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Greetings from Copake
Copake Connection is an online newsletter brought to you by the Town of Copake. This newsletter will publicize community events throughout the Town of Copake and will be published once a month, on the 15th of the month. The editor is Roberta Roll. All submissions should be sent to roberta.roll@gmail.com no later than the 10th of the month. The newsletter will be distributed to anyone who wishes to subscribe. Simply click the mailing list icon below.
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Table of Contents
From the Supervisor's Desk
Solar Update
Chairman's Proclamation
Property Tax Exemption Deadline
Energy Efficiency Campaign
Bicentennial Committee
North Star Ribbon Cutting
Copake Grange
Town Boards Have Openings
Grange 120th Anniversary
Copake Hillsdale Farmer's Market
Grange Events
Copake History
What's Happening at the Library
Copake Outdoors
Eco Tips
Memorial Bricks
K.I.S.S.
Free Rabies Clinic
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From the Supervisor's Desk
Town Board Tackles Parking
In 2024, Columbia County will reconstruct County Route 7A in the Hamlet of Copake. The purpose of the project is to resolve drainage issues in the hamlet and improve pedestrian and motor vehicle traffic safety. The county is responsible for reconstruction of the roads, drainage and sidewalks; the town is responsible for streetscape improvements, such as streetlights, park benches and municipal parking.
The street design proposed by the county will change traffic patterns to calm and clarify the flow of vehicles. It will also change the parking arrangements. Since backing out into public roadways is illegal under NYS law, all on-street parking in the new design will become parallel parking. The town board is well aware of the concerns this has raised, and we are addressing those concerns.
With the support of Columbia County Department of Public Works Commissioner Ray Jurkowski, Chairperson of the Copake Road Advisory Committee Bob Haight and Deputy Supervisor Richard Wolf, I have been in communication with businesses and property owners in Copake as we work towards increasing the availability of off-street municipal parking. The town owns the municipal lot on Church Street, west of Key Bank, and we intend to both expand and improve that lot. We hope to have that project completed later this year. We are also in conversation with business owners regarding the private lot between the businesses on Main Street. We are proposing a resolution which will increase the availability of parking there, as well.
To accomplish all of this, at a Special Town Board meeting on January 24, the board authorized an RFP seeking engineering and professional assistance for Streetscape and Parking Lot Designs for the Hamlet of Copake. Proposals are due on February 21.
All of which is to say: We understand the public’s concerns about parking. We are addressing those concerns. We have the resources to do this because the town has been saving for this project for a long time.
Jeanne E. Mettler
Supervisor
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Solar Update
We have reached a critical juncture in the ongoing Shepherd’s Run saga. On January 27, in response to the New York State Office of Renewable Energy Siting’s (ORES) second Notice of Incomplete Application, Hecate Energy belatedly filed updated Shepherd’s Run application materials….a month past the due date. The deadline didn’t trouble Hecate; it simply declared that it would submit its response when it was ready, not when it was due. Nor did this trouble ORES; it treated Hecate’s declaration as a request…..and promptly granted it.
ORES now has 60 days to deem the application “complete,” in which case Hecate would receive a draft siting permit or another Notice of Incomplete Application from ORES. If ORES fails to reach a determination within 60 days, the ORES regulations deem the application complete by default, and Hecate would receive a draft permit.
Copake’s solar attorney and our environmental engineering firm are reviewing Hecate’s latest, voluminous submissions to ORES.
The Copake Town Board has repeatedly argued that the project, as proposed, is poorly sited and too big for our small, rural town. Nonetheless, Hecate pushes ahead, asking ORES to declare Copake’s laws “unduly burdensome,” claiming that they impede Hecate’s efforts to help New York State reach its laudable goal of quickly reducing dependence on fossil fuels, and that Hecate would lose money if it had to redesign some of its proposal to comply. Hecate seeks to cast itself as the “good guy” —an altruistic, multi-national corporation working to save the planet. It has cast Copake as the “bad guy” in this drama, selfishly standing in the way of progress towards clean energy.
We categorically reject Hecate’s efforts to define itself or us. We know that climate change is an existential threat; we support renewable energy, but we demand that the state’s transition to renewable energy be done sensibly, through collaboration with local towns, not by allowing out-of-state developers to tell us that our rural environment, economy and character must be sacrificed in their quest for corporate profits.
