Archive » May 2019 » Columns

The spring of 1942 found the United States at war with Japan and Germany. Japan, rapidly expanding its empire in the Pacific, was seemingly unstoppable.

The Japanese had not only had battered the American fleet at Pearl Harbor months before, but by early April had forced the surrender of American troops at Bataan in the Philippines, followed a month later by their taking Corregidor. Coming closer to our mainland in June, the Japanese landed in the Aleutians off the coast of Alaska.

In Europe, Adolf Hitler’s armies had occupied most of the continent and were sending endless bombing raids in an attempt to pound Britain into submission. Hitler’s June invasion of the Soviet Union was rapidly advancing. With ever worsening news from abroad, these were dark days for Americans.

In August 1940, with the threat of war looming, President Franklin D. Roosevelt called reservists and National Guard members to active duty, and that September Congress passed the first peacetime draft in our history, for men between the ages of 21 to 35.

By the spring of 1942, every community saw large numbers of its young men volunteering or being drafted. As the war went on, the draft expanded its classifications.

Local families whose sons and sometimes daughters were in the military hung rectangular service flags in a window, the blue stars representing their family members in the military and, as the tragic toll of war mounted, gold stars for family members killed in the war.

Communities, feeling the absence of so many of their young men and wanting to recognize their service, began displaying service flags and erecting wooden plaques or honor rolls in a public place for all to see. The honor rolls listed the names of all the local men and the occasional women who were in the armed forces.

Private Orsini MIA

as Altamont honors servicemen

The May 29, 1942 Enterprise had two front-page headlines, one reading “Honor Roll Plaque To Be Placed in Park, Plan Parade, Addresses,” while adjoining it was the lead headline “Altamont Man In Corregidor Area, When Island Fell/ War Dept. Waits Word From Japanese For Names of Prisoners Taken.”

The young Altamont man was Private Millard Orsini. Scheduled for June 21 in the park, the committee had already begun planning a parade and dedication ceremony, including all ages and groups, particularly recognizing the mothers of servicemen by seating them at the front of the dedication ceremony.

With the fate of the young Orsini serviceman hanging in the balance, Altamont’s dedication was probably the most emotional of all the local dedications.

On dedication day, the parade started from the fairgrounds down Grand Street to the Main Street, right on Lincoln Avenue, over to Western Avenue and then across Maple Avenue past the reviewing stand there and over to Depot Square and the park. Along the route, all the homeowners had been requested to display their American flags.

Four divisions marched in the parade, the first including Grand Marshall John Walker, a World War I veteran who had fought with the British and was a member of the Helderberg Post American Legion, followed by the ceremony speakers, village trustees, color guard, the British Empire War Veterans Kiltie Band, American Legion and its auxiliary, Red Cross members and their ambulance, Army jeeps and their representatives.

The second division had the Altamont Fire Department members and auxiliary and other  groups. The third division was headed by the chief air-raid warden and included the Altamont High School Band, air-raid wardens, and fraternal and civic groups. The fourth division was led by the chairman of the local Boy Scout committee, leading Boy Scout and Girl Scout units.

Once at the park, the large honor roll plaque was unveiled and dedicated. It listed 52 names with space for additional names to be added as the war continued.

The ceremony began and ended with invocation and benediction by Altamont’s two Protestant ministers with additional words from a LaSalette priest. A local woman sang “America,” followed by a welcome from the village mayor.

The actual dedication was led by Margaret Rickard and Ken Orsini, assisted by Margaret Orsini, Mary Rau, and the color guard. After the president of the fire department read off the names on the honor roll, General Ames T. Brown was the principal speaker. Mothers of servicemen were presented with service pins at the end of the ceremony.

Hamlet has plaque

on church lawn

July 1942 brought other honor-roll dedications in Guilderland’s communities.

Hamlet of Guilderland residents gathered on the lawn of the Presbyterian Church for the dedication of their honor-roll plaque, listing the names of 26 men in that election district. Both the plaque and a service flag with stars representing the 26 men had been erected on a corner of the Magill property next door to the church.

Today we know this as the Schoolcraft House, but the Magills lived there for many years in the 20th Century. There was no parade, but a dedication service was held in front of the plaque.

Opening the program, the orchestra of the Federated Sunday School played a march, followed by an invocation given by the Federated Presbyterian Church’s Rev. DeGraff and two solos, “America” and “Recessional” were sung.

