Concrete Fence Post Schodack N.Y.

I discovered on a stop one day to my now deceased Aunt(Covid in Texas) home a strange sight. It was a concrete fence post on her property on South Schodack Road. Other explorations led me to discover 2 more such fence posts along the road in front of a small wooded piece of property next to her house. I have last week discovered one off Niverville Rd in Columbia County. Some still have old fencing embedded in them.So the question arises what were they used for? It is most certain an average farmer would not have used concrete to make fence posts. Most likely wood and barbed wire. So what were they used for.Talking the last time with my aunt before she left for Texas and my general speculation is the railroads. All of the fence posts were found nead railroad tracks. So I believe they marked a right of way for the railroads. I would speculate they were put in at the turn of the 20th Century. The wire is old and brittle and the concrete shows signs of wear. Tops broked off and pitted. Though they are still very much embedded in the ground. So my latest discovery......a interesting find without any digging. Be Seeing You.

A New Simon Templar The Saint to be filmed

Well for those fans of Simon Templar aka The Saint of which I am I have some potentially good news. Actor Chris Pine is apparently going to play him for Paramount. Script being worked on. This character has been around since the late 1920s. He somehow manages to keep going. So hopefully in the next couple of years he will be back on the big screen.

Coal near Railroad Tracks South Schodack NY

 It has been a reasonably mild January for these parts. So I have been back to a little archeology in my spar moments, Have not found anything much. But I did find some coal near the railroad tracks in South Schodack Rd area. Small pieces. No doubt left over from when trains burned coal which some did into the early 1950s. Now electric or diesel. They were small specimens because coal is soft and wastes away quickly in weather. My mothers as well did a lot of families used to go coal hunting near these same tracks to help heat the family homestead in the 20s and 30s. 13 kids in the family and they were rather poorback then. So off I go on to other projects and mild adventures. But I have not written in a while so here is my small report.

Adam Glen Hudson

 This is a belated welcome into this world for my latest Grandson but I have not been blogging for over a year. So Adam Glen Hudson born on May 17 2018 welcome to this world. That makes 4 grandsons. Adam......I am not sure what world you will inhabit. Seems complicated but then again so  has many times before your birth.  You face a changing world and hopefully your grandpa will be around a few more years to help guide you part of the way.  You will face many challenges but I suspect you are strong and have  talents all your own. I trust you will use them wisely. God Speed.

Another MHHS Graduation

 Today I stopped by my old High School , Maple Hill in Schodack , NY. I was walking the track. Staff was setting up for the graduation that evening. Valedictorian and Salutatorian were practicing their speeches before I presume faculty members over the microphones. It was about 80. I wonder if they got through the ceremony without rain. Next year is my 50th anniversary of my senior year. Wow !!! Will have  to do some writing about that.

Back Again.......Again

 Well I am officially back again. Had a computer melt down  I also had a heart attack and a few other medical problems. But I am  atleast for this time back. Got some catching up to do. BE SEEING YOU.

Train/Car Crash in Schodack NY 1958

 I am on a small rural road named South Schodack Rd in the upstate community of Schodack NY. I am standing near the railroad tracks. In my hand is a small piece of what appears to be an old piece of car chrome, I have dug it up about one quarter of a mile from this small dirt side road. It is heavier than a modern chrome is and appears slightly melted. So why is this of any importance? So as I stand there my mind goes back to a memory I have stored away. In a sense I go back in time to circa winter of 1958. Most likely January / February. A woman by the name of Loretta Harris who was a member of The Eastern Star was coming home from a meeting of said group. On the way back from The Main St area of Castleton NY where the Lodge was she dropped off Ruth Hudson a fellow member and sister in law to her home. They talked about how it had recently started snowing  and rather hard at that. Was she going to be OK returning home. She had a relatively new car a 57 Chevy Bel Air a car that was destined to become a car collectors classic. So she felt reasonably safe. She drove slowly on into the night. She passed by the then new Maple Hill High School and turned onto South Schodack Rd. This road was not a very populated road  Even now after some development in this century it is sparsely populated still. Lots of corn and soy farmland now , a couple of dairy farms and corn fields then ,  she and her husband Donald  owned a several acre apple orchard on that road at that time.
 Ms. Harris drove slowly that night as the snow had picked  in intensity. As she came up to that dirt road that veered off South Schodack Rd  didn't realize she had come to the point where the road was a right curve and she went off onto the gravel and dirt side road that emptied into corn field as it does to this day. Only she got  stuck on the railroad tracks. Try as she might for the next 7 or 8 minutes she was stuck.Then she heard the train whistle. looked to her North and thought through the heavy snow she might be seeing a dim light in the distance. PANIC.  She tried quickly to back up. Tires spun , smoke arose. The whistle was much louder . She grabbed her purse got the door open and got out of the car. Stumbled down towards a large in a panic A few moment later there was one hell of a bang and crumple of sheet metal and chrome glass and rubber. Heavily applied air breaks wailed out in to the dark snowy night. The car was pushed down the tracks dumping off pieces of the car body as it went. From what witnesses said it was a good half a mile or more before it stopped. The car was burning and totaled of course.
 Loretta Harris was found sitting against a tree by the neighbor nearby.  She had been crying and was in a state of shock. She was wearing a long evening gown dress as is often Eastern Star protocol.It was dirty and torn and the farmer threw his coat over her , His wife called the State Police and her husband.
 It was a long night of firetrucks , state police cars and wrecker trucks. The next morning Doctor Austin our local MD stopped by the house checked her over and it is said administered her a sedative to allow some sleep. That next evening several family members gathered with her to be of support. By the way a couple of days later her husband hit the ceiling as we used to say. Her son David tended to side with his father.
 Back in the present the road looks the same , the neighbors house sits abandoned nearby and the piece of possible semi melted  Chevy chrome is my possession. It was a peaceful warm late summer day. Not like that night more than 60 yrs ago

