The Travels of Saint Brendan the Navigator

Join us at The H.A.R.P. Museum at the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley on Thursday May 11 7:00 PM and with presenter Michael Hoke learn about the life and adventures, real, mystical and mythical, of Ireland’s Saint Brendan the Navigator.

Ask most Americans who discovered North America first and you likely hear it was either Christopher Columbus or Leif Erikson. Ask an Irishman and you will probably hear it was an abbott from Ireland named Brendan predating Columbus by a millennium. While it has been documented

Guide and Schedule of Events

that Brendan sailed to the Hebrides and Faroe Islands north of Scotland, it is his reputed adventures west in the North Atlantic towards Iceland, Greenland, and perhaps Newfoundland that continue to be debated to this day.

Sailing in a boat made of wattle and oiled leather, Brendan and fourteen monks encounter sights and beasts never before witnessed while searching for the “Blessed Isles” or the “Promised Land of the Saints”. The notes regarding his exploits would be later used by Christopher Columbus on his voyages west in Please See BRENDAN Page 6

Friday, June 9th, 2023

9am Village Wide Garage Sales

6-8pm Dolgeville Manheim Historical Society Open

6:30pm Violet Festival Opening Ceremonies

Welcome at Joe Condello Gazebo in Plowe Park - Presentation of Lyndon Lyon community Award to Big M Crowing of the Violet Festival Queen, Anna “Aunt Annie” Musella, House Decorating Contest Winners

Announced

7pm Violet Festival Princess & little Mister Pageant, Ages 5-8, 9-12, 13-17, information - Taylor

7-11pm Whiskey Creek at Rustic Ties - no cover charge

7:30-9pm Dolgeville Community Band Concert -Plowe Park Gazebo

Saturday, June 10th, 2023

6-9am Vendors SetupMarilyn 315-429-9884

7-10 Pancake Breakfast at Dolgeville Firehouse

Saturday (cont.)

9am Village wide Garage Sales

9am-5pm Dolgeville Manheim Historical Society Open

10am Violet Festival Parade Crystal or Don 315-527-9585

10am-5pm Featured Artist, Ann Contino and Flower Show at the Graystone 10am-5pm Craft Show - Flea Market

12-2pm Critical Path at Plowe Park Stage

12-done Boy Scouts Chicken BBQ at Auskerada Place Basement 12-4pm Horse Drawn Wagon Rides 12-4pm Free Kids Tie Dye T-shirts in front of Military Monument. Limited shirts available, can also bring your own.

1-4pm DCS Student Art Show K-12 plus BOCES Pre-K & Dolgeville Pre-K at The Graystone

2-4pm As/IS at Plowe Park Gazebo

4pm Brookfield Tractor Pullers at the Daley’s on Moore Rd, Free Admission, bring lawn chair

4-6pm Fas4ward at Plowe Park Gazebo

Saturday (cont.)

6-7:30pm Kat & Tyler at Plowe Park Gazebo

7:30-10pm Violet Festival’s Got Talent Contest

10pm Fireworks Display from Summerhouse Hill

Sunday, June 11th, 2023

7-8am Registration/Packet Pick Up “Run for Violets” 5K Run/Walk and 1K Kids Fun Run, Across from Firehouse

7-11am Pancake Breakfast at Dolgeville Firehouse

8:30am Run for Violets 5K Run/Walk USAT+F Certification NY13048JG starts across from firehouse. Some streets will be temporarily closed for the safety of the participants and motorists. Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

9:30am 1K Kids Fun Run - free of charge, across from firehouse

10-11am Ecumenical Service at Plowe Park Gazebo

10am-4pm Featured Artist and Flower Show at The Graystone

10am-5pm Craft Show - Flea Market

11-11:30am Poetry Contest at Plowe Park Stage- Joan Lein

12-2pm Dolgeville Cemetary Walking Tour

12-3pm Horse Drawn Wagon Rides

12-4pm Dolgeville Manheim Historical Society Open

1-3pm The Penneystreet Players at Plowe Park Gazebo

1-4pm DCS Student Art Show K-12 plus BOCES Pre-K & Dolgeville Pre-K at The Graystone

