Message from the President Happy New Year! If you have not already done so, please send in your membership forms for 2015. We are working of some wonderful programs and 2015 should be a very exciting year. I want to express my gratitude to Carol Dooley, Di-anne Fedoronko and Cathy McKenna for making our Holiday Party such a wonderful event. A big shout out to Tony Panza and his team. At our December 11,2014 Saratoga Lake Association ("LA") Holiday Party, Ed Kinowksi, Town of Stillwater Supervisor, spoke about upcoming plans for a Winterfest to be held this winter at Brown's Beach. Shore Lines will provide additional details as soon as they become availa-ble. After Ed's remarks, on behalf of the SLA Board, I had the privilege of presenting Ed with the Recognition Award for Restoring Public Access to Brown's Beach (below).

Start the new year off right by making one of your resolu-tions to submit to Shore Lines. We are always looking for news, ideas, photos, information, fish and travel ta-les, issues of concern and local happenings. Submit to Julie at sinnidi@aol.com.

Deadline for next Shore Lines is January 28

Shore Lines P.O. Box 2152

Ballston Spa, NY 12020 www.saratogalake.org

http://www.facebook.com/saratogalake/ January 6, 2015

Editors: Julie Annotto, sinnidi@aol.com Sharon Urban, urbans@nycap.rr.com

Don’t be grumpy in 2015!!

Winter Blast ——— Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!!

As a result of generous funding from the GLOBALFOUNDRIES/Town of Malta Foundation,

last year 18 Malta veterans and their guardians participated in a trip of Honor and were flown to Washington DC to visit their memorials. Funding from the GLOBAL-FOUNDRIES/Town of Malta Foundation pays for all costs of Town of Malta veterans’ trip (except for souvenirs), including the flight and the guardians’ flight. Family members are encouraged to go as guardians as long as they devote their attention to all Veterans on the trip. Spouses are not allowed to participate as guardians. If you are or know of a World War II or Korean War Veteran living in Malta who would like to participate in this program, call David Wallingford at 584-9137 or Audrey Ball at 899-4411 for details and upcoming dates.

Honor Flight

Honoring WWII and Korean

War Veterans

Applications now being accepted for spring 2015

Correction

Apologies to Sue Chatfield for the error in her last name

in our last edition of Shore Lines. We do appreciate your

beautiful winter scene photo.

Head of the Fish Date Change

The Saratoga Rowing Association has confirmed that the 2015 Head of The Fish will take place on October 31st and November 1st, 2015. This is a change from the original published dates of October 24th and 25th, 2015.

The Make Your Own Way girls celebrated Christmas at Dock Browns! We always enjoy our times together! Making plans for a couple's night in January with every body bringing a great crockpot soup or stew!! Sounds yummy! (pictured above, Judy Wash, Marion Luce, Donna Bove and Pinky Morahan)

Saratoga Springs celebrates a centennial

Wesley Community, Saratoga Hospital eye senior apart-ments in Malta

President’s message, continued Ed is both an SLA member as well as a great friend to our organization. He is always there for the SLA. Please join me in congratulating Ed on this well deserved award. Special thanks to Board member Walter Supley and his team at The Creative Advantage for designing this award and to Sherry Brown Lanfear for providing the historic photos that are depicted in the award. All my best, Alan Richer

Members Todd and Nancy Rasner, Patti and Art Salvatore and

Linda and John Couse, enjoyed a festive evening beginning with

cocktails at the Rasner’s followed by dinner at Mangino’s.

NOTABLE NEWS

Friends of Glen Hollow Park Present Checks Jacqueline Miller of the Friends of Glen Hollow Park presented Supervisor Ed Kinowski with two checks. One for $7,700 for the tennis court and the other for $5000 for the basketball court. Kinowski said the “Friends of Glen Hollow have been a main-stay of what has been happening at the park.” (taken from the Express, 1/1/15)

“Grant me the strength to accept the

things I cannot change, the courage

to change the things I can and the

friends to post my bail when I

finally snap!”

