To help achieve Governor Kathy Hochul’s initiative to plant 25 million trees by 2033, up to 2,500 tree seedlings from the Department of Environmental Conservation’s Colonel William F. Fox Memorial Saratoga Tree Nursery will be made available to plant at I Love My Park Day this year.

When I was a child in the 1960s, Altamont meant cows and farms, hayfields and apple trees, old houses and open spaces. We had moved from the village mid-decade, but we never really left it. We’d head back to the village at every opportunity — to visit friends, go to church, or often just to “take a ride.”

Planning is under way for the 250th anniversary of the American Revolution. There are commemoration commissions or committees at work at the federal, state, and local levels, including Albany County and the town of Guilderland.

The society Carter Woodson founded in 1916, now called the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, sets a theme every year for Black History Month. This year’s theme is African Americans and Labor.

“Westmere is lost and McKownville was lost long ago,” said David Bourque, who has lived in Guilderland for 50 years, the last 30 in Altamont. “Voorheesville is on the cusp of being lost to suburbia …. We want to protect Altamont’s unique character.”

Roland Tozer, President, Westerlo Historical Society

“There was considerable enthusiasm shown,” The Enterprise reported the day after the charter meeting, “and the boys all enjoyed the excellent talks given by” a group of local dignitaries. “Considerable enthusiasm” is expected once again as Helderberg Post 977 is due to celebrate its centennial with a formal dinner on Nov. 3. 

Aaron Mair says “The 200th anniversary is not just a celebration but a marker on how far we need to go. There is still work to be done for a more perfect union.”

Sullivan’s book quotes the Enterprise’s Voorheesville correspondent: “A new fad is taking place in this village. For instance, if a person happens to indulge too much in a certain drink and gets in a comatose condition, some of the ‘smart ones’ applies a mixture of oil and lampblack to their physiognomy.” Sullivan likens this to tarring and feathering on the streets of Voorheesville.

Guilderland’s current supervisor, Peter Barber, noted that McKown had served as the town’s supervisor for just over a decade until 1824 and then, 100 years later, the association was formed. “We’re now here,” said Barber, a century after that.