& Albany County Post - The Altamont Enterprise

The Altamont Enterprise – Thursday, September 27, 2012 13
Out & About
GCSD seeks public input on next year’s budget
GUILDERLAND — On Tuesday,
Oct. 23, the Guilderland
Central School District Board of
Education will meet with members
of the community to listen
to their ideas, concerns, and
questions regarding the district’s
2013-14 spending plan.
The input session will begin at
approximately 7:30 p.m. in the
Guilderland High School largegroup
instruction room, located
at 8 School Road in Guilderland
Center, and will serve as the
kick-off to this year’s budget
deliberations.
All district residents are
welcome to attend the session,
which will also be broadcast live
on TWC Channel 16, as it is a
part of the regular meeting of
the board.
Those planning to attend
should call the superintendent’s
office at 456-6200, ext. 3102 or
e-mail superintendent@guilderlandschools.org.
Those unable to attend the
meeting may submit their
thoughts on the budget in writing,
on or before Oct. 23, to:
Board of Education President
Colleen O’Connell, care of the
Guilderland Central School
District Office, 8 School Road,
Post Office Box 18, Guilderland
Center, NY 12085-0018.
District residents may also
submit feedback online at: www.
guilderlandschools.org (click on
the School Budget News icon).
Ceremony set for Sept. 29
Multicultural High School Achiever Awards
The University at Albany is
recognizing 218 outstanding high
school seniors from the greater
Capital District and beyond as
recipients of its 2012 Multicultural
High School Achievers
Awards.
Selected for exemplary academic
performance and leadership
in their schools and communities,
the award winners are
being honored at a special event
on Saturday, Sept. 29, when they
take part in campus tours and information
sessions. The awards
ceremony is in the Campus Center
on UAlbany’s main campus at
1400 Washington Ave.
Now in its 25th year, the recognition
program is designed
to honor outstanding students
and encourage them to continue
their leadership development
in college. To date, the program
has recognized more than 4,600
students of color.
Local students being recognized
this year include:
— Briana Beaver-Timmons
of Schenectady,
— Jessica Capone o f
Schenectady,
— Nicole Das of Schenectady,
— Azmad Din of Altamont,
— Lauren Henderson of
Schenectady,
— Anna Jacquinot of
Schenectady,
— Adeem Khan of Guilderland,
— Hannah Liu o f
Schenectady,
— Anvesh Mateti o f
Schenectady,
— Zubin Mukerjee of Guilderland,
— Gladys Ninson o f
Schenectady,
— Jung Eun Park of Guilderland,
— Redal Ram o f
Schenectady,
— Lakshmi Ramasamy of
Schenectady,
— Einy Santos of Altamont,
— Oindri Sen o f
Schenectady,
— Yogita Telhu o f
Schenectady,
— Joanne Tseng o f
Schenectady, and
— Ariana Valverde of Altamont.
Karl Berger, a leading figure in musical improvisation and
cross-cultural musical awareness, is a vibraphonist, conductor
and educator. He is a six-time winner of the Downbeat Critics Poll
as a jazz soloist and recipient of numerous Composition Awards
in the United States and Europe. He will help present a program
of Improvised Music on Wednesday, Oct. 3, at 7 p.m. at the University
at Albany Performing Arts Center on the uptown campus.
Tickets are $8 for the general public and $4 for students, seniors,
and UAlbany faculty or staff and may be purchased through the
Performing Arts Center Box Office. For further information, call
442-3997 or go online to www.albany.edu/pac. This concert is part
of a daylong artist residency by Berger and will be preceded by
two music improvisation workshops in the Performing Arts Center
at 2:45 and 4 p.m. The workshops are open to all and there is no
charge for participation.
DEC releases
pheasants for
hunting season
About 30,000 adult pheasants
will be released on lands open to
public hunting for the upcoming
fall pheasant-hunting season,
according to the New York State
Department of Environmental
Conservation.
The pheasant-hunting season
begins on Oct. 1 in northern and
eastern portions of New York,
Oct. 20 in central and western
portions, and Nov. 1 on Long
Island.
For the sixth year, junior hunters
(12 to 15 years old) have the
opportunity to hunt pheasants
the weekend prior to the regular
pheasant-hunting season.
In northern and eastern New
York, the youth pheasant hunt
weekend is Sept. 29 to 30.
Youth hunting locations in
Albany County include Partridge
Run in Berne, the Margaret
Burke Preserve in Knox, and
the west side of Diamond Hill
Road north of Clipp Road in New
Scotland.
The majority of birds will be
released on state-owned wildlife
management areas and cooperative
hunting areas prior to and
during the fall hunting season.
All release sites for pheasants
provided by state-funded programs
are open to public hunting.
A list of statewide adult
pheasant release sites and sites
receiving birds for the youth
pheasant hunt weekends can be
found on the DEC’s website.
Diana B. Henriques,
award-winning financial
journalist and author of
The Wizard of Lies: Bernie
Madoff and the Death of
Trust, will be in Albany on
Oct. 4 to present “Madoff
and More: Unmasking the
Legacy of Greed and Corruption.”
