SusanCampriello: My Works

Speech validates C-GCC
Register-Star
The Daily Mail
Sept. 22, 2009
(Packaged with coverage of President Barack Obama’s Monday, Sept. 21 address at Hudson Valley Community College.)

President Barack Obama’s visit to HVCC won rave reviews at a Columbia-Greene Community College Board of Trustees meeting later in the evening.

C-GCC President James R. Campion said Obama’s visit to a community college in New York State validated the important work going on at the school and others across the country.

“Although [the speech] was at Hudson Valley, all 1,200 of us were in the spotlight today,” Campion said.

Campion lauded the president’s commitment to simplifying tax credits for college tuition and streamlining student loans. He said hearing Obama and Dr. Jill Biden, wife of Vice President Joseph Biden and a long-time community college professor, speak of how community colleges fit into the fabric of the nation’s economy by preparing the workforce of tomorrow made him proud.

Campion said technology firms such as GlobalFoundries will require the future accountants, human resources personnel and business managers currently attending his school.

He said the need for the nurses, automotive technicians and computer networking professionals enrolled in the school’s largest programs will increase as the population of the Tech Valley grows.

“The opportunities are going to be there not only for people going into the science and engineering fields but also in other aspects of the business,” he said.

Campion and C-GCC Vice President and Dean of Academic Affairs Phyllis Carito announced to the college’s Board of Trustees that the school had scored well in a recent student engagement survey run by the University of Texas at Austin.

The Community College Survey of Student Engagement (CCSSE) measured what students gained from their college experiences at 663 schools in 48 states, three Canadian provinces and in the Marshall Islands between 2007 and 2009. Approximately 400,800 students participated in the survey with 534 of those at C-GCC. About 1,800 students attended the school when the survey was conducted last spring.

According to survey data, C-GCC scored higher than the national benchmarks and benchmarks of other schools of similar size and program offerings.

The school scored 50.1 in active and collaborative learning, compared with a State University of New York consortium score of 48.7 and a 2009 CCSSE cohort score of 50.0. The school received a score of 50.3 for student effort compared with the SUNY consortium benchmark score of 49.8 and a CCSSE cohort benchmark score of 50.0. Students gave C-GCC a score of 51.7 for academic challenge, with the SUNY consortium receiving a benchmark score of 50.6 and a CCSSEE cohort benchmark score of 50.0. The school received a score of 52.5 for student-faculty interaction with the SUNY consortium receiving a benchmark score of 51.4 and the CCSSE cohort receiving a benchmark score of 50.0. Finally, C-GCC received a score of 54.3 for support for learners, with the SUNY consortium receiving a benchmark score of 49.9 and the CCSSEE cohort receiving a benchmark score of 50.0.

The school participated in the survey to collect data for a Middle States Commission on Higher Education reaccreditation self-study.

Reacreditation occurs every 10 years, Campion said, with the next commission visit and assessment in 2011.

Co-chairman sees Greene County YMCA in 2011
Information meetings on project to be held today and Thursday
The Daily Mail
Sept. 16, 2009

COXSACKIE — Hugh Quigley hopes to open a YMCA in Coxsackie by 2011.

Quigley, who is a co-chairman of the YMCA Board of Directors, said he has already heard from a number of Greene County residents and children who share his vision.

“This is not a pipe dream,” he said.

Quigley and other board members will host two informational meetings, one in Coxsackie the other in Catskill, this week that will feature a rundown of what the Y could offer the community, testimonials from children and a few words from Catskill Central School District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell and Coxsackie-Athens Central School District Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory.

The Y would feature a gymnasium, a swimming pool and an exercise facility as well as a Columbia-Greene Community College satellite office. Quigley said ball courts or outdoor playing fields could figure into the final facility plan, as well.

The Y would have a licensed day care facility, which, Quigley said, the county currently lacks.

Children could stay in the day care facility while their parents are using other Y facilities or while their parents are at work, he said.