Why did Craryville become Hecate’s location of choice? What is it about the proposed site, running south from State Route 23 alongside County Route 7, with a substantial portion of the would-be project adjacent to the Taconic Hills Central School buildings and athletic fields? Why site a solar energy factory in a hamlet of a small rural town? Why fill fields that are directly across the road from the homes of long-time residents with solar panels?
The answer is simple. Albany has turned upstate New York into a modern-day version of the Wild West. It is aggressively pushing a misguided strategy to try to achieve its laudable carbon emission reduction goals. It has said to developers, “Identify a location with a substation into which you can funnel electricity from your solar factory. Build your factory on nearby land leased or purchased from (oftentimes) absentee landowners. Don’t worry about local zoning laws. ORES will waive any local requirements that get in the way, and the state will provide big financial incentives to encourage you to build.” Responsible communities like Copake, who want to do their part to fight climate change, are given no say in where a solar energy factory will be sited or how much land it will gobble up. We are being forced to sacrifice our rural environments and small town character so that clean energy can be supplied to big cities by mega-energy companies whose only guiding principle seems to be: what is the least they need to do to satisfy ORES and generate the biggest profits?
A compelling summary of ORES’ apparent favoring of Hecate and disfavoring Copake was recently presented in letters sent by Sensible Solar for Rural New York to the Chairs of the Assembly’s Standing Committee on Energy, and the Senate’s Energy and Telecommunications Committee. Then there’s a January 27 decision by an ORES administrative law judge (ALJ), who discourages us from continuing to raise Copake’s concerns about Hecate’s actions, asserting that “the town’s filings and Hecate CC’s responses have unnecessarily required the expenditure of significant resources by ORES staff, the ALJs, and others.“ In effect, she is saying, How dare Copake press its objections with the very state office that will decide whether Shepherd’s Run gets built in Craryville and, if so, under what conditions?
A February 5 letter to both ORES and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency presented some concerns Sensible Solar identified in its preliminary review of Hecate’s updated application materials. Among their concerns: planned tree cutting near state- regulated wetlands; planned siting of buried collection lines in violation of Copake’s setback requirements from wetlands and water bodies; Hecate’s minimizing the project’s risks of potential visual impacts on recognized historical properties; intrusion of the project on wildlife habitats; and Hecate’s failure to respond to either the Taghkanic Headwaters Conservation Plan or Town Historian Howard Blue’s January 9 letter regarding the 1859 occupation of the Niver Farm by members of the Stockbridge-Munsee Community Band of Mohican Indians.
Sensible Solar also noted that recommendations made by the ad hoc Working Group were not incorporated into Hecate’s updated application materials. This is an important observation, because it confirms what we have suspected all along about Hecate’s discussions with the Working Group. Hecate’s talks with the Working Group are no substitutes for the lack of ongoing discussions with the town. For example, one of the Working Group’s key recommendations was the creation of a 300-acre green space, which would run south with the project along County Route 7, and have bike paths, hiking trails, and nature walks. Not only did this concept have the potential to turn the proposed project from an eyesore into a tourist attraction, it also would effectively have screened the solar arrays from the homes across the road. We can see what became of the green space idea by looking at the pictures Hecate just submitted to ORES: one is a “representative simulation” from the west side of CR 7, looking east. Lots and lots of solar panels, no green space, and virtually no screening. A picture looking east from Freuh Road gives a sense of the vastness of the project, but another, from Connolly Road more realistically presents what the solar panels and mounts would actually look like.
Hecate created these pictures to convince ORES that Shepherd’s Run would have little to no negative visual impact on the project site or the surrounding area. To support this claim, Hecate was required to conduct a “Visual Impact Assessment.” Hecate’s consultant, not ORES, hired three evaluators, all of whom “have successfully completed ratings on previous solar project applications.” How could they possibly conclude that almost 200,000 solar panels and equipment would have only a minimal visual impact on the area? The submission explains that each was given the “representative simulations” and a Google Earth file “to better understand and visualize the environment around the viewpoint that might not have been captured in the photo itself. Using the terrain features as well as Street View provided the reviewer with the ability to discern if there were other residences or vegetation behind the viewer…” ORES is being asked to accept the conclusions of Hecate’s hired evaluators who, it seems, never even came to look at the area they blithely conclude will suffer only minimal adverse visual impact from the proposed solar energy factory.
