Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Monday, December 30, 2024
Bear activity update, and a request
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| Bear damage at the Victor residence. |
In addition to several sightings, the Fowlers and the Victors have found their standalone birdfeeders knocked down, the metal poles twisted, and the feed carried off. Some of the neighborhood dogs have been creating an understandable racket because of the bears' presence.
In my capacity as THCA president, I have notified Mayor Carmella Mantello of the situation and asked if there is any City agency tracking bear activity within the city limits. She said there is now, as a result of my inquiry.
She has informed the City's animal control team of our situation, and they also will inform the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC).
For the sake of all residents and companion animals, I am once more asking people to take this seriously and cease feeding deer for several key reasons: (1.) It is illegal to feed wild deer (as well as bears and moose) in New York State, (2.) deer carry disease-borne ticks, and (3.) making food available attracts bears, coyotes, etc.
And, although it is not illegal to feed wild birds, it obviously is advisable to cease doing it since the food source is contributing to a potential danger for us all.
Thanks for your cooperation, and please stay alert.
-- Bill Dowd
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Thursday, December 26, 2024
When and how to recycle a real Christmas tree
“As part of our continued Quality of Life efforts in our city and prioritizing sustainable disposal practices that are environmentally responsible and economically sensible, the City of Troy will be picking up real Christmas trees and offering Christmas tree free drop-offs at the Alamo starting in January,” Mayor Carmella R. Mantello said in a statement.
The effort will take place between January 2 and 13.
What's behind the collecting of trees? Rather than clogging up the landfill with them, they can be turned into mulch or allowed to naturally break down over time.
Alternatively, residents may bring real Christmas trees to the Troy Resource Management Facility (a/k/a/ the Alamo), located at Main Street and East Industrial Parkway, on Tuesdays and Thursdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m., also between January 2 and 13.
The City's instructions for participating in the collection:
- Take all ornaments, lights and decorations off of the tree, and remove the tree stand;.
- Place the tree next to your recycling and garbage containers on your normal collection day: i.e., Thursday night for Friday pickup for Terrace homes.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
About those residential dark spots ...
This is another of my periodic reminders to all residents to please be sure that your exterior lights -- both the standalone pole lights and the bolted-on lights adjacent to the garage doors -- as well as any lights attached to the rear exterior of homes are in good working order.
Given the uptick in residential crime in the area, anything that can be done to avoid dark areas in the community is a plus for all residents.
And, as always, please exercise caution when you're walking your dogs at night or driving on Terrace roads, especially in icy conditions.
Thank you for your cooperation.
-- Bill Dowd
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Tuesday, December 24, 2024
Hanukkah sameach
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| "Magnificent Light of Menorah" |
This painting is by Alex Levin, a Ukrainian-born contemporary Israeli artist who celebrates Judaic art through both surrealism and realism techniques.
Although working today, the 49-year-old says he "particularly likes the 16th-century multi-layering technique that uses tempera and oil without brush strokes."
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Have yourself a merry little Christmas
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| "The Shepherds' Adoration of the New-Born Baby Jesus" |
Murillo, who worked in the Baroque style, was known primarily for his religious paintings.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Monday, December 23, 2024
Final reminder: 2025 dues are due
The full-year amount now is $2,000, as approved at our November THCA meeting. Dues for No. 34 are reduced by $240 per year because the mailbox gazebo electricity is wired to that unit.
As always, there are several payment options. You can:
• Make a one-time payment of $2,000 ($1,760 for No. 34), no later than January 1, 2025.• Make semi-annual payments of $1,000 ($880 for No. 34) no later than January 1 and July 1, 2025.• Make quarterly payments of $500 ($440 for No. 34) no later than January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, 2025.
Please make your checks payable to THCA. You can deposit them in the white mailbox under the mailbox gazebo bulletin board (no stamp or envelope required), or you can mail them to
Terrace at Highpointe
35 Hyland Drive, Troy NY 12182-3403.
If your house number is not printed on your check, please write it in the check's memo field.
If your bank sends payments automatically from your account, please move the due date up one week to accommodate often-slow mail delivery.
A new payment option: e-pay to paypal.me/jazzfanlion. Put your house number in the “notes” field. Be sure to mark the payment as “friends and family” option (personal) so they don’t charge us a 3% fee.
Since your THCA's only income stream is the payment of dues, please submit payment promptly so the association can pay its bills in a timely manner for the benefit of all residents.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
City Hall closing for the holidays
Troy City Hall will be closed on Christmas and New Year's Day, as has been the practice in every administration.
