2012 in review

This year my blog went through some changes. The Grove Street Grumble became The Grove Street Photographer.  The Buddhists helped me discover that I had more to be thankful for than to grumble about. While the statistics showed people really liked my grumbling posts, there was also a number of people who did not. One reporter for the Gazette even described my writing style as acerbic. While I still have a few acerbic posts now and then, for the most part I have tried to focus on what I can do well, photography.

Sixty posts were added to the Grove Street Photographer blog in 2012. The blog had 33,000 views from 95 countries. May 29, 2012 saw the highest number of views in one day with 1,134 people viewing the post Celebrating Buddhas Birthday.

Other popular posts viewed in 2012 included two from 2011. In the number two spot  is A New York State of Death  followed by Photo Restoration in the third place. The fourth and fifth places go to my 2012 acerbic posts The Many Faces of Michael Chiara and Letter to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

The 2012 post with the largest number of comments was another acerbic post Mayor Proposes Two Condoms for the City of Amsterdam.

What I took from these statistics was that people would rather look at my photos than read about my political views and I’m good with that. The local papers use talented journalists who are very good at covering local politics. When it comes to photography, I have the edge.

See you next year!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for this blog.

Horse Tales and Cocktails

My second event on Tuesday, August 7, 2012, was to photograph the annual end of the season fundraiser for the Friends of Sanford Stud Farm. It was held at the Broodmare Barn just off route 30 by Walgreens in the Town of Amsterdam. Cocktails and hors d’oeuvre were served to a group of devoted horse racing fans. Jaime Studd wrote a great article about the event, published in the Wednesday edition of the Recorder.

The 4th Annual Riverlink Jamboree

Four acts with over six hours of continual entertainment, presented free of charge by the Amsterdam Waterfront Foundation and its corporate sponsors. It was another steamy Saturday afternoon with rain looming on the horizon. Luckily, the rain held off and breezes off the Mohawk River helped move the cloud cover. The clouds were actually shielding us from the scorching sun, now very present with little shade. It was hot and so were some of the groups performing at Amsterdam’s Riverlink Park. The docks were full of boats, the Riverlink Café full of diners and the park, unfortunately was not full of people to hear the wonderful music presented. This was the first concert starting at 3pm this year. I’m sure many were confused because a good number showed up at the usual 7pm starting time.

I have many images to share that took me many hours to process. This week Rebecca Webster of the Recorder beat me to the punch, posting both her story and photos of the concert to the online version of the Recorder last night. She did an outstanding job. Please check out her article.

Here are my photos:

 

 

Tophenjamin

 

 

The Nellies

 

 

Rusty Belle

 

 

Dan Johnson and His Expert Sidemen

Marketing the City of Amsterdam: Part 1

The Basics – What’s Out There?

The Official Tourism Site for the State of New York  is usually the first website people will visit to get information about a New York State destination. Looking at the regional map we would assume Amsterdam is located in the Central New York region. Clicking on the map of NY Central Region opens the tourism website for Central New York.

Montgomery County is not listed as part of  the Central, or any region on the NYS region map!

On the NYS Official Tourism website, we can click on the header CITIES & TOWNS, from there we are presented with an entry box where you can type in Amsterdam. You are then presented with the following description:

What is wrong with this picture? First of all Amsterdam is listed as a town. There is a town of Amsterdam, but the site is describing the city of Amsterdam. The Noteworthy Indian Museum has been closed for some time now. The Walter Elwood Museum closed since last year’s flood.  None of the underlined links are working. The majority of the locations described (Fort Johnson, Lake George, Halcyon Farm B&B, The Brown House) are neither in the town or city of Amsterdam.  There is no Visitor Center or garden at Riverlink Park.

Clicking on the SEE & DO tab for Amsterdam brings up the following:

Out of the five Locations listed, only the Amsterdam Municipal Golf Course is operational and in Amsterdam. The New York State Outdoorsman Hall of Fame is in Vail Mills/Broadalbin.

