The Garrison Volunteer Fire Company
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Happy Hanukkah! Beacon lights the bicycle menorah | See page 13 FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 2013 69 MAIN ST., COLD SPRING, N.Y. | www.philipstown.info Food Pantry Restoring Continues Fahnestock Community Partnership raises park Service Tradition improvement funds By Alison Rooney Thanksgiving dinner with he Canopus Lake Beach and Fahne- all the trimmings stock Winter Park “campus” hub By Michael Turton Thave not been renovated since ini- tial construction in the 1970s, but main- othing says Thanksgiving more tain popularity as a multi-season desti- than a family sitting down to- nation for visitors and locals alike. After Ngether to share a bountiful meal. decades of use and enjoyment, the facility For some families, thanks for the meal is undergoing a major facilities upgrade, goes to the Philipstown Food Pantry, and the first stage is nearing completion. which provides food to area families in The work, funded by a public/private need year-round. Its mission somehow partnership, follows guidelines recom- seems even more poignant this time of mended in a comprehensive master plan year when so many others are able to en- authored in 2010. Phase one of the proj- joy Thanksgiving dinner without giving ect includes the renovation of the two Plumbush Photo by L.S. Armstrong it a second thought. buildings — the bathhouse and the con- cessions building — which serve as the Plumbush School Approved by heart of the complex. Along with the re- design and updated, enhanced landscap- ing of the courtyard area surrounding Town Planning Board the buildings, renovations are at a mid- tive promised to provide it after Planning Warehouse plan for point, with the bathhouse almost com- Board members again sharply questioned pleted and the winter recreation area/ Cyberchron site also reviewed why the school, a for-profit venture, would café space up next. Phases two through not include sprinklers, required or not. A four will begin with improvements to the By Liz Schevtchuk Armstrong blaze broke out in the building in 2010 but beach and nearby recreational facilities did not thwart inn operations for long. he Philipstown Planning Board and wind up with the development of Last summer, Manitou Properties an- Thursday (Nov. 21) approved plans multi-sport athletic fields and improve- nounced plans to buy the property – now for turning Plumbush Inn into ments to the parking area. T formally known as Plumbush Inn at the a primary school, after the applicant, Fahnestock Memorial State Park was Parrot House – for a new school for chil- Manitou Properties Co. LLC, agreed to established in 1930 with a donation of dren from preschool to grade 6. install a sprinkler system to increase about 2,400 acres made by Dr. Ernest Planning Board Member Anthony D. safety in the historic building. Fahnestock in memory of his brother, “Ande” Merante noted that the house is At the meeting, its monthly session, Clarence, expressly for the development “an old wooden building with 75 young the board also began reviewing a pro- of a state park and a parkway. Through children” anticipated as enrollees. He said posal to convert the Cyberchron facility the late 1990s and early 2000s, addition- that in an emergency “you’re going to have on Route 9 into a warehouse, nearly dou- al land was added to the park to bring significant problems” getting everyone out ble in size of the current structure. (Some the current acreage to 14,082. Eleven-year-old Megan Horan was one and that the board did not feel confident 75 Cyberchron employees once produced A high volume of activities take place of several Girl Scouts who helped out at the pupils would be safe. He also observed rugged, military-scale computers there.) within this acreage, from the popular last Saturday’s pre-Thanksgiving food that the building would have no elevator, cross-country ski trails to the heavily- pantry. Photo by M. Turton Manitou Properties school at which, he said, would bar handicapped in- reserved cabins which serve as a base Plumbush dividuals from seeking employment in the Poverty is not a term that describes for hiking, to myriad lake pursuits: upstairs offices. Manitou Properties indi- how average residents of Garrison, Cold Although their attorney argued that the swimming, fishing, ice-fishing, boating cates it “can’t afford an elevator and can’t Spring and other parts of Philipstown law does not demand a sprinkler system, and more at Canopus Lake. Fahnestock afford a sprinkler system. I find that a bit another Manitou Properties representa- currently receives 250,000 people each live. But there are people here in need (Continued