Ultmately, he said, the Y could have whatever facilities and fit whatever needs the community requests.

Quigley said he got the idea for opening Y after hearing from Catskill Central School District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell how students from schools in the Catskill, Cairo-Durham and Coxsackie-Athens districts came together while working on the “River of Dreams” musical.

Quigley said a Y could continue to break barriers between towns by serving the entire county.

“We have to think like a county rather than like a little town,” he said.

The Y, which would be called the Greene County YMCA, would be a branch of the Capital District YMCA network. The facility would be located on a 15-acre area in Coxsackie’s Greene County Business and Technology Park that was donated by the Greene County Industrial Development Agency, upon whose Board of Directors Quigley also sits.

Memberships could cost between $20 and $80 depending on program and family size.

The Greene County YMCA’s Board of Directors needs to raise $5 million through private donations, corporate donations and grants over a five-year span to establish the program. Quigley said raising $1 million from private donors will show the non-profit YMCA of the United States that Greene County wants a Y. Quigley said he hopes to know by December whether the funding will be there to support a Y.

“If [people] give a dollar a day, we’d have a YMCA by tomorrow,” he said.

Eco-Fair focuses on ecologically-friendly practices
The Daily Mail
Sept. 14, 2009

Greene County residents had a chance to learn about organic farming and products, recycling and alternative energies at Angelo Canna Park Sunday during the Cairo Area Chamber of Commerce’s first Eco-Fair.

The fair featured guest speakers ranging from representatives from the Rip Van Winkle Tobacco-Free Action of Columbia and Greene Counties, the Cornell Cooperative Extension of Greene County and a veterinarian.

Fair co-Chairman Neil Schoenfeld said he hoped the fair would inspire attendees to live more ecologically-friendly lives.

“I hope a lot of good programs are spurred throughout the county out of this,” he said.

Lecturers and vendors had each other talking about ways they could decrease their energy consumption and lower pollution.

Joseph Siniski, business development officer for the National Bank of Coxsackie, said he was impressed by G-Oil, a non-polluting fuel that can be used in chain saws and weed whackers about which Hal Zucker, of Living Structures Realty, spoke.

Bank of America Cairo Branch Manager Elizabeth Hansen said she learned at the fair that Central Hudson Gas and Electric provides businesses and homeowners with information about environmentally-friendly construction options.

She said she was interested in installing solar panels at her Round Top home for the right price.

Hansen provided fair-goers with information about the new efficient and “green” Bank of America corporate building being constructed in Manhattan.

Venders of organic foods included Armstrong Elk Farm, Black Walnut Natural Farm and Mountain Beekeepers. Upstate Solar, Catskill Boilers and Geothermal Systems showed their solar panels, wood boilers and heating systems, respectively.

Chamber President and fair co-Chairwoman Claudia Zucker estimates that a few hundred people had attended the fair by early afternoon.

County Legislator Harry Lennon, D-Cairo, thanked the Chamber for organizing the fair, which, he said, spotlighted the future of business.

“It is the way of the future and Greene County has to step up and look at alternative energy,” Lennon said.

Lesson 1 for schools:
How to stop swine flu
District officials encourage students, teachers to use common-sense hygiene practices to curb spread of H1N1
The Daily Mail
Sept. 8, 2009
The Windham Journal
Sept. 10, 2009

CATSKILL — As schools reopen, area educators and administrators are readying their buildings for learning, playing and perhaps spreading germs like those that could spread the H1N1 flu virus.

School administrations in Greene County are encouraging students and teachers to use common sense hygienic practices and are stepping up cleaning regimens to keep their buildings and grounds clean.

Hand sanitizing products will be available to students in every district, and staff will meet with health care professionals to learn the best way to keep classroom areas clean and students healthy.

School administrators said they will also follow guidelines set forth by the State Education Department and State Department of Health and keep in touch with the County Department of Health.

*
Overall, administrators said they would increase cleanings and reassess practices if students

“We are going to hope for the best and prepare for all the contingencies that we can,” Anne Rode, principal of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School.

