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Huletts Landing Post Office to Remain Open


The Huletts Landing Post Office will remain open with realigned hours

Update/Correction 8/12/14

While the survey numbers below were presented at the meeting, the actual vote totals were: out of 136 questionnaires returned, 133 or 98% voted for realigned hours, 3 made no selection. My original numbers – while presented at the meeting by the Postal Service – were wrong.

Postal service officials announced today near the steps of the Huletts Landing Post Office that the Huletts Post Office will remain open, but have its hours reduced to four hours per day. The start date for these new hours has yet to be determined, but will most likely begin in early 2015.

Residents had been asked to submit their preferences and, today, officials from the postal service announced the results.

Out of 231 questionnaires sent out, 136 total responses were received back, with 98 votes to keep the Post Office open with reduced hours. Saturday hours will not change.

The postal service staff suggested that the new hours be 9:00 am to 1:00 pm but a majority of the nearly 30 local residents in attendance preferred the hours of 10:30 am to 2:30 pm.

The new hours will not be finalized at this time.

Because of pension costs, every post office’s hours will be reevaluated every year. Please be sure to continue to buy your stamps and postage in Huletts Landing.

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Email to the Editor

Dear parishioners,

As you know, our new Bishop Edward Scharfenberger is visiting this weekend. Originally, he had planned to be at all four Masses, with a reception for him at Huletts Landing on Saturday evening. However, just yesterday (Monday), I received a call from him, apologizing that because of an unforeseen scheduling conflict, he can only come to this Sunday’s Masses and cannot join us on Saturday.

Bishop Scharfenberger had planned to be with us the whole weekend, so he is very sorry and said he is still looking forward to being with us this Sunday. We will move the reception to Sunday at Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall, since that now fits in his schedule. He will be at both Sunday Masses, 9:00 at St. Ann’s in Fort Ann, and 11:00 at Our Lady of Hope in Whitehall. Please join us for the Eucharistic procession after the Masses, as the bishop (our successor of the Apostles) brings the Lord Jesus into our streets, to bless our area and to show proudly our faith in the Real Presence of Christ in the Most Blessed Sacrament, the central truth and mystery of our Catholic faith.

Please also remember that Sunday Mass at Our Lady of Hope will be at 11:00 a.m. starting this Sunday. This will be a realistic schedule that allows the pastor to attend to and drive between his three communities in a reasonable way. Thank you for your understanding of this needed measure, and may God bless you.

Peace in Jesus
Through Mary,

Father Rendell Torres

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Work Progressing on Route 149 and Route 4 Intersection in Fort Ann


The intersection of Routes 4 & 149 in Fort Ann. (Looking north.)

If you come to Huletts Landing through Fort Ann, work is progressing on widening and improving the intersection of Routes 4 & 149 in Fort Ann.

From the NY State Dept of Transportation website:

“This project will repave and make intersection improvements at the intersection of Routes 4 & 149 in the Village of Fort Ann, Washington County.”

The completion date is scheduled for June 1, 2015.

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Family Dollar Store in Whitehall to Close


The Family Dollar store in Whitehall will be closing soon.

Recently, Family Dollar announced a consolidation that would close a number of its stores nationwide. Under this plan, the Whitehall store is one of the stores slated to close.

July 1st is the latest date that the store will remain open according to a store employee.

This is another blow to Whitehall which is dotted with empty storefronts. The store employed between 7 to 10 employees. The store is open as merchandise on hand is liquidated.

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Whitehall School Enrollment Edges Up / Increase in Spending Proposed

This past week, school district “report cards” were released for the 2012-2013 school year. (Last year’s school year.) This is the last publicly available information on enrollment. For the first time in a number of years, student enrollment actually edged up.

Students 04-05 05-06 06-07 07-08 08-09 09-10 10-11 11-12 12-13 Percent Change
 885 860 858 845 815 779 753 742 755       -14.69%

Even with this small 1.75% increase in enrollment from 2011-12 to 2012-13, the table illustrates that there has been an overall drop in total enrollment of 14.69 percent during the last nine years.

The Board of Education in April adopted a $14.77 million budget for next year that proposes to increase spending by over $1 million or 7.56 percent.

However, the tax levy would only go up to $5.2 million, a 1.88 percent increase which is more in line with the enrollment increase and which is under the district’s 2.5 percent cap.

At no time over the last nine years has the Board of Education ever voted to decrease the local tax levy from one year to another. State aid has decreased at times, but decreases in enrollment and staff employment have not played out in lower property tax bills to owners of property in the school district.

The budget will go before voters on May 20th, as will three seats on the school board.

The Post Star reports on the Whitehall School District here.

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Sign Time


Plaque commemorating former Dresden Town Supervisor, Francis “Zeke” Foster, at the entrance to the Washington County Park.

Mr. Foster, almost single-handedly, had the vision and drive to make the Washington County Beach a reality.

