Your board, committee members for 2014

Wondering who does what to keep our community moving?

Here's the current list of the "worker bees" volunteering their time and talents for 2014:

• The Board 
President Claire Steiner
1st Vice President Trent Cox
2nd Vice President John Victor
Secretary Colleen Walsh
Treasurer Jerry Gordon

• Architectural Committee
Claire Steiner
Bill Dowd
Jerry Gordon

• Grounds Committee
John Victor
Dick Harte
Sid Legg
Bob Malphrus

• Beautification Committee
Colleen Walsh
Paula Fox-Murphy
Florine Rogers

• Nominating Committee
Bob Hayward
Paula Fox- Murphy
Dick Harte
Trent Cox

• Rules Committee
Joe Claeys
Bill Dowd
Jerry Gordon

• Webmaster
Bill Dowd

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Paint the town red tonight, relax at home Thursday

HAPPY NEW YEAR to all on The terrace.

Your worker bees have checked with the U.S. Weather Service as well as our local TV meteorologists (the former was necessary because the latter tend to deal largely in Doomsday scenarios) and the consensus is:

Don't drive on New Year's Day or Thursday if you don't have to.

Temperatures are expected to dip as low as single digits, and some blustery winds may accompany the incoming snowstorm.

REMINDER: Although some trash collection routes in the City of Troy have had their pickup days changed in anticipation of the snowfall, ours has not.

You still need to put your trash cans and recycling bins out Thursday night for Friday morning pickup.

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In the spirit of the season, for you

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Scenes from our 2013 Holiday Party

Thanks to Jerry Gordon for providing these images -- and an alibi for the attendees -- from the Terrace Holiday Party.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Get-well cards for Nadeen

Our neighbor Nadeen Thompson is a patient at Samaritan Hospital, being treated for double pneumonia.

If you would like to have a get-well card reach her quickly, you can drop one off with Claire Steiner at No. 3.

Thanks for you kindness.

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'Tis the time for giving -- to the Association

A gentle reminder: First-quarter 2014 dues must be paid by Wednesday,  January 1.

As always, you can save the cost of a stamp by dropping your payment in the white lock box below the mailbox gazebo bulletin boards.

Checks should be made payable to THCA. Treasurer Jerry Gordon has sent out an e-mail to all of you who make use of that new-fangled modern communications form explaining the various ways to pay -- quarterly, semiannually, annually, etc.

Thank you.

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Par TTTTTT -- Have you signed up?

A reminder: If you plan to attend the December 13 Terrace Holiday Party at Tammy's residence, be sure you have signed up.

The registration sheet, a bit worse for wear by being assailed by inclement weather, is on the mailbox gazebo bulletin board.

Hope to see you there.

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Happy Thanksgiving to all at The Terrace

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The mail won't fall through

For the observant among us, it must have been noticed that we have had an improvement in the mailbox gazebo.

The badly rusted supports for the package-sized mailboxes that were threatening to collapse have been removed and the boxes anchored into the structure itself.

Thanks to our usual "worker bee(s)" for the improvement!

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Terrace resident Lewis Hall passes away

The following e-mail was sent to Terrace residents this week by President Kay Duclos.

Dear Fellow Residents:

I am sad to report that Lewis passed on last weekend due to his illness.

I have been in touch with his daughter Naima who is presently here to make immediate funeral arrangements for burial to take place in Chicago.

There will be a memorial service to take place on Saturday, December 7, at the Hilton Garden Inn on Hoosick Street. I expect we will hear more about this in the coming days.

I have offered our deepest sympathy to Naima and the family. A memorial contribution will be sent as soon as we learn the wishes of the family.

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A new documentary on the City of Troy

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Microbrewery/restaurant project under way in Troy

Former Trojan Hardware buildings.

• From the Dowd on Drinks blog 

TROY — The city may become home to a second craft brewery if approval of a $50,000 loan from the Troy Local Development Corp. is any indication. 

The organization has unanimously approved such a loan for Kevin Blodgett’s Trojan Lofts LLC company to support the transformation of the former Trojan Hardware buildings at Congress and Fourth streets. 

Blodgett requested the loan to pay for new facades at 90 and 98 Congress Street, to stabilize 90 Congress, help pay for a new roof and heating/air-conditioning system, and get the project in shape to comply with all city codes. 