Back Again

 Well I have been gone for quite a while but I am back. Not that  I have not been busy. Been doing alot of old man thinking. So I will be seeing you soon.So be seeing you

Goodby Sir Roger Moore...Bond & Templar

 Today the third man to play 007 in the movies and play Simon Templar on Television died. I have written a few blogs on Bond and Templar so I  thought I would write a short few more words.. He lived a long life , an interesting life. Whether he was a member of The Mavericks or Bond he was an old fashion movie star. He did work for UNICEF using his star power for good.  Though he was not able to revive The Saint {one of last projects}. He dies as a man who was part of a rich & interesting era now gone by still influential. So goodby Sir Roger. RIP

Thinking About 1967 in 2017

 I have been really busy the last couple of months.....Traveling around North Carolina , Blue Ridge Parkway , Asheville , a  good size VW car show in N.C. Working on my health etc. Anyway , I am searching a road in my hometown {South Schodack Road}. Doing some research there and planning a dig. But as a side event I am going back 50yrs to 1967. It started with a lecture on CSPAN TV from a panel of historians and one archeologist discussing the year. This was in January of this year. As I dwell in that old era perhaps that year has more to it than I would have thought. Done a couple of interviews so far and a little basic googling. By the end of the year I will see if it is worth a blog or two. I know what your thinking......what the hell kind of life does he live. Oh by the way in Asheville I finally gave into a long held temptation.....with my history / archeology hobby. I bought an Indiana Jones hat. So I guess I go on these quests to make myself worthy of  THE HAT. Be Seeing You.

Goodby GM.'s Opel Subsidary in Europe

Last week GM closed a deal to sell their Opel Division in Europe. Well as some readers may know during the 60's and 70's Opel was a brand sold in North America.  For a few short yrs the brand really did give the VW imports a run for their money in our market.  For those that are to young to remember they were a line of cars from a basic small  Kadet to a Opel GT sports car.  They had a fastback , station wagon and a sedan called an Opel Rallye which was the car I wanted as a young man. I have a poster of one in my home office. It is derived from an ad in 1967 , the year they introduced  the model.  It talks about the more powerful engine , 24% more horsepower. Dual carbs and exhaust.Steel belted radials. Rally lights which  really functioned as fog lights. They said the cockpit  was worthy of a "fine road machine". The price in 1967......2,192 dollars. She was the kind of semi sport car that didn't look so hot but  could move and handle quite well especially on the back roads  of my hometown of Schodack NY. 
 My mother owned the basic Kadet , that she drove to work when she was the Town Clerk. in the 60's and early 70's. She would not buy a VW Beetle even though she loved them because of WW1 and WW2 and the brands association with one Adolf Hitler. It was a boxy little car that had a very small engine but was fun to drive....really. My friend Ron Kunicki loved to drive it. One late summer long weekend we drove it all the way to SUNY Fredonia dropping off people to college along the way.
 Perhaps at a car show you might see one but from talking to some people that owned one they have fond memories associated with that car brand. One Robin Zimmer with her Opel station wagon related to me how she used to love passing big trucks on gradients with it. It probably brought out the wild woman in her as she was the quiet type in high school LOL. So anyway , fond memories aside it was an important section of automotive history. Decently priced cars , that were overall the reliable second family car or starter car of my generation. I thought it deserved  a bit  of a send off from me. Who owned one and enjoyed it. Goodby GM's Opel and thanks.

