In 1792, Abraham Sherrill bought a farm at the foot of Fireplace Road in East Hampton, where it meets North Main Street, “to move out of town where it’s quiet,” according to one of his descendants, Jonathan Foster, who still lives there.
The house, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, was made over in 1858 in a late Greek Revival style, but elements dating from 1760 or earlier remain.
In 1910, A.E. Sherrill founded the Sherrill Dairy at the family farm, which once extended all along North Main Street’s east side from Cedar Street to what is now Floyd Street.
With some of the original farmland still intact — acreage that remains in the Sherrill family, as well as 16 adjacent acres that the town has preserved by buying the development rights — a committee advocating for the site’s public purchase using East Hampton Town’s community preservation fund sees it as the perfect place for a historical institute melding the agricultural past with modern-day farming and providing a place for students of history to soak in the past.
The group includes members of several of East Hampton’s founding families — Sherrills, Daytons, Fosters, and Talmages — along with historians and active farmers.
To generate interest in their idea, they have invited visitors to an open house on Friday, April 6, at 3 p.m. East Hampton Town Board members have specifically been invited in hopes that they will move to buy the site.
“The family, the house, the dairy . . . all the things that transpired on that property. I just can’t imagine not fighting for that house,” said Prudence Carabine, an East Hamptoner of Talmage lineage who has twice gone to the town board to ask that members consider preserving the house and land. “To me, it’s worth keeping intact,” Ms. Carabine said Tuesday.
A member also of a committee working to create a farm museum on the former Lester (and later Labrozzi) farm at the corner of North Main and Cedar Streets nearby, which the town bought with the preservation fund, Ms. Carabine said she pictures rooms on the upper floors of the Sherrill house occupied by visiting researchers and scholars and an active farming operation, perhaps incorporating the newest organic methods with traditional techniques, on the land out back.
A small house on a separate lot next to the one holding the historic house, which was built by the late Sherrill Foster, the great-great-great-granddaughter of the property’s original owner, would be donated to the town by her heirs, Mr. Foster and his sister, Mary Foster Morgan, and could be used by a “young farmer,” Ms. Carabine said, charged with caring for the historic house and gardens and helping organize community events, like pumpkin picking.
While the Lester site farm museum down the street will exemplify the living quarters and lifestyle of a typical farming family circa 1810, the Sherrill house could serve as an example of “a farmhouse of some prosperity” circa 1850, Ms. Carabine said. “People could actually come in the front door and feel they were in the 1850s, prior to the Civil War.”
Together, Ms. Carabine said, the two facilities could “make North Main Street a focal point,” portraying “the farmers and the fishermen who kept this place going.” It would provide “a sense of East Hampton’s early look and feel,” Mr. Foster wrote yesterday in an e-mail.
Maintaining an open vista, Mr. Foster wrote — the view across plains to the ocean that produced “that magical light which drew out the artists in the 19th century” — in an area where trees have grown up over the years, will help preserve “that sense of grandeur and closeness to our natural-historical world.”
Saturday, March 31, 2012
Field Logic founded on quality, promoted within
Walk the aisles of any Gander Mountain or Cabela’s store across America and you’re likely to come across archery targets and bow sights made by workers right here in Superior.
Field Logic’s founder and owner, Larry Pulkrabek, got the idea for the innovative target line while playing darts. He envisioned a type of block target from which archers could easily retrieve arrows time after time without destroying the target. And thus the Field Logic BLOCK target was born. Using layers of foam piled on top of each other instead of one solid piece of foam allows arrows to slide easily in and out without taking chunks of the target with it.
Originally dubbed Northern Whitetail, the company was renamed when it moved to Superior. In the 15 years it’s been in operation, the company has grown from a garage-sized business to one that currently dominates the global archery market. The original block target line has now expanded and includes nine different lines of archery products.
“The growth has been unbelievable,” said Wanda Grew-Jasken, director of human resources and technology at Field Logic. “When we first moved in here, we never thought we’d fill this building up and within less than two years we were already trying to rent space. We bought a big warehouse that’s 10 times the size of this building and now we’re filling that up. So it’s been amazing the growth.”