Once done, the connected buildings will become home to the Rare Form Brewing Company microbrewery and the Harrison Food & Beverage, a bar-restaurant-deli. Currently, Brown’s Brewing Company on River Street is the city’s only commercial brewery. 

Anyone who has seen work being done on the Congress Street buildings may wonder why the commercial plans have just been made public. Blodgett explains that four apartments on the second floor have been completed and three more are being worked on. 

“Rare Form Brewing Company is currently waiting on licensing from the [federal] Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) and the New York State [Liquor] Authority. We have also begun construction on our brewery space and tap room. We are expecting our equipment to be delivered in November and, once our licensing comes through and our construction is finished, we will be ready to open,” he says. 

Rare Form plans to manufacture four permanent beers — Sabbatical Session Ale, Cascadia Double IPA, Wee Plaid Scottish Ale and Satan’s Gut Oak-Aged Imperial Stout — plus a rotating line of seasonal brews.

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Did you turn your clocks back today?

If you seem to be off-kilter today, or can't find your favorite Sunday daytime TV show, you may have forgotten the old saying:

Spring forward, fall back ...

... as in setting your clocks back one hour to Eastern Standard Time, which returned at 2 o'clock this morning.

If not, you missed an extra hour of blissful sleep. Better luck next year.

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Beware, phone scams are on the increase

Scams are nothing new. They had them in biblical times, they had them during the Great Depression, and they have them today.

The current ones, however, sometimes are so sophisticated it's difficult to tell when you're the intended victim of one.

Joe Claeys, for example, reports that his household was targeted by a telephone scam that has been reported popping up around the country.

Your phone rings and the caller says "Hello, Grandma?" (or Grandpa.) You respond, "Bobby?" or whatever your grandchild's name may be. The scammer then knows your grandchild's name and proceeds as if that is who is calling.

"I'm in Florida and I had a bad car accident," the scammer goes on. "I need $400 to get home. Can you give me a credit card number I can use to get a ticket? I'll pay you back when I get home"

At this point, some people are so concerned that a family member is in trouble they immediately try to do the kind thing and fork over their credit card number. Remember, as we age not everyone is as alert as you. But ...

Bam! The scammers have you -- and can charge up large numbers of purchases as well as withdraw cash from your credit account.

That's not the only phone or e-mail scam going on, of course. Julie Jason, who writes the "Retire Secure" column for the Times Union, had a fascinating report published today under the headline "This is your big chance to tell an 'IRS agent' to take a hike." It deals with a variety of scams.

Here it is: 

 By JULIE JASON

If you get a call from the Internal Revenue Service telling you that you owe taxes that must be paid right away, it may be a scam. 

The caller may provide you with his name and IRS badge number, as well as the last four digits of your Social Security number.

You may even see the caller ID on your phone show an IRS 800 number. Software called "spoofing" does that trick. The software disguises the caller's real phone number and replaces it with another. It can be purchased complete with background noise to make the call sound as if it is coming from a call center.

If on such a call you don't agree to make a payment immediately by prepaid debit card or wire transfer, you may be threatened with arrest, deportation or suspension of a business or driver's license.

Don't be surprised if the next call you see on your caller ID identifies the incoming call as being from your local police department.

You may even get an e-mail from "the IRS" supporting the bogus calls. If you do, do not open any attachments or click on any links in the message. Instead, forward the e-mail to phishingirs.gov.

A legitimate IRS contact will be by mail, not by email or by phone, said IRS spokeswoman Peggy Riley. Neither does the IRS send emails, texts or other electronic communications through social media. Plus, the IRS would not ask for confidential information, such as PINs or passwords to access credit-card, bank or other financial accounts, said Riley.

What if you do owe taxes or think you might? Don't engage the caller. Instead, hang up and call the IRS yourself at 800-829-1040. You can get the information you need to address any underpayment directly from IRS officials.

 Call the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at (800) 366-4484 to report the scam. You also can go to its website.

You also may get a letter in the mail or a fax from "the IRS" that is phony. If you get a letter that you suspect is not legitimate, contact the IRS by calling 800-829-4000.

You can see a sample of a faxed "IRS" letter that requested a business to submit banking information. The fax was an official-looking IRS letter that said: "As of January 2011, Internal Revenue Service requires all businesses to submit full bank account details for all operating bank accounts maintained by them. Our records show that your business had not provided us with this information."

