Election Day is Tuesday, November 4. If you're not registered to vote, there's no time like the present. To be eligible to vote in the General Election, applications must be postmarked no later than October 10 and received by a board of elections no later than October 15.  The last day to postmark an application or letter of application by mail for an absentee ballot is October 28. Registration forms, instructions, and Hillsdale statistics here.

A handsome plaque has appeared on the corner of Collins Street and Collins Street Extension to mark the site of the original Collin farm buildings and barnyard. The complex was the center of what was one of Hillsdale's largest farms and belonged to a family that produced revolutionary war patriots, a United States Congressman (John Francis Collin), and seven generations of Hillsdalers. Though the Collin family had many homes and farms sprinkled throughout Hillsdale in the 19th century, they resided here the longest - from 1790 to 1980. This complex included a large multi-story barn, carriage barn, silo, horse stables, milking barns and a pig sty. Though it's a picturesque corner today, former resident and Collin-family descendant George Slocum recorded that the buildings that stood here were "utilitarian rather than beautiful." Here's a closer look at the marker and a rendering of how the farm buildings were arranged.

On August 14, Hillsdale Supervisor Art Baer joined Joyce LaPenn, Roeliff Jansen Community Library board member, at the Hillsdale Summer Youth Program to read to the children from books purchased through the Libri Foundation. In conjunction with a $350 donation from the Friends of the Roeliff Jansen Community Library, the Libri Foundation donated 62 award-winning or highly acclaimed children's books. More here.

In case you haven't read enough in this newsletter about the Collin family, one more detail. Or two.

As you may know, Hillsdale is the only Columbia County town with a memorial to the Civil War. Several Hillsdale-related Civil War artifacts, loaned by the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society, were briefly on display at Town Hall last week. They included a Civil War uniform and jacket worn by Solomon Bingham Collin, cousin to the Congressman. Solomon's house still stands on Hunt Road, before the road climbs up to the old Collin Cemetery. His portrait, painted his wife, Lucy Collin, was also on display. Lucy Collin was no amateur painter. She studied in Germany and painted in a style known as luminism, an offshoot of the Hudson River School. The uniform will soon be touring Roe Jan community town halls in a new glass case, now under construction. An exhibition of Lucy Collin's paintings - and maybe a talk on local luminism - is also in the works for later this year.

After a summer hiatus, the Friends Book Shop at the Roe Jan Library is now open Saturdays through October 24. Hours are 10 am to 2 pm at the shop, which is located in the lower level of the library. Thousands of books and media donated by local supporters are available for $2 or less, with some special items priced higher. There is a wide range of adult fiction and non-fiction as well as material for young adults and children. All proceeds support the library.