Sunday April 28, 2024 
Family Movie Night
The Greenbush Reformed Church would like to welcome the public to a showing of a family friendly PG movie in our Chilton Hall on Thursday, July 18th. Our hall is located at 14 Hayes Road, East Greenbush. Since it is our inaugural event, we will be providing a picnic style dinner with doors opening at 6pm, followed by the movie showing at 6:30pm. All children must have a supervising adult. We hope to see you there!
‘Just For Kids’ 2019 Free Summer Movie Series
July/August at Cohoes Music Hall, Wednesdays at 1pm on the Big Screen. July 24: Pokémon Heroes, August 7: Night at the Museum, August 14: Ice Age: Collision Course, and August 21: The Jungle Book. Admission is Free to all children, parents and chaperones. Parking is Free across from the Music Hall. Doors open at noon with activities Just For Kids with chance to win some cool prizes. Children 12 and under receive a free small popcorn and small bottled water. Tickets may be picked up in advance at the box office 10am-1pm weekdays, day of show or reserved online. Please call 518-953-0630 for more info and group reservations. Cohoes Music Hall at 58 Remsen Street, Cohoes, NY 12047. Check out more movie info at www.thecohoesmusichall.org.
France Magnifique
La Fédération Franco-Américaine du NY is sponsoring a trip to France, featuring the 75th Anniversary of D-Day & Normandy, April 23 – May 7, 2020. Rates include round trip air from New York, air taxes and fees/surcharges, hotel transfers, and 20 meals. Highlights of the trip: Paris, River Seine cruise, Normandy, Omaha Beach, Le Mont St. Michel, Loire Valley, 2-night Chateau stay, winery tour, Lyon, Les Halles de Lyon, Paul Boscuse Market, Avignon, Creme Brûlée Cooking demonstration, Nice, Monaco. Plenty of time to explore on your own. For more information, pricing or a brochure, call Lisa at Plaza Travel at 518-785-3338 or lisa@nullplazatravel.net.
Sand Lake Historical Society Dedication
On July 7, the Sand Lake Historical Society dedicated a historical marker at Methodist Farm on Crooked Lake. The marker commemorates the 1917 purchase of a farm by the “Methodist Sunday School Association of Troy and Vicinity, Inc.” for use as a campground. A lovely picnic put on by the “campers” followed the dedication. Pictured with the new marker are SLHS President Jacqueline Tremont and members Andrew Mace, Pete Finn, Ann Winnicki, Jane Minotti and Michelle Mosher Schultz.
The Historical Society would like to thank Charles Walker, “unofficial” historian, and Farm Manager Gary Wieland at Methodist Farm for their assistance.
Rensselaer County Recovery Helpline
1-833-467-3123
Do you need help with substance use issues? Are you interested in volunteering for the helpline? The Rensselaer County Recovery Helpline offers information, local resources, and referrals for individuals and their families regarding substance use issues. The toll-free line is available 7 days a week from 9am-9pm. Each volunteer chooses shifts of 4 hours at a time to be on-call. When someone calls the number, a volunteer answers on their own smartphone, and can enter information to a database on their own computer, allowing for easy and quick access to resources. The information is sent to one of the 9 leaders, who will then assist the caller. If you or someone you know needs information, resources, or a referral for a substance use problem, call 1-833-467-3123. For more information, or if you are interested in volunteering, contact Renscohelpline@nullgmail.com
Forget The ‘Dream’ Board; You Need The ‘Do’ Board
By Gary Collins, MS
How many of you have laid out your dreams and desires on a vision board?
A vision board, or dream board, is a collage of images, pictures and affirmations of one’s dreams and desires. The idea is for the board to be a source of inspiration and motivation.
Self-help gurus espouse the virtues of the vision board to individuals who are searching for what they truly want. But to just say what you want in life isn’t enough, the gurus say. You need to dream bigger, and you need to have a vision board to achieve clarity.
Enough already.