Hecate writes that “From the outset, [its] priority has been to work in a spirit of collaboration with the host community to gain input on Project development.” This is absurd. Hecate has known all along that Copakeans overwhelmingly agree that the proposal is too big and poorly sited. There can be no collaboration when one party dictates terms and conditions to the other. In addition, Hecate chose to carry on negotiations with the Working Group instead of attempting to engage in discussions with the Town of Copake. They met with us at Town Hall in November 2021 but never in 2022, except for a brief chat [with Richard Wolf] over coffee at Alex Campbell’s invitation last April. Hecate and the town did not meet again until the January 11 Zoom meeting. Hecate’s own updated meeting log confirms this. However, accuracy seem not to be a priority; perhaps that explains why Hecate falsely reported to ORES, “The Applicant met with Town officials to discuss the Project at least nine (9) times during the course of 2022…”
Finally, whatever happened to “agrivoltaics?” Hecate had been touting a plan to graze sheep (hence the name “Shepherd’s Run”) and plant crops under solar panels on at least 10 acres of Shepherd’s Run, and if successful, farmed acreage could be increased. So, why does the following statement appear in Hecate’s updated submission?: “There are 197.69 acres of active agricultural land in the Project Footprint…no active agricultural practices will occur within the fenced area containing the solar arrays during the operation of the Project.”
Richard Wolf
Deputy Supervisor
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County Recognizes Black History Month
At the February meeting of the Columbia County Board of Supervisors, the following Proclamation was read by Supervisor Claire Cousin.
Chairman’s Proclamation
Throughout the month of February each year, we recognize and celebrate the contributions of African Americans to this country, and we acknowledge and appreciate their achievements from February 1 through March 1, 2023, in honor of Black History Month.
African Americans have played a central role in U.S. history. Carter G. Woodson, who in 1915 founded ASNLH (Association for the Study of Negro Life and History), now ASALH (Association for the Study of African American Life and History), sought to preserve such history and to promote Black American achievement. Not until 1976 was Black History Month officially recognized by then President Gerald Ford.
Our collective county history must encompass all citizens, past and present. Remember Harriet Tubman, Martin Luther King, Jr., certainly, but also recognize those who were / are less fortunate, had / have less notoriety, but nonetheless belonged / belong to this, our collective community. Resist anything that lessens African Americans. We are better than that - we must do better. Let our legacy be one that aligns ourselves with our neighbors - all of our neighbors, and be good stewards of the history of all who inhabit our county.
Given under my hand and the Privy Seal of the County of
Columbia at the Supervisors Chambers in Hudson, New
York this 8th day of February in the year of our Lord 2023.
_________________________________________________________
Matt Murell, Chairman
Columbia Board of Supervisors
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March 1 is Deadline for 2023 Property Tax Exemptions and Renewals
If you are renewing any property tax exemptions or applying for a new one you must apply by March 1.
STAR is the New York State School Tax Relief program that provides an exemption from school property taxes for owner-occupied residences. All new applicants must apply through the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance. To register, call 518 457-2036 or go to the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance website. (Link below)
Or call your local assessor for more information:
Lynn Hotaling, Assessor
230 Mountain View Rd., Copake, NY 12516
518-329-1234 Ext. #4
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Columbia County Launches Clean Heating, Cooling, and Energy Efficiency Campaign
There will be a public online informational meeting on February 28 at 6:30pm as part of Columbia County’s campaign to encourage residents and businesses to install highly efficient heating, cooling, and hot water heating equipment. The campaign also provides assistance in assessing building efficiency and identifying more ways to save energy and money.
The technology behind these upgrades, called "heat pumps,” provides significant increases in energy efficiency and comfort while reducing energy costs, saving money, and providing rapid payback on the cost of the upgrades. There are also various incentives and rebates available to assist with the costs of upgrading.
Brenda Adams, Supervisor of Canaan, urges county residents to participate. “High fuel prices and an increasing number of days with heat warnings this past year has necessitated that community members look for more affordable ways to heat and cool their homes. Heat pumps have become a sustainable choice for heating and cooling that can save consumers money and shield them from the price fluctuations associated with market demand for fossil fuels.”
