Upstate Life Fall 2019

apple tree

Cookin’ with Collins

Moose on the loose

N.Y. sightings are increasing

Bridge the seasons Card table a great place to gather

Stone of another color Bluestone is here, there and everywhere

& More!

KE T’S

Shake that

!

TA - I E ON EE FR

FALL 2019

FALL 2019

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VOLUME 13

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ISSUE 6 Upstate Life Magazine, Winner, New York State Associated Press Association First-Place Award for Specialty Publications, is published by: The Daily Star, 102 Chestnut Street Oneonta, New York 13820 Š 2019 - All rights reserved.

Moose on the loose N.Y. sightings are increasing

Bridge the seasons Card table a great place to gather

Publisher Fred Scheller

From Worcester to war Local bugle boy sounded the last call

Editor Joanne Arbogast

Taken to trapping Coyote fur in big demand

Graphic Designer Tracy Bender

Cookin’ with Collins

Advertising Director Valerie Secor

Shake that apple tree

Interested in advertising in Upstate Life Magazine?

Call toll-free, 1-800-721-1000, ext. 235

Round and round she goes Local roller derby team jams on

We invite you to email your comments to: upstatelifeeditor@thedailystar.com

Stone of another color Bluestone is here, there and everywhere

On the cover

Wild Thing: Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana)

Geology Day Trip Visit the Gilboa Forest

Business Directory Meet the locals

Apples are seen ready for harvest at the Middlefield Orchard on state Route 166 in Sept. 2019.

JULIE LEWIS | THE DAILY STAR

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Moose Loose ON THE

BY K. KUNZ SWOPE

DAVID MARK | PIXABAY

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N.Y. sightings are increasing

ave you spotted any moose? If so the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) wants to know. It’s asking the public to report moose sightings. They even have a special website to file a report really easily and if you happen to capture a photo of your moose, the DEC would like you to share a copy with them.

So why the moose mania? The DEC, along with SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry (ESF), is tracking and mapping moose movement in New York.

The project began in 2015 and the map of sightings clearly shows the westward and southern expansion of the moose, with the

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greatest concentration occurring in the Adirondacks.

Two centuries ago, the moose population in New York was thriving. Adirondack moose were eliminated during the 1800s because of hunting and loss of habitat due to deforestation. The last three moose are believed to have been shot in 1861.

By the late 1860s moose populations could no longer be found in New York and remained locally extinct for 120 years.

Then in 1980 a Whitehall, Washington County, woman spotted a young bull moose near her home. This was the first known sign that moose had returned to New York. The moose migrated from New England into New York.

Best places to view moose Moose are magnificent creatures to view from a distance. Try finding them at: • Moose River Plains • Indian Lake • Tupper Lake • Blue Mountain • Old Forge • Laplan Pond

Numbers on the rise Moose sightings have continued to increase over the last three decades.

Sightings by the public are an important source of information about the moose population.

Moose in New York are protected and cannot be hunted. Anyone who shoots a moose faces a penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine.

In 2015 the DEC and ESF, in collaboration with Cornell University Cooperative Fish & Wildlife Research Unit and Animal Health Diagnostic Center and the Biodiversity Research Institute, the Wildlife Conservation Society teamed up to conduct the Adirondack Moose Research Study.

The first year 12 moose were located and outfitted with GPS tracking devices.

Then in 2016, another nine moose were outfitted with trackers, and finally in 2017, five additional moose received trackers.

In addition to survival and diet selection, the trackers enabled the scientists to determine if the moose were reproducing. Mature female moose are called cows and they usually give birth to one or two calves in the spring every other year.

Male or bull moose mate in the fall and will battle over females. Only bull moose have antlers and are the largest land mammal in the state. They shed their antlers in the winter and grow new antlers each spring.

The study included winter helicopter sighting flights to ascertain the population numbers. Current estimates suggest there are about 400 moose in New York.

The mid-winter aerial surveys were completed last winter.

Threats exist In the summer of 2016 and 2017, dogs

Moose in New York are protected and cannot be hunted. Anyone who shoots a moose faces a penalty of a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. were trained to track moose scat, which was located and collected in order to assess the diet and health of the moose in the Adirondacks. The scat was also used to add to the data regarding population estimates.

By tracking the movement of the GPS-collared moose, the DEC was able to learn a great deal about the moose in New York state and make decisions about what was needed to protect what is considered a positive change in the nature system. The population numbers of moose have been increasing steadily.

The increase in population has resulted in more moose fatalities by vehicle collisions, the number one cause of morality at this time. There are other threats to the survival of moose in the state: brain worm, liver flukes, lung worm, heartworm, Chronic Waste Disease and winter ticks, heat, and illegal shootings.

Moose have no natural predators in New York. However, coyotes and black bear do take newborn moose calves.

Moose sightings are fascinating opportunities to observe these magnificent creatures in the wild. It is exciting, but they should be viewed from a distance.

If you do spot a moose, note the location, time, and estimate the size, whether it has antlers, if it has an ear tag, and if so the color and number of the tag

Report Moose Sightings in New York State: dec.ny.gov/animals/6964.html, click on Report Moose Sightings Here!

if you can see it. Snap a photo if you can (not required). Then log on to the DEC website to file a sighting and upload your photo, if you were able to capture the moment.

Even if you only had a brief glimpse of a moose and were not able to gather any information, file a sighting report on the DEC website listing the location of the sighting.

If you wish to locate moose to observe or photograph them, there are some popular locations to attempt to catch sightings. Moose are browsers, eating 40-60 pounds of food every day. In addition to leaves, twigs, and during the summer they eat lily pads from ponds. A hungry moose will eat by stripping the bark from trees.

A bull moose weighs between 8001200 pounds and stands up to 6 feet tall. Cow moose weigh between 500-800 pounds. They can often be observed in or near ponds pulling plants from below the water.

The increase in the moose population in the state has resulted in some other situations. The DEC has prepared a manual for local law enforcement addressing moose situations that might arise in communities. It covers actions to take if a sick or injured moose is reported, an orphaned moose, an aggressive moose, or a moose in an urban setting, just to mention a few. The manual is available for the public to view online at the DEC website.

New York State Department of Environmental Conservation public information officer Lori Serverino said the “DEC’s current priority is to draft a moose Management Plan, which among other things will define a schedule for future monitoring of moose and distribution in New York State.” + Email Moose Photos to DEC: Info.R5@dec.ny.gov

BRIDGE the seasons

STORY AND PHOTOS BY ALLISON COLLINS

From left, Toni Bobnick, Marilyn Dufresne and Diane Mustico play bridge in Worcester earlier this month.

Card table a great place to gather

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or a group of Worcester-area women, cards have been a constant.

Since roughly 1964, members have met weekly to battle it out in round after round of bridge. In between talk of trump cards and tricks, they discuss their husbands, grandkids’ accomplishments and recent favorite recipes, making the camaraderie just as much a

Bridge score pads sit ready during the ladies’ card-playing sessions.

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part of the game as the cards.

Worcester resident Shirley Wright, 82, said the group started small.

“Three girls knew how to play and talked five of us into learning,” she said.

“We met every other Wednesday night at 8.”

The games have since moved to Wednesday afternoons.

Though membership has dwindled from about a dozen players at the group’s peak to nine, members said, players range in age from early 70s to 99-year-old Janet Mathews. Most have played for decades, never stopping once they learned.