Guilderland Center’s Rev. W.D. Worman of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church offered a prayer, then remarks were made by Aaron Bradt, a Spanish-American War veteran, and Rev. DeGraff offered a prayer.

The Home Bureau presented to the community a service flag that was accepted by Guilderland’s fire chief. To one side of the honor-roll plaque had been erected a flag pole to hold an American flag with the service flag hanging horizontally.

Next, many community organizations marched to the honor-roll plaque: Boy Scouts and Girls Scouts, a color guard, Sunday School children carrying flags, relatives of servicemen, Home Bureau members, the Red Cross, the Order of Red Men and their Pocahontas auxiliary (this was a fraternal organization based in the hamlet).

Next, the director of the Girl Scouts, assisted by her brother-in-law, a naval storekeeper third class, unveiled the honor-roll plaque. A Boy Scout presented the American flag and a Girl Scout presented the 26-star service flag, which were then raised by a member of the Order of Red Men. The ceremony concluded with Rev. Worman offering benediction.

Parade starts

Guilderland Center ceremony

The next weekend, Guilderland Center dedicated a service flag sponsored by its fire department. The event began with a parade headed by the 50-piece Roesselville Band (this high school preceded Colonie Central High School).

As he had been in Altamont, World War I veteran John Walker had been invited to be Grand Marshall.

In front of the Cobblestone School, an invocation given by Helderberg Reformed Church’s Rev. James Moffit was followed by a solo of “America,” a welcome, then the guest speaker Past Commander of the Albany County American Legion, followed by a few words from Fr. Dillon of LaSalette Seminary.

The main address was made by Col. John Chambliss, the officer in charge of the Voorheesville Holding and Reconsignment Point (the official name of the Army Depot).

Then the service flag was presented and the names of those on the roll of honor were read, a bugle call to the colors sounded out, and the audience recited the Pledge of Allegiance. The flag was formally accepted for the community.

Then auxiliary members of the Guilderland Center Fire Department presented service pins to mothers of servicemen and the dedication service culminated in the singing of “The Star Spangled Banner” and a benediction offered by Rev. Worman of St. Mark’s Lutheran Church.

In Westmere: A promise to

‘have a good America waiting’

The community of Westmere dedicated its own honor-roll plaque in June of 1943, recognizing the 90 men from that fire district serving in the armed forces with a parade on Route 20 and a ceremony at the Westmere firehouse.

It was noted that this was the first time in history a parade had been held in Westmere.

One of the speakers was the Albany chairman of the Joint War Veterans’ Advisory Board who looked to the future saying, “Let us promise those men in uniform that we will have a good America waiting when they return … .”

The president of the Albany Chamber of Commerce also spoke, warning the present war is “an all-out struggle for our way of life.” Reverend Carothers had opened the ceremonies with a prayer and town Supervisor Earle B. Conklin of McKownville also spoke.

Honor rolls grow

In Altamont, July 4, 1943 was marked with a parade and rededication of their honor-roll plaque, which was so filled with names that two side panels had to be added to provide space to list nearly three times the number of the original names.

The list given in The Enterprise article included one man who had died in service; one woman; and, next to Millard Orsini’s name: “held prisoner by the Japanese according to report of the International Red Cross.”

One of the seven Orsini brothers who fought in World War II, Millard survived the war and came home to Altamont. The American flag he fashioned as a prisoner of war, risking his life to do it, is now displayed at Altamont’s Home Front Café.

Two flag poles had been donated, one for an American flag and the other for a service flag erected on each side of the now expanded plaque. A man volunteered to repaint the weathered names on the original plaque and add the new names.

The rededication ceremony was similar to previous ones with clergy, civic groups, the Altamont High School Band, and officials taking part. Later that year and again in 1944, notices appeared urging anyone knowing of an armed-forces member from that vicinity not listed to make officials aware so his name could be added.

In 1944, Guilderland Center folks were raising money to enlarge the service plaque, while in Guilderland the Home Bureau was raising money to get new flags and enlarge its honor-roll plaque. If McKownville had an honor roll or service flag, there seemed to be no mention of it in The Enterprise.

These patriotic dedication parades and ceremonies served not only to honor and support the men and women in the armed forces, but also to raise morale on the home front. As members of the community came together, the ceremonies fueled their determination, no matter their ages, to do what it would take to win the war.