3-5pm Northern Outlaws at Plowe Park Stage

Craft Show- Flea Market Horticulture and Food Vendors on Main Street

Garden Flower Show at The Graystone

Featured Artist Show at The Graystone

DCS Pre-K-12 Student Art Show at The Graystone

Themed Basket Tickets sold at Violet Festival Info

Booth - Drawing Sunday about 4pm

Bounce Houses on Softball Field

Village Wide Garage Sales

HOME committed to protecting the environment & reducing its carbon footprint and takes serious & deliberate action to reduce waste through manufacturing & shipping, but also sponsors projects to benefit wildlife & the environment. Integrity is a huge part of their mission, guiding every part of their business from start to finish.

I have a website that presents my curated market stamps, & molds created by Redesign by Prima, also a woman-owned business, and of course the full line of Wise Owl along with a selection of quality paint brushes and the most fabulous furniture salve that can be used on almost anything, including your skin. I will expand offerings as we grow together but rest assured, only the very best tools & materials will make the grade.

I also carry Mint by Michelle decoupage papers, which is in Australia, yet another

Senior Meals For May

woman-owned business that has an extensive line of DIY products to Redefine whatever treasure you might have in mind to do yourself.

I hope to bring something special to you and to engage others to get involved with creating for themselves. Classes are in the range of goals I want to get involved with. Decoupage, as well as layering paints, creating textures on furniture or even smalls like boring plant pots or old vases that need a new life, making them look like

To reserve a meal, call the Herkimer County Office for the Aging at least one business day in advance, between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, at 315-867-1204 or 315-867-1634. If you will not be home for meals, call 315867-1204 at least a day in advance. All sites are handicapped accessible.

May 01 - Salisbury steak with muhroom gravy, rice pilaf, garlic spinach, vanilla ice cream.

May 02 - Cream of broccoli soup, turkey sandwich, three-bean salad, brownie.

May 03 - Chicken and biscuits, mashed potatoes, squash, Mandarin oranges.

May 04 - Ham and scalloped potatoes, peas and carrots, pears.

May 05 - Breaded fish on a bun, macaroni and cheese, stewed tomatoes, cupcake with frosting.

May 08 - Chicken marsala, rotini in sauce, Italian green beans, peaches.

May 09 - Sweet sausage on a roll, baked beans, red cabbage, sherbet.

May 10 - Frittata, sausage patty, hash browns, muffin, fruit cup.

May 11 - Roast turkey with gravy, stuffing, Brussels sprouts, pudding.

May 12 - Spaghetti and meatballs, Italian blend vegetables, Italian bread, apple brown Betty.

May 15 - Oriental beef stir fry with vegetables, rice, watermelon.

May 16 - Tuna salad cold plate, macaroni salad, cold beef salad, oatmeal raisin cookie.

May 17 - Roast pork with gravy, sweet potatoes, cauliflower, gelatin.

May 18 - Chef’s choice chicken, baked potato, green beans, pie.

May 19 - Philly cheeseburger, German potato salad, warm three-bean salad, tropical fruit.

May 22 - BBQ chicken, baked beans, mixed vegetables, peanut butter cookie.

May 23 - Layered hamburger cabbage, casserole, corn, waxed beans, strawberry ice cream.

May 24 - Baked fish in dill sauce, confetti rice, spinach, cinnamon applesauce.

May 25 - Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, baked squash, frosted birthday cake.

May 26 - Cream of spinach soup, chicken patty on a bun, pudding with topping.

May 29 - Closed for Memorial Day ancient stone, finishing kitchen cabinets, or applying some beautiful transfers on top of a specially finished piece, are some of the ideas I would like to teach.

May 30 - Lasagna, tossed salad, garlic bread, Italian blend vegetables, carnival cookie.

May 31 - Yankee pot roast, oven roasted potatoes, dill carrots, fruit cocktail.

All meals are served with 8 ounces of milk, a slice of bread, and margarine. Desserts have no concentrated sweets. The suggested donation is $3. Mail donations to Herkimer County OFA, 109 Mary St., Suite 2501, Herkimer, NY 13350. Envelopes are available from drivers.

