Small City Big Traffic Changes

Tomorrow's the day many have feared for months.  "It will never work" they said.  Others add "It will slow down the system."  Most worry about their neighbors "They will never figure it out, there isn't enough information."  Despite the months of preparation, the signs and public information and the small changes that have occurred to get us ready for this date, people still are not prepared for the change.  Yet tomorrow, October 1st, 2013 the change comes.  No, I'm not talking about "Obamacare." What we have here is far more serious than that.  Tomorrow, our Small City with a Big Heart becomes a Small City with 2 Way Streets. 

This post started as a pep talk to my fellow Amsterdamians.  Around here we tend to think we can't until we do and then we still aren't sure if we can. But driving around town the other day I realized we manage to get around town safely against all odds.  If a person can zoom across Church Street from Widow Susan to Clizbe Ave  at rush hour and not share the same fate as Susan's husband, then surely a change to a two way traffic system in the center of town shouldn't be a problem.  If one of the safest intersections in the city contains 5 corners, 6 entrances and 4 stop signs and 2 gas stations then I know we Amsterdamians can follow the signs, traffic signals and road paint in the area formerly known as "downtown."  

In fact, here in Amsterdam we have a traffic patterns only locals can understand.   And the problem with that is we want more than locals on our roads.  There are driving laws and then there are what I'd like to call Amsterdam's "Driving Mores" that are passed down from our grandparents to our parents to us.  Or from our High School Gym/Drivers Ed Teacher if you are transplant.  The best example I can think of has to with the fact that here in Amsterdam, you can walk up hill to school both ways.

Traffic More #1 - When it comes to hills, all bets are off. 

Take Locust Ave and Lyon St.  This harmless 4 way intersection has a traffic light during nice weather, but once winter comes and cars need a running start up Lyon Street hill, the light turns to a 3 way red and 1 way yellow blinking light.  There is no sign that depicts this, no mass facebook message or public alert.  But everyone who lives around there just "knows." Just like they "know" Kreisel Terrace hill is closed in winter and that the seemingly pointless stop signs on Major Lane (between Northampton and Brandt on your way to the Middle School) will in fact keep you from getting T-Boned by the cars that need a running start in the best of weather to get up those hills.

Traffic More #2 - No matter how long you've lived here, you will get lost in your own town.

When I moved to Rockton, it was like a whole new world.  I searched for the Rockton Y for a while until I found out it was not a building but an intersection.  I am still not sure how to tell an out of town friend how to get through it and still stay on Clizbe, I usually just ask them to describe their surroundings when they call completely lost.  Then there is the fact that you cannot enter and leave the South Side in the same spot and still get back from where you came. At best, you'll  have to turn around at the Amsterdam Recorder, at worse, you'll end up on the Thruway.

Traffic More #3 - Things just don't make logical sense.

The Golf Course is not on Golf Course Road and you can't get to The Mall by taking The Mall.  But you can drive through the Tecler Elementary School Parking lot to get to Hagaman and St. John Street does cut through a Church Parking Lot, but that church is not called St. John's but Mt Carmel, and if its Sunday, watch out for old people.  

So yes, we understand traffic a little differently here in Amsterdam. Many of our rules are not set in stone, just passed down through stories or trial and error.  But we can survive and even thrive during this traffic change.  We know more about state traffic laws than we give ourselves credit for.  After all, how many out-of-towners would confidently turn left on red from a one way to a one way right in front of a police station? On October 1st and beyond I challenge you to leave a little earlier, be a little more patient and drive a bit more defensively.  Show those two way streets whose boss and make these changes.  And if all else fails, listen to the advice of your Gym/Driver's Ed Teachers Mr. Mee and Ms. Nev: always leave yourself an out and stay out of the no zone.  

Local Flavor: Park Play House

From time to time, I like to talk about the local flavor of the place I live.  While my city is pretty great, it is also awesome to be so close to the Capital District.  Albany has tons to offer and one of my favorite places is Washington Park.  There are playgrounds, a pond and an outdoor theater.  Each winter brings Lights in the Park, each spring Tulip Fest, and every summer for the past 25 years, amazing productions by the Park Playhouse.

I've been going with my family for as long as I can remember.  We'd pack up the blankets, chairs and card games and get there early to sit in the amphitheater seats that are free to the public.  We'd usually grab subs on the way and once we were old enough, we could to dip into the wine or margaritas our parents would pack.  It was always the one of the best parts of summer. Now that I am older and don't have my parents to plan for me, Mike and I usually end up in the paid seats since we don't have to get there early.  The paid seats are very reasonably priced.  The rows of seats run between $14 and $16.  Just last year, they started adding special "table seats" for certain productions.  We missed out on the table seats that were actually part of the set for Cabaret last year but booked table seats this year. There was actually a Knight waiting on patrons during intermission!

