The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

New Lebanon

Vegetable Gardening For Beginners At The New Lebanon Library

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John Senger, New Lebanon resident and proprietor of Windswept Farms, will conduct a workshop on vegetable gardening at the New Lebanon Library on Thursday, March 6, at 6:30 pm. This event is free and open to the public. All are welcome.

Gardening topics discussed will include benefits and rewards of starting plants from seed, how to select plants when seeds are not an option, necessary equipment and soil and site requirements. This workshop will help both novice and experienced gardeners start planning their best gardens ever.

A graduate of the Stockbridge School of Agriculture, John Senger has amassed more than forty years of experience in gardening. Since 1986, he has run Windswept Farms in New Lebanon with his wife, Amy, and before that managed Senger’s Nursery in Pittsfield.

For further information on this free event, please call the New Lebanon Library at 518-794-8844. The Library is located at 550 State Route 20, ¼ mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22.

Patricia Jean Sherman

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Stephentown/New Lebanon – On February 5, 2014, Pat Sherman of Stephentown, NY, left the earth she loved so well. Born downstate, daughter of the late Lucille and Maury Medwick, she always knew there must be a place where she could live freely and unpretentiously, and once she found that place, she never left. She was an idealist and a realist who understood that the wilderness where she made her home had to be respected and fought for – she was a fighter through and through. She had little use for the things most people worried about – possessions, luxuries, even conveniences like electricity – but could love a tree to distraction and would go to any lengths to protect the creatures of the woods, many of which she rescued during her many years as a wildlife rehabilitator. It was not unusual for her to call a wild raccoon by name and see it come to her door. Her grandchildren remember how much fun it was to be with her; she had a wicked sense of humor.

In recent years she ran her antique shop in New Lebanon, NY, with the honest warmth, courtesy and cheerfulness she brought to her family, friends and the community that meant so much to her. Pat was too unsentimental to want to hear compliments like these, but those who loved her can’t hold them back now.

She leaves behind her children, Kelly Striefler of New Hampton, Bill Smith, of Stephentown and Kevin Smith of New Lebanon, her sisters, Sue Egen of Tucson, AZ, and Cathy Medwick of Somers, NY, and her grandchildren, Katelyn, Kimberly, Martin and M.J., Freling, Jessica, Candy, Linda, Michelle, William Jr., Jeanie and Kevin Jr.

Friends are invited to gather for refreshments and to celebrate Pat’s life at Smitty’s Pizza and Subs, Route 20, New Lebanon on Saturday, February 22, between 1 and 3 pm.

 

New Lebanon Town Board Action – Noise Begets Noise

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by Thaddeus Flint

The February Town Board meeting Tuesday night in New Lebanon was a full house. Was it the proposed noise ordinance? Was it the latest sequel of Covenant Road? Or maybe it was just February cabin fever and there was nothing else happening in town. It’s difficult to say.

The proposed noise ordinance is starting to make a lot of noise. [Read more…] about New Lebanon Town Board Action – Noise Begets Noise

Informational Meeting On A Recreational Trail For Eastern Rensselaer County

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by Bev McClave

Trails can be great assets to communities. They can provide recreational and exercise opportunities for residents, enhance local businesses by bringing more and new customers and spur local business development. The Friends of the Corkscrew Rail Trail invite the public to join them at an informational meeting to learn about the possibility for creating a superb recreational trail for the communities of eastern Rensselaer County.  If you are interested in the possibility of a multi-use recreational trail which could ultimately run from Chatham, NY, to Bennington, VT, passing through New Lebanon, Stephentown, Berlin and Petersburgh, please join us to hear about this exciting proposed project. There will be an opportunity for members of the public to ask questions and offer comment.

The meeting will be held on February 27 at 6:30 pm at the Stephentown Fire Hall, Grange Hall Road, Stephentown.  For more information, please visit http://corkscrewtrail.org//CorkScrewTrail/default.aspx or email info@corkscrewtrail.org.

February Events At The New Lebanon Library

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The New Lebanon Library announces its February events. All of these events are free and will take place at the Library which is located at 550 State Route 20.

• February  12, 19, 26 (event is on Wednesdays) – Small Wonders Lapsit Storytime – 10 am,  age appropriate stories, songs and movement activities for our youngest patrons and their caregivers.

• February 12, 19, 26 (event is on Wednesdays) – Tales for Tots Story Hour – 11  am. Story hour includes crafts, songs and movement activities.

• February 7 – Coffeehouse Night with Linda Worster –  6 pm. This is an evening of acoustic music with this Berkshire favorite. Donations for the performer are appreciated.

• February 11 – Family Crafts Night – 6:30 pm. Join us and learn to make a Valentine mobile and flip book. All materials will be provided. This is for ages 5 and up.

• February 13 – How to download eBooks and audiobooks with your library card – 6:30 pm.

• February 14 – Valentine Movie Night – 7 pm. Join us for a screening of the 1970 classic Love Story.

• February 15 – Paws-to-Read – 9 am. Therapy dogs come to the Library and children read to their furry friends. And, of course, the dogs listen! Please call to register at 518-794-8844.

• February 18 – Animal Tracks – 2 pm. Learn to identify animal tracks, follow their trails in the woods and discover how tracking can help humans and animals alike. This is best suited for school aged children. Please call to register at 518-794-8844.