Some of the Old Men of the Mountain who travel to Pop’s Place in Preston Hollow travel over the mountain to get there. This past Tuesday, on May 14, the temperature for many leaving for the trek to Pop’s Place was in the mid-thirties and snow was expected on top of the mountain.

But as luck would have it there was no snow — only fog and drizzle. This weather, as we have been reporting, has caused some grumbling among the OFs; however, a few the snowbirds have returned, and our grumbling is minor compared to these guys whose blood is still as thin as water. The rest of us OFs believe our blood is still thick; it has not had time to thin out.

There is one big “however” to add to the above paragraph. In 2002, on May 18, the hill had about three inches of snow. An OF said that his brother-in-law had a 50th-year surprise birthday party planned for that day and it was to be held at Thacher Park.

Everybody showed up and the snow was on the ground, greeting all who came. The snow was more of a surprise than the party. Eventually all wound up at the OFs home where the woodstove was already running on May 18.

Ah, the Northeast! It is almost impossible to be bored. Still and all, we are getting pretty sick of the rain, chilly weather, and more rain.

But with this constant drizzle, damp weather, and rain the OFs who live in the valley are keeping a close eye on the creeks — especially the tributaries that feed the Catskill and Schoharie creeks. These OFs have a tendency to be a little skittish of long-duration rainfall.

All the other OFs can understand, especially when it wasn’t that long ago (2011) when some of the OFs had seven feet of water in their living rooms.

The last straw

There was quite a discussion on plastic straws. One OF said he was at a restaurant where they were given straws made from some kind of weed. The OF didn’t know whether to drink from it or smoke it. Either way, the straw did not last long before it dissolved into mush.

One OF’s wife purchased a combination spoon and straw made from stainless steel. The OF said, once they got them home, they found out the spoon part wouldn’t fit into a soda-type bottle.

The OF added, if he wanted to use the straw in the soda bottle, it was necessary to put the spoon part in his mouth. When he tried it with the spoon part in his mouth, he found it is really silly looking and it doesn’t work anyway.

The first thing the OF found out is that it was necessary to put the bottom part of the spoon on top; otherwise, when sucking whatever up the straw, the liquid hits the spoon and spreads all over. The OF doubts if these will ever get used at his house.

This scribe listened to the OFs talk, if briefly, on straws and plastic bags so this scribe went to our friend Google, and found that maybe we should be using multi-use shopping bags, or bags made from corn-husk fibers.

Both paper and plastic consume much of our natural resources, in oil and trees. Check it out for yourself as it would take too much space in this little column to report on all the information found.

Ailing biz

This scribe found out that one of the OFs worked for many years for Shafer Brewery until it left Albany for Pennsylvania. According to this OF, it was the workers’ own union that killed Shafer. The OF told what some of his jobs were and some were jobs that one would never think of, but they were jobs that had to be done.

One job was putting a plug in the barrel containing beer and the OF said if he (or anyone) missed with the whack of the hammer, they were covered in said beer. One OF asked who was covered in beer, and the OF answered, “Me.”

The OF said that once he was going through a police checkpoint and, when the cop looked in the window, they pulled him over for being drunk. The OF said he told the cop he went home smelling like this all the time. The OF said he worked for Shafer Brewery and showed him the emblem on his shirt and they let him go.

Another OF piped up that it was the union that killed Capital City Container and his son was out of a job because of it.

“Dangerous varmints”

The OFs talked about their first guns and how they got them. Some of the OFs received them as Christmas gifts.

One OF remembered he was given his first gun when he was about 10 years old. It was a simple single-shot Remington 22. His dad got him and his brother each one. These guns had a single purpose on the farm, and that was to shoot woodchucks.

Woodchucks were dangerous critters on the farm. They were pretty easy to get out of their holes most of the time; the Young OFs could just whistle them up. They would come out of their holes and stand up and look around for the whistle.

In the beginning, when they were farming with horses, it could be disaster for the horse if it stepped into a woodchuck hole. When they were able to switch from horses to tractors, woodchuck holes were just as bad. If a front wheel of the tractor hit one of those things, it would spin the steering wheel right out of your hand and the driver could end up with a broken thumb, or wrist. Yep, those “chucks were dangerous varmints.”

