Search Results for: Church Street

Willow Street Again

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Willow Street Again   Our Friends Visit FORCE Is Here To Stay By Daniel Van Riper Carl Letson and Donald Csaposs of Guilderland, two of the principle organizers of Friends Organized to Resist Crossgates Expansion (FORCE) spoke to the January Save the Pine Bush vegetarian lasagna dinner at 1st Presbyterian Church in Albany, and neither had anything good to say about the Pyramid Corporation or about the Crossgates expansion. “Pyramid wants to destroy the quality of life in Guilderland and…

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Save Holy Innocents Church, Albany, New York

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Letter to the editor, Times Union, July 21, 2015 Photos by John Wolcott of Holy Innocents Fate of Albany’s historic Holy Innocents church unclear An opportunity to save the former Church of the Holy Innocents Seriously Endangered Church of The Holy Innocents Section of former Church of Holy Innocents collapses Read excerpts from a book about Holy Innocents Floor Plan of the Church of the Holy Innocents Read the story of Holy Innocents Church in Albany, New York, and why…

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Mall: Drop charge in T-shirt case

GUILDERLAND – The owners of Crossgates Mall late Wednesday asked town police to drop the charge against a man arrested at the mall after he refused to either remove a pro-peace T-shirt or leave the mall. The arrest of Stephen F. Downs, 61, of Selkirk, on a charge of trespassing led to a protest at the mall Wednesday by more than 100 people. Protesters wore anti-war T-shirts and gathered in the food court for lunch. They said they were outraged…

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John Wolcott, passionate advocate for Albany Pine Bush, dies

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A founding member of Save the Pine Bush in 1978, Wolcott was a month shy of his 91st birthday when he passed away Thursday ALBANY — John Wolcott, a passionate long-time defender of preserving the Pine Bush ecosystem, self-proclaimed Albany historian, and thorn in the side of developers and government officials for decades, died this past week. Wolcott, a founding member of Save the Pine Bush in 1978, was a month shy of his 91st birthday when he passed away…

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John Wolcott Obituary

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COLONIE – John Wolcott, a rebel with a cause, a purveyor of justice and the truth, died August 17, 2023, a month before his 91st birthday. He is now walking the Glory Road with Jesus. John was a genius who had a photographic memory. He was a beautiful calligrapher and made his own Christmas cards each year. He was a self-taught person who knew how to use maps to locate many details. He was an all or nothing person, which…

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Center, NY/Karner, NY Old Development Never Finished in the Pine Bush

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by John Wolcott Join us on a visit to a forgotten locale at the crossing of Old Karner Road with the AMTRAK tracks. This was bypassed when New Karner Road was built and then after a while the crossing was closed. This place was the location of the railroad stop half way between Albany and Schenectady established in 1831 when the first chartered passenger railroad in the Western Hemisphere was constructed here and for it’s first several years ran only…

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Save the Pine Bush Loses A Very Dear Friend

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It is with great sadness that we observe the passing of our dear friend, Louise Burch. Louise was a stalwart volunteer for Save the Pine Bush for decades. She folded newsletters and drove Rezsin and the newsletters to the post office. But, most important of all, she selflessly washed the dishes at the dinners, so that others could enjoy the food and the listen to the speakers. She did those behind the scenes important necessary tasks that needed to be…

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Ecology and history can walk side-by-side on Pine Bush roads

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Reprinted from the Altamont Enterprisel Thursday, May 17, 2018 Before there were cars and trucks, before there were carriages and wagons, before there were wheels, people have always made pathways. The routes they traveled linked hunting grounds with dwelling places, became a means of trade and commerce, linked one community to another or allowed one to fight another. Few of us give much thought to ancient roads in our midst. We didn’t until we got a letter from Steven Rider,…

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Nature preservers For 30 years, Save the Pine Bush has fought for ancient barrens

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Albany — A blizzard howled on the evening of Feb. 6, 1978, when a shrinking remnant from the last Ice Age faced the prospect of the bulldozer. Anyone who cared that land in the Pine Bush — glacially created sand dunes and pitch pines at the city’s western edge — was slated for an office building would have to brave the storm to complain at the sole city hearing on the issue. The storm was so bad that the state…

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Save the Pine Bush Loses a Friend

