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Prattsville Hose Company Receives New Freightliner Tanker

Prattsville Hose Company took delivery of their new Freightliner tanker, last week, replacing an aging truck. On hand for the unveiling were (in the cab) Fire Commissioners chairman Don Speenburgh, (standing left to right) fire chief James Dymond, 1st assistant chief Tom Olson, 2nd ass’t chief Ted Weingate, 3rd ass’t chief Cole Weingate (with his son Coltan), Fire Commissioners member Randy Brainerd and (kneeling left to right) Vander Molen Fire Apparatus Sales and Service owner Phil Vander Molen and salesman Nick Catalino. Larry Gates (not shown) made the 24-hour drive with the rig from the Fort Garry Industries dealership in Winnipeg, Canada. Following in the bootsteps of - and sitting upon the shoulders of - his father Cole, 1-year-old Coltan Weingate helped welcome the arrival of the new Prattsville Hose Company 23-3 tanker, perhaps setting the stage for the passing of the multi-generational volunteer firefighting torch.

Blenheim Hose Company Receives Training on New Jaws of Life Tool

On April 12 th , seven members of the Blenheim Hose Company received training on their recently purchased ION Flexvolt Combi Spreader (jaws of life) tool. The Blenheim Hose Company appreciates the award of funding made possible through the New York Power Authority, the Schoharie County County Flood Committee and Board of Supervisors which distributed $200,000 to local First Responders and related agencies. Doug DeRidder of Bulldog Fire Apparatus provided the in-depth, two-hour hands-on training for the proper use of this emergency access tool at the Blenheim Municipal Center. The new tool was used to remove the doors and roof of a car as part of the training. The Blenheim Hose Company is grateful for the comprehensive training provided by Mr. DeRidder. Featured Image: Chief Kevin Gillespie operates the rescue tool.

Local School Director Weighs in on Hochul's Electric Bus Proposal

All Electric Buses May Not be Right for MCS, Despite Gov. Hochul's Wish By David Avitabile MIDDLEBURGH - Despite Governor Kathy Hochul's dream and edict that all state school buses are electric by 2035, Middleburgh Central School is not ready to enter the future. In January 2022, Governor Hochul said she would propose legislation to shift to 100 percent electric school buses by 2035. She also said she would propose legislation to require that all new school bus purchases will be zero-emissions by 2027. When the 2022 budget was approved three months later, it included a plan to make the state’s approximately 50,000 school buses all-electric by 2035. The state Senate then strengthened the proposal by requiring the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to provide technical assistance to school districts as they navigate the transition to all-electric buses. Middleburgh does not have any electric buses and will not have any in the near future. The district will be putting a bus proposition on the ballot in May asking voters to approve the purchase of three buses for up to $306,500. The district gets back 77.3 percent of the cost in state aid. The buses would be a 60-passenger, a 30-passenger with air conditioning, and a mini-van. None are electric. Bill Himme, the district's director of facilities, said there are concerns in the local grid capacity if the entire fleet of 28 buses was switched to electric. "I don't know how much the grid capacity will need to be increased in the future," he said. "What I was told by the company that did the survey for us was, if Middleburgh converted its fleet of 28 buses to electric, we would consume most of the additional electric National Grid's current infrastructure can provide." Mr. Himme, who came to the district about two years ago, feels electric buses have their limitations, especially in such a large (in a square area) district as Middleburgh. "I'm definitely not a fan of them yet," he said. "Large electric buses have a range of 100 miles, small electric buses have a range of 70 miles. Our bus runs to the Albany area are over 100 miles long and they go twice a day. Some of our in-district routes are 60 miles long over some pretty hilly terrain. I'm not convinced an electric bus would do very well on our terrain." He would be willing to test one out if offered. "It would be great to try one out, but dealers can't get a demo for us to try because of their limited range." He also is concerned about the initial cost of the bus and their lifespan. "The cost of going electric is huge. The price of an electric bus is around $400,000, compared to $150,000 for our current 65-passenger buses. Electric buses have a seven-year life span, we currently operate on a 10-year replacement plan." If a charging station was added at the bus garage, the electrical system would also need an upgrade, Mr. Himme noted. "We'd have to add charging stations at the garage with a substantial upgrade to its electrical system. There's also many incidental things that go along with it; charging stations near our sports fields for opposing teams, training mechanics, tools, etc..."

