HILLSDALE NEWSLETTER
NOVEMBER 2015



The goal of this newsletter, issued by the Town of Hillsdale, is to share a bit of news and the long list of the many things that are happening in the Roe Jan community.

VOTE TUESDAY OR EARLIER
Polls open on Tuesday, November 3, at the Hillsdale Fire House at 6 am and close at 9 pm. If you're not free Tuesday, get thee to the Board of Elections to vote early, or participate in what's called "Over-the-Counter Absentee Voting."  Hours:
  • Saturday, October 31, 9 am to noon
  • Monday, November 2, 8 am to 5 pm
Just show up and cast your absentee ballot. The Board of Elections is at 401 State Street in Hudson. Otherwise, see you at the Hillsdale Firehouse on Tuesday.
HILLSDALE CIDERY OPENS
Hillsdale's Little Apple Farm is a 400-tree orchard operated by Ron Bixby and Alanne Baerson on, you guess it, Orchard Lane. The farm is NOFA-NY certified organic specializing in traditional apples, fresh and hard cider. Though Ron and Alanne have owned the orchard since 1980, their new organic cidery just opened and produces 100% fresh organic cider in � gallon plastic jugs. It also happens to be Columbia County's first organic cidery. Cider is pressed every Wednesday and the facility is open to the public Sundays from noon to 3 pm. Some very nice press here and here. Nice photo by B. Docktor.
OLIVIA PARRY BISSELL ON THE HURRICANE OF 1938
The wonders of the Roeliff Jansen Historical Society Oral History Project never cease. We recently chatted with Olivia Bissell who told us about growing up on a farm on West End Road in the 30s. She left the area in 1943 and only recently rediscovered Hillsdale. "I had to come back to see the Town and countryside I loved," she recalled. "It's still as beautiful as it was 80 years ago. My childhood was very happy up on the farm and we adored the old Roe Jan School." Olivia's vivid encounter with the Hurricane of 1938 had us on the edge of our seats. Though the video footage is still being archived, read this account, in Olivia's words, of her experience as a 10-year old in the middle of the hurricane. Shown below is a photograph of the Parry children getting ready for a swim at the Ore Bed in July 1943 - Mary, 14; Olivia, 15; neighbor Peter Peabody, 18;  Veola, 10; and George, 8. More photos of the farm here.

ONE MORE SATURDAY FOR 2015 FARMERS MARKET
The Farmers Market is wrapping up its record-breaking 2015 season on Saturday, October 31, from 9 am to 1 pm. Though efforts to schedule indoor winter markets did not succeed, you can keep in touch with your favorite vendors

In the meantime, the Roe Jan Park remains open every day. Enjoy miles of trails, playgrounds, outdoor exercise equipment, and a dog run all year long! Once the snow starts piling up (gulp), you better believe that you can find us working on our snowshoe technique. 
ARRIVING FOR THE HOLIDAYS
There are two new reasons to visit the popular Cookies & Baskets & Books & More sale at the Roe Jan Library in early December. In addition to a wide variety of homemade cookies and soups, gift baskets and books, you'll find the new Cookie Cookbook compiled by the Friends of the Roe Jan Library, with 100 delicious recipes from the Friends and their friends. Hot off the press, it has sweet specialties from the kitchens of 72 bakers, including many treasured family recipes.

Also new this year is a selection of crafts. The gift baskets will be on display the week before Thanksgiving in the library, and the sale takes place in the community room, from Friday, December 4, through Sunday, December 6, 10 am to 4 pm. The Friends Book Shop in the lower level will also be open during the three-day sale. All proceeds go to support the library and its programs. Please visit the Friends website.
ARCHITECTURAL SURVEY FOR TOLL HOUSE

Historic Hillsdale committee member and NYC-based architect James Wagman spent a day at the historic Toll House on October 22 with project designers Steven Armstrong and Michael Transue. They're volunteering time and expertise to develop an architectural survey of the existing interior room layouts as well as exterior elevations. The result will be a professional renderings that can be used to support efforts to understand the structure and possible efforts to save it. Learn more about the history of the Toll House and its possible future at 3 pm on Saturday afternoon, October 31.

HILLSDALE'S THOREAU
Hillsdale historian Jay Rohrlich is fascinated by the work and life of former Hillsdaler Alan Devoe. The Columbia Paper recently published an article about Devoe by Jay: "To read Alan Devoe's exquisitely written essays is to marvel with him over the timeless wonders of the natural world. Devoe was a writer/naturalist, born in Montclair, NJ, in 1909, who moved to Hickory Hill Road in Hillsdale at age 25 with his wife Mary and never left. His acclaim as a lover of nature was such that when, in 1957, two years after Devoe's death at age 46, a Columbia County bird watching society was started, it was named after him. The Alan Devoe Bird Club is still thriving." Read the entire article here.
OLD MAPS OF COLUMBIA COUNTY
Live in an old house or curious about an old road? Wondering what the world was like before Route 22 carved a direct route through the valley?

Check out these Library of Congress links for access to two nineteenth century maps of Columbia County - 1851 and 1858. What's really helpful about looking at the maps online is the tool that allows viewers to zoom in and out on different parts of Hillsdale. By the way, a rare 1851 map of Columbia County hangs in Hillsdale Town Hall, on loan from Jan and Mike Keefner.

Thanks for reading this newsletter - we enjoy pulling it together each month. If you want to promote your upcoming event or have a story or photo to share, please email us. Photos and jpgs are welcome. No pdfs, please.

 

Peter Cipkowski and Vivian deGeorges, Editors


The Town of Hillsdale