Anthony "Skip" Scirocco Reader's View

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Walking on Water By Tim Blodgett Saratoga Tackle

Ice fishing season is final-ly here despite the recent stretch of winterless weath-er. It’s been my experience that we have fishable ice on Saratoga Lake within a week of New Years day. Which side of January 1st. this oc-curs is decided by nature alone. Those of us who look forward to walking on water root for Canadian highs, Arctic lows and Polar vortices to bring the frigid temperatures needed to freeze our favorite fishing holes. Those who don’t just think we’re nuts. Eve-ryone is entitled to their own opinion, but I can vouch with complete confidence that some of us are not nuts. “Why?” is the first and most frequently asked question about ice fishing. “Why?” is always followed by the com-pound question; “How much ice do you need and how do you know if it’s safe?”. “Why?” for the third time and then a derogatory statement about the sanity of ice fishermen concludes the usual exchange. At this point in the conver-sation, I can confirm their suspicions or present the an-cient art of ice fishing as a worthy pursuit. Ice fishing, I explain, is a noble winter sport; the sublime juxtaposition of modern Man and winter’s savage beauty; Man’s primal struggle against the harsh, unforgiving elements: the eter-nal.... What I actually say is “The fishing is great this time of

year and ice fishing is fun.” While there are risks involved in ice fishing, preparation and good judgment will keep you safe and comfortable on the ice. The first thing to remember is this; NO FISH IS WORTH SWIM-MING FOR THIS TIME OF YEAR! This brings us

to the second most frequently asked and possibly the most important question. What is safe ice? There are many different opinions on how much ice you need to be safe. Some people (nuts) feel that they can safely venture out on less than three inches of ice. Others wouldn’t feel safe even if there were a foot of ice or more. Ice thickness can vary across a body of wa-ter depending on its condition, currents, snow cover, springs and other factors so there is good reason to take

precautions and educate yourself before heading out. While writing this column, I went online and typed “ice thickness chart” in the search box. There were numerous reliable sources of information on the minimum thickness required for different activities and the relative strength of ice depending on its condition. I strongly recommend that you look at this information as it may help to keep you and yours safe and sound. One thing all the different sources agree on is that the ice is never 100% safe, but if you are observant, take care and use your head, you can enjoy your time on the ice safely and catch a mess of fish too. Most of the charts agree that 3 to 4 inches of clear/black ice is safe for a single person to walk on. I prefer to wait until the ice is 5 to 6 inches thick before I go out. I don’t miss very many meals so I don’t like being on thinner ice than that. It’s a good idea to check with local tackle shops or to speak to people who have been on the ice for current conditions and advice about areas to avoid. You’ll find that people will have different comfort levels and that some of them measure the ice (and the fish they catch) with variable scale rulers that show them the measurements they want to see. I use a carpenter’s tape measure to get true measure-ments and recommend that you do the same. Follow the trails blazed by those before you and check the thickness periodically as you go.”Trust but verify” is sound advice for the ice fisherman heading out for the first time or striking off for new territory. Establish your own parameters for safety and don’t compromise those standards. Dress in layers and avoid getting chilled. Hypothermia occurs quickly and is danger-ous. Keep a close eye on your fishing partners, especially chil-dren and be self aware. Shiver-ing shouldn’t be ignored. Eat-ing high energy snacks and staying hydrated will help keep you warm. If you or those with you start showing signs of hy-pothermia or fatigue, it’s time to leave and get warmed up. I know I get preachy about safety but I want you to avoid misfortune and enjoy this season on the ice with me. Assuming I haven’t scared you off, there are a few things you’re going to need to get started. I recently read an article on outfitting yourself for ice fishing. The author expounded on the necessity of a power auger, shelter, elec-tronics and all the other gear required for a successful out-ing. According to him, you could be ready to fish for a lit-tle under $1000, as long as you could do without the snow-mobile or ATV that would convey you to your favorite fish-ing hole in style and comfort. I don’t know about you, but that’s a lot of jingle just to get started.

continued next page

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Quiz Whiz Corner

A. Coca-Cola was originally 1. Clear 3. Brown 2. Green 4. Yellow B. Which continent has the largest percentage of wilderness? 1. North America 2. Africa C. The first novel written on a typewriter 1. Gone with the Wind 2. Little Women 3. Tom Sawyer 4. Wuthering Heights D. Can you match each king in a deck with the great king from history? ___Spades 1. Charlemagne ___Hearts 2. Julius Caesar ___Clubs 3. King David ___Diamonds 4. Alexander the Great E. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common? 1. they were the first to use a special metal polymer 2. They were all invented by women 3. They are all made in the same state 4. They are all imported F. What is the only food that doesn’t spoil? 1. pasta 2. Rice 3. Pepperoni 4. Canned goods Answers on page 5

Walking on Water, continued The basic startup kit consists of a spud bar or hand auger to cut a hole in the ice, a jigging rod and a few jigs to fish with, bait and a bucket to carry your gear out and sit on while fishing. The bucket is also handy for carrying your fish fry home. All of this can be purchased for well under $100 to $200 depending on your choices. Once initiated, you can add a shelter, sled, tip-ups, electronics and other gear as desired. As I said before, Ice fishing is fun and I’m sure you’ll agree if you give it a try. Pick a nice day, join us on the ice and you’ll be an ice fisherman before you know it.! ******************************

Not Too Far From Home Comedy

Tour

Host David Ward

Headliner Matt Bergman

Featuring Dan Geurin

Shake off those winter blues and enjoy an adult night of

laughter when the Not Too Far From Home Comedy Tour re-

turns to the Malta Community Center starring Matt Bergman,

Dan Geurin and Malta’s own Aaron David Ward.