Clicking on the EVENTS tab gives us the following for Amsterdam:

Finally, clicking on the STAY tab brings this up:

Here we have some useful information, places to stay actually in the city and town of Amsterdam (along with a few that are not).

Overall, I would say the New York State Tourism website failed in terms of marketing Amsterdam. The outdated information and lack of an accurate, viable description of our  history and local events is not helping. The NYS Tourism link to the Amsterdam Mohawks baseball website and schedule is dead. Updated links, including the Riverlink Park Concert Series, would draw more people to this area.

Failure to include Montgomery County or Amsterdam in any of the identified regions is just inexcusable.

Grove Street Pond

It finally rained today! We really needed it; but with the past few rains, Grove Street experienced a phenomenon usually limited to streets closer to the river.

Grove Street in Amsterdam, NY is high enough in elevation not to experience flooding from the nearby Mohawk River. The last few times it has rained, a blocked storm drain changed all that as Grove Street became a pond. Watch as cars, trucks and even a motorcycle try to navigate the waters. The last car in the video decided not to risk it and turns around to go the wrong way down the one-way street.

Celebrating Buddha’s Birthday

The public was invited to celebrate the Buddha’s Birthday today at the Five Buddha Temple in Amsterdam, New York. The World Peace and Health Organization sponsored a celebration that included an introductory discussion about Memorial Day and Buddha, followed by costumed dance, ballet, Chinese Opera and a demonstration of Tai Chi. Refreshments were served after the performances. It was a great way to start the day.

Update:

Thanks to everyone who read this blog entry today, it has the highest one day viewing of any of my other posts with 1,480 total views!

Perseverance

With great perseverance, the Buddhist World Peace and Health Organization continues their mission of health and peace in the City of Amsterdam.

per·se·ver·ance 
[pur-suh-veer-uhns]  noun
1. A steady persistence, course of action, purpose, state, etc., especially in spite of difficulties, obstacles, or discouragement.
2. Theology . continuance in a state of grace to the end, leading to eternal salvation.

The happiness and peace you see in the faces of the members of the WPHO is a reflection of their inner beauty. Despite rejection by some members of our community, religious property exemptions taken away by Amsterdam City Assessor Calvin Cline, $6,485 in fines from the City of Amsterdam and repeated burglaries and vandalism of their properties, they continue forward. With the main group continuing their mission in San Francisco and Hong Kong, a core group steadfastly moves from property to property, securing, cleaning and renovating buildings.

I want to introduce you to some of these dedicated people that have become my neighbors and friends.

Regina Law and Juliana Leong

Regina Law, Angus, Joshua Rosenstein and Mo Ming Che

The rectory building of the Goddess of Mercy Temple on Grove Street (seen in this August 2011 photo) was boarded up because of several previous burglaries, one I documented here.

The group decided it would be beneficial to move some of their members in this rectory building. To prepare for the move, they have been performing daily renovations. Boarding up a building may help prevent theft but it also sends a signal to would be thieves that the building is unoccupied.

On Wednesday, March 28, 2012, at about 1:40pm Angus and Juliana were working on renovations in the rectory while the rest of the group worked elsewhere.  Suddenly they heard the sound of breaking glass on the second floor. Juliana ran up to the third floor and called the Amsterdam Police. She knew dialing directly would get them there sooner than calling 911.  Angus not realizing what had happened responded to the second floor bedroom where she heard the noise and was confronted by two male burglars who she described as dark-skinned but not black, thin and tall with dark hair.  She estimated the intruders at around 16-18 years old. Upon seeing Angus, the burglars fled back through the second floor window,where they gained access to the building by climbing on a trash can and scampering over the walkway roof and throwing a paint can through the window glass. The storm window slammed shut as the second male exited. Angus noticed a third similar looking male on the sidewalk outside the window.

