The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Stephentown

Stephentown Memorial Library Events

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Family Movie Night – On Friday, February 13 at 6:30 pm we will show a recently released movie. Bring the kids for a free movie at the library. Popcorn and juice will be served. This month the movie is Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day, rated PG. Running time for this movie is 81 minutes. Family Movie Night is free and all are welcome!

Computer Class – Troubleshooting Your Device(s) – Thursday, February 26 at 6:30 pm  Bring your questions and your devices to this class led by Sarah McFadden, Digital Literacy Resource Educator at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Rensselaer County.  She will talk about different things that can be connected, the kinds of cables needed to connect them, and how to do some basic troubleshooting. Examples of “devices” that will be discussed include cameras, smartphones, laptops, tablets, TVs, gaming consoles, etc.

Red Cross Babysitter Training Class – On Saturday, February 28, from 9 am to 4 pm in the Stephentown Memorial Library Community Room.  Registration is limited – sign up soon.  For anyone age 11 to 15.  Bring a bag lunch.  $60 fee for class, but scholarships are available.  Become a certified sitter!

Monthly Lego Club – Friday, March 6 at 6 pm.  Do you have a Lego enthusiast who could spend hours and hours every day engrossed with creative building? Do you have so many Legos in your house that you never know when you’ll suck one up with your vacuum cleaner? Do you sometimes get down on the floor with your clever builders and create something of your own? Well, this club is for you and your family! The Lego Club meets on a Friday night each month for an hour of building fun. There is no sign-up or charge.  Donations of Lego blocks are most welcome at the library desk.

For more information on any of these programs, or to register for programs, call the Stephentown Memorial Library at 733-5750 or stop by during our Library Hours.  Also check our website, www.stephentownlibrary.org for regular updates. We are on Facebook – add us to your friend list!

The Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Co Inc. Breakfast

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The Tsatsawassa Protective Fire Company, serving Brainard and East Nassau and surrounding community, will hold its monthly Breakfast on Sunday, February  15,  from 8 am until 11:30 am at their firehouse on Firehouse Lane behind the post office near the intersection of Routes 20 and 66N, in the hamlet of Brainard.

Breakfast offers your choice of pancakes or french toast, together with bacon or sausage, eggs cooked to your order, applesauce and beverages for your donation of $7 for adults, $4 for children 5 to 12, under age five is free.

Why not bring your loved ones for a Valentine weekend treat and shake away the winter blues while sharing an hour with friends and neighbors and supporting your local fire company.

Hudson Valley Students Named to Deans’ List for Fall 2014 Term

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More than 1300 students at Hudson Valley Community College were recently named to the college’s Deans’ List for the Fall 2014 term. Students named to the Dean’s List have a term grade point average between 3.0 to 3.49.

Those honored include:

Tucker Connally of Berlin, who is studying in the Individual Studies academic program.

Eric Kaufmann of Hoosick, who is studying in the Electrical Construction and Maintenance academic program.

Lajuana Berry of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Individual Studies academic program.

Tyler Gagnon of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Business Administration academic program.

Brigitte Goldstein of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Individual Studies academic program.

Brandy Morine of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Early Childhood academic program.

Erika Pelletier of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Early Childhood academic program.

Kayla Tobin of Petersburgh, who is studying in the Individual Studies academic program.

Nick Howard of Stephentown, who is studying in the Criminal Justice academic program.

Abbey Peterson of Stephentown, who is studying in the Nursing academic program.

Elizabeth Rathbun of Stephentown, who is studying in the Biological Sciences academic program.

Samantha Spaniol of Stephentown, who is studying in the Business Administration academic program.

Founded in 1953, Hudson Valley Community College offers 75 degree and certificate programs in four schools: Business; Engineering and Industrial Technologies; Health Science; and Liberal Arts and Sciences; it has an enrollment of more than 12,000 students,and has more than 75,000 alumni.

Troop 222’s Day In Albany In December

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submitted by Andy Zlotnick, Scoutmaster, Troop 222

Troop 222 spent December planning a full day visit to the Capitol in Albany, NYS Police Aviation Unit and the Troop G Headquarters in Latham. The Scouts of Troop 222 along with the Cub Scouts of Pack 911 spent the morning of December 29 touring the NYS Capital Building. The tour was taken by over 35 Scouts and their families and took about one hour. [Read more…] about Troop 222’s Day In Albany In December

Letter To The Editor – On The Proposed Stephentown Fracked Gas Pipeline

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To the Editor:

In 1962 an horrific event occurred in the Town of Berlin and made national news when a propane tanker truck lost its brakes on the Plank Road.

Today, in the Town of Berlin’s firehouse, there is a sample piece of the propane tanker truck that shows the faulty welding of the tank wall. This sample is part of several that were taken to the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute metallurgical lab for testing to determine why the propane tank ruptured. The tank was supposed to be ultra-safe and was guaranteed to be Fail Safe. However, with human error, poor quality control, no serious government oversight; the impossible occurred, the tank ruptured.

Part of the Town of Berlin was instantaneously filled with a giant fog blossom of explosive propane gas. It was suppertime in this community and someone cooking supper on a gas stove or burning papers or with any open flame set this gas cloud off. It had filled every nook and cranny, including the residents homes, and when it blew it laid all four walls of some of the houses on the ground and killed some of the residents.

Both of my parents perished in this devastation, one living for two days and the other three. They were in horrific pain – a memory that has never left me. To my knowledge the driver and eleven or twelve people were also killed.

Anyone who wishes to view the sample at the firehouse should contact Ivan Wager, he was in the Berlin Fire Department when this occurred and is in charge of the display.

If the proposed Stephentown liquefied fracked gas line, under a very high pressure of 1460 PSI (pounds per square inch), were to rupture, it would create a similar cloud of gas many times larger, with devastating results. Most of the new jobs will be for morticians picking up the bodies. Our rural volunteer fire departments and rescue squads if anyone survived would be overwhelmed.

These are gigantic, foreign owned corporations, National Grid is owned by the British, New York State Electric and Gas is owned by the Spanish. Kinder Morgan plans to ship its gas product through Stephentown on its way to Boston to sell to overseas buyers. Stephentown is considered by them a wasteland. We will have to wait and see if they, the citizens of Stephentown have enough courage and community spirit to defeat this threat.

My personal concern, even though I no longer live in Stephentown, is for two of my sons, their wives and my granddaughter who all live in very close proximity to this proposed pipeline. I also have many friends and acquaintances there. We should band together and not let this giant corporation determine what should be done with our beautiful valley.

Sincerely,

Daniel McCumber

Petersburgh, NY

David Jacobs

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Hancock – Mr. David Jacobs, 91, of 181 Goodrich Hollow Road, Hancock, MA, died Sunday afternoon, January 25, 2015, at the Mt. Greylock Extended Care Facility following a long illness. Born in Queens, NY, on November 20, 1923, he was the son of Robert and Etta Waldman Jacobs. He was educated in schools there and was a graduate of City College of New York.

[Read more…] about David Jacobs