Again the Old Men of the Mountain who met the challenge of the weather (but nothing like the weather going on in the South, Midwest, and Southeast) and made it to Pop’s Place in Preston Hollow were: Chuck Aelesio, Richard Frank, Wally Guest, Harold Guest, Bill Lichliter, George Washburn, Robie Osterman, Paul Nelson, Pete Whitbeck, Mark Traver, Glenn Patterson, Joe Rack, Otis Lawyer, Art Frament, Bob Benac, Mace Porter, Jack Norray, Lou Schenck, Elwood Vanderbilt, Mike Willsey, Warren Willsey, Russ Pokorny, Harold Grippen, and me.

May is my favorite month of year here in upstate New York. After a seemingly endless stretch of cold, monotonous and gray landscapes, we are finally rewarded with warmth; sunshine; fresh green grass; budding leaves; and, best of all, colorful tulips.

May is also the month we celebrate older Americans. The Administration for Community Living leads our nation’s observance of Older Americans Month. Its 2019 theme, “Connect, Create, Contribute,” encourages older adults and their communities to:

— Connect with friends, family, and services that support participation;

— Create by engaging in activities that promote learning, health, and personal enrichment; and

— Contribute time, talent, and life experience to benefit others.

What a wonderful message this is!

Older adults represent a source of tremendous vitality for communities. They are engaged in every aspect of community life as good neighbors, experienced professionals, small-business owners, volunteers, and mentors to younger generations.

Older adults play a key role in the vibrancy of our neighborhoods and civic and faith-based organizations. Many start new ventures in retirement to assist not-for-profits or become entrepreneurs and help revitalize local economies.

The Administration for Community Living notes that “everyone benefits when everyone can participate.” We at Community Caregivers agree wholeheartedly and believe everyone has something to offer.

As a volunteer-powered organization, we offer ways for anyone, and most especially older adults, to “connect, create, and contribute.” Our volunteers engage lonely adults in our area through friendly visitor and assurance-caller programs.

Others volunteer transport non-driving adults to appointments. Some contribute freely of their time and talent as members of our board or committees.

We offer — often in partnership with libraries, the Albany Guardian Society and others — education and enrichment activities. We promote health literacy and driver safety for older adults and family caregivers. And, as partners in the Village Movement here in the Capital Region, we are discovering more ways to help older adults thrive in their communities and stay in their homes in their later years.

Please join us as a volunteer or at a future event as we celebrate older adults and their role in strengthening our communities this month and throughout the year. You can find volunteer and event information on our website, at our Facebook page, or by calling the office at 518-456-2898.

We welcome your interest this month and throughout the year. You may also join our mailing list by sending a note to

Community Caregivers Inc. is a not-for-profit organization that provides non-medical services including transportation and caregiver support at no charge to residents of Guilderland, Bethlehem, Altamont, New Scotland, Berne, Knox, and the city of Albany through a strong volunteer pool of dedicated individuals with a desire to assist their neighbors.

Our funding is derived in part from the Albany County Department for Aging, the New York State Office for the Aging, and the United States Administration on Aging. To find out more about our services, as well as volunteer opportunities, please visit our website www.communitycaregivers.org, find us on Facebook  at www.facebook.com/CommunityCaregivers/  or call us at (518) 456-2898

Editor’s note: Linda Miller is the Outreach and Education coordinator for Community Caregivers.

The stream called “Onesquethaw” undergoes extensive changes as it flows from its placid source in our portion of the Appalachian Plateau known locally as “the Helderbergs.” It incises its way through several rock layers — or “strata” — from the Devonian Period, which are between 360 and 400 million years old.

It has formed canyons, flows lazily over stretches of level terrain, and gurgles over gentle rapids and through potholes. Eventually it joins with Coeymans Creek before discharging into the Hudson River where its waters mix with those of thousands of other tributaries on the river’s course toward the Atlantic Ocean.

Some of the Onesquethaw’s most rugged and picturesque segments are off limits to most hikers as it flows through private lands; however, a stretch that parallels Lower Flat Rock Road off the section of Route 443 known as the Delaware Turnpike is easily accessible by car or bike and provides a quiet place to reflect on our area’s almost unimaginably long geologic history and the thoughts that changing seasons bring.

Privately-owned Helderberg Lake lies just north of Route 443 where it briefly runs congruent with Route 85. The lake was enlarged by an artificial dam in the 1930s and at its southern end its overflow becomes the Onesquethaw Creek as it cascades down a series of terraces and has carved out a steep gorge that descends for a mile or so as it plunges out of the steep hills of the town of Berne.