I noticed two police cars respond to Grove Street as well as the rest of the WPHO work crew. I went over to the rectory building to photo document the incident. The following photo shows the second floor storm window with clear handprints on the outside. The burglars slid the storm window up before breaking the inner locked window.

The next photo shows the second floor bedroom where the burglars entered the building.

Amsterdam Police Officers took statements from the two WPHO members while two Amsterdam Detectives collected forensic evidence.

This incident was particularly disturbing because it happened near my home in broad daylight, yet it was not reported in the local media. The public needs to be aware of the increasing incidents of burglary in the City of Amsterdam.

Two weeks ago the WPHO property at 10 Leonard Street was burglarized once again.  A hole cut in an outside fence and a rope used, allowing  access to the second floor where burglars entered by breaking a window, taking machinery and scrap metal.

Both properties were once again boarded up, secured and padlocked. While the constant repairs may temporarily delay rehabilitation efforts, it does not deter the WPHO mission.

Through all of this adversity the WPHO members remain cautiously optimistic, using training in meditation to find that calming spiritual center that allows them the consciousness of being.

Center for the Arts

The second meeting of Amsterdam residents and representatives of established creative and support groups from surrounding communities met Tuesday evening at 305 East Main Street in Amsterdam, New York, to further develop Mayor Ann Thane’s vision establishing a Community Art Center for the recently vacated building.

The group members represent a variety of ages, ethnicities, talent and experience with the common goal of utilizing the former church building as a vehicle for creative expression and education. Attendance at last night’s meeting indicated a 30% increase from the first meeting on March 15, 2012.

The City of Amsterdam has been very supportive of sports and recreation, investing money in the continued improvement of Shuttleworth Park, the home of the Amsterdam Mohawks, and Riverlink Park for boaters and the Summer Concert Series. What is lacking is a Center for the Arts, an outlet for creative expression for all age groups.

With the decline in government support of our school system, it is unfortunate that art and music programs are the first to be eliminated. It is not just students who suffer from this educational blight, it is also the communities who lose out on the next Kirk Douglas, Steven Spielberg, Ansel Adams, Frida Kahlo or Steven King.

The Center for the Arts can fill that gap with little or no cost, providing a physical place for use as a meeting space for established groups, a learning center to nurture creative talents, a performance place for music & theater and as a gallery space for displaying the work of local artists. The Center will be self-sustaining through fund-raising efforts, grant writing and rental fees for use of the space to community groups.  A formal organizational plan was written and a business study completed by Jessica Murray, President of the Mohawk Valley Creative Alliance, indicating the need as there is no Center for the Arts within a 45 minute drive of the City of Amsterdam.

The misconception that may people have when they hear the word Art is that it is just the physical act of drawing or painting. The creative arts are so much more than that, encompassing a range of activities.  A small list would include writing, creating music, dance, acting, singing, cooking, photography, cinematography, illustration, animation, graphic design, sculpture, pottery and the list goes on.

The proposed Center for the Arts will be able to introduce both young an old to a world of possibilities they never imagined for themselves. In 1974 Actress Tatum O’Neil won an Academy Award and a Golden Globe at age 10 for her 1973 performance in Paper Moon. Ann Mary Robertson Moses better known as Grandma Moses, started her art career at age 70 after being introduced to painting as therapy for her advancing arthritis. Her 1943 painting Sugaring Off sold at auction in 2006 for $1.2 million. These achievements were possible because their talent was nurtured by an introduction to the creative arts.

A Center for the Arts in Amsterdam will be that vehicle to drive creative talent in our own community to places they never thought possible. The Creative Arts bring a community together, crossing political, socio-economic and cultural barriers.

You can help this effort by calling or emailing your Aldermen and let them know that you support an Amsterdam Center for the Arts.

Mohawk Valley Creative Alliance

The Mohawk Valley Creative Alliance is a local group of artists, writers, musicians and photographers who have met the second two Mondays of every month for the past two years at the Coffee Beanery in the Town of Amsterdam. The group was formed by Carol Jordan and Jessica Murray who serve as Vice President and President of MVCA, for the sole purpose of creating an Art Center for the Amsterdam community.