And learning bridge, players said, is no small feat.

“You’ve got to have somebody who really knows how to play,” said founding member Lois Wright, 87, of Worcester.

“I was one of the originals and we’re still really beginners.”

“I used to deal all the cards out and

pretend I had people playing with me just to see how I should bid,” said 76-year-old Toni Bobnick, of Worcester.

“They coerced me into playing and I practiced at home, because I really never have been a card player.”

Bobnick has played with the group for 12 years.

Deals and dessert Some members learned from watching their parents, in an age when couples’ card-playing was de rigueur.

“My parents played and my brothers and sisters,” said Mathews, who began playing at age 9.

“My parents were in three different card clubs and they played couples’ bridge,” said 77-year-old Worcester resident Nancy Odorizzi. “I’ve been playing since I learned in college. I had a roommate who happened to know how to play, and she taught some of us.”

Tricks of the game

Nancy Odorizzi, left, and 99-year-old Janet Mathews finish up a round of bridge during a Wednesday session at the home of Lois Wright.

“I started playing when I was quite young, probably in high school,” said Diane Mustico, of Worcester. “My parents were good bridge players and they played with a group here in Worcester.”

Many of the ladies said, at the onset, carving out time for cards meant a reprieve.

“We started out because we had little kids,” Lois said, “and we needed a break.

“It just started with us needing to get out with somebody who didn’t talk baby talk,” she continued, laughing. “At one time, there were 30 children among us, and we used to banish them.

(Bridge) was set in stone.”

“We all had children to put to bed and husbands were not to call us unless a kid’s temperature was 105 or death was imminent,” Shirley said, recalling breaks for dessert on the “good dishes,” complete with tablecloths. “Conversations at dessert were all about what our kids had done, or parenting hardships of the day. We now play on Wednesday afternoon from 1 to 5, and we still start with dessert.”

“When I was working … I requested Wednesdays off so I could play bridge,” said Barbara Hamil, 71, of Worcester. “It’s the commitment: We know we want to play and we make it happen.”

Hamil has played continuously since 1962, after taking an eightweek bridge class.

It’s a brain game Today, members said, club demographics mirror that of the wider bridge-playing world.

“It’s definitely older people,” Odorizzi said. “I don’t know many young people who want to take the time to learn. They just don’t do this kind of thing anymore.”

“So many people working now don’t feel the time or need to do something at night like this,” Lois echoed.

Despite players’ devotion to the game, members said, such demographics make the group’s longevity tenuous.

“We’ve lost a lot of people,” Odorizzi said. “People have died and people have moved and some just dropped out. I’ve been here since ’65 ... but we’ve got to keep finding new people to play.”

“None of us is getting any younger,” Lois noted.

“It’s very difficult for us to find people who play bridge,” Mustico said. “(People) have other avenues and a lot of people, particularly young people, do not play bridge.”

What’s kept the Worcester group going so long, members ?

Bridge is commonly considered a derivative of the 16th century game whist.

According to bridgebum.com, whist gained popularity with English nobility and included four players (two partnerships), dealt 13 cards apiece from a standard 52-card deck. The partnership’s objective, the site notes, was to win as many tricks, or sets of four cards, as possible.

Whist’s popularity spread and some believe early iterations of modern bridge were played in 17th century Turkey. The American Contract Bridge League, acbl.org, notes, “I may be named for the Galata Bridge in Istanbul, which British soldiers crossed during the Crimean War to reach a coffeehouse where they played cards.”

The contemporary version of the game took root in America in the mid-1920s, with influence from American businessman Harold Vanderbilt.

“By the turn of the (19th) century,” bridgebum.com says, “the game evolved into plafond (‘ceiling’) in France and ‘auction bridge’ elsewhere in the world. In 1925 … contract bridge was invented by Harold Vanderbilt and incorporated new features, (such as) a sophisticated scoring table and varying modes of vulnerability. ‘Contract’ was so named because it required a partnership to commit to a contract of a certain number of tricks. Failure to fulfill a contract resulted in a scoring penalty; success, in an award.”

The ACBL explains: “Bridge is played with four people sitting at a card table using a standard deck of 52 cards and players across from each other form partnerships as north-south and east-west.

“Each deal consists of three parts — the auction, where four players bid in a clockwise rotation describing their hands; the play, where the side that wins the bidding auction attempts to take the tricks necessary to fulfill their contract; and scoring.”

Bidding, the ACBL notes, is the “language of bridge,” with each bid consisting of a number and suit designed to “relay information about the strengths and weaknesses of each player’s hand to his partner.”

“A pair fulfills its contract by winning tricks equal to or more than the number bid,” the ACBL states, “and a trick consists of four cards, one from each player’s hand, played in clockwise order.”

Failure to make a contract results in a scoring penalty.

For more information or to learn how to play, visit acbl.org.

Additionally, members of the Worcester group suggest finding someone who knows the game and is willing to act as an instructor.

When in doubt, the women consult wellloved bridge books such as this vintage tome by ‘Mr. Bridge’ Charles Goren.

said, is the allure of the game, paired with female fellowship. The group, Lois noted, plays by “traditional, 1964 Goren rules.” The women typically play six 30- to 45-minute rounds in a session, with four people required per table. Though the game is played in partners, Hamil noted, pairings are tracked and dictated according to a tally sheet.

“There’s a lot of strategy to it, which is what makes it so interesting. Every hand is different, and every hand is a puzzle,” Odorizzi said.

“There’s too much to it for people who are not serious card players.”

“There’s a lot to remember, because you’re playing with all the cards in one deck,” Hamil said. “You know they’re all distributed, you just don’t know who has what, so you have to really think a lot.”

“I do it because I actually love the girls,” Bobnick said. “I don’t always love the game, but I love the ladies. Every week I say, ‘I hate this game’ because it is a challenge. But it is good for us and it’s stimulating.”

“I like to talk and you catch up with your friends,” said 88-year-old Worcester native Marilyn Dufresne, “and that’s important.”

“I like the challenging part of it,” Mustico said.

“Most of the girls I’ve known for years and to me,

From left, Barb Hamil, Lois Wright, Nancy Odorizzi and Janet Mathews play bridge in Wright’s home.

it’s very challenging, that’s why I keep coming back. (Bridge) is a game of logic and it’s not just a fun game – you have to think.”

“It is really sociable,” Odorizzi said, “and we just have a love of bridge. If you love it, you love it.” + CARD GRAPHICS / FREEPIK

The American Civil War ended 154 years ago when Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his Army of Northern Virginia to Union General Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Courthouse, Va. It was a defining moment in our nation’s history and in the life of Seth Merrill Flint. If that name is not familiar, he is one of New York’s local native sons who witnessed history and then became a part of history.

Flint co-authored an article for the Saturday Evening Post, published in 1940, where he shares his memories of the surrender at Appomattox.

Battle-driven It was June 1862 and the War of the Rebellion had been raging since April of 1861. According to “The Life and Deeds of Seth Flint” by Ann Walton, young Seth was fascinated by the war and anxious to volunteer to serve.

His mother was concerned about her son’s preoccupation with the war.

However, it was in Seth’s blood – his great-grandfather, Joseph Flint, had served in the Revolutionary War. Defying his mother, 15-year-old Seth M. Flint of Worcester, N.Y., quietly slipped out of the two-room cabin he shared with his mother, sister, younger stepbrothers, and stepfather while they slept. It was approximately 3 in the morning when he climbed out of a window, barefoot, and ran away from home.