• February 20 – Loom Band bracelets – 1 pm. Bring your loom and learn to make dragonscale bracelets. Rubber bands will be provided. This is for ages 5 and up.

• February 21 – Afternoon Movie for Kids – 2 pm. This is a showing of a current film suitable for the whole family. Call for title, 518- 794-8844. Popcorn and juice will be provided.

• February 21 – The Great Stone Barn Project: Past, Present, Future – 6 pm, presented by the Shaker Museum and Library. Discover more about the Great Stone Barn Project with the exhibit creator; Peter Watson. Learn about the Shaker’s innovative farming methods, construction techniques and how we are stabilizing the structure today after a devastating fire in the 1970s.

• February 27 – Tor Krautter in concert – 6:30 pm. Enjoy an evening of unplugged originals and folk/rock covers with Rev Tor. Donations for the performer are appreciated.

• February 28 – Family Movie Night – 6:30 pm. A current film suitable for the whole family will be shown. Call 518-794-8844 for the title. Popcorn and juice will be provided.

For further information on any of these events, please contact Jeannie Bogino at 518-794-8844.

United Way Catfish Derby And Baseball Tickets

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submitted by Brad Poster, Executive Director, United Way of Columbia and Greene Counties

The United Way of Columbia and Greene Counties has announced that early registration for the Fourth Annual Leo Lasher Catfish Derby is now open. Again this year registration is $15 per fisherman and again first prize for the longest catfish of the day is $500, cash on the spot, with more prizes for children, teens and adults.  This family event will be held on July 19 at Dutchman’s Landing and hosted by Riverview Marine Services at the Point in Catskill.

Currently, an Early Registration Contest is for two box seat tickets at Fenway Park to a Friday night regular season game of the Boston Red Sox. The tickets will be awarded to an early registrant between January 1 and March 31. More surprises and prizes will be announced for our local summertime family fun day and fishing contest

To register online visit www.uwcg.org. For more information, call Brad at 518-755-2155.

Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Company Breakfast

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The Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Company will serve its monthly breakfast at the firehouse on Sunday, February 16, from 8 until 11:30 am. Breakfast consists of your choice of French toast or pancakes together with bacon or sausage, toast, orange juice, beverages and eggs prepared to your order for a cost of $6 with children under five served free.

Support your local fire company while visiting with friends and neighbors and enjoying a hearty breakfast to start your day. The firehouse is located behind the post office near the intersection of Routes 20 and 66 North in the hamlet of Brainard and is handicap accessible. For more information call 518-766-3815.

The Lebanon Valley Historical Society Awarded Funding From The NYS Documentary Heritage

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submitted by Jeannine Tonetti

The Tilden Project, finding the records of the first pharmaceutical company in the United States, has been funded for three consecutive years for all three phases. The purpose of the project is to discover, survey and document the Tilden Pharmaceutical Company and its impact on the economic, social and cultural life of New Lebanon, particularly when it went out of business in the middle of the 20th century.

The Tilden & Company pharmaceutical firm was established in New Lebanon by Elam Tilden in 1824. Elam was the father of Samuel Jones Tilden, the former governor of New York and candidate for U.S. President, who is buried in New Lebanon.

The Lebanon Valley has a rich heritage of healing, from the Native American use of the waters of the Lebanon Spring through the growing and selling of herbs by the Shakers. Tilden built on these heritages and developed his company to grow, process and sell herbal pharmaceuticals. At first, most of the herbs were grown in the fertile soils of the valley and surrounding towns. Later in the 19th and then the 20th century, many herbs and pharmaceutical ingredients were imported. The Tilden Company was widely known and respected for the consistency and efficacy of its medicinals. The Company published a Journal of Materia Medica which attempted to scientifically review and evaluate pharmaceuticals. Then, in the 20th century, medicines began to be created out of chemicals.

This enabled large pharmaceutical companies to develop. The Tilden Company began to decline, and it closed in 1963, after being absorbed into a series of these larger corporations.

The Tilden Company employed many local men and women, was a significant contributor to town economics, had an impact on the land use and played a major role in the social life of New Lebanon. The company’s impact on the town and the effect of its demise is the focus of the research of the Tilden Project.

The Project researcher, Steve Oberon and LVHS volunteers, have been interviewing people with connections to the company and collecting information from private and public records. This research is continuing. Documents and artifacts have been donated to the LVHS collections. All the documents will be archivally stored and available to the public for research at the LVHS offices in the New Lebanon Town Hall. The archives will be available on line when the LVHS computer catalogue is completed. Phase 3 has been funded to pay for the archivist, Jim Corsaro, to gather the collected information and create an archival record which will be posted on the NYS Archive website. The information will then be accessible for public research.

Any comments or information helpful to this project can be sent to Jeannine Tonetti, Tilden Project Director, info@lebanonvalleyhistorical society.org or LVHS, Box 363, New Lebanon, NY, 12125.

Artful Wednesdays At SLCA

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Starting on Wednesday, February 5, Sand Lake Center for the Arts will offer Artful Wednesdays, a quarterly artistic series designed for adults interested in day classes.  Learn about photography – you will explore different types of cameras, plus how to take portraits, landscapes and wildlife.  Make a beautiful basket using chain, twill or chase weaving styles.  Write a memoir, using poetry or prose, or create pieces of writing for your family to cherish.  Learn how to draw a still life, paint using watercolors or carve and make a  block print.  [Read more…] about Artful Wednesdays At SLCA