Ron Knott, Supervisor for Stuyvesant, also sang the praises of heat pump technology, which he says, “has rapidly expanded the options for many of us to heat or cool our homes. Now with the available rebates and tax credits, this is a great time to explore your energy options.”
Vendors participating in the campaign include Aztech Global, Choice Heating & Cooling, Rycor, Ridgeline and The Radiant Store.
As with the county’s Community Solar drive conducted last year, this campaign is part of the NY Department of Environmental Conservation’s Climate Smart Communities Program and NYSERDA’s Clean Energy Communities Program, which assist municipalities in reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to climate change.
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Copake Bicentennial Committee
The Copake Bicentennial Committee met for the first time on January 31 with all three Honorary Chairs in attendance. Edgar Masters, Angelo Valentino and Flora Bergquist, all appointed by the town board earlier this year, joined the committee at their inaugural meeting and expressed their support for the town celebration.
The town board appointed Kellie Nardin to serve as chairperson. At the first meeting, Ms. Nardin welcomed all the members and expressed her hope that the celebration of the town’s 200th birthday would include the entire town. The bicentennial will begin with a commemoration of the town’s first town meeting, which was held on April 4, 1824, and conclude with a parade in the Hamlet of Copake in the summer of 2025, when the road construction is completed. Ms. Nardin invited all the members to come up with ideas for events to be held throughout the year and stressed that events would be held not just in the Hamlet of Copake, but also in Copake Falls, West Copake, Copake Lake and Craryville.
The vice-chairs of the committee, who were also appointed by the town board, are Lesley Doyel and Liana Gaston. The members of the committee are Town Historian Howard Blue, Robert Callahan, Suzanne Hollenbeck, Vana Hotaling, Winette Edge, Lindsay LeBrecht, Roberta Roll and Gina White. At the February town board meeting, the board appointed two additional members: Maryanne Fallon and Cyd McDowell. Supervisor Jeanne Mettler is the Town Board liaison.
The committee will meet monthly in Town Hall at 6:30pm on the third Tuesday of the month. The public is welcome to attend meetings and may do so in person, or by logging onto the Google Meet link, available on the town website.
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New Restaurant Opens in Copake
North Star, at the Alander, celebrates their Grand Opening
The Alander, which describes itself as a “boutique lodge at the foothills of the Berkshires in beautiful Columbia County,” has opened a restaurant called North Star. On February 5, owners Reid Kendall and Jason Seiler, celebrated the grand opening of this new Copake eatery. Mr.Kendall and Mr.Seiler purchased the motel formerly known as “Johanna’s” in 2021.
In the course of setting up their business they reached out to the Copake Economic Development Advisory Committee (CEDAC) for input. On the occasion of the grand opening they invited the Copake Town Board to help cut the ribbon.
The Alander is located at 7519 Route 22. The North Star features contemporary American cuisine and a full bar.
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Copake Grange Celebrates 120th Anniversary
Celebrate good times, come on!
The Copake Grange #935 commemorates 120 years in 2023 and is seeking Grange related photos, objects and memorabilia to be used in the celebration. Scour your homes, basements, attics, storage units and of course barns for any items related to Copake Grange #935 or Granger history. If you have any items you’d consider donating or returning; please contact copakegrange@gmail.com, PO Box 33, Copake, NY 12516.
Watch for more news on how you can participate and enjoy this year’s festivities
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Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market in the News
It’s still winter, but the Copake Hillsdale Farmers Market is busy planning for the coming season - May 20 through November 18 - and Mainstreet Magazine is spreading the word (see link below) about our wonderful local market.
As many of you know, the market has been operating successfully for a number of years and might just be considered one of the main attractions in this area and perhaps the best farmers market in Columbia County.
The market was formed through the merger of the Hillsdale Farmers Market and the Copake Farmers Market. The Hillsdale market was started around 2005 by Timi Bates
and Caroline Stewart and operated out of the Hillsdale Hamlet Park. The Copake market was launched in 2010 by Roberta Roll on the green in the center of the Copake Hamlet. The two markets merged 2014, making a new home at the Roe Jan Park with its lovely setting and walking trails.
