September 18, 2025

Fall activities are in full swing in our community, with apple and pumpkin picking at local orchards and farms, and festivals and special events in local libraries and parks. Weather-dependent projects, like paving town roads, are heading toward completion and will likely continue into November. More details are below.

Town News & Announcements

The Town’s Fall Newsletter will arrive in your mailboxes in the next two weeks. It will include Highway Department’s calendar with dates for vacuuming leaf piles. Please remember to rake to the edge of your lawn, and not on the paved surface. (And to state the obvious, don’t place leaf piles over storm drains and don’t block the vacuuming truck with your parked car.) The newsletter details what’s happening or planned for, including park enhancements, sidewalks, and other significant public improvements.

The Parks & Rec Dept. has launched the 2026 Hometown Heroes Banner Program, which recognizes active duty and veteran service members, both living and deceased, for their bravery, courage, and sacrifice. Each banner honors a current or former Guilderland serviceperson by name, branch of service, and photo. The banners will be displayed at Tawasentha Park at a special event held at GPAC. In late fall, the banners are made available to sponsors. Banners may be sponsored by individuals, families, businesses or organizations at a cost of $150 per banner. The deadline for applications is March 27, 2026. If you have any questions regarding memberships, please call the Parks & Rec Office at (518) 456-3150.

The Parks & Rec Dept. has fall programming offerings, including Youth Cross- Country for grades 3 to 8 on Mondays and Thursdays through October 27 from 5:30pm to 6:45pm at the Tawasentha Park’s upper field by the pool house, and Track and Field Fall Flight Camp for grades 7 to 12 on Sundays through November 9 from 10am to Noon at Guilderland High School’s track.

On Saturday, October 18 from 8am to 2pm, Household Hazardous Waste Day will take place in the Highway garage located at 6338 French’s Mill Road in Guilderland Center. Because the Town’s pays part of the cost, the event is open to Town residents only. No pre-registration is required. Please have the current Parks/Transfer Station vehicle sticker or proof of Town residency (tax bill, driver’s license). Please carefully review the lists of acceptable and non-acceptable items. Do not arrive before 8am, and when you reach the drop-off location

Drug Take Back Day

On Saturday, October 25 from 10am to 2pm, Drug Take Back Day will be held at the auxiliary parking lot at the Guilderland Public Library. This nationwide event is an opportunity for the confidential, safe, and responsible disposal of unused or expired prescription medications. Please note that needles are not included.

Please remember that, in all Town parks and open spaces, dogs must be on a leash at all times. Your dog may be very friendly, but other hikers and park patrons do not know that and the presence of an unleashed dog can be disconcerting. The exceptions to this rule are the Town’s two dog parks at Nott Road Park and behind EMS Station 1 in Westmere. When the Western Turnpike Golf Course closes for the golf season, the cart paths are open for walking.

The Senior Services Department’s September newsletter has information about classes and seminars, trips, medical and shopping transportation, legal aide, monthly meal calendar, games, and much more. On Wednesdays from 11am to 12:30pm, the Guilderland Public Library is the home for Seniors Connect!, where seniors can have a friendly chat on a wide-range of interesting topics. On Wednesday, October 16, Seniors Connect! will celebrate its one-year anniversary.

The Town is accepting letters of interest and resumes from candidates interested in applying for the fulltime position of Deputy Receiver of Taxes. It is one of a handful of positions where Town residency is required. The Town also has openings for Police Officer, Telecommunicator/911 Dispatcher, and Laborer positions in the Highway, Parks and Water Departments.

Upcoming Meetings at Town Hall

The following is a list of dates and times for currently scheduled meetings of boards and committees at Town Hall over the next 30 days. Please check the Town’s calendars for the latest news about public meetings and community events, possible changes in agendas and cancellations, and the latest contents of agenda packets. Unless stated otherwise, each of the listed meetings start at 7pm, and are livestreamed on the Town website, and broadcasted on Verizon channel 34, and Spectrum channel 1303. Within days of a broadcasted meeting, an indexed recording, with links to each listed agenda item, is also posted online.

