Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper
Bennington Elks #567 is pleased to announce the names of two local winners in our NY State Drug Awareness Poster Contest! Hoosick Falls Central School fourth-grader Ethan Yonconish won a bicycle for his “Down With Drugs-Up With Awareness” poster! St. Mary’s Academy fifth-grader Kate Lockett won a $30 gift card for her “Drugs Are Bad! Up With Awareness-Down With Drugs!” poster.
Congratulations to all who entered and who are helping to spread the word!
submitted by Pat Leonard at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.
Petersburgh native Hope Batcheller is one of the Cornell University students competing in the annual World Series of Birding coming up May 10 in New Jersey. The Cornell Lab is hosting three student teams this year – collectively known as The Redheads.
Batcheller is a member of the team that will be birding the entire state of New Jersey in an effort to tally the greatest number of bird species over a manic 24 hour period. This is about much more than bragging rights, though. The team is also raising money to support undergraduate research in bird studies and conservation.
For the first time, the Cornell Lab of Ornithology is hosting 15 students on three birding teams, competing in three divisions at the World Series of Birding in Cape May, New Jersey, on May 10. This triple threat of ace birders will attempt to top all other competitors by identifying the greatest number of bird species by sight or sound in a midnight-to-midnight birding blitz. Their ultimate goal is to raise $25,000, that will be matched by a donor and earmarked for support of undergraduate research in ornithology and conservation.
During this so-called “Big Day” one Redheads squad will bird the entire state of New Jersey, another will scour the length and breadth of Cape May County and the third will participate in the “Big Stay” category, tallying their birds from a single location within a 17 foot radius.
Past Cornell Lab student teams have been highly success-ful in the Cape May County division, earning first or second place every year since they began competing in 2007 and earning more than $100,000 in donations for The Redheads Fund.
submitted by Steve Ricci
There is a bumper crop of corpse flowers rising at Darrow School. Each year since 2009, when the flowers were first planted in the sheltered confines of Darrow’s Samson Environmental Center (SEC), they have thrived and multiplied. Four bloomed in 2012, six in 2013, and this year, according to SEC Director Craig Westcott, as many as ten flowers have sprouted, several of which are currently in full bloom.
[Read more…] about Corpse Flowers In Full Bloom At Darrow School
This summer the Berlin Community Food Closet will once again offer free breakfast and lunch items to families whose school-aged children receive free/low-cost meals during the school year. The 2014 Summer Feeding Program will operate for 10 weeks, from June 20 to August 22, supplying these children with healthy food items such as low fat milk, low sugar cereal, whole grain bread and fresh fruits and vegetables.
In anticipation of once again feeding between 25 and 30 children, the funding goal for this year’s program is $3,500. Individuals and families have several options for helping meet that goal: 1) A one time contribution of any amount; 2) A one time contribution of $200 which will cover the cost of feeding one child throughout the summer, or 3) $20 donations made each week for the program’s 10 weeks.
Food donations are another way to assist the Program, and those who are able can give in one of two ways: 1) Commit to purchasing food items for one or more child(ren) throughout the 10 weeks of the program, or 2) Make a one time donation of non-perishable food items that will be distributed, namely peanut butter, cereal and/or tuna fish.
Information about the Summer Feeding Program is available for download from the “Berlin Community Food Closet” page on the Berlin Seventh Day Baptist Church’s website (http://www.berlinsdb.org/ministries) or by contacting Trish Gerstel at trishagerstel@berlinsdb.org or 518-658-3769.
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow scholar Bruce Southard will deliver the lecture “Longfellow Friends and Rivals” on Thursday, May 15, at 7 pm at the New Lebanon Library. This program is free and open to the public.
Perhaps no period in human history produced more famous authors and literature than the period spanning Longfellow’s life. Using his life and poems as the timeline, this presentation introduces Longfellow’s contemporaries, authors such as Hawthorne, Emerson, Whitman. Dickens, Thackeray, Tennyson, Irving, Bryant, Lowell, Thoreau, Holmes and Wilde, his interaction with them and samples of his and their writing. All materials are recited in the rich oral tradition ensconced in 19th through mid-20th century education (but the audience need not worry; there will be no homework assignments!). Behind the scenes stories help illustrate each poem, and there may be a surprising work or two known to all who attend.
Bruce B. Southard was born and raised in Hancock, MA, then spent 23 years living and working in and around New York City. Southard holds a BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, NY, and an MBA from The Isenberg School of Business, UMASS Amherst. He currently works for Eldorado Resorts Corporation. Southard is a professionally trained Podium Presenter for Las Vegas, Nevada, and the Berkshires of Massachusetts.
The New Lebanon Library is located at 550 State Route 20, ¼ mile north of the yellow blinking light at the intersection of Routes 20/22.
The Grafton Historical Society will meet at 7 pm in the Grafton Town Hall on May 21. This month’s program is Native American Culture, presented by Lisa Little Wolf.
Lisa Little Wolf will talk about the traditions of different geographic regions, which have changed little over the years and are passed along through families. Lisa Little Wolf is originally from the Northern Cheyenne Nation in Lame Deer, Montana. An educator for many years, she travels the country speaking to peoples of many nations.
The program is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served.
Stephentown Memorial Library welcomes the public to join us on Monday, May 12, at 6:30 pm in the Stephentown Memorial Library Community Room at 472 State Route 43 in Stephentown for a reading of A Final Harvest by Bruce Southard. The book is a series of stories about local, national and international events/history, much of it centered on Hancock, Stephentown and New Lebanon. The stories describe the events that shape our lives and ends with the issue so many of us will experience: How do we help those we love as their end of life approaches?
Copies of the book will be available for purchase and signing. Refreshments will be served.
Bruce Southard was born and raised in Hancock, MA, then spent 23 years living and working in and around New York City. He holds a BFA in Communications Design from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn and an MBA from The Isenberg School of Business, UMASS Amherst.
submitted by Andy Zlotnick
Boy Scout Troop 222 from Petersburgh participated in the Mahikan District Spring Camporee and I Love My Parks Day, May 2 to 4, at the Schodack Island State Park along the Hudson River.
[Read more…] about Boy Scout Troop 222 In Mahikan District Spring Camporee