To read more about the market go to
Vendor applications are now available at
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Grange Events
Friday and Saturdays, Feb. 17, 18 & 24, 25 at 7:30pm, Sundays, Feb. 19, 26 at 3pm - The Lady and the Clarinet. The Two of Us Productions is back at the Grange for another great production. The Lady and the Clarinet, by Pulitzer Prize winning playwright Michael Cristofer, is an exploration of aspects of love from a tantalizingly abstract perspective. Cristofer doesn’t provide any easy answers concerning questions of the heart but instead demonstrates love’s ability to manipulate human behavior. Tickets are $20 for adults, $15 for students and seniors. Please call for group rates. For advance reservations visit www.TheTwoOfUsProductions.org or call 518-329-6293.
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Friday, March 3, 7-9pm - Singer/Songwriter Charissa Hoffman in Concert. Our usual open mic date will make way for a fabulous musical night with ukulele player and singer/songwriter Charissa Hoffman, a 6th generation musician raised in Nashville, TN. She is best know for her intricate jazz arrangements and heart-wrenching alt-folk originals, rich with introspective lyrics and floating melodies. Opening act -Geneva O'Hara and Harry Hussey. Tickets at the door - $10 cash or check. For more information, contact hmbhuss1@yahoo.com.
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Saturday, March 4, 7-10pm - Dance Party! Banish the winter blues and dance your heart out with Electric Blue DJ Service. This was one of the most popular events at the Grange three years ago, so come on down for a fun and festive evening. Tickets at the door - $10. Refreshments served or bring your own.
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Saturday, March 18, 3:30pm - Movie & Soup Night - The Secret of Roan Inish. This 1994 independent fantasy-adventure film, written and directed by John Sayles and filmed on location, is based on a 1957 novel by Rosalie K. Fry. It centers on the Irish and Arcadian folklores of selkies - seals that can shed their skins to become human. Movie tickets are by donation. Dinner - $10 - includes soup, bread, salad and dessert.
For more information about the Grange and events or to join, go to copakegrange.org. The Copake Grange is located at 628 Empire Rd., Copake, NY 12516.
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Copake History
Shopping in Copake: The 1930s from Joe Michaluk’s memoirs
I have had two fascinating phone conversations in the past with Copake Falls-raised Joe Michaluk. Sadly, Joe, who lived for many years in Tucson, recently passed away at age 96. After our first conversation, Joe sent me pages of material that constitute a memoir that he wrote for his family. Here, with Joe's permission, is a little bit of that memoir. With all due respect to Wilkinson's Copake General Store, which once upon a time sold blue jeans and other things upstairs, there was another way to buy things in Copake in the 1930s. Below, Joe Michaluk recalls it.
When I was a sophomore in high school, I got a black leather jacket for Christmas. It was waist length, warm, fitted well, and came from Montgomery Ward. During the winter I always wore a sweatshirt under a flannel shirt and my great leather jacket. I recall one day during the dead of winter being up on the north end of Mount Washington. It started sleeting and snowing, and the wind picked up as I headed for home. By the time I got down to the park, my face felt like it was frozen. I stopped to look at my jacket, and it was literally covered with ice, but inside I was warm and dry. I really treasured that gift. It was almost in tatters before I parted with it before leaving for Parris Island when I joined the service.
While I was growing up, most of the shopping for clothes and household necessities came out of Montgomery Ward's catalog. Occasionally we also ordered from the Sears catalog. Sears merchandise was a bit better in quality, but it was also more expensive, and shipping from Boston cost more than shipping from MW in Albany. Naturally this was all done by mail. The order form was filled out, the weight of individual items totaled and postage determined by a table that showed fees for shipping to various "shipping zones." It was a long process from the time items were selected until they arrived at the post office; 3 weeks to a month was the usual turnaround time.
New catalogs arrived as the seasons changed. As I recall, it was Spring and Fall when they arrived. The outdated ones were "repurposed" as toilet paper in "the little house out back." There was a small shelf that held the outdated tome. I always dreaded starting a new volume since it was all ladies apparel at the beginning of the catalogs, in color and printed on slick paper. The color print was stable, but the finished provided little traction!!, and the enameled wooden seat was damned cold in the winter time. I always dreamed of a seat made of pipe with warm water circulating through it. Although it may sound funny, that's not a joke. I actually shivered and thought seriously about this as I sat and stared at the door.