Each district has its own procedures in place.

Cairo-Durham Central School District

Ron Agostinoni, assistant principal of Cairo-Durham High School, said nurses will remind students the proper way to wash their hands and prevent the spread of germs.

Hand sanitizer dispensers, like the ones in elementary classrooms, have been installed in classrooms in the Middle School and High School building. Sanitizers will be available to students before lunch period, he said.

He said students and staff will be encouraged to stay home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms.

As with procedure set last spring, bus drivers sanitize buses before, after and between runs, he said.

Catskill

District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said the daily cleaning routine will be enhanced with extra cleanings of commonly touched surfaces such as water fountains, keyboards and doorknobs. Cafeteria areas will also receive extra attention, she said.

Hand sanitizer dispensers will be installed in every classroom, school office and common area, she said.

Farrell said staff will use hand-washing solution that shows dirty spots missed to demonstrate how to properly wash hands.

Farrell said as per request of Greene County Public Health, parents would not be notified of every student who presented severe flu-like symptoms. That could change, Farrell said, if the number of students with those symptoms increases.

Coxsackie-Athens

Coxsackie-Athens Central School District Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory said at a recent Board of Education meeting that school nurses would be vigilant and aware of any illnesses.

Students will be encouraged to encouraged to thoroughly sanitize their hands.

He said staff will follow protocols set forth by Greene County Public Health and the State Department of Health,including increased cleaning schedules, encouraging students and staff with flu-like symptoms to remain at home for 24 hours after the symptoms disappear, and encourage students not to cough or sneeze into their hands.

District schools would not be closed, he said, unless a large absentee rate was seen.

Greenville

Greenville Central School District Director of Curriculum and Communications Colleen Hall said teachers in her district had already completed a training course on showing students how to keep themselves healthy. Classrooms have been stocked with hand sanitizers, she said. Buildings and grounds crews will continue to keep the buildings clean.

Hall said parents would receive a letter that included information on when a child should be kept at home and information would be posted to the district’s Web site.

She said student health would be monitored so that the schools would know when students were kept home for flu-like symptoms or for other reasons so she schools have a sense of why a student might be absent. Additional building and bus cleanings could be added if needed, she said.

Hunter-Tannersville

Hunter-Tannersville Central School District Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said his building is constantly being cleaned due to several varied construction projects at the school.

High School students will meet with nurses during gym period to review universal precautions. Elementary class teachers will underscore the same precautions, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said parents would be sent guidelines on when to keep students out of school.

The district’s Web site will be updated with information as the year continues, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said students will be provided with alcohol-free hand sanitizing products and parents will be encouraged to give their children alcohol-free products if they feel the need to give their children anything.

Windham-Ashland-Jewett

Anne Rode said teachers and staff will meet with staff from Greene County Public Health to discuss how to prevent germs from spreading in the school building and on buses. Bus drivers would have an additional training to revisit safety checks and additional cleanliness protocols.

The school has ordered bottles of hand sanitizers for distribution as well as dispensers for all classrooms, common areas and offices in the school building.

She said the school reminds students to wash their hands and be mindful that they will be around many other children every year.

Information regarding the district’s procedures and the virus will be posted on the district’s Web site, she said, adding that information will also be included in a parent newsletter.

School administrators said physical contact — hallway greetings or during athletic events and gym class — will not be prevented or banned.

As Hunter-Tannersville’s Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said, common sense hygiene practices will prevail, echoing what other administrators said.

“If we do a really good job with that, we will take care of 99.9 percent of the other stuff,” he said.

Cash for Clunkers earns mixed reviews
Auto sales increase, but program’s management is criticized
The Daily Mail
The Register-Star
Sept. 4, 2009

Two weeks after the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, program ended, dealerships in Greene and Columbia counties are reporting positive sales but mixed feelings toward the program’s management.

