New Curbing for Flagpole
On November 8th, the Rockland County Highway Department began the job of putting new curbing at the Palisades Flagpole. Bernie Doyle brought the need for curbing replacement to the attention of Skip Vezzetti, Palisades resident and head of the Orangetown Highway Department, who made it happen. Thank you, Skip and Bernie, for seeing to this improvement to our hamlet.

Macbeth and Julius Caesar Gala Openings
The gala opening of Macbeth marking the beginning of the 2010-2011 season of the Children’s Shakespeare Theatre was attended by 120 people and filmed for a documentary by filmmaker Douglas Keeve. By all accounts, this was the most popular opening in a long time, heralding a very successful year for CST. [If you missed Macbeth, Julius Caesar will be performed Fridays and Saturdays at 7:00 pm on December 3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th, with the opening gala on December 3rd followed by a reception. For tickets and info, call (845) 365-9709.]

“Messiah” at Grace Church
The “Messiah,” orchestrated by Grace Music and performed at Grace Church in Nyack at 4:00 pm on Sunday, December 5th, is a real Rockland County holiday tradition. This is an opportunity to savor the artistry of the arias sung by professional soloists and to join in singing the choruses—especially the rousing Halelujah. Not a singer? No problem—listeners are welcome. Grace Church is literally picture-pretty and has great acoustics—the perfect setting for a community gathering.

Canine Safety
An unleashed neighborhood dog had a recent close encounter with a car on Washington Spring Road, unnerving to all parties involved. For the safety of our dogs, dog owners should be aware of Orangetown’s Leash and Litter law. Our cats and gardens will be grateful, too.

New Books by Alice Gerard
Alice Gerard has published two new books in the last six months; both are in the Palisades Free Library. At the end of April, she completed Robert Daniel Gerard, aka Sam Gerard, a short life of her husband Sam, who died at the end of January. As well as giving details of Sam’s life and 37-year career at Lamont, the book includes edited oral history interviews that document the early days at Lamont-Doherty, given by Sam in the 1990s to a Columbia University researcher.

In September, she published Where Have All the Flowers Gone, a survey of six alternative schools begun in the Northeastern United States during the 1960s. All six, although very different, were based on the ideal of educational freedom. The Rockland Project School, which Alice helped to found in 1969, is one of the schools described in the book.

Savannah Green To Appear in Film Savannah Green, a graduate of Children’s Shakespeare Theatre and soon to graduate The Theater Conservatory at Boston University, will appear in the high school scene shot at Saugerties High School in the forthcoming movie, The Art of Love, starring Olympia Dukakis, Virginia Madsen, Zosia Mamet and Aidan Quinn. She was most recently seen in the role of Rose Mundy in Dancing at Lughnasa.

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The 10964 Mug by Jane Herold: The Perfect Gift For Holidays or Anytime
A beautiful light grey mug embossed with “10964.” A limited number of mugs will be available by mid- December with more coming after the holidays. So hurry, hurry to reserve your mug(s) by December 8, $24 each. Go to PCC@PalisadesNY.com. A portion of the sales will benefit the PCC Restoration Campaign.

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Local Exotics
Earlier this fall we had some very special visitors; two Golden Eagles stopped by on their way south for the winter. Danny Lehrecke took this picture of one of them.

Awards for Charles “Skip” Vezzetti and the Rockland County Highway Department
In mid-November Skip attended a meeting in Westchester of the New York Metropolitan chapter of the American Public Works Association, which oversees this county as well as many others. While there he was given an award as “Public Works Official of the Year.” Around the same time he learned that the Rockland County Highway Department had been selected by the Federal Highway Administration to receive the highest award for pavement preservation in the whole United States. The award is titled the “James B. Sorenson Excellence in Pavement Preservation Award.” The last three recipients of this award were the city of Los Angeles, the State of Texas Highway Department, and the California Department of Transportation. Rockland is the first county to ever receive this award.

Researching Palisades’ Past
You can now find old issues of 10964 in two places. The Palisades Free Library has every 10964 issue since it began publishing in March 1977 on one of its computers, along with an index that enables one to search for particular names or events from 1977 through May 2010. The 10964 web site, www.palisadesny.com, has every issue through 2008. Material from the most recent issues can be found on the web site.

Palis-Agers to Meet on December 9
The Palis-Agers will hold their next meeting on December 9 at 1:30 pm in the usual place, the Community Room of the Palisades Presbyterian Church. There will be no formal agenda but we will have a chance to talk with each other about any concerns or difficulties we may be having. Coffee and cookies will be served.