_________________________________________________________________________________


Alplaus
Post Office News
The holiday stamps are in. There are three
selections to choose from. Please come in early so you don't miss out. We also
have a supply of priority mail boxes in different sizes, flat rate and regular.
As is the tradition, there will be
coffee, hot chocolate and a treat of some kind everyday through the holidays. So
come in, mail some packages, purchase some stamps and visit with your
neighbors.
The USPS set
I would like to thank everyone who has
supported the Alplaus Post Office this year. A special thank you to my PO Box
customers whose daily visits and conversations I never tire of. To former
residents who travel back here because of their love of the community, and to
my newer customers, First National Bank @ GE R&D, and Ted Bury of
Happy
Holidays, Kathy

Happy New Year!!
What's inside
On the Hill
..2
Alplaus Fire Department Calls - November
.2
Alplaus Fire Department News
.
.2
Ladies Auxiliary
.3
Santa
..3
Alplaus Residents Association
News
4
Battered Women's Shelter
..4
Samuel's
Glenville Seniors
.
..5
Memories
...6
The Answer Is
.
..
.6
Alplaus Historical Society
.6
Alplaus Chili competition Entry
Form
.....7
Luminary
Christmas Eve Service: at
Christmas Day Service: at
Community Luncheon: Our Christmas Party will be held on Tuesday, December 13
from
On the Hill
It looks good for a white Christmas so far - and
December is making up for our warm fall days in October and November. Bright
sun on a snowy winter scene - we didn't see this in
We have a
new advertiser in the HTN who introduces their business in the article on page
3. Ted Bury appreciates the personal touch that our Alplaus Post Office offers
him under Kathy's management. We think our post office is pretty special and
it's nice to see it is appreciated by others.
Merry
Christmas and a Happy New Year to all readers of the
__________________________________________________________________________________
Alplaus Fire Department
Calls for November 2005
|
Incident
# |
Date |
Alarm
Time |
Call
Type |
Location |
Fire
Fighters |
Fire
Fighter Hours |
|
000167 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
Maple Avenue |
7 |
2.9 |
|
000166 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
|
4 |
1.5 |
|
000165 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
Acorn Drive |
7 |
3.9 |
|
000164 |
|
|
Other Emergency |
Maple Avenue |
11 |
244.8 |
|
000163 |
|
|
Other Emergency |
Maple Avenue |
7 |
10.9 |
|
000162 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
|
4 |
1.7 |
|
000161 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
Acorn Drive |
8 |
4.4 |
|
000160 |
|
|
Medical Emergency |
|
10 |
2.8 |
|
000159 |
|
|
Water Rescue |
|
9 |
1.1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|


Alplaus
Fire Department
By Bob Culver
The annual elections were held this month.
Social Offices chosen for 2006 are:
President: Andimo Coppola
Vice President Gary Hastings
Recording Secretary Dave Tucci
Corresponding Sec'y Robert Culver
Financial Secretary Carl Nappi
Statistical Secretary James Palmer
Treasurer Joe Beaver
Trustee, 2006-2008 Harry Casey
Firemanic Officers for 2006 are:
Chief Andrew Coppola
1st Asst. Chief Kurt Haushalter
2nd Asst. Chief Jim Majewski
Captains Mike Sheppeck
Steve Gabris
Captain of Fire Police Mike Cuoco
Lieutenant Jim Palmer
Historian Robert Culver
We wish outgoing President Tom Kiernan good luck on his "retirement" (as President). We appreciate his work as President which he has served in 1977, 1985 and 1986, 1990 and 1991 and 2003 through 2005. Thanks a lot Tom.
The Fire Company sick list includes Bill Vedder, recovering nicely, we're told, from back surgery and Steve Gabris, who received surgery for an ongoing problem with his foot. Word is that he's on his way back to work.
Ladies
Auxiliary
by Vicki Watkins
The Auxiliary adopted the Schenectady Battered
Womens Shelter this holiday season. We purchased PJs,
slippers and grocery store gift certificates. There is a Wish List available
at the Post Office for anyone interested in making a donation. Thank you for
your continued generosity throughout the year.
Our Alplaus
sweatshirts are still available at the Post Office. Please stop by or call
in your order (518 399-8048). Kathy would be happy to ship orders out of
town. We have adult sizes: S ($15), L and XL
($22) and 2XL ($24). The post office certainly is the center for many of our
Auxiliary activities. Many thanks to Kathy Boyle for all her
extra help.
Mark your calendars and get out your recipe books for the Chili
Competition scheduled for Friday, January 20th. Details and an
entry form are elsewhere in this issue and available at the Post Office.
At our November meeting the Auxiliary voted
in a new slate of officers for 2006. The officers are: Vicki Watkins,
President; Tracie Williams, Vice-President; Alice Culver, Treasurer; and Pat
Coppola, Secretary. Many thanks to Kathleen Sheppeck who has served as our VP
for the past 2 years and to Kim Sheely who will be serving an additional 3 year
term as a Trustee. We also welcomed Shawna Thompson as our newest member.
Our annual post- holiday party will be at the Glen Sanders
Mansion on
_________________________________________________________________________________