The CARS program, known familiarly as “Cash for Clunkers,” was meant to promote economic wellness by giving Americans an incentive to turn in their gas-guzzling cars for new, more environmentally friendly models.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that nearly 700,000 “clunkers” were taken off the road and replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles during the month-long program. The program began in July and ended Aug. 25.

According to the U.S. DOT, dealerships across the nation submitted rebate applications worth $2.877 billion, out of the available $3 billion, with roughly $156 million from dealerships in New York.

“We sold a lot of cars; it was a big boost,” said Peter Backlund, the general manager at Village Dodge, in Hudson, who had to replace more than 40 cars sold off the lot.

“It was much better than I anticipated,” he said.

He said the program was great because it put money back into the hands of the people on the street, “where it belongs.”

“Out of all the programs that the government has been funding,” said Backlund, “I really do not see why they had to debate about spending $3 billion on a program like this,” he said about discussions in the U.S. Congress prior to that body’s June approval of the program.

But not every dealer agreed.

Lenny Romeo, owner of Catskill Buick GMC Pontiac, which serves Greene and Columbia counties, said the way the program had been run was “disgusting” and “ridiculous” and he would not want to participate again.

“The way they ran the program was a total joke,” he said.

Romeo said the program’s false start — it had a brief hiatus in July — and computer system overload had soured him on participating.

Romeo said in August that he had not been paid for the vehicles he sold even those sold early in the program.

The government had promised dealers payments within 10 days.

By this week, Romeo had received payments for only four of the 27 vehicles he had sold through the program. He said a total of $90,000 should come to the dealership.

“If we ran our business that way, we would be out of business,” he said.

But, he admitted, the program did enable people to get financing for new cars, and that more cars moved off his lot than during a regular monthly sales period.

And, he said, about half of the customers who traded their large vehicles, trucks and sport utility vehicles for new Pontiacs and GMC pickup trucks told him they did so only to take advantage of the CARS program.

Phil Thorpe, of Thorpe’s Pontiac GMC, said more than 20 car and truck owners had tried to take advantage of the program at his Tannersville dealership. Only six “clunkers” qualified for the program, he said, characterizing his participation in the program as “limited.”

A car eligible for trade-in had to meet the criteria including being manufactured less than 25 years before trade-in date, have a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon, had to be insured and registered a year before trade-in and had to be driveable.

Consumers could receive either a $3,500 or $4,500 dealer discount. The price on a new vehicle selected could not exceed $45,000.

Thorpe said last week that he was confident that the government would come through with payments for his vehicles, although he did not say how much he was owed. This week, Thorpe said he had received the entire payment owed him.

Unlike Romeo, Thorpe said he would participate in the program again if it were offered.

Dan Lacy, co-owner of Catskill’s R.C. Lacy Ford Lincoln Mercury Subaru declined to comment about the program until he had been paid by the government, offering only that he had “a lot to say” about it.

Larry Siracusano, owner of Sawyer Chevrolet in Catskill, said the program had gone “OK” and he was low on inventory, but was unavailable for further comment.

Staff at Marchese Ford, in New Lebanon, said the program had seemed to help sales, but could not comment further.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the program “wildly successful” because of how it had helped consumers.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” LaHood said in a press release. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

According to the U.S. DOT, top trade-ins were the Ford Explorer 4WD, the Ford F150 Pickup 2WD, the 4WD Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2WD Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan.

The most popular vehicles purchased included the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus FWD and the Hyundai Elantra.

Paul Crossman contributed to this report

Schools to get stimulus funds
Money will be used to support improvements to teaching methods, learning environment
The Daily Mail
Sept. 3, 2009

CATSKILL — New programs and program features could be coming to the Catskill Central School District through more than $260,000 from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 as well as from other grant sources, according to District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell.

The district will receive a preliminary estimate of $263,324 available over a 27-month period through the stimulus measure, according to the New York State Education Department and the Office of Gov. David A. Paterson. The money can be used to support teaching and learning improvement efforts. Final allotments will be announced later in the year.