(Errata in the January 2003 history posting: My apology to the Lutman family for misspelling their name and to Paulette Bonnano for referring to her at one point as "Paula.")
If you liked Joe’s little piece, consider sending me a copy of an old letter or something from an old diary in your family.
Howard Blue
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What’s Happening at the Library?
Wednesdays, 10:30 a.m.
Circle Time with Tia. Preschoolers and their families are invited to join Tia in a circle for stories, fun activities, laughs, and more!
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Wednesdays, 1:00 - 2:00 p.m.
Homeschool Wednesdays. Tia, the Library’s Children’s & Youth Services Associate, will be sharing stories and activities for homeschooled kids in the Children’s Room every Wednesday.
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Thursday Afternoons.
Lego Club. Join us every Thursday for an afternoon filled with Legos and fun in our Children’s Room. Check with us on social media for our weekly themes!
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Thursdays, 3:30 – 5:00pm
Chess Club. Chess Club is here at Roe Jan Library! We have boards but feel free to bring your own. For beginners and pros. All ages welcome. Learn how to play or challenge a neighbor! Registration is encouraged but not required. Email Tia at youth@roejanlibrary.org to register.
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Thursdays, 6:00 – 7:30 p.m.
English-Language Tutoring by Appointment. Free English-language tutoring will be available between 6:00 and 7:30pm by appointment on Thursday evenings. This tutoring program is intended primarily for adults. Instruction will be one-on-one or in small groups with Yvonne Acevedo and will be geared toward everyday conversational needs. Free childcare will be provided for children ages 3 and up. Please e-mail director@roejanlibrary.org or call 518-325-4101 to schedule an appointment.
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Saturdays,10:30 - 11:30 a.m.
Storytime with Tia. Tia, the Library’s Children’s & Youth Services Associate, will share stories and related activities for kids in the Children's Room every Saturday starting at 10:30 a.m. We hope to see you there!
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First Saturday of the Month
RJCL Monthly Prose Writers Group: Writers Wanted! Writing can be an isolating experience. This peer-led prose writers group meets on the first Saturday of the month on Zoom. The group is a safe environment that offers support and feedback to writers of all levels working on fiction, non-fiction, memoir, essay and the occasional Haiku.
If you would like to be part of a supportive and helpful writers group, contact Regina Colangelo at (914) 954-3494.
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Wednesday, February 15, 1:15 p.m.
High Falls Conservation Walk with Tia. Join Tia and Columbia Land Conservancy as we trek around High Falls Conservation Area on another Nature Quest! We will meet at 1:15pm at 540 Roxbury Road in Philmont. Snacks will be provided. Part of Homeschool Wednesday but open to all!
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Thursday, February 16, 1:00 – 2:00 p.m.
Book Marks Book Club. Join our nonfiction book club, Book Marks, led by Circulation Librarian Robin Gottlieb. Meets the 3rd Thursday of every month. For February we are reading Four Thousand Weeks: Time Management for Mortals (FSG, 2021) by Oliver Burkeman. Copies available through the Mid-Hudson Library System and on Libby.
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Thursday, February 16, 3:00 - 4:00 pm at North Chatham Free Library
Genealogy Basics: Part Two. To attend this presentation, you must have attended the first Zoom class on January 18. The second session will be in-person at the North Chatham Free Library, more free-form and informal. It will address submitted questions based upon the progress of each person’s research and Holly will answer questions. If the weather is bad for traveling it is possible that the meeting will be held via Zoom.
Holly MacCammon is a professional genealogist and archivist. She has a master’s degree in Library Science from St. John's University in Queens and a Professional Learning Certificate in Genealogical Research from Boston University.
This presentation is provided by the Columbia County Libraries Association and the North Chatham Free Library and is supported in part by the Fund for Columbia County, a fund of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation, and the Bank of Greene County Charitable Foundation.
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Saturday, February 18, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Cookbook Club. Become a member of the Roe Jan Cookbook Club. This monthly gathering, held on the 3rd Saturday of each month, is organized by Library Associate Fran Colombo. For this meeting, we are cooking from Yotam Ottolenghi's Plenty. Members will bring their prepared dish to the meeting where the group will discuss the book and share in a community meal. Bring copies of recipes to share with other foodies!