Almost entirely on parcels of private property, the gorge is formed from the thin-bedded Hamilton rock layers, strata composed of dark sandstones and shales. About 220 million years ago, a vast landmass that was to become Europe was beginning collision with proto-North America in one of the great movements known as plate tectonics.

The collision was closing the body of water that had divided the two landmasses and was pushing up a towering range of mountains in what is today eastern New England. Rain and snowmelt washed millions of tons of sediments from the slopes of these ancient mountains, filling in the waterway between the land masses and forming a series of interlocking deposits termed by geologists “the Catskill Delta.”

The deposits eventually turned to rock and are visible in western Albany County and throughout the extensive eroded plateau known as the Catskill Mountains.

This material alternates between being moderately resistant to stream erosion and poorly resistant, and thus the gorge below Helderberg Lake frequently exhibits a profile similar to that seen in many canyons in the West such as the Grand Canyon: a series of alternating steep and gradual slopes covered with piles of enormous quantities of eroded fragments called “talus.”

Near the area where Wolf Hill Road, Route 85, and Route 443 intersect, the Onesquethaw has cut down through the sandstone and shale layers to the Onondaga Limestone, the highest stratum of limestone in Albany County. The Onondaga is a hard, clean gray stone, indicative of its formation during the Devonian Period in clear, shallow, warm waters.

It is rich with fossils of many kinds of corals and in places features nodules and beds of chert, a dense rock commonly known as flint composed of silica. A number of extensive Albany County caves have formed in this layer.

For the next couple of miles, the stream runs parallel to Route 443 over nearly flat terrain with a surface bedrock of the Onondaga which in this stretch is highly fractured. In dry times of the year, the stream may flow entirely under the exposed streambed leaving it bleached and dry. In periods of heavy storms and snowmelt, the Onesquethaw boils to the surface and, gathering temporary energy from the flood pulse, may create whirlpools and rapids as it flows south toward Clarksville.

But approaching the hamlet, the stream’s path is temporarily diverted east by imposing Bennett Hill, a glacially-sculpted “rock drumlin” composed of the Hamilton strata. Eroded by the mile-high glacier that passed over it thousands of years ago, the step-like terraces of Bennett Hill are visible for many miles.

The Onesquethaw again becomes somewhat energized as it cuts through the limestone at the base of Bennett Hill and flows down through another impressive canyon. Here the stream encounters an extensive series of faults whose “slickensides” — tell-tale parallel grooves carved into the bedrock during an earthquake — are visible in sections of the canyon walls and the streambed, and in places the strata are bent and contorted by the movement of the ancient fault.

Within the canyon are small caves and springs, plunge pools, enormous potholes, giant boulders and slabs detached from the bedrock, and thick deposits of sediments composed of many rock types, some carried down from the Helderbergs, others left behind long ago by the retreating glaciers.

But in this stretch, the Onesquethaw is described as an “underfit” stream, meaning that with its average velocity — which for most of the year in these modern times is not much more than a trickle — it is incapable of eroding great chunks of the canyon’s hard bedrock or transporting and polishing large boulders. Much of this erosion occurred at the end of the glacial period when the Onesquethaw may have carried hundreds of times its present-day volume due to the melting of the glaciers.

As the Onesquethaw approaches the eastern boundary of the village, it cuts down into the crumbly Esopus Shale and for a stretch of several hundred feet it has exposed the marvelous fossils characteristic of the Esopus known commonly as “rooster tails.” These fossils represent a vast colony of tube worms whose feeding tunnels radiate out from a single point.

They indicate an ancient environment of relatively deep, calm water in which the delicate worms could have remained anchored to a single point on the sea bottom for a lifetime and burrowed through the murky organics-laden mud absorbing nutrients.

Just beyond the rustic stone bridge over the Onesquethaw on Tarrytown Road there is a pull-off on the left side of the road where a short path leads to the stream’s edge and offers a dramatic view of strata contorted by the movement of an ancient fault.

Beyond this point, the Onesquethaw is not visible from any public road and flows through private land. It continues to cut downward through the Esopus Shale and cascades over an impressive waterfall into a plunge pool.