I will also be available for custom work if someone doesn’t want to do the work themselves, but if they have a piece of furniture that they are tired of and want to transform into something they will love, I will do that.

With a bit of imagination, we can make the world more beautiful with our hands.

The store is located at 616 E Main St in Little Falls and will be open Thursday through Saturday from 11 am until 3 pm and by appointment. You can find out more by visiting www. redefinedalchemyhome. com or emailing redefinedalchemy@ gmail.com.

A soft opening is planned for Friday, May 12, 2023, and the grand opening will be the next day, Saturday, May 13, 2023.

BRENDAN From Page 5 the Atlantic. Brendan’s Feast Day is May 16 and he is the patron saint of sailors and travelers.

You can attend this presentation at the H.A.R.P. Museum located on the second floor of the Irish Cultural Center of the Mohawk Valley, 623 Columbia St, Utica. All are welcome to attend this program and the museum is wheelchair accessible. There is no charge for this event but we do ask that you register with Eventbrite. The link can be found on our events calendar at https://www.iccmv.org/ events-calendar/.

Little Falls Patriots Day Past and Present

The Little Falls Historical Society will partner with the Yellow Church Cemetery Association to host a Patriots Day observance at their historic site beginning at 11:00 AM on Saturday May 20. The rain date is Sunday May 21 at the same time. The event is free and open to the public.

This program will feature a number of short addresses on various local history topics and the laying of a Daughters of the American Revolution wreath. The playing of TAPS will conclude the approximately hour-long event. This will be the eleventh local Patriots Day observance. As many as fifty Revolutionary War veterans are buried in Yellow Church Cemetery, many having fought at the pivotal August 6, 1777 Battle of Oriskany which was crucial to the eventual defeat of British forces at the Battle of Saratoga later that fall.

Local Patriots Day

At the urging of the Historical Society, the City of Little Falls established

ROCK From Page 1

City?”

He approached Mike George with Rock Valley Brewing Company and asked him to get involved, closing the street and making it an all-day festival with craft beer made in Little Falls.

“Let’s invite people locally and around the globe to come here and experience this free event,” he stated.

They also decided to make it a fundraiser for the food pantry, requesting non-perishable items to be donated. “We then decided to have local vendors be within the footprint.”

Seven food vendors are involved, and some other craft vendors will also appear.

Mike George stated that the reason for the festival was to get the word out about Little Falls and not only the upcoming project at the Powerhouse but also his business and all of the restaurants that are participating.

“We just want to bring people to the area and let them see what Little Falls has to offer. We have people that come from all over for the Garlic and Cheese Festivals, and we wanted to build on that and keep people coming here.”

He said, “It’s just a little reprieve from the dayto-day grind. Both bands that are playing here are fantastic, and they’ve played here a number of times. They always draw great crowds,” George stated.

George also mentioned that Dark Sarcasm has a little treat for everyone at the end of the concert.

Prep work is ongoing in the area, expanding the parking and leveling the space between the Antique Center, where a berm has been removed, to grading around the Powerhouse. They’re also doing some work in preparation for future site development.

Regan is setting up an outdoor stage on the property, but nothing will happen inside the Powerhouse. “All the headliner stuff is outside. We’ll have tents set up to deal with the weather, and we’re requesting that everyone bring their lawn chairs.”

The stage will back up to the Mohawk River and be turned at about a 45-degree angle so the sound will go towards Elizabeth St. “We don’t Please See ROCK Page 14

PATRIOTS From Page 6 a local Patriots Day in 2010 to be observed each year on the third Saturday in May. Then Mayor Robert Peters issued a proclamation recognizing this annual observance.

Seeking to expand this observance to other communities and organizations, the Historical Society has in past years co-hosted annual Patriots Day events at: General Nicholas Herkimer Home, Fort Herkimer Church, Snell’s Bush Church, the former Masonic Temple in Little Falls, the Reformed Church at Historic Four Corners in Herkimer, Paines Hollow Baptist Church, Historic Trinity in Fairfield, Emanuel Episcopal Church in Little Falls, and, last year, at Norway Rural Cemetery.