The creation of these products is handled by a small army of production workers, each with their own respective jobs. From casting molds of life-sized foam deer targets, to painting faces on targets, to packaging the final product before shipment, there is never a dull moment in the day of the Field Logic production crew.
“So many things I thought machines would do, but we actually do,” said Lynda Steinhilb, a production worker who has been with the company for four weeks.
Steinhilb joined the company’s Apple X-Press bow press production line after leaving a position working in the mall food court and says the decision was a good one. “Everyone here’s trying to help you out. They don’t want you to fail. They all want you to succeed.”
Grew-Jasken says people who have the right attitude and drive are quickly promoted up the Field Logic ranks. Recently, the company held a supervisory training with eight out of nine of the prospective supervisors coming from the existing employee pool.
This type of advancement is something quite familiar to Mike Baumann, division manager. He started as an entry-level production worker with the company seven years ago and, through a series of promotions, now oversees the company’s trademark BLOCK division, along with a motivated crew of employees.
“I like a challenge,” Baumann says of the ever-increasing product lines at Field Logic. “It’s not repetitive and we’re always trying to do better.”
With nine product lines including bow sights used by Olympians, quality is something high on the list of priorities for the production workers. Grew-Jasken cited a recent exchange between a division manager and his crew.
“When we found out a world champion had used our sights, he put on a video and told them that one of them had put that (sight) together for him and if one part was wrong, it could have meant the demise of his Olympic championship.”
As a supervisor, Baumann says he’s always looking for quality in the products that come from his division. “If I wouldn’t buy it, I wouldn’t make it,” he said.
Baumann says the entry-level production positions have some perks. The company schedules in three- or four-day on-off rotations, giving workers at least a three day weekend every scheduling period.
Field Logic’s founder and owner, Larry Pulkrabek, got the idea for the innovative target line while playing darts. He envisioned a type of block target from which archers could easily retrieve arrows time after time without destroying the target. And thus the Field Logic BLOCK target was born. Using layers of foam piled on top of each other instead of one solid piece of foam allows arrows to slide easily in and out without taking chunks of the target with it.
Originally dubbed Northern Whitetail, the company was renamed when it moved to Superior. In the 15 years it’s been in operation, the company has grown from a garage-sized business to one that currently dominates the global archery market. The original block target line has now expanded and includes nine different lines of archery products.
“The growth has been unbelievable,” said Wanda Grew-Jasken, director of human resources and technology at Field Logic. “When we first moved in here, we never thought we’d fill this building up and within less than two years we were already trying to rent space. We bought a big warehouse that’s 10 times the size of this building and now we’re filling that up. So it’s been amazing the growth.”
The creation of these products is handled by a small army of production workers, each with their own respective jobs. From casting molds of life-sized foam deer targets, to painting faces on targets, to packaging the final product before shipment, there is never a dull moment in the day of the Field Logic production crew.
“So many things I thought machines would do, but we actually do,” said Lynda Steinhilb, a production worker who has been with the company for four weeks.
Steinhilb joined the company’s Apple X-Press bow press production line after leaving a position working in the mall food court and says the decision was a good one. “Everyone here’s trying to help you out. They don’t want you to fail. They all want you to succeed.”
Grew-Jasken says people who have the right attitude and drive are quickly promoted up the Field Logic ranks. Recently, the company held a supervisory training with eight out of nine of the prospective supervisors coming from the existing employee pool.
This type of advancement is something quite familiar to Mike Baumann, division manager. He started as an entry-level production worker with the company seven years ago and, through a series of promotions, now oversees the company’s trademark BLOCK division, along with a motivated crew of employees.
“I like a challenge,” Baumann says of the ever-increasing product lines at Field Logic. “It’s not repetitive and we’re always trying to do better.”
With nine product lines including bow sights used by Olympians, quality is something high on the list of priorities for the production workers. Grew-Jasken cited a recent exchange between a division manager and his crew.
“When we found out a world champion had used our sights, he put on a video and told them that one of them had put that (sight) together for him and if one part was wrong, it could have meant the demise of his Olympic championship.”