To see the fax, go here.

 Other tax scams include fictitious claims for refunds, such as promises of refunds for "Low Income — No Documents Tax Returns," and even offers of free money from the IRS. For a list, see IRS Urges Taxpayers to Avoid Becoming Victims of Tax Scams, and Don't Fall Prey to the 2011 Dirty Dozen Tax Scams.

You also can watch a video on the subject offered in English and Spanish, which you can link by going here.

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Take your time, DST will be with us a while longer

We may have lost summer, and we may have lost some daylight hours, but we're still on Daylight Saving Time. (Please note, it is "saving," not "savings" as so many people say.)

That won't change for a while. When our local time is about to reach
Sunday, November 3, 2013 at 2 a.m. you'll turn your clocks backward (spring ahead, fall back) to 1 a.m. 

Sunrise and sunset both will be about one hour earlier on November 3, 2013, than the day before. That's just the way it is.

For those of you who hate the thought of losing DST, it will make a comeback on March 9, 2014. Not a lot of consolation once winter gloom descends on us, but at least you can mark something uplifting on your calendar.

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Terrace, The Summer of 1995

The first residents of the Terrace at Highpointe began moving in during 1995.

That means, hard though it may be to believe, some of us have been here for 18 years, while other original buyers moved in over the next few years as the development was constructed.

With the spate of newcomers to our community (at last count, 20 of the 34 homes are on their second or third owners), we're left with fewer "pioneers."

Harvey and Lorraine Bailey are the longest residents, edging out Bill and April Dowd by several months.

Among the other original homeowners still here:

• Bernie Mackey 
• Russ and Rose Golino 
• Donna Williams 
• Bob and Polly Hayward 
• Paula Fox Murphy 
• Dick and Betsy Harte 
• Joe and Geraldine Claeys 
• Tom and Ginny Chichester 
• Tom and Peg Savchick 
• Kay Duclos 
• Terry Page 
• John and Susan Milliren 

Here are some scenes from that start-up summer of '95.

View from what was to become No. 7 Hyland Circle.

Model home (now No. 26) is at left.

Looking north(ish) toward the first curve on Hyland Circle.

View across the empty inner-circle of the Terrace.

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Brewing in Troy

The old Stanton Brewery, looking northeast.

At one time, the City of Troy was home to nine breweries. Only two of those nine made it through Prohibition -- Stanton Brewery and Fitzgerald Brothers.

Today, of course, we have Brown's Brewing Company -- complete with its own Taproom restaurant, Malt Room lounge and Revolution Hall event space -- on River Street, just north of the Green Island Bridge.

The old Fitzgerald Brothers brewery, which closed in the late 1950s, also was located on River Street, just off Hoosick Street. 

Stanton was at 5th Avenue and Ferry Street, just down the hill from the current site of RPI's EMPAC complex.

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Images from the 'Collar City'

Troy, which still bears the nickname "Collar City" despite the absence of shirt manufacturing, once was the national leader in making removable collars for men's shirts. In this portion of a stereoscopic slide, workers are folding and ironing linen collars.

Below is a typical print advertisement for their work, this one for Arrow shirts and collars.

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Autumn will return on Sunday afternoon

"Lost in the Moment," oil on canvas by Kit Hevron Mahoney.

• From The Farmer's Almanac 

When does Fall begin?

The equinox brings Autumn on Sunday, September 22, 2013, at 4:44 p.m.

Enjoy a first day of fall poem, quotes, pictures, folklore, and more.

It is the summer's great last heat, 

It is the fall's first chill: They meet. 

-– Sarah Morgan Bryan Piatt 

"The Autumnal Equinox" 

The word equinox comes from the Latin words for "equal night." The Fall and Spring equinoxes are the only days of the year in which the sun crosses the celestial equator. From here on out, the temperatures begin to drop and the days start to get shorter than the nights (i.e., hours of daylight decline).

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Local Food & Drink Events

Here are a few food-and-drink related events scheduled in Troy and immediate environs this month and next. Just click on the links for details

For the most complete list of such events throughout the Greater Capital Region, go here.