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It is with great sadness that we learned that Chet Burch passed away on New Year’s eve. Chet was a long-time volunteer with Save the Pine Bush, becoming involved more than 40 years ago. Most recently, Chet volunteered at dinners, making sure the church was open and available for our monthly lasagna dinners. A beautiful tribute to Chet was published in the Times Union. In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to Save the Pine Bush, c/o Lynne Jackson,…

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Even Environmentalists Have a Sense of Humor

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Even Environmentalists Have a Sense of Humor Even Environmentalists Have a Sense of Humor A sense of humor is essential to surviving the rigors of being an activist and fighting one of the oldest political machines in the U.S. Have you ever heard of the Ladies Against Women? I understand the group was formed to follow Phyllis Schaffly around at her speeches and ask her for her cookie and cake recipes. They have a way of poking fun at just…

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Location Is Everything – Kunstler Offers Solutions

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Location Is Everything – Kunstler Offers Solutions Location Is Everything Kunstler Offers Solutions By Daniel Van Riper We are living in "the national automobile slum. That is the human ecology of the United States." Thus spoke novelist and reformer of architecture James Howard Kunstler, who returned to speak at the May 13, 1998 Save the Pine Bush dinner at 1st Presbyterian Church in Albany. Since we last saw him two years ago, he has been "lecturing across the country for…

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The Two Month Debate – Jennings and McEneny In A Death-Grip

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The Two Month Debate – Jennings and McEneny In A Death-Grip The Two Month Debate Jennings and McEneny In A Death-Grip By Daniel Van Riper Part 1: The Challenger State Assemblyman and Albany mayoral candidate Jack McEneny found himself being interviewed by the editors of the local media outlet for the Hearst Corporation, the Times Union. After the usual questions they asked him, "How do you get along with the business community?" " Well," said McEneny, "I have a number…

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David Soares – Candidate for Albany County District Attorney

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by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Democratic candidate for Albany County District Attorney David Soares spoke at the August Save the Pine Bush dinner at the First Presbyterian Church. Paul Clyne, the incumbent District Attorney who is also running, was invited by did not attend. SPB invited Mr. Soares because in order to save our wild places, we must make our cities livable. Crime is one reason people choose to leave cities. Mr. Soares addressed the issue of crime and feeling safe…

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Save the Pine Bush Sues Albany Common Council Over Illegal Office Complex

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Save the Pine Bush Sues Albany Common Council Over Illegal Office Complex   The Portland Plan – A Better Way To Grow By Daniel Van Riper Back in 1979, the City of Portland, Oregon and some nearby municipalities drew a line around their developed areas. They mandated that all new construction must take place inside this line and all undeveloped land outside must remain farmland, greenspace or preserve. Twenty years later, planners Martin Hull and Marian Hull traveled all the…

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September 2002 Events

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Support Bicycling & Join a Leisurely Ride through Albany Monday, September 30 at 5:00 PM Meet, with your bicycle, in Albany, at the Civil War Monument in Washington Park(near the intersection of State Street and Henry Johnson Blvd.) Critical Mass, an group of people who promote bicycling as a valid transportation method, meet the last Monday of each month to take a leisurely ride through Albany. Following all traffic rules, Critical Mass riders bike two-by-two in one lane of traffic….

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16-09 Sept-Oct Newsletter

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16-09 Sept-Oct Newsletter Sept/Oct 16 No. 132 • 33 Central Ave., Albany, NY 12210 • email pinebush@mac.com • phone 518-462-0891 • web http://www.savethepinebush.org • Circ. 600 Vegetarian/Vegan Dinner Wednesday, September 21, 2016, 6:00 p.m. Climate Crisis and Practical Solutions Conor Bambrick Air & Energy Director, Environmental Advocates of NY will speak about NY Renews and practical solutions for transition to clean energy Mark Schaeffer who works with 350.org will speak about Overview of climate crisis and need for a political…

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Save the Pine Bush

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by John Wolcott The next piece in the puzzle of “Where is Trader’s Hill?” is an amazing very old parchment map in the Albany City Engineer’s collection. It is the only map known to show Margriets Bergh, and was drawn in January 1773 by Jeremiah Van Rensselaer from a survey done by himself in 1772. This survey and map were ordered by the City in an effort to correct a series of mistakes in a former survey of it’s bounds….