The program, to benefit
The Women’s Press Club of
New York State’s scholarship
endowment fund, is
scheduled for the Touhey
Forum in the Lally School
of Education at The College
of Saint Rose, 1009 Madison
Ave. The lecture begins at
6:30 p.m. and costs $25; a
separately priced reception
with Henriques follows at 8
p.m. and costs $75. Tickets
for both the reception and
lecture are available at The
Book House of Stuyvesant
Plaza in Guilderland, and
through the website www.
womenspressclubnys.com.
“Seeing Gray”
Altamont Reformed Church
schedules discussions on faith and politics
By Bob Luidens
Community correspondent
Over the past decade, America
has become more polarized;
people seem to be less and less
willing to listen to one another.
Much of this division comes from
the tendency to “see things in
black and white” when it comes
to political, moral, and religious
issues.
Starting Oct. 16, the
A l t a m o n t R e f o r m e d
Church will host a series
of discussions, “Seeing
Gray: Where Faith
and Politics Meet.” The
studies will focus on how
people of faith can engage
in a more thoughtful
conversation about divisive
issues.
They will be based on five
video presentations by Adam
Hamilton, author of Seeing Gray
in a World of Black and White:
Thoughts on Religion, Morality
and Politics.
The group will meet on Tuesdays
from 6:30 to 8 p.m. in the
Albany Pro Musica diversifies
church Fellowship Hall at 129
Lincoln Ave. in Altamont. Each
session will feature a 20-minute
video followed by further study
and discussion.
Dates and topics include:
— Oct. 16, Where Faith and
Politics Meet;
— Nov. 13, Christ, Christians,
and Culture Wars;
America has become more polarized;
people seem to be less and less
willing to listen to one another.
— Jan. 22, How Should We
Live The Ethics of Jesus;
— March 12, Spiritual Maturity
and Seeing Gray; and
— April 16, What Would Jesus
Say to America.
We invite all thinking Christians
to attend and participate.
It is an opportunity for us to
consider how to be constructive
Albany Pro Musica continues to
diversify its expressions of choral
music with a 2012-13 season
that features Bach’s masterful
St. Matthew Passion, festive
Christmas concerts, new musical
takes on love, and pops cabarets
serving up familiar tunes and old
standards.
Local high school choruses, the
Capital District Youth Chorale,
the Boys’ Choir of The Cathedral
of All Saints and nationally known
guest soloists will join APM singers
onstage as they perform at
some of the Capital Region’s finest
venues – such as Troy Savings
Bank Music Hall, Key Hall at
Proctors, and the Shaker Meeting
House.
This season’s featured subscription
shows are:
— A Winter Wonderland – choral
music that celebrates the secular
and sacred aspects of Christmas,
including some sing-along
carols;
— If Music Be the Food of Love –
classical, contemporary and newly
commissioned choral pieces that
explore various aspects of love;
— Bach’s St. Matthew Passion
– considered one of the greatest
choral works of all time; and
— Pops Goes the Chorus! – soloists
and ensembles in a cabaret
that features show tunes, old
standards and popular music.
APM also will perform Bach’s
Magnificat and Corigliano’s Fern
Hill in its annual collaboration
with the Albany Symphony Orchestra,
being held this year at
Troy Savings Bank Music Hall.
“Bach figuratively bookends
our season, and there’s even more
to be excited about,” said APM
Artistic Director and Conductor
David Griggs-Janower in a release
from APM. “In addition to our
citizens of both our nation and
the Kingdom of God.
Hamilton is the pastor of the
United Methodist Church of
the Resurrection in Leawood,
Kansas with a congregation of
over 10,000. He is the author of
11 books.
Kenneth Carder of Duke Divinity
School said about Seeing Gray,
“While the religious and
political extremes compete
for power and dominance
through coercive rhetoric
and power maneuvers,
Adam Hamilton provides an
alternative that is theologically
grounded and faithful
to the church’s mission to
be an instrument of God’s
reconciliation.”
There is no fee to attend the
sessions, but pre-registration
is requested. Call the Altamont
Reformed Church at 861-8711
or e-mail altamontreformed@
yahoo.com.
Editor’s note: Rev. Bob Luidens
is the pastor of the Altamont
Reformed Church.
outstanding subscription shows,
we have the privilege of helping St.
Joseph’s Church in Schenectady
celebrate its 150 th anniversary, we
will once again host the fabulous
High School Choral Festival, and
we’ll join the Albany High School
Chorus for a concert to benefit
the Leukemia and Lymphoma
Society.”
APM is rolling out a new season
subscription program this year
that offers premium seats to two,
three, or all four featured performances
at a savings of up to $40.
Subscribers also receive invitations
to special preview rehearsals,
a free ticket to the annual
High School Choral Festival, and
discounts at the Albany Symphony
Orchestra.
Subscriptions and single tickets
can be purchased online at www.
albanypromusica.org or by calling
346-6204.