I heard about the group last year and had the good intention of becoming a member but never got around to it. That was until Carol Jordan sent me an email insisting that I come to their meeting (she’s the strong-arm of the group).  I complied and found a wonderful group of like-minded people who shared ideas in a thoughtful and meaningful way.  The group is led by Jessica Murray who holds a Fine Arts degree and is educated in Art Therapy. Murray was also primarily responsible for creating a business plan and the bylaws for the groups incorporation.  She is very focused on the art community and presents creative challenges for the group to complete each month which consist of a themed exercise to be completed in each person’s specific media. Whether it be writing, photography, painting, acting or even dance, all the presentations are discussed by the group members.

Last week, members of the MVCA met with Amsterdam Mayor Ann Thane to discuss the Mayor’s proposed Community Art Center in the former Church building on East Main Street and Vrooman Ave that now serves as the 5th Ward polling place. It was recently vacated by St Mary’s Hospital staff who were using the building as a mental health outreach center.  The building at 305 East main Street has 3,567 square feet of usable space and a playground behind it that would serve the community well.

MVCA encourages everyone in the Amsterdam community to support Mayor Thane with her vision of a community Art Center in the City’s building at 305 East Main Street.

Letter to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors

March 7, 2012

Montgomery County Board of Supervisors

County Annex Building P.O. Box 1500 Fonda, New York 12068

I was very dismayed today when I read an article in the March 7^th edition of The Leader Herald entitled County to Distribute Tourism Funds. In the article it was stated that the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors voted to award taxpayer money to the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs for a Catholic canonization ceremony. Although the amount was minor ($750), it violates the Establishment Clause of the 1^st Amendment to the US Constitution.

The US Supreme Court in the 1947 ruling Everson v. Board of Education interpreted this as meaning financial support. In the ruling, Justice Hugo Black stated (in part):

No tax in any amount, large or small, can be levied to support any religious activities or institutions, whatever they may be called, or whatever form they may adopt to teach or practice religion. Neither a state nor the Federal Government can, openly or secretly, participate in the affairs of any religious organizations or groups and vice versa. In the words of Jefferson, the clause against establishment of religion by law was intended to erect “a wall of separation between church and State”.

While I understand the intention as was to promote tourism, it crosses a line established by the Federal government.

From their website http://www.martyrshrine.org/ we learn that The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs is clearly a Catholic organization owned and run by the North American Martyrs Society who’s stated purpose is:

To promote knowledge and veneration of the North American Martyrs…and to emulate to the magisterium of the Roman Catholic Church and their witness to a non-believing culture.

The Director of the North American Martyr Society is Fr. George Belgarde, S.J. (a Jesuit Priest) and the Staff consists of Fr. Robert McGuire, S.J. and four lay people. This is clearly not a secular purpose for government funding.

I respectfully request that the resolution approved to allocate this money to the Catholic organization be rescinded.

Sincerely,

Gerald J. Skrocki

Update #1:

Yesterday I received the following response from the Chairman of the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

Update #2:

Dan Weaver wants some of the attention but refuses to post my name, the name of my blog or any of my comments on his online publication:

Of course there was no problem with verifying my identity. I would have respected his right not to post my comment at all, but to compound the situation with an outright lie discredits Weaver’s publication.

Update #3:

The legal team from Americans United for Separation of Church and State send a letter to the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors.

Update #4:

The Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs declines the grant from the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors. From an article published in the Recorder, written by reporter Heather Nellis, the Shrine event coordinator Beth Lynch states:

“We are what we are — a highly visible and deeply Catholic entity. We’re glad that we can contribute to the economy as far as tourism is concerned, but that’s not our main focus — we are a Catholic shrine, and we’re not going to agree that we have to do something on secular terms.”

This is exactly the point I have been trying to convey all along. No secular purpose = no public funding.