It finally incises its way through the entire exposure of the Esopus and comes into contact with an even older Devonian layer known as the Becraft Limestone. But it is not until the stream bends and enters the wide, shallow valley through which passes Lower Flat Rock that it again becomes easily accessible and enters one of its most evocative sections.

Here for a thousand feet or so paralleling the road the Onesquethaw flows due south and is bordered on both sides by a forest of hemlocks and pines, floored by ferns, mosses, and other vegetation that flourishes in humid, shady environments. The stream itself broadens out and descends a series of low terraces producing miniature rapids as it continues through a bewildering maze of gurgling and babbling channels, potholes, and plunge pools.

The Becraft limestone layer has a thickness of only about 20 feet in this part of the county, but along Lower Flat Rock Road the rock has been smoothed off by the passage of the ancient glaciers in a broad plain known to geologists as a “bench.” Although much of the bedrock is covered here by a thin layer of soil and the forest it supports, the Onesquethaw’s path reveals the Becraft with its fascinating collection of fossils and erosional features.

The Becraft is a very hard rock and, because its surface was subjected first to abrasion by the glaciers and subsequently polished naturally over centuries by tiny water-borne sediments acting like fine sandpaper, exposures show the clean, gray limestone is flecked with thousands of closely-packed fossils. Mainly these are the shells of sea creatures known as brachiopods and they stand out as shiny white circles or crescents.

The Becraft resembles a rock type called “coquina,” which consists of great masses of fragments of sea shells naturally cemented together by calcium carbonate and often found near reefs and on the coast of Florida and islands in the Caribbean Sea. That most of the shells have been shattered indicates that the rock formed millions of years ago in relatively shallow-water environments in which the shells were subjected to violent agitation and deposition by waves in Devonian seas.

In addition, the Becraft in the streambed shows many fractures and joints — cracks caused by repeated freezing and thawing over centuries as well as expansion of the bedrock as upper layers are removed by erosion.

Because the limestone and its fossils are made of calcium carbonate, the rock is subject to chemical weathering by mild natural solvents such as carbonic acid, formed when water absorbs carbon dioxide as it falls through the atmosphere or flows over rotting duff on the forest floor.

As a result, the mildly acidic Onesquethaw waters have worked their way through every crack and crevice in the streambed, dissolving the maze of channels and potholes visible along Lower Flat Rock Road. Small channels encounter larger ones, fractures lead into potholes and plunge pools, and the tiny distributaries enter a confusing pattern of flow, sometimes briefly backwards or sideways or in miniature whirlpools, but eventually forward toward the Hudson under the pull of gravity.

Tiny dams formed by the presence of water-loving plants or water-borne debris create miniature pools of slow-moving or still water in which minnows and pollywogs and water bugs find refuge, feeding on tiny prey or bits of organic matter carried by the stream.

And of course, the patterns of flow and the sounds they produce change with the seasons and the weather.   Snowmelt and seasonal rainstorms raise the volume of the stream, causing the channels to overflow and create earnest-sounding if temporary rapids.

In dry times — especially late summer and fall — low flow in the Onesquethaw reduces the sounds of the stream to whispers. In winter, thick layers of ice form on the bedrock beneath the overhanging boughs of hemlock, creating weirdly-sculpted shapes in the streambed as well as yet more channels and dams, and water may burst from them like the icy rivers that emerge from the base of glaciers.

At such times, the stream appears black and lifeless and the sounds of fracturing and shifting ice may shatter the quiet of the valley. But with spring will come again the agreeable babbling of the brook and the cries of peepers.

A professor of mine once told our class that to be an effective geologist, one must have a good imagination — and this portion of Lower Flat Rock Road is an excellent stimulant to the mind.

Standing on its banks, one can imagine the crash of ancient seas transporting and depositing sediments and sea shells, the growth and grinding of glaciers during the Great Ice Age, and the relentless shaping and reshaping of the landscape and the labyrinths of the streambed as the Onesquethaw continues its unrelenting search for the sea.

It was Tuesday, April 30, and it was miserable: Drizzle, fog, and the early morning chill, which went right through the Old Men of the Mountain, but the OMOTM all managed to be in the right place — the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg.

The question was asked Tuesday morning, “How long do you think it will be before money will be obsolete?”

The number of OFs who gave an answer to this hypothetical question was surprising. Some answers were close to each other and some were far apart. The average answer (if an average could be figured out) was in about 20 to 30 years in the future. A couple of OFs thought we were in the beginning phase right now.

