Hey All,
Well I figured I should write a blog-since I haven't written one since I joined. Most of you have been asking me question where I live in relationship to NYC and what the history of the Hamlet of Alplaus is so I thought I'd fill y'all in.

First I live in a little Hamlet called Alplaus, which is originated from the Dutch word "Al-Plats" which means place of EELS-because where the Alplaus creek meets the Mohawk River there are tons-well not as many as the 1700's, but there are still plenty of eels that we catch when we fish. A little history for those who may not know-Alplaus is about 5 miles North-West of the City of Schenectady which is most known for Thomas Edison-who started the General Electric (GE) Cooperation here in Schenectady and actually built the first functional Electric power plant and of course invented the Light-Bulb. But what you may not know is that Schenectady was the site of a gruesome massacre during the French & Indian war back in 1690-known as the Schenectady massacre. On the eve of the Massacre a ban of Mohawk Indians & members of the French military camped along the Alplaus Creek and would go on to launch the attack from here. Another little known fact is that Kurt Vonnegut, known for his Best selling books like, Slaughter House Five, Welcome to the Monkey House, and God Bless you Dr. Kevorkian, not only lived in Alplaus, but was a Volunteer Fire-Fighter. Later this month I will put up a picture of one of the last paintings that he did just before his death, and which he donated to our Fire Department two years ago. As far as location of Alplaus-it is in Up-State NY-->not western NY like Utica, Buffalo, or Syracuse; but as in Albany, Saratoga, Troy & Schenectady. We are 20 miles North-west of Albany which is the capital.