The draft minutes from the May 2025 meeting of the Dresden Town Board, have been posted on the town’s website.
School District Vote Results
2025-26 School Budget & School Board Vote Results
2025-2026 Budget (PASS)
Yes – 251
No – 102
Bus Purchase Proposition (PASS)
Yes – 223
No – 132
Land Purchase for the Site of a Future Transportation Facility (FAIL)
Yes – 125
No – 231
The results of the Board of Education election are as follows. (The top two vote-getters will be seated in July.)
Christine Diekel – 207 – WINS SEAT
Louis Pratt – 175 – WINS SEAT
Robert Putorti – 112
Roxanne Waters – 111
James Foote – 75
*Congratulations to Dresden Town Board member Christine Diekel who received the most votes.
Memorial Day – 2025
Memorial Day
A quick note on the difference:
Memorial Day honors those who died in military service, while Veterans Day, observed in November, honors all who have served, both living and deceased. It’s a distinction that often gets blurred, but it’s one worth remembering.
A little history:
Memorial Day began after the Civil War and was originally known as Decoration Day, when families would lay flowers on the graves of fallen soldiers. Today, it’s a national holiday observed on the last Monday of May.
Etiquette reminders to keep in mind:
If you’re flying the American flag, tradition says to raise it to half-staff until noon, then to full-staff for the remainder of the day. Half-staff means the flag is raised only halfway up the flagpole—this position is a mark of mourning and respect. Raising it to full-staff at noon symbolizes the nation’s resolve to carry on in the face of loss.
At 3:00 p.m. local time, pause for the National Moment of Remembrance. Just one minute of silence can be a powerful and unifying gesture.
It’s not a “Happy Memorial Day.” A more thoughtful message might be, “Thinking of those who served and sacrificed,” “Honoring our fallen heroes today,” or “Thank you for your service.”
If you’re attending or hosting a gathering, a short toast or moment of silence before the meal is a gracious way to acknowledge the day.
Even a quiet moment of reflection, on your own or with loved ones, honors the spirit of the day more than we often realize.
250 Years Ago: Benedict Arnold Heads North
An interesting video about what happened between Ethan Allen and Benedict Arnold after the capture of Fort Ticonderoga in 1775.
C’Mon Man – Men’s Underwear Found Clogging Sewer Pump in April
It’s really sad that I have to report this, but at the April meeting of the Town Sewer District # 1 board it was reported that the waistband of a pair of men’s underwear was found clogging a sewer district # 1 pump. So a pair of underwear was flushed into the system.
This occurred in April. Also discovered in one of the pump stations – feminine hygiene products, “flushable” wipes, garbage disposal debris, cooking oil and grease. The reason why cooking oil and grease are so problematic is that it floats and covers the switch that turns on the pump when the waste water level rises. The oil prevents the switch from turning on.
This was in April!
School District Enrollment & Tuesday’s School Vote
On Tuesday, May 20, 2025, the Whitehall school district will have the vote for next year’s school budget, a number of spending propositions and to elect members of the school board. It will be held from noon to 8:00 pm in the Large Group Instruction Room in the Jr.-Sr. High School. The district is proposing a $22.3 million budget for the 2025-2026 school year with a proposed 1.25% tax increase.
The school district has set up this beautiful page on their website with information for everyone: https://www.railroaders.net/Page/680
I have been reporting on the enrollment figures of the district for many years. I cannot find the school’s enrollment listed for the 2024-2025 school year. Last year (2023-2024), the Whitehall School District had 644 total students.
To put this number of 644 students into historical context, I have updated my yearly enrollment chart below:
| School Year | 04-05 | 05-06 | 06-07 | 07-08 | 08-09 | 09-10 | 10-11 | 11-12 | 12-13 | |
| Students | 885 | 860 | 858 | 845 | 815 | 779 | 753 | 742 | 755 | |
| School Year | 13-14 | 14-15 | 15-16 | 16-17 | 17-18 | 18-19 | 19-20 | 20-21 | 21-22 | 22-23 |
| Students | 757 | 736 | 736 | 758 | 708 | 699 | 719 | 693 | 731 | 655 |
| School Year | 23-24 | |||||||||
| Students | 644 |
The Whitehall school district has now reached the lowest enrollment since I have been tracking this.
Here is an equation to ponder. If you take next year’s proposed budget ($22.3 million) and divide by 644 students (the last enrollment figure I can find), the cost per student equals approximately $34,600 per student.
April Sewer Committee # 1 Minutes & Letter to Residents of Districts # 1 & # 2
The April minutes from the Huletts Sewer District # 1 committee have been posted on the Town’s website.
Also, the following letter has been sent to residents of both Town Sewer Districts.
