Buick Opel Kadett Memo Uncovered

Sometimes one does not have to dig into the earth to practice a rough form of Archeology , or dig into an old archive in a library to find an interesting piece of history. Such is the case with a couple of garage sales recently visited. I purchased a couple of diagrams / schematics of automobiles or as it says on one a werkzeichnung. They were of Opel cars , sold in the United States appx from 1965 to 1975. The incomplete memo was sent by GM to select dealers as apparently as a sales guide. Opel's were being imported from the Opel Company in Germany that General Motors had a share in ownership. As the memo stated " to directly compete with the Volkswagen market share." It appears this memo may have gone to dealers in larger college markets. This memo from the Syracuse , New York region. They wanted the college student market. Hence , the memo advised the younger salesmen show to the Kadett fleet off the the younger crowd. It was further suggested such sales points be used as the term "GERMAN ENGINEERING. " Just like the VW. Unlike the VW this brand of cars with a watercooled engine actually had heat in the winter. The small Kadett also possessed a much larger trunk than the VW Beetle , perfect for packing off to college. The memo than began to talk about the Rallye Sport model as a quality and economic alternative to the much more expensive sports car market when there were no more remaining pages. Having driven an old Kadett , I have a certain fond memory of them. Or perhaps more a memory of youth but anyway the Kadetts are hardly seen today except in a classic car show or two. One still sees a VW Bug laboring by on occasion and are remembered much more fondly by the general public almost as a symbol of the era. The Opel Kadett left long behind.

Dead Cow Washes onto Hudson River Shore Castleton NY 12033

I recently read a story of a dead cow washing up on shore near Seattle WA. Discovered late last month by authorities who have been unable to discover previous owner. This story jogged my memory. It took me to the evening just before I fell asleep to remember the story of a similar incident in the Town of Schodack , near Castleton. I believe this story was told to me by a Malcolm Harris who lived in the Chatham NY area and was a crane operator who worked on the Castleton Thruway Bridge construction project. In the early months of the initial construction on the east shore of the Hudson in what is now the area of a shoreline NYS Park construction workers discovered a dead Holstine cow. It had washed up during the night on this late March morning. As the morning worn on a few locals made quiet inquires to local farmers , no one was missing a member of their herd. So what to do? Now a days the health dept would be called , animal control etc. The workers at the site just wanted to dispose of the dead cow. It was bloated and mangled and some speculated it may have been hit by a passing ship. So somewhere near where the concrete pillars that support the bridge structure are located , a pit was dug. Cleared brush and refuse from the site was gathered up and placed in the pit as well as the cow. Fuel was added and ignited. As the day wore on additional material was added along with additional fuel. It appears the fire smoldered well into late Friday afternoon when it was buried by bulldozer. So that is the story for what it is worth. A piece of odd history now told.

Oarsmen Eleven Rowing Club : Castleton NY 12033

Castleton on Hudson New York 12033 is a small village located about five miles south of the State Capitol of Albany. In it's hay day , Castleton was a small but busy river port and train stop. Those days are long gone of course. At present there is a Castleton Boat Club located on the river. But at one point for a few yrs there was a rowing club that made it's nominal home in that town. The name was Oarsmen Eleven Rowing Club. So named because of the original 11 members. I was one of them. We did not row sculls but had a 16 ft ocean going life boat built in the 60's by the Boston Whaler company. Four could row one on the tiller. Sort of like rowing " The Eights ." By the way I had upon occasion rowed the eights in my junior yr of High School. Hence that is how I was drafted into our society , from past acquaintance. Hello Tim Matheson where you now might be. Anyway my first trek was what we hoped was to be our annual early morning float down. We started near Troy at about 4:45 am and traveled down the river starting in the dark. Perhaps we were trying to prove we were tough. But it was about 17 above zero and we were freezing our asses off. Though I must say Albany never looked better than in that early morning light. Still we were overjoyed to land in the Papscanee Island Preserve area get the boat out and get warm. We went out to breakfast at the East Greenbush Diner after the team was reassembled. We all agreed that of maiden voyage was fun but not to be an annual event. Jesus it was cold. By the way brandy did help. So the club pretty much was a late spring to mid fall affair. We stored the boat in back of 110 Scott Avenue and took turns on use. The club was in existence from 1994 untill 1999. A few new members were added along the way but as we went deeper into middle age interest became less. Plus our wives grew tired of it as well.The boat ended up in 06037 and last time I heard went next to Croton /Harmon N.Y. For a while the club rowed the river from below the Castleton Thruway Bridge to near the Port of Albany and back again. Oarsmen Eleven.

Hudson Hawk's Barbecue Sauce

Well , I am not a great cook. My culinary experiments have sometimes met with disaster. However , I have obtained some success with my barbecue sauce I like grilling even in winter so I tend to stick with that. So here by request is my recipe for Hudson Hawk's Sauce.

One quarter cup butter
2 cans chopped tomatoes or puree
One quarter cup vinegar
One small to medium onion , finely chopped.
2 tsp. salt {you can use less for lower salt diet}
2 tsp. chili powder
2 tsp paprika
Pinch or two of ginger
2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce
1 quarter tsp Tabasco or more according to taste.
1 tsp of black pepper {I prefer course ground}
1 and a half tsp of sugar
Mix ingredients well and simmer for 20 minutes. Use for chicken or beef or other favored meat. This recipe makes about enough for 5 pounds of meat or chicken. Have also used as a serving sauce. ENJOY.

