Are you concerned about our environment and related quality of life? Would you like to do more to keep Orangetown’s environment healthy and beautiful? If you answered yes, then consider joining the Orangetown Environmental Committee (OEC). Membership is open to residents ages 16 and over. This is a great opportunity to become more involved in your community and to have a positive impact on our environment.

Research Vessel Vema in the 1960s
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March 28: Detecting and Measuring Landslides with Seismology
Köran Ekström, Ph.D. Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University

April 11: Currents, Conveyors and Climate Change

Jerry McManus, Ph.D., Professor, Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University

April 18: Dust in the Wind-Dust, Stardust and the Earth’s Climate Center
Gisela Winckler, Ph.D., Doherty Research Scientist, LDEO

April 25: Rockland County’s Water Resources
Paul Heisig of the U.S. Geological Survey. After the presentation, a panel of Lamont scientists will discuss their research on Rockland water issues followed by a Q & A session. Panelists include: Stuart Braman, Steve Chillrud, Brad Lyon and Martin Stute. This will be a two-hour presentation with live video feed to the Comer building if seating capacity is exceeded.

Contrary to the final tallies for Rockland County and the Town of Orangetown where Republicans won in all the contested races, Palisades, with less than half the registered voters voting, gave Democrats a win for all seats except the Town Receiver of Taxes. For the first time, both Palisades voting districts 12 and 50 voted together, thanks to the Esplanade who opened their doors for the occasion.

The next meeting of the Palis-Agers will take place on Thursday, December 10, at two oʼclock in the Community Room of the Palisades Presbyterian Church. Dr. Kalotkinʼs talk, titled “Back Pain, Posture and Space Travel?” will discuss low back pain and postural imbalances, and how specific weak muscles can contribute to them. The lecture will present strategies for prevention, and specific exercises to help reduce the risk. Interesting research will be discussed and participation is encouraged.

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Member of the Ramapo Catskill Library System
19 Closter Road
Palisades, NY 10964
845-359-0136, Fax 845-359-6124
pal@rcls.org
www.rcls.org/pal

Hours: M-Thu 11-9, Fri 11-5,
Sat 11-5, Sun 1-5
Closed: Dec. 24, 25,
Christmas Eve & Day
Dec. 31, Jan. 1,
New Yearʼs Eve & Day
Feb. 15, Presidentʼs Day

Director
Maria Gagliardi

Board of Trustees
Mary Ellen Ledwith, President
Charles Shimel, Vice President
Dr. Carol Stewart, Secretary
Lisette George, Treasurer
Gerry Miras
Susan Nemesdy
William Saum
Sharon Schmetterer
Kathryn Shattuck David Shire
Dr. Lynn Sykes

Board members:
Carol Baxter, President; Carol Knudson, Vice President; Jill Wecht, Treasurer; Sheila Chin, Secretary; and Michele Balm, Alice Buchanan, Dr. Leo Keegan and Honorary Board member Dr. Virginia McCauley.

Mailing Address:
PO Box 222 Palisades, NY 10964
Phone: 845-398-2521 during business hours
e-mail: PCC@palisadesny.com
Website: www.Palisadesny.com

During this holiday time of gratefulness, we would like to thank all those who have made donations, both financial and in-kind, to the Palisades Community Center. The PCC receives no funding and relies solely on donations, membership and rentals to maintain this very special building.

Welcome to A New Resident
Skyler Rose Schmetterer was born May 1, 2009 at 8:15 am weighing in at 7 lbs., 8 oz. (19.5 inches). Her thrilled and delighted parents are Tyler & Sharon Schmetterer. Skyler Rose is the 3rd generation of Schmetterers at the Landing.

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PO Box 687
117 Washington Spring Road
Palisades, NY 10964
Phone: (845) 359-3147
Website: www.ppc10964.org

Sunday worship service: 10:00 am
Sunday School: 10:00 am
Bible study: Wednesdays 12:15 pm
Parish House Play Group: Thursdays 10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Choir Rehearsal: Thursdays 8:00 pm

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Suzanna Buck, left, a high school senior who played Beatrice in the recent Rogue Players production and her sister Charlotte, right, a freshman who played her cousin Hero, have been involved with the CST for years (Suzanna since 6th grade – she was Ariel in The Tempest and Cymbeline in Cymbeline; Charlotte has been in CST for 4 years appearing in The Comedy of Errors, Henry IV and Richard III) but this is the first time they have appeared together in the same play. They are shown with their parents, Roger Buck and Sharon Quayle.

