I received a call today from U.S. Rep. Scott Murphy’s office about the Civil War Enlistment Center. The Congressman wants to visit the center on Thursday, June 3rd at 12:30 pm.

As you may remember, The Town of Hartford and Hartford’s Historical Society requested that Congressman Murphy see what he could do to help preserve the center. The masonry foundation of the center is failing and it is estimated that it will take about $60,000 to jack the building up and replace the foundation. It goes without saying that if the foundation fails, the building falls dawn.

This Enlistment Center, at #55 County Route 23 (Main Street) is where men  from Hartford and Hebron signed up to join the 123rd NY Volunteers in the Civil War. The were assigned to Company E.

This Enlistment Center is the only remaining Civil War Enlistment Center in the entire state. It is important to our cultural heritage that this center be preserved.  Unfortunately, the Town and the Historical Group lack the funds to do so, which is why we reached out to Representative Murphy.

The Historical Society is having a meeting at the center on May 26th 7pm open to the public.

If you are interested in coming to the center on June 3rd to impress upon the Congressman the urgent need this center has for repairs and his assistance in preserving it, please do so.

Dana

The Hartford Farmers’ Market has a new home for the 2011 season. The 2011 season will be the Grand Opening season and will now be located next door to the Stewart’s Shop, at the old Meme and Papa’s Icecream shop. The old Meme and Papa’s Icecream shop is the Regional District Headquarters for Stewarts.

Market Manager Pat Imbimbo and myself walked the property today with Stewart’s District Manager Mark Bruno to work out the fine details. Stewarts is being very cooperative and acting in a very beneficial manner to the Hartford community.

This location is on the short stretch of highway where State Route 40 and State Route 149 share the same roadway. A recent traffic pattern study indicates that over 5,000 cars a day travel this section of highway.

You really could not ask for a better location to hold a Farmers’ Market. The building and grounds are very attractive.

The Market’s operating days will now be held on Saturdays from 9am till 1pm from mid-May to mid-Oct. 2011

Originally, the Market was to open this year and be located at the Hartford Firehouse on Sundays. The Market started looking for vendors in March which turned out to be too late to solicit vendors. A lack of vendors made the Market decide to hold off for a year and get a huge headstart on getting vendors to committ for 2011.

This change of venue also allows the Market to change the day from a Sunday to a Saturday.

Saturdays are the most popular Farmers’ Market day, so this 1 year delay and change of location may actually work out as a win win for Hartford, Buy Local, and the Market. Plus, Stewarts should see a lot of walk over business from the Market to help their sales as well.

U.S. Senator Gillibrand was very helpful and wrote a letter to the President of Stewarts encouraging the idea that the Market locate at their building.

Hartford citizen Theresa Streit  was instrumental in keeping in contact with Mr. Tom Mailey at Stewart’s corporate offices.

Assemblyman Tony Jordan is keeping alive the member item request in the amount of $1,500 if and when the State Budget ever gets finalized.

The future for the Hartford Farmers’ Market now looks very promising and will be a wonderful “Buy Local” experience and destination in the Town of Hartford for a Saturday.

Dana