on page 3) of even the basics, not the least of which (Continued on page 4) is food. The Philipstown Food Pantry, a mission of the First Presbyterian Church Their Town of Philipstown, is based in the church hall at 10 Academy St., in Cold Spring. Young actors with Cold Andrea Bach serves as coordinator. Spring roots share lead “These are not people who sit around home doing nothing,” Bach said, describ- roles in drama ing those who rely on the pantry for sup- By Alison Rooney port. “These are the working poor. For some that means holding two or three aldane Drama’s fall production jobs — and still there isn’t enough money this year is Thornton Wilder’s at the end of the month.” emblematic American classic, H th Our Town. Helping the hungry This is the 75 anniversary of one of the country’s most-produced plays, This year, the pantry provided all the and it represents a change for Haldane, ingredients for Thanksgiving dinner to which has typically presented comedies more than 30 families. Baskets includ- or lighter dramatic productions. (See re- ed a large turkey, gravy, potatoes, fresh lated story on the production on page 7.) Nolan Shea, left, in character as one of the Our Town stage managers; Aidan vegetables, pie and more. Turkeys were The leading part of the Stage Manager Gallagher, right, at a recent rehearsal. Photos by Jim Mechalakos again provided by a single, anonymous (the character name) is ambitious, with donor with the rest of the special meal pages of uninterrupted text. The role is cast (down to the smallest roles) chose omore, who performs on Saturday night. courtesy of donations from many mem- daunting even to experienced profes- two young actors to play the role: Aidan She based her decision on their auditions, bers of the Philipstown community and sional actors. Director Martha Mecha- Gallagher, 17, a senior, who will perform and didn’t realize until it was pointed area businesses. (Continued on page 3) lakos, working with a complete double Friday night, and Nolan Shea, 15, a soph- out later that, in (Continued on page 6) 2 November 29, 2013 The Paper www.philipstown.info | Philipstown.info Mouths to Feed to (or at the mercy of) whatever experi- ences may blow our way. And it seems we have passed this trait The Scale of Things along to the next generation. Last week- By Celia Barbour end, my son Henry invited a friend over to work on a project for school. The work or the longest time, I was con- ended, the friend stayed for dinner and vinced I had a problem with sched- then spent the night, one thing evolv- Fules. My parents, who can hardly ing into another quite seamlessly. When bring themselves to steep a cup of tea his dad arrived to pick him up the next for a visitor unless it was written down morning, the boys were just waking up, in their calendars ahead of time, have so the dad joined us for breakfast: French frequently lamented my capriciousness toast, syrup, juice. Nothing fancy, but it when it comes to making plans. They was nice, what with the sharp November know, as of this writing, what they will sunlight skating across the breakfast ta- be doing for most of March. ble and all of us feeling fresh and genial. I, meanwhile, am not sure what I’m do- I love feeding people on a whim. It ing tomorrow. makes me incredibly happy to be able to Yet I realized some years back that I am say, “Here, pull up a chair. There’s plenty.” no outlier in this regard; this is how most And to mean it. of my friends are, too. Our work lives may Yet I confess that it took me awhile to be governed by demanding timetables, get to this point. When I was younger but our downtime is something we most- and living in the city, I idolized cooks ly make up as we go along. We are open who could welcome unexpected guests without breaking a sweat. But even though I tried to mimic their gestures of hospitality, inside I would be roiling. Why? I still don’t really know, only that I often felt put out by last-minute changes Lemon and thyme Photo by C. Barbour to the logistics of a meal. Which is strange, because cooking me was having kids. Not just because me as insane but now just seems pru- itself is something that demands enor- their friends and friends’ parents quickly dent. I’d planned to make it that night, mous flexibility. An herb has wilted so became a part of the daily texture of our but then Henry’s friend stayed and, al- you substitute something else; the pot lives, but because the crazy enormity and though I will serve many strange things you need is in use, so you commandeer unpredictability of their appetites meant to other people’s children, I won’t serve I love dining at another; the humidity is off; the bread — means — that I am always cooking vast them fish.