The first local Patriots Day event was held at Yellow Church Cemetery in 2010. Full circle in 2023.

Background

Patriots Day began in 1894 as a New England regional observance, and, in 1934, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts established the third Monday in April as a state holiday commemorating the April 19, 1775 beginning of the Revolutionary War when American Minute Men and British troops skirmished at Lexington and Concord. The epic Battle of Bunker Hill followed on June 17, 1775.

Anyone who has attended Patriots Day activities in

Boston can attest to the patriotic emotions that are raised. The viewing of the somber bagpipeled procession as it snakes its way through the streets of Boston on route to pay proper tribute at the graves of Revolutionary War heroes with rifle salutes is indeed a moving experience. Patriots Day also includes reenactments at key Boston Revolutionary War landmark sites along its historic red line. The running of the Boston Marathon and the Red Sox home opener add to the celebratory mood.

Local Patriots and the American Revolution

We here in the Mohawk Valley have equally compelling reasons to recognize our ancestors’ critical contributions to the outcome of the American Revolution. Local Revolutionary War Patriots may have lacked the formal education and national stage that produced the oratorical eloquence of New England’s Samuel Adams and James Otis, or Pennsylvania’s Thomas Paine or Virginia’s Thomas Jefferson and Patrick Henry, but, heroes and Patriots they were, our heroes and Patriots. Certainly, we can safely liken the courage of the Palatine Committee of Safety in drafting its May 21, 1775 Declaration of Independence-like document at Snell’s Tavern in Stone Arabia to the July 4, 1776 decision by our national Founding Fathers in issuing our more famous Declaration of Independence. These were our local founding fathers, and they acted more than a year earlier than our national Founding Fathers!

After signing his name to the Declaration of Independence, Benjamin Franklin stated: “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall all hang separately.” The same fate would have awaited the Palatine Committee of Safety signers if America had not succeeded in gaining independence from England. They were all traitors alike in the eyes of English authorities. July 4th is one of America’s most treasured holidays. Additional parallels between local and national Revolutionary War era events and people can also be drawn upon for greater regional recognition.

Once the British military evacuated Boston in March,1776, and soon after began the occupation of New York City, the physical threat to New England colonists generally lessened. The physical safety of Mohawk Valley residents was threatened for a far greater length of time than other regions of Colonial America, except perhaps for New York City itself.

PATRIOTS From Page 8

went on almost as long as the Revolutionary War itself. Perhaps the most notorious of these actions were the Andrustown Massacre on July 18, 1778, the September 17, 1778 German Flatts Raid, the November 11, 1778 Cherry Valley Massacre, and the Remensnyder’s Bush Raid on April 3, 1780. Death and destruction were a constant presence in Patriot life.

Our ancestors lived on the western frontier of the Revolutionary War. The threat to local safety really did not lessen until the October 30, 1781 death of Walter Butler on the banks of the West Canada Creek. Some historians refer to this encounter as the last battle of the Revolutionary War. The June 1782 Tory and Indian raid that destroyed the Little Falls gristmill occurred some eight months after Lieutenant General George Cornwallis surrendered

British forces to George Washington at Yorktown. Indeed, death and destruction were pervasive in the Mohawk Valley for a long period during our quest for independence.

With assistance from the City Little Falls in 2021, the Historical Society installed a New York State historic marker near where this gristmill once stood.

No Local “Sunshine Patriots”

During this extended period, no Mohawk

Please See PATRIOTS Page 11

ASAP Auto now open on West Main St in Little Falls

By Dave Warner

A new business at 561 West Main St is open to take care of all your automotive needs. Andrew and Sam Perkins are the owners, and the brothers are both mechanics.

Andrew stated, “I’ve been a mechanic for eight years and Sam for five. We both went to Morrisville for automotive repair. I worked for Salisbury Motor Car for three, and so did he. I then went to Todd Cable/ First Light Construction and worked on all their trucks and equipment.”

Andrew also brought his brother there but got the bug to start his own business about a year ago. “We always wanted to run our own garage and talked about it. We picked out the name when we were really young. It’s Andrew Sam Alex Perkins (ASAP), and it fit,” he said. He said that they both then ended up in the automotive field and that they both love selling cars as well. “We’ve done this since we were fifteen

- buying and selling trucks.”