While the days-off for City employees will affect trash pickup in some parts of the community, it will not affect the Terrace. Our normal trash and recycling pickup will take place on Friday, December 27, and Friday, January 3.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Sunday, December 22, 2024
Terrace generosity fits like a glove
For the past two years, we have collected donations of socks at our annual Terrace Holiday Luncheon to give to the group. This year, however, we switched to gloves.
Janet Dessingue, luncheon organizer, reports that thanks to the generosity of Terrace residents, we were able to collect 70 pairs of gloves.
"I consider this our good deed for our community," says Janice. "The Sidewalk Warriors were very appreciative of the donation because they have a very low supply of gloves."
Thanks to all who helped.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Saturday, December 21, 2024
Snow removal (and a 'salting' note)
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| The Skyview plow clearing a Hyland Circle driveway. / Bill Dowd photo |
The first shovelable snowfall of the 2024-25 season took place today.
City trucks came through around 11:15 this morning to clear and sand Hyland Drive and Hyland Circle. About 45 minutes later, just as we reached the 2-inch accumulation level that triggers plowing service from Skyview Landscapes, their plow quickly went to work.
NOTE: For those who do not recall the "salting" situation, or are experiencing their first winter on the Terrace, our contract does not include it. Before we entered into our current contract with Skyview, the majority of residents expressed a preference for not having it done because of concerns for potential damage to vegetation or driveways/walkways, or to dogs' paws. So, we proceeded accordingly.
However, there is no prohibition on residents making such an application on their own. To check out details of alternatives to rock salt, click here to see an informative article on the topic published on the Old Farmers Almanac website.
By the way, it's only 4 days till Christmas but also only 87 days to spring!
The coming week's forecast.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Friday, December 20, 2024
Who was the real St. Nicholas?
As we approach Christmas (coincidentally this year also the beginning of Hanukkah, with Kwanza beginning the next day), we're surrounded by all the usual American iterations of the most-celebrated day of the year.
In Christianity, it is the day marking the birth of Jesus Christ. But, as explained on the website LiveScience.com, "Most scholars agree that he wasn't born on that day, or even in the year A.D. 1. Researchers have speculated that the Roman Catholic Church chose December 25 because it ties in with the winter solstice and Saturnalia, a festival dedicated to the Roman deity Saturn. The church could also co-opt this popular pagan festival, as well as the winter celebration of other pagan religions, by choosing this day to celebrate Jesus' birthday, according to scholar Ignacio L. Götz in his book "Jesus the Jew: Reality, Politics, and Myth-A Personal Encounter” (Christian Faith Publishing, 2019).
The date aside, what do we know of the commercially popular image associated with the day, the one and only Santa Claus, a/k/a/ Father Christmas, Sinter Klaas, St. Nicholas, Pere Noel, Kriss Kringle, Julenisse, Babbo Natale, etc.?
They also are derivations of a real-life miracle worker, Nicholas of Myra. Here's the Wikipedia version of his story:
"Saint Nicholas of Myra (traditionally, born 15 March 270, died 6 December 343) -- also known as Nicholas of Bari -- was an early Christian bishop of Greek descent from the maritime city of Patara in Anatolia (in modern-day Antalya Province, Turkey) during the time of the Roman Empire. Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he also is known as Nicholas the Wonderworker.
"Saint Nicholas is the patron saint of sailors, merchants, archers, repentant thieves, children, brewers, pawnbrokers, toymakers, unmarried people, and students in various cities and countries around Europe.
"His reputation evolved among the pious, as was common for early Christian saints, and his legendary habit of secret gift-giving gave rise to the folklore of Santa Claus ("Saint Nick"). Little is known about the historical Saint Nicholas. The earliest accounts of his life were written centuries after his death and probably contain legendary elaborations.
"He is said to have been born in the Anatolian seaport of Patara, Lycia, in Asia Minor to wealthy Christian parents. In one of the earliest attested and most famous incidents from his life, he is said to have rescued three girls from being forced into prostitution by dropping a sack of gold coins through the window of their house each night for three nights so their father could pay a dowry for each of them. Other early stories tell of him calming a storm at sea, saving three innocent soldiers from wrongful execution, and chopping down a tree possessed by a demon.
"In his youth, he is said to have made a pilgrimage to Egypt and Syria Palaestine. Shortly after his return, he became Bishop of Myra. He was later cast into prison during the persecution of Diocletian, but was released after the accession of Constantine. ... Another famous late legend tells how he resurrected three children, who had been murdered and pickled in brine by a butcher planning to sell them as pork during a famine. Fewer than 200 years after Nicholas's death, the St. Nicholas Church was built in Myra under the orders of Theodosius II over the site of the church where he had served as bishop, and his remains were moved to a sarcophagus in that church.
