Alplaus Home Town News February 2004
Editor/Publisher: Art Harris Reporter: Betty Vedder
Remember President's Day, Monday, February 16, 2004
Ah, Winter! Sparkling days, cold nights and long stretches of nasty weather. Enjoy the best of it and endure the rest of it.
The cold and snow haven't kept people from getting on with village affairs, as the articles in this month's Home Town News show. The Bruce Drive load limits are having the desired effect and the issue of sewers is still being worked on, albeit slowly.
The developing Alplaus Historical Society (see below) is something we all can contribute to with our recollections and snapshots of events, people and scenes. As Bob Culver said last Saturday: "History began yesterday". Join us on March 13th for interesting stories about an earlier Alplaus.
AWH
By Alice Culver
The Town of Glenville has posted "4 Ton Weight Limit" signs at each end of Bruce Drive and a "4 Ton Weight Limit Ahead" sign at the corner of Alplaus Avenue and Maple Avenue. The New York State Department of Transportation (DOT) has posted a "4 Ton Weight Limit Ahead" warning sign on Glenridge Road just west of Bradt Road.
Phone calls have been made to several businesses when any of their large trucks or tractor trailers have been seen traveling on the streets that are posted for the 4 ton limit. They are permitted only if they are providing service to someone in Alplaus. The phone call is only to make their company aware of the posted weight limit. (These phone calls have been well received.)
Last week, I saw two tractor trailers, loaded with steel, going east on Alplaus Avenue. Moments later the drivers had turned around at the firehouse and were headed west back down the avenue. I guess the drivers saw the signs and responded to them.
The Glenville Police are checking Bruce Drive as much as time allows them to do so. They will issue tickets for overweight vehicles as well as for speed limit violations.
By Bob Culver
Twenty or more hardy souls braved the cold to attend the second meeting of this group on Saturday the 31st at the Alplaus Post Office.
We were honored to have two representatives of the Rexford Historical Society in attendance, Doris Cole and Jack Ericson. We were interested in their insight as to the function and possibilities of such a society and their experiences in Rexford.
The featured guest at this get together was Jack Donlon, now of Saratoga, but who was born in Alplaus, on Hill Street and who raised his family in the community. He had belonged to the Fire Department when the Drum Corps was active and had served as Scoutmaster.
Jack took us on a spellbinding tour of the village in the early 1930's, naming business names and their proprietors and many anecdotes of the residents of the village. It was a fascinating program that we were able to capture on tape to be transcribed at a later time. We sincerely thank Jack for his effort.
Cliff Hayes shared with us some information on Kurt Vonnegut and the well known author's time in the village. Chris Williams showed us some of the research he has done on the origins of his property at 245 Alplaus Avenue.
Refreshments were assembled by Kathy Boyle and Alice Culver.
The next meeting will be on Saturday, March 13th at 2 pm.
By Bob Culver
The Annual Banquet will be held on Saturday, February 7th at the Woodlin Club. This is our night to present the awards for the year 2003. The two Firefighters of the Year will be named at this time.
There was a fair amount of activity in January, however the details are not available since our Statistical Secretary is taking a short break in warmer climes! (Lucky guy!)
Probably the most spectacular event was the mutual aid
call to 24 Nott Road in Rexford for a major house fire. Less noticeable
but more painful perhaps, due to the cold, was the assisting of the New
York State Police divers in an attempt to recover a weapon which had been
thrown from the Northway Bridge in West Crescent. Unfortunately the ice
got the better of that job! Other activity was the normal run of minor accidents
and house medical calls.
2003 was a very busy and productive year for the Auxiliary. As we do every year, we organized the Village Flea Market & Garage Sale in June, entered a float in the 4th of July parade and contributed to the marching band, assisted in the Halloween Party, cooked and served a delicious and abundant feast for the Old Timers Night Dinner and provided cakes, cookies and pies for the Election Day Bake Sale.
Also, as a contribution to the beautification of our community, we planted flowers and bulbs around the Fire House and Ted Schwarz's Park, contributed the flags that decorate Alplaus Avenue from Memorial Day thru Veterans Day (many thanks again to Gary Withey and his crew for putting up and taking down these flags), purchased a picnic table for the Fire House pavilion and contributed to the completion of the Greg Isles, Jr. Memorial Sign.
