Berlin Central School District. They have four children – Jonathan, Matthew, Angelina and Jeremiah. Jonathan, the fourth generation Matson to enter the ministry, recently entered Bethany Bible College and was sorely missed at this ceremony.
Pastor Scott is a graduate of Christian Fellowship Ministries and was ordained in May. He has been pastor for Cornerstone Ministries in Troy for eight years. Prior to that he completed culinary training at SUNY, Albany. He and his wife run a catering business and work for the transportation department of Berlin Central School. Pastor Scott said, “My secular job pays the bills but my pastoring jobs pays with thrills.”
Pastor Scott’s “FROG” theme of Fully Relying on God has brought a deeper desire for the Church to live for the Lord. He and his wife have proven to be selfless workers for the Lord at Landmark. Many new programs have brought more folks into the Church. Physical improvements have also occurred in the Church and property due to the hard work of Pastor and his family.
Landmark is looking forward to either of two things – Pastor Scott leading them until he gets really old and retires or the Lord returns.
Letter To The Editor – Slow Down In Berlin Village
To the Editor:
Anyone interested in seeing the speed limit on Route 22 in Berlin reduced to 40 m.p.h. should call 518-388-0380. These are the people who decide that.
I pointed out also that the current speed limit signs are placed too far into the village; few vehicles slow down until they are well into settled areas.
When all the k-6 students in the District start attending the old high school on School Street in Berlin, that means even more bus loads of children will have to turn across traffic onto Southeast Hollow Road – a dangerous situation.
Berlin village deserves a lower speed limit.
Mr. Gale Shaw
South Main Street, Berlin
Local Primary Results
by David Flint
Roy McDonald easily won his bid for the Republican nomination to replace Joseph Bruno as New York State Senator for the 43rd District, taking 83% of the vote in Rensselaer County. In the Eastwick Press area he did even a bit better than that in three of our towns, with 95% in Berlin, 90% in Grafton and 89% in Petersburgh.
McDonald will face Michael A. Russo who served as District Manager for U.S. Representative Kirsten Gillibrand. In the Democratic primary Russo beat out Brunswick lawyer Brian Premo in Rensselaer County with a margin of 57% to 43%. Eastern county results generally reflect that margin with the notable exception of the towns of Grafton and Hoosick where Premo was the victor winning by 18 and 6 percentage points respectively.
Tony Jordan, who was the choice of the Republican Party leadership to replace McDonald as representative of the 112th Assembly District, won the Republican Primary election against Chris Laing, a builder and developer from Northumberland. Jordan, a partner in a Greenwich law firm, won overwhelmingly in Washington County and took 67% of the Rensselaer County vote. He did not do as well in Grafton, Petersburgh or Stephentown where Laing spent a lot of time in door to door campaigning and defeated Jordan with 47%, 52% and 46% respectively.
Senate Results
Republican Senate 43rd Democrat Senate 43rd
Seney McDonald Russo Premo
Berlin 3 59 15 13
Grafton 10 93 28 31
Hoosick 32 151 43 61
Petersburgh 5 42 25 12
Stephentown 15 63 38 31
Rensselaer Cnty 617 2914 2473 1873
Elmhurst In The Taconics
At the next meeting of the Taconic Valley Historical Society on September 15, at 7:30 pm, the residence of Elmhurst in the Taconics will be discussed. Sharon Klein, Berlin’s Town Historian, will lead the discussion of the different phases the building has had through the years and of the people who have lived there.
Whether you knew the place as the Whitehouse home or as the Benediction House or more recently as the Thornbury home, you will want to hear about the history of the building and see the many pictures Mrs. Klein will be sharing with us all.
The meeting will be at the Berlin United Methodist Church on South Main Street. Everyone is welcome to attend the meeting and the social time following it. If you have anecdotes about the home, plan to share them with the group.
Poestenkill Library’s Market Day On The Green
On Saturday, September 13, Poestenkill’s Town Green will come alive with browsers and buyers at the Library’s eighth annual Fall Market Day from 9 am to 1 pm.
Market Day Chair Karen Cardamone said that Fall Market Day always features thousands of books for all ages of readers, perennials and houseplants, baked goods and a Harvest Table. Chili and hot dogs are available at lunchtime.
The rain date for Fall Market Day it Sunday, September 14.
Boy Scout Troop 222 News
Boy Scout Troop 222 is sponsoring a spaghetti dinner fund-raiser on Saturday, September 13, at the Taborton Church from 4 to 7 pm. The meal will consist of spaghetti with meatballs or sausage, a salad, bread, a beverage and dessert. The cost is $6.50 for adults, $4 for kids aged 5 to 10 and free for kids under 5. This event is open to the public. If you have questions or need directions, email Lori Cocca at coccafam@yahoo.com.
Open House
Be an outdoorsman. Troop 222 will show you how. Come meet the Troop at an open house on Monday, September 15, from 6:30 to 8 pm at the Petersburgh Veterans Memorial Hall. A parent or guardian must come with you.
Boy Scouts is open to all boys in grades six through twelve. For more information, please call, Scott Cocca at 674-3294 or Joe Burdick at 733-6975.
Sylvia L. Roullier
Berlin – Sylvia L. Zwinge (Bermas) Roullier, 68, of Plank Road, Berlin, NY, died on Wednesday, September 10, 2008, surrounded by her loving family at St. Mary’s Hospital in Troy, NY, under the care of Community Hospice of Rensselaer County.
