4th Quarter dues are coming up

Have you paid up?

The fourth and final installment of your 2008 Homeowners Association dues is due on October 1.

Dues are $355 per household. If you haven't yet paid, please get your checks to Treasurer Kathy Murray ASAP.

Thank you.

Meeting set, candidates needed

The next Terrace Homeowners Association membership meeting is scheduled for 7 p.m. Monday, October 5, at Faith Lutheran Church, 50 Leversee Road.

This meeting is important for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the need for volunteers to come forward to serve on the HOA Board.

We know we'll need a secretary, since Pat Whitman's schedule no longer will allow her to serve. She has said, however, that she will help train a successor.

Our bylaws require us to elect people to the board on an at-large basis, and the board then decided who fills the positions, including president, vice president(2), treasurer and secretary.

However, our practice has been for candidates/volunteers to specify which position interests them. In no instance is any position a particular taxing one, timewise. This is a perfect opportunity for residents relatively new to the Terrace to become involved in our community. What we try to avoid is having the same people doing the work all the time, while others provide little or no input.

We hope to see you on October 5, and bring your "running" shoes, Mr. or Ms. Candidate.

Images from a summer picnic

The Umpteenth Annual Terrace Summer Picnic went off with nary a hitch Sunday afternoon under the big tent on the Common Lawn.

Special thanks to our clever and hard-working Picnic Committee: Nadeen, Amy, Rosie and Joe.

The theme was celebrating our individual ethnicities -- with Irish being the overwhelming background. Here, Julia and Harvey display their connections.

PHOTOS BY BILLDOWD

 

Nadeen started the event off with some yodeling, Wisconsin style, and announcements.



Then, it was off to an afternoon of FUN ...





... FOOD ...



...and FLAMES.





And here are a few random shots, taken by Bill Dowd.

April and Jerry appear mesmerized by the table sparklers.



While in another attention-getting moment, Jerry explains to Joe that what he found on the lawn was not a deposit from a very large animal.



A whole bunch of this from Lorraine and Amy ...



... led to a tentful of atmosphere for Tom, Julia, Bob, Polly and others.



Meanwhile, Rosie was snapping shots of all the attendees.



A study in very different facial expressions between Mary Ann and Paula.



Shirley seems to be making her point in a chat with Julia and Polly. (In the background is Bill Engeltke, Rosie's dad and inventor of the Put-and-Take game.)



Bob in action for the winning team (Bill, Bob, Paula and Joe) in the annual boccie tournament.



Claire chats with Rosie's mom, Rose.

Property reassessment being considered

The City of Troy is considering a full reassessment of all properties within the city as a way of updating its tax base.

However, according to a staff member of the Assessor's Office with whom I spoke today, nothing has been decided about properties in the 12182 ZIP Code.

She suggested residents of the ZIP, which includes the Terrace, familiarize themselves with the issue and keep watching the newspapers for an announcement of any public informational hearings that specifically pertain to 12182.

Literature is available at Window 3 on the first floor of Troy City Hall that includes a presentation titled "Fair Assessments for Every Property Taxpayer" and a pamphlet titled "Reassessment Frequently Asked Questions."

You also can obtain information online from the state's Office of Real Property Services.

FYI, the state's Real Property Tax Law does not require assessments to be at 100% of market value. It does, however, establish a standard that assessments be fair at a uniform percentage of market value.

-- Bill Dowd

Picnic weekend is almost here

In case it slipped your mind, this weekend marks our annual Terrace Summer Picnic, set to start at 2 p.m. Sunday under the tent in the middle of the circle.

Just $5 per person and a pass-around dish. As you know, this will be an ethnic celebration, so wear your national colors.

And, don't forget the traditional, informal PPPP -- the Pre-Picnic Pizza Party at 5 p.m. Saturday night. It's a pay-as-you-go event.

Food and fun at area festivals

If ethnic festivals or local-produce events full of food, music and entertainment are your thing, our community is loaded with them.

• THE 21ST ANNUAL SHRINE FESTA ITALIANA will bring a wide range of ethnic food, music, displays and activities to the Italian Community Center (right), 1450 5th Avenue in Troy.

The event, scheduled for Friday through Sunday, September 11-13. Hours are 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 5 to 10 a.m. Sunday, with a 10 a.m. Sunday mass.

Traditional Italian wines with peaches, Sambucca-laced espresso and anisette as well as draft beer, sodas, coffee and tea will be available to accompany the traditional foods such as eggplant and chicken Parm, pasta fagioli and other meat and pasta dishes.

As part of the tradition sharing aspect of the event, attendees are asked to bring old photos and documents showing their families' history to be scanned and returned, for eventual use in the organization's book.

Live music will include the Good Time Band and singer Al Bruno. Parking will be available in the former market lot. Additional details: (518) 274-0508.

• THE 4TH ANNUAL LITTLE ITALY STREETFEST is set for noon to 9 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 12, in Schenectady.

This will be an opportunity for visitors to sample foods being sold by local restaurants at tables featuring such items as sausage and peppers, eggplant, calamari, zeppole, chicken Parmesan and pannini sandwiches. A variety of beverages will be available to complement the foods.

Italian music, cultural exhibits, art, genealogical information and films will all be featured.

The Little Italy neighborhood is on Jay Street off the north side of Union Street between the 400 and 500 blocks. Parking is available in nearby lots and streets.

