& Albany County Post - The Altamont Enterprise

4 The Altamont Enterprise – Thursday, December 20, 2012
To the Editor:
My family and I wanted to take
this time to thank our wonderful
family, friends, neighbors,
Berne-Knox-Westerlo staff and
teachers, co-workers and the
whole BKW community for their
support, prayers, prepared dinners,
cards, and gifts for our
family.
Our daughter Kara, who is 9
years old, had surgery last week
at Albany Medical Center to have
a brain tumor removed.
We first found out about the
tumor around Thanksgiving and,
as you can imagine, to hear that
To the editor
Thanks for supporting our brave little girl
To the Editor:
On behalf of Altamont Community
Tradition, I would like
to express our sincere gratitude
to all those who helped make our
11th Annual Victorian Holiday a
rousing success.
This year was the biggest
year ever with over 350 touring
our Holiday Houses. We are
especially grateful to our House
Hosts who so graciously opened
their homes for the festive occasion.
These hosts include Father
Girzone, the Loparcos, the
Owens, Laura Shore, Barbara
Harris, and Frank Williams;
their tremendous efforts were
greatly appreciated.
The visitors were guided by
house volunteers including Prudy
Ciaccio, Mary Hughes, Judy
Newcomb, Michele Paulson,
Kate Provencher, Irene Peck,
and Nicole Waggoner of the
State Employees Federal Credit
Union.
We also want to thank our
SEFCU volunteers — Nancy,
Shelly, and Ashley — without
whom we would have been lost.
The children were delighted
with the balloon hats created by
our clown, MacIntosh, played by
Tom Person, and were busy making
crafts at the activities table
of Meg Seinberg-Hughes and
Pam Crounse! I am sure that parents,
as well as ACT members,
news it felt as if our lives were
turned upside down.
To help us get through this difficult
time and to keep everyone
updated, we started a Facebook
page named “Operation Kara.”
It was amazing to watch the
Facebook page soar with heartwarming
messages and words
of encouragement from so many
people.
Kara took on this surgery and
amazed us with her strength and
courage. She never complained
once while in the hospital. She
truly has been a brave little
girl.
We have been blessed that surgery
went well and the outcome
was a success.
Words can’t express how thankful
we are for the overwhelming
support in our BKW community.
It was all of you who made this
difficult time in our lives much
easier to cope with.
Thank you again for all of your
love and support. We wish all
of you and your families Happy
Holidays.
Renée Sherwin for
The Sherwin Family
Knox
Volunteer drivers sought
“All you need is a license and a giving heart”
To the Editor:
I was just wondering if there
are any people in the area who
would be willing to help a fellow
neighbor to get to a medical appointment,
dialysis appointment,
grocery shopping, or to or from
adult day care.
I am in charge of transportation
for the town of New Scotland
and our program runs on the
generosity of volunteers. This
time of year is really hard since
so many of the volunteers are
retired and go to Florida or on
the day they transport are ill or
have just gotten to the point they
realize they are not sure about
driving others.
We have a car and two buses
(for social events, no special
license required) and we need
volunteers.
If a person could commit to
driving a senior in the town’s car
with our gas and insurance on a
Tuesday afternoon from 2 to 3, a
Friday from 9 to 10 a.m. or 12:45
Victorian Holiday was a rousing success
to 3 p.m. (some weeks just 2 to 3
p.m.), these are the slots I really
need help with.
However, it is truly a volunteer
position; if something comes
up, just let me know as soon as
possible and I will try to find
someone to fill in.
Please, please consider giving
me a call; all you need is a clean
license and a giving heart.
Susan D. Kidder
Senior Outreach Liaison
Town of New Scotland
appreciated their efforts!
The People’s Choice winners
for the Festival of Trees were:
first place, The Spinning Room;
second place, Altamont General
Dentistry; third place, SEFCU.
Mio Vino got an honorable mention.
Our thanks go to our business
sponsors that actually enable us
to put on the event. They include
SEFCU, Altamont Country Values,
First National Bank of Scotia,
SMS Trains, Key Bank, and
Big John’s Portable Toilets.
Prizes for Festival of Tree
winners were donated by the
Home Front Café, Mio Vino,
ReNue Spa, and Subway. We
urge readers to support these
businesses that have so generously
supported our festivities
and our community.
We cannot forget those wonderful
folks who decorated trees
and wreaths for our Festival of
Trees, as well as the children
at Altamont Free Library who
made gingerbread houses; their
efforts and talents added the
beauty and Holiday pizzazz that
was evident everywhere.
Many attendees were enchanted
with the musical abilities
of Girl Scout Troop 1133; the
girls sang carols at two of the
houses, and then transitioned
into the angels they are for the
re-creation of the first Christmas,
presented by the Altamont
Reformed Church. Thanks so
much, girls!
Let’s not forget the Boy Scouts
who ably manned the fire pits
in Orsini Park where families
awaiting Santa could warm their
hands.
Of course, we at ACT are so
grateful for the Masons who allow
us to use their hall for this
yearly event as well as for our
meetings all year long. They are
so generous to us and the community
and have always been a
great village presence.
The ladies of the Eastern Star
supplied baked goods and hot
drinks for sale during the Event
hours as well.
To end this lengthy list of appreciation,
I personally wish to
thank the ACT Board of Directors
that pitched in on the planning,
executing, and cleaning up
this wonderful seasonal effort;
the board members and their
spouses are the best!