What is it that makes an eight-year-old kid decide she wants to be in a Shakespeare play? Does she wake up with this idea one day and comb the internet for possibilities for realizing this ambition? More likely she has a friend who is in a play and asks her to come and see it. She sits in the audience in the front row on a tiny chair and she is so close to the actors she can touch them. They look right in her eyes when they talk and, though she may not understand all the words they are saying, they are having so much fun up there on the stage that their joy bubbles over onto the audience and she knows she just has to be one of them.

After the July panther sightings, there was a hiatus. Then, at the beginning of October, four different people saw what they thought were panther cubs. Two of the sightings were at Lamont, one was in Tallman Park, and one was on Rockland Road. Another sighting occurred on November 3.

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Member of the Ramapo Catskill Library System • 19 Closter Road • Palisades, NY 10964
Phone: 845-359-0136 • Fax: 845-359-6124 • E-mail: pal@rcls.org
Hours: M-Thu 11-9, Fri-Sat 11-5, Sun 1-5 • Closed: Oct. 12, Columbus Day, Nov 25-26, Thanksgiving
Director: Maria Gagliardi • Board of Trustees: Mary Ellen Ledwith, President
Charles Shimel, Vice President • Dr. Carol Stewart, Secretary • Lisette George, Treasurer
Geri Miras • Susan Nemesdy • William Saum • Sharon Schmetterer • Kathryn Shattuck • David Shire • Dr. Lynn Sykes

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This summer, we finished exterior painting, weather-proofed, made improvements to the bathroom, planted our front gardens, and made hundreds of little repairs. Our big project was refinishing the floors. They are gorgeous. Come take a look. We highly recommend Floor Solutions who discounted their service in support of the building. They can be reached at (845) 406-2825. Tell them the Palisades Community Center referred them!

When we moved to Palisades seven years ago, like newcomers everywhere, we had a romantic notion that all the people already living here were imbued with special qualities, that they would stay put in their lives and in their homes and we would build our own life around these new-found immutables.

Lost cat poster seen at Canzona's Market in Piermont
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It all began in late February with a sighting in Tallman along the gas line. Shelly Cohen was perplexed by the animal that she later described as the size of a large dog, pitch black with a long tail with a “cat’s head.” It wasn’t until she heard about the two sightings on Ludlow Lane by Jane Bernick and Grace Knowlton in early March that she told her friends.

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The year 2009 marks the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson’s voyage of exploration of the Hudson River. The Palisades Historical Committee and the Palisades Free Library celebrated this milestone with a weekend of special events.

“The first thing to do, we must kill all the lawyers” famously proclaims one of Shakespeare’s characters, meaning that the world would be better off without them. I have my own candidate for this honor: the developer. Not that I’m advocating the death penalty for anyone but I think the place for the developer is not Palisades. Palisades does not need to be “developed.” It has already grown organically and much of the architecture reflecting its history is intact.

Attention: Snake Bite Alert

It is not news that copperheads live in our area. Recently a worker was bitten by a copperhead snake on Tweed Blvd.

What to do if you are bitten: Contact Jacobi Medical Center Regional Snakebite Treatment Center (Level 1 Trauma Center)
Children’s Emergency Room: 718-918-5875
Adult’s Emergency Room: 718-918-5800
Address: 1400 Pelham Parkway South Bronx, NY 10461

The ONLY Regional Snakebite Treatment Center, Jacobi treats snakebite victims from the entire New York City and tri-state area. Treatment is provided in cooperation with the herpetology staff of the nearby Bronx Zoo.

Finally! After much anticipation, if owner Dianne Walsh Fuhrmann has her way, her new Palisades Market on Route 9W on the site of the old gas station will be up and running on or around October 1st. Dianne, the friendly, enthusiastic mother of three, is brimming over with ideas for her new business. “I wanted to open an old fashioned American store reminiscent of those from the 20s and 30s when life was simpler.”

A number of Palisades post office box holders have been frustrated and upset recently by a change in policy at our post office. All of us try to insure that our correspondents send mail addressed to our PO boxes, but there are always a few letters sent to our street address instead. Some of this is due to ignorance, and some is due to regulations that forbid mail to be sent to post office boxes by some organizations.

In the past staff at the Palisades post office usually put the letters with street addresses in the right box, if they knew what it was, and we were grateful to them. But during the last six months most letters with street addresses instead of PO box numbers have been returned to the sender, in some cases causing serious problems to the recipients who did not receive them. Checks, driver's licenses, car registrations and other important documents have failed to arrive on time due to this new policy.

Post office staff has explained that new regulations are causing this problem and have been unable to come up with a solution. Application of the new policy has been inconsistent; some mail with a street address arrives but most does not. A search of the US postal service site has come up with a partial solution, although it still entails extra work for all of us. The relevant section is below.