The Landis Arboretum aims to foster appreciation and understanding of trees and other plants and their importance in our environment. The educational curriculum is a major component of the Arboretum’s program. Events and workshops designed for elementary school classes as well as the general public focus on the flora and fauna of the Arboretum. Associated activities are as wide-ranging as botanical drawing classes, garden and trail tours, astronomy nights, and bird- and owl- watching sessions. The Arboretum as a dynamic, outdoor classroom of hundreds of acres is reflected in its wide-ranging Calendar of Events.
Landis is currently offering a wide range of Virtual Classes and Workshops. Click here (opens in a new tab) to visit their website and click on Videos to access all Virtual Classes and Workshops.
The D&H Canal: 19th Century Engine of Prosperity program offered by Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site!
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will host Bill Merchant of the D&H Canal Museum on Thursday, September 24th at 6:30pm for a special online program. The D&H Canal: 19th Century Engine of Prosperity tells the basic history of the Delaware and Hudson Canal and illustrates how many of the industries it fostered. Discover just how the canal that spanned from Pennsylvania to the Hudson River impacted the history of New York State.
Bill Merchant has been with the D&H Canal Historical Society for over eight years. He previously served as board president and is now employed as the Deputy Director for Collections, Historian and Curator. He also serves as president of the Delaware and Hudson Transportation Heritage Council, vice president of the Ulster County Historical Society, and on the board of the Century House Historical Society, where he serves as historian and collections committee chair.
This is a free event hosted via Webex and the link can be found on the Schoharie Crossing Facebook event listing or by visiting their NYS Parks webpage. Please note that the link online goes live ten minutes prior to the presentation.
This is part of a series of online programs Schoharie Crossing has been offering in 2020 during the COVID-19 crisis. The Erie Canal historic site will continue to provide programs through Webex as well as other online programs and social media. Look for more great programs in October to recognize NYS History Month.
The site grounds remain open for appropriate socially distant recreational use from sunrise to sunset daily. Please observe NYS Guidelines while visiting Schoharie Crossing. For information about these programs, please find us on Facebook or you can call or email the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 71 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.
The Fort Plain Museum recently published a new local history book, Fort Plain, Fork Plank, Fort Rensselaer: The Revolutionary War Forts of Canajohary by Wayne Lenig. Lenig is a Fellow of the New York State Archaeological Association, vice-president of the Van Epps-Hartley Chapter NYSAA, archaeological curator and vice-chairman of the Fort Plain Museum Board of Trustees, and Research Associate in Archaeology at the New York State Museum.
A great deal of confusion has developed regarding the historical identities of Fort Plain, Fort Plank and Fort Rensselaer. This book reviews and analyzes the published secondary sources in chronological order to gain an understanding of when and how misconceptions developed. Following that review are chapters on the archaeology and historical research from primary sources, placing the final four years of the Revolutionary War on the New York frontiers into the broad fabric of contemporary events. A fourth chapter reviews the evidence for an earlier Colonial Anglo-American fort on the site of Fort Plain. This is the most comprehensive study of the most important American outpost during the final four years of the War for Independence.
The book is 8.5 by 11 with over 260 glossy pages with color images and maps. To order the book, please visit the museum’s online book store at https://fortplainmuseum.square.site/ or email info@fortplainmuseum.org. 100% of the book proceeds go to the museum for exhibits and education programming.
Book Talk – The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President
The Fort Plain Museum welcomes Matthew R. Costello, the Acting Director of the David M. Rubenstein National Center for White House History and the Senior Historian White House Historical Association as he presents his new book, “The Property of the Nation: George Washington’s Tomb, Mount Vernon, and the Memory of the First President”
This Book Talk is on Tuesday, February 18, 2020 at 6:30 PM at The Fulton-Montgomery Community College’s Allen House located at 2805 NY-67, Johnstown, NY 12095. There is a $10 Admission Fee and the speaker’s book will be available for sale ($5 off with paid admission).
