— Photo from John Haluska 

Guilderland resident John Haluska has finished repainting 35 of Guilderland’s 40 historical markers, to make them brighter and more legible, a project he started four years ago. The others were repainted and in many cases repaired by Brian Wilson of the town’s highway department; five still need repairs. Along the way, Haluska also painted 24 of the historic markers in the city of Schenectady. He started painting Guilderland’s signs, he said, because no one else was; the state started the historic marker program in 1932 but discontinued it in 1966. With his 35th sign, marking the burial place on Brandle Road of Captain Jacob Van Aernam, Haluska deviated from the traditional blue-and-yellow to paint one side red, because otherwise the sign blended in with the foliage around it, he said. Haluska, who said his grandchildren Lily and Luke have gotten into the act, helping him paint a few of the signs in Schenectady, hopes at some point to see a marker erected in town to honor a woman from history.