Council #11071 of the Knights of Columbus in Hoosick Falls will be holding a Soccer Challenge on Saturday, September 13, at 12 noon at the George Helft Soccer Complex in Hoosick. It is open to all boys and girls 10 to 14 years of age. If you have questions, please contact Rich Dickinson at 686-4870.
Local News
Letter To The Editor – Preventing Misunderstanding
To The Editor:
In the August 22 article of the Eastwick Press, S.O.S Seniors of Stephentown, on page 11, there are two sets of figures that need clarification in order to prevent misunderstanding by the readership.
The first is – we do not have, at this writing, forty active members. What we have is forty people who have stated to me, either in person or on the phone, that they wanted to become active members. In other words, to do things to be “active.”
The second is the reference to 18 to 24 seniors showing up at meetings. The number 18 to 24 refers to the number of people who have been to our temporary meeting place (our home), to talk over plans and voice their support for S.O.S. Some of the people came on our meeting day, some the day before and a few a day or so later, for their own various reasons.
I need to say that this jumble of information is not the fault of the writer of the article, David Flint. It was most likely the fast pace of the interview and my not being able to process the wording of the questions clearly enough.
My reason for writing this clarification is to keep the Stephentown public in general, and our new members in particular, as correctly informed as possible.
Mary DeFreest
Pres. S.O.S.
Girls Raise Over $100 For SOCS
Mkayla Sonnet, Lexi Martin and Brittany Poitras love animals. Together they organized a bottle fund drive and held a home baked dog cookie sale at Pawfection on August 23 to benefit SOCS (Support Our Canine Strays). SOCS coordinator and Pawfection owner Aimee Allen said, “These three girls took it upon themselves to put this event together.” They made signs, baked and spent from 9 am until 2 pm on Saturday, raising over $100. “They are great role models for other kids,” said Allen.
Karen McGovern Memorial Co-Ed Volleyball Tournament
The ninth annual Karen McGovern Memorial Co-Ed Volleyball Tournament will be held Saturday, September 13, at the Sand Bar, on Lyman St. in Hoosick Falls.
Registration will begin at 8 am, and play will commence at 9 am. A round robin format will be played for both Division A (competitive) and Division B (recreational) players. Engraved beer mugs and glasses will be awarded to members of the winning teams in both divisions, and the Division A team’s name will be engraved on the permanent plaque maintained at the Sand Bar.
The donation per team is $150 and non-players are asked to make a $25 donation to the fund. The fund has raised over $100,000 to help local residents battling cancer and other serious illnesses. Food, keg beer and music will be provided throughout the day.
Call Matt Philpott at 802-384-0262 or Bill McGovern at 518-686-9371 to reserve a spot for your team. Join us for a day to remember our friend Karen.
Chris’ Wish
On June 10 at 3:30 pm Chris Luciano left work with a few friends and went to their regular swimming spot in North Hoosick. There they were jumping off a platform that had been built over the years and where many folks jump and dive into the river. This particular day was not Chris’ day. Somehow when he went off the platform something went terribly wrong, and he never made it to the water. Instead he hit rocks 35 foot below. The result is that Chris was left paralyzed from the waist down.
Chris is a 19 year old HFCS 2007 graduate who loves being outdoors. He is a hard worker and has held a number of jobs over the last five years. Those jobs have included playing guitar in a couple of rock bands, fixing bikes at All Seasons Outdoor Sports, prep cooking at Helvi’s and a number of labor jobs. But his real passion was teaching snow boarding, which he has done every winter since he was 15. He was recently nationally certified at Level II (a difficult feat) as an instructor. He had been toying with making this a major part of his career path, and he had a number of mountains recruiting him. While there is no reason that this dream cannot happen, it may be very different than what he envisioned.
While Chris can no longer walk, his ultimate wish is to get out of the wheel chair and snowboard again. Project Walk (www.projectwalk.org) an organization in San Diego offers an opportunity to help get him out of this chair. It is a boot camp designed to regain any movement. Chris and his family would like to send him to this program.
A committee has been formed to help raise money to send Chris and a trainer to San Diego to learn this proven methodology and to work on Chris’ legs with the hope of regaining some movement or feeling in his lower body. The first event will be a bottle drive this Saturday from 10 am to 1 pm. Bottles can be dropped at the Rite Aid parking lot or at Nickel Back in Chris’ name. If you would like your bottles picked up, please call Karen Smith at 686-9036.
If you would like to follow in Chris’ progress or find more information see www.eenable.net/chris.
The Legacy Lives On! – Tribute To Football Coach Legend Baker To Be Shared By Rival Schools
by Irene Baldwin
Longtime sports rivals and neighboring schools, Cambridge Central and Hoosick Falls Central, will begin a new football tradition on September 5 at 7 pm, a Friday evening under the lights on the football field on the campus of HFCS. The Indians and Panthers varsity football teams will face off and, as usual, play hard, the victors taking home a tangible reward for winning, The Ken Baker Jug. The Jug will remain on display throughout the coming school year inside the victorious school’s trophy case. Next year the KBJ may or may not make a trip up or down Route 22. Wherever the Ken Baker Jug holds court, the honor it represents will be a coveted one.
