Going out for Plum Fest:
Old homes honored, new bonds fordged as Clarksville celebrates



NEW SCOTLAND — Both history and hamlet pride will be celebrated this Saturday as the Plum Fest, in its sixth year, returns to the hamlet where it started—Clarksville.
"There’s a lot of history here dating back to the 1600’s and the first patroons," said Susan Dee, a Clarkville resident, the event’s publicist. The Clarksville Historical Society, the New Scotland Historical Association, and the town of New Scotland are hosting the event.

Today, says Dee, Clarksville is a strong community which is caring, open, and neighborly.
"I know everyone on my street," Dee said.
Dee was a city person. She grew up and lived in cities until her mid-30’s. Now, she said, "I have great pride in the fact that I wave at everyone because somebody probably is a neighbor."
This wasn’t the mentality Dee had when she first arrived in Clarksville in 1985. As a single woman, she said, "I was the kind of person who liked to be anonymous." This was particularly for the safety but also the anonymity, she said.

She purchased an affordable fixer-upper, which had historic architectural features, and moved into the neighborhood. Immediately the neighbors were knocking on her door to say hello and welcome her.
At first she was hesitant about living in such a tight community. "I didn’t need everyone to know my business, especially as a young single woman," Dee said with a laugh.

But she learned to appreciate the benefits of a caring hamlet. In the ice storm of 1988, she said, she was frightened when there was crashing all around her. She was debating trying to drive to a friend’s house in Delmar so she wouldn’t be alone. Just as she was getting her coat, to try to brave the storm, a neighboring family came knocking on her door. Knowing she was alone, they asked her if she was okay, and wanted her to come over for dinner.

Today, Dee and her husband of 16 years love Clarksville. They still reside in the house she bought, fixed, and painted in her younger years.

She also works in Clarksville now; she manages a consulting firm out of her home.
"You learn a balance you come to appreciate," Dee said, of caring about neighbors but also respecting privacy.

Clarksville is part of the town of New Scotland, but is in the Bethlehem School District, so this hamlet has a sense of belonging to both town centers.
"Some people consider that schizophrenic, but I don’t," she said, explaining that the relationship between both towns is really a focal point of what Clarksville’s culture and community is about.

Shared history leads to current focal point

Clarksville was originally part of the town of Bethlehem and was known as the village of Bethlehem P.O., until New Scotland seceded from Bethlehem in 1882, said Marie Hornick, Plum Fest co-chair and a trustee of the New Scotland Historical Association; she is also a member of the Clarksville Historical Society.

In 1833, the hamlet was re-named Clarksville after the postmaster of the time, Adam Clark, she said. Clark had been the second postmaster to Bethlehem P.O. in 1826, but was the first postmaster of the newly formed hamlet.

At Plum Fest this year, the historical societies and town are dedicating two markers on Saturday recognizing the hamlet’s postmaster history. One will be placed in front of Clark’s old house on the Delaware Turnpike at 2:30 p.m.

Clark had also been an innkeeper of the Clark Hotel, which was demolished in 1962.

Bethlehem P.O. had been the very first post office in the whole town of Bethlehem, Hornick said.

The first postmaster, from 1812 to 1826, was Judge Henry L. Meed. The post office was inside the Meed House, Hornick said. This Saturday at 11:30 a.m., a second historical marker will be unveiled at the Meed House, a large yellow house on the Delaware Turnpike across from Plank Road.

Meed was also the town of Bethlehem’s supervisor from 1821 to 1822, Hornick said.

New Scotland and Bethlehem town officials will attend the Meed House to recognize the interconnected history of this Clarksville site, Hornick said.

A postal cancellation will be available all day at the Clarksville Post Office. The stamp says Clarksville but also has Bethlehem P.O. in parenthesis, Hornick said.

All there is to offer
"I’ve enjoyed Plum Fest every year," Hornick said; this is the first time she’s been one of the lead organizers. She saw it as her turn to give back since she has enjoyed the annual opportunity to explore New Scotland, she said. Many years she found herself driving down country roads she had never seen before.