“Any penny we get goes a long way,” Farrell said of the coming money.

She said the money, and additional funds through the Dyson Foundation in conjunction with Greene County Mental Health, will help implement an extended-day elementary school program that could be used for tutoring sessions or homework assistance.

She said the district will begin a search for additional staff to provide more opportunities for secondary students to prepare for Regents examinations or attend tutoring sessions, to receive counseling and to possibly pass failed courses through Online instructional services.

Farrell said further funds would come to the District through the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

According to the department, approximately 700 New York schools, mostly in lower-income areas, will receive more than $900 million through the Recovery Act.

Greene County schools will receive $788,464 in the following amounts:

- $138,042 for the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- $263,324 for the Catskill Central School District;

- $133,728 for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- $122,019 for the Greenville Central School District;

- $85,132 for the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- $46,219 for the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

But, as Cairo-Durham Central School’s Business Manager Lissa Jilek pointed out Wednesday, the funding is not guaranteed. Schools must still apply for the funds, she said.

Allocations were determined based on a “No Child Left Behind” program count of qualifying children including those in families living below the poverty line, living in foster care or in institutions for the neglected and who are receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

According to program data gathered, 6.86 percent of qualifying children in New York reside in Greene County with the following break-down:

- 1.15 percent in the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- 2.40 percent in the Catskill Central School District;

- 1.14 percent in the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- 0.96 percent in the Greenville Central School District;

- 0.80 percent in the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- 0.41 percent in the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-NY, said in a statement that education is one of the most important investments that can be made for the future of New York.

“These federal dollars will help give New York students the education they need to succeed in the 21st century by providing more early education, extended learning opportunities, better training for teachers and a stronger role for parents,” she said.

Seniors helping seniors
The Daily Mail
Aug. 31, 2009

Two organizations committed to helping senior citizens in Greene County held fundraising benefits this weekend. And directors from both the Greene County Aging Services Foundation and the Community Action of Greene County, Inc. Senior Companion Program reported successes but have higher hopes for next year.

Chris Pfister, president of the foundation’s Board of Directors, said Sunday that more money had been raised by the foundation’s art auction at the Athens Cultural Center than at other past fundraisers.

“We were pleased,” he said. “Everybody seemed to have a great time.”

The auction of roughly 40 paintings done by Greene and Ulster county artists brought in about $2,000 for the foundation— money that will be used to buy gasoline for those who visit and drive senior citizens to appointments and to the Greene County Department for the Aging, Pfister said.

He said the foundation would give about $5,000 this year to the county Department.

Money also is used toward buying emergency call devices for senior citizens, he said.

“We made a lot of great money for the organization and some great uses to put it to,” he said.

Pfister said the foundation, which is overseen by an eight-member board of directors, is looking to grow to help senior citizens in more ways.

The Saturday event featured a twist on a regular art auction: the 30 artists who created the paintings were all more than 50 years old.

“They were seniors helping seniors,” he said.

And that is the idea behind the Community Action of Greene County, Inc. Senior Companion Program. Through it, individuals more than 55 years old visit with and help elderly individuals make appointments. Senior companions also provide respite for home caregivers and advocate for seniors’ needs.

On Sunday, a group of 25 motorcyclists rode 90 miles from Jefferson Heights around the Ashokan Reservoir and back to Catskill by way of Lanesville and Windham as part of a fundraiser for the program.

Senior Companion Program Director and the Ride4Seniors organizer Maureen Biegner, and other riders were met by more supporters at the CreekSide Restaurant and Bar in Catskill Sunday for an afternoon of food and music by Lex Grey and the Urban Pioneers. The event also featured a raffle.

Biegner said she thought of the ride as a way to bring her love of riding together with raising money for the organization.

“As times change, you can’t do the same fundraisers year after year, you have to get with the times,” she said.

She said threatening weather Sunday morning might have kept would-be riders home and that next year’s ride will be bigger and better.

