HILLSDALE NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2014

Hillsdale NY
Greetings! 

If you're reading this, you already know that the Hillsdale Newsletter provides the most comprehensive listing of Roe Jan-area events and happenings. From chicken barbecues to festivals to sublime concerts, they're all posted on the Town Website and its Roe Jan Calendar.

 

We'd love to post your upcoming event or news. Email us at [email protected] anytime. It'll get posted to the website calendar promptly. Feedback welcome, too.

 

Now for a little news, gossip, and scandal.

VOTE

 

Here's the ballot Hillsdale voters will be seeing on Tuesday, November 4, at the firehouse. You may want to check it out in advance, especially the three proposals. Our neighbors in Copake have a different candidate for the assembly. If you're not around on Election Day, get thee to the Columbia County Board of Elections at 401 State Street in Hudson and VOTE on until 4 pm on Friday, October 31, or from 9 am to noon on Saturday, November 1. If you already have an absentee ballot, it must be post marked by midnight Monday, November 3.

PUBLIC HEARING TO AMEND RIDGELINE LAW

 

On Election Day, Tuesday, November 4, at 6 pm, all are invited to join the public hearing at Town Hall to discuss a possible amendment to the current ridgeline regulations (Local Law #6). Read the letter by Hank Henward, chairman of the Planning Board, to the Town Board requesting the amendment. The image below shows Hillsdale painter Cuyler Williams's 1892 painting of the Taconics, as viewed from Hillsdale. It is part of the Roe Jan Library's collection.  

 

 

AN OLD SHOP ON MAIN STREET

 

One Hillsdale household has been enjoying the process of uncovering the many layers of their home's history and was kind enough to share it with us. The sign below will send some readers back to the days when Marge and Elsie Herrington operated a dress shop in Hillsdale. It started upstairs in what is now the Hillsdale General Store in 1956 but soon moved to larger quarters at the 1852 Greek Revival house at 2719 Route 23, a few doors east of the traffic light. According to local legend, Marge, who lived in the house with her husband, Burt, was "country." Elsie was "dressy." Together they operated the popular store until 1975.

 

Interestingly, earlier records show that the home was once run as a tea room and inn. A 1919 American Automobile Club publication recommends the Green Vine Tea Room and Inn to adventurers travelling the dirt and macadam roads of the Hudson Valley (before routes 22 and 23 existed as we know them). 

 


 

AN ILLUSTRATED HISTORY OF HILLSDALE

The story of our community's past is all around us: mysterious cemeteries, landmarks with Dutch-sounding names, a giant Civil War monument, stone walls that run for miles through forests, an abandoned toll gate, an old railroad line that's getting a new lease on life, twentieth-century roads that cut through the backyards of nineteenth-century farms. Peter Cipkowski will be telling the story of Hillsdale's history at the Roe Jan Library at 3 pm on Sunday, November 9. More here.

 


 

MORE PROGRESS ON THE RAIL TRAIL EXTENSION
 

The Harlem Valley Rail Trail is moving closer to Hillsdale. Construction crews have been paving a 1.1-mile section of the trail extension from Copake Falls--the current northern point of the paved trail--to Orphan Farm Road in Copake. The work, expected to be completed shortly, is being funded by the New York State parks department. Next spring, the Harlem Valley Rail Trail Association hopes to start paving the northern portion of the extension, a 1.5-mile strip ending at Anthony Street in Hillsdale's hamlet.



EXPANDING BROADBAND

It's still too early to say for sure but improved broadband service will eventually come to the Roe Jan area. Some say this means that the 21st century will arrive here with it. County Planning and Economic Development Commissioner Kenneth J. Flood and ASA Networks Marketing Director Joe Plotkin gave the Hillsdale Town Board an update on the countywide project at Tuesday's meeting. You can read about that update here.

NEW BUSINESS DIRECTORY

Check out the new Hillsdale business directory here, created by the Hillsdale Business Alliance (HBA). The HBA was responsible for pulling together Hillsdale's town-wide Pumpkin Festival on October 11.

HUNTING SEASON UNDERWAY

 

A DEC Hunter Safety Course at Roeliff Jansen Community Library was filled to capacity last weekend. It was the third year Roe Jan has hosted the course. The 20-hour, two-day course is required to obtain a New York State hunting license. Pictured below are volunteer instructors and a few of the students who attended the entry-level course. The training rifles are inert. From left: Jim Sabbag, Jennifer Oakley, Jason Derby, Thomas Holleufer, instructor, Tabatha Hamlin, Randy Van Alstyne, Sierra Sheldon and John Sheldon, instructor. 



FROM SHERIFF BARTLETT

 

It's that time of year again - hunting season.  Bow season is open now, and rifle season will open for deer on Saturday, November 15th.  As you may have heard, we've already had one accident here in Columbia County involving a bow hunter accidentally shooting a family member with an arrow, after mistaking him for a deer. One accident is too many. Following some basic safety tips can help avert tragedy and ensure everyone has a safe hunting experience:

  • Assume every gun is loaded
  • Control the muzzle - always keep your gun pointed in a safe direction
  • Keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot
  • Be sure of your target and beyond

The arrival of hunting season also generally means an increase in trespass complaints and calls for shots fired too near a residence.  If you have such a complaint, please call our communications center in Greenport at 518-828-3344 and they will dispatch a patrol to assist you. If the situation is emergency in nature, please dial 911 and they will dispatch the closest available police unit.

 

Shifting gears--with the holiday shopping season just around the corner, I'd like to assure everyone that the Columbia County Sheriff's Office will be monitoring handicapped parking areas and writing tickets to vehicles who unlawfully occupy these spaces. As more and more people take to the stores, available parking spots can be difficult to find.  This often leads to people parking in handicapped parking spaces who do not have the proper permits to do so.  Please be courteous and remember that these spaces are designated for disabled residents who may not be able to walk long distances.  

The goal of this newsletter, issued by Hillsdale's Town Board, is to share a bit of local news and the long list of the many cool things that are happening in the Roe Jan community.  If you want to promote your upcoming event, email the details. Pictures and jpgs welcome. No pdfs, please. 

Peter Cipkowski and Vivian deGeorges, Editors
Email us at [email protected]

        

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