September 16-22 

Troy Restaurant Week 
Prix fixe menus at various venues
Info: Troy 279-7007 (Troy BID office)

September 21

Block Party
Fulton Street
Troy

14th annual Kids Count Testimonial Dinner 
Watervliet Elks Lodge
501 Fourth Avenue
Watervliet
273-8016

September 24 

Capital District Community Gardens' Autumn Evening In the Garden 
Franklin Plaza Ballroom
4 Fourth Street
Troy
274-8685

September 28

3rd annual Story Harvest 
Freedom Square
Where 5th and 6th avenues meet 101st Street
Lansingburgh
272-2390 (Sanctuary for Independent Media)

Craft Beer Harvest Festival 
The Beer Diviner Taproom & Market
243 Bly Hollow Road, intersection of Routes 22 and 43
658-0299

October 3

Rushing Duck Beer Dinner 
McGreievy's
91 Broad Street
Waterford
238-2020

October 7 

Grand Opening 
Bonefish Grill
59 Wolf Road
Colonie

October 13 

7th annual Chowderfest 
Riverfront Park (behind River Street)
Troy
279-7997 (Troy BID office)

Autumn In Austerlitz 
Austerlitz Historical Society at Old Austerlitz
11550 Route 22
Austerlitz
392-0062

October 19-25

Downtown Albany Fall Restaurant Week
16 participating venues
Albany

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Fall meeting coming up

The annual fall meeting of the Terrace at Highpointe Community Association will be held at 7 p.m. Tuesday, October 8. This is a departure from our usual Monday meetings.

The venue will be the meeting room at Faith Lutheran Church on Leversee Road, opposite the city's Buckley Water Plant.

Please plan to attend. If you cannot, please give a neighboring homeowner your written proxy. That helps us have an official quorum. As always, there is only one vote per residence.

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Troy's annual ChowderFest nears; start dieting now

As the leaves begin to turn and the temperatures drop, one thing always comes to mind.

Chowder!

The 7th annual ChowderFest is scheduled for Sunday, October 13, at Riverside Park, behind River Street in downtown Troy.

More than 30 local restaurants will be competing for top honors from a judging panel of food writers in such categories as best overall, best seafood, best vegetarian and most creative, as well as for the People's Choice award from eventgoers.

Live music, family events and vendor booths will be available. The event is organized and run by the Downtown Business Improvement District (BID).

Chowder fans will be able to purchase as many chowder tasting tickets as they like for $1 each. Everyone who purchases a ticket will receive a People's Choice ballot.

The schedule and the lineup of chowder makers will be announced closer to the event. Meanwhile, here's a review of last year's winners:

Judges' Awards

• 1st: Autumn Pear Chowder, Treviso by Mallozzi's 
• 2nd: Cape Cod Boat Chowder, Jack's Oyster House 
• 3rd: Grilled Black Angus Steak and Potato Chowder, Albany Pump Station 
• Best Vegetarian: Empire State Apple Chowder, Kingsway Community 
• Best Seafood: Cape Cod Boat Chowder, Jack's Oyster House 
• Most Creative: Roasted Chicken-Corn Chowder with cornbread croutons and pancetta lardons, Yanni's Cucina & Yanni's Too 

People's Choice Awards

• 1st: Cape Cod Boat Chowder, Jack's Oyster House 
• 2nd: Grilled Black Angus Steak and Potato Chowder, Albany Pump Station 
• 3rd: Roasted Chicken-Corn Chowder with cornbread croutons and pancetta lardons, Yanni's Cucina & Yanni's Too

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Thanks for helping the Rotary book drive

Special thanks to those Terrace residents who contributed to the Southern Rensselaer County Rotary Club's drive to collect books for Unity House, the Troy non-profit that deals with individuals and families in crisis.

Terrace resident April Dowd is the current president of that Rotary Club (husband Bill is president-elect, part of their dynasty building effort).

April reports that more than 500 new and like-new books for children and adults were contributed by Rotarians as well as non-Rotarians from Lansingburgh, Troy, Spiegeltown, Watervliet, Latham, Albany and East Greenbush.

Since 1971, Unity House has provided a wide range of services to meet the needs of people in our community who are living in poverty, adults living with mental illness or HIV/AIDS, victims of domestic violence, and children with developmental delays. 

Unity House will be moving from its current cramped quarters on Eighth Street to a new, large facility on Second Street adjacent to the Collar City Bridge in mid-October.