Judith Dineen, president
Altamont
Community Tradition
Editor’s note: Pictures of the
Altamont Victorian Holiday are
posted online at www.AltamontEnterprise.com
under “Photo
Galleries.”
The Old Men of the Mountain
Why not shop for the person
rather than wait for the occasion?
By John R. Williams
It was the 11 th day of December
2012 when the Old Men of
the Mountain met at the Chuck
Wagon Diner in Princetown. The
OGs missed 12/12/12 by one day
by being there one day early. Too
bad — that would have been a
date to put a nick in the post
for.
Anyone know what time of year
it is? You got it, it is shopping
season, so the OF’s discussed
shopping and how most of them
hate it.
The main reason is because
they have to shop — it seems to
be a requirement. Why not buy
something for somebody because
you want to? Who cares what
date it is?
If an OF spots something that
his wife would like, or his grandkids,
or his own kids, and it is
miles from their birthdays, and
it is the middle of June, why not
get it then so they can have it and
use it — why wait?
For example, it makes no sense
to some of the OFs to see something
that the wife could use, or
perhaps she wants to buy it then.
We will eventually buy it, but now
we have to stash it someplace
where she won’t
find it. Then we
will give it to her
on her birthday,
or Christmas, or
Valentine’s Day.
Why not give it
to her when it
is purchased so
she can enjoy
it?
One OF wanted
to know when
the special-day
rule was written
and, if you
don’t follow this
rule or if you
break it, are the
gift-giving police
going to come and slap the
cuffs on you. This was approaching
bah-humbug – for the special
days — not the impulse to please
someone with a special gift no
matter when.
Being prepared
The shopping talk led to shopping,
period, for groceries and the
basic everyday-living items.
One OF said that, where he
worked, there were people who
shopped every day because, if
they didn’t, all they would have
to eat was bread and peanut butter
— if that.
On the Hill, the OFs learn to
shop for weeks at a time and how
to prepare for events like power
outages, being snowed in for
days at a time, and bad storms
that disrupt travel — summer
or winter.
One OF mentioned that they
have Asian friends who many
years ago showed them how to
shop for supplies to last for a year
in case of a real calamity. This
OF gained knowledge of what
to purchase and how to rotate
it out; what will last for long
periods of time, and require no
refrigeration.
They become skilled at how to
rotate the stored water and also
how to allow yourself two gallons
of water per person per day. They
learned how to use rain barrels
to augment this water as it is
depleted and there is no power to
run pumps to replace it; to have
an area with a wood stove, and
enough wood to go the winter
just in case.
They were also shown how they
could cook a carp on a wood plank;
that fish was good, the OF said.
Safety first
Talking about all this led to
talking about general safety and
having a gun and ammunition for
hunting in case things became
really bad.
“If you don’t
follow this rule or
if you break it, are
the gift-giving police
going to come and
slap the cuffs on you?”
Being safe with a gun came
up because the OFs have had
two people they know shot so far
this hunting season, and another
person (whom the OFs didn’t
know) was shot up north — all
in hunting accidents. One of the
people that the OFs did know shot
himself in the butt with his own
gun. Golly, that must have been a
fun place to put on a Band-Aid.
Then safety generally became
the topic of discussion, and it
lasted quite awhile. How many
farmers and industrial workers
the OFs knew that were hurt on
the job, and some who even died
from these accidents.
The OFs found that, in all the
cases they talked about, there was
human error or carelessness that
caused these accidents — none
were the failure of a piece of
equipment. There were instances
of guards being removed and not
replaced, people not thinking
when working with a table saw or
chain saw, and then trying to do
things the quick way and not taking
the time to jig it properly.
One OF said we all have done
these types of things, and we still
continue to do it.
The OFs started talking about
accidents that
we have seen
and we thought
(as we have
said before)
all the OFs at
the breakfast
are lucky to be
there because
we all have had
some pretty
close calls, and
many have had
accidents and
gotten hurt.
Most agreed it
was our own
dumb fault, but
these incidents
happen so fast
most of the OFs never saw it
coming.
One OG said the government
is trying to, either by law, or by
insisting, have manufacturers
install completely unnecessary
guards and place so many labels
on whatever you buy that accidents
will be eliminated.
The OFs say, duh — no matter
what you do, you can’t legislate
stupid.
One OF said the manufacturer
could place so many warning labels
on a ladder that the labels are
longer than the ladder, and then
they give the ladder to a worker
who can’t read — another duh.
Another OF said he didn’t want
to be spitting into the wind on this
one, but look at us OFs going out
to buy a new car and the one we
like is a thousand horsepower.
The dealer is more than anxious
to sell it to us because we have
the money.
That is like starting a chainsaw
and giving it to a 6-year-old and
telling him to go out and cut some
brush. With our reaction time cut
in half, what the h--- is any OF
going to do with a car that has a
thousand horsepower?
The first thing the OF will
probably do is drive it through the
showroom window while pulling
back on the steering wheel hollering,
WHOA!
Those OFs showing up at the
Chuck Wagon Diner in Princetown
in their 100-horsepower
vehicles were: Robie Osterman,
Bill Krause, Miner Stevens, Roger
Chapman, Henry Witt, Roger
Shafer, Steve Kelly, Harold Guest,
Frank Pauli, Mark Traver, Glenn
Patterson, Gary Porter, Jack Norray,
Otis Lawyer, Willard Osterhout,
Ted Willsey, Jim Rissacher,
Henry Whipple, Mike Willsey,
Gerry Chartier, Harold Grippen,
Warren Willsey, and me.