Alplaus Home Town News May 2003
Editor/Publisher: Art Harris Reporter: Betty Vedder
Dedication to Our Alplaus Mothers
Remembering fondly, Mother,
All the thoughtful things you've done,
Your special ways of being nice,
And sweet to every one.
Remembering the kindness
Of every word and thought,
And wishing you the happiness
That you've so often brought.
HAVE A WONDERFUL MOTHER'S DAY!
Sunday, May 11, 2003
Alplaus must be an inspiration for writers who either grew up or lived here. We all know about the time that Kurt Vonnegut spent as an Alplaus resident early in his career as a world-renowned author of unique novels and stories. In this issue of the Home Town News we present the work of David Peterson, who spent his youth with us and Jim Norton, our neighbor on Hill Street. They, along with many other Alplaus residents, past and present, share their thoughts with us now and then. Thanks for two good reads to Jim and David.
Interest in sidewalks for Alplaus Avenue has rekindled this spring. The Town of Glenville has plans for sidewalks in the vicinity of some schools in town and other areas, especially in the Town Center area, i.e., Glenridge Road, Van Buren Road and Route 50. We'll keep you posted with more details next month.
May has come in with nice spring weather along with needed rain for our gardens and shrubs. Let us all remember those fallen in defense of our country on Memorial Day at the end of the month.
..AWH
Don't forget the village-wide garage sale on the Saturday, June 7th.
Read all about it in the Ladies Auxiliary article inside
this month's Home Town News.
Only in America......can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
Only in America......are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
Only in America......do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
Only in America......do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
Only in America......do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
Only in America......do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
Only in America......do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.
Only in America......do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight.
Only in America......do we have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
Memorial Day May 26, 2003
Barb Casey, President Alplaus Residents Association
The Alplaus Residents Association continues to work with the Town of Glenville to develop a fact sheet that outlines the possible costs of installing sewers for those who don't have them and upgrading the existing system. We are looking into both gravity and low pressure systems and are carefully compiling the possible costs, advantages, and disadvantages of both systems.
We'll be looking for volunteers to go door-to-door throughout
the hamlet with a petition. If you're willing to do this, please call me
(399-5714) and let me know. I'll make sure you get up to speed on the issues
(as I've been doing myself for the past month!) so that you're prepared
for questions you might get from residents.
The ARA and the fire department are gearing up for our traditional Independence Day festivities and we're looking for your help. If you're willing to help with set-up or break-down for the block party on July 3, OR can serve as a traffic monitor before the parade itself (my understanding is that duties end just before the parade starts so that you'd be able to enjoy the parade with friends and family), then we'd love to have you! It's only a couple of hours of your time and a great way to help Alplaus. Call me or Judy Harris (399-8320) if you can help.
Donations to help support the festivities or other ARA
activities are also welcome. If you'd like to make a memorial donation,
please make a check payable to the ARA, along with the name of the person
in whose memory the gift is being made and a one-sentence description of
the donation. Send memorial and other contributions to the ARA, PO Box 185
no later than June 16th if you'd like the contribution included in the program
for the Fourth.
We're all proud of our beautiful little hamlet and how lovely it looks in spring. Please help keep Alplaus beautiful by picking up any leftover winter trash you see near your homes or while you're out walking, running, or biking. Thanks to all of you for making this such a great place to live.
Last Month a very poignant article was written for the Home Town News by Alplaus resident Jack who is also a member of the 139th Air Evacuation unit of the Stratton Air National Guard Base. In his article Jack mentioned the close association of the hamlet of Alplaus and the Guard itself. He also mentioned that sending letters and cards and even a care-package overseas at this time would be really appreciated by our local servicemen/women.
SoI put a cardboard box out on the table in the post office with his suggestions and a brief note to anyone who would like to contribute. The box was filled to the top in two days. So I sent it on. I put another box out, and low and behold, that one was filled just as quickly. Then another followed. We are now on our fourth box of items.
Even though the war is thankfully winding down, hopefully, the gratitude we have for them will continue while they are completing their missions overseas.
Kathy Boyle
Nice warm weather has been ordered for Tuesday, May 13th, with no snow in sight. Mark your calendars and plan to attend the luncheon.
We will have fine food, fellowship and, of course, bingo.
Bring a covered dish to share, if you can. The gathering is in Fellowship
Hall of the Alplaus Church between 11:30 am and 2:00 pm.
This is an event scheduled for Saturday, May 31st at the Rexford Methodist Church at 7:00 pm. It's "A Rock and Roll Revival"!
It has been planned and will include members of the church
in participation. The affair is open to the public.
Harry holds his clinic on the second Thursday of each month. This will fall on May the 8th - mark your calendar.
