Alplaus Home Town News May 2004
Editor/Publisher: Art Harris Reporter: Betty Vedder
Special Tribute
to
Our Alplaus Moms
As people grow older
And time slips away,
We seldom express
All our hearts want to say.
So for Moms, we are hoping
That somehow you know
The love and affection
Which don't always show.
We're wishing you, now,
In every which way
A most joyous year
With the best Mother's day!
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, MAY 9th
Ahhh Spring! Everything so fresh and so green it hurts your eyes. It was a long winter and we certainly deserve the good weather now coming our way. I even enjoyed the first lawn mowing this past week. (But not as much as golfing and fishing I did in April.)
Good news for the Alplaus Kill the entire village will be on community sewers soon. Barb Casey and the volunteers have done a good work in getting the sewer petition past the 50% point. Her article on page 4 explains the next steps in the process toward construction.
As we enjoy the spring flowers and the pleasant weather, let us pause to remember the brave service men and women who have fallen in defense of the USA down through the years.
AWH
The Red Cross Blood Drive last Friday, April 30th, was a great success. Thanks to all who donated blood and to the members of the fire company who moved equipment and otherwise made it possible for us to hold the drive.
Thanks also to all of you who supported our flower bulb sale. You will be seeing many of the beautiful flowers sprouting up all over Alplaus this summer. Our beatification committee is also busy with plans for planting bulbs and annuals around town.
Coming up, we have the Annual Alplaus Village Wide Flea Market and Garage Sale on Saturday, June 5th, from 9 am-4 pm. Tables at the firehouse are $15 or you can bring your own table for $10. Please call Robin at 399-4911 if you want a space or table at the firehouse. If you are interested in having a garage sale at your house and would like to be put on the map, please sign up at the post office with Kathy. The fee is $5. The cook shack will be open for both breakfast and lunch and we will be offering our usual delicious fare.
Our next meeting is Monday, May 24th, 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 the Auxiliary
or would just like to know more about us please call Vicki at 399-0184.
We are always interested in welcoming new members.
by Barb Casey
Uncle Sam needs you! Alright, it's not Uncle Sam, but your Alplaus neighbors who need you to help with Fourth of July festivities. It requires a small army of people to set up, work at, and break down the various activities for the week. There is a sign-up sheet in the post office (or you can contact me or Mike Sheppeck if you'd like to help out in some way), but please join us. It's not much work, it's a lot of fun to get to know your neighbors better, and it can't happen without you. If you really can't help, but want to show your support, please feel free to make a monetary contribution to the effort. All donations are welcome and can be sent to ARA, PO Box 185, Alplaus, NY 12008. If you'd like it to be a contribution in honor or in memory of someone, please let us know and we'll include that information in the list of activities we publish.
The major event dates are:
Sunday, 6/27 Church Ecumenical Service at the firehouse pavilion
Saturday, 7/3 Alplaus Block Party at the firehouse pavilion
Sunday, 7/4 30th Anniversary Alplaus Fourth of July Parade
Please join us for all of the activities, and if you'd
like to be IN the parade, let me or Mike Sheppeck know that as well.
by Barb Casey, ARA President 399-5714
I'm pleased to announce that the petition to extend sewer district #1 has the necessary signatures, and will next go to Town Board for certification. My understanding is that after the town attorney has reviewed the petitions, the board will schedule a public hearing and then offer a 30-day public comment period. The state comptroller's office will then review the project.
Possible timeframes for beginning range from this fall to next spring-at this point I don't even have a guess. I'll post a notice at the post office (and use my e-mail list*) to let everyone know when the hearing has been scheduled.
We are currently at 83 (out of a total of 134) signatures, or 62% of the parcels. We have 62% of assessed value. If you recall, we needed 51% in each category. The owners of 15 parcels gave an outright no, 11 support the petition but were unable to sign (out of town, etc.), and 25 gave no specific decision. We worked very hard to contact everyone so that all those affected knew about what was happening.
A resident of Rivercrest Drive told me recently that he found Alplaus to be "a community of thoughtful and public-spirited people," and I couldn't agree more. Thanks to petition volunteers Alyson Hendrickson, Tom Kiernan, Jon Rich, Deb and Charlie Story, Gray Watkins, Gary Withey, and Bob Winchester, who put in some long hours to circulate petitions and inform their neighbors about the process.