He made his way to Albany. He lied about his age and his name, calling himself “Charles M. Seaver, age 18.”

He enlisted and was assigned to the 5th U.S. Cavalry, Company H. The list of battles that he participated in includes names that stir images from school history books – Antietam, Gettysburg and Manassas. He survived many battles and was never injured.

His beloved horse, Jimmy, originally belonged to a confederate soldier but Flint acquired him during an early battle and rode him when President Lincoln reviewed the troops.

From Worcester to war Local bugle boy sounded the last call

BY K. KUNZ SWOPE

Picked to participate After 16 months Flint was transferred to Company F as a bugler.

He was assigned as an escort to Lt. General Ulysses S. Grant in 1864. Battle after battle, Grant pressed the Army of the Potomac forward as Lee’s army was running out of supplies. Grant’s army caught up with Lee’s army at Appomattox. There were whispers of a possible surrender.

Then on May 9, 1864, a member of General Meade’s staff, galloping at top speed, approached General Grant with a message.

The entire escort gathered around Grant as he read the message. As Flint notes, “all of us without a doubt, believing that Grant held in his hand the decision whether it was to be peace or continued warfare.”

After reading the message, neither Grant’s face nor his demeanor gave any indication of the contents of the message. He handed the message to his staff officer who read it aloud. All present erupted in cheers, believing that the request for a meeting from General Lee to General Grant was a sure sign of surrender. Grant did not participate in the excited response but appeared to be amused.

Grant quickly wrote a reply and gave it to Lt. Colonel Orville E. Babcock with orders to take a few members of the escort and locate and deliver the note to General Lee. Flint was selected by Babcock to go, along with Captain Mason.

Babcock carried a white flag as the group rode off into the enemy lines in search of Lee. Flint traveled with his bugle in hand in order to sound the alarm if the Confederate army tried to escape.

Serene surrender COURTESY OF MARILYN E. DUFRESNE, WORCESTER TOWN HISTORIAN

Seth M. Flint, seen in uniform during the Civil War. Flint was Gen. Ulysses S. Grant’s escort bugler.

The Union army had the Confederates outnumbered five to one. They located a group of horsemen dressed in gray and determined it was probably General Lee and his entourage. Colonel Babcock ordered a halt and then continued toward General Lee with his white flag displayed.

DAN URBAN | PIXABAY

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After sharing salutes and some conversation, Babcock, Lee and the entire group moved closer to where Flint was waiting.

The legendary General Lee approached on his famous horse, Traveler, and Flint was struck by Lee and his handsome animal.

According to Flint, Lee’s uniform was immaculate and his appearance impressive, which greatly impacted the 18-year-old.

However, the most lasting impression of that moment was the look on the famous general’s gray bearded face, beneath the gray felt hat, which Flint describes as “benign.” He also recalls his sense of “deep pity” for the great legendary warrior having to concede defeat.

They all rode to Appomattox Court House, which was only a handful of houses numbering less than 10. The home of Mr. McLean was secured as the meeting place for Lee and Grant.

After Lee entered the home, the members of the escort joined the others who lined the roadway to await the arrival of General Grant.

A few moments later Grant arrived with Union Generals Phillip Sheridan and George Custer, and others. In contrast to Lee’s immaculate uniform, Grant’s uniform had sprays of mud on his trousers and boots and his clothes were rumpled. He entered the McLean home and joined the others.

After two hours of discussions, the doors finally opened, and General Lee exited with a somber face. Three Union soldiers saluted Lee and he returned the salute. It was a noteworthy gesture considering the sorrow of the moment for Lee. After Lee departed, the happy news was announced, and cheers could be heard all along the lines. Celebrations and great jubilation ensued, with regimental bands playing patriotic songs.

Tapped to the end As darkness fell, Seth M. Flint sounded “Taps,” “the sweetest of all bugle calls,” noted Flint. As the notes died away, in the distance the same notes echoed back. It is believed to have come from General Lee’s headquarters.

Flint explained the moment, citing that “despite the sadness of the hour to the boys on the other side … all welcomed the end of hostilities and the coming of peace.”

Flint is credited with being the bugler to have sounded the call that announced the end of the Civil War. After the war, Flint returned home to Worcester and opened his tailor shop, “Flint and Taylor.” He married Kate Gifford and had two sons, Abram and Francis. “Frankie” died at the age of 7 and Abram went on to become a soldier in the Spanish-American War. Following the death of his first wife in 1890, Flint married again in 1893 to Frances Cook and had one daughter, Nella.

An active member of the G.A.R. (Grand Army of the Republic), Flint would play his bugle for Memorial Day celebrations, funerals of Civil War soldiers, and for school children when he visited schools to share the stories of the Civil War. In July of 1938, a reunion of the remaining soldiers from both the north and south gathered at the Battlefield at Gettysburg, Pa., for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg.

Speakers included President Franklin D. Roosevelt, and 92-year-old Seth M. Flint was present with his fellow veterans.

He stood in the severe heat of that July day and blew a sharp Reveille to rouse the guests.

Then, on July 3, he participated in the dedication of the Eternal Light Peace Memorial on Oak Hill. He ended the event by sounding “Taps” on the same bugle he had used throughout the war.

In the spring of 1941, Worcester Central School music teacher, Carmen Caiazza was asked to go to Seth Flint’s house with “the bugle.” Flint had donated it to the school. Caiazza arrived at Flint’s home to find him near death.

Flint said, “I just want to hear the old girl one more time.”

Caiazza gently played “Taps.” It was soon afterward that the old soldier who witnessed the famous battles of the Civil War and Lee’s surrender at Appomattox Court House, closed his eyes forever. +

PHOTOS COURTESY OF SID CHASE

Flint Bible still in town The Second Baptist Church of Worcester received a donation in 1937 from Seth M. Flint, along standing member of the church.

At the age of 91, Flint decided to donate his family Bible to the church.

He placed a photo of himself and a handwritten message in the front of the Bible. It has remained on the church pulpit constantly since that time until three or four years ago.

According to Sid Chase, a trustee of the church, the Flint Bible is not in good condition after nearly 80 years of continuous use each Sunday by the church. It has been removed from use and funds are being sought to have the Bible professionally restored.

The goal to restore the Bible and place it back into use on the pulpit is the church’s “contribution to keeping the memory of Seth Flint and what his life represented alive,” Chase explained.

Second Baptist Seth Flint pulpit bible pictured above.

The season opens “around the first,

Coyote fur in big demand

but I generally wait until midNovember to start trapping because the fur becomes prime about then and gets a little bit better through mid-January.

”

— Neal Sowle, veteran trapper

SKEEZE | PIXABAY

Taken to trapping

BY ALLISON COLLINS

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ust as most folks are readying the woodstove, pulling out heavy blankets and hunkering down, upstate coyote trappers are headed for the hills. And, thanks to the increasing popularity of coyote-trimmed coats, trappers have enjoyed a bump in business for the last several years.

According to a March Associated Press article in The Daily Star, “Coyote fur pelts are in big demand to provide the lush, silvery or tawny-tinged arcs of fur on the hoods of Canada Goose coats and their many global imitators.” The article notes that, at some auctions, the price for a western coyote pelt has risen by 40 percent in the last four years, selling for between $100 and $170.

For veteran trapper and member of the Foothills Trappers Association Neal Sowle, 73, of Providence, N.Y., there’s nothing new or trendy about trapping.