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Monday, February 20, 6:00 - 7:00 p.m. on Zoom
History Webinar: Anti-Slavery in Columbia County and the Region in the Years Prior to the Civil War. Columbia County was an important and vibrant place in the first half of the 19th century. Temperance, reform movements, and Underground Railroad activity were part of the antebellum period. Numerous freedom seekers made their way to the region, some to settle, some to find respite before moving on, knowing that support was available from abolitionists, both black and white, who made the region their home.
This webinar, presented by The Underground Railroad Education Center, brings to the public the historically documented accounts of both freedom seekers and abolitionists and highlights the leadership roles occupied by African American abolitionists, identifying who they were, what they did, and where they engaged in their activities as they sought to ensure that the promises of our nation’s Declaration of Independence were available to all.
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Monday, February 27, 6:15 – 7:15 p.m. on Zoom
Tech Lab: Manage Your Cell Phone Storage – All Phones. In need of some tech pointers? The Columbia County Libraries Association presents a series of six online Tech Labs designed for those seeking help managing basic to moderate functions like email, file sharing, navigation, storage, and more. All Tech Labs will be presented on Zoom.
In this session you will learn how to make sure your phone isn’t using any unnecessary storage and free up some space for the important things. Tech Labs are free to all ages. Email columbiacountylibraries@gmail.com to register.
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Wednesday, March 1, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Hot Topics in Healthy Aging – Clearing up Common Questions: How to Interpret Health News & Tips on Choosing a Doctor. The sixth and final in a series of interactive lectures by Dr. Paul Spector designed especially for seniors but of interest to all. Assessing the validity and significance of research reports and health news is not easy. Never has it been more important to have “health literacy.” COVID has forced us to make decisions about social distancing, masks, vaccinations, and boosters. A method for interpreting such data will be provided. In addition, a brief guide to choosing a doctor will be presented.
Paul Spector earned his medical degree at Columbia University College of Physicians & Surgeons. After years of clinical experience Dr. Spector formed Pantheon and Meaningful Fitness (personalized health organizations designed to assist individuals in attaining their highest level of function). Over the past 15 years his focus has been on preventive health, behavioral change, motivation, aging, meaningful goal-setting and how to apply scientific advances to maximize both physical and psychological peak fitness. Dr. Spector works with private clients and corporations in New York City and Hudson, NY.
This project has been supported by a grant from the Fund for Columbia County of the Berkshire Taconic Community Foundation.
This program will be presented in person and online. For login information, email director@roejanlibrary.org. Past program recordings are available on our website and our YouTube channel.
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Wednesday, March 1, 6:00 – 7:00 p.m.
Books on Tap. Join us at the Roe Jan Brewing Co. to discuss books! This is an informal book club with no homework required. Just come prepared to talk about a book you have read and would like to recommend to others. At the end of the evening, we will all have a reading list of recommended books to check out.
Roe Jan Brewing Co. is located at 32 Anthony Street in Hillsdale.
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Saturday, March 4, 1:00 p.m.
Back to Nature Series: Native Trees and Shrubs. Native trees and shrubs are the backbone of the landscape, not only adding structure and beauty to your garden, but also providing essential food sources for insects, birds and other animals. This in person presentation will cover ecological benefits of planting natives, profiles of top choices, as well as the sourcing of, and landscaping with, native trees and shrubs.
The program is presented by Tim Kennelty, a Master Gardener and Master Naturalist volunteer through the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties. Tim serves on the Board of Trustees of the Columbia Land Conservancy. He is also the co-host of Cornell’s weekly Master Gardener podcast “Nature Calls: Conversations from the Hudson Valley”. Tim has been gardening in Columbia County for more than 30 years and has developed a passion for preserving native species and combatting exotic invasive plants.
This program, the second in a series of four Back to Nature programs, is sponsored in partnership with the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Columbia and Greene Counties. No registration required.
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Wednesday, March 8, 5:30 p.m.
Roe Jan Writers Series: David Nasaw & Dinita Smith. Taghkanic residents David Nasaw and Dinitia Smith will read from and discuss their most recent works.