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Avila Keeps Advertising

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by John Wolcott Have you seen the ads in the newspaper for Avila House? They say, “The reasons for moving to Avila House keep piling up!” Well! The only thing piling up is their hypocrisy. The Roman Catholic Diocese of Albany is acting disgracefully. It is devastating what had been one of the most beautiful spots in the entire Pine Bush – a place where thousands of butterflies once lived. And to top it off, the logo for the Avila…

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Early Reference to the Pine Bush Discovered in the Dutch Records of Beverwyck

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by John Wolcott This year is the three hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the chartering of the community of Albany as the village of Beverwyck. With this in mind, let us quote a reference to the Pine Bush from the records of Beverwyck, January 7, 1753: “The Honorable Abraham Staets having requested that the description of the lot here-to-fore granted to him might be entered here, this is granted and it is situated as follows . . . on the…

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We Are Always Running After a Moving Bulldozer

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At SPB’s April lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church, SPB welcomed Helen Desfosses, President of the Albany Common Council to speak about Forces for Change in Albany’s Future. Ms Desfosses opened her presentation by noting that “we are always running after a moving bulldozer.” Albany has an incredible archeological and historical heritage. But look at Savannah: almost a thousand homes built before the Civil War have been preserved. People are surprised at the beauty of Albany and at how…

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Meat Will Kill You…Just More Good News

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Meat Will Kill You…Just More Good News Meat Will Kill You …Just More Good News By Daniel Van Riper Howard Lyman was a 4th generation rancher and feedlot operator from Montana. Once, he had 7000 head of cattle and 30 employees, wrote million dollar checks, and was named farmer of the year. Today he is the Director of the Eating With Conscience Campaign of the Humane Society of the United States. His job is to "travel around talking to people"…

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Honoring Lou Ismay at the April SPB Dinner

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by Tom Ellis ALBANY, NY: “If we lose reverence for any part of life, we lose reverence for all of life,” said Save the Pine Bush member Lou Ismay at the April 17th SPB dinner at which Lou spoke about his launching the Protect Your Environment (PYE) Club at SUNY Albany fifty years ago. He said many future members of Save the Pine Bush met each other through PYE. Before Lou spoke, Lynne Jackson read proclamations honoring Lou and his…

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The Rapp Road Historical Association Shabuta Mississippi to the Albany Pine Bush

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ALBANY, NY: Save the Pine Bush had a superb panel to mark the 90th birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. Those who attended the January 16 dinner will not forget the great presentation made by Anne Pope, Rev. Clarence Samuel Johnson, and Stephanie Woodward about life in Shubuta, Mississippi and Albany. Ms. Pope began jokingly saying, “My name is Annie Mae Pope but don’t you tell anyone.” She said she grew up in Shubuta, Mississippi, population 600. Often on Saturdays,…

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The Importance of the Tivoli Preserve

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by Tom Ellis ALBANY: George Robinson, a restoration ecologist with the University at Albany’s Department of Biological Sciences, spoke at the June 19 SPB dinner at Westminster Presbyterian Church about the history of restoration planning for the Tivoli preserve. For those unfamiliar with it, the Tivoli preserve is located north of Livingston Avenue and behind the former Philip Livingston school. The Tivoli lake (or pond) is a few hundred yards west of the former school. Also located in the Tivoli…

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Horizontality and Consensus: Group Decision Making for a True Democracy at the

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by Tom Ellis WASHINGTON, DC: 50,000 of us marched on Washington DC on Sunday, February 17, 2013, the largest climate demonstration yet, called “Forward on the Climate.” As Reverand Yearwood, who MCed the event said “ 50 years ago was very important, right here, Dr. Martin King marched. We marched for jobs and food. We marched for Equality. ….We all came together as humanity. But guess what? This rally 50 years later is as important or more important because, as…

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Mark Your Calendars!

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The Next Save the Pine Bush Dinners will be on the following dates at our new location: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 85 Chestnut Street, Albany. Parking is adjacent to the entrance on the west. January 18, 2012 Wednesday February 15, 2012 Wednesday March 22, 2012 Thursday April 18, 2012 Wednesday May 16, 2012 Wednesday June 20, 2012 Wednesday     Published in Janury/February, 2012 Save the Pine Bush Newsletter

Earth Day Update

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by Lynne Jackson ALBANY, NY: The First Presbyterian Church was the location of the April Save the Pine Bush vegetarian dinner which featured representatives of five environmental groups telling us about the state of the environment. Bobbi Chase, of the Citizens Campaign for the Environment (CEC), gave us an update about toxics. The state superfund has run out of money and has not been re-funded by the state. There are 770 toxic waste dumps around the state that have no…