"In 1087, while the Greek Christian inhabitants of the region were subjugated by the newly arrived Muslim Seljuk Turks, and soon after the beginning of the East–West schism, a group of merchants from the Italian city of Bari removed the major bones of Nicholas's skeleton from his sarcophagus in the church without authorization and brought them to their hometown, where they now are enshrined in the Basilica di San Nicola. The remaining bone fragments from the sarcophagus were later removed by Venetian sailors and taken to Venice during the First Crusade. ...
"Nicholas is said to have lived in a crypt near Bethlehem, where the Nativity of Jesus is believed to have taken place. Over the crypt where Nicholas is believed to have lived now stands the "Church of Saint Nicholas" in Beit Jala, a Christian town of which Nicholas is the Patron saint."
Much more about legend, lore, and literature references to Nicholas are contained in the voluminous Wikipedia account, which nots that:
"Nicholas had a reputation for secret gift-giving, such as putting coins in the shoes of those who left them out for him, a practice celebrated on his feast day (6 December). For those who still observe the Julian calendar the celebration currently takes place 13 days later than it happens in the Gregorian calendar and Revised Julian calendar. ...
"Today, Saint Nicholas still is celebrated as a great gift-giver in several Western European and Central European countries. In medieval times, Christian nuns in Belgium and France began to deposit baskets of food and clothes anonymously at the doorsteps of the needy, which gave rise to the practice of gift giving on Saint Nicholas Day. According to another source, on 6 December every sailor or ex-sailor of the Low Countries (which at that time was virtually all of the male population) would descend to the harbor towns to participate in a church celebration for their patron saint. On the way back they would stop at one of the various Nicholas fairs to buy some hard-to-come-by goods, gifts for their loved ones and invariably some little presents for their children.
"While the real gifts would only be presented at Christmas, the little presents for the children were given right away, courtesy of Saint Nicholas. This and his miracle of him resurrecting the three butchered children made Saint Nicholas a patron saint of children and later students as well."
So, now you know a little more about the life, legend, and lore of the man who became the basis for Santa Claus and his geographic-specific alter egos.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Friday, December 13, 2024
2025 dues deadline approaching
The full-year amount now is $2,000, as approved at our November THCA meeting. Dues for No. 34 are reduced by $240 per year because the mailbox gazebo electricity is wired to that unit.
As always, there are several payment options. You can:
• Make a one-time payment of $2,000 ($1,760 for No. 34), no later than January 1, 2025.• Make semi-annual payments of $1,000 ($880 for No. 34) no later than January 1 and July 1, 2025.• Make quarterly payments of $500 ($440 for No. 34) no later than January 1, April 1, July 1, and October 1, 2025.
Please make your checks payable to THCA. You can deposit them in the white mailbox under the mailbox gazebo bulletin board (no stamp or envelope required), or you can mail them to
Terrace at Highpointe
35 Hyland Drive, Troy NY 12182-3403.
If your house number is not printed on your check, please write it in the check's memo field.
If your bank sends payments automatically from your account, please move the due date up one week to accommodate often-slow mail delivery.
A new payment option: e-pay to paypal.me/jazzfanlion. Put your house number in the “notes” field. Be sure to mark the payment as “friends and family” option (personal) so they don’t charge us a 3% fee.
Since your THCA's only income stream is the payment of dues, please submit payment promptly so the association can pay its bills in a timely manner for the benefit of all residents.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
An 'Acts of Kindness' Challenge
Maryanne and Jerry Gordon, longtime members of the Albany-Troy Lions Club, are helping spread the practice as part of their club's 100th anniversary celebration. The idea is to challenge other organizations to initiate 100 acts of kindness.
As Maryanne explained at Friday's "Terrace Holiday Luncheon," they are challenging the Terrace at Highpointe community to collectively perform 100 acts of kindness. All you have to do to help the count is to (a) undertake such acts, (b) write it down and sign it (or remain anonymous if you wish), and ( c) deposit the note in the white mailbox located below the bulletin boards in our mailbox gazebo. Jerry regularly checks that mailbox.
Those in attendance accepted Maryanne's challenge. So, let's give it a shot as a community. Such things undoubtedly help make the world a better place.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Our Holiday Luncheon in images
More than 20 residents once again gathered at McGrievey's Restaurant in nearby Waterford today for the annual Terrace Holiday Luncheon.
Thanks to Janice Dessingue, ably assisted by Anne Hunter, for arranging the event again this year.
Here are a few candid shots of the activity. Can you count the number of shades of red?