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Bits of Everything

Post Star: Whitehall School District Plans to Increase Spending in Budget Proposal

Your eyes are not deceiving you. With student enrollment plummeting and test scores lagging, the district is proposing to spend more money next year hiring more employees. The Post Star reports.

Buffalo News: Bills at Risk of Being Moved to Larger Market

The NFL’s Buffalo Bills’ tenure in Western New York may be coming to an end. Team founder and owner Ralph Wilson, passed away last week at age 95. The team will presumably be up for sale soon and the new owner will want to move the team to greener pastures. Likely sites may include L.A., Toronto and yes, even London. Read the column here.

Times Union: Fort Edward GE Plant Gets Temporary Reprieve

The Times Union reports that the Fort Edward GE Plant will stay open a few more months.

Imaging Resource.com: 100-year-old negatives discovered in Antarctic

An interesting story about 22 exposed but unprocessed photographic negatives, found frozen in a solid block of ice for nearly one hundred years.

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If You See A Turkey

A wild turkey seen on the top of the mountain during the summer of 2013.

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) is looking for landowners to help with a large-scale study of wild turkey, movements, survival and harvest. Starting from January 2014, the DEC will begin the second year of a four-year study in which wild turkey hens (female turkeys) will be captured and fitted with leg bands. The objective of the banding study is to examine harvest rates, and movements of hens. All work is done by DEC personnel.

The DEC is seeking landowners who would be interested in allowing birds to be trapped on their lands, as well as alerting project coordinators when they see turkeys. After turkeys are captured and banded they will be immediately released in the same location.

The DEC would also appreciate reports from landowners, hunters, bird watchers or others about winter turkey flock locations anywhere in New York State.

For further information about reporting turkey movements in Washington county please email the DEC at:

fwwildlf@gw.dec.state.ny.us

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Where Did Clemons Get Its Name?


An advertising flyer apparently made from an ink blotter for the George L. Clemons Store.

Well thanks to Lane DeMuro, and this very rare piece of local memorabilia, we now know.

This looks to be an advertising ink blotter, as the back has script writing in a mirror image, as it would be if it blotted up ink from letters or something of that sort.

It is for an all-purpose store run by George L. Clemons, in Clemons, NY. The picture is of Lake Champlain.

“Wholesale and Retail Dealer in Wood and Lumber. Groceries and Provisions, Flour, Feed, Dry Goods and Yankee Notions.”

I would date it around 1860-1870.

Many thanks again to Lane DeMuro for sharing this rare artifact from his collection.

Click image to see full-scale.

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Now For Some History: World War I


This picture appears to show Washington County soldiers headed off to World War I.

It was given to me by Don Hart. Don’s wife, Pamela, is the granddaughter of Ruth Foote. Ruth was the sister of Earle Foote of Huletts Landing. Taken if front of what was then the Whitehall Armory, the name; H. Sullivan is written below the man sitting in the middle.

A larger version of the picture can be seen if you click on the above image. If anyone can identify any of the other soldiers or provide more details about the photograph, I’d appreciate hearing from you.

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Washington County Supervisors Narrowly Approve Budget with 2.58 Increase

On November 15th, the Washington County Board of Supervisors narrowly adopted the 2014 budget. The vote was extremely close with 9 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,195 voting “Yes,” and 8 Supervisors with a weighted vote of 2,065 voting “No.”

Supervisor Banks of Dresden voted “Yes”.

The budget will raise the tax levy by 2.58 percent.

The biggest controversy saw the Supervisors vote against pay increases for themselves, thus saving $5,800 from the total budget. The tax levy will increase from $29.4 million in 2013 to $30.1 million in 2014.

The proposed budget is posted on Washington County’s website here. (The budget message on pages 1 & 2, (3 & 4 of the linked pdf) explain the 2014 budget well.) The only change to this proposed budget was that the total to be raised, and the tax levy are both $5,800 smaller due to the Supervisors not voting themselves a pay raise. The final adopted budget should be posted on the Washington County website in the next few days.

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Email to the Editor

This Is Why I Ran for Dresden Town Justice

“Do the good deed that needs to be done.” I think about that “good deed” every time I drive by Comstock and Washington County Prisons in Granville, NY. Especially at night, the prison’s low eerie light seems to illuminate the devastation of the lives within those walls…employees as well as inmates.

I ran for Dresden Town Justice because in some small way I wanted to inject more compassion into the court system. As early as the 18th century in this country some Quakers and Calvinists tried to inject rehabilitation rather than destruction into the prison system. Today we call these attempts Restorative Justice which tries to repair the harm done if possible but not destroy the person who did it. The offender should be offered the opportunity to give back to the community what she or he took away.

I thank the 100 people who voted for me in person and in absentee ballot. I lost this election; however, I encourage the people of Dresden to run for public office because many good deeds still need to be accomplished in our town. Run for office rather than from office!

Helenmarie Sunkenberg