As a supervisor, Baumann says he’s always looking for quality in the products that come from his division. “If I wouldn’t buy it, I wouldn’t make it,” he said.
Baumann says the entry-level production positions have some perks. The company schedules in three- or four-day on-off rotations, giving workers at least a three day weekend every scheduling period.
Friday, March 30, 2012
The public's art
Barry Conway was no cheerleader for the state's Percent for Art program when the New Hampshire Veterans Home began building its dementia wing several years ago.
"To be honest with you, I told everyone, 'Oh come on,' " said Conway, commandant at the Veterans Home, which is located in Tilton. "Money is always hard to get, and there are always cost overruns, and I thought: art?"
These days, Conway is moved to quote Winston Churchill when he talks about the artwork that was installed in the wing and the transformative effect he believes it's had on the residents, staff and the very soul of the facility. "Churchill said, 'We make our dwellings, and our dwellings make us,' " said Conway, who testified earlier this month in opposition to a bill that would eliminate the State Art Fund. "Well, that dwelling made us."
Established in 1979, the State Art Fund - also known as the Percent for Art Program - mandates that 0.05 percent of the cost of any new state building or major renovation be designated for commissioning or purchasing art for that facility. A bill that would repeal the fund has been working its way through House committees this month. Yesterday it reached the House floor, where representatives voted to send it to interim study.
That decision means the fund is safe for now, but it opens the door for re-evaluating the program, which has funded about 600 pieces of art in state buildings since its inception.
In the Veterans Home dementia wing, which was completed in 2004, the fund paid for a series of
paintings that depict some of the first sights soldiers would have seen coming home from World War II. "You see the scenes though different windows - a porthole, a train, a bus, a plane. And the last window is from the soldier's home," Conway said. "As soon as I saw it I thought, 'Wow, that's such a neat thing.' "
The paintings undoubtedly have an uplifting effect on residents, staff and visitors, Conway said. But much more than that, he credits them with ushering in a whole new way of life at the facility. Inspired at least in part by the new artwork, the recreation therapist and public affairs person started engaging residents in creating artwork and writing poetry of their own, Conway said. Shortly after that an art club was born, and a quarterly periodical established to show off residents' art and writing.
"Up until then, we didn't have a lot of artwork in the Veterans Home," Conway said. "Many of them didn't realize they had this in them. They grew up in the Depression and then went to war and then came home and worked in the mills . . . but what a difference it has made. They've become better and healthier people, and I really attribute it in large part to those original paintings."
Finding art that really speaks to the population that will view it is a major component of the Percent for Art Program, explained Van McLeod, commissioner of the state Department of Cultural Resources. Along with designating money for art, the program stipulates a careful selection process that involves the architect, builder, end user and members of the public, as well as representatives from the State Council on the Arts.
"We go through a very public, open process so that what is completed is something that fits in the building, works in the building and is going to be specifically geared to that building," McLeod said.
In many cases, the art has a real impact on the people who find themselves in state buildings, some of which can be high-tension environments such as courthouses and prisons, he said.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican, said he certainly doesn't want to do away with public art and its various benefits.
"In general, we've just been looking at dedicated funds because dedicated funds get much less scrutiny when it comes to budgeting than the general funds," McGuire said. "I just look at it as a place that we could be putting more thought into. . . . Certain kinds of buildings might need more art, and other kinds of buildings might need less art. Why not do it on a case-by-case basis?"
But opponents of the bill argue that the program's structure is crucial to the quality of public art. "I'm not one to spend money on useless things," said Ward D'Elia, whose architectural firm, Samyn-D'Elia, oversaw a series of major renovations recently completed at Hampton Beach State Park. "But (the Percent for Art program) is a very efficient use of tax dollars, and it's a very good process so that the artwork is really relevant and maximized for the particular public building."
"To be honest with you, I told everyone, 'Oh come on,' " said Conway, commandant at the Veterans Home, which is located in Tilton. "Money is always hard to get, and there are always cost overruns, and I thought: art?"
