Alplaus Home Town News December 2003
Editor/Publisher: Art Harris Reporter: Betty Vedder
Now Christmas is a season
For joy and merry making,
A time for gifts and presents,
For giving and for taking.
A festive, friendly happy time
Where everyone is gay
From the beauty and the meaning
Of this holy Christmas Day.
We're sending out a greeting
In this season of good cheer
To all our friends in Alplaus
To last throughout the year.
Merry Christmas!
From Your H.T.N. Staff
Christmas Eve we have a tradition of lining our streets with lighted candles here in Alplaus. The sight is truly inspirational so we plan to continue it for the nineteenth year.
Christmas Eve Luminary Candles will be sold this year by the youth program at Alplaus Church. The cost will be $4 per order which includes 12 candles and bags. Orders will be taken December 1st through December 19th. To place an order, please call Kelly at 884-9185.
You may pick up your order at the church starting Monday,
December 8th. Luminaries will also be available the Alplaus Post Office
starting December 8th.
We have a very full newsletter this month. Thanks to all of you who give me copy early so we could all enjoy Thanksgiving Day with the Home Town News "put to bed".
AWH
Fire District Commissioners Election
Elections for Commissioners of Glenville Fire District 2 will be held on Tuesday, December 9th from 6 to 9 pm at the Alplaus Fire House.
The following people are running for three commissioner openings:
Mrs. Joan Mullins, Arthur Harris and Michael Sheppeck.
Anyone who is a resident of the fire district and registered
to vote in general elections is eligible to vote.
The Annual Christmas tree lighting party for all the kids (and those who are still kids at heart) will be held on Saturday, December 13th at 7:00PM at the Alplaus Firehouse. It is probably a good idea to arrive a few minutes early to greet Santa, as he arrives on a fire truck. After the "magical" lighting of the tree, atop the fire house, all are invited to join Santa, a local artist, and singers upstairs.
There will be candy canes for the kids and coffee, hot chocolate and yummies for all. The artist will be drawing holiday pictures for the little ones. Santa will greet each child and the singers (which may include everyone) will usher in the holiday season with tradition and "style".
Santa has mentioned, on previous visits, that Alplaus is
one of his favorite stops, so lets all get out and meet and greet Santa
and each other. Happy Holidays!!
An Alplaus Historical Society???
Several months ago it was suggested that it would be a nice idea if Alplaus had its own historical society. At the time people seemed interested. Well now is your chance to show your support for this idea. On Saturday, December 6th at 2:00 pm at the Post Office we are planning a very informal, mull-over-this-idea meeting.
We have a guest speaker, Jack Donlon, who is very knowledgeable about the history of Alplaus. We are hoping that other residents who have lived here a long time will also share their knowledge of the Hamlet. So please consider this an open invitation to all members of the community, new and old, to come and discover or contribute a little history. Who knows, you may even hear some interesting stories or see old photographs of your own home.
Please bring any old photographs, newspaper articles or stories that you think would be of interest.
RSVP if you would like to attend by calling or leaving your name at the Post Office. 399-8048. (The answering machine is on during closed hours.)
Bob Culver, AFD historian, and Kathy Doyle
As I was finishing up a run a few weeks ago, a car pulled up alongside me. They were looking at the house for sale at the end of my street, and wanted to know what it was like to live here. I told them the usual stuff about taxes (they live in the Village of Scotia so ours would actually be cheaper!), Niskayuna schools, and proximity to where many people work. I also told them, "This is a great community. It has a mix of types and ages of people, all different kinds of incomes and interests, but everyone says hello to everyone else and your neighbors look out for you. There's always someone to bring in your newspaper when you're away on vacation or bake you a casserole if you've had a new baby."
I didn't 'fess up that I was the president of the residents association, because it wasn't relevant. I told them how it is here in Alplaus, and all of you who live here know what I'm talking about.