Thanksgiving fruit baskets and Welcome baskets were again made and delivered to our elderly shut-ins and new neighbors, respectively. And we 'Adopted a Family' for the holiday season through Schenectady County Social Services.
We added three new activities in 2003 which were so successful that we plan to carry them forward in 2004: an American Red Cross Blood Drive, a bottle drive and a summer flower bulb sale. Our very popular Alplaus sweatshirts are still available at the Post Office.
As you can see from the above long list, the Ladies Auxiliary has been very busy. Many, many thanks to ROBIN DRISKEL for being our President for the past five years. Robin's energy and initiative have helped the Auxiliary grow in both the services it provides to the Fire Company and community and its membership.
Our annual post-holiday dinner was held at the new Cornell's on North Jay Street and we had a wonderful time and a delicious meal. It's wonderful to see new 'happenings' in downtown Schenectady.
Our next business meeting will be Monday, February 23rd, at 7:00 PM in the Alplaus Post Office. We will begin planning our spring and summer activities such as a Red Cross Blood Drive, a summer flower bulb sale, the annual Flea Market & Garage Sale and our Fourth of July float.
Orders for Auxiliary fleeces are still in progress. If you are interested in ordering a fleece with the Auxiliary name and logo, please call Vicki at 399-0184.
The Auxiliary is open to all women who live within
the fire district. We are always interested in welcoming new members. Please
feel free to attend any of our meetings. Call Vicki Watkins at 399-0184
if you have any questions
(from The Old Farmer's Almanac)
Region 6: Upstate New York
Annual Weather Summary
November 2003 - October 2004
Expect a cold, snowy winter, with temperatures two to three degrees below normal, on average, and well-above-normal precipitation and snowfall. Temperatures will be especially cold from the second half of November through mid-December, from late December to early January, and in most of mid-February. Expect frequent snowfalls, with above-normal accumulations every month except February, which will have below-normal snow.
Rain and mild temperatures in early April may bring flooding, but overall April and May will be warm with below-normal rainfall.
The summer will be the opposite extreme of the winter, with temperatures averaging two to three degrees hotter than normal and well-below-normal rainfall. The hottest temperatures will occur in early June, in mid- to late July, and through most of August.
September will start hot and end cool. Overall, the month will be mild and wet. October will also be wet, with near-normal temperatures.
February Moon Phases
The Old Farmers Almanac for Feb. 2004
By Barb Casey, ARA President
399-5714/ bcasey@skidmore.edu
Paying Your Dues
How much does $1 buy you?
Not much these days, you're thinking. You can't even buy a cup of coffee for $1 these days, but $1 in ARA dues helps to sponsor our Fourth of July parade, camp scholarships for kids at Skye Farm, the Alplaus Run-Around, and the holiday party in December. What a bargain!
The trick is that you need to pay your dues each year to the Alplaus Residents Association to support these wonderful community activities. I was surprised to find out recently that very few of us did that last year; about a dozen of us in all. At the annual meeting on Thursday, March 18th, please be sure to bring along your dues to keep these activities going. We can't do it without your support.
You can "pay your dues" in other ways, too. Become a member of the Alplaus Residents Association board or volunteer to help at one of our events. Many of your neighbors are working through the ARA, the Ladies' Auxiliary, the Fire Department, the Hometown News, and the newly-formed Alplaus Historical Society to make Alplaus a wonderful place to live, so make sure you're pitching in as well. If you want to know more about the responsibilities of the ARA Board or how to help out in other ways, give me a call.
Speaking of those neighbors who do so much for Alplaus, one of them is deserving of the Citizen of the Year award, presented each year at our annual meeting. If you know someone you think should receive this year's award for contributions he or she has made to Alplaus, let me know.
The ARA Board will hold a meeting on Thursday, February 5th at 7:00 p.m. at the firehouse. All district residents are welcome to join us.
Sewer Update
Members of the ARA sewer committee met with town officials the second week in January to discuss our progress. Gary Withey, Gray Watkins, Art Harris, and I met with Commissioner of Public Works Andy Coppola and Town Engineer Dana Gilgore.