These days, Conway is moved to quote Winston Churchill when he talks about the artwork that was installed in the wing and the transformative effect he believes it's had on the residents, staff and the very soul of the facility. "Churchill said, 'We make our dwellings, and our dwellings make us,' " said Conway, who testified earlier this month in opposition to a bill that would eliminate the State Art Fund. "Well, that dwelling made us."
Established in 1979, the State Art Fund - also known as the Percent for Art Program - mandates that 0.05 percent of the cost of any new state building or major renovation be designated for commissioning or purchasing art for that facility. A bill that would repeal the fund has been working its way through House committees this month. Yesterday it reached the House floor, where representatives voted to send it to interim study.
That decision means the fund is safe for now, but it opens the door for re-evaluating the program, which has funded about 600 pieces of art in state buildings since its inception.
In the Veterans Home dementia wing, which was completed in 2004, the fund paid for a series of
paintings that depict some of the first sights soldiers would have seen coming home from World War II. "You see the scenes though different windows - a porthole, a train, a bus, a plane. And the last window is from the soldier's home," Conway said. "As soon as I saw it I thought, 'Wow, that's such a neat thing.' "
The paintings undoubtedly have an uplifting effect on residents, staff and visitors, Conway said. But much more than that, he credits them with ushering in a whole new way of life at the facility. Inspired at least in part by the new artwork, the recreation therapist and public affairs person started engaging residents in creating artwork and writing poetry of their own, Conway said. Shortly after that an art club was born, and a quarterly periodical established to show off residents' art and writing.
"Up until then, we didn't have a lot of artwork in the Veterans Home," Conway said. "Many of them didn't realize they had this in them. They grew up in the Depression and then went to war and then came home and worked in the mills . . . but what a difference it has made. They've become better and healthier people, and I really attribute it in large part to those original paintings."
Finding art that really speaks to the population that will view it is a major component of the Percent for Art Program, explained Van McLeod, commissioner of the state Department of Cultural Resources. Along with designating money for art, the program stipulates a careful selection process that involves the architect, builder, end user and members of the public, as well as representatives from the State Council on the Arts.
"We go through a very public, open process so that what is completed is something that fits in the building, works in the building and is going to be specifically geared to that building," McLeod said.
In many cases, the art has a real impact on the people who find themselves in state buildings, some of which can be high-tension environments such as courthouses and prisons, he said.
The bill's sponsor, Rep. Dan McGuire, an Epsom Republican, said he certainly doesn't want to do away with public art and its various benefits.
"In general, we've just been looking at dedicated funds because dedicated funds get much less scrutiny when it comes to budgeting than the general funds," McGuire said. "I just look at it as a place that we could be putting more thought into. . . . Certain kinds of buildings might need more art, and other kinds of buildings might need less art. Why not do it on a case-by-case basis?"
But opponents of the bill argue that the program's structure is crucial to the quality of public art. "I'm not one to spend money on useless things," said Ward D'Elia, whose architectural firm, Samyn-D'Elia, oversaw a series of major renovations recently completed at Hampton Beach State Park. "But (the Percent for Art program) is a very efficient use of tax dollars, and it's a very good process so that the artwork is really relevant and maximized for the particular public building."
Pollen count in Mountain Empire highest in quite some time
Chances are if you’ve walked outside recently, you have seen the thick yellow dust clinging to cars and other surfaces.
And you might be one of those suffering with sneezing, congestion or a runny nose as a result. That’s because these days the pollen count in the area is at some of the highest levels in quite some time, local health officials say. Local urgent clinics said they’ve definitely seen an influx of walk-in patients dealing with allergies and their symptoms.
“The pollen count recently has been in the high 600s and normally it’s in the 400s for this time of year,” said Sarah Belcher, a local family nurse practitioner with the Allergic Diseases Asthma and Immunology Clinic in Johnson City.
There are many factors as to why pollen levels are so high so early in the season and one of them is the warmer weather.
“We have been seeing very warmer temperatures, therefore giving us an earlier spring season. It’s almost as if the weather and pollen has gotten confused and as a result, this period of pollen may last longer that people actually want,” Belcher added.