Total money raised at the event had not been tallied Sunday evening.

She agreed with Chirs Pfister that volunteer efforts are an important factor in helping senior citizens who may be homebound to remain living on their own and out of assisted-living facilities.

Biegner said the number of clients grows every year, with an estimated 30 volunteers helping 200 clients this year.

“A lot more people need our services, we need more volunteers,” she said.

Celebrating all the best county can offer
The Daily Mail
July 24, 2009

At around noon Thursday, Greene County Agricultural Society President Richard Bear said he was pleased with the large opening-day crowd at the annual Greene County Youth Fair.

Behind him, one of the fair’s demonstrations captivated a young audience. Inside a distant tent, fairgoers learned about forests, farms and animals from people representing local agencies and the Agroforestry Resource Center in Acra.

But the real attraction of the fair is the group of children who have spent months and even years working on a craft or raising animals to show this week.

“These kids have done a tremendous job,” Bear said.

During the fair’s opening ceremony, Society Vice President Carl Kohrs thanked the more than 100 volunteers who had worked since Monday to pitch tents and ready Cairo’s Angelo Canna Park for the fair.

Kohrs asked those present to share a moment of silence to remember Jeanne Bear, a long-time fair organizer who died earlier this year, and for all the organizers and volunteers who have made the fair possible who have passed away.

Even the sheep, cows and chickens in nearby tents observed the moment silently before they resumed their respective bleats, lows and clucks.

Greene County Legislator William Lawrence, R-Cairo, said he remembers the early days of the fair under the direction of Jeanne and Orloff Bear Sr. and Alfred and Frances Partridge.

“[The fair] is because of giants like them. We can look to them that this is a nice event,” he said.

Other lawmakers spoke at the ceremony,

State Sen. James L. Seward, R-Oneonta, said the fair was the highlight of the summer and showcased the county.

“This is a real celebration of all the best of our youth, all the best of agriculture and all the best that we have to offer in Greene County,” he said. “We have on display on these grounds all the best we have to offer.”

Sewerd said to applause that he and Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, had work last spring to make sure money remained in the state budget to support agricultural-themed fairs in New York.

Lopez added that the local attention to farming showcased by the fair was important during the present time when local farmers must compete with businesses that import farm goods from overseas.

He announced that he and Seward would hold an “emergency” meeting in Cobleskill with dairy farmers to discuss low milk prices and said a similar meeting with farmers in Columbia, Greene and Ulster counties would be scheduled soon.

The state lawmakers used most of their time at the fair to meet with constituents and children from a Cairo day camp.

Other campers crowded around tables in the park pavilion to build birdhouses and other items from kits provided by Home Depot or stood against around a demonstration area to watch The Indian River Olde Time Lumberjack Show comical performance of lumberjack skills.

Children with the Flora and Fauna 4-H Club showed fowl and more children pulled their parents toward the fowl, rabbits, cattle, sheep and goats.

One of these, Emily Grinnell, wanted her mother to take her to see the dozens of cows at the fair.

The four-year-old self-proclaimed animal-lover said she helps her father feed the pigs on the family’s farm every night.

Her mother Jen Grinnell, of Jewett, said they come to the fair every year.

She said the family will hold a reunion at the fair Saturday, as it has in the past.

Richard Bear said the fair caters to families like the Grinnells, who are perennial guests or those who attend all four days the fair runs. Different animals are shown every day. Some of the daily demonstrations may be the same, he said, but every performance is unique.

“Every time you come, it is a little bit different,” he said.

Catskills get rich flavor of bluegrass
Tent city springs up on opening day of Grey Fox Festival
The Daily Mail
July 17, 2009

OAK HILL — Thousands of bluegrass musicians and their fans turned the Walsh Farm in Oak Hil, into a sprawling tent city buzzing with excitement and the sounds of music for the opening of the Grey Fox Bluegrass Festival Thursday.