Born in Brooklyn, NY, on September 2, 1940, she was the daughter of the late Waldemar and Martha Peterson Zwinge. She was the beloved wife of Napoleon A. Roullier whom she married on June 9, 1984, in the Church of the Covenant in Averill Park, NY.
A graduate of Berlin Central High School, Sylvia worked locally for many years as a waitress. She retired in 2002 from David’s Bridal in Albany, NY, where she was a sales associate. She loved cooking, gardening and painting; though her greatest joy came from spending time with her family.
Survivors include her husband, Nappy, children, Tanya and her husband Anthony Nuvallie of North Adams, MA, Glenn and his wife Jean Bermas of Averill Park, Alicia and husband Jeffrey Jahn of North Greenbush, NY, and Danyelle and husband Matthew Meyers of Petersburgh, NY, her former husband, Donald M. Bermas of Averill Park, step-children, Christine Roullier of Troy, Susan and husband Thomas Testo of Troy, Steven and wife Maryellen Roullier of East Greenbush, NY, her siblings, Phyllis Craib of Berlin, Walter Zwinge of Hoosick Falls, NY, Felix Zwinge of South Carolina, Martha Senecal of Florida, Roy and Hjarl Zwinge both of St. Petersburg, FL, and Ann Paccini of Cincinnati, OH, along with eight grandchildren, Haylee Jones, Shawn and Heather Jahn, Michael and Steven Bermas, Olivia Nuvallie and Chloe and Lilly Meyers, ten step grandchildren, two step great-grandchildren and many nieces and nephews. She was pre-deceased by two brothers, Harold “Cookie” and Peder Zwinge.
A Celebration of Life service will be held on Saturday, September 13, at 3 pm in the Hall & Higgins Funeral Home, 457 NY 43, Stephentown, NY, where Rev. Trygve Tomlinson will officiate. Relatives and friends are invited to the funeral home for visitation starting at 1 pm on Saturday. There will be an open forum for those who would like to share their memories. Sylvia requested that all attendees wear brightly colored clothing to celebrate her journey.
Sylvia’s family would like to express their sincere gratitude to the doctors, nurses and staff on the 5th floor of St. Mary’s Hospital, as well as those from Community Hospice of Rensselaer, who took such wonderful care of Sylvia and offered their comfort to her family. In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made in loving memory of Sylvia L. Roullier to Community Hospice of Rensselaer County, 295 Valley View Drive, Rensselaer, NY, 12144, or The American Lung Association of New York State, 155 Washington Avenue, Suite 210, Albany, NY, 12210, Attention Special Gifts.
W.J. Cowee Pledges Sustainable Forestry Practices
Company Launches ‘Save the Forests’ Awareness Campaign
a press release from W.J. Cowee
W. J. Cowee, LLC, one of the oldest companies in the professional florist industry, has launched a “Save The Forests” campaign to heighten awareness about the rapid destruction of the world’s forests and its devastating effects upon the global environment.
As the world’s largest manufacturer of wooden floral picks and plant stakes, W.J. Cowee is dedicated to spreading the word within the floral industry that wooden products imported from China may be manufactured using illegally harvested timber that is procured without regard to sustainable, sound and legal forestry practices.
The consequences of these conditions are profound. Research indicates that Asian and Pacific nations, including Russia, supply China with approximately 70 percent of its timber resource needs. Approximately half of those countries will lose more than 70 percent of their forests to satisfy China’s enormous demand for timber resources to make wooden products destined for export markets. It is believed that if current logging practices continue, the Siberian forests north of the Chinese border will disappear within two decades, while Indonesian forests may perish within 10 years
Brian E Suslak, President and CFO of W.J. Cowee has pledged his comply to take an active role to educate florists, wholesalers and retailers about the impact that illegal timber harvesting is having upon the earth’s environment, including massive soil erosion, global changes to the earth’s atmosphere and other critical problems of enormous magnitude.
As part of the Save the Forests program, the company will provide information packets to floral wholesalers, students in floral design schools and trade association functions, as well as trumpet the message through a promotional campaign during the fall 2008 season. Additionally, the company has adopted a W.J. Cowee Sustainability Pledge that requires all of its log suppliers, as a condition of doing business with the company, to agree in writing to practice legal, sustainable forestry practices, follow proper environmental conduct, protect and respect the natural habitat of the wildlife on the logged sites, and adhere to worker safety programs.
Suslak’s viewpoint will be published in the September 2008 issue of Floral Management, the publication of the Society of American Florists. He also plans to participate as a panelist on the topic of sustainability at the SAF annual convention in Palm Beach. “Once I became aware of the scope and devastating impact of the destruction of the world’s forests, I wanted our nation’s florists to fully understand where their wood floral picks come from and educate the professional floral community about the consequences of illegal timber harvesting,” said Suslak. “Our goal is to have the floral industry, be they professional florists, wholesalers or retailers, become aware of the consequences of illegal timber harvesting and its effect on our ecosystems. I feel confident that once the facts are known, people will insist that all wood floral picks used in the industry be certified sustainable,” said Suslak. “Hopefully, this message will carry over to other industries both here and abroad so that illegal timber harvesting and its consequences will end before it is too late.”
About W.J. Cowee, LLC
W.J. Cowee is the nation’s leading manufacturer of wooden floral picks, plant stakes and other products for the floral industry. Located in Berlin, NY, the company has been in continuous operation for more than a century. W.J. Cowee uses North American hardwoods in the manufacture of its products.