Although Coach Baker will not be physically present for the auspicious football match-up, his indomitable spirit, which has imbued the CCS and HFCS football programs since 1972, will surely be felt on this night by all who knew and loved him. Former students and players of Coach Baker are invited to assemble on the football field during the game’s half time to offer a solemn moment of silence in his memory. Ken Baker, a member of the State High School Football Hall of Fame, is known and respected as one of the best coaches Section II has ever produced.
Since the unexpected, untimely and sad passing of Coach Ken Baker in the spring of 2008, HFCS Superintendent Ken Facin and CCS Superintendent Dan Severson have collaborated to create a special and meaningful way to offer tribute to the man who was integral in creating success within both schools’ football programs.
Coach Baker was the varsity football coach at Hoosick Falls from 1972 to 1986 and then at Cambridge from 1986 to 1995. Baker’s philosophy, which both schools continue to follow in their programs, is a simple but powerful one – respect your opponent; be physical; hustle.
The Jug, produced in the area over 110 years ago, has been donated by Jack’s Outback Antiques of Main Street, Cambridge. The large ceramic vessel features paintings of the two school mascots, a fearsome black panther on one side and a majestic Indian on the other, symbolizing two diverse but connected teams. Around the top of the vessel are emblazoned the words, Ken Baker Jug.
Each football player will be given a commemorative Route 22 Rivalry T-shirt featuring both the blue and white Panthers and the orange and black Indians. How fitting that Ken Baker’s love of healthy competition and positive play will be exemplified in the yearly awarding of The Ken Baker Jug.
Autism Benefit
A “Fun-Day” Autism Benefit sponsored by “Ammy’s Little Lighthouse” and attended by NYS Assemblyman Roy McDonald, will take place on Saturday, September 20, at the Stephentown Pavilion from 1 to 4 pm. Donations will be accepted at the door.
Entertainment includes Tot’s the clown, food, games, pony rides, bouncy bounce and music. For more information call Sherry Gallup at 794-8749.
Music Of Yesteryear
Wally Stock will present Music of Yesteryear to the Stephentown Historical Society on Monday, September 8. The meeting is at 7:30 pm at the Heritage Center on Garfield Road (County Route 26) in Stephentown. It is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions, telephone 518-733-5675.
Stock, who has an enthusiastic appreciation for the music recorded in the early years of the industry, has amassed a collection of recordings from 1890 to the 1920s. He will play disc recordings on a Victor portable phonograph with an external horn speaker, presenting a sampling from that era, from minstrel shows to rousing World War I songs to waltzes to comedies. Disc recordings began in 1895 and became widely popular by the early 1900s.
Stock owns Stock’s Piano Service, located in the old Brainard, NY, railroad station. He rebuilds, restores and services pianos of all ages. He grew up listening to his grandmother’s Victrola and has been collecting old recordings and the machines on which to play them for his personal enjoyment ever since.
Stephentown Muster
The Stephentown Vol. Fire Department Annual Fireman’s Muster Competition begins with the Water Polo competition on Saturday, September 13, at 6 pm. On Sunday at 11 am is the Muster Parade followed by the Muster Competition at 1 pm.
Come support your local teams as they compete against fire companies from across New England. All events are at the Stephentown Fire Hall on Grange Hall Road. Admission is free.
The Founder Of Free Libraries
The Lebanon Valley Historical Society and the New Lebanon Library will be presenting a talk, “Searching for Jesse Torrey,” on Monday, September 15, at 7 pm.
Dr. Jesse Torrey was the founder of the free public library movement in the United States.
In 1804, at the age of 16, he established the Library of the “New Lebanon Juvenile Society for the Acquisition of Knowledge.” This organization was the first free lending library in the nation and became the present New Lebanon Library. Dr. Torrey’s passion for education drove him to petition Congress for a network of free public libraries and schools across the country, enlisting President James Madison to his cause.
While in Washington DC, Jesse became struck by the abusive treatment of slaves. He wrote a book about slavery which is now an important archival work in African-American studies. He worked ardently for the humane treatment of slaves and for a government-purchased redemption program. He also collaborated with attorney Francis Scott Key to try to secure the restitution of liberty to illegally captured freed slaves.
A physician by trade, Jesse Torrey wrote a dissertation about contagious diseases, advocating treatment by innovative remedies. He also petitioned congress for the establishment of a national botanical garden for medicinal purposes. As an educator, he developed original and practical systems of teaching English, reading and spelling.
Frances Bonner and Anne Nardacci, descendants of Jesse Torrey, will be the presenters. They will talk about their extensive and meticulous research into original texts in the National Archives, congressional records, the NYS Museum Archives and Library and many other institutions. They will share their discoveries about the life and work of this accomplished and intellectually independent man.
The presentation will take place at the Forge, at the Mount Lebanon Shaker Site, on Shaker Road in New Lebanon. Please call 518-794-9177 for directions.