Secret Masonic Lodge NYS Capitol

 I am not really a conspiracy kind of guy. I don't see world domination groups in various corners of the world. However , I do know of a semi Masonic order that was located near the State Capitol  Bld in Albany New York. I suppose I should tell you first how I know this......well I had an uncle {now long dead} who was in the NYS Assembly in the 1960's.. He told me about it in the 1980's shortly before his death. He came from Rensselear County in upstate NY. Recently I interviewed a former higher up member of the NYS Secretary of States Dept. Reluctantly , he told me about it. So here is what I know.
 It was started during the Alfred E. Smith era  when he was Governor in the teens and twenties. It is rumored he was himself a member. It was located away from the Capitol in a private club an example being The Fort Orange Club. Members included elected state political figures members of the Governor's office and various other state dept. One had to go through  what they called a {service}. One pledged silence , brotherhood  and what they referred to as  { civic cooperation}. One was "tapped"  for membership by a mysterious person only referred to as "The Butler".  Membership I was told by my uncle was highly selective. It costs 500.00 dollars in 1962 to join. The most important element for one to be chosen was the ability to keep ones mouth shut about your membership. What was discussed in the lodge was usually NYS business , politics ,  deals.
 So.....now you know what I know.....by the way I doubt it still exists to be honest. Though it is not something one can easily inquire about. Animo non Astutia

Small Pet Graveyard Castleton NY 12033

 Castleton NY is a small village in the upstate region. It has seen better days. The manufacturing is gone , the main street business district is all but disappeared. It is now a bedroom community. In better times a great house was built on a street called Green Avenue.....somewhat mansion like. Next to it is a seniors development called Castle Hill built on old Hudson farm property. Between them is the remnant of an old bridle path used as recently as the mid 1970's by one of the previously owners the Lindy family. They also had a ski rope tow in the back wooded area. As a young kid I walked that area and set off to confirm an old memory. About 100 or so feet from the street I discovered the remnants of an old pet graveyard. Started in the early 1930's by a couple who lived there untill the early sixties. They would use old pieces of 2 by 4's as grave markers. Much has disappeared over the years and grown over. But with careful searching I found the location. The marker I found and examined was I believe was a dog named Shep that died in 1946 as was stated on the marker. Took time to clean it off and read it. Since been returned. To create this I presume that those dog owners truely loved their pets and visited . A memorial I believe built with love and concern and a ration of grief. People do love their pets. Rediscovered for a moment as it all returns to dust and ashes.RIP.

A Son's Promise To His Father Post 2016 Election

 My Father was a lifelong resident of the Town of Schodack NY 12033. He was in local politics for 40 straight years in elected office. 20 yrs as Supt. of Highways , 20 as Town Supervisor. He was a Republican. His brother was a State Assemblyman and State Senator and his wife was a 3 term Town Clerk.
 At the odd age of 54 he had a son from his 43 yr old wife. He began to drive a school bus for the Schodack Central School part time to make ends meet.  Local Pols were not paid much back then. So you see I was raised in a very Republican home.
Many years later in Maple Hill High School. I was told a story by an English / History teacher at Maple Hill High School that in 1928 a large KKK rally was held in our town to protest the run for President by our then Govenor Alfred E. Smith. The Klan was a powerful force in America back then. Smith lost , Hoover won. My father reluctantly agreed to discuss it with me......afterall .....that story had gotten buried , rarely if ever brought up. I had never heard about it. None of my friends had. He told me that many people were terrified , the few Jewish families were very fearful. He knew all of them because they were all Freemasons. The few black families in some cases fled for a time. A couple never returned. They held a night bon fire   preached their hate. The Catholic families kept their lights off in their houses that night. Terror gripped many people who were not"the right kind of American" My father and a couple of other Town officials walked the streets in order to main order and hopefully hold down the fear. You seehe knew many of the people who participated in the rally. My Father referred to them as ignorant. He spent the next election proclaiming a fact he was proud of.....I am of the party of Lincoln. A phrase one does not hear anymore.
 A couple of years later he lay dying at Albany Medical Center. He was then 74. He called me to his by side because he was worried about his son's future. You see I was a child of my times , he thought me quite radical. He asked me to keep a level head and to not stray to far from a sensible middle path in life. We also discussed our difficult relationship with our ages being so radically apart. He said "well you were a hell of surprise but I did the best I could." I paused and said thank you father. I looked at him and I said I promised to stay on the level path.
 Now Donald Trump is President elect. He has just selected  a man I and millions of others consider a White Separatist and Brightbart bigot. his name Steve Bannon. Donald has also referred to many minorities in what I consider racist ways.
 Father I kept my promise to you. Donald Trump  does not have my support as you did not support the KKK.
 You may wonder why I wrote this. Well an old high school friend  on facebook requested to me that I express what I feel. She feels Facebook has gotten way out of control with all the hate. So Kathy Meyer this blog is dedicated to you and thank you for your friendship. Now you know where I stand.

