Grafton

The Grafton Town Festival will be held on Saturday, July 13, from 10 am to 4 pm at the Town Park located on Roxborough Road.
The Grafton Historical Society will offer a new publication that will be on sale at the Town Festival. It is a booklet which contains series of letters written from Grafton to Alonzo Philleps in New York City that provides insight into the attitudes and values of Grafton in the late 19th century. They are a source of local history as well. The booklet is called “Dear Lonnie: A Glimpse of Grafton 1893 – 1895” by Estella Myers Hovnanian.
For more information contact 518-641-9660 or historicgrafton@aol.com

As part of the Dig Into Reading Summer Reading activities, the Grafton Community Library is sponsoring a free special event for all ages – bring the kids and grandparents, too. Come to the Everett Wagar Senior Center on Saturday, July 13, at 11 am for the mind-boggling magic of Jim Snack. His new show, “Underground Magic,” is packed with magic, illusions and audience participation for the entire family.
After the show, Jim will teach simple yet amazing magic tricks to anyone age seven and up who wants to dig deeper into magic. Participants will even receive props and a book of magic tricks for further practice at home.
Magician and motivational speaker Jim Snack, from Averill Park, discovered the world of magic at age ten after reading a book about the Great Houdini. To learn more, he went to the library and read all the books he could find on magic. Jim has been amazing audiences for over thirty years with his performances at schools, libraries, fairs and festivals.
For more news of the Summer Reading Program and other activities at the Library, visit www.graftoncommunitylibrary.org or call 279-0580.

The Grafton Historical Society will meet at 7 pm in the Grafton Town Hall on July 17. This month’s program is The Troy Draft Riots of 1863, presented by Michael Barrett.
What has been described as “the second most destructive draft riot in the nation” broke out in Troy on July 15, 1863. The bulk of the two to three thousand angry protestors in the streets were Catholics who worked in the city’s mills, factories and iron works. The Troy Draft Riots were violent disturbances that were the culmination of discontent with new laws to draft men to fight in the ongoing Civil War. The rioters were working class men, resentful, among other reasons, because the draft unfairly affected them while sparing wealthier men who could afford to pay expensive fees to exclude them from the draft.
Michael Barrett earned a B.S. in Criminal Science at Russell Sage College while working as a police officer for the City of Troy and presently is employed as Director of the Hudson Mohawk Industrial Gateway in Troy.
The program is free, and the public is welcome. Refreshments will be served. For more information contact 518-641-9660 or email historicgrafton@aol.com.

The Annual Grafton Summer Festival is scheduled for July 13 in the Grafton Town Park on Rt. 2 in the center of town. The festival includes a Flea Market featuring the wares of local artisans. Booths will be set up by the Grafton Historical Society, the Grafton Town Library, the Binding Friends Quilting Group and the Friends of Grafton Lake State Park. Restrooms will be provided by the Grafton Snowmobile Club. Other community organizations are invited to participate with booths and displays. Baked goods will be sold by Our Lady of the Snow Altar Rosary Society. Anyone who would like to reserve space may call John at 271-8555, or contact the Parish Office at 279-4943.
The Church will also feature Sister Kenan’s Giant Raffle which was initiated by Sister Kenan McGowan over 30 years ago as a fund raising event for the parish. Sister Kenan was Parish Life Director in Grafton and Berlin. She was active in building the community throughout her years of service to the people in this area. It was her dream to build the church in Grafton, moving worship from a milk shed to the beautiful worship space that stands today. The parishioners of the parish, now Our Lady of the Snow (formerly Sacred Heart in Berlin and St. John Francis Regis in Grafton) have decided that the best way to honor and remember Sister Kenan is to revive our participation in the summer festival in her name.
Prizes for the Giant Raffle, which has close to 90 total prizes, include handcrafted items, gift certificates to many local restaurants and outlets – Price Chopper, Cumberland Farms, Home Depot and Stewart’s to name a few, theme baskets and three large Grand Prizes.
The Grafton Library is sponsoring Jim Snack, the magician, who will stroll among the vendors in the morning and perform at the Everett Wagar Senior Center on the Park at 11 am.
Musical entertainment will start at noon and continue until the end of the festival. Nick Viscio and Tom Benson will begin the afternoon with bluegrass music and songs. Tri-County Banjo Band will play from 1 to 2 pm with toe-tapping, sing along music from the early 1900s. Nick Viscio and Tom Benson will entertain again until the end of the day.
A chicken barbecue will be prepared by Our Lady of the Snow in the lower Parking Lot of the Church. Tickets cost $10 for ½ chicken, baked potato, coleslaw and watermelon. Serving will be packaged to go and begin at noon and continue until 3 pm. Limited seating will be available. Tickets are available from parishioners in Grafton (St. John Francis Regis) and Berlin (Sacred Heart).
Set up for the flea market will begin at 7 am. Coffee and pastries will be available at that time.
For information to sign up as a vendor call 518-271-8555, and, for general information, contact 518-279-4943.

Rensselaer County’s Everett Wagar Senior Center, 2 Roxborough Road, Grafton invites the public to the Flea Market and Bake/Food Sale at the Everett Wagar Senior Center on Saturday July 13, from 9 am to 3 pm.
Tables are available for rent inside or  outside for $5 and $10.  Proceeds from sale will benefit Rensselaer County’s Everett Wagar Senior Center.
For more information or to donate an item for our sale, contact Penny at the Senior Center at 518-279-3413.