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Brown's opening The Malt Room on Wednesday

TROY -- The much-anticipated expansion of the Brown's Brewing Company complex is about to debut.

Right now, Brown's Brewing Taproom and its Revolution Hall event space dominate the lineup of restaurants and bars on a stretch of River Street just north of the Green Island Bridge. They will be joined next Wednesday, September 18, by The Malt Room, a speakeasy-style venue located in the basement of Revolution Hall.

Brown's co-owner Garry Brown has personally been leading the construction project since early last year. The pub and tapas bar will be for adults seeking a quiet, relaxed adult experience -- no big screen TV sets blaring sports, no loud music, no flavored vodkas.

What it will have is Brown's own beers and ales on six taps and three beers from cask-conditioned gravity pumps, as well as some 30 scotches and 20 bourbons.

The investment of an estimated $30,000 was necessary to complete the project, which includes a copper-top bar, banquettes, coffee shop style seating and high top tables. Much of the decor comes from old barns and homes in the area, as well as from Brown's in-progress new brewery site, an old mill in Hoosick Falls.

The Malt Room will be open from 5 p.m. to close, Wednesday through Saturday. The address is 425 River Street, but the entrance is located in the rear of Revolution Hall, near the base of the Taproom dining deck.

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Troy Restaurant Week has 3 price points

Troy Restaurant Week is an interesting variation on the familiar format used elsewhere.

Some communities use dinner-only formats, some lunch-and-dinner. Here, we're talking $5, $10, $20 and $30 specials. It also has something different in terms of time. While 5-day or 10-day "weeks" are commonplace, Troy's actually will run a true week, from Monday, September 16, through Sunday, September 22.

Here are the participants at various levels. You can see their planned offerings here.

• Ale House, 680 River Street, 272-9740.
• Bacchus Wood Fired Pizza, 33 2nd Street, 687-0345.
• Beirut Restaurant, 184 River Street, 270-9404.
• Bootlegger’s On Broadway, 200 Broadway, 874-4475.
• B-Rad's Bistro & Catering, 1809 5th Street, 326-4041.
• Broadway Cafe, 357 Broadway, 273-2233.
• Brown Bag, 156 4th Street, 326-7699.
• Daily Grind, 46 3rd Street, 272-8658.
• Daisy Baker's, 32 2nd Street, 266-9200.
• Finnbar's Pub, 452 Broadway, 326-3994.
• Flying Chicken, 122 4th Street, 326-3546.
• Francesca's Cafe, 461 Broadway, 272-3726.
• Greek House, 27 3rd Street, 272-6058.
• Illium Cafe, 9 Broadway, 273-7700.
• Jose Malone's, 405 River Street, 273-2196.
• LoPorto's Ristorante Caffe, 85 4th Street, 273-8546.
• Muddaddy Flats, 409 Fulton Street, 326-0630.
• Spill'n the Beans, 13 third Street, 268-1028.

• Sweet Sue's, 203 River Street, 892-2933.

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It's that time of the year

A gentle reminder: Fourth-quarter dues must be paid by Tuesday, October 1.

As always, you can save the cost of a stamp by dropping your payment in the white box below the mailbox gazebo bulletin boards.

Checks should be made payable to Terrace at Highpointe Community Association.

Thank you.

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Welcome to our newest neighbors

We have some new faces on the Terrace, with the closings on sale of Nos. 13 and 27.

Florine Rogers has purchased Rosie Hastings Weaver's residence at 13 Hyland Circle.

Tom Wade has purchased Pat Whitman's residence at 27 Hyland Circle.

And, shortly we'll have new folks at 30 Hyland Circle, the Jasiewicz residence.

Welcome to all. We hope you thoroughly enjoy your first summer in our beautiful community.

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Save the date, back a protest

Update (5/20/13): We have been informed that an appointment to dispute the tax assessment has been made, so we will not need Terrace residents to attend the May 28 meeting.

(Originally published 5/7/13)

Tuesday, May 28 is the date for us to show up in force to protest the City of Troy's capricious increase in the perceived taxable value of the mutually-owned scraps of land on the Terrace.

As explained at the May 6 association meeting, the Terrace board will circulate time and details. Meanwhile, please make a point of planning to join your Terrace neighbors at the grievance meeting.

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