Stop at the Alplaus Firehouse any time between 3 and 5
pm in the afternoon to have your pressure taken and a bit of a chat with
Harry. He's a nice guy!
Alplaus Fire Station
We are making very good progress with sheet rock and taping. The upcoming projects for this month will be painting walls and installing the floors. The nice weather will allow us to start working outside on the vinyl siding.
Any community help with these projects would be greatly appreciated. Tuesday evenings and Saturdays are work times. Come join us and meet your friends and neighbors.
We are having a table at the Alplaus Flea Market on Saturday, June 7th. We need donations of what you might be cleaning out when you're spring cleaning, lightening your home of unwanted clutter. Items should be in good condition and useable. The profits from this project are needed to defray costs of renovating the building.
We are nearing an opening date of Samuels and are anxious
to have everything in order. For further information - call 399-2444, 399-0427
or 399-7093.
Christopher Alexander Sparano was born to Chris and Alicia Sparano of 17 First Street on April 1, 2003. Dad is a Lieutenant and Alicia is an EMT in the Alplaus Fire Department.
In real life his parents operate Sparano Chiropractic, on Route 146 in Clifton Park.
Congratulations and welcome!
The Glenville Seniors celebrated their 27th Anniversary in April. There were about 175 people attending which made a happy and successful gathering.
On Saturday, May 17th from 4:00 to 6:30 pm JR's BBQ is returning by popular demand. He will be serving barbecued pork or chicken along with all the trimmings and dessert.
Roger Story will be there with his keyboard and also the
local Harmonica Players. Tickets ($7 each) are available at the Center on
Worden Road until Thursday, May 15th. This is open to the public and take-outs
will be available with a ticket.
Our meetings seem to be busier each month as we go along. We have a lot of things in the hopper, so to speak. First, we have to thank everyone for making our Blood Drive a huge success! We had 49 potential donors show up and so exceeded our quota of 40. We would especially like to thank the members of the fire company who moved equipment and otherwise made it possible for us to hold the drive.
We are also thankful to all of you who order bulbs - it was a great fundraiser and we look forward to seeing all the beautiful flowers this summer. The people of Alplaus also generously donated their bottles for our bottle drive.
Coming up, we have the Annual Alplaus village wide Flea Market and Garage Sale on June 7th from 9 am-4 pm. Tables at the firehouse are $15 or for $10 you can bring your own. Call Robin at 399-4911 if you want a space or table at the firehouse. We will have the cookshack open for breakfast and lunch. Kim Sheely of Alplaus, who, with her sister runs Green Acres Greenhouse, will also be at the flea market selling plants for your garden. If you are interested in having a garage sale at your house and would like to be put on the map, it is $5 and you can sign up at the post office.
Finally, we thank the generosity of the fire company in donating to us a family membership to the Glen Hills Club (for new members only) worth $375. We will be raffling it off at the Flea Market. Chances are $2 or 3/$5.00. You can buy raffle tickets from any auxiliary member, at the post office or call Robin at 399-4911.
We hope you are enjoying the bulbs popping up around Alplaus. We will be planting annuals this month. Our flags will be going up to celebrate Memorial Day.
Our new sign is now electrified due to the efforts of Bob Culver and Joe and Michael Beaver. Many thanks to them. We were also able to add to our sign's letter collection which makes Pat Beaver's job of posting notices on the sign that much easier. Pat has been a trooper in quickly changing the sign to reflect all the activities going on in our hamlet.
Finally, we are preparing more welcome baskets. If you have a new neighbor, please let us know so that we can welcome them to Alplaus.
Our next meeting is May 19th at the firehouse. We will be starting at 6:30 pm so that we can enjoy a covered dish supper before our business meeting. If you are interested in joining us or would just like to know more about us please call Robin at 399-4911. We're a busy group and a great way to get to know your neighbors
By David Peterson
Living in a small town where literally everyone knows what size pants their neighbors wear by the laundry hanging on the clothes line, it's hard to be unnoticed. In Alplaus, which is a town of only 350 +/- people, there's an individual who is larger in life to many people outside of town.
I recently read an article titled "School Honors Beloved Coach". It was a tribute to Joe Bena who was retiring from wrestling coach after 34 years at Niskayuna High School. It inspired me to write from a different perspective about Joe. There were only a few of us who had the luxury of knowing him as I did - not only was Coach Bena my wrestling coach, but he was also my home town hero. This gave me a different view of the man. The deep winter snows he would pick me up at my house for Saturday morning practice. Although the music he played in the car wasn't up to speed, I was able to look cool walking into practice with the coach.
