This job is a real pane

If you see a flurry of re-construction work going on around the Terrace this week, you can be sure of three things:

• It's June.
• It's not pouring.
• A lot of windows are being replaced.

Of course, if it is raining, the first point still applies.

Sealed with a ... flair

They're there for a reason.

Those traffic cones are letting you know Harvey and Tom have been busy filling the deeeeep cracks in the parking lot next to the mailbox gazebo, so watch your step.

There is a rumor these busy guys are planning a "Guess How Many Quarts of Filler We Used" contest. Hint: I lost track at around 20.

Memorial Day

We're reminded of the sacrifices of others each day we pull out of the Terrace and onto Oakwood Avenue. There, to the right -- and adorned with a fresh wreath today -- is a sign honoring two local veterans who died in combat.

To honor all who served their country, I'd like to share a column I wrote for the Times Union last July 4th holiday.

AND THE DEAD SHALL INHERIT THEIR HONORS

By William M. Dowd

"I admit that when I heard the men who also were there share their memories, I cried," said the veteran now in the ninth decade of his life.

He's a born-and-raised New Yorker not often given to sentimentality. He joined the Navy at the age of 19 in World War II, getting his training at Sampson Naval Base in the Finger Lakes. Then, as a grown man with a wife and kids, he served in naval combat during the Korean War.

Like so very many of the rapidly disappearing "Greatest Generation," his health in recent years has prevented him from making it to dedications of new monuments to our veterans and war dead. He does, however, watch such ceremonies on a large-screen TV set his sons bought him a few years ago. He wouldn't miss them for the world.

These days his mind is on the past and how we mark it. Because this week we celebrate the birth of a nation, ours is, too.

In recent years, we have seen long-overdue attention paid to properly honoring all who pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor, to paraphrase the signers of the Declaration of Independence.

Each time some sort of honor for veterans is proposed, my first reaction is favorable. That may in part be because I am reminded daily of how important such things are.

The reminder is in the form of a small metal sign on a Rensselaer County portion of Route 40/Oakwood Avenue reading: "Lt. Colonel William J. O'Brien and Sgt. Thomas A. Baker Memorial Highway - Congressional Medal of Honor Winners."

It was installed on my commuting route in 2003 in memory of the two Troy soldiers for their spectacular courage under Japanese fire during the historic World War II battle on the Pacific island of Saipan. But it also serves as a prod to be mindful of the sacrifices of all military personnel.

Will we see monuments in the future to the 2,000 Americans who already have died in Iraq and Afghanistan and the others who inevitably will fall there? Of course we will. But it is my fervent hope that it won't take a numbers game to make it happen.

The very fact that any Americans died in honorable service is enough reason to commemorate them. It should not require the coining of a catchy title for a generation, or a groundswell of public guilt over how we ignored the needs of so many after they gave us so much. And numbers certainly should not determine what efforts shall be honored.

Besides, in American military history, the numbers often are out of proportion to the public memory of the event.

In the War of 1812 that so few know about, 2,300 Americans were killed, but only eight died in the Battle of New Orleans most people will recognize. The Battle of San Juan Hill in Cuba during the Spanish-American War, a legendary action that helped propel Teddy Roosevelt to the Governor's Mansion in Albany, claimed just 82 American lives.

The attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, killed 2,388 Americans, and another 3,000 died on D-Day, June 6, 1944, on the beaches of France. People readily recognize those events, but far fewer can even tell you where the six-week-long Battle of the Bulge was fought in that same war, even though it cost some 19,000 Americans their lives.

In all these numbers we had a mix of heroes and cowards, privates and generals, amateurs and professionals, willing and unwilling. The common denominator is that they died - some for a belief, some for merely following orders. Either way, those who acted well deserve our enduring respect.

There are those who contend that our military might is our best monument. Lyndon Johnson, the target of public vilification through much of his Vietnam era presidency, addressed that view when he spoke of commemoration and symbolism during a speech in Baltimore 40 years ago:

"The guns and the bombs, the rockets and the warships, are all symbols of human failure. They are necessary symbols. They protect what we cherish. But they are witness to human folly."

Northern Drive being resurfaced

A note of caution: Milling (prepping roads for resurfacing) has begun on a section of Northern Drive, heading down into Lansingburgh. (Coming back up, too, now that I think of it.)

That portion of Northern had gotten so bad, the rough part of the road awaiting a new topping actually is smoother, as we noticed while heading down there the other day.

Says Mayor Harry Tutiunjian, "We are happy to see that the project will be completed in the near future. We realize there are many other areas of the City that are in need of work. We ask that those residents be patient, and we will try as best we can to pave the streets in the greatest need of repair this year.”

We had hoped Hyland Circle would be one of those, but even though it is beginning to show some wear there are many other streets in the City in much worse shape. If we're lucky, we'll get some City attention, but don't hold your collective breath until we do.

Let's go to the movies

A selection of Rensselaer County business people is starring in a selection of short videos as part of the county's push to expand the retail business sector.

They're kind of fun to view, and all you need is the proper Quicktime video player. Just link to the Rensselaer County Economic Development and Planning office's site to see the "movies" and access other information that is part of the Discover Rensselaer website.

Diamond Ridge to host Terrace May 30

Note: This meeting was cancelled late afternoon the day of the event by the Diamond Ridge management, citing an emergency that would keep its lead presenter from attending. The meeting was not rescheduled.

The management of Diamond Ridge has invited all Terrace residents to attend an information session at the retirement complex on its expansion plans at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, May 30.

The session is a prelude to Diamond Ridge's third appearance before the Troy Planning Board, on June 8, with its project that would result in an expansion equal in size to the number of Terrace residential units.

We are urging as many residents as possible to attend, particularly those of you who have not attended any of the Planning Board meetings at which Diamond Ridge has explained its project and shown modifications made in the initial drawings, some of them in response to Terrace residents' concerns.

Good neighbor do's and don't's

• Do ask guests staying more than a brief time to use your driveway or one of the designated parking areas rather than crowding our curving streets.
• Don't toss papers or cigarette butts on the roadways and lawns.
• Do remember to replace burned-out exterior light bulbs, for safety's sake.
  
• Don't feed squirrels, deer, etc. All wildlife experts tell us that decreases the animals' desire to fend for themselves. It also encourages them to come to our yards, where they cause a lot of damage.
• Do contribute notes, announcements, photos, jokes, hints, etc., to your Web site.
  
• Don't be reluctant to volunteer for Terrace events. We tend to rely on the same core group of people to make things work. It's everyone's neighborhood.
  

It's spruce-up time

Now that the grounds of the Terrace are in shape and the flowers are blooming, we have some periodic maintainance facing us.

Paint, for one thing. It was recommended during the construction phase of the community that cedar trim as well as front doors and window shutters be painted at least every five years. Most homes have followed that schedule, although there are several that have never freshened their paint.

Under our ownership agreement, the colors of doors and shutters may not be altered and, as noted at our May 8 membership meeting, even getting a color that "is close enough" isn't good enough. Secretary Pat Whitman will be mailing out copies of the board-approved paints and colors along with minutes of the May meeting.

Shortly, we'll have a sign-up sheet posted at the mailbox gazebo to see who is interested in co-operatively hiring a professional painter if a group discount can be obtained. Again, as noted at the membership meeting, this is a neighborhood venture, not a Homeowners Association responsibility.