It's a long-winded way to tell you how grateful I was for the support of the people of Alplaus before, during, and after our recent meeting about sewers. During the meeting, held on November 6th, the members of the ARA's sewer subcommittee (me, Gray Watkins, Gary Withey, Art Harris, and Rick Fleming), along with Town Supervisor Clarence Mosher, Town Engineer Dana Gilgore, and Assistant Highway Superintendent Jeff Gemmette provided information about recent developments. There are a few things that need to happen before we can move forward with determining whether or not the rest of Alplaus will have sewers:
1) Negotiations between the town and the City of Schenectady need to be completed to see what the rate will be for Alplaus sewage. The current proposal by the city would triple the rate paid by those of us already on the system, add a $100 fee per house, and tack on a $200 per house new connection charge. The town knows that won't work for us, and is working to negotiate different terms.
2) An engineering firm that will work on the project needs to be selected by the town so we can get firmer predictions of costs, a necessity before we ask you to sign a petition one way or the other.
3) Our subcommittee needs to sit down with members of the town government to talk over the issues once Andy Coppola, Superintendent of Public Works, is back up to full speed after recovering from a knee replacement.
I have an e-mail list that I'm using to keep residents up-to-date about what's happening, and will also schedule another informational meeting this winter after the three things I've mentioned above take place. If you'd like to be on the e-mail list, send me an e-mail at bcasey@skidmore.edu and I'll reply to you and add you to the list.
In the meantime, thanks for all your kind words of support and for being so appreciative of my efforts on your behalf. I'm proud to live in Alplaus, and to be working for all of you.
Barb Casey, President ARA
This is a note from your roving reporter, Betty Vedder. The response from my friends and neighbors in Alplaus, concerning my recent surgery, was unbelievable. It involved many cards, phone calls, food, flowers and prayers.
I truly know, now, how it feels to be on the receiving end. I am having a speedy recovery and thoroughly convinced that your caring consideration helped me very much. It gave me a positive emotional outlook which does affect the physical condition.
I thank each and every one of you for your thoughtfulness and appreciate your kindness. You're very special people who mean a lot to me.
The holidays are approaching fast. A few tips that will make things run smoother at the Post Office.
1. If you're mailing international packages, insured packages, delivery confirmation items, anything that requires a form, please pick up the forms ahead of time and have them filled out when you come in.
2. Please remember to tell your friends, family and others to use your Post Office Box as your mailing address. The mail just about triples this time of the year with catalogues, cards, etc. We can use all the help we can get at the Post Office to sort your mail quicker and more efficiently.
3. Make sure all your packages are securely packaged and taped. If they are in need of special care in handling or are perishable let us know.
4. Return address must be on all packages over 16 ounces and a good idea on letters.
5. I have ordered lots of holiday stamps. We shouldn't run out, but it gets close the last week before Christmas so buy early.
Please come to the Post Office for a cup of coffee/tea/hot chocolate. Enjoy a quiet relaxed conversation with your neighbors. You have the rest of the day to fight traffic, look for the perfect gift, stand in line, wrap gifts, decorate, clean your house, write out holiday cards, bake cookies, go grocery shopping, plan the finest menu for the family and go to the bank and go to the bank and go to the bank.......
Happy Happy Holidays to all of my wonderful neighbors and friends in Alplaus. Again I would like to thank you all for your support of the Post Office......Bring on 2004!!
Kathy Boyle, APO Postmistress
We had our last business meeting of the year and closed with preparing fruit baskets for those in need of a little cheer. We planned our annual holiday party, which will be at the new Cornell's on Jay Street on Tuesday, January 13, 2004 at 6 p.m. Menu selections will be posted at the Post Office so auxiliary members should plan to stop by to check them out. The phone tree will be calling to take your order and prepayment of the entrée price and tip will be made to the Auxiliary.
Orders for auxiliary fleeces are being taken this month. If you are interested in ordering a fleece with the Auxiliary name and logo, the cost will be $41.00 ($2.00 extra for 2 XL) and an additional $3.00 if you want your name embroidered on it. We need a minimum of 12 to place the order so please call Robin at 399-4911 if you are interested.
The Beautification Committee planted 100 daffodil bulbs, which we should all enjoy in the spring. Hopefully they will be less appetizing to the squirrels than the tulip bulbs were! A huge thank you to Gary Withey for taking down the flags after Veterans Day. We are looking into purchasing a better grade of flags in hopes they will better survive 'tornado alley" (also known as Alplaus Avenue).