Did being a neighbor give me an advantage in making the team? No. I remember one occasion when I had the flu during practice and he still made me wrestle off another team member for a match coming up later that week. He was one of the most fair, honest and hard working coaches I've ever seen. Those of us who knew him well understand that picture in the newspaper of him yelling at his wrestlers. I have never known someone who could yell at someone with good intent, but coach knew how to do that. If you look at his eyes in any of his pictures over the years, you know where his heart is. He also had such respect for his wrestlers. How many coaches can get a group of tired, sweaty, nasty smelling boys after practice to put the chairs and tables back in their original places in the cafeteria where we practiced - without complaining?
It took me until my senior year to truly understand him. Here's an example - it was the middle of practice and we were wrestling round robin matches. I was standing next to him, looking at everyone wrestling. He was standing there coaching, observing everyone - with a water bottle hidden under his folded arms. All he did - in the most innocent way, was squirt me with the water bottle and smile. I knew then that our respect was mutual. I just smiled and got back out on the mat.
As I went off to college and moved south, I would always try to make a point to stop by his house and catch up with how he was doing. 95 percent of the time, he'd be outside doing yard work, painting his garage, taking tires off rims or fixing his Triumph TR3. He would always promise to take me for a ride when it was running, but I never seemed to time it right. Although, on occasion, he would proudly display it during the Alplaus 4th of July parade.
He would talk very little about wrestling. He caught me up on how each of his four kids was doing and how fortunate he is to be healthy in body, mind and spirit. You don't get many opportunities to wrestle for one of best coaches in the state and maybe the country. You don't get many opportunities to have a school shop teacher with such integrity. But rarest of all, I think, is to have a neighbor as a hero.
The Soaring Season Has Begun Again at Saratoga Airport.
By Jim Norton
Last Thursday [April 24, 2003] turned into a bright, cool and sunny day after a cold overcast morning. A cold front had just come through. Chuck O'Neill, who is the local FAA flight examiner, Ken Helms, the president of the Saratoga Soaring Association and I met at the Saratoga airport office at 10 am. We began the biennial task of getting our flight instructor's certificates renewed. Two hours were spent in the office, learning all the changes in the FAA rules that affect us since 9-11. We talked about the ways of being sure that the students learn every aspect of flying gliders, while being taught by various instructors.
We have the PTS or Practical Test Standards for private glider pilots, another for commercial glider pilots and yet a third for Flight Instructors. We discussed many things in the AIM or Airman's Information Manual. Finally we had to have every detail of the paperwork filled out correctly on the 871 0-1 form or Airman Certificate and/or Rating Application. Both of us had the required 3 flights within the last 90 days.
By noon the sun was out, we untied the glider. After inspecting the glider, we proceeded to pull it out to the end of the runway for launch. The glider had all the required paperwork, airworthiness, registration, and flight limitations certificates. We also had the up-to-date log book. Meanwhile Ted and Mike came out to help us.
This day Ted flew the tow plane and Mike helped us on the ground. Ken was first up with Chuck. We launched them and watched as they aerotowed up to 3000 ft behind the Pawnee airplane. They were able to remain aloft by circling in the rising columns of unstable warm air. Ken demonstrated all the required maneuvers and landed after 45 minutes. We helped push the glider back to the takeoff position.
It was now my turn with Chuck. We adjusted the weights and strapped ourselves in. The tow rope was connected, released by pulling on the release handle and then connected again. We pulled slowly out to the center of the runway, and gave the signal to GO, by wiggling the rudder back and forth. The first part of the tow was slightly bumpy, a good sign. I moved the controls to keep the tow plane on the horizon and my wings parallel with the tow plane wings.
When we reached 1500 ft., Chuck asked me to box-the-wake. This means to fly a vertical square around the wake streaming behind the tow plane, without flying in the turbulent slipstream behind the tow plane. This a good test to show how well the pilot can control the glider. When we finished, we were at 3000 ft. altitude and pulled the release from the tow plane's rope. The sky had cleared by this time. We no longer had cumulus clouds to mark our thermals. We had to search carefully to find areas of lift. We dropped as low as 1200 ft., before we found some lift we could circle in. We struggled for 45 minutes before connecting with a good strong thermal in which I was able to reach 5300 ft.
After doing the required maneuvers, I asked Chuck if he wanted to fly for a while. It was beautifully clear. I could see the ice was gone on Saratoga Lake and Lake George. We admired the Adirondacks, Green Mountains in Vermont, and the Catskills to the south. After we had been up for over an hour, we radioed to the others on ground, to put the tow plane away.
Finally, Chuck asked me to land the glider, and stop before
the glide slope marker lights next to the runway. With the wind in my favor
I was able to bring the glider up to within a few feet of the line marked
by these lights. It was a wonderful day. Spring is here!!