Refreshments will be available for purchase.

Pre-registration is requested.

Ages: Adult | Min/Max: 15/100

Saturday, January 24 8:00pm

Tickets: $15 Advanced Sales / $20 Door Tickets Tel: 899-4411

Town of Malta Public Information Meeting Monday, February 9, 2015

6:30pm – 8:00pm Malta Town Hall, 2540 Route 9

The purpose of this public information meeting is for the Malta Zoning Review Committee to present their Maltaville Area Zoning Study recommendations and for the Town Board to hear public comments and recom-mendations on the existing land uses, potential future uses and current zoning regulations of the southeast quadrant of the Town. More information can be found on the Town of Malta website www.malta-town.org or email Shelley Norton at snorton@malta-town.org.

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Member Kathe Rose had an unusual visitor on her doorstep.

Looking at the face of that possum, I would take him in!!

Answers to Quiz Whiz Corner A. 2 B. 1. C. Tom Sawyer D. Spades—King David Hearts —Charlemagne Clubs—Alexander the Great Diamonds—Julius Caesar E. They were all invented by women F. Pepperoni

Patti Salvatore submitted a picture of this heron searching for

Christmas dinner. Maybe it’s time to fly south?

Ice is beginning to form around the edges. With the deep freeze approaching, we will likely have full coverage by the weekend. Photo by Neal Kramer.

Senior Sentiments “When I was a child I thought nap time was a punishment —- now, as an adult, it just feels like a small vacation.” “If God wanted me to touch my toes, he would have put them on my knees.”

“I’m going to retire and live off my savings. Not sure what I’ll do the second week.” “At my age, getting lucky means walking into a room and remembering what I came in there for!”

Handy Tip for the New Year’s Dieter

Chocolate comes from cocoa, which is a tree. That makes it a plant which means … Chocolate is Salad!!!

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News from Stillwater Supervisor Ed Kinowski Here is the latest about Town to usher in a new year: --The Towns of Malta and Stillwater, through an inter-municipal agreement, are moving forward a project to build another connector road in Luther Forest. This connector road, off Cordero Blvd., should help direct Global Foundries workforce, deliveries and construction traffic off other town roads and reduce periodic traffic congestion. I should note, that during the build-up of the Luther Forest Campus, all roads near to this area may experience above normal anticipate traffic due to construction activities. It is hopeful, once this area is built out, our traffic plans will meet area needs. Additionally, in support of the campus growth, the regional traffic study is advancing with workshops already scheduled, attended and more to come. -- During this year's annual SLA Christmas celebration, I spoke about Winter activities at Brown's Beach -- Weath-er permitting. Well, I think we all are experiencing our share of this year's -- not normal -- Winter weather. So, as stated, stay tuned to our wonderful world of Multi-media for any possible delays for planned activities. We need ice to skate, snow to slide and cold weather to have Winter fun -- Let's hope for a moderation of all. -- We encourage our readers to explore our Town web site for events, news, and overall familiarity with Town affairs. We will be adding a Town Calendar button on the front page for easy access to standard monthly & yearly events. Additionally, we post a number of other news worthy stories and look to our readers to provide feedback. -- Our Town offers Canine (Dog) control services and need the assistance of all residents to accomplish his du-ties. We ask that you license your dogs at the Town Clerks office, insure they have the proper immunizations, are leashed when required and certainly receive the prop-er care -- especially this time of year. Our Dog Control officer works on an as needed bases, which seems of late to be 24/7. We solicit your support to remember the following: Barking dogs are a problem; if they bother neighbors. Unleashed dogs can harm others and do. Unlicensed dogs are difficult to return to owner when lost; or to verify immunization if they bite. Lastly, dogs need food, water and shelter like most living things. I state the above, as these are a majority of the calls our officer responds to, handles and tickets when necessary -- not an easy job! Town Board meetings for January are the 8th and 22nd.

News from Town of Saratoga Supervisor Tom Woods

The end of the year town board meeting was conducted on Tuesday, December 30th at 11:00 am. A number of resolutions were passed trans-ferring funds within accounts in preparation for the closing of the 2014 town accounts. New updated leases were approved for Dr. Rosano's Drug Testing Lab and for Lakes to Locks Passage Organization.