History Is Not An Antidepressant

So many times in difficult moments of our personnel or civic life you often hear people remark how they miss what America and their place in it was. In certain days people feel we were better or more civilized or whatever. We all probably fall victim to these emotions at some point. I myself as well . I have even been retrospective in this my occasional blog about my interactions and experiences of my life past. But the truth so often is not quite as we remember. I have a few fond memories of my hometown life in Schodack , NY 12033. Certain friends and events. But if after moments of thinking of past times with a reflective kindness my sense of historical reality always seems to intrude. We travel through a whirlwind of events , great and small. As someone is in a circle of the glow of life , someone else is miserable. For old school people as an example I might wish to see and discover how some are doing , there are many more people I wish to avoid on a permanent basis. As events this past weekend of the mass political shooting in Tucson AZ unfolded several times people commented what we have become and what better times there was. Bullshit. The sixties were a mass of conflict , assassination , riot , and past discrimination coming home to roost in our cities and of course the ongoing war in Vietnam. The drug problems we have now got a strong foothold in those days. The following decades had their less treasured moments of political strife and social pain. I have also seen improvement in the lives of people and institutions , more responsive to a broader range of the populace. Yes we are a culture more rude and violent on some scales. It is a mistake on the parts of historians or regular folk to avoid the true sense reality of what really was. History is not an antidepressant to be used as a reflective drug to calm or condemn. If it were a drug it would cause a complex reaction , not to be surprised all over again by what just happened.

The Politics of Snow Removal: Schodack New York

As I write this in early 2011 the down state New York area has just dug out of a large snow storm. No one is at this moment quite sure why the streets were plowed so badly in the tri State area during and after this storm. Tax paying citizens in an uproar , mayors & the New Jersey Governor are in a scramble to explain. This will as well pass. I am an old enough old goat to remember in High School the February of 1969 NYC storm when Lindsay was mayor {when there was such a thing as a moderate Republican}. Plows got out late , the city in semi mayhem. I had attended a rowing event in the city shortly before and got out just in time. It all passed. So what does this have to do with the Town of Schodack , New York. Well , all political type people know or should know that these nature made events can effect political careers. How one administratively handles these moments can turn an election , nationally and on a local basis. In the mid 1920's a young Pol named Lewis V. Hudson was the newly elected Superintendent of Highways. He would later be county commissioner of roads. Schodack was if not the first , one of the first towns in New York State to run their snow plows 24 hrs a day during storms. This started circa 1926. A rural town with farmers needing to get produce to market , schools needing to be opened people needing to get to work in factories or get to a doctor. All these of concern. The innovation of 24 hr plowing was new and Schodack was doing it. Various logistic problems arose , such as getting gas to the trucks when there were few gas stations back then and none open 24hrs a day. In interviews later in his life Hudson talked about how he had to get in his own pickup truck late at night and deliver gas to the plows by gas can. Sometimes even at 2:00 am. Such was life in a small town back then. The point is schools were open more often , people got to work more safely and less babies were delivered in farm houses and got medical care quicker. Hudson as I may have mentioned in earlier blogs was in elected political office for over 40yrs. Hudson would partially give credit to 24 hr snow plowing as a major boost to his reelections. A simple lesson in administrative politics from a small town the streets got plowed voters remember.

Christmas 1970: Be Careful What You Pretend To Be

Well , for me I had finished my first semester in college. As happens , the great return home. People returning for their first real back home time in months. I find this time an interesting psychological moment in ones life. One has transitioned away from home or high school , things have changed even though often to Mom & Dad your still their kid. You feel one must act differently now.....show your new self ....your new gestalt or whatever. And so it was with my hometown crowd. One of the things that fascinate me as a man that likes history and archaeology is how quickly our societies artifacts age in our American culture. I remember people discussing how our bedrooms looked different. Not quite the "cozy" place it once was. As for me I remember my desk I set at during my previous yrs at MHHS no longer appeared to fit like it did. Odd. I also noticed people I had known for yrs were assuming the new role. Kurt Vonnegut once said "Be careful what you pretend to be , because you are what you pretend to be". We were pretending to be a new something. Psychologist , teacher , architect , insurance salesman , sailor , minister.....college student etc etc. We had said our goodbyes & now attempting new hellos. We told our version of war stories , drank a few , talked about who is where and in some cases who had bombed out in their first version of freedom away from high school. I believe this is somewhat universal. As I write this , kids have returned home to a different world they must make a new reality of. OK enough of the shrink. Anyway I had returned to what was to be the final Christmas with my Father who would die the following September. The artifacts of my teen yrs began to be subtracted , new artifacts added. Some of what my wife calls my junk , personal & otherwise. Oh well. But I write this personal piece of history all most as a reminder of Vonnegut's quote because what I was pretending to be was in actuality what I was becoming. Perhaps this reminder of that long lost Christmas vacation should be chiseled into some of our public blds...................... PRETEND WELL.......................