Vision boards and the concept behind them often backfire. Too often, visualizing is focused on the point Z of the process – the end goal – rather than on the alphabet of ACTION steps required to get there.
Science is on my side with this. Studies have shown that you are less likely to achieve a goal when you simply focus on the goal itself. More effective is channeling your energy into the actions that are needed to achieve the goal.
Vision or dream boards are based in part on the law of attraction to attain goals. You know: visualize it and think about it often enough, and your dreams and goals will end up happening, sure as the sun rises in the east. For companies, it’s a way for them to motivate their employees to pursue and achieve personal dreams and growth — and tying that in with professional growth and achievement. Ideally, all that translates into happier and more productive people making the workplace more successful. Encouraging employees to dream big with the possibility of the company rewarding them with those desires leads them to wanting to perform better in their jobs.
But the success rate of the vision board in the corporate setting or visualizing on the playing field is debatable at best. Some struggling, high-level athletes hitched their wagon to the imprecise science of visualization; numerous sports performance coaches focus on that approach, having their athlete clients picture getting out of that slump and gaining confidence, when instead it’s more about correcting flaws in technique and getting more reps in the batter’s box or more jump shots in the gym, not brain-washing yourself back to success.
Don’t dream; find your purpose and live
Gurus talk about seeing the big picture and styling your dream board accordingly, but here’s the real deal: Don’t dream your life. Take action and live your life.
Part of pinpointing your true desires is finding your purpose. And that’s done with action – by doing things and experiencing life. For some, it’s being the best mother or father they can be. For others, like Elon Musk, it’s being one of the most innovative people in our lifetime. When it comes to purpose, there’s no right or wrong answer. But I’ve learned that for people to be truly happy and fulfilled, their purpose is the one thing that must be found.
And instead of a dream board, they need a “do board.”
People who created their own vision boards seem to be in this perpetual state of waiting for sweet karma to kiss them on the cheek and send them toward their dream — the law of attraction. But the time you’ve spent agonizing over a vision board is time you could have spent actually DOING something. Vision boards become empty sun rays in our heads that we chase as hopelessly and aimlessly as Don Quixote pursued windmills. We don’t dig down into the details and get our hands dirty.
You’ll make mistakes. You’ll go through trial and error. It’s all good in the big picture as long as you keep moving forward.
Dreams are a work in process — so get to work.
Capital Area Flute Club
The Capital Area Flute Club is a 501(c)(3) organization that is a group of amateur and professional flutists. The Capital Area Flute Club provides community service by performing throughout the capital district. The club performed the national anthem on July 11, 2019 for the Tri City Valley Cats game at Bruno Stadium. For information about joining or supporting the group, please email visit our facebook page or email capitalareafluteclub@nullgmail.com.
Single Speed
Old man got him a new bike…
Old fashioned…Cruiser type;
Single Speed..!!
Started riding it around the neighborhood
In the early morning hours
Hoping to peel off a few pounds.
Still, neighbors saw him;
They smiled…pointed…laughed;
Some made snide comments.
Such bothered him, not……
He knew what he was….
What he was doing.
When he heard….
“Here comes old Single Speed”;
It didn’t bother him.
He knew he had been operating
At a single speed for years.
His life was single speed only….
SLOW !!!!!
~Llyod Barnhart
West Sand Lake, NY
Memoirs of an Amnesiac: Tabasco Squeegee
Our son, Paul, turned 24 recently. When we first brought him home from the hospital, he was so tiny, we bathed him in the sink. We even had to line the sink with a towel to keep Paul from rattling around in there. Eventually he graduated to a plastic bin inside the bathtub. Over the next few years, that was the place where I read stories to Paul, introduced him to music, and had many a father-son discussion.
Captain Salty and sidekick Eskimo Pie have earned a place in the Bath Toy Hall of Fame. Honorable Mention goes to the sock-balls I used when showing Paul how to juggle. The first time he witnessed it, Paul’s eyes were out on stalks; he’d never seen anything like it. Of course, he hadn’t seen much of anything back then. Recently I came across the official juggling music (Khachaturian’s “Sabre Dance”), and when I played it for Paul, he burst out laughing. Many songs bring back bathtub memories: including Beatles music, “Ghost Busters”, “Convoy”, “Big Bad John”, “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida”, and “Sixteen Tons”. I taught Paul the words to that last one when he was two.