We are once again adopting a needy family for Christmas. We will be preparing a basket of nonperishable foods and goodies if you would like to donate. The basket will be at the post office for the next several weeks. We have also scheduled a major cleanup of the kitchen and storage closet in the firehouse and are also looking into sprucing up the upstairs, perhaps with new curtains. The Red Cross has asked us to sponsor another blood drive and we hope to do so sometime in April. Be on the lookout for further information in the HTN.
Finally, this will be my last report to you. Welcome and congratulations to the new Auxiliary Officers for next year: Vicki Watkins, President, Kathleen Sheppeck, Vice-President, Alice Culver, Treasurer, Pat Coppola, Secretary and Betty Vedder, Trustee. Good luck to them in the next year! Our next meeting will be February 24th at 7 pm at the Post Office. Please plan to join us if you can!
by Betty Vedder
In October many of us were saddened by the death of Sybil Birch Bopp. At the same time some of you younger folks unfortunately did not know her. She was brought up in Alplaus as Sybil Alfreda Birch. Years ago there were three Birch brothers who settled in our hamlet. One was at 251 Alplaus Avenue, one at 246 Alplaus (our house) and one at 2 Mohawk Avenue where Sybil was brought. She led a remarkable life of giving to God, family and the community.
Sybil sincerely loved people in general and always looked at the good in their souls. She kept track of all her friends' and neighbors' birthdays and always remembered to give them a ring to wish them the "happiest" to last the whole year through.
She was married to the late Charles Bopp Jr. for forty one years. They had two sons, Richard from Minnesota and Lawrence of Schenectady.
We would like to express our sorrow for their grief which
we share with them. We are thankful that she was an important part of our
lives to leave wonderful memories.
Harry Casey is continuing his "Holiday Clinic" in December. It is scheduled for the second Thursday of the month on December the 11th from 3:00 until 5:00 pm.
Be sure to stop in at the Firehouse to be checked and make Harry's day a happy one.
Alplaus Fire Station
This special Senior program is scheduled for Saturday, December 13th, 2:00 pm. Everyone is welcome to join us for a great afternoon of holiday entertainment. This is and annual outreach occasion at the Senior Center on 32 Worden Road.
Roger Story, of course, will be there to start off with the seasonal songs. Chad Currin, our well known area magician, is planning a performance with his clever acts. Following Chad, the General Electric Chorale will entertain with their exceptional fine music.
It should be a wonderful program for this particular weekend. There will be delicious holiday refreshments before you leave.
The cost is a donation of canned or boxed foods for the
Scotia Baptist Food Pantry.
This is a reminder of the Senior's Holiday Craft Fair. It is an important event to be held on Saturday, December 6th, 9:30 am until 3:30 pm. It is open to the public with beautiful items for your Christmas shopping.
Come, have your lunch with friends and neighbors at the Center on 32 Worden Road. It really is a great way to start your holiday shopping and feel the spirit of Christmas.
This will be held on Tuesday, December 9th from 11:30 am. until 2:30 pm. We ask those who are planning to come to bring a dish of food to share.
We will be celebrating Christmas together. Come join us for great food and fellowship.
On Wednesday, December 17th, young and old alike will be performing in a Christmas pageant at the Alplaus Church. There will be a pot luck supper at 6:30 pm.
The show is scheduled to begin at 7:15 pm. Everyone is
invited to attend, bring a dish of food to share, if you can.
The opening date depends upon final completion of the renovation. Anyone wanting further information can call Matt or Cherie at the Y.F.C. Center, 783-5332.
Matt Hopkins and Cherie Vedder are still seeking funds and assistance for the final renovation of Samuels. Lou Vendetti of Ven Bro Industries of Sarnowski Drive has been donating materials and, because of his ties to other businesses, is helping to obtain other needed supplies.
The annual Christmas Eve Service at the Alplaus Methodist Church will be at 7:00 pm this year. This should be a good finish of our very busy days and weeks - a quiet time together to reflect and feel what it's all about.
It is an open program and outreach to the community of families, friends and neighbors. Come join us if you can.