The month of January is a time to reorganize and set goals for the coming year. Appointments to town positions and a review of procedures and policies will occur.

The next meeting of the Town Board is scheduled for Monday, Janu-ary 12th at 7:00 p.m. Some of the items that will be covered at this meet-ing include: Zoning Officer's report, Town Clerk's report, Supervisor's report, Committee reports, and adoption of a number of resolutions con-cerning appointments and operating procedures. On Thursday, January 8th the Town Board will conduct their monthly agenda meeting at which they will review agenda items scheduled for the January 12th meeting. The Town Offices will be closed on Monday, January 19th for the Martin Luther King Jr. Holiday. Town Tax Collector

Town Tax Collector James Gorham recently mailed tax notices for all parcels in the town. Residents may pay their taxes in person at the town hall or mail them to the tax collector. During January, Jim will collect taxes in his office at the Town Hall on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fri-days from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm EX-CEPT Monday, January 19th and Monday, February 16th. The office will be closed on these two Mondays. On Saturday, January 31th taxes may be paid from 8:30 a.m. to 12:00 noon. During February and March, Jim will be in his office on Monday's only from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. and from 1:30 pm to 4:00 pm. Taxes may be mailed to Jim at anytime. If you have any questions for Jim, call him at 695-3644 X 318. Assessor News Greetings From the Assessor’s Office Happy New Year! Now is the time for all property owners to look over their information and start filing for any exemptions they may be qualified to receive. If you will be 65 in the year 2015, you are eligible to apply for the Senior Star Exemption. But, you must file before March 1, 2015. Many exemptions require renewal applications. These applications are color-coded and have been mailed. Please take time now to fill these out and turn them in to the Assessor’s office. The deadline for renewal appli-cations is March 1, 2015. Other exemptions available within the town include Veterans exemp-tions, disability exemptions, and Agricultural exemptions. Certain criteria must be met to qualify for these exemptions. Please contact our office to determine if you might be eligible. All exemptions must be filed by March 1, 2015. Reminder: The Assessor’s Office is open Monday – Thursday from 9:00 AM until 1:00 PM. Please stop in and visit us – we’ll be happy to answer your questions and help you apply for any exemptions you may be entitled to receive. New Town Court Justice Starts Work Newly elected Town Justice Dan Waldron has taken his oath of office and has started work. We are pleased to have Dan on the Town of Saratoga team and look forward to working with him in the coming year.

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Stillwater Fire District Welcomes 2015

A Happy and Healthy New Year to all our residents! Welcome to 2015, what needs to be different this year? Unfortunately we haven’t heeded the lessons of the past so we are doomed to repeat the same mistakes. As the volun-teer fire company serving the residents of the Town of Stillwater what do we need to get across to the residents for 2015? Here are a few issues that need to be addressed;

Will we ever get everyone to place a number on their property, one that is large enough so that our aging firefighters can see it at night, or in foul weather? Probably not but we will keep trying.

Will we ever get people to trim back the trees in their long driveways to allow easy entry for fire apparatus without damage? The access path should be at least 12 feet wide and 13 feet high. We have equipment on the outside of our trucks that will be ripped off by tree limbs not to mention the paint job. They are your trucks we try to maintain them in a ready condition.

Will we ever get to everyone to let them know both smoke detectors and carbon monoxide (CO) detec-tors? Both detectors are required by code have a limit life span, 5 to 7 years for the CO detector, 10 years for the smoke detector.

Will residents ever understand that we are all volun-teer for this job and we need more volunteers? Volunteers come in all sizes shapes and types. Some are young and seeking adventure by becom-ing interior fire fighters, they see fire they put it out. Then we have exterior fire fighters who may be intimidated by entering builds that are on fire and help outside – many hands makes light work. Then we have folks who want to be fire police, they control crowds and direct traffic. Then we have people who just want to support administrative or social activities. We have something for everyone, it includes training and for some equipment. If we don’t continue to shore up our volunteers we will have no choice to find a more expensive way to maintain staffing.

Will we ever get drivers to move to the right and stop when a first response vehicle approaches? People don’t always stop which makes for a dangerous situation. Our drives stop for stop signs or red lights and proceed only when all lanes of traffic are controlled.

continued

Do residents know that the elected Board of Fire Com-missioners receive no compensation or benefits? It’s not allowed by law and the operation of the district is determined by provisions of Town Law and General Municipal Law along with other laws and regulations.