The festiva, which circulates among the town’s five hamlets, because New Scotland is plum in the middle of the county.

The Clarksville Community Church and the Clarksville Elementary School are main centers of this year’s festival, along with the Onesquethaw firehouse.

The Clarksville PTA is moving up its usual October craft fair for the Plum Fest. Town historian, Robert Parmenter, will present a slide show at the school of Clarksville’s historical sites.

The Clarksville Community Church is running a pig roast from 4 to 7 p.m. A car show will be held in the school parking lot.

The firehouse will hold a breakfast from 8 to 11 a.m. and will conduct an extrication demonstration with its new equipment purchased with the money raised from previous breakfasts, Hornick said.

In the evening at 7 p.m., the band Mind’s End, sponsored by the town’s recreation department, will play at the firehouse. Hornick said a beer license has been secured, so no outside beverages are allowed.

Clarksville is the home to many organizations not seen in other parts of town.

The Northeast Cave Conservancy is hosting its annual Community Day in conjunction with Plum Fest. Cavers will give surface tours of the cavesites, talking about the geology, Susan Dee said.

Mountain Spinners will demonstrate weaving and spinning.

The Onesquethaw Fish and Game Club will teach fly-fishing and fly-tying techniques.

The Onesquethaw Watershed Conservancy, with a cold-water research group, will lead an educational seminar on Trout Unlimited, a program to improve the quality of the water in the creek, to revive what was a thriving trout stream in the 1930, said Hormick.

Hormick was excited the other day when a neighborhood kid retrieved a four-inch crayfish from the creek — the water hasn’t been clean enough to support this type of life for years, she said.

From creek to mountain vista

Another year-round regional attraction in Clarksville is Bennett Hill Preserve. The preserve’s 155 acres are owned by the Mohawk-Hudson Land Conservancy.
"It has become one of our more popular preserves," said the land conservancy’s president Daniel Driscoll. One of the reasons it is so popular, and regularly has hikers, he said, is because the trails are in walking distance for the the people living in Clarksville.

Bennett Hill Road resident Steve Siegard will be leading a guided hike up Bennett Hill during Plum Fest, starting at 10 a.m..

Some of the plant species that are noteworthy on the hill including bear berry and pitch pines, Driscoll said.

The land conservancy acquired the property in 1998 when Dr. Jerry Bilinski of North Chatham gave it to them. The conservancy then organized a committee in the Clarksville area to maintain the trails on the preserve.

Siegard is one of the committee members, and a member of the Adirondack Mountain Club, Driscoll said.

Bennett Hill is 400 feet high; the view from the hill includes downtown Albany to the east and the Helderbergs to the north and west, Driscoll said.

The hill is made up of primarily of sandstone and shale, with very little soil over the bedrock. The shale sits on limestone, Driscoll said, so there are a number of sinkholes at the base of the mountain, since limestone is easily dissolved by water.

There is a wetland on the top of the hill. Water flows down the northeast slope of Bennett Hill and then into the sink holes at the base, Driscoll said. That water then reappears 1,500 feet later in the Onesquethaw Creek, he said.

There are also a number of springs at different location along the trails, Driscoll said.

To follow the large loop trail on Bennett Hill takes the average person two hours, Driscoll said. People are welcome to hike Bennett Hill all year-round, he said, explaining that the conservancy’s mission is to preserve open space for recreational use.

After a hearty hike, walkers can enjoy a number of lunch options at Plum Fest, including Crazy Herb’s Texas Barbecue as a fund-raiser for the Clarksville Historical Society, and lunch by the PTA.

A few of the other staple attractions at Plum Fest include the historical associations’ white elephant sale and drawings; a community-wide garage sale distinguishable by purple balloons at each participating house; children’s activities, such as making bird houses; and an ice cream social.

The Plum Fest, said Dee, increases knowledge of local history but also provides community fun.