Racing Season is Underway

All About Racing By Ed & Betty Biittig Fonda’s practice session on Saturday was a big success for the 105 cars and racers that came and for the fans that came for a chance to see cars on the track for the first time. After a bit of grooming the track came up fast and racy for the later sessions. Good News!! Fonda is getting a new lap counter and even better news is that it’s scheduled to be delivered this week. And this is all thanks to Bill and Cindy Yurkewicz of Yurkewicz Auto Crushers in Fultonville, the Track of Champions will have a new lap counter in the infield this season. Bill and Cindy are big supporters of local racing and have been for many years. This season they are title sponsors for the Pro Stock division at Glen Ridge along with being associate sponsors on several cars; the Pro Stocks of “Cousin” Luke Horning, Andy Graves, and they are owners of the Pro Stock driven by Kyle Weiler. They sponsor the Limited Sportsman of Lucas Duncan, and the 602 Cate Sportsman of Jason Greco. Whether you see it as good or bad luck, Danny Varin blew the engine in his Sprinter after taking a few very fast laps. Good luck that it happened in a test and tune event and bad luck that it happened at all. According to Varin, his engine builder informed him he’s way behind schedule and may not have it back to him before the first Sprint race at Fonda on May 6. Friday night at the Great Race Place, Albany-Saratoga felt like a July night of racing with temps hovering around 90 degrees. A banner number of race cars (170) were on hand to welcome the 58th season at the track and the fans were still pouring in as the qualifying events were underway. With 42 Modifieds on hand it look like a major series event with $5800 on the line for the winner. Taking the money and the checker was Australian, Peter Britten, his fourth time in victory lane on opening night at the Malta oval. What was a great decision, was the running of two main events for the 55 Crate Sportsman on hand. Both Modifieds and Sportsman were running for show points. The annual NESCOT (North East Stock Car Old Timers) Steak Roast has a new venue and date this year. The popular event will be held on Sunday, August 6, 2023 at Fonda Speedway on the Fonda Fairgrounds. Information on the event and/or membership to NESCOT can be accessed through their Facebook page at NESCOT Racing. Information is also available from NESCOT Officers, President, Al McCoy (518-461-5223) VP, Mitch Poole (518-588-3737), Treasurer, Don Cadoret (518-374-5481) and Secretary, Pat Cadoret (518-281-6867). A couple of our local racers branched out into Late Model racing this past week in Delaware. Brock Pinkerous of Ellenville was the winner of the Rush Late Model non-qualifiers event at Delaware International. Demetrios Drellos of Queensbury won the B-Main at Delaware and finished eighth in the main event. Due to a push back of the closing on the sale of Five Mile Point Speedway, the track announced this past week that it will run several special events in 2023, marking the 73rd consecutive season at the Kirkwood oval. Check their webpage for a full schedule of the events to be run. Until next week please send all news and/or comments to biittig@yahoo.com Featured Image: Bill and Cindy Yurkewicz sit in their favorite seats in the Fonda Speedway grandstands on Saturday to enjoy practice at the track. The Yurkewiczs are strong supporters of local racing through their many avenues of sponsorship at local tracks. Biittig photo