One OF related a story about needing $2,000 in cash. Naming what the money was for might identify the OF with what the OF was purchasing, but it was nothing illegal. According to the OF, the bank did not have enough cash to handle it right then.

A couple of the OFs said, “Say what!”

Then one OF said, “You should-a come to me; I would take your check.”

See, what the OMOTM meant was that, if you require a ditch dug, a tree cut down, a tractor repaired, or to get something off your chest, or even two grand in cash, it is right here among your buddies in the OMOTM.

That was just an interlude in the question of a moneyless society. The OFs seem to think this development is coming sooner than later but had no idea on how it would work.

It would be interesting to see money in a museum. The dollar currency would be seen in a glass case laid out with the penny, nickels, dimes, etc., up to a thousand-dollar bill; then would come the English pound, the Russian ruble, the Mexican peso, and so on.

This collection of money would take up a whole room in a museum when taking into consideration all the currencies in the world. People viewing the display of all that cash would probably be wondering how in heck we kept it all straight.

Thacher Park

The OFs discussed the unfortunate lady that was struck by the falling rock at Thacher Park. The OFs commented on how many times they have been to the park, and walked the Indian Ladder path along the lower part of the cliff and never even thought about falling rocks.

An OF opined that this situation is going to get worse with rock climbers and the zip line coming in and ruining the park. The park, this OF claimed, is a part of history, not a playground.

Another OF added that, with the newspaper putting the settlement amount in great big headline type, watch and see that not only Thatcher Park, but other parks, will have copy-cat type injuries to try and get large settlements. The OMOTM feel this misfortune is something the press should have buried on the inside, if reporting on it at all.

Who’s smart?

Those OFs who watch Jeopardy talked about how this guy that has won a million-and-a-half dollars on the show makes them feel so dumb. They questioned how one guy knows so much and is able to recall it in such a short period of time.

One OF said all of Jeopardy makes him feel like he never went to school at all.

Then another OF said, “I bet I am smarter than that guy; I can rewire a lamp and I bet he has trouble changing a light bulb.”

This OF was defending all the OFs.

This OF continued, “I don’t care who the king of Underbakedistan was in 1450, when his brother was off fighting the nation Notonyourlife. Hey, that was thousands of years ago, and I don’t even care who won. All of us OMOTM are just as smart as that guy is, only in different areas.”

However, none of us have made a million dollars in 21 days. Dang!

The grass is always greener ...

Lawns! Every spring the subject of lawns comes up among the OFs and not just at one breakfast, but the breakfast after this one, and the one after that.

Lawns and their care, for the OFs who have lawns, is generally a spring-summer topic. This spring, those on the Hill are having trouble working on their lawns because they are so wet.

Some of the OFs have lawns like carpets, and others are rather scraggly. The scraggly OFs maintain they have other things to do than fuss with the lawn. Those with the lawns like carpets say that is their exercise — fussing with the lawn and being outside in the nice weather.

Then there are the really old OFs who say, you guys who can fuss or not fuss with the lawn are lucky because at our age and physical condition, showering, getting dressed, and coming to the breakfast is our exercise for the day.

Disappearing species

The OFs, as part of their conversation Tuesday morning, spoke about how many tree species are either really endangered, or have disappeared from the New York landscape altogether since the OFs were YFs.

The OFs were surprised at this list. The elm, the ash, and the butternut tree were a few that were mentioned. The OFs were not completely sure that somewhere in the state there may be a few hidden in some woods in some places. If they are still here, they sure are scarce.

Those OMOTM who made it to the Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg and paid for their breakfast in hard-earned cash were: Roger Chapman, Robie Osterman, George Washburn, Bill Lichliter, Dave Williams, Harold Guest, Wally Guest, Jim Rissacher, Chuck Aelesio, Richard Frank, Roger Schafer, Marty Herzog, Jake Lederman, Ted Feurer, Wayne Gaul, Glenn Patterson, Mark Traver, Otis, Lawyer, Joe Rack, Mace Porter, Lou Schenck, Herb Bahrmann, Russ Pokorny, Rev. Jay Francis, Warren Willsey, Gerry Irwin, Gerry Chartier, Mike Willsey, Duncan Bellinger, Elwood Vanderbilt, Harold Grippen, and me.