“I’ve been trapping almost 45 or 50 years,” he said. “At the time, I took a job that was a 50 percent cut in pay, so I started trapping when the fur boom started in the ’70s. I did that to supplement our income and make sure the kids had a Christmas that year and I got hooked on it, on the challenge of it.”

Fur facts The coyote-trapping season, Sowle 14

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noted, typically starts in early November.

“The season opens around the first, but I generally wait until mid-November to start trapping,” he said, “because the fur becomes prime about then and gets a little bit better through mid-January. After that I stop trapping coyote, because snow conditions can change the texture of the fur and it becomes less desirable in the second or third week of January and buyers recognize that.”

“Late fall and early winter are the prime trapping time, when coyote coats are at their fullest,” the article echoes, “but a lot of the selling happens in late winter.”

Though Sowle said he’s enjoyed seeing coyote pelts fetch more at market, for him, trapping is about skill and time spent outdoors.

“I put in some long days,” he said.

“I check my traps every single day and probably put in between six and nine hours a day running my trap line, then whatever time I need at night to put the fur up. After we bring an animal in and skin it, we have to put it on a board made for that particular animal, then hang them and dry them in a fur shed.

“It’s more enjoyable than working and I like to get outside and on the move,” he continued. “I enjoy it and I don’t think

any of us make a lot of money at it; we just hope to make a little.”

East vs. west Within the fur market, Sowle noted, buyers distinguish between western and eastern coyote fur, often favoring the former.

“Eastern coyote has a variety of color combinations, unlike western coyote,” he said. “Western coyotes are pretty much the same coloring and 25 percent smaller on average, but the western coyote fur is most popular because of the silkiness; eastern hair is coarser.”

In addition to being fashionable, Sowle noted, coyote pelts provide more bang for a fur buyer’s buck. “(Coyote pelts) have always been in demand,” he said, “but that increase in demand has been over the last three or four years and with coyote fur, because the coyote is large and has more square inches of fur, they’re pretty popular.

“All fur prices are (determined) according to demand and the world market controls the prices. Our furs are sold for use all around the world, but most of the fur is sold through auctions in Canada and Europe and … with coyote prices being better than others, coyotes carry the day.”

Local groups also have auctions, Sowle said, with the roughly 48-member Foothills Trappers Association hosting three annually.

“There are lots of local auctions that take place and lots of trappers put (their furs) in those,” he said. “We do one in Ballston Spa at the 4-H center and two at the Herkimer VFW. They’re open

to the public and we get people from quite a ways, (including) New Jersey and we’ve even had fur come in from Montana. There’s probably 30 to 35 trappers and 1,000 lots of fur per auction.”

The Herkimer auctions, he noted, are hosted in conjunction with the Fulton-Montgomery Fur Harvesters.

The first of the year’s three auctions, Sowle said, will take place on Jan. 4.

The Ballston Spa 4-H Training Center is at 556 Middleline Road, Ballston Spa. Though dates for the Herkimer auctions had not been determined before print deadline, the site is at 131 Mohawk St., Herkimer or call (315) 866-9353.

Vital info tracked Beyond marketability of pelts, Sowle said, trapping is a time-tested conservation method.

“Trapping is a heritage that we’ve had for hundreds of years,” he said. “For most trappers, it’s a way to be able to get out in the wild. It’s a part of what we do.

“Trapping is a way of controlling animal populations,” Sowle continued. “Trappers are actually conservationists at heart and they never try to go in and wipe out any animal population. It’s all controlled by seasons and trappers are a source of information to the wildlife biologists that track the animal populations.

“The coyote population across the country, but especially in the Northeast, has increased and they take a lot of fawns in the spring and a lot of turkeys. By keeping the coyote population under control, the white-tailed deer and turkey have been able to thrive.”

That aspect of trapping, Sowle said, is often misunderstood.

“The biggest challenge for the trapping industry is the fact that very few people know about it or realize or understand what it is and that it’s a resource,” he said. “And the way the industry has changed over the last 50 years is amazing.”

Trapping, Sowle said, is done according to state law and requires animal-specific licensing.

“We have certain traps we’re allowed to use in New York State.

I use mostly foothold traps,” he said. “A lot of people think it’s done like it was years ago, but we don’t use traps with teeth; they’re designed not to hurt (animals), but just hold them. They’ve designed and redesigned the traps so that they’re humane, that way any animals that we catch and we A coyote caught by Sowle don’t want to use or keep, we can stares back in this 2012 release.” photo. Sowle said he caught Modern trappers, Sowle said, the animal on a farm where it must spend time in the classroom had been killing chickens. before the woods.

“The class is required to buy the license and I’m a trapper instructor for New York State,” he said. “I see a variety of people.

We get all age groups, including young ones just getting into trapping and I’ve gotten some ladies taking the course and there are families in several of my classes.”

To learn more or find a schedule of trapping courses, visit nystrappers. org or dec.ny.gov. +

One of Sowle’s coyotes is seen with its foot in a modern trap in this 2012 photo. The animal, he noted, weighed more than 50 pounds.

PHOTOS COURTESY OF NEAL SOWLE

COOKIN’ with COLLINS

Toss together a tart

T

his time of year brings apples aplenty, with September through October considered peak picking season.

According to the New York Apple Association, roughly 600 commercial farmers statewide produce 29.5 bushels annually, making it the second-largest apple-growing state. Central New York is among the six statewide regions best suited to growing, and Wayne and Ulster top the list of the state’s 10 most productive counties.

The fruit, a member of the rose family, is the seasonal star of pies, crumbles, crisps, ciders and more. The NYAA estimates that 53 percent of all New York state apples, or 13 million bushels, are sold as “fresh-market fruit,” with the remaining 47 percent, or 11.75 million bushels, used to make “juice, cider, canned products, slices, pie filling and other processed apple products.”

Given how much time apples spend in the sweet spotlight, I wanted to do something slightly savory.

This tart combines the convenience of store-bought puff pastry with soft brie, thyme-tossed apples and a smear of sweet mustard for an elegant-but-easy appetizer, light lunch or side dish.

Shake that

apple tree

A little drizzle of honey over an oven-fresh tart never hurt anyone.

APPLE & BRIE TART

COLUMN AND PHOTOS

BY ALLISON COLLINS

REBEKKAH D | PIXABAY

1

I recommend mixing equal parts honey and Dijon mustard (½ tbsp. apiece) to make a quick smear for under the apple-brie topping, but a store-bought sweet mustard works well, too. Also, keep the mustard layer thin; you don’t want so much moisture there that it makes the pastry soggy. 

Six-month-old Fiadh Collins sampled these backyard apples before baking.

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Fall 2019

TIPS

2

1. Thyme and brie give this apple tart a subtly savory flavor profile. 2.

Stir apple mixture gently, just enough to coat. 3.

Be as fancy or rustic as you like when layering the rows of apple and cheese on your pastry.

3

I picked the apples for this tart off the trees growing wild in my backyard, so I have no idea what kind they are. To me, they taste and look like a McIntosh, but slightly tarter. The tart varieties tend to be better for baking, so go for Granny Smiths, Braeburns, McIntoshes or Empires here. 

If concerned about waxes or pesticides coating fruits, mix equal parts lemon juice and apple cider vinegar to two parts water, rinse fruit and let air dry. 