Deja vu Opitmism ....1960's ?

 I wanted to write this one before this upcoming  election. Going back to last July , I was in Belmont N.C. sitting outside on a warm summer night {smoking}. The air conditioners were running , cloudless sky , moon visible. Very quiet. Then for some reason I began to have the odd experience of deja vu. That feeling you have been at this particular moment before. Lasted for less than a minute. That was only the third  time in my life that I have had that experience. One explanation is that you have been in a similar circumstance before and you had maintained a latent memory of it. So , where did I experience that before.........
  Well I am not totally sure but from my feelings during the experience it comes from sometime in the late 1960's. That feeling was a light optimism , all most a carefree optimism.  Wow....interesting. As I explored this moment and talked to people like my 88 and 94 yr old aunts I have come to believe that those yrs for some people atleast were optimistic yrs and we have lost that. One can never be quite sure bur I believe my generation was one that believed we could accomplish anything. From landing on the moon to Woodstock and social readjustment to curing illness etc. Not just young  people but the adults around us. We would create a better world though visions could differ. depending on one view.
 Somewhere in these intervening 50 or so years the optimism {which I believe we took for granted} has slowly and often quietly slipped into our angry election time of today. People are angry at this present moment. I have come to believe increasingly that lack of optimism is as destructive as depression both personnel and economically.  I have also begun to understand why  some people  remember those years so longingly. They don't just miss their youth , it was that times optimism they long for. I also think that when I have spent time explaining the 60's to younger people perhaps it is that feeling they look for. Maybe.......?

The Great Piano Factory Chimney of Casteton NY Comes Down

 Recently I explored near the current Castleton Fire Company Bld on Green Avenue in Castleton N.Y. 12033. Taking my trusty linoleum knife I probed in the back of the property. I came up with a small piece of pre= 1950's brick. I knew from childhood that I was in the general location of the old Cheney Piano ActionFactory. There are more than one history on line talking about the piano days of Castleton. So what I am going to quickly discuss is the last remnant of the piano works. The great Chimney. Made of brick and probably 3 stories in height it was a last reminder of when my hometown was the largest makers of piano movements in the world. We had a sign near our old train station so stating. The chimney was the tallest standing structure in Castleton or it's adjoining  Township of Schodack N.Y. It had stood for many years in the then vacant lot. As kids we often played near it. Some citizens of the village thought it may very well be unsafe because there was no structural support around it. An citizens committee was formed with the town board's approval to study whether it could be taken town. Donald Harris a well established member of the Masonic community was it's chair.
 Multiple meetings held etc , and a proposal was set before the board with cost , wrecking companies etc. The board after some discussion passed the resolution in the circa late 50's to do the project. Within 2 months the wrecking company arrived and work began. What I remember was the fact they had to bring in a large crane and wrecking ball. What was thought to be an afternoons work turned into  a two day event. The town Supervisor Lewis Hudson was amazed to witness what it took to demolish that chimney. Of course , there was a cost overrun. Finally , after the brick was all carted away and the dust settled  a woman's group from the Methodist Church  planted a rose bush there which lasted about 2 yrs.
 Many people were somewhat saddened when  the chimney came down ,  a lost piece of their own history was gone , for some a place of play was gone. Such . I guess was and is progress. Oh and by the way in case you might wonder what a piano action  is.....it appears to be the mallet type device that strikes the string on the piano.

My Hometown : Things Do Change : MHHS

 Recently , I stopped by my old high school. Maple Hill High School in the town of Schodack NY 12033. The school was setting up for the graduation ceremonies that evening. Outside graduation is a tradition at the school. After I walked the track I was able to strike up a conversation with the principal , Ron Agostinoni. We talked briefly about the weather , class size. I happened to mention my old principal. Ron , said that he had heard of him. I mentioned that those were rougher days at the school as far as discipline was concerned. What he said next thrilled me. He said he did not believe in that sort of stuff. He wanted the students to respect him not fear him. Wow......what a concept.  Respect not fear. So I wanted to just say that things can change for the better. Ed Psy research does make a difference , kinder and gentler can sometimes prevail.