Washington’s resting place at his beloved Mount Vernon estate was at times as contested and in Costello’s telling, the many attempts to move the first president’s bodily remains offer greater insight to the issue of memory and hero worship in early America. While describing the efforts of politicians, business owners, artists, and storytellers to define, influence, and profit from the memory of Washington at Mount Vernon, this book’s main focus is the memory-making process that took place among American citizens. As public access to the tomb increased over time, more and more ordinary Americans were drawn to Mount Vernon, and their participation in this nationalistic ritual helped further democratize Washington in the popular imagination. Shifting our attention from official days of commemoration and publicly orchestrated events to spontaneous visits by citizens, Costello’s book clearly demonstrates in compelling detail how the memory of George Washington slowly but surely became The Property of the Nation.
The Visitor Center at Schoharie Crossing will be open on Monday, February 3rd for the second Museum Monday program of the year. The topic will be Abolition and Slavery in Montgomery County with Montgomery County Historian Kelly Farquhar. Discover information on freedom seekers in the Mohawk Valley and how the Erie Canal was used to spread ideas, shape ideology, and as a way to escape bondage.
Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site will be opening the doors at their Visitor Center this off season on each first Monday of the month for these Museum Monday Programs. The building will open at 10:00am on February 3rd, March 2nd, and April 6th to provide a themed discussion within the Pathway to Empire Exhibit beginning at 12:00pm.
The exhibit space will be open until 2pm on these days. Each program is open to the public and questions are encouraged. This is not a formal presentation and the idea is to explore the exhibit and discover more about each theme topic.
The rest of the program schedule is as follows:
On March 2nd we say HAPPY BIRTHDAY DeWitt! Celebrate the Birthday of DeWitt Clinton, Erie Canal proponent, NYS Governor, and founding son of early America. We will take a look at his portrait inside the gallery, enjoy cupcakes, and learn more about his life.
April 6th the theme will be a discussion on how the federal government rejected funding the NYS project to build the Erie Canal. Learn more about how NY constructed the canal anyway, and some thoughts on how a conspiracy may have been involved.
For information about this program, please call the Visitor Center at (518) 829-7516, email SchoharieCrossing@parks.ny.gov, or visit our Facebook page.
The New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation oversees more than 250 individual state parks, historic sites, golf courses, boat launches and recreational trails, which are visited by 71 million people annually. For more information on any of these recreation areas, call 518-474-0456 or visit www.nysparks.com, connect on Facebook, or follow on Twitter.
The Cycling the Erie Canal: A Path Through History audio tour is available through the free TravelStorys app (available for download on smartphones). TravelStorys brings the little-known stories about the land to life, and by using GPS technology, stories on the tours automatically play as listeners pass through each site.
While the Cycling the Erie Canal stories are timed for cyclists, pedestrians utilizing the trail can enjoy the stories as well. Once the app is downloaded, each story will automatically play after entering the story’s radius. Each story is told in a manner that traveling the trail from east to west or west to east will not affect the storytelling experience.
The Montgomery County TravelStorys Audio Tour invites visitors to interact with the region in a deeper way, and to experience the Erie Canalway Trail in a new way. To download TravelStorys and take the tour, visit Google Play (opens in a new tab) or the Apple Store (opens in a new tab) .
I LOVE NY started the “New York Fall Foliage Report (opens in a new tab) ” on September 11 and will continue until the end of the foliage season, around the first or second week in November. Montgomery County has started its own annual report this year as well.
Percent of trees predicted to have changed by the coming weekend: 20%
Brilliance: Dull to average as more color emerges
Predominating colors: Greens with pops of orange and reds developing
Rating: Beginning with a lot more brilliant and beautiful colors to come
Green is still predominant with more orange and yellow showing through.
Enjoy a night of music and dancing! Friday night at the Elk’s Lodge in Amsterdam, Grand Central Station (opens in a new tab) will perform; wings and craft brews will be available to purchase.
Saturday features A Taste of History, the Garden Bug Fall Festival, Family Fun Day, the Friends of Sanford Stud Farm Open House and so much more (opens in a new tab) .