Ingredients: 1 sheet of puff pastry, at room temperature 1 tbsp. honey mustard (see “Tips”) 3 to 4 medium tart apples, cored and sliced Pinch kosher salt Pinch fresh-ground black pepper 1 tsp. lemon juice 1 tbsp. honey or pure maple syrup ¼ tsp. cinnamon 1 tsp. fresh thyme, roughly chopped, or ½ tsp. dried thyme 1 8-oz. wheel of brie, cut into slices Directions:

Follow the thawing directions for your puff pastry and unroll it onto a lightly greased baking sheet.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

“Dock,” or prick, your unrolled pastry lightly all over with a fork to aerate the dough, ensuring that it won’t puff too much during the baking process.

Brush pastry with a thin coating of sweet mustard.

Core and slice your apples, then place in a large bowl.

Sprinkle sliced apples with salt, pepper, lemon juice, honey, thyme and cinnamon, then toss to coat.

Spread apple mixture over mustard-coated pastry in loose rows and layer on sliced brie, leaving about ½ inch all the way around.

Roll up the edges of your pastry, pressing to seal.

Bake for 12 to 15 minutes, or until brie is melted and pastry is golden brown. + UPSTATE LIFE magazine

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Fall 2019 | 17

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Louise Parker, AKA Whiskey Riot, left, skates against North Star, or Carrie Smith, during a September Hill City Rollers practice.

Pepperm Panda

Queen B Sk8 o f Min d

F

or members of the Hill City Rollers competitive roller derby team, there’s nothing like the thrill of a swift hip check. But, players said, membership on the team is about more than that and fosters a sense of belonging, empowerment and even community spirit.

The roughly 13-member Oneonta-based team began in 2010 and, like most roller derby teams, is a skater-run nonprofit organization.

“The Derailing Darlings was the original team name and when we get interleague teams going, it’ll hopefully be the Derailing Darlings and Roundhouse

18

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nda Ama N' Hug Kill

ou

Lucid

Bea

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Local roller derby team jams on

BY ALLISON COLLINS Rebels,” said bench coach and Oneonta resident Beth Ashbaugh, or “Shear Terror.” “So we’re working on that and we want to keep the railroad theme, but right now it’s just the Hill City Rollers.

“It’s a for-the-skater, by-the-skater situation and even the nationally ranked teams are skater-run,” she continued. “I feel like we’re an asset to the community and I consider it community service (because) it’s a really great place for people to come be themselves, try new things and it builds confidence and a sense of community.”

Team funds, Terror noted, are generated through member dues, merchan-

y

Bizz

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dise sales and sponsorships. Plans for fundraising events such as a spaghetti dinner and a paint ‘n’ sip, she said, are under way.

Free to be different Players all have derby names and accompanying alter egos, often based on popular culture, personality, sexual innuendo or mock violence and the sport, its moves and its players all have special terms, too. That aspect of roller derby, Terror said, is part of its appeal.

“It’s slightly freeing,” she said. “When you pick a name, it’s a rite of passage – going from being a newbie to getting your derby name and number.”

Four-year member and three-year league president Keshia Genzardi, otherwise known as “Peppermint Panda,” said the group includes members “from all over Otsego County.” Panda is a 32-year-old Oneonta resident.

“We have players from Margaretville, Delhi, Gilbertsville, Cooperstown, Oneonta, Milford, Unadilla, Otego and Sidney,” she said.

“People have been known to drive two hours to a practice,” Terror noted.

Having joined the Hill City Rollers in 2011, Terror, 51, has one of the team’s longest track records.

“My friend was doing it and I couldn’t hang out with her because she was here all the time,” she said. “So I went to a practice and I’ve been here ever since.”

good at it at “firstYouormayyounotmaybenever be good at it. but it’s such a wacky and inclusive community, that we just really have fun.

”

— Beth Ashbaugh, aka Shear Terror

Team spirit Love at first bout is an experience shared by many of the Hill City Rollers.

Adina Feliu-Magee of Oneonta, 32, is chair of the organization’s outreach committee and known on the track as “Knockrz.”

“I’ve been doing this since 2011,” she said. “I saw an article in a local paper and … I’d always played sports as a kid, but this was something totally different. I’m from here originally, but I had just moved back up after living in Philly and I was still making new friends and needed something other than work.”

“Team sports are in my blood and … when I found derby, I was like, ‘Done. Where do I sign?’” she said. “I was meant to find this.”

To become a Hill City Roller, prospective skaters, or “fresh meat,” must pass a skills test and participate in the team’s fall boot camp. And while the sport is full-contact and physically demanding, members said, it wouldn’t be roller derby if there wasn’t a place for everyone.

Members typically practice once a week, for two and a half hours, Terror said, though officers put in “about 10 hours a week.” The bouting season, she noted, is from Memorial Day to Labor Day, with roughly four home bouts per season and several travel bouts within one to three hours’ distance.

“We have people from 18 to our oldest active player, who is in her mid-50s,” Knockrz said. “If you’re physically capable, you’re more than welcome and if not, we have officiating spots for you. We’re looking to create that family league where, even if you’re not a derby player, you’re still part of the derby culture.”

Whiskey Riot (Louise Parker) drills against Bootie Iz-Ah Beast (Heather Yakalis), North Star (Carrie Smith) and Ruffo (Jim Ruffo) at Interskate 88 in Oneonta.

PHOTOS BY ALLISON COLLINS

A place for all “It’s one of those sports where we go out and play a bout, beat each other up horribly and then go out and get a beer afterward, and that’s true of both teams,” Terror said. “It’s community, no matter where you go or whatever team is hosting you.”

In addition to the team’s 13 players, Panda said, the organization counts about 22 volunteers and coaches.

“It’s right for everyone, you just have to have the mindset of being ready to try it,” Panda said. “It’s just that willingness to put on skates.”

“We are recruiting and now is a great time to join,” Terror said. “We take anybody, any time of year and it’s a great way to challenge yourself.

“You may not be good at it at first or you may never be good at it,” she continued, “but it’s such a wacky and inclusive community, that we just really have fun.”

For more information or to lace up, email hillcityrollers@ gmail.com, find “Hill City Rollers” on Facebook or follow @ hillcityrollers on Instagram.

HILL CITY

DESIGNED BY KATEMANGOSTAR / FREEPIK

‘If she can, I can’ Contemporary, female- driven roller derby got its start in the early 2000s in Texas, local players said, but the sport has roots in the 1920s and ’30s, when roller-skating races were popular.

According to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association, wftda.org, “In the late 1930s, Leo Seltzer’s touring competition, Transcontinental Roller Derby, began evolving from a marathon skating race on a raised track to a more physical competition emphasizing skater collisions and falls (and) this evolved into the foundation of the team sport that exists today.”

Roller derby’s popularity waned in the late ’70s, the site states, with “several short-lived attempts to revive versions of the sport (made) in the 1980s and ’90s,” during which time bouts included “staged action and storylines similar to professional wrestling.”

Since the Texas Rollergirls, or “pioneers,” helped popularize the modern-day,

CONTRIBUTED

Hill City Rollers participate in Otsego Pride Alliance’s annual Pridefest this June at Neahwa Park in Oneonta.

flat-track version of the sport in the early 2000s, Terror said, roller derby has become more accessible and now enjoys international popularity. Though the Hill City Rollers is considered a “strong B team,” Terror said, members hope to someday earn A Level status, becoming a WFDA-sanctioned team.