David Nasaw's The Last Million: Europe's Displaced Persons from World War to Cold War is the story of the refugees left behind in Germany at war's end: Jews who had survived the Holocaust, Eastern European forced and slave laborers deported against their will to Germany, and collaborators and war criminals who had fled their homelands in advance of the Red Army. We too easily and wrongly assume that once the war was over, the nations of the world, including the United States, opened their hearts and their doors to the Holocaust survivors, but it was far easier for former Nazi collaborators and war criminals, now self-proclaimed anti-Soviet, anti-Communists, to resettle outside Germany in the immediate postwar period than it was for the Jewish survivors.
David Nasaw is the Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr. Professor of History Emeritus at the CUNY Graduate Center and a past president of the Society of American Historians. He received his Ph.D. degree in history from Columbia University. The Last Million was published in 2020 and named a best book of the year by National Public Radio and History Today.
Dinitia Smith is the award-winning author of five novels, most recently, The Prince, a contemporary retelling of Henry James’ novel The Golden Bowl, which was published in April. Her novel, The Illusionist, about a young transgendered man, was a New York Times Notable Book of the Year. Her short stories have been published in numerous journals. For eleven years, she was also a reporter for the New York Times where she wrote about the literary world and ideas and intellectual trends. She is also an Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and her drama, Passing Quietly Through, was chosen for the New York Film Festival and has been shown at the Whitney Museum and the Museum of Modern Art.
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Saturday, March 11, 2:00 p.m.
Tell Me Another Story Film Screening. Tell Me Another Story is a compelling 30-minute documentary that tells the story of diversity in children’s literature, from the 1920s to the present. In addition to illustrating the effects of negative stereotypes and lack of representation, the film focuses on some of the giants who initiated positive change, from W.E.B. Du Bois, Augusta Baker, Pura Belpré and Ezra Jack Keats, to Pat Cummings, Christopher Myers, Grace Lin and Andrea Davis Pinkney. Also identified are the contributions to progress made by the Ezra Jack Keats Award, one of many children’s book awards that focus on diversity.
We will be joined by the film’s director, Damani Baker, who will discuss the project and his work with the Ezra Jack Keats Foundation. All ages welcome.
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Monday, March 13, 6:15 - 7:15 p.m. on Zoom
Tech Lab: Taking Control of Your Gmail - Managing & Organizing. In need of some tech pointers? The Columbia County Libraries Association presents a series of six online Tech Labs designed for those seeking help managing basic to moderate functions like email, file sharing, navigation, storage, and more. All Tech Labs will be presented on Zoom.
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Copake Outdoors
Copake Outdoors, the local group dedicated to having fun hiking, biking, kayaking and swimming in and around Copake, will have its next outing on Saturday, March 4 at 9:30am at Guilder Pond at the Mt. Everett State Reservation in Mt. Washington, MA.
They will meet at 9:30am at the base of the road to Guilder Pond, just off East Street. There is a sign marking the entrance that says Mt. Everett State Reservation. It’s a fairly easy 30-40 minute hike around the pond, with a few narrow, rocky places, but not much elevation. The Appalachian Trail section has some moderately steep sections, depending on how far the group wants to go. Wear sturdy hiking shoes and bring poles if you need them.
For more information and maps, go to:
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Eco Tips for Healthy Living
Heating Our Homes - Now and Planning for the Future
Although it has been mild winter for the most part (except for that arctic freeze we had a couple of weeks ago), we all have to heat our homes to stay comfortably warm and safe.
There’s been a lot of talk, and action, lately, around the ways we heat our homes. Some of us use oil, some use propane, some use wood. Traditional oil and propane systems are common, but as an individual system ages and needs constant repair, you might want to consider a more environmentally-friendly replacement option. Heat pumps and geothermal systems are efficient, clean and cost effective, and the technology has improved greatly over the past few years. No fossil fuels are burned in the systems and no fumes are produced. Furthermore, there are plenty of tax and financial incentives for both options. For more information, go to:
To attend an online presentation on Feb. 28 at 6:30pm, register at:
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If you wish to submit an article or notice regarding a community event taking place in the Town of Copake to the Copake Connection, please e-mail: thecopakeconnection@gmail.com. All submissions should be received by us by noon on the 10th of the month.
For more and current information on Meetings in Copake and events throughout the Roe Jan area, go to the Copake Website.
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Contact
Copake Town Hall
230 Mountain View Road
Copake, NY 518-329-1234
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