Industrial Development Agency

Tuesday, September 30 (CANCELLED)

Town Board

Tuesday, October 7

Planning Board

Wednesday, October 8

Traffic Safety Committee

Tuesday, October 14

American Revolution 250^th Anniversary Committee

Wednesday, October 14 at 3pm (neither taped nor televised)

Zoning Board of Appeals

Wednesday, October 15

Conservation Advisory Council

Monday, October 20

Welcoming Week

Community Events & Resources

The Guilderland YMCA is hosting a Welcoming Week through this Sunday, September 21, with free events each day and a waiver of the joining fee. The events range from family fun night to “Yacht Rock” cycling classes, and a chance to meet neighbors.

September 27, 2025

On next Saturday, September 27 from Noon to 3pm at Orsini Park, Historic Altamont is hosting a ribbon cutting celebration for a new Altamont Community Kiosk for the new “End-to-End” point of the Long Path, a 350+ mile hiking trail stretching from Manhattan and now ending in Altamont. It will promote outdoor activities, and bring new visitors to local businesses. There will be block party event, with a tent, live music, ice cream, food and family activities.

On Saturday, September 27 from 10:30am to 5:30pm, the University at Albany and the NYS Writers Institute are hosting the eighth Annual Albany Book Festival. The festival involves a wide-ranging list of local and regional authors, book signings, publishers, and literary organizations.

The Guilderland Public Library’s upcoming fall calendar includes, on Saturday, September 27 from 9:30am to 2:30pm, a Fall Craft Fair, with talented artists and booths filled with handcrafted creations from cozy textiles to pumpkin-spiced-inspired décor. The event takes place inside in the Helderberg Meeting room.

The Altamont Free Library has a new Long-Range Plan of Service that will be shaped, in part, on a brief and anonymous survey on how you use the Library and how it can better serve you better in the future.

On Wednesday, October 15 from 6pm to 8pm, the Westmere Fire Department is hosting a free community seminar entitled "Seasonal Affective Disorder, What it Is and Ways To Emotionally Manage the Long Northeast Winter!". This timely seminar will be presented by Joe Germano, LCSWR, Executive/Clinical Director of Karner Psychological Associates. No pre-registration is required.

On this Saturday, September 20 from 10am to 4pm, DEC’s Regional 4 office is offering its Annual Five Rivers Fall Festival at 56 Game Farm Road in Delmar. This free event includes interactive exhibits, live reptiles (from 11am to 2pm), nature crafts and games for children, live music, Smokey Bear and Ollie the Otter character appearances, penny social raffles, food vendors and more. This event will take place rain or shine.

Lunchtime Chats

Community Caregivers’ upcoming weekly Lunchtime Chats includes Behind the Magic of the Muppets on Wednesday, September 24. You can join and listen in on these one-hour chats by calling (518) 992-6661. Community Caregivers is looking for volunteer drivers who can transport seniors for medical and other essential trips, and help keep our neighbors in their homes. If you are interested or have questions, please contact Community Caregivers at info@communitycaregivers.org or by calling (518) 456-2898.

The Albany Pine Bush Preserve’s fall calendar includes welcoming Smokey Bear on Saturday, October 4, from 10am to 2pm, who will be visiting the Pine Bush Discovery Center to teach visitors about prescribed fire and wildfire prevention. There will be games, interactive exhibits, fire trucks and equipment to see, and Smokey Bear goody bags for visitors to take home. The Preserve is also offering times for Drop-in Bird Banding Observation on Tuesday, September 23 from 7am to Noon; Saturday, October 11 from 7am to Noon; and Tuesday, October 21 from 7am to Noon. You can see wild birds up close and personal as Preserve scientists carefully fit them with uniquely coded leg-bands, before releasing them back to the wild. The bands are provided by the US Geological Society Bird Banding Lab to licensed banders so scientists can identify individuals, and also study how long birds live, where they breed, and when and where they migrate.

The Preserve is also offering Pine Bush Perspectives 2025, an opportunity to submit your photographs of what makes the Preserve unique. The submitted photographs will considered by judges, with selected photographs featured in a final exhibit and reception on December 5. The deadline for submissions is October 1.

On October 20 from 5pm to 7pm at the Chalet Pavilion in Tawasentha Park, Assemblymember Gabriella Romero is hosting a Fall Frolic, an opportunity to meet and engage with local representatives in a relaxed, community-oriented setting. There will be refreshments and lawn games.

Thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter.

Peter G. Barber

Town Supervisor