“When flat-track derby started it was because (skaters) wanted an opportunity for everyone to play,” Panda said,

noting the steep expense of banked tracks. “And then the Women’s Flat-track Derby Association was born.”

“The flat-track version of the sport spread like wildfire … as the ability to mark track boundaries on a skating rink floor or other venues, rather than building and storing a large banked track, made it possible to play just about anywhere,” wfda.org notes. By 2010, the site says, there were 450-plus leagues worldwide.

“It really started picking up after the (Texas Rollergirls) started this incarnation of the sport around 2005,” Terror said. “And it’s been increasing. Playoffs were (in early September of this year) in North Carolina and one of the teams that made it through to the international championship was from South America.

It’s the first time a team from South America has made it into playoffs, let alone the champs. So it’s grown internationally over just the last five years and it’s very exciting.”

“In 2011 (when I joined), it was definitely more of an underground kind of fad,” Knockrz said. “It was up-andcoming, and you idolized your favorite players. If you didn’t love Suzy Hotrod, then you loved Bonnie Thunders.

Now, we are familiar with the captain of a USA Roller Sports team; she’s played with us.

To know that I actually really know her brings that celebrity or derby goddess status down. If she can do it, damn straight I can do it and that’s very uplifting.”

Though like hockey or a sped-up version of rugby, players said, roller derby is in a league of its own.

“A bout is a game and each bout consists of jams,” Panda said. “I tell people it’s like rugby, but on skates and your body is the ball. The jammer is the player as well as the ball.”

“You’ve got two teams and (during a bout) you’ve got five players from each team out on the track: four blockers and a jammer who wears a star on their helmet,” Knockrz explained.

“When the whistle blows, (players) start a two-minute ‘jam’ and in that two minutes, the goal is for the jammer to get through the opposing team’s blockers and lap them as many times as possible.

“One of the goals of the jammer is to become the lead jammer,” she contin-

ued. “The first jammer to make it out of the pack or group of players becomes the lead jammer and they have the power to end the two-minute jam early if it’s in their favor to do so. At the end of the two minutes, everything stops and players return to the bench and a new set comes out and they restart.

There are two, 30-minute halves in a game.”

The goal of a bout, players noted, is to earn points.

“Whoever gets the most points, wins,” Terror said, “but it’s a super-quick switch from offense to defense.”

Though derby players aren’t afraid of a little fishnet burn, there are penalties for rule breaking.

“Penalties happen in between jams, and that’s why there are refs on the inside and outside of track,” Knockrz said. “If you get a penalty, you get sent

CONTRIBUTED

How to do it

A diagram shows the WFDA-approved dimensions used for flat-track roller derby rinks.

to the box for 30 seconds, which feels like a lifetime. And penalties can range anywhere from cutting the track — cutting in front of another player — all the way to illegal conduct and you can be ejected from a game. But that’s incredibly rare, because the unofficial first rule of roller derby is keeping a sense of teamwork and team spirit.” +

A bout is a game “and each bout consists of jams.

I tell people it’s like rugby, but on skates and your body is the ball.

The jammer is the player as well as the ball.

”

— Keshia Genzardi, aka “Peppermint Panda,” league president

Amanda Hug N’ Kill (Amanda Chapin), center, works with members of the Hill City Rollers during a September boot camp session.

From left, Hill City Roller Amanda Chapin, better known as Amanda Hug N’ Kill, works with Lucy Silva, Lucid Sk8 of Mind, during a September practice.

Stone of another color Bluestone is here, there and everywhere

BY K. KUNZ SWOPE

Y

ou’ve probably heard of red rock but how about bluestone? It’s a blue-gray sandstone or limestone that is a very durable, porous rock quarried in areas of New York and Northern Pennsylvania.

It is also the name of the new restaurant at SUNY Delhi that is scheduled to open before this coming January.

The name, Bluestone, was selected to reflect the local area and the commitment to leveraging natural resources to the extent possible. The restaurant will have a fireplace constructed of New York bluestone as a focal point.

The restaurant will replace the Signature Restaurant. Dawn Sohns, vice president for marketing and communications, noted the atmosphere will be

The name, Bluestone, was selected to reflect the local area and the commitment to leveraging natural resources to the extent possible.

The restaurant will have a fireplace constructed of New York bluestone as a focal point.

“where rustic meets modern, surrounded by breathtaking views.” Bluestone will be open to the public and will offer a fusion between contemporary dishes and traditional favorites with different price points for Pub at Bluestone and Bluestone. Beer, wine, cider, and liquor will be offered at the establishment.

According to Dr. David Brower, dean and professor of the School of Business & Hospitality Management, “Bluestone inspires a unique collaboration between the college, the School of Hospitality and the College Association of Delhi, Inc. (CADI) to provide a progressive learning lab for culinary and hospitality students that bridge the classroom with industry experience by expanding the students’ work experience beyond the classroom.”

JULIE LEWIS | THE DAILY STAR

The bar at SUNY Delhi’s Bluestone restaurant is made of bluestone. The new restaurant is located at the college’s golf course on Scotch Mountain Road.

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Bluestone quarry in West Hurley, N.Y., in 1894.

This 20-plus ton Ulster County bluestone slab was 20 x 24 feet and 9 inches thick and appeared in a 1894 Popular Science Monthly article.

The stones at Stonehenge.

PHOTOS CONTRIBUTED

Bluestone will offer students valuable experiential learning opportunities providing all students the chance to rotate through the various positions required to run a successful restaurant.

Bluestone is not the only experiential learning opportunity offered to these students. SUNY requires students intern during their attendance at Delhi. There are local options, such as Hanah Mountain Resort & Country Club, Spillian, Otesaga Resort Hotel, or The Blue Bee. If students choose to venture further away, options include Ocean House Hotel in Rhode Island, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Sagamore Resort Hotel in Lake George, and others.

“We have established a wonderful working relationship with the Walt Disney Company, where students participate in the Walt Disney World College Program, a structured internship that allows students to immerse themselves in the living, learning, and earning experience at the resort,” explained Dawn Sohns, vice president for marketing and communications.

A money-maker

Bluestone has been quarried in this region of New York since the early 1800s. A quarry opened in the area known as Moray Hill, near Kingston in Ulster County around 1826.

It is believed to be the first to put bluestone on the market, originally selling it for windowsills and lintels by transporting it to Kingston with an ox team.

Popular Science Monthly ran an article in its July 1894 edition titled, “The Great Bluestone Industry.”

It discusses the variations in bluestone color in different locations and the geological causes. At that time, the “bluestone belt” ran from Albany County, N.Y., to the Pennsylvania region on the Delaware River.

In 1894, it was noted that 20,000 people earned at least a portion of their wages from the bluestone industry. The “good wages” cited in the article ranged from $1.25 per day for laborers to $3.50 per day for stonecutters, blacksmith, tool makers, expert quarrymen, and other skilled labor.

In 1894, the slabs of bluestone were cut into manageable sizes to prevent breakage and ease handling. However, there were times when slabs 20-30 feet square and 10 inches thick were quarried and carefully transported. The slab shown in the photo from the article was 20 x24 feet and 9 inches thick and weighed more than 20 tons. It took eight horses to haul it to the docks.

Stonehenge stones

Bluestone can be found in other locations around the United States and the world.

In Rockingham County, Va., Shenandoah Bluestone is quarried and was used by the first settlers to that area in building homes. Bluestone can be found in selected locations in Canada, it is quarried in the Canadian Appalachians.