And with the early spring come lots of blooming plants, trees and grass – all culprits when it comes to allergies.
According to Anthony Shelton, with the Washington County, Tenn., Extension Office, any type of budding tree or flower ultimately produces pollen and soon the grass will begin to produce pollen, which is sure to cause more problems.
“With the influx in temperatures and weather patterns, it seems like it’s never going to end,” said Lisa Rudy, an allergy suffer and Bristol resident.
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, trees, particularly birch, cedar, cottonwood and pine, are big allergy triggers for every area of the country. On top of that, ragweed is a big offender, as it can grow in nearly every environment.
“It almost makes you want to stay inside and away from everything, because not long after stepping outside you become overwhelmed with allergies, plus your cars become dirty as well,” Rudy said.
The American Allergy, Asthma and Immunology keep a daily track of pollen levels of grass, molds, weeds and trees. Pollen and mold counts are obtained from different pollen counting stations throughout the country.
Data is gathered using a Rotorod Aeroallergen Sampler, a portable sampler with an arm that holds two cubical rods coated with silicon grease, which attracts the pollen. Each state has a pollen counting station that shares the data with local agencies and those findings are then given to the National Allergy Bureau.
Some helpful tips that the Allergic Diseases Clinic recommends are to take over-the-counter medications or a nasal spray to alleviate symptoms. They also recommend keeping your windows rolled up while driving.
Belcher advised that anytime you’ve been outside; whether it’s for five minutes or five hours, always take a shower first thing when you come inside.
“This area is already seeing conditions that we would normally see in late April or early May, and there’s no telling what the next few weeks will bring,” Belcher stated.
And you might be one of those suffering with sneezing, congestion or a runny nose as a result. That’s because these days the pollen count in the area is at some of the highest levels in quite some time, local health officials say. Local urgent clinics said they’ve definitely seen an influx of walk-in patients dealing with allergies and their symptoms.
“The pollen count recently has been in the high 600s and normally it’s in the 400s for this time of year,” said Sarah Belcher, a local family nurse practitioner with the Allergic Diseases Asthma and Immunology Clinic in Johnson City.
There are many factors as to why pollen levels are so high so early in the season and one of them is the warmer weather.
“We have been seeing very warmer temperatures, therefore giving us an earlier spring season. It’s almost as if the weather and pollen has gotten confused and as a result, this period of pollen may last longer that people actually want,” Belcher added.
And with the early spring come lots of blooming plants, trees and grass – all culprits when it comes to allergies.
According to Anthony Shelton, with the Washington County, Tenn., Extension Office, any type of budding tree or flower ultimately produces pollen and soon the grass will begin to produce pollen, which is sure to cause more problems.
“With the influx in temperatures and weather patterns, it seems like it’s never going to end,” said Lisa Rudy, an allergy suffer and Bristol resident.
According to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, trees, particularly birch, cedar, cottonwood and pine, are big allergy triggers for every area of the country. On top of that, ragweed is a big offender, as it can grow in nearly every environment.
“It almost makes you want to stay inside and away from everything, because not long after stepping outside you become overwhelmed with allergies, plus your cars become dirty as well,” Rudy said.
The American Allergy, Asthma and Immunology keep a daily track of pollen levels of grass, molds, weeds and trees. Pollen and mold counts are obtained from different pollen counting stations throughout the country.
Data is gathered using a Rotorod Aeroallergen Sampler, a portable sampler with an arm that holds two cubical rods coated with silicon grease, which attracts the pollen. Each state has a pollen counting station that shares the data with local agencies and those findings are then given to the National Allergy Bureau.
Some helpful tips that the Allergic Diseases Clinic recommends are to take over-the-counter medications or a nasal spray to alleviate symptoms. They also recommend keeping your windows rolled up while driving.
Belcher advised that anytime you’ve been outside; whether it’s for five minutes or five hours, always take a shower first thing when you come inside.
“This area is already seeing conditions that we would normally see in late April or early May, and there’s no telling what the next few weeks will bring,” Belcher stated.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)