The annual Garden Bug Fall Festival (opens in a new tab) will have a variety of agricultural products and fall decor available for purchase: mums, pumpkins, indian corn, bows, hay bales, corn stalks, and more. Vendors and crafters will be on hand both Saturday and Sunday. Music, bounce house, cider donuts, wagon rides, car cruise-in (Saturday only beginning at noon), food and gifts are all available.
I LOVE NY starts the “New York Fall Foliage Report (opens in a new tab) ” on September 11 and will continue until the end of the foliage season, around the first or second week in November. Montgomery County has started its own annual report this year as well.
Aqueduct at Schoharie Crossing State Historic Site
Percent of trees predicted to have changed by the coming weekend: 10%
Brilliance: Dull
Predominating colors: Mostly green with small hints of yellow and reds (sumac)
Rating: Just beginning
The leaves are still mostly green but more color is starting to show through – hints of yellow and red are currently the main colors.
This Saturday, September 21, the Town of Minden will hold its 5th annual History Fair (opens in a new tab) in Haslett Park, downtown Fort Plain. There will be historical displays, demonstrations and exhibits by local residents, historians, and collectors. Amongst the fun are an Old Tyme Movie Theatre, Old Farmer’s Market, scavenger hunt, and new this year will be the Chocolate Jumbles Baking Contest. A historical walking tour of the village will take place at 1pm. Admission is free.
The Ames Museum (opens in a new tab) is also hosting their End of Summer Festival on Saturday. Enjoy the fall colors, tour the museum, talk with and shop through the assorted vendors, 5K run/walk beginning at 9am.
5th Annual American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference
June 6-9, 2019
The American Revolution Mohawk Valley Conference celebrates its 5th year with more speakers and an early sign-up special. Pre-registration is required. The early sign-up special is $10 off if you sign-up by May 7, 2019. Please Click Here for Conference Registration/Information (opens in a new tab) .
There is a great line-up of 12 notable historian/authors presenting on a wide variety of topics related to the American Revolution.
Presenting this year:
David L. Preston – First in Peace: The Delaware Indian Nation and its 1778 Treaty with the United States
Eric H. Schnitzer – Benedict Arnold at Saratoga: How a Newly Discovered Letter Changed History
Mark Edward Lender – The Plot against General Washington: The Conway Cabal Reconsidered
James Kirby Martin – The Man Who Wouldn’t Be King: George Washington, an Exceptional Revolutionary Leader
Holly A. Mayer – Women at War: Continental Army Followers
John Buchanan – The Road to Charleston: How Major General Nathanael Greene Dealt with Logistics, Savage Civil War, and Politics in the Carolina’s and Georgia
Bruce M. Venter – Defending the Mohawk Valley: Forts and Homes Illustrated by Rufus Grider’s Art Work
Glenn F. Williams – Beyond the Mohawk: the Battles of Newtown and Groveland (240th Anniversary)
Albert Louis Zambone – The Rewards of Persistence: Daniel Morgan in the Saratoga Campaign
Tony Williams – George Washington & Alexander Hamilton: A Revolutionary Relationship
Christian Di Spigna – Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero
Douglas J. Pippin – The American Revolution in the St. Lawrence Valley
Also welcoming back the voice of the Mohawk Valley, Bob Cudmore, who will serve as Master of Ceremony.
Genealogy Day – Friday, June 7
Visit Mohawk Country historic sites (sites, schedules and admission fees will be posted separately). Sites will have presentations or historians on hand to discuss the families that fought on both sides during the American Revolution.
An Incident at Caughnawaga – Fundraising Dinner – Saturday, June 8
Join Mohawk Valley Historian, Norm Bollen as he describes the “Incident at Caughnawga” that ignited the Revolution in the Mohawk Valley in 1775. This incident includes neighbor against neighbor, an angry mob and a loyalist sheriff shooting at the rebels. The dinner includes a choice of one of three entrees with sides, salad and dessert. There will also be a Cocktail Hour with cash bar.
A few seats are open for each of the bus tours, call 518-774-5669 for details.