Table Seats, life is good

The productions themselves are incredible.  Many think of it as community theater but while community theater is well and good, many of the actors in these productions are professionals which takes the show to a whole new level.  This year there are two shows, Monty Python's Spamalot for the month of July and Shrek for the month of August.

  Spamalot was so incredible that Mike and I went back on the last night, braved the rain and sat in the free seats to just see it again.  I feel like we have seen so many "heavy" plays this winter that left me crying at certain points that I was glad this show just produced tears of laughter!

I would totally recommend going to see Shrek in August, which should be just as funny! Take the kids with you, they definitely won't forget it!  Tickets are available online http://www.parkplayhouse.com/ or free if you are prepared to go early.  If the weather is good and it is getting toward the end of the run or a weekend, I would suggest going at least 3 hours early.  Mid week,  you might be able to get away with 1.5 to 2 hours early.  

I didn't take any pictures in the rain,but here are a few from the first night we went.

Worldless Weekend: Tulip Fest

I'm no photographer, but tulips, sunshine and happiness are easy to capture.

Remembering a Teacher, a Community Member, a Friend.

When you live in the small city you grew up in, you go to a lot of wakes.  It’s not that more people die here, it’s just that more people touch each others lives.  Even when we think we are going to just to support one of our friends that lost a loved one, we find memories of our own reflected in the pictures on display in the funeral home.  We are all interconnected in a special way.  From time to time it feels suffocating, but more often than not, it is comfort in the connection.  These roots run deep and it helps us not feel as if we are floating on our own. 

 Today we said our final good bye to Mr. Richard Betz a teacher beloved throughout the community.  I stood in line for an hour with my husband who grew up golfing with Mr. Betz, my mother-in-law who took part in the healing touch ministry Mr. Betz and his wife led at the local hospital, and a high school friend a few years my senior who came on behalf of her classmates that live far away.  There were friends who met the Betzs through their yoga instruction and former athletes that can contribute their golf swing, wrestling moves and sportsmanship to Mr. Betz.  With wet eyes and crackling voices we told his wife our best memories of him.  They were all unique.  I was lucky enough to grow up as an extended part of his family.  My parents stopped by afterwards and they had stories of their own from family birthday parties, graduations and weddings.  Although his lifetime was far too short, it was a life time filled with people, stories, and community.

Mr. Betz’s teaching style was simple.  Love your subject, love your students, work hard.  His lesson plans didn’t come from the latest and greatest study on education.  They came from the nightly news, the New York Times, and the 3 Stooges.   He facilitated conversations by sitting at our level and just asking what we thought.  I took his AP Government class during the Impeachment of President Clinton.  Every morning he came in with a VHS tape from the night before of Cokie Roberts covering the latest phase of the saga.   His adoration for Cokie was contagious and we cheered when she came on the screen.  What better way to learn about government than to see it in action.  Reading the online guest book of his obituary a student shared a similar story of learning government through current news, but he had Mr. Betz during Watergate.  The political junky in me (that he helped create) is a bit jealous of that.  If they kept voter registration stats, Mr. Betz would be the all time highest recruiter in Montgomery County.  He didn’t care what party you registered for but you would register.  If you needed help, he had a political personality quiz or two that would help you find your party. 

Mr. Betz was notorious for cutting out New York Times articles he thought a student might be interested in.  A good friend who is a political science professor today remembers Mr. Betz cutting out articles for him even though their politics could not be more different.  Another online writer remembers Mr. Betz making her feel welcome as she adjusted to America and still brought her articles about her home country to the grocery store she worked at after graduation.  

When things got too heavy, Mr. Betz called on the 3 Stooges.  Most of us were too young to be that familiar with them so we found it hysterical.  Besides the laughter Mr. Betz also had a purpose to showing them through the moral of the story or a connection between Larry , Moe, and Curly and some of our current elected officials. When a student was having a hard day, Mr. Betz could tell.  He’d write a pass for them to stop by later or stay after class.  He was there to listen, there to help.  If you just needed some quiet time for yourself, he’d give you that too.  Love your subject, love your students, work hard.  In a day when teachers and students are drowning in educational jargon, there is a beauty in the simplicity of his teaching. 

Mr. and Mrs. Betz were before their time when it came to teaching the “whole person.”  They were into yoga before yoga was cool.  We were offered free and discounted student rates at the classes they taught at the local Methodist Church.  These classes were the perfect escape as we stressed over college acceptances, graduation, and high school life.  They began healing touch or Reiki style therapy at the hospital with Sister Rita Jean helping countless people.  The Betzs traveled to Arizona a couple of times a year for yoga and healing retreats.  It seemed a natural retirement place except for the dedication the Betzs had to their community.    What was natural to them was to stay here, continue yoga, healing touch therapy, golf, teaching youth golf clinics and being  active members of their families and community. Sure, Mr. Betz still lamented that it was harder to find the New York Times two hours away from NYC than two thousand miles away.  But home was where they stayed. 