Festival-goers tested guitars, mandolins, violins and harmonicas that were offered for sale. They learned to dance, heard stories and listened to bluegrass masters perform a range of bluegrass music from traditional Appalachian songs to Cajun pieces.

Ross Leazenby, an International Bluegrass Music Museum trustee, said each instrumentalist and singer at the festival is at the top of their craft.

“You will see people who have slept with their instruments and they know every squeak that can come out of them,” he said.

He said the festival has become one of the best events in the world of bluegrass music because of the wide variety of groups invited to play.

“The people in the Northeast are getting a real flavor here,” he said.

Leazenby is also at the festival to promote the museum, which is located in Owensboro, Ky., and its video oral history project.

One-hundred and sixty-five first-generation bluegrass musicians have told their personal histories and shared their memories with an interviewer of their choice, all recorded for the museum archive.

Leazenby said museum directors want to collect as many narratives as possible so new generations of musicians and fans can hear about bluegrass music directly from the pioneers who wrote, played and popularized it.

He said the museum is raising money to hire people to edit the interview tapes, which can seem like an endless task.

“Sometimes we are looking for a half-hour and it takes four of interview,” he said.

Leazenby said he has seen a lot of interest in the project at various bluegrass festivals this year. Ten percent of people who bought tickets online had donated $1 to the “Bucks for Bluegrass” editing fund.

And, he said, the crowds at the festival showed that bluegrass music is supported by the community in and around Oak Hill.

Leazenby and Kitsy Kuykendall, museum Board of Trustees vice chairwoman and wife of famed banjo player and Bluegrass Hall Of Fame member Pete Kuykendall, agreed that with legendary musicians including Ricky Skaggs, Pete “Dr. Banjo” Wernick and Del McCoury sharing the festival’s five stages and tents with newer acts such as King Wilkie, Red Hot Black Top and The Boston Boys, the festival has something for every bluegrass fan to enjoy.

Kuykendall said she was “crazy” about McCoury, who is celebrating his 50th anniversary in the industry with a performance Friday evening, but, she said, she was looking forward to hearing singer-songwriters Sarah Jarosz and Sierra Hull live for the first time.

She said festival Producer and museum Board of Trustees Chairwoman Mary Doub had done a good job of reaching out to musicians who have performed at other festivals such as The Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, held annually in Tennessee, to expand the festival’s lineup.

She said that although Grey Fox was only being hosed by the Walsh Farm for the second year, the new location was starting to feel like home for a lot of the musicians.

Kuykendall said the activities offered at Grey Fox were designed to appeal to a wide audience with dance and yoga instructions and even bluegrass karaoke.

“It is like a full-experience festival,” she said.

She said that the museum and the festival demonstrate the evolution of bluegrass music.

“We celebrate the past, the present and the future of bluegrass,” she said.

One vendor, mandolin player Tim Finch of Eastman Strings explained the different sound quality between new and old mandolins and violins.

Mandolins made during the 1930s and 1940s were made with naturally aged wood that vibrated as the instruments’ strings were picked, plucked or strummed for a bright sound.

Finch said instruments made with plywood do not produce the same sound as instruments made with wood such as spruce and maple.

Wood for newer instruments is aged artificially in temperature- and moisture-controlled facilities, he said, adding that woods for the instruments require perfect humidity, “so the trees don’t even know they’re dead yet.”

A few yards down the grass aisle from Finch, new and old fiddle music meshed during a master class taught by six fiddlers from various groups.

The group played several tunes, passing the melody lines from player to player.

Brittany Haas of the group Crooked Still demonstrated how a bluegrass fiddler used the bottom of her bow, near where she held it, to make the strings vibrate.

Megan Lynch, who is a co-instructor of the festival’s Bluegrass Academy, explained that this style differed from the Scottish fiddle style, in which music is played by the tip of the bow.

Nate Leath explained to an audience of adults and children, fiddle-players and newcomers to bluegrass music that his group, The Boston Boys, try to incorporate the style of old-time Appalachian music with bands they enjoy, including The Band and Radiohead.