• Most people stay once removed from their primary food sources, settling for the middleman -- restaurants, stores and even farmers markets -- to supply them with the goods.

That can be remedied by attending the annual COLUMBIA COUNTY FARM FESTIVAL, being hosted from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, September 19, at Golden Harvest Farm, 3074 Route 9 in Valatie.

Wines, beers and ales will be supplied by Goold Orchard's Brookview Station Winery of Schodack and Chatham Brewing.

Participating farms supplying locally produced products this year will be Kinderhook Farms, Tierra Farm, Katchkie Farms, Fix Brothers Orchard, Mocosta Enterprises, Hawthorne Valley Farm and Store and The Farm at Miller's Crossing.

In addition, live bluegrass music and square dancing, along with pumpkin painting, tractor rides and other activities for children will be part of the festival.

• Restaurateurs as well as home cooks will be able to vie for bragging rights when the annual HUDSON VALLEY CHILI COO-OFF is held next month.

The competition this year returns to Waterfront Park in Hudson, Columbia County, after a year across the Hudson River in Catskill. It will take place from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday, October 10, as part of the Riverfront Farm Fest.

A beer and wine tent, live music and children's activities will be included in the event, sponsored by Columbia County Bounty. I've been a judge for several years, and can recommend the event.

'Water, water everywhere ...

... and not a drop to drink."

That line from "The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by the English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) came to mind on Sunday afternoon when I stopped to gaze at the Cohoes Falls and found someone with a much better view.

A lone bicyclist left his wheels close to shore (see background when you double-click on the image to enlarge it) and somehow managed to make his way to the edge of the falls where he sat down and looked around. He also outwaited me. I presume he got back safely.

An 'Olympian' ethnic picnic is in the works

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ANNUAL TERRACE PICNIC SCHEDULE

Advance Registration: On the mailbox gazebo bulletin board no later than Wednesday, Sept. 9. Needed for the headcount.

PPPP: The traditional Pre-Picnic Pizza Party will be held at 5 p.m. Saturday night before the picnic, under the tent.

Picnic Day Registration: 2 to 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 13. $5 per person.

Introductory Activities: 2:30 to 3:30 p.m.

Games: 3:30 to 4:30 p.m.

Eat: 4:30 to 5:30 p.m.

---

The picnic theme this year is the Olympics, focusing on ethnic diversity and pride.

Even though it's September, we won't let summer end and defiantly say, "Let the Games begin!"

(1.) How many national origins are represented in the Terrace population? (Is there anybody not Italian?)

• Time to display your national colors at the picnic. Wear an item of clothing, a scarf, a banner, a flag, an accessory to represent your ethnic background.

• If you have an ethnic recipe, please consider making it to bring as your dish-to-pass.

(2.) To learn more about our neighbors we will open with an activity designed to discover their hidden talents, hidden life experiences, hidden contributions to society.

• There will be pencils and index cards at each table, and you will be asked to write your name on the index card and then list two unusual, fascinating facts about yourself that people would never imagine about you. In the larger sessions we will read the cards and try to match the descriptions to the individuals. So, be thinking of two amazing and unique things from your background that nobody would relate to your stoic veneer.

Your Picnic Committee:

Amy Willard (#32)
Nadeen Thompson (#2)
Rose Hastings-Weaver (#13)
Joe Claeys (#17)

Apartment complex hearing set Thursday

The latest residential construction proposal for our neighborhood is scheduled to come before the Troy City Planning Board at 6 p.m. Thursday, September 10.

The project is for a large apartment complex off Oakwood Avenue and Farrell Road, directly opposite the southern entrance to the Highpointe community. It would include a new road, called Stoneledge Drive, to be built.

The land was sold to a developer by Oakwood Cemetery.

Residents of the Terrace are encouraged to attend the Thursday meeting of the Planning Board to obtain first-hand the current details and status of the project.

The first hearing was at the Planning Board's August meeting. As noted in flyers being distributed by the owners' associations representing the various Highpointe entities, "The Planning Board was told over and over by our residents of the immense traffic problems already in place on Oakwood Avenuye. We emphasized how the apartments, mostly two bedrooms, could have at least two drivers with perhaps two automobiles. We asked that a traffic study be done before any approval to rezone the land."

Obviously, adding several hundred cars to the daily mix of traffic already clogging Oakwood Avenue (Route 40) will create a problem of exit from, or entrance to, the two Highpointe/Terrace/Moneta ends of Highpointe Drive and will create safety, air-quality and noise problems.

In addition, the length of construction would add to disruption of the legitimate expectations of peace and quiet. Wear-and-tear on public highways maintained -- such as they are -- by our tax dollars also is a worry.

Some of us also are concerned about the nature of such a large complex that would have transient residence rather than property owners.

City councilman to visit Highpointe Monday

John Brown, an at-large member of Troy City Council who is running for reelection, will hold a public meeting from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Monday, Labor Day, at the parking lot adjacent to the tennis courts on Highpointe Drive.

A flyer provided by the "John Brown for Troy" campaign says the session was scheduled to allow you to "speak to your city-wide representative about issues important to you and your neighborhood."

I suspect the main issue will be the proposed rezoning of a 50-acre plot of land at Farrell Road and Oakwood Avenue now before the city government. If approved, it would allow an apartment complex to be constructed there.