Hartford’s Internet Tower is up and running

I am very happy to report that The Hudson Valley Wireless Internet tower behind my house on Shine Hill is now up and running. As you can see by my photo, it overlooks much of Hartford. If you can physically see the tower from your house, or the peak of your roof, etc., then you can get the internet from it. Hartford is coming into the 21st century! Next to come will be the Verizon Cell phone tower on Dick Hill.


New Area Code Coming to Washington County Starting August 19, 2017

To ensure a continuing supply of telephone numbers, the new 838 area code will be added to the area served by 518.  The new 838 area code will serve the same geographic area currently served by the existing 518 area code which covers all or part of 17 counties in eastern upstate New York, serving communities such as Albany, Plattsburgh, and Lake Placid.  This is known as an area code overlay.

There will be a transition period from March 18 to August 19, 2017.  During this time, customers can dial either the seven or ten digit number (the area code plus seven-digit local telephone number or just the seven-digit number currently used) for calls or faxes within the 518 area code.

Following the transition period on August 19, 2017, residential, business and wireless customers will be REQUIRED to dial ten digits on both calls and faxes within the 518 and 838 area codes.  The price of a call and other telephone services will not change.

After August 19, 2017 it will be MANDATORY to dial the area code (518 or 838) and the local phone number.


Reminder: Baldwin Corners bridge will be closed for renovation from June 26th to Sept 4th.

Letter from DOT (Baldwin Corners Rd Project) – Recd 06.16.2017


Hartford’s Guernsey Farm

This story is from the June issue of Lancaster Farming. Dana

HARTFORD, N.Y. — Wayne Foote kept getting asked the same question for several years after buying his farm.

“How come you don’t have any cows?” his neighbors would ask.

Foote always answered the same way.

“I haven’t lost my mind yet.”

Today, he and his wife, Betsy, have a 57-head herd of Guernseys on their dairy farm in Washington County, New York.

The Footes and their adult children — Wayne Jr., Mary and Suzanne — are chairing the National Guernsey Convention scheduled for June 26-July 1 in Saratoga Springs.

More than 350 people from throughout the U.S. are expected at the convention, based in neighboring Saratoga County, where Wayne Sr. and Betsy are from.

Both grew up surrounded by Guernseys at Welcome Stock Farm, owned by Betsy Foote’s father, Bill Peck, who is renowned in the dairy industry for his work with genetics. Wayne Foote Sr. worked there and eventually married Betsy.

The couple bought their current farm in Hartford, Washington County.

While Welcome Stock Farm has a large Holstein herd numbering in the hundreds, the Footes have stayed true to their dairy roots. Wayne Foote Sr. is president of the New York Guernsey Breeders Association.

Things got started when his daughter, Mary Foote, bought Welcome Stock Farm’s last Guernsey, named Apple, from her grandfather, Bill Peck, for a dollar.

Before long, Wayne Sr. and Betsy Foote went to a Guernsey auction in Vermont and came home with another cow, named Jessica.

“The bids kept getting higher and finally got up to $1,650,” Wayne Foote Sr. said. “My wife said, ‘We can’t afford that!’ But I said, ‘Listen, today’s Saturday. I’ve been doing a lot of work for people who owe me money.’ So by Monday I had the money.

“Everything’s got a story behind it,” he added.

In 2005, Jessica won grand champion female at the New York State Fair and was named honorable mention junior All-American 5-year-old. Two other cows, Jessie and June, won top honors at the New York State Fair in 2009 and 2013. These and other cows from the farm have won many prizes at the annual Washington County Fair, New York’s third-largest county fair.

The Footes’ farm is known as Welcome Stock Guernseys and they do a great deal to promote the breed at the local, state and national levels.

Betsy Foote is an agricultural science teacher at Greenwich High School. Students in the 4-H program lease cows from Welcome Stock Guernseys to raise and care for, and then show at fair time in late August.

“A lot of kids want to do this,” she said. “They come up here and work with their cow during the summer. They might not become dairy farmers, but they’re getting a connection to agriculture, which is so important.”

This month’s convention has a “Turning Point” theme because the 1777 Battles of Saratoga, 240 years ago, marked the turning point of the American Revolution, when Patriots defeated General John Burgoyne’s highly superior British army.

Likewise, the Footes see the convention as a kind of turning point for promoting the Guernsey breed in upstate New York and New England. Guernseys now comprise less than 1 percent of America’s dairy cow population, as the industry has trended toward Holsteins, which are stronger and produce greater volumes of milk.

However, Guernsey milk is famous for its rich flavor, high protein and butterfat content, and health benefits related to the A2A2 protein.

“This was a dominant breed before refrigeration,” Betsy Foote said. “This breed had the milk with the highest butterfat. Protein was excellent for cheese making. Then refrigeration happened, so they didn’t have to turn the milk into cheese right away. So Holstein became the breed of choice because of their quantity of milk

“Today, people are recognizing the value of the Guernsey milk because of the value of the A2A2 protein that lactose-intolerant people can drink with a problem,” she said.