“We are trying to blend something that is original and mix that in,” he said.

Toward late afternoon, festival Assistant Director and Public Relations Manager Mary Burdette estimated that 3,000 music lovers had arrived to camp over the last few days and more would arrive as the four-day festival continued. As she spoke, a line of cars made its way slowly into a mostly-filled field designated for parking.

She said the festival incorporates up-and-coming and hot new groups into the fold of bluegrass legends because young players continually develop new styles of bluegrass.

“With every generation the music expands and grows a whole new arm,” she said.

Assemblymen say bill would be ‘nail in coffin’ for farms
Lawmakers deride 8-hour workday, overtime provisions
The Daily Mail
June 23, 2009

CATSKILL — A bill that could force increased operational costs incurred by local farms passed in the State Assembly earlier this month, but many familiar with farming operations and the legislation fear that such a law would harm area farms and farm workers.

The bill, if passed by the state Senate and signed into law, would require farm laborers to work an eight-hour workday and requires farms to pay time-and-a-half wages for overtime.

Columbia County Farm Bureau President Charles Larsen said the overtime wage requirements could put an added stress on both farm owners and farm workers.

“It could hurt them tremendously,” Larsen said.

Larsen worries that farms will have to add workers to their rolls while limiting the numbers of hours each picker can work to 40 per week. Laborers used to, and willing to work upward of 50 or 60 hours a week would find themselves taking a severe pay cut.

He said a starting wage for some farm workers is $10 and that he knew of one farmer further upstate who figured out that in a two-week time period he would have to pay his workers a total of $6,000 in overtime.

“That is an impact,” he said. “Agriculture cannot afford time-and-a-half.”

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Agriculture Statistic Service, there were 455 farms in Columbia County in 2007 and 310 in Greene County.

A 2007 census by the department reported that 52 Greene County farms hired a total of 282 workers and a total of 885 workers were employed by 19 different farms in Columbia County.

The census showed a total of 36,400 farms in the state.

Eric Ooms, the vice president of the New York State Farm Bureau, said workers who come to New York State farms on the H-2A guestworker program are legally only supposed to work on one farm and therefore cannot take a second job harvesting crops or on a dairy farm to supplement their incomes.

“That limits people’s earning opportunities while they are there,” he said.

He said farm workers usually are provided housing by their employers and are offered child care services. Requiring farms to pay worker for overtime could jeopardize financial stability of some farms.

“We are talking about driving the costs up and I don’t know any business that likes that,” he said, “and can afford it.”

Assemblyman Pete Lopez, R-Schoharie, whose district includes Greene County and who led the debate against the bill, said the vote was ironic because only two years ago the Assembly acknowledged that the dairy industry was in distress. At the time, he said, the price of milk was nearly $1 per 100 pounds higher than it is today.

Lopez argued that farms cannot operate eight hours a day because animal births and crop harvests could not be scheduled in such a parameter and said the legislation forced a cookie-cutter employment model on a dynamic industry.

“It is the nail in the coffin for New York State farms” he said.

Assemblyman Marc Molinaro, R-Red Hook, reiterated that crops had a specific window in which they could be harvested.

He explained that conditions on farms can be volatle and fragile due to weather and economy.

Rains and droughts can affect a crop’s yield, he said. Prices fluctuate.

He offered $200 million as the cost New York farms would spend on overtime wages should the bill pass a Senate vote and become a law.

Molinaro warned that farmers overseas would stock store shelves with their products if the costs of running a farm in New York became prohibitive.

“This is a localized industry that faces international competition and this bill does nothing to recognize that

Molinaro and Lopez charged that some legislators from downstate lacked knowledge of the way farms work.

Lopez said the bill’s sponsor, Assemblywoman Catherine Nolan, D-Queens, had admitted to her colleagues that she was one of those legislators.

Molinaro said no one in the farming industry of which he knew had been asking for the provisions set forth in the bill.

“It is offensive at best,” he said.