The smaller stones at Stonehenge in Britain are bluestones. Recent excavations at quarries in Wales revealed that Stonehenge bluestones were quarried 5,000 years ago in Pembrokeshire, Wales, and transported 180 miles.

They were quarried by in-

serting wedges into the joints between each pillar, using ropes, mallets, levers, and hammer stones. The bluestone pillars were then eased onto wooden sledges and dragged to Stonehenge. The bluestone at Stonehenge is a sedimentary rock resembling limestone.

Some evidence suggests that ancient people may have visited Stonehenge because they believed the bluestones had a healing power. A number of the graves in the Stonehenge area included chips of bluestone buried with the bodies. Many of the bodies indicated signs of painful illnesses and injuries.

The bluestone of New York, Pennsylvania, and western New Jersey is a form of sandstone. The bluestone found in the Shenandoah Valley in Virginia is a limestone. Australia has three different types of bluestone.

Bluestone belt

Bluestone is an ideal building material because it can be sanded, rubbed, honed, flamed, tumbled, etc. to achieve a variety of finishes.

Local bluestone is also often used as pavers for patios and interior flooring. It is different than flagstone, which is more neutral in color, consisting of variations of grays, but lack the deep rich blue hues found in bluestone.

There is a bluestone “belt” that begins in Ulster County and crosses the Catskills, clips the corners of Delaware and Orange Counties, and then into Sullivan County, Pa., ending at the Delaware River.

The color variations change along the route, with the bluestone near the Delaware River ranging to a deep red color in some locations due to the iron oxides in the rock.

Ancient maces and battle axes have been found made of bluestone that was quarried from the same location as the small Stonehenge bluestones in Wales. Bluestone has proven useful for thousands of years, which is why we see its face in various forms and vastly different locations around the world. +

Witch Hazel

(Hamamelis virginiana)

HANS BRAXMEIER | PIXABAY

Wild Thing COLUMN BY K. KUNZ SWOPE

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As the last blooms of late summer disappear and fall colors foreshadow the coming of winter, one last wildflower blooms in the forests and in gardens.

Witch Hazel, with its spidery flowers provides an interesting splash of yellow to the often barren woods or garden covered in brown leaves. The plant is a shrub that grows in a dense cluster that typically reaches a height of about 12-15 feet. It is one of the most unusual native plants in New York.

The plant operates on a completely different schedule than other plants.

Most plants bloom in the spring, go to seed, and then are dormant by winter.

Witch Hazel blooms in late October while it is dropping its leaves and ejects its seeds at the same time, then it continues to bloom even after it is dormant.

It has additional eerily odd characteristics. Insects that are not normally pollinators, pollinate Witch Hazel.

Gnats, wasps, flies, and even owlet moths, it was finally discovered, are the pollinators, solving a long-standing mystery.

Pollination occurs in the fall when bees and butterflies are no longer active.

Witch Hazel ejects two shiny black seeds from each bloom that shoot 10-20 feet away from the plant, which is why it is sometimes referred to as snapping hazel. The seeds that the plant shoots out will remain dormant for two years before germinating.

If you are lucky enough to witness the moment the seeds expel into the air, you will enjoy one of nature’s unique events.

Planting Witch Hazel in your garden is easy. It is best planted on the north side of your home and thrives in rich moist soil. It does not do well in full sunlight but flourishes in partial sun.

A plant that is virtually maintenance free, it will take six years until it produces flowers. But it is worth the wait because the flowers have a wonderful fragrance. Witch Hazel can be used as a border, mixed with other plants, or even as a highlighted as a specimen plant.

Medicinal uses The Witch Hazel plant has a rich history. Centuries ago, during the 1500s, English law specifically mentioned archer’s bows being made of “Elme, Wyche hasille, ashe, or other wood.”

The branches were also a favorite for use as divining rods to locate underground water sources. The branch bends in the holder’s hands as it is drawn toward the water.

Early American settlers were observed by the American Indian Mohegans using the branches in locating water sources and “wych” is from the Anglo-Saxon word for “bend” which may be the source of the name Witch Hazel.

American Indians also showed white settlers how to use the plant for medicinal purposes. The Iroquois brewed a tea from the plant that they used to treat illnesses. The Osage used Witch Hazel bark to treat skin ulcers and sores. Among the Potawatomi, the twigs were placed over hot rocks in their sweat lodges to create Witch Hazel steam to relieve sore muscles.

This astringent has a variety of skin care uses and in olden times Witch Hazel was made by mashing young twigs and roots from the plant and immersing them in alcohol. Today the medicinal value of Witch Hazel is questioned. However, most of us probably still have an old bottle of Witch Hazel tucked in the back of a closet.

Perhaps it is time to include the plant in your garden instead a bottle in your closet. +

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UPSTATE LIFE magazine

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Fall 2019 | 27

Visit the Gilboa Geology Day Trip

COLUMN BY ROBERT AND JOHANNA TITUS

A

CONTRIBUTED

Gilboa tree stump discovered in the 1920s.

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lot of important paleontology has been discovered in our Catskills and you and your family can go see some of the best.

Geologists have long recognized that all of our Catskills are composed of Devonian aged stratified rocks.

That’s a sequence of mostly sandstones and shales; it’s several miles thick and spread out all across the Catskills, including Oneonta.

The Devonian time period lasted from 419 to 369 million years ago and much of its stratigraphy is richly fossiliferous. Not surprisingly, these fossil creatures are primitive compared to those alive today. We geologists get a good look at Devonian time when we explore the Catskills. We are especially fascinated by the fossils. They speak to us of life during a long-ago era.

Possibly our region’s most important fossil discoveries occurred in the town of Gilboa during the early 1920s when the dam was being built for the Schoharie Reservoir. A quarry was opened up right along Schoharie Creek, just downstream from the dam site.

Stone was needed for the new dam and that quarry would be the source of that stone. Nobody knew it at the time, but quarrymen were cutting into sandstones that had formed from sands on the banks of Devonian streams. And trees had once lived on those streambanks. Many of those trees were still there in the 1920s: petrified trees still standing on the banks of petrified streams.

Gilboa tree stumps along Route 990V in Gilboa.

CONTRIBUTED

The Devonian time period lasted from 419 to 369 million years ago and much of its stratigraphy is richly fossiliferous. Not surprisingly, these fossil creatures are primitive compared to those alive today. We geologists get a good look at Devonian time when we explore the Catskills. We are especially fascinated by the fossils. They speak to us of life during a long-ago era.

Well, none of those trees were fully preserved, only their lower parts remained; these were petrified stumps.

But there were a lot of them. We have heard that about 200 of these stumps were excavated. Most of these were sent off to colleges and museums all across the country. There they all have remained as treasured specimens in these academic collections.

This tree species came to be given the Roman language name of Eospermatopteris. That’s a mouthful isn’t it?

But a name is just a name; just exactly what kinds of trees were these? That became the most important question.

The first trees Paleontologists did not have much to work with. Fossil stumps were nice, but it was fossil foliage that would identify these trees and reveal their secrets. It was obvious, right from the start, that these were very primitive land plants.

That was not surprising as these were among the first trees that evolution had ever produced. In fact, what came to be called the Gilboa forest is perhaps the oldest known of the world’s fossil forest ecologies.

So, these trees were scientifically important; they had so much to tell paleontologists about the early evolution of trees – and forests. But only if complete fossil trees could be found.

