The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Local News

Ribbon Cutting Ceremony For Newest Addition To Hoosic River Greenway

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submitted by Shelly Stiles

Please join us to celebrate the addition of “Skorupski Landing” to the Hoosic River Greenway. The ribbon cutting ceremony will be held Friday, June 12 at 4 pm at the Greenway and the Route 22 bridge in Hoosick Falls.

Several local and regional businesses and foundations gave generously to the fund to purchase the 6-acre parcel along the Hoosic River, an effort completed in March 2015. They will be acknowledged and thanked at the event, which will also include a walk along the river on the Landing, and refreshments. The event is sponsored by the Village of Hoosick Falls and the Hoosic River Greenway Committee.

John Skorupski loved the outdoors and the many places he called “home.” He was particularly fond of the Hoosic River and he was very pleased at the thought of future generations enjoying such a beautiful environment along the trail. The Village and the Committee are grateful to John and his family for agreeing to sell their land along the river. Acquiring and protecting the parcel has been a high priority for the Committee since it began its work in 2005.

The group hopes to create a picnicking area, a canoe/kayak launch and take-out site, and a swimming beach at the Landing, among other amenities.

The event will go on rain or shine. For more information or to RSVP, contact the Village Clerk at 518-686-7072.

RPA Landowner Open House

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The Rensselaer Plateau Working Forest Initiative will host a free open house on Tuesday, June 2 from 3 to 7 pm at the Old Daley Inn on Crooked Lake in Sand Lake. “This will be a great chance for landowners to learn about land conservation opportunities that might be available to them,” said RPA President Jim Bonesteel. There will be a number of tables with experts who can answer questions about Forest Legacy funding or the sale of development rights, the Master Forest Owner program, and conservation easements and other land conservation tools. We will also have an attorney/land use planner to answer legal questions and an ecologist and mapping specialist who can talk to you about the ecology of your land on the Plateau. Representatives from the Agricultural Stewardship Association, NYSDEC, New York Forest Owners Association, Rensselaer Land Trust and the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance will be available. This workshop is for people who would like to conserve their forestlands for future generations, are considering selling or donating development rights on their forestlands, or are interested in other programs listed above. For information, directions or to express interest visit http://www.rensselaerplateau.org or call 518-794-9160.

Events Coming Up At Rensselaer Plateau Community Forest

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May 30 will be a pretty busy day at the Rensselaer Plateau Community Forest. The Saratoga Mountain Bike Association will be hosting a Trail Building Workshop from 9 am to 1 pm and Lisa Hoyt, Director, Dyken Pond Educational Center, will lead a program called Forest Investigation for Families from 1 to 3 pm.

Trail Building

Are you interested in learning how to build and maintain a quality trail system? Would you like to get involved with building a brand new trail system in the Capital Region? RPA is working with the Saratoga Mountain Bike Association to host a series of Trail Building Workshops to teach the skills, techniques and science behind building and maintaining sustainable trails that could be used for a variety of activities. In the process we will break ground on a brand new trail system in the newly founded Rensselaer Plateau Community Forest. The overall workshop schedule includes three sessions. The first is on Saturday May 30, 9 am to 1 pm. Other sessions will be on Saturday July 11,  9 am to 1 pm, and Saturday Aug 8, 9 am to 1 pm. For more information and to sign up go to https://www.facebook.com/saratogamtb/events.

Forest Investigation  

How are your detective skills?  Join us to discover who lives in the Community Forest. We’ll explore the forest on a one-mile hike and look for evidence of creatures living there. Bring Field Guides and binoculars if you have them. For kids of all ages and families (suggested donation of $5 to $10).

The new 350 acre Community Forest, (approx. 220 Legenbauer Rd., Poestenkill, NY – off of Plank Rd.), will provide recreational access for Plateau residents and visitors, will serve as a demonstration area of best management practices for forest stewardship, and will provide other educational programs for adults and children.  Learn more about it on the RPA website.

There are many other exciting events scheduled that may be of interest to you. Keep informed of what’s going on with RPA, more than 30 Alliance organizations and a wide range of other groups by checking out our new data-base driven calendar of events at http://www.rensselaerplateau.org/events.

Rensselaer County 4-H Shooting Sports

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Archery

Rensselaer County 4-H is  happy to announce that it will be starting an Archery Club to be led by two of our county Shooting Sports volunteers. Details for the club will come out soon, and we are currently registering members who are interested. The club will focus on a variety of archery related topics including: archery shooting, arrow repair, bow building, and primitive skills. This club is open to all youth 8 and above, and space is limited.