The bath was over at towel-off time. I dried Paul’s hair with a short, vigorous burst of towel action; a technique we called “Tabasco Squeegee”.
Paul made the transition from baths to showers during the Summer we attended Harbor Fest in Oswego. All the local hotels were booked up, but we found a motel miles away, in a town where salmon-fishing is popular. A notice on our door asked patrons not to gut and clean fish inside the motel room. That made us wonder if something fishy had gone on in the bathtub recently. Instead of sitting, Paul learned how to stand and take a shower. He’s never looked back.
I’m not at liberty to divulge everything which went on at bath-time. Did we ever read The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe? That’s Narnia business.
Ron McKee
Averill Park
Cub Scout Troop 526 News
Members of Cub Scout Pack 526 and their parents and grandparents visited Stratton Air National Guard Base in Schenectady on Tuesday, June 25, 2019. Despite the persistent rain, a good time was had by all! We started our day with a presentation led by Air National Guard Senior Master Sergeant William Gizara. His photographs, taken over many years, chronicle the mission of the 109th Airlift Wing, which is to support people conducting research projects in Antartica. We learned about the living conditions for the men and women who work there, the weather conditions and the types of supplies and equipment needed in this part of the world. We saw some great pictures of emperor penguins and polar bears. We then got a special tour of one of the C-130 ‘ski’-bird’ airplanes that fly supplies and people to and from Antartica. These planes actually land on the ice itself and are large enough to fit snowmobiles and other important supplies. The Scouts got to sit in the seats that the pilots, flight engineers and navigators use. Finally, we toured the base’s fire station where we met a few of the enlisted and civilian firefighters. They spoke to us about fire safety, they suited up in their protective gear and even demonstrated how an airfield firefighting vehicle water turret works. If we weren’t already wet enough from the rain, we definitely were after this demonstration! Scouts from Pack 526 enjoyed learning about the incredible airmen of the 109th and earned progress towards their Hometown Heroes scouting achievement.
On the topic of the Dunn Landfill,
The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation’s (DEC) regulation of the Dunn landfill in Rensselaer is a textbook case in regulatory neglect.
DEC allowed a large construction and demolition debris (C&D) landfill to be sited next to a Pre-K to 12 public school. This came after a 2012 DEC public hearing at which many Rensselaer city residents questioned the safety and/or opposed the dump, and correctly identified most of the problems now occurring. The dump was opened in 2015.
Both dump owners and DEC are incompetent. In late February and again in early April, weather forecasters predicted high winds. Neither dump operators nor DEC had enough sense to take or order precautions. Large quantities of dust, dirt, and plastic bags blew off the dump onto the school property and into a nearby cemetery. Rensselaer residents and a school teacher took photos and videos of the dust storms.
Apparently neither dump owners nor DEC have a high wind dust protocol to avoid this problem. That it occurred twice is proof. One would think that the Dunn dump owners, who own landfills across the nation and DEC, which has regulated landfills for decades, would know how to keep dump debris from blowing on windy days.
Dust and dirt blowing off C&D dumps contain many toxins. Microscopic particles can be inhaled deep into the lungs.
DEC pretends it is protecting the public by occasionally fining dump owners petty amounts and imposing new operational and regulatory problems. Despite repeated news releases in which the DEC commissioner insists that “DEC will not tolerate violations of New York’s strict environmental laws, which were put in place to protect public health and the environment,” the multi-sensory every weekday assault continues.
On June 27, DEC issued yet another dinky fine and a news release announcing it will assign an on-site monitor to the dump. What took so long? Why not revoke the dump permits for repeated violations and shut down the dump? The frequent DEC citations are proof the dump owners clearly cannot operate the dump correctly.
Tom Ellis