If you recall, in the fall I felt there were several issues that needed to be considered before we could move ahead with petitioning. I'll list them below, along with where we are now:
Resolving of the charges Schenectady would levy for use of their sewage treatment plant. Andy Coppola sent a counter-proposal to the City, and had a meeting with them in mid-January. I haven't yet heard the results of that meeting, but Andy said that he was planning to stand firm on not increasing the rates. In fact, the only concession he planned to make was to allow for a one-time initial connection charge of $200, which all of Alplaus would have to pay because none of us are connected to the Maple Avenue line.
Determining an engineering firm that would work on the project. In comparing the numbers presented by Kestner Engineers and Delaware Engineering, the town found very little difference between them. They asked Kestner to take another look and reduce the operation and maintenance costs, which Kestner has done in the latest figures we saw. They also assure us that Kestner has a reputation for meeting or coming in under bid for the Town of Glenville in all except one case. Since this is ultimately a town decision and we felt we got good answers to the questions we posed, the town will be proceeding with Kestner.
Reducing costs in other ways. Dana Gilgore has been rigorously pursuing grant funding and will continue to do so even after we petition. We have reasonably good hope that low-cost funding will be available, given Alplaus' circumstances, and more details about that will be available in the next fact sheet, which I'm working on now. We also have continued to pursue including Glencliff School and possibly other portions of Rexford, and my conversations with the school district seem very positive.
One thing I'm still looking into is the possibility of helping someone on a fixed-income or who has a low income and might not be able to afford sewers. I would appreciate help if anyone knows of any revenue sources or has other information on possible sources of funding to help our residents who might have difficulty, even after we've lowered costs as much as possible.
I'll be in touch soon with a new fact sheet and other information.
In the meantime, look for e-mails (e-mail me at bcasey@skidmore.edu if you'd
like to be included on my e-mail list and aren't already) and feel free
to call or e-mail me with any questions
Melissa Ann Nickel Harrison and Andrew Harrison of 355 Brown Street in Attleboro, Massachusetts brought into the world on Friday, January 23, 2004 at 7:43 a.m. a 7 pound 8 ounce little baby girl named Emma Jean Harrison.
Her grandparents are Joan and Skip Nickel of Alplaus and Wayne and Charlene Harrison of Planville, Massachusetts.
Joan and Skip were there for the blessed event.
Many of you know Ellen Story, that gal down on Hill Street. She's the daughter of Jeanne and Roger Story, born and brought up here in Alplaus.
Every once in a while Ellen gets the wanderlust fever; she sincerely likes to travel. Consequently in early January she packed up her roaming garb and took off for Australia.
When she arrived there, we understand she rented a motorcycle and a camper to tour around the country and view the lay of the land. She has called home from Sydney and also from Brisbane and from the latest information she was headed for New Zealand.
Her plans are to return home the end of February. We would
like an article about her journey for a future HTN. We'll have to work on
that. It really sounds like an interesting and fascinating experience.
In January the Vedders were blessed with a new baby in the family. Kristy and James Faye had a three pound and 1 ounce tiny son. Mother and baby had a difficult time but with modern medicine and excellent professional care at Albany Medical Center they made it through.
They named him Aiden James. He is doing well now and is
almost up to four pounds, but still in the hospital. There are many loving
and anxious arms waiting at home to hold him. He is a first grandchild to
some and a first great grandchild to others. Congratulations to the whole
crew and especially the parents with their first child.
The monthly Community covered dish luncheon is scheduled for Tuesday, February 10th from 11:30 a.m. until 2 p.m. These winter events are held only weather permitting.
As always it will be held in Fellowship Hall in the Alplaus Methodist Church with good food fun and fellowship. Everyone is invited to attend; bring food to share if you can.
We could even celebrate an early Valentines Day party.
Plan to join us if you can.
Alplaus Fire Station
We received the word that Harry Casey's back problem is better. We were very pleased to hear this; you can't keep a good man like Harry down. He is planning to resume taking blood pressures on Thursday the 12th of February from 3 until 5 p.m.
Stop in to see him and take care of yourself.