After we gave our condolences to Mrs. Betz she turned to her brother-in-law and said, “Can you believe it?  Who would have thought such a big impact?”  Of course her brother-in-law believed it, we all believed it.  But to Mr. and Mrs. Betz, it was just part of living in a community.  Their daily activities were not for attention or accolades, but to be present where they were needed and to give where they could.  It was so simple that I didn’t realize the full impact he had until now.  I hope he knew how many lives he touched and what a better place this community was because of him.  I am glad we were all able to tell his wife and family.  Love your subject, love your students, work hard and go out and vote. Rest in peace, Mr. Betz, Namaste.  

Local Flavor: Dolly Undercover

It's Sunday, a great day to shop and prepare for the week.  There's no better day to encourage buying local than today. We've got some amazing hometown shops here in Amsterdam and you know I like to encourage you to patronize them (If you missed it check it out here.)  What you didn't know is how passionately Dolly feels.  So in this segment of "Local Flavor"  Dolly takes you on her epic journey for the only thing she spends her paper route money on - Dog Food!




First of all, Dolly loves her new home in New York.  She came from the south where it never snowed and now that she lives here, she can't get enough.  She'd like to thank you for all of your votes in the Vote Local, Vote Dolly  campaign.  She didn't win, but she's not allowed to eat burritos anyway.  She has a very specific, very healthy diet which she can, and does, buy locally. 








Dolly loves the Country Feed Store on Route 30.  There are all types of natural, healthy dog and cat food as well toys, harnesses, leashes, and other supplies.  Most people drive by and think it is just a gas station, but it is a whole lot more.  They've expanded to include  small cafe tables to enjoy the fresh coffee and people snacks.  It's a convenience store, a feed store, and greenhouse all in one. It's tiny parking lot is always full as people stop by for lotto, coffee, or gas. It's a hub of activity that draws in locals to see whats going on around town. Plus, Dolly's mom and dad when to high school with it's owners.  That is what buying local is all about.


Something that worries Dolly is that a pet super center just opened up the road.   The bright lights and shiny coupons they are sending out are tricking people into thinking that it is better to shop there than at Country Feed.  Dolly thinks this is hogwash and took it upon herself to put on her hoodie and  go undercover to check out the competition.  It's hard to type with paws so Dolly submitted these pictures to help tell her story:

Dolly can't be seen shopping at chain stores.

Shiny new mega store. 

Price check, Aisle 3.

Where is a dog supposed to keep a discount card?

Canned food is the secret ingredient to Dolly's Dinner, but this place doesn't even have her brand.

Back at the Country Feed Store:

No discount card necessary!

The RIGHT canned food PLUS two free samples!

What a deal!

As you can see, Dolly got what she wanted, saved money, AND got free samples from the nice guy at the check out counter.  SOMEONE wouldn't let her buy any treats but she'll let that go for now because....

Local Flavor - The Beginning

First - Google reader (RRS) feed didn't post my last post.  Please check it out!  Unwanted Input

Ok, now onto today...

Those of you who have been here since the beginning (when I hardly posted) remember that this started out as a "buy local" blog to track the local spending of my wedding. Hey, thanks for sticking around!  However, I haven't figured out how one blogs about planning a wedding while making the all the teenie tiny decisions, working a second job to pay for all the teenie tiny decisions and maintaining a relationship so that there is a marriage at the end of the event.  So the blog fell away at the time, but it's back and now will, at times, focus on the "Local Flavor" that makes this life in a small city so great. 

There are so many hard working business people in this city.  They are talented, they are passionate, and they are dedicated.  They are a dying breed. A local Pizzeria and Restaurant that is a cornerstone of our community is closing in May due to bankruptcy.  There is not a single person who grew up here that hasn't eaten there once.  There isn't a single community organization that has asked for help that didn't receive it in abundance from this establishment.  As the date gets closer, I'll talk more about it.

Money spent locally expands locally.  Every $1 spent locally gets re-spent 5 to 15 times.  Another way to look at it:  spend $1 at a national chain and 80% of it immediately leaves the area.  Spend that same $1 locally, and 70% of of it STAYS in the community.   If we want to save our cities, we have to spend our money in them, not outside of them.  In the DQ household, we do it as much as we can.  Could we do it more?  Sure.  Everyday we work to improve it.  Source: Choose Local

It's time to put our money were our mouths are. Look for these logos on blog posts for some local flavor.  If you live nearby, come shop here.  If you don't, find your own Local Flavor and show it some love by spending your money.  Strong economies start at home.