Hello everyone. Most of you know me from the post office. My name is Kathy Boyle. I truly love my job at the post office, but my first love has always been architecture and garden design.
I recently started a new business called "Unique Acquisitions". I will be selling antique stained glass windows, (some from as early as 1860) and a few other unique items for the home and garden.
I will also be offering garden design consulting services in the spring and summer. Right now I have a spectacular antique stained glass window from 1916 for sale. It is in the "arts and crafts" style. It must be seen in person to be appreciated.
In the weeks ahead I will be getting in more windows, both from this country and abroad. I guarantee they will all be lovely. As they come in, I will be advertising in the newspaper and I will be displaying pictures of them in the post office.
If you are looking for a very special gift for someone, or would just enjoy owning one of these beautiful windows for yourself, please keep Unique Acquisitions in mind. If you would like to view a window or would like more information, I can be reached at 399-0421 or 399-8048.
Niskayuna School District Beginnings-1
Events Leading to the Formation of the Niskayuna Central School District Part I
by Carlyle "Kirk" Herrick, December 2003
2003 is the 50th anniversary of the formation of the Niskayuna Central School District. The process of winning agreement to form the district has never before been fully described, so this seems a fitting time to set aside personal embarrassment and tell it as it happened. The other principal participants have all passed away without recording these events. Niskayuna Central really was the product of a string of unintended and unanticipated events. "By accident most strange" can come "bountiful fortune", as Shakespeare reminds us in The Tempest.
Alplaus played a decisive role in winning initial agreement to form the Niskayuna Central School District. By 1948 WWII veterans were all home at last and the baby boom was beginning; in Alplaus and everywhere else. The preschool census was zooming upward with no stopping in sight. At that time the Alplaus school board proposed to join Alplaus to the Schenectady City school district. This was an intolerable prospect to the newly resident young parents with babes-in-arms (we had a one-year old). The scenario we envisioned was for first-graders to get on a Schenectady Railway bus in front of Cheney's Store in Alplaus, get off at the corner of State and Erie Blvd., and transfer to an unspecified series of city buses to reach unidentified grade schools. To us it was a grossly untenable proposal.
That proposal galvanized me to begin discussions with friends and neighbors over the possibility of building a much larger neighborhood grade school. Although there was no initial intent to do so, those discussions continued until I had spent an evening in every home in the Alplaus school district, except those of the school board members. It took a year to complete those visitations, time I had intended to spend hands-on building on a new home we had started nearby. Those visitations were the unexpected key to forming Niskayuna Central.
The unintended and unanticipated consequences were not long in arriving. Within the next year I was elected to the Alplaus School Board, and to the chairmanship the following year. By that time the other elected members were also young. We were all less than 30 years old, and were parents with toddlers. We became a unified school board with a mission build a modern grade school in the neighborhood.
After discussions with our neighboring established school districts, Schenectady, Scotia, and Burnt Hills ended unprofitably; we decided to embrace the formation of a Central School District without reservation. Previously the New York State Education Department had proposed that Alplaus, Craig, Niskayuna #4, Rexford, and Van Antwerp solve their school problems by joining together to form a full-service central district. For several years that proposal languished for lack of support. Now Alplaus became its champion.
The first, and crucial, step was to win enthusiastic support from the chairmen of the other four school boards. Without it subsequent approval by district residents would be unlikely. So, we five chairmen met alone to explore possibilities. New York State stayed away because those possibilities weren't very bright. The big problem was the state education law that required each local district to give all of its assets to the new central district but to retain and pay off all existing debts. Craig had a new building and Van Antwerp a newly renovated building to give away and the full debt service to keep and pay off individually. So, understandably, they balked. Their first reaction was grim rejection of such a gross affront to common sense. Niskayuna #4 and Rexford districts were willing to "go with the flow" and sat off to the side.
So, three of us sat at a small table, Stan Reynolds from Craig and Ray Loucks from Van Antwerp on one side, and I on the other. To them it was a great waste of time. At this point another unanticipated consequence came into play. My year of visitations proved to be admirable preparation for these discussions. Since Stan and Lou were not similarly prepared, by default, I became the leader of the discussions.
(To be continued in a later issue of the Home Town News.)