250 Years Ago: The Capture of Fort Ticonderoga
Senator Stec: 2025-26 Budget Spends a Lot, Fixes None of State’s Longstanding Problems
NY State Senator Dan Stec (R,C-Queensbury) today issued the following statement concerning the enacted 2025-26 New York State Budget:
“For too many years and in too many areas, New York State has been trending downward. Our communities have become too costly for families and businesses, a spate of pro-criminal policies have made it less safe for law-abiding residents, sanctuary city policies have threatened federal aid and created chaos across all of New York.
“These problems can be traced back to one-party Democrat control of state government in 2019. Since then, we’ve seen out-of-control taxes and spending, and violent crime rise to disturbing new levels. This year’s budget was a chance to take actions to course correct and lay out a better way forward for New York State.
“At the start of the budget process, Governor Hochul stressed affordability. Instead, she and Democrat legislative leaders have opted to spend more than a quarter of a trillion dollars, with little to show for it when it comes to helping those who need it most. The much-ballyhooed inflation rebate checks are a mere pittance that fails to come close to covering the increased costs we’re all experiencing. And while touting these checks, the governor and Democrat leaders saw fit to add new taxes to prop up the failing MTA and New York City infrastructure. The only person to receive any substantive financial support is our attorney general, in the form of a $10 million gift to preemptively pay for legal fees concerning an investigation completely unrelated to state business.
“Public safety continues to go unaddressed. While the federal government has moved strongly to secure our borders, there have been no changes to the sanctuary city policies that have cost the state billions and led to increased crime. Rather than address HALT, prison violence and contraband, they opted for new language allowing for early release for violent and nonviolent incarcerates. On those issues, the governor and Democrats have opted for tepid changes to discovery and the wearing of face masks while committing a crime. This budget just continues the revolving-door policies that have been a hallmark of Democrat policies since the passage of bail and discovery reform.
“A budget is a blueprint for where a state’s priorities are. Once again, it’s clear that the governor and her allies are uninterested in prioritizing what New Yorkers have made clear they want addressed: affordability and public safety. This year’s enacted budget is a wildly expensive misfire that only exacerbates those issues.”
Saturday Quote
“Even memory is not necessary for love. There is a land of the living and a land of the dead and the bridge is love, the only survival, the only meaning.”
Thornton Wilder
The Bridge of San Luis Rey (1927), last lines
Dresden Town Board April Meeting Minutes
The draft minutes from the April 2025 meeting of the Dresden Town Board, have been posted on the town’s website.
Happy Easter
The Three Marys at the Tomb by Italian artist Annibale Carracci (1560-1609). Hermitage, St Petersburg, Russia.
The three Mary’s find the tomb… empty.
I hope all of our readers will have a happy and blessed Easter today! I would also like to wish our Jewish readers a belated Passover greeting, as this year Passover ends on the evening of Sunday April 20th also.
Hopefully everyone will be back in Huletts soon and the upcoming ‘season’ will be as refreshing as always.
School Budget Presentation May 5th, Vote May 20th
The Whitehall Central School District, will hold the presentation on the annual school budget for the public in the Large Group Instruction Room in the Junior-Senior High School Building on Buckley Road in the Town of Whitehall, New York, on May 05, 2025 at 6:00 pm.
The voting on this year’s school budget, as well as for two seats on the school board and the purchase of property to build a new transportation facility will be held at the Large Group Instruction Room in the Junior-Senior High School Building on Buckley Road in the Town of Whitehall, New York, on May 20, 2025 between the hours of 12:00 o’clock noon and 8:00 pm.
The items to be voted on include:
1.) To adopt the annual budget of the School District for the fiscal year 2025-2026 and to authorize the requisite portion thereof to be raised by taxation on the taxable property of the school district.
2.) To elect two members of the Board of Education each for a 3-year term commencing July 1, 2025 and expiring on June 30, 2028.
Two propositions will also be submitted to the voters for consideration:
PROPOSITION #1
Shall the Board of Education of the Whitehall Central School District be authorized to purchase one sixty-five (65) passenger school bus for the use of the said School District, the estimated maximum cost thereof, not to exceed a total of $168,986 that such sum or so much thereof as may be necessary be expended from the unencumbered and unappropriated funds now on hand, or shall be raised by the levy of a tax to be levied and collected in annual installments in such years and in such amounts as may be determined by the Board of Education.
PROPOSITION #2
Shall the Board of Education of the Whitehall Central School District be authorized to utilize the District’s General Fund Balance to purchase approximately 7.32+/- Acres of real property located at 270 Broadway, Whitehall, New York 12887 (Tax Map No. 60.13-1-42), at a cost of $250,000, together with all reasonable and customary fees and closing costs.
The purpose to Proposition # 2 is to purchase real estate to site a new transportation facility for bus maintenance.
250 Years Ago
“The Battle of Lexington, 19 April 1775,” Oil on canvas by William Barns Wollen, 1910.
“Lay down your arms, you damned rebels.”
A British officer to American militiamen on Lexington Green in 1775. The site of the first skirmish of the Revolutionary War.
We know how that worked out.