Thanks as well to the sewer committee who worked many hours over the past year to bring us to this point--Gray Watkins, Gary Withey, Rick Fleming, and Art Harris. Your advice, counsel, and good questions were extremely valuable as we worked through the process.
I've told many people that this doesn't conclude my job. I plan to continue to explore the possibility of adding Glencliff School and possibly other homes on Riverview Road in Rexford, which would help to keep costs down for everyone. I'll also work closely with the Town of Glenville as the project moves forward to insure that Alplaus residents stay informed at each step.
In the meantime, thanks for your support. Even those who've said no to the petition have been extremely gracious and positive. I enjoyed getting to know my fellow residents better, whether or not they chose to support the petition, and the entire process confirmed for me that Alplaus is a great place to live.
*I'll continue to send e-mail updates over the summer when the Hometown News isn't published. So if you'd like to be added to the list, send me an e-mail at bcasey@skidmore.edu and I'll add you.
Kids age 5-18 are encouraged to join our Alplaus t-shirt art contest. The winning design will be printed on t-shirts sold during Fourth of July festivities and the winner and a friend will get to carry the ARA banner and LEAD the parade!
Deadline for entries is May 25, so get to work on a design!
Here are a few guidelines:
1) Use the blank entry forms available at the post office.
2) Keep it simple. Complicated designs are hard to reproduce.
3) Winning entry must have the word Alplaus in the design.
4) Use red, white, and blue as your colors.
5) Use colored pencils or markers for your design.
6) Work must be your own-no reproductions of other artwork or outside help.
7) Return finished designs to the Alplaus Post Office or mail to ARA, PO Box 185, Alplaus, NY 12008 on or before the deadline. We won't be able to consider entries received after May 25th.
Questions? Call Barb Casey at 399-5714 or Tom Donlon at 399-9399.
by Bob Culver
It pays to advertise in the Hometown News! Last month we let it be known that the Society could use a file cabinet to store our accumulated artifacts etc. We have now received the donation of a very nice four drawer file arranged by Cliff Hayes from the GE Research and Development Center.
It fits our needs very nicely and a huge thanks to Cliff and GE!
Pat Beaver has given some clippings and a piece of the ribbon used on the Bridge opening in 1966. Also there were some pictures of the 1975 July 4th festivities.
We have also received a very nice aerial photo of Alplaus compliments Mark Kestner of Kestner Engineers. It is the same as the one used for the sewer system, without the sewer lines, but including individual lot outlines. It will be helpful in developing individual neighborhood historical data. A big thanks to Mark for that.
The next meeting of the Society will be on Thursday, May
6 at 7:00 PM at the firehouse. At that time we will try to do an update
on some of the projects in process.
Step by Step, Youth for Christ's annual fund -raiser for youth programs in the capital district, will be held at Colonie Town Park, May 15th from 9:00 am - noon.
New this year! 5KTrail Run.
For info, pick up a brochure at the Alplaus Post Office,
or call Cherie Vedder @ 399-7093.
Glenville District #2 will be accepting bids for the cutting of the grass at the Alplaus Fire Station. All bids need to be in writing and submitted by May 10, 2004. All bidders must have their own insurance.
For further information, contact Arthur Harris at 399-8320 or Michael Sheppeck at sheppeck@earthlink.net
Just how high can the price of a gallon of gas become? Will it get over $2.00? You do realize that this is a problem which occurs on and off over the years.
As I browsed through some old editions of our HTNs, I came across one from July 1979. The editor was Tom Kiernan; reporters were Linda Kiernan, Pat Coppola, Kathy Shearer, and Gary Vedder. The typists were Kathy Shearer and Pat Coppola.
Now, that was 25 years ago with a poem which read:
Gas Pains
The gasoline shortage has been with us twice,
And on each occasion they've increased the price.
The country in general may be in a slump,
But the profits are up at the gasoline pump!
The advice we receive is "conserve...please conserve!"
But I think they've got a hell of a nerve,
When instead of a small car, a bike or a bus,
They ride limousines and leave the paying to us.
{That's telling them, Tom}
That had to be by our faithful poet and friend, Tom Kiernan.