Guernseys have a distinct orange/red-and-white color.

“They’re beautiful animals; they’re very docile and calm,” Wayne Foote Sr. said. “They like human contact. At a large farm, cows are numbered. Here, everybody has a name.”

The breed originated on the Island of Guernsey, a small island near the coast of Normandy, where Allied forces stormed ashore 73 years ago this week on D-Day — June 6, 1944.

From the 1950s to the early 1970s, Golden Guernsey trademark milk was sold in the U.S. and Canada as a premium product. Its light yellow or golden color is from its high beta carotene content, a source of vitamin A.

The high protein and butterfat content nets a slightly higher price, about $1.50 to $2 more per hundredweight than Holstein milk, Wayne Foote Sr. said.

The couple’s only lament is that customers don’t get to experience their milk’s unique flavor because it’s blended with other milk during regular pickups. They simply don’t produce enough to warrant separate pickups, sales and marketing.

“We have this awesome quality milk and its going in with all the other milk,” Betsy Foote said. “I would love to be able to turn it into cheese or bottle it as Guernsey milk and offer it locally. Right now, locally, that’s not an option.”

So for the time being, the family is content knowing they’re keeping an important part of dairy history and heritage alive while contributing greatly to its economic well-being.

“It’s a lot of fun,” Betsy Foote said.

Paul Post is a freelance writer in eastern New York. He can be reached at [email protected].


Hartford’s Stan Pritzker appointed to the NYS Appeals Court

Congratulations to Hartford’s Stan Pritzker! This appears in the Post Star newspaper.
PS Column: Pritzker sworn in.
Local state Supreme Court Justice Stan Pritzker officially became an Appellate Division justice on Wednesday.
Pritzker, a Hartford resident, was sworn in during a ceremony in Albany attended by numerous local judges and dignitaries.
Pritzker, a former Washington County Family Court judge, was chosen to fill an opening on the appeals court, the second highest court in the state, late last month.
— Don Lehman


Hartford’s new Youth Commission field is progressing

Hartford’s new Youth Commission field project took a big step fwd yesterday. Thanks to a grant the Town secured from Washington County Soil and Water Conservation District, we were able to purchase quality top soil and hydroseed the 2 acre field. This will become the future site for a baseball diamond and soccer field. This field is on school property and is just west of the Varsity soccer field. A big thank you to Washington County DPW and Washington & Warren County Soil and Water Conservation Districts who operated Washington County’s hydro seeder using 8,000 gallons of water. hydroseeder.


Baldwin Corners Road Bridge over Champlain Canal Rehabilitation

Update from NYS DOT regarding the upcoming start of work – rehabilitation of Baldwin Corners Road Bridge over Champlain Canal in the Towns of Hartford and Kingsbury.

Work on this bridge is scheduled to begin on Monday, May 8, 2017 with installation of a temporary signal system at either end of the work area.  There will be alternating one-way traffic on the bridge until Monday, June 26, 2017, at which time the bridge will be closed to all traffic until Monday, September 4, 2017.

Area residents/property owners will receive full closure mailings and a detour route map in mid-June.

The Town will update this post if any new information becomes available.


State Comptroller Audit Report

Notice is hereby given that the fiscal affairs of the Town of Hartford for the period beginning on January 1, 2015 and ending on July 31, 2016 have been examined by the Office of the State Comptroller and that the Report of Examination prepared by the Office of the State Comptroller has been filed in my office where it is available as a public record for inspection by all interested persons.
 

Pursuant to Section Thirty-Five of the General Municipal Law, the Governing Board of the Town of Hartford may, in its discretion, prepare a written response to the Report of Examination prepared by the Office of the State Comptroller and file any such response in my office as a public record for inspection by all interested persons not later than May 25, 2017.

 

 

Denise Petteys, RMC

Town Clerk


Google Maps has an error for Hartford

I am asking your help to get Google Maps to correct its Hartford Map.

Hartford Main Street still appears as County Route 23.

I have contacted Google several times to correct this but they keep ignoring me.

Perhaps if we use strength in numbers and more people contact them they will pay attention and edit their map.

Please use the link below to pull up the map.

In the bottom right hand corner click on “send feedback”.

Then click on “edit the map” and leave a note saying that County Route 23 in the Town of Hartford has had a change of name. It is no longer County Route 23. It is now Hartford Main Street.

Thanks, Dana

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.3659043,-73.3959517,15z/data=!12b1?rapsrc=apiv3


Is this your dog?

Update for this post: This dog’s name is Owen and he has been reunited with his owner. Thank you Michele for tending to him until his owner was found.

Hartford friends please share. Hartford found dog alert. Michele Brucculeri found this male black and white dog this morning wandering along Hartford Main Street. Collar but no tags. He is now safe at Michele’s house 62 Christian Hill Rd. If you have any info please let me know or call Michele at 518-502-3622 or email her [email protected] Dana