Ballston Spa and Beyond

 Harry Armer, flanked by Katherine Turner, Paul Perreault and Murray Eitzmann, holds up an old newspaper clip at today's joint meeting of the Malta Sunrise and Ballston Spa Rotary clubs.

The Ballston Spa club meets Wednesday mornings at The White House, and the first and third Tuesdays for lunch at Ballston Spa Country Club. But today they were at our home base, The Ugly Rooster in Malta. 

Upcoming events and volunteer opportunities in Ballston Spa include an April 27 cleanup day, and a May 3 barbecue at Brookside Museum. 

Ms. Turner is not a member of either club but has connections in our area, and told us about Baja Bridges on the West Coast.

Trash Crew

 

Saturday morning's Dunning Street trash pickup crew consisted, left to right, of Rotarians, Bob and Barbara Conner, Dwight and Chris Havens, Paul Perreault, Miles Cornthwaite, Paul Phillips, Kristen Stanley, and our junior helper, young Master K., in the front. Plus Helen Endres, who took the photo.

No meeting on Thursday April 11, because members may choose to attend this event instead.

Pre-empted on April 11

 

Pete Bardunias (in blue shirt) listens to Cynthia Young (across table) at our meeting on Thursday.

Pete, who was our speaker, is senior vice president for community advancement at the Capital Region Chamber. (Cynthia is our club treasurer, and the town of Malta supervisor.)

Pete talked about "keeping the lights on" as possibly his top priority, and a new geothermal energy company in town. 

He also plugged "Inside Malta: A Community Business Forum", which is an 8-9:30 am breakfast event to be held April 11 at the Malta Community Center. Panelists will include leaders from GlobalFoundries, HVCC North, Arnoff, and Signature ONE Real Estate.

The club decided to cancel its scheduled April 11 meeting because members might want to attend the Chamber event. That breakfast is open to the public, and to register and purchase tickets, or find out more information, click on this link.

Schools Report

 

Dr. Gianleo Duca (in tie), Ballston Spa School District superintendent, speaks at this morning's Rotary meeting.

Duca addressed various issues, including key and related district goals of enhancing parent engagement and ensuring students get in the habit of actually attending school. The district is working with Hudson Valley Community College to push education for the trades, and is concerned about a persistent problem of student homelessness. 

There was discussion about transportation, and the cameras with audio on school buses which are there to prevent bullying. He expressed concern about the state's electric vehicle mandates for buses. One issue is that the district would need more space to park its fleet (currently of 86), because of the danger of fire spreading from one electric vehicle to another.

Rocket Man

 

This image is from a Jan. 7, 2021 article in Saratoga Today by Paul Perreault, who was our speaker on Thursday. Paul, the recently retired Malta town historian, talked about the Malta Test Station, founded in 1945 by the US Army and General Electric Co. on land leased from the Luther family. The site, still standing with many empty buildings and other structures in the Luther Forest Technology Campus, is now located next to the GlobalFoundries computer chip plant, and across Rocket Way from town-owned sports recreation fields.

Rocket engines were tested in Malta, developing technology derived from the V2 missile used by the Germans near the end of World War II. Many German scientists who worked on the V2 project, including Wernher von Braun, were brought to the United States to help develop ballistic missiles and, later, rockets used for space exploration.

Home and Away

 

Brian Farrell, contractor (518-795-7784) and musician, and one of our newer members, spoke to us last Thursday about his recent trip home to Dublin. Like many Irish families, his has members scattered over the world. Like many reunions, his was bittersweet, with a sister battling cancer and friends still caught up in the "Irish stereotype" of alcohol abuse. He returned with enhanced appreciation of the strengths and support of family love.

In other business, President Dwight Havens presented Bob Bonney with his two-sapphire Paul Harris Fellowship pin.

Supervisor's Report

 

While Cynthia Young was our speaker on Thursday, this photo is from the next day, Feb. 16, when she was sealing a purchase of development rights deal with Malta Avenue Extension resident Miles Cornthwaite. The deal was negotiated under Cynthia's predecessor as town supervisor, Mark Hammond. Cynthia and Miles (former chairman of the town Planning Board) are both longtime members of the Malta Sunrise Rotary Club, which she continues to serve as treasurer.

Cynthia talked about that and other issues coming up in her first several weeks as supervisor, including the forthcoming passive park on the former Mangino's property on Saratoga Lake (also a Hammond project), and new water districts. She said the town has applied for a grant to build a sidewalk on Route 9 in front of Malta Gardens, and that NYSERDA is trying to sell property it owns near GlobalFoundries for clean light industrial use. She also said Saratoga County is considering using the former State Farm property in Malta south of Route 67 and west of Northway Exit 12.