And for almost a century that was the problem. Well preserved, whole trees eluded discovery. Nobody could find one. Sometimes, even the two of us searched but always without luck.

The hunt finally ended about 10 years ago when paleontologists from the New York State Museum found several fine specimens in an eastern Catskills quarry.

They found fossil trees that had, in life, stood more than 20 feet tall.

When reconstructions were put together it was found that Eospermatopteris seems to have been something ancestral to modern ferns and horsetails. Those are relatively primitive members of today’s forests.

Not all of those fossil stumps were sent away; a number of them were kept in Gilboa. And they are still there. They are on display along Route 990V, next to Gilboa Town Hall. Take Route 23, east from Oneonta to Route 30 north, and soon you will find 990V. Travel another

mile and there they are, along the left side of the road. When you get to see these old tree stumps, appreciate what you are looking at; they are some of the world’s most important fossils! +

Contact the authors at randjtitus@ prodigy.net. Join their facebook page “The Catskill Geologist.” Read their blogs at “thecatskillgeologist.com.”

UPSTATE LIFE magazine

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Fall 2019 | 29

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Oliver’s Campers Inc.

6460 State Hwy. 12, Norwich, NY 607-334-3400 • www.oliverscampers.com

Aqua-Tec Water Services Inc.

Gilboa, NY 1-800-853-5453 • 607-588-9413 www.waterwellsandpumps.com

Big Indian Native American Cultural Center PO Box 85, Big Indian, NY 845-254-4238 bigindiannac.org

Otego Tire & Auto

339 Co. Hwy 48, Otego, NY Phone & Fax 607-988-9898 www.otegotireandauto.com

“Quality you can trust.”

Clapper Construction

Otego, NY • 607-434-1512 www.clapperconstructionNY.com

COOPERSTOWN ART ASSOCIATION GALLERIES

22 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 607-547-9777 • www.cooperstownart.com

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Northeast Classic Car Museum 24 Rexford Street, Norwich, NY 607-334-2886 • classiccarmuseum.org

State Farm Insurance

Melissa Manikas 29 Pioneer St., Cooperstown, NY 607-547-2886

Business Directory Health & Fitness

Home & Garden

(Medical Centers & Clinics, Dentists, Rehabilitation Centers)

(Home & Garden, Remodeling Bath & Kitchen)

ASBURY GARDENS NEW NEW

ASBURY GARDENS DESIGN/BUILD LANDSCAPING NEW DIVISION WINDOWS • SIDING • ROOFING DECKS • EXTERIOR PAINTING

Chestnut Park

Rehabilitation & Nursing Center 330 Chestnut St., Oneonta, NY 607-432-8500 • chestnutparkrehab.com

New Asbury Gardens

Meet the Locals Restaurants

Shopping & Retail

Shopping & Retail

(Full Service, Casual Dining, Fast Food)

(Appliances, Clothing Apparel, Accessories, more...)

(Appliances, Clothing Apparel, Accessories, more...)

Arkville Bread & Breakfast

American Homesteader

7632 US Hwy. 20, Cherry Valley, NY 607-264-3987 info@thetepee.biz

Cooperstown Natural Foods

143 Ben Baxter Rd., Cherry Valley, NY 866-384-2729 www.thistlehillweavers.com

248 River St., Oneonta, NY 607-432-8703 www.newasburygardens.com STOP DOWN TO OUR GARDEN CENTER!

OPEN IN APRIL! (weather permitting... call ahead) Get Get AAJump JumpOn OnYour YourSpring SpringClean-Up! Clean-Up! Mulching Mulchingand andEdging Edging Cleaning Cleaning and and Sealing Sealing Services ServicesFor For Walks and Patios, Walks and Patios, Pond Clean-Up And More!

Clean-Up And More!

Visit us Pond online at www.newasburygardens.com Visit us online at www.newasburygardens.com

248 RIVER ST., ONEONTA

Symphony Medical Supply

Price Chopper Plaza, 5626 State Hwy 7, Oneonta, NY • 607-643-0257

The Tepee

43285 State Rt. 28, Arkville, NY 845-586-1122

Pure Catskills 248 RIVER ST., ONEONTA 607-432-8703 44 West Street, Walton, NY 607-432-8703 607-865-7090 www.purecatskills.com

Non-Profit Organizations (Family, Community & Civic Organizations)

Catskill MOMOS

191 Main St, Delhi, NY 607-746-2233

6167 State Hwy. 12, Norwich, NY 607-334-9941 • americanhomesteader.net

61 Linden Ave., Cooperstown, NY 607-547-8613

Thistle Hill Weavers

United Health Services

607-762-2200 • www.uhs.net

Dante’s

Heart of the Catskills Humane Society P.O. Box 88, 46610 State Hwy. 10 Delhi, NY • 607-746-3080 www.heartofthecatskills.org

416½ Chestnut St., Oneonta, NY 607-432-2020

Kate’s Upstate

134 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 607-322-4068 www.katesupstate.com

Oneonta Family YMCA

20-26 Ford Ave., Oneonta, NY 607-432-0010 • www.oneontaymca.org

TREMPERSKILL COUNTRY STORE

Personal Services & Care (Salons & Spas, Funeral Homes, Driver Training, more...)

Fiesta Mexican Grill & Cantina 19 Clinton Plaza, Oneonta, NY 607-431-9898 www.fiestamexicanoneonta.com

Home & Garden (Home & Garden, Remodeling Bath & Kitchen)

Lyon Mountain Blue Barn Antiques 2527 Roses Brook Rd., Hobart, NY 607-538-1768

Farm Market

18 Dietz St., Oneonta, NY 607-386-0363

CarpetsPlus COLORTILE

Faithful Friends Pet Crematory

Tremperskill Country Store

1024 County Hwy. 1, Andes, NY 845-676-3244

WEAVER’S

Crystal Palace Barber Shop

61 South Main St., Oneonta, NY 607-353-7433 Carpetsplusoneonta@hotmail.com

Tin Bin Alley Candy Shop & Gift Shop 114 Main St., Cooperstown, NY 607-547-5565 • tinbinalley.com

The Red Barn Clubhouse

2322 Rt. 7, Cobleskill, NY 518-254-0275 • www.cobleskillgc.com

1977 State Hwy 23, Morris, NY 607-263-2363 www.faithfulfriendsofmorris.com

Posie’s Vintiques

6 Center St., Milford, NY • 607-286-4025 email: posiesvintiques@gmail.com

OPEN YEAR ROUND! Weaver’s Farm Market

1272 East Side Rd., Morris, NY 607-263-2030

Sports & Recreation (Golf Courses & Country Clubs, Sports Facility, Sports Team, Campgrounds)

Tiger Asian Cuisine

Cody-Shane Acres

195 Main St., Oneonta, NY • 607-441-3396 www.tigerasiancuisineoneonta.com

90 Crystal Creek, Walton, NY 607-865-4913

Morris Tent Rental

26 Mills St., Morris, NY 607-263-9916 www.morristent.com

Hearths A’Fire

Cooperstown Shadow Brook Campground 2149 County Hwy 31, Cooperstown, NY 607-264-8431 cooperstowncamping.com

7352 State Hwy. 23, Oneonta, NY 607-436-9549 www.hearthsafire.com

Tuning In - Tuning Up

Oneonta, NY 607-433-2089 www.tuningin-tuningup.com

UPSTATE LIFE magazine

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