Golden Farms Milk Bottle Found Schodack Landing New York

 Well , it's not the Cup of Christ but it was an important find for me because it is linked to a part of my family and especially my earlier life as a kid and young teenager. My uncle owned this farm as did my great uncle Burt deeded later to his son and was only recently sold though my cousins and family still own property there.  The bottle was discovered  at my 87 yr old aunts home {Jeannie Harris} in her basement that we were rearranging and getting rid of some stuff. The bottle was a gift from her.
 The bottle is from the 1920's or 1930's and trust me it is rare. Raised glass label , the label reads fully , Kenneth Golden Schodack Landing NY. An area in Southern Rensselaer County in upstate NY. Back 50 or so yrs ago this area was populated with well establishes family farms owned  through multiple generations. Corn , Hay ,  Milk some other veggies in smaller amounts were the main farm staples. Those days are now somewhat of a foggy memory because many of those farms are gone. As are the days where this bottle used to show on peoples doorsteps delivered by people like my great  uncle or his son.
 By the way I spent time during summers helping during haying time at this farm. I helped stack hay bails. I was much younger then. By the way at that farm is where I learned to like my favorite drug.....strong morning coffee. So a piece of my family history rediscovered  , some good memories added.

RIP : The Cremated Cairstairs

Arrived last night from Belmont North Carolina around midnight. Over a twelve hr drive. Brought my Grandson Hudson back after a week long visit with grand ma & pa. One of the things I did  was bury a handful of ashes in a beautiful botanical garden down there. Daniel Cairstairs , pronounced Carstairs. By request of him and his sister I was given 2 packets of cremated remains to bury somewhere in my travels. He wanted to be spread out. The other place he is "resting" is at a small wooded area next to Maple Hill High School in the Town of Schodack New York. Both places you might walk very near him  close to rocks.
 I knew Cairstairs when I spent one yr in boarding school. We met at a rowing event and we rowed against each other. We did not particularly like each other at first.....I thought him a snob. He thought me a jerk. Somehow in a complicated life we both came across each other in more accepting times. At Lime Rock race track in the late 70's. We kept in touch. We both like cars. He went into finance at first.....me.....education. He later became an adjunct professor in Connecticut. So I thought he might as a symbol of his life to be buried near a school. And so he is. His sister seems pleased with where I selected for both places. I know part of him remains in 06037 in an area known as Webster Ridge.  So goodby DC. RIP

Angry Elections 1968 , 1016

 As I tend to do , I have been paying attention to this years Presidential Primaries and general politics in this year of 2016. Many commentators have remarked that this is as angry an electorate as they have seen. Well  that may be so. But the angriest year I can remember was 1968. Let me take you back for a moment. to that time as I remember it.

A. The Vietnam war was raging on , every Thursday the body counts would come out telling us how many we had killed and how many of us were killed. The country was deeply divided over the conduct of that war. Families were often split , anti war protests were taking place on college campuses and the streets.

B. Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King were both assassinated that year. My brother was sent into Washington DC along with troops across the country to help quell riots. I can still remember watching smoke rise from Albany NY from my hometown of Schodack. The police in Albany had to surround the Governors Mansion as rioting crowds began to push north towards that area.

C. There were counter culture riots at the Democratic Conventions in Chicago that summer. It was a bloody angry night.

D. Politics were consumed by Vietnam and angry push back from the 60's. It was a 3 way race that year but it is often forgotten that  it was George Wallace  who ran the 3rd party run . He was very angry over the entire civil rights movement and took out his outrage out on Federal Power.  He won a couple of states. It was joked back then that he woke up angry.

E.  We were a highly divided nation , over war & peace , social programs ,  young vs old. etc. People wanted blood . My hometown of Schodack was even angry. A small indication was at Maple Hill High School  a janitor discovered in Mr Crosses room a Album of speeches by Adam Clayton Powell ,  a former Congressman and Black Activist. One evening in late September he took it out to the soccer field and poured some gas on it and burned it.  He was quite proud of that act though he never admitted it at work. He did brag about it in the bars.

F. Finally in November Richard Nixon was elected to the Presidency. He ran on saying he had a secret plan to end The Vietnam War. I still am amazed he got away with that.

G. Finally as a Post Script a small story. At Christmas time we first circumnavigated the moon. We all watched as we saw earth rise over the moon for the first time. It seemed to  truly move many  people as we stumbled towards a new year. After the astronauts returned safely they received hundreds of  telegrams of thanks and praise. One in particular caught the astronauts attention. All it said was "thank you ....you saved the year.'

 So much for angry voters. , a rocky road ahead. But one advantage of being older is I been by this rodeo before. By the way , I still retain some of my anger from back then in case you care.