Youth Shotgun Training 

Rensselaer County 4-H Shooting Sports is hosting a basic shotgun training for youth on June 20 from 8 am to 12 pm at the Green Island Rod and Gun Club in Schaghticoke. The course focuses on firearm safety and operation, and building skills for successful shotgun shooting. Participants must be 12 years old or older and have an adult partner for the training. Cost is $20 per youth/adult partner. Firearms, targets, and ammunition will be provided. Space is limited, and limited scholarships are available.

If you are interested in either of these programs or to register, please call the Rensselaer County 4-H office at 518-272-4210 or e-mail Leland Bunting at glb76@cornell.edu.

4-H is offered through Cornell Cooperative Extension. Cornell Cooperative Extension is an employer and educator recognized for valuing AA/EEO, Protected Veterans, and Individuals with Disabilities and provides equal program and employment opportunities.

GLSP Morning Bird Walk To Dickinson Hill Fire Tower

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Join local birder Mary Batcheller for a morning walk through the park’s forests on Saturday May 30, ending with spectacular views from the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower. The hike will meet at 7:30 am at the North Long Pond parking lot, accessible via the park’s winter entrance.

Mary Batcheller is an excellent guide for beginning birders, so feel free to look, listen and learn or to come share your own birding knowledge.  The hike will travel along 1.5 miles of the old Fire Tower Road, through Northern Hardwood and Beech-Maple forest communities.  Participants will have a chance to practice birding by ear thanks to the dense foliage along the trail, but binoculars are definitely recommended equipment.

Meet at North Long Pond parking lot within Grafton Lakes State Park. (Please do not park along Fire Tower Road as you will miss the group and there is no parking).  Pre-registration requested: 279-1155.

The Friends of Grafton Lakes State Park restored the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower over several years, with hours of volunteering and community donations. It provides views of the Taconics, Berkshires, and Adirondacks for those who climb its eighty sturdy steps.  Visitors are welcome to hike to the tower from the North Long Pond Road trailhead during state park hours 8 am until dusk.

Eleanor M. Fairbanks

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Hoosick Falls – Eleanor M. Fairbanks, 102, passed away on Wednesday May 20, at the Southwestern Vermont Medical Center in Bennington, Vermont. She resided on Albany Street in Hoosick Falls and was the wife of the late Fred Fairbanks who died in 1988.

Eleanor was born on June 17, 1912, in North Hoosick, New York, daughter of the late Andrew and Mary (Prime) McClure. She graduated from the Walter A. Wood School in 1929. Eleanor taught school in West Hoosick and Pittstown, New York. She was a member of St. Mark’s Episcopal Church in Hoosick Falls.

Survivors include her son Alan (Patricia) Finzer of Shaftsbury, Vermont, daughter Andra “Ann” Wheeler of Hazlet, New Jersey, four grandchildren, a great-grandchild and her beloved nieces and nephews. Eleanor was predeceased by a brother Robert McClure.

Funeral services will be Friday May 22, at 10:30 am from the Mahar Funeral Home, 43 Main Street in Hoosick Falls, New York. Burial will follow the service at Hoosick Rural Cemetery, Hoosick, New York.

Relatives and friends called at the funeral home on Thursday evening from 5 to 7 pm. Memorial contributions may be made to the charity of your choice through the funeral home.

Petersburgh Dismisses Its Code Enforcement Officer

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by Alex Brooks

The workshop meeting planned for 6:30 pm on May 18 didn’t really happen because the Board was in an executive session which started at 6 pm. They returned to the public meeting room at about 6:50 (the room was full, with every seat taken), and said they had made a determination regarding the Town Code Enforcement Officer.

[Read more…] about Petersburgh Dismisses Its Code Enforcement Officer

Hoosick Falls Memorial Day Parade

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Memorial Day Rites in the Village of Hoosick Falls will begin on Monday, May 25, with the raising of the Flag by the American Legion Commander Ike Powers at Maple Grove and St. Mary’s Cemeteries. At 8 am the Flag will be raised at Wood Memorial Park with a salute by the American Legion, the Legion Auxiliary and the Veterans of Foreign Wars Auxiliary.

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Berlin Town Board Action – Historical Center Gets New Sign

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by Alex Brooks

Supervisor Jaeger said Dr. Young, the Berlin School District Superintendent, had expressed interest on behalf of the Berlin School District in renting the old town garage for a maintenance shop for the school buses. Supervisor Jaeger offered it for $6,000 for the year, the School to pay heat and electricity. Berlin is now waiting for the School District’s reply to their offer.

[Read more…] about Berlin Town Board Action – Historical Center Gets New Sign