The Eastwick Press Newspaper

Eastern Rensselaer County's Community Newspaper

Stephentown

The Stephentown Historical Society Presents The American Chestnut

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Kenneth James will give a talk about efforts to bring back the American chestnut tree at the Stephentown Historical Society meeting on Monday, March 3, at 7:30 pm. The meeting will be at the Stephentown Heritage Center on Garfield Road (County Route 26) in Stephentown. The program is free and open to the public. The building is handicapped accessible. For directions or information, phone 518-733-0010.

When Europeans began to settle the American colonies, they found a tree that possessed very useful properties growing throughout the forests. The American chestnut tree had high tannin levels that made its wood rot resistant and valuable for homes, outbuildings, fence posts and poles, and, eventually, railroad crossties. In the forest it grew straight and tall, making excellent lumber and beams. Its nuts were an abundant and nourishing food for both wild creatures and a farmer’s pigs and family. However, in the early 20th century Asian chestnut trees were imported, and they carried a blight to which the American species had no resistance. By 1940 the American chestnut was destroyed as a commercial species and no cure has yet been found.

Ken James is one of many searching for a disease resistant strain of American chestnut. He moved to southwest Stephentown in the 1970s and planted 200 small trees thirty years ago. He has been growing them and grafting the most promising scions onto root suckers, looking for the strongest and healthiest results. His largest tree is now 60 feet tall. He will tell about his quest for a disease resistant variety as well as some history of this tree.

Stephentown Library Events

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• Movie Night – Friday, February 28, at 6:30 pm in the Stephentown Memorial Library Community Room. Looking for something fun to do this weekend? Come to the SML for a movie. This month we are showing a newly released film about a god with a hammer and his devious brother. The movie is rated PG-13, and the running time is 112 minutes. Free popcorn and drinks will be served.

• Computers for Beginners Series – on Wednesdays at 1:30 pm – March 5, March 26 and April 2. Farid Gruber will help new computer users understand how to use a computer and get connected to the internet. This class is for anyone just beginning to learn how to use a computer. We will briefly go over the physical computer parts, how to turn the computer on and off, the desktop, start menu, and how Windows® works. We will also spend time learning how to use the mouse. Depending on time and interest, the class may move forward to internet use and email. If you know someone who will benefit from this class, help spread the word and invite them to join. Attend one session or all three! Farid Gruber is a retired early childhood educator and administrator with a new career as a technological consultant. He combines his patience, honed through working with preschoolers, and his many years of experience working with computers and various media, to offer quality support. Please call ahead to register, as space is limited. If you have your own laptop computer, please bring it along to the class. Laptops will be on hand for those who don’t have their own. This program series is made possible through an Outreach Mini-Grant from the Upper Hudson Library System.

• Parenting Support Class – Systematic Training for Effective Parenting (STEP) method of parenting with Bruce Weiner. Classes will meet on Tuesday evenings – April 1, 8 and 22 and May 6, 13 and 20 from 6:30 to 8:30 pm. Participants should plan to attend all sessions in the class cycle.The course will consist of the basics tenets of Parent Effectiveness Training, the positive character education focus on problem solving with children and other issues brought up by parents during the course. Bruce Weiner is the head of Psychological services for the Berlin School District and an experienced parent educator. He lives with his wife in Hancock, MA, and is the parent of two grown sons. The only cost will be $15 for course workbooks and this can be waived for those with financial need. Stephentown Memorial Library invites you to join us for this helpful class. All are welcome! Reservations are required, as space for this class is limited. Please call the Stephentown Memorial Library at 518-733-5750 to reserve a space.

For more information, call the SML at 733-5750, or check our website, www.stephentownlibrary.org for regular updates.

16th Annual SVFD Corned Beef & Cabbage Dinner

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The Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department will hold an all you can eat corned beef and cabbage dinner on Saturday, March 8, from 4 to 7 pm in the Stephentown Fire Hall, 35 Grange Hall Road in Stephentown.

Adult, all you can eat dinners cost $12, dinners for children age 6-10 cost $7 and youth ages 5 and under eat free. Take-out dinners will be available for $10 each. Advance tickets are not required.

The Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department wants to announce that they will also be holding an all you can eat Roast Beef Dinner on Saturday, April 26, from 4 to 7 pm.

The Stephentown Historical Society Presents Chestnuts

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“The American Chestnut: Past, Present, Future,” a talk by Kenneth James, chestnut grower will be presented on Monday, March 3, at 7:30 pm at the Stephentown Historical Society’s Heritage Center, Garfield Road (County Route 26) in  Stephentown.  Learn about the pre-blight importance of this forest giant and current efforts to produce disease-resistant trees.  The building is handicapped accessible.  For directions, telephone 518-733-0010.

Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department Texas Hold’em

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The Stephentown Volunteer Fire Department will hold a Texas Hold’em Tournament on Saturday, February 22, in the Stephentown Fire Hall, located at 35 Grange Hall Road in Stephentown. The doors will open at 5:30 pm and close at 6 pm. Play begins at 6:15 sharp.

No advance registration is required. A donation of $35 per player will be accepted and give the player 6,000 in chip value. Players can make an additional $10 donation at the door for 2,000 extra in chip value. This tournament will pay one place for every 10 players with a minimum of four places and a maximum of 9 places.

A free buffet will be served at the first break, and refreshments will be available.

For more information, please call John Linton at 518-733-0469.

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.

 

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.

Karen Lehmuth Huff

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Berlin – Karen Lehmuth Huff, 62, passed away on January 24, 2014, at her home in Brookside Park in Berlin, NY. She was the daughter of Margaret and the late Harold Lehmuth of Stephentown, NY.

Karen worked for W.C. Cowee, Inc. in Berlin and Seagroatt’s Roses in Berlin until it closed and then she worked at Seagroatt’s in Colonie, NY.

Besides her mother, Margaret, Karen leaves three sisters, Margaret Mosher, Nancy Stollsteimer and Janet Van Rijsewijk, and two brothers, Walter and William Lehmuth.

Services will be at the convenience of the family. Memorial contributions may be made to the Berlin Ambulance Squad.