Delgado to Attend 2023 Chamber of Commerce Celebration

Delgado Involved in Schoharie County Events ALBANY / SCHOHARIE — The Lieutenant Governor of New York State is coming to Schoharie County on May 11 to honor our business community and the local Democrats working in the redistricted Congressional District 21. Antonio Delgado has long been interested in helping our rural communities; during his two terms in the U.S. Congress, he served on the Congressional Committee on Agriculture, the Committee on Small Business, and the Committee on Infrastructure and Transit. Back in 2018, Delgado was an inspiring young man from Schenectady running for Congress to represent Schoharie County as part of then-District 19. He had been quite successful in his studies at Notre Dame-Bishop Gibbons High School, Colgate University, Queens College Oxford England as a Rhodes Scholar, and Harvard Law School. He chose to use his breadth of understanding and experience for the common good. This is a core Democratic value, to widen the playing field and include everyone who wants to play as long as they play in good faith by the same rules. His strategy relied upon education, science, respect for the laws of the land, a healthy dose of optimism and deep compassion to solve problems, to reach out, including phone-based town halls during the early COVID days. The Schoharie County Democratic Committee (SCDC) worked hard knocking on doors and organizing town halls to help him in the 2018 election cycle, in which he defeated the incumbent, John Faso, by over 7,000 votes. The SCDC worked with him again in 2020 when he defeated candidate Kyle Van Der Water by nearly 40,000 votes. As indicated in the successful margin of that 2020 contest, people of all party affiliations in the district supported him in his second campaign based on evidence that he actively represented our interests in the confounding halls of the US Congress. He even brought a satellite Congressional Hearing out to our area in order to get first hand testimony on the record, from folks in Schoharie County among others, about how rural broadband could positively impact our rural development whether in farming, business, education or health care. He recognized the issues inherent in recruiting top quality job candidates to an area where there was spotty cell service and slow internet, and how that impacts on the quality of education and health care, even leading to population loss. He pushed the cause because rural communities matter. Delgado’s appearance at the Chamber of Commerce annual celebration is rooted in this consistent level of commitment to our growth and community well-being. His attendance among the Democrats of Schoharie County demonstrates that he hasn’t forgotten all those volunteers working for Democratic values who knocked on doors and gave people information about early voting. On May 11th our Lieutenant Governor will come to celebrate a strong start to 2023 as featured speaker at the Annual Dinner of the Schoharie County Chamber of Commerce and later that evening at the FDR Banquet of the Schoharie County Democratic Committee. It is no question that many of us have missed seeing him at town halls all over our area, but these events offer opportunities to once again be inspired by that young man from Schenectady. Thank you Antonio Delgado, for keeping your promises, and keeping our rural counties top of mind in your state-wide policy role. FOR THE CHAMBER OF COMMERCE EVENT: For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit https://schohariechamber.com/annual-dinner/ FOR THE SCHOHARIE COUNTY DEMOCRATS EVENT: For more information and to purchase tickets online, visit schohariedemocrats.org/

Trout Harvest Season Opens

DEC stocks millions of trout statewide as harvest season opens By Jennifer Patterson Trout fishing season opened on April 1, and the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation is stocking nearly 1.9 million catchable brown and rainbow trout in waters across the state – music to anglers’ ears. The first of the month also marked the opening of harvest season after year-round fishing was green-lit on most streams in 2021, with the implementation of an Oct. 16-March 31 “artificial lures only, catch and release” season. “Since DEC updated regulations in 2021 to allow a catch-and-release season in the fall and winter months, anglers have the opportunity to fish for inland trout year-round,” said DEC Commissioner Basil Seggos. “Even so, April 1 has a special meaning for anglers in New York as the date signifies the start of a season full of promising fishing opportunities.” In Schoharie County, hundreds of brown and rainbow trout will be released in Fulton’s Mallet Pond in May, and hundreds more brown trout have been released into Blenheim’s West Kill stream. Thousands of trout will be released through the first week of June into ponds, streams, creeks, lakes, reservoirs and rivers open to the public in Delaware County. The same is true in Greene and Ulster counties. Every year, the DEC releases about 900,000 pounds of fish into more than 1,200 public streams, rivers, lakes and ponds to enhance recreational fishing and restore native species to waters they formerly occupied. Breeding and rearing fish is a big task that requires precise methods and specialized equipment and facilities. There are 12 such DEC fish hatcheries statewide, each specializing in raising one or more species of fish, including brook trout, brown trout, rainbow trout, lake trout, steelhead, Chinook salmon, Coho salmon, landlocked salmon, walleye, muskellunge and tiger muskellunge. The fish are stocked with help from County Federated Sportsmen. If it has been a while since you’ve been on the water, know that anyone 16 or older needs a New York State fishing license. There are one- or seven-day passes, as well as an annual license for $25 available online at https://www.dec.ny.gov or at many local bait and tackle shops, where important information about what waterways are open and additional regulations are also passed along. As for some trout catching tips, anglers say that when the waters are cold and high in April, the trout tend to look for live bait. For information about the DEC’s new streamlined annual fishing regulations guide, go to https://www.dec.ny.gov/outdoor/7917.html.

Lots Planned at Arboretum for May

Free Rabies Clinic

National Volunteer Week These community heroes are the true heart of the American Red Cross

Sign-up for Huyck Preserve Events

Robert Lang Earns Top Honor with Marketing Club

Fenimore Art Museum Now Accepting Artist Submissions for Its Annual Art by the Lake Event