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Monday, December 9, 2024
Tips on care and feeding (or not) of Terrace wildlife
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| The turkeys are back on the Terrace . / Bill Dowd photo |
We're well past Thanksgiving Day, as was shown today by the proud strutting of numerous wild turkeys around the Terrace.
Once our annual consumption of the indigenous birds has passed, they tend to regain their poise and reclaim their feeding grounds.
In general, the New York State Department of Conservation advises residents not to feed wildlife for a variety of reasons (see the details here). However, if you're into feeding wildlife, please research what's good and what's not.
• For starters, do NOT feed wild deer (or moose). It not only is against state law because the pretty creatures tend to carry and spread ticks that cause numerous diseases (Lyme disease, Rocky Mountain spotted fever, Powassen encephalitis, etc.), such activity tends to tame them and make them vulnerable to predators and vehicular traffic. We see plenty of evidence of roadkill along Oakwood Avenue and other high-traffic roads near us. Also, we do spend Terrace residents' money for anti-tick treatment every year, so why waste it by attracting deer?
• Hanging wild bird feeders, while attracting pretty creatures, also attracts mice, rats, and chipmunks. They, in turn, tend to carry the seeds into any nearby houses, build nests, and contaminate the homes with feces, urine, and diseases. (Trust us, this has happened on the Terrace, resulting in very expensive remediation work.)
• If you would like to nourish our turkey neighbors, experts say the best turkey feed is some form of wheat, although some like corn. You can purchase bags at any feed store. Turkeys love it, but other wildlife such as deer and vermin do not, so its a win-win.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Holiday luncheon & dates & calendar
• For everyone, we've again updated the events schedule on The Terrace Times, our online website/blog, with an emphasis on holiday-centric activities in the City of Troy and nearby communities. Just click here to access the Times and/or here to go directly to its schedule.
Meanwhile, enjoy the rain that is washing away the accumulated snow and ice. (See chart above.)
Plus, a reminder: PLEASE take care of any exterior lights that are not in working order. It's a matter of community safety so we have as few dark spots as possible for our friends and neighbors who walk and/or dogwalk after sunset. We're in tricky times, so anything you can do helps.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Monday, December 2, 2024
42nd Victorian Stroll set for Sunday
Troy's 42nd annual Victorian Stroll is set to run from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. downtown this Sunday.
Numerous businesses and organizations will be involved in hosting visitors -- many of whom will be garbed in period clothing -- for various open houses, food and drink specials, sales of specialty goods, and various free entertainments.
Go here for a schedule of events plus other information.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Troy's tree lighting ceremony nearly here
Parking could be a bit dicey, so go early and look for parking garage spaces nearby.
The event is the official start of the Christmas season in Troy, taking place the same day the Hart-Cluett Museum begins its four-day Greens Show, and three days before the annual Victorian Stroll downtown.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
Music theme for Hart-Cluett Greens Show
The venue, the 13-room Hart-Cluett House, has been taken over by the Van Rensselaer Garden Club which is using "Deck the Halls With Music" as this year's theme.
On Friday only, visitors will be able to take guided tours of the house and the greens show completely by candlelight. The tours will step off promptly at 5:30 and 7:30 p.m. In between, a 6:30 p.m. performance is scheduled by a trio from the Musicians of Ma'alwyck, an ensemble specializing in music performed locally in the 18th and 19th centuries. Light refreshments and the musical performance are included with each ticket purchase for either tour time. A limited number of tickets is available online.
The show will include the Dickens Village exhibit on display in the adjacent Carriage House as well as the Museum Holiday Gift Shop in the Carr Building.
The historic house will be open from noon to 5 p.m. each day at 57-59 2nd Street, between State and Congress streets. Admission is $20 for adults, free for children 16 and younger, although Thursday will be a family-oriented "freebie" from 5 to 8 p.m. It's "Community Night," with free admission to all. It will include children’s holiday books being read aloud under the tree, a scavenger hunt to entertain all ages, and an appearance by Santa Claus himself. No advanced registration or ticket purchase required.
Another highlight after regular hours end at 5 p.m. is a concert and candlelight tour on Thursday. It will offer limited reservations for guided tours of the house at 5:30 and 7:30, with a 6:30 musical performance by a trio from the Musicians of Ma’alwyck, a local ensemble specializing in music from the 18th and 19th centuries, tucked between the tour times. Required advance reservations can be made online at $50 per person.
The Hart Cluett Museum is operated by the Rensselaer County Historical Society. In addition to the 1827 historic house museum the venue includes a pair of 19th century townhouse buildings -- the Carriage House and the adjacent 1838 Carr Building that houses a research library, galleries, and meeting spaces.
Go here for the Terrace Times events calendar.
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