It would be interesting to know just what the price of gas was at that time,
but it wasn't mentioned with the gas pains. Betty Vedder
1. If you're too open minded, your brains will fall out.
2. Age is very high price to pay for maturity.
3. Artificial intelligence is no match for natural stupidity.
4. My idea of housework is to sweep the room with a glance.
5. A balanced diet is a cookie in each hand.
Alplaus Fire Station
On Thursday, May 13th Harry will be holding his clinic from 3:00 until 5:00 p.m. As always he will be stationed at the Firehouse waiting for you.
Mark your calendar to stop in to take care of yourself
and make Harry's day.
The Community Luncheon will be held at the Alplaus Church on Tuesday, May 11th. It is held in Fellowship Hall from 11:30 am until 2:00 pm. This is open to the public, an event to look forward to with good food and fellowship for all.
There is bingo for those who enjoy playing it. Bring a
dish to share if you can and come join us.
This is an annual event held at the Center on Worden Road. Last year we
had the Alplaus Lady's Auxiliary hand made quilt put together many years
ago. It was placed front and center attracting much attention as the best
piece there.
We know for a fact that there are some very talented and skilled art and craft workers in our hamlet. We would like to let it be known that anyone and everyone is welcome to enter things for exhibition or for sale.
This year the show is scheduled for the last weekend in
October. For information you can call Betty at 399-0427 or the Center at
374-0734.
by Cliff Hayes
I had the pleasant opportunity to talk to Jim Cheney in Schenectady the day after Easter when he was visiting the area for the holidays. Jim grew up in Alplaus during the 30's & 40's and his parents operated a gas station, ice cream, candy store & "meditation room" where the Rick & Cherrie Vedder now reside.
Jim had a remarkable career with GE as being on a team that invented the man-made diamond for commercial & industrial use. Part of the team was Tony Nerad & Dr. Francis Bundy, both former residents of Alplaus. He told of the story that during the investigation and being close to expiring all research time and monies, one of the scientists directed Jim to a previous used container of compound stored in the laboratory to be applied in a different method & "wa-la"; the result was history. Jim followed the new GE product line to the Ohio plant that enhanced his career with GE.
Of the Alplaus stories he told, the famous one of author Kurt Vonnegut using a private room above Cheney's store to do some of his book writings, simply to get away from family distractions at Kurt's home on Hill St.
Another story was of his & my father practically rewiring the complete house that stands on 1 Mohawk Avenue when the Cheney's moved from 226 Alplaus Avenue. Furthermore, when the Cheney's moved into the house with the store; rewiring was a necessity. Both our fathers worked for NY Power & Light (Niagara Mohawk).
Jim has an older brother, Sam who lives in Rockport, MA
& has 6 children and a younger sister, Mary Lou, who lives in Rockford,
IL & also has 6 children. Jim has 3 children and resides in Worthington,
OH.
In the fall of 1951 General Electric assembled a team of scientists charged with the task of transforming carbon into diamond. Left to right are Drs. Francis P. Bundy, Herbert M. Strong, H. Tracy Hall and Robert Wentorf. Anthony Nerad was the project manager and J.E. Cheney was an assistant to Drs. Strong and Bundy. Also assisting the physicists was Hal Bovenkerk (not shown)
The June meeting of the Fire Company is the Annual Inspection and Old Timer's Night. The apparatus and equipment will be inspected by a guest inspector, followed by dinner served by the Ladies Auxiliary.
All "Old Timers" (and current members) will be most welcome at 6:45 pm on June 7, 2004.
Date Time Type Location # Fire Fighters, FireFighter Hours
30 APR 20:48 Other Emergency Butterfield Drive 8, 0.9
27 APR 10:57 Medical Glenridge Road 5, 2.0
24 APR 19:41 Grass/Brush Fire Maple Avenue 14, 0.9
24 APR 07:39 Medical Bath Street 9, 4.4
22 APR 11:38 Medical Acorn Drive 7, 2.5
15 APR 13:48 Other Fire Glenridge Road 4, 0.6
10 APR 07:23 Other Fire Glenridge Road 11, 3.3
08 APR 08:09 Medical Woodcrest Drive 6, 3.3
04 APR 07:13 Medical Glenridge Road 6, 2.4
02 APR 20:55 Car Fire Maple Avenue 11, 3.1
02 APR 08:46 Other Emergency Maplewood Dr 5, 4.5