Trucks are really both of the brother’s things, but they handle cars as well. “We do it all.”

“The weight on my shoulders is a little heavier because I’m married and have two really young kids. He’s single with a girlfriend,” but we both work really hard.

They found the location because it was up for taxes, and their dad bought it with the intent to flip it.

“After a year and a half, we got to talking and decided that we’d keep it and open a garage,” Andrew stated.

The company can handle anything from tires, brakes, suspension work, electrical diagnostics, alignment, or air conditioning work. “We’ll do any engine work other than rebuilds. We won’t do that, but we’ll do a swap out. We also don’t rebuild transmissions. We’re staying away from rebuilding,” Andrew said.

“We’re not scared of anything. We’re doing detailing now. That seems to be a really big hit. It’s not something that we had expected to take off, but we’ve been pretty slammed with it.”

They have also gotten approval for a dealership, so they’ll be selling used vehicles.

In addition, they’ve added a tow truck and are waiting for it to be configured. When finished, they’ll have a 24x7 towing service.

Andrew said they’re also a Rough Country dealer, which is truck and Jeep lift accessory kits. “It’s running boards, tunnel covers, fender flares. We’re also a Wheels Pro Dealer, which also allows us to offer more lift kits. We have after-market tire setups and pretty much anything after-market for cars and trucks.”

If you want more information, you can find them on Facebook or call 315-508-5089.

Valley Patriot felt safe from Tory reprisal. The “Sunshine Patriot” that Thomas Paine condemned in his “The American Crisis,” read to George Washington’s beleaguered and deserting troops at Valley Forge, would seem an appropriate reference. There were few “Sunshine Patriots” remaining in the Mohawk Valley during this time. Incredible courage was exhibited by the individuals and families who took refuge at Fort Herkimer, Fort Dayton, and Fort Klock as the war dragged on.

Our ancestors were brutalized and killed for a longer period of time than any other Americans during the Revolution. Perhaps we need to better recognize and celebrate this courage and these contributions. How better to educate ourselves about our collective heritage and pass this appreciation along to our children than by paying respectful annual recognition to these frontier Patriots at a local historic site?

It does not require a great leap of imagination to compare Adam Helmer’s heroic 1778 run to warn the residents of German Flatts of the approach of 450 Tories and Indians with Paul Revere’s more famous midnight ride warning the residents of Lexington and Concord of the approach of British forces. Helmer saved dozens of Mohawk Valley residents from brutal deaths.

As we visit historic cemeteries at Fort Herkimer, General Herkimer Home, Yellow Church Road, Norway Rural Cemetery and elsewhere, the emotional grasp of history is powerful. We need to realize that as we stand before the graves of Nicholas Herkimer and Jacob Klock and before the family plots of Bellingers, Petries, and Snells that we are reaching for the legacies of our local founding fathers. Their names were not Washington, Jefferson, or Adams, but appreciation and celebration are certainly in order.

Our area already does a great job of promoting much of our local history. Each autumn Fort Herkimer holds its living history weekend and the General Nicholas Herkimer state historic site continues to be one of the finest Revolutionary War sites in the state. Additionally, the Herkimer County Historical Society does a fine job with its ongoing efforts in celebrating our Revolutionary War era heritage. This writing is suggesting more of a focused effort on the annual celebration of a New England-like Patriots Day.

Perhaps the Herkimer County legislature should more formally recognize a local Patriots Day? Local communities and schools could have greater reason for celebration and appreciation for the crucial role that our ancestors played in the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Boston in particular, and New England in general, does a wonderful job of promoting their regional significance in our nation’s founding. Saratoga also effectively promotes the critical Battle of Saratoga as part of its vacation destination appeal. Is it now time for us to rival these ranks by taking greater local pride in our own Revolutionary War legacy? Happy Patriots Day! Please join us at Yellow Church Cemetery at 11:00 AM on Saturday May 20.

The Case for a Local Patriots Day Observance was written by Little Falls Historical Society member Jeffrey Gressler and published on May 10, 2010. This article is an update of that earlier article.