A newly formed grassroots group called "Friends to Preserve Normanside" has grown to well over 650 members in one week and continues to grow by the hour. They will be speaking at the Bethlehem Town Board Public meeting tonight at 7pm.
With Bank of America quickly working to foreclose on and auction off Normanside Country Club, there is a fast growing group of concerned Bethlehem residents who would like to see the land preserved.
If you share this sentiment, please do the following:
1) Sign the Petition and email all your friends to do the same
"We, the undersigned residents of the Town of Bethlehem, request that the town take an active role to ensure the Normanside Country Club property remains either an operating golf course or a public natural recreational space to benefit the residents of the Town of Bethlehem."
With traditional catalog fundraising sales declining year after year, Elsmere Elementary School's PTA decided it was time to change things up a bit.
"Parents were telling us they were getting tired of pushing gift wrap and household items on their friends, co-workers and families," said Patty Michaelson, Elsmere School PTA President. "Instead, we're holding a huge garage sale for our fall fundraiser this year. It also aligns with our ongoing quest at Elsmere School to become greener and more environmentally-friendly."
Donations are being accepted today until 4pm. A pre-sale will begin tonight from 6-8pm. $3 admission. The sale is tomorrow, September 25, 2010 from 8-2pm with a bag sale beginning at 1pm.
There are clothes, children's toys, baby items, household good, books, sports equipment, holiday items, and more. Proceeds of sale will help fund programs and events at the school.
Do you know of any Bethlehem-based hair salon or barber shop that is collecting hair for Matter of Trust? If so, we'll list them here. Just send an email to leslie@biztechlink.com letting us know.
For more information on how your salon or barber shop can participate, please visit www.matteroftrust.org.
Please vote ! It just takes a second... the project is 38th - let's get it to
the top 2 to win $250,000!!! We could get rid of styrofoam in the High School,
get their organic kitchen garden up and running (and surely Mark Warford (Asst Principal - Bethlehem Middle School) can't spend all
that money on just the High School - he thinks some of it could be used for other
school's gardens, too!!
Please send to your contacts to vote, too! Last
day is March 31st!
Close to 40 people, kids and adults alike, answered our call to help clean up the rail trail on Wed. April 22, 2009!
As with last years clean up, this year did not disappoint the children in their treasure hunt-like adventure.Together, we picked up close to 13 large orange bags of trash!
Here are just a few of the things our group picked up along the old tracks:
The sun is out, it's warm, the birds are chirping - what more could you ask for on Earth Day!
Well, there is one thing. The Rail Trail (old railroad tracks in Delmar) needs some serious cleaning up. Please join us today and bring along the neighborhood kids!
Rail Trail Clean
Up Wed 4/22 @
4PM
Meet behind American Legion - back
right of parking lot
Kate Kloss - Principal, Dan Rain, Harriet Jaffe, Mike Klugman and I (Leslie Trosset), have put together some fun green activities at Elsmere School in honor of Earth Day, Wed. April 22nd.
We've planned a variety of week-long activities and guest speakers, including:
New Capri Sun, Kool-Aid, Honest Tea Drink Pouch recycling program that earns Elsmere's PTA 2 cents per pouch collected. Checkout www.terracycle.net.
Lunch trash daily weigh-in. We'll weigh the lunch trash everyday and see if through recycling, not wasting food, and using re-usable containers will help reduce waste.
Planting a strawberry bed with Dan Rain.
Green "Spirit" Day - wear green, eco-friendly shirts, organic shirts, earth shirts, etc.
A visit from Enviroman - our very own Middle School Asst. Principal Mark Warford will speak about the environment.
A visit from a wildlife rehabilitator.
A visit from Cornell's 4H who will bring their energy bike - pedal to see how much energy it takes to light a regular lightbulb vs. a Compact Florescent (CFL).
A visit from Sharon Fisher - our town's recycling coordinator, who will discuss recycling.
On Thursday, April 2, 2009, I video'd Sharon Fisher - Town of Bethlehem Recycling Coordinator as she shared information on recycling and discard of unwanted items, including old applicances, metals, paper, glass, cans, and the all confusing plastic. The Rupert Road Transfer station is for town residents only.
The biggest lesson learned for me was on the subject of plastic recycling. The town of Bethlehem ONLY accepts plastic BOTTLES 1 & 2. You have to reuse or toss all of your plastic food containers, even if they are labeled with a #1 or #2!
The town of Bethlehem can only recycle #1 & #2 BOTTLES:
juice
water
vitamin water
milk
any 1 & 2 bottle with a neck
Toss or reuse these containers:
butter
sour cream
peanut butter
berry containers
cooked meat trays
deli containers
any other container, even if it is labeled as a 1 or 2
Pre-1980 the Rupert Road facility was used as a landfill for municpipal trash and you'll see the large mound in the video. Around 1980, they were no longer allowed to accept the trash but they kept the facility open to accept items such as: tires, electronic items, old TV's, microwaves, refridgerators, paper, metals, plastics, cans, furniture and more.
If you choose not to pay a hauler, you can bring your regular trash there for a smaller fee and they will transfer it to the Albany Landfill where some of our haulers bring the trash they pickup curbside.
For more recycling details, please visit the town's web site, call Sharon Fisher - Recycling Coordinator at the town at 439-4955 ext. 1510, or leave a comment below.
For one whole week, decline the plastic bag and try bringing and using your own cloth or mesh bag at each and every store you enter.
I must admit, I've become accustomed to using my cloth bags at the grocery store, but I haven't gotten into the habit of using them at all the other stores. The strange thing is, I always keep my bags in the car, but I just don't think to bring them into CVS or Stewart's.
You may be surprised at just how challenging this task might be. I'm even talking about the produce and vegetable bags - the Macy's and Sears bags, and the dentist bags containing floss and a shiny new toothbrush. EVERYTHING!
Toss a scratch piece of paper and pen in the bottom of one of the bag and tally how many bags you didn't take because of your zero plastic bag policy.
I want to hear your results! Leave a comment below and let me know the number of bags you didn't use and we'll compare results.
Good luck! -Leslie Trosset
Update 3/27/09
The very next day after I set up this challenge I walked right out of CVS with one of their plastic bags. It wasn't until I got home that I realized what I had done! Other than that, I brought my reusuable bags with me everywhere I went - grocery store, Lowes, Stewart's and others. I have to say - it felt good knowing that I returned home without the plastic. I'll continue each and every day - and I hope you will too. Leave a comment and let me know how it's going for you!