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Words Over Lasagna – Recent Dinner Speakers

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Words Over Lasagna – Recent Dinner Speakers Words Over Lasagna Recent Dinner Speakers April/May 1995 By Daniel Van Riper We’ve had some excellent presentations at our monthly lasagna dinners at First Presbyterian Church in Albany over the past five months. All were well attended. Here’s a roundup: November 94 – Dr. George Robinson of the SUNY Albany biology department talked about plant and animal surveys in NY State. "I am interested," he told the crowd, "in preserving biodiversity and keeping…

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Save the Pine Bush Take-Out or Delivery!

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Hugh Johnson Retired National Weather Service Meteorologist will speak about Are the “Winds of Change” Finally Here? So we finally have a new President and a attitude toward climate change. Will it be enough or is it too late? More importantly will these policies be blocked? Meanwhile how fast is the earth warming now? Join us to listen to Hugh Johnson give us his informed opinion on the subject. How to Order Dinner All-you-can-eat lasagna dinner, with vegetarian, vegan and…

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Sprawl Costs Money

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by Lynne Jackson ALBANY: Dr. Gary Kleppel, professor of biology at the University of Albany, outlined the economic and environmental costs of sprawl at Save the Pine Bush’s June veggie lasagna dinner at the First Presbyterian Church in Albany. Dr. Kleppel opened his presentation by challenging conservation groups with the most important mission, “curbing urban sprawl.” What makes urban sprawl particularly important now is the increase in the technology sector which will lead to a proliferation of development. One of…

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New York State Historic Archaeological Site Inventory Form

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New York State Historic Archaeological Site Inventory Form Stanford Home Hearing Information Hearing Notes January 23 Hearing Canadians are Coming! Archeological Information Photos – Outdoor Photos – Indoor Bonding Editorial Preservation   Donate Contact   New York State Historic Archaeological Site Inventory Form NYS OFFICE OF PARKS, RECREATION & HISTORIC PRESERVATION (518) 237-8643 For Office Use Only–Site Identifier Project Identifier USN A09303.000240 Your Name Louise Basa and John Wolcott Date September 1, 2006 Address Basa: 1220 Waverly Place, Schenectady, New…

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Yes, the King’s Royal Yorkers are Coming!

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Yes, the King’s Royal Yorkers are Coming! Stanford Home Hearing Information Hearing Notes January 23 Hearing Canadians are Coming! Archeological Information Photos – Outdoor Photos – Indoor Bonding Editorial Preservation   Donate Contact   Yes, the King’s Royal Yorkers are Coming! Well, one man is representing the Captain Richard Duncan Company. Background: In the 1777 and 1783, Captain Richard Duncan commanded a company in the 1st Battalion of the King’s Royal Regiment of New York, under Sir John Johnson. Richard…

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Home From Nowhere – Book Review

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Home From Nowhere – Book Review Home From Nowhere Book Review by Lynne Jackson As a child growing up in the suburbs in the sixties, I really wanted sidewalks. I could not understand why there were no sidewalks. I envied the children who walked to school, and were even allowed to walk home at lunch. As I got older, I wished that I could take the bus, but as the bus stop was two miles from my house, along a…

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Mark Your Calendars!

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The Next Save the Pine Bush Dinners will be on the following dates at our new location: Westminster Presbyterian Church, 85 Chestnut Street, Albany. Parking is adjacent to the entrance on the west. January 18, 2012 Wednesday February 15, 2012 Wednesday March 22, 2012 Thursday April 18, 2012 Wednesday May 16, 2012 Wednesday June 20, 2012 Wednesday Published in Janury/February, 2012 Save the Pine Bush Newsletter

Waste to Energy Seems Like A Good Idea, But Is It Good For The Environment?

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Jim Travers, a resident of Coeymans, NY, attended the February 15 Save the Pine Bush dinner and heard Jack Lauber speak about Waste-to-Energy. These are Jim Travers’ comments. – Ed Please forward this email to all those on the Save The Pine Bush mail list. Feedback is welcomed. Thanks. Jim Travers I do not think incineration of garbage is healthy for anyone or our environment, whether it is used to create electricity or only to eliminate a portion of the…

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