Will we ever get people to understand that the Stillwa-ter Fire District is the governmental entity that gov-erns the Fire Company, which was named the Arv-in Hart Fire Co. Arvin Hart was a real person, an 18 year old resident who was the first Stillwater resident killed in WW II. The Fire Company is the membership arm of the Fire District.

While the fire district is a governmental entity by law, the Arvin Hart Fire Company is a social organization of the members of the Stillwater Fire District. The fire company is a not for profit tax exempt social organization. The fire company elects candidates to membership but the Board of Fire Commissioners has to approve them. The Board also approves the three chiefs annually. One person out of five is elected to the Board annually. The election is always held the second Tuesday of Decem-ber. Volunteer firefighting is not like any other community organization it requires a time commitment, training and can be dangerous, that’s why training is essential. The fire company works as a team and there is a defined division of labor at the scene of an incident. The State provides sug-gested training goals for exterior, interior, officers, appa-ratus operators and training officers. Stillwater Fire District maintains four stations, four engine/pumpers, one heavy rescue, three command cars, three mul-tipurpose utility vehicles and one rescue air boat with acces-sory support unit. We cover the entire Town of Stillwater, approximately 42 square miles and provide mutual aid assis-tance to; Mechanicville, Stillwater Village, Round Lake, Malta Ridge, Stillwater-Malta EMS, and Quaker Springs or to any other fire department who might request resources from our department. The way of the future will be to do better master planning within the fire service and learn how to share resources. The fire districts fall under the current Tax Cap requirements and the 1% tax freeze efficiency plan requirements. Many of the items included in the fire district budget are either mandated or are required by generally accepted standards. Besides the maintenance of facilities, apparatus, heat, utilities and insurance, we also have to perform under the following standards;

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Saratoga PLAN We're pleased to announce that PLAN has been awarded accreditation from the Land Trust Accredita-tion Commission, an independent program of the Land Trust Alliance. Saratoga PLAN’s accreditation status demonstrates our commitment to permanently conserving the woods, waters and trails of Saratoga County for the entire com-munity,” says John Munter, PLAN's Board Chair. “We have been working for years to bring our policies and practices to the highest levels required for accredita-tion. PLAN’s staff and board learned so much through the rigorous program, and are now a stronger, more effi-cient and productive organization.” PLAN is one of only 285 of the 1,700 land trusts from across the country to have been awarded accredita-tion since the fall of 2008. Accredited land trusts are authorized to display a seal indicating to the public that they meet national standards for excellence, uphold the public trust and ensure that conservation efforts are per-manent. The seal is a mark of distinction in land conser-vation.

Stillwater Free Library

Evening Book Club ~ Tuesday 1/20 at 7:00pm. Join us to discuss the Saratoga Reads choice of The Round House by Louise Erdrich. “Transporting read-ers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota, it is an ex-quisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understand-ing in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and for-ever transforms his family.” (amazon.com)

Board of Trustees meeting ~ Tuesday 1/27 at 7:00pm: Open to the public. If you are interested in becoming a board member, there are two available seats for 2015-2017. Stop in to see what it’s about.

Charlie’s Non-Fiction Book Club ~ Friday 1/30 at 7:00pm. New day and time for this book club, join us to discuss Tim Russert’s Big Russ and Me. “Over the last two decades, before his death in 2008 at the age of 58, Tim Russert had become one of the most trusted and admired figures in American televi-sion journalism. Throughout his career he spent time with presidents and popes, world leaders and newsmak-ers, celebrities and sports heroes, but one person stood out to him in terms of his strength of character, modest grace and simple decency — Russert’s dad, Big Russ.” (amazon.com)

With the exception of doors and electricity, the SLPID building to house our weed cutting equipment is done. Once again, many thanks to Commissioner Ed Dweck for sharing the step by step progress of this project.

Stillwater Fire District, continued *Annual Audit by outside auditing firm *Self Contained Breathing Apparatus flow testing *PPE Washing and repair *Hose Testing *Ladder Testing *Annual Sprinkler System Testing *Fire Extinguisher Maintenance *Fire Extinguishing System Maintenance *Exit and Emergency Light Maintenance *Annual Apparatus Vehicle Inspection *Maintenance of SCBA Air Fill System *Publication of Legal Notices *Provision, maintenance & Education for self rescue *Fire detection and alarm system maintenance *Annually Apparatus Pump Testing *Professional Development Training *PPE Bunker Gear Replacement *Apparatus Repair to standard *Annual Physicals *Gas Meter Testing/Maintenance *Election Costs I hope this helps explain what we do and how we do it. Any questions please drop me a line. (submitted by Tom Rinaldi, Commissioner Stillwater Fire District)

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