The AltatnontEnterprUnk-Thursday, May 2$ 2004
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Of^l**>sL&
Old Men of the Mountain
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Democracy
b e c o m e s tyranny imposed by the majority upon the
minority. W h e r e a s , o u r Godly A m e r i c a n Republic
brought freedom to all to d o a s they ought, not a s
tney want!
J u s t a couple of thoughts from m e to DeToqueville
and Frost.
— One Man's Opinion — k
Tried and true trails
to avoid travel travails
By John R. Williams
On May 11, the Old Men of the
Mountain met at t h e Duanesburg Diner in Duanesburg. We
discussed more about travel.
It seems that when those of us
who winter elsewhere are returning to our beautiful hills,
travel discussion seems to come
to the forefront. Usually, in a
group like this, if one OF has
been to a particular place, three
or four others have been to the
same place (or darn close).
This starts a goodly discussion
on the best way to get there. For
a few years in the past, and
especially this year, it has been
noted how much the traffic has
increased. It is now getting to be
a nail-biting trip down South.
All this talk about travel led to
our mentioning the price of gas
again, and this probably won't
be the last time either as prices
inch even higher. It apparently
has not been a deterrent, however, as the increased traffic
seems to indicate.
Many of the readers of The
Enterprise have undoubtedly
made the r u n to below the
Mason-Dixon line and will have
their own ideas about the best
way to get there. The OMOTM
have concluded that the best
way down is Route 88 to Route
81. You can then cut across just
below Winchester, Va. if you
need to, or continue on down,
depending on exactly where you
are headed.
The OF's have checked this
out more than once, comparing
the Thruway to Route 95
through New Jersey and t h e
traffic mess down there, and the
same problem around Richmond, Va. They suggest going
down one way and coming back
the other way. The OMOTM
believe that traveling routes 88
and 81 is a better way to go.
Thanks, GTA,
for library help
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To the Editor:
The Altamont Free Library
Board of Trustees wishes to
thank the Guilderland Teachers'
Association for granting requests for funding for summer
programs and expansion of
young-adult reading materials.
The Guilderland Teachers'
Association is supporting summer programming with a $500
contribution. The library is now
able to bring in a variety of
performers for children's and
family events.
The young-adult area of the
library will expand with a $300
donation to be used for the purchase of "graphic novels." These
books in comic-book format, are
very popular and the Altamont
Free Library will be creating a
collection for teens to enjoy.
Libraries and schools are
natural partners in the education
of our youth. It's a pleasure to
work with the Guilderland
Teachers' Association to provide
quality summer programs and
expanded reading materials for
teens.
Pat Spohr
Trustee,
Altamont Free Library
Some mentioned that traveling through those Endless
Mountains in Pennsylvania
during the winter months could
be a challenge, but hey, we are
Mountain Men! We also questioned why are there so many
travelers on the road?
came up with another way to
traveL Better yet, imagine an
engine that did not require fossil
fuel. Look, a t the millions of
people that would be put out of
work."
Another OF said, "Yeah, if you
think they will let any kind of
Why is the nation so restless?
Why is the nation so restless?
A great read on this topic is
Acres of Diamonds. This scribe
chimed in his penny worth, (it
used to be two cents, but we
have to allow for inflation) with
the comment, "It is not so much
restlessness but that there are so
many more of us. Even if our
birth rate is not exploding, there
are many more people coming
into the country, then add in the
birth rate, such as it is, and it
becomes just a matter of numbers. The population is growing
faster than the infrastructure,
and Madison Avenue wants all
of us to have two or three
vehicles.
"Look at how many car ads
are on TV, on the radio, and in
the newspapers. A major part of
our economy is based on the
automobile. It is also the connected industries that keep us
racing up and down the highway.
"Just imagine what would
happen if tomorrow someone
new invention like this get out
you are kidding yourself. All the
fat cats would squash it in a
minute, and if not the invention,
they would squash the inventor
like a bug."
Then we talked about how
much it now costs to go see a
concert, or a show. Two-person
tickets sometimes go for $100 or
better. I will have to take this up
at another time. It was a lively
discussion. Gas and theater
tickets. Boy, will that empty your
pocketbook.
Those attending the breakfast
at the Duanesburg Diner and
wishing that "Beam me u p
Scotty" would hurry up and get
here were: Gerd Remmers,
Harold Guest, Harold Grippen,
Ted Willsey, Mike Willsey, Don
Moser, George Washburn, Robie
Osterman, Walt Coulter, Carl
Walls, Ernie Ecker, Arnold
Geraldsen, Ted Hull, Skip Skinner, Steve Torok, John Rossmann, Carl Slater, Miner
Stevens, and me.
A nice sit-down 'meal
To the Editor:
As members of the Altamont
Volunteer Fire Department, we
would like to extend a very
appreciative thank-you to the
people of Altamont. Your support for the community breakfast was overwhelming.
We just hope that you enjoyed
yourselves as much as we did.
The breakfast accomplished just
what i t s name implied. It
brought the people of our community together for a nice sitdown meal with their friends
and neighbors.
As always, the fire department
is in need of new members.
There is a place for everyone in
our department. If you are
interested in volunteering, please
contact the Altamont Volunteer
Fire Department at 861-8171.
Again, thank you for making
our breakfast such a success.
Lt. Jon Tanzman
Vice President Kim Tanzman
and the whole
Altamont Fire Department
Project Rescue delights
To the Editor:
songs everyone was entertained.
With the dedication of Parent
The children performed ProDirector Tami Dvorscak and ject Rescue: Save the Planet for
teachers Julie Bruno and Julia their school Wednesday morDoellefeld, Lynnwood Elemen- ning and again in the evening
tary fifth-graders had a new and for parents to the delight of all
exciting opportunity to perform who watched. The audience was
Project Rescue: Save The Planet quick to laugh and clap along.
last Wednesday evening.
The message "recycle, reuse,
Every fifth-grade student in- and respect" was an important
terested in participating in this lesson that tied in beautifully
production was given that with the fifth-graders trip the
opportunity. Try outs occurred next day to t h e Five Rivers
in November with a panel of Ecology Fair. Kudos to all those
judges assigning roles to inter- who participated and to the
ested actors. Stage crews and set directors who gav^e these children a wonderful opportunity.
crews were also established.
The students met faithfully Sue Martini
every Friday since January and Guilderland
more regularly since April to
Editor's note: Sue Martini is a
rehearse and prepare for their
performance. With dancers, parent of a Lynnwood Elemenanimals, picnickers, and upbeat tary fifth-grade student.