Santa
by
Bob Culver
Santa
Claus arrived aboard Big Red Engine 221 with his helper Mike Sheppeck at the
wheel on Saturday, December 10. Upon his arrival and after a hearty Ho, Ho, Ho,
Santa's Elf, Kathleen, lit the Christmas Tree atop the
Firehouse. Refreshments, sponsored by the ARA, were served at Samuel's for a
change this year.
by Ted and Joan Bury
We are located
at
Living close by in Rexford gives us the
opportunity to purchase locally. We are pleased to work with Kathleen
Boyle, the postmistress at the Alplaus Post Office. They offer the
flexibility to give us the personalized service that we need to operate effectively.
During the month of December, seniors from Alplaus
can receive a special embossed gold foil Holiday Card to send their favorite
person at NO COST. Just ask at the counter.
You can contact
ARA News
'Tis the
Season. The annual ARA tree-lighting will be held on
the evening I write this, December 10th. Many thanks to Mark Quinn and members
of Acoustica for providing entertainment, to Chris
Williams for filling in as the guy in the red suit, to Deb Story for designing
our flyer, and to Deb and Gray Watkins for distributing those flyers. Also, a
big thanks to Samuel's for hosting the party after the lighting. I know
everyone will have had a great time!
Update on Sewers. Last month, I spoke to Ellen McDonald of the legal affairs
division of the state comptroller's office. All of the town paperwork is in and
has been reviewed, and the financial division was reviewing the numbers. Ellen
expected that process to be completed by the end of the year.
At the
December 7th town board meeting, the board approved the Alplaus sewer project
and the use of Kestner Engineers as the engineering consultant.
I will try to sit down
with town representatives in the next few weeks to try to determine the next
steps and assure that the project continues to move ahead. As many of you know,
there will be a significant transition in leadership at the town (new
supervisor, new superintendent of highways, and new board members as well), and
I want to have a discussion.
Other
Items of Interest.
The
Yates Farm townhouse project did not appear on the agenda of the November
meeting of the Glenville Environmental Conservation Commission. However,
another request of interest to Alplaus residents did appear on the agenda. The
owners of property that borders the
Barb
Casey, ARA President
__________________________________________________________________________________
Samuel's
by
Cherie Vedder
Samuel's
has been so busy growing for the past two months that we did not submit an
article to the HTN in October so... allow us to update you.
The addition of soup and chill to our menu
in early October, new Sunday hours and the pumpkin carving open house kept
things hopping in October. The Thanksgiving Pie Sale was a huge success and we
thank all who ordered from us, your patronage is so appreciated!
We are featuring our new Christmas drinks: Eggnog;
Gingerbread, Mistletoe and Candy Cane Latte's; Christmas Joy (named by one of
our own Alplaus kids, Kelsey Cresser) and more.
The
Our Gallery Wall features a new artist every
month including an upcoming Niskayuna Student Photography Exhibit. Come and
enjoy!
We have free wireless internet, along with
unlimited access to our in house computer. Please utilize these services as
often as you need.
We would like to take this opportunity to
invite you to an open House on December 18th, featuring our favorite Christmas
songs sung by a local musician, cookies, punch and a special treat for the
kids!
Samuel's is offering Luminaries for sale
this year at $5.00 a dozen. The lighting of luminaries is a long standing
tradition in Alplaus and this year all proceeds from the sale will go into a
scholarship fund to help local kids go to youth conferences and summer camps.
Please order soon
so you don't miss your chance to be a light on Christmas Eve and help out a
local kid.
Do not forget to order your
From the staff at Samuel's, please be
blessed this season.
Zach
Kenyon Katie
Abrahamson
Alex
Lushpinsky Jenn
Kazmierczack
Jason
Watt Matt Vedder
Lisa Catalano Kristine Fay
Karen Gilpen Megan Hobbes
Ellie Tzchamble
___________________________________________________________________________________
Glenville
Seniors
by Betty Vedder
Through
December the Center will be holding their regular classes and
services. The
for
Glenville residents and $20.00 for non-residents. Phyllis will be holding
the Meal Center Holiday Dinner on Wednesday, December 21st at
ATTORNEY
AT LAW GENERAL PRACTICE REAL ESTATE WILLS,
TRUSTS & ESTATES 371-6125 CORPORATE
LAW 1745 RT. 9 PERSONAL INJURY
E. GRAY
WATKINS
Memories
by Betty Vedder
As Christmas draws near I recall when Bill and I had
open house on Christmas Eves in Alplaus. It all started about 1960 when
Reverend Jim Beskin came to minister Alplaus and Rexford Methodist churches.
These two churches were a two point charge which one minister had to take
care of. Jim and his wife, Edna, really enjoyed working with young people.
His very first
Christmas here he gathered the teenagers to go through the hamlets caroling on
Christmas Eve. Bill and I were included because he had asked us to be
councilors. That year we went in a truck for we had to cover homes in both
places and we came back to our house for goodies and hot chocolate.
Jim was so
successful with making friends and taking in new church members that in a
couple of years Alplaus became an independent one point charge. Not only
the teenagers but anyone who liked to sing joined the carolers.
The
carolers came back to our house and any of our family, friends and neighbors was
welcome also. After a while Barbara Trask came up with the idea of
lining our streets with lit candles [luminaries] on Christmas Eve. Most of
our residents joined in to place lit candles in white bags across the fronts of
their properties. This quickly became a tradition and it was truly an
awesome sight as one looked down the Avenue.
As for now, I would like to wish all of our friends and the folks
in my
____________________________________________________________________________________
The
Answer Is
.
by Cliff Hayes

Alplaus Historical
Society
by Bob Culver
At
our meeting in November we had some presentations by our lead researcher, Cliff
Hayes. We also gave a boost to Kathy Boyle in her work to produce an updated
version of Ted Schwarz' booklet on Alplaus from 1976.

Residential Commercial HOLLENBECK
PAVING CORP. DRIVEWAY ROAD PARKING AREA
THOMAS H. CULVER 399-5557
BLACKTOP


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ADDRESS________________________________________________
PHONE
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HOW TO ENTER:
IF
YOU HAVE ANY QUESTION PLEASE CALL ELIZABETH BURKE AT 399-2072