The Copake News and Politics Forum

For over a year now, Copake has an emailed Internet forum on news and politics. Currently 200 of your neighbors subscribe to it. We all know that government functions best when citizens are informed and involved and the forum has made great strides to accomplish this. Think back to when Chief Assessor Harry Higgins was assigning outrageous assessments to some homeowners and carrying out illegal schemes on the job. A group of citizens got together and publicized what they knew about this. Ultimately Higgins was convicted on felony counts. Bob’s Copake Chronicle, which appears periodically, has been doing an excellent job as an online newspaper. For over a year now, Copake has an emailed Internet forum on news and politics. Currently 200 of your neighbors subscribe to it. We all know that government functions best when citizens are informed and involved and the forum has made great strides to accomplish this. Think back to when Chief Assessor Harry Higgins was assigning outrageous assessments to some homeowners and carrying out illegal schemes on the job. A group of citizens got together and publicized what they knew about this. Ultimately Higgins was convicted on felony counts. Bob’s Copake Chronicle, which appears periodically, has been doing an excellent job as an online newspaper. The Copake News and Politics forum which functions on an almost daily basis, supplements that by serving as a channel for late breaking information about important meetings in Town Hall etc. and giving voice on important issues to any resident who subscribes. To receive a maximum of one email daily with whatever postings that may have been sent by your neighbors that day, contact me at Khovard@Juno.com Just insert the words "subscribe digest" in the subject area of your message Howard Blue Moderator of the Copake News and Politics Forumwhich functions on an almost daily basis, supplements that by serving as a channel for late breaking information about important meetings in Town Hall etc. and giving voice on important issues to any resident who subscribes. To receive a maximum of one email daily with whatever postings that may have been sent by your neighbors that day, contact me at Khovard@Juno.com Just insert the words "subscribe digest" in the subject area of your message Howard Blue Moderator of the Copake News and Politics Forum

Henry Astor and the Swimming Hole

Bob: The NYT obit of Henry Astor is the first real indept account that I have ever had the pleasure of reading about "ol Henry Astor. As kids we were always in awe of the barns in West Copake, some of the Astor houses and the general appearance of West Copake itself. I believe the "Big House" was torn down before I was born.

My Grandmother, Mina Ackley was born in West Copake across from the Dutch Reform church where her family too attended services. I don't recall her ever talking about Henry Astor. Probably my grandmother's family thought little of Astor and his money, therefore, no conversation in public. Grammy was not known as a warm and talkative woman.

I'm of the mind that Sook or John Langdon may have some Astor information as it was their relative who married Astor. I know Sook talks about the Dineharts often. Melvina was a Dinehart and Sooks ancestor.

My family's farm, Empire Farm on Empire Rd was built by Henry Astor. He loved racing horses. He put in the first race track the farm had back at the end of the 19th century. One of the barns, now gone, burned in the Copake Fires , was dated 1898.

My sister Mary has an old photo of the farm as Astor would have known it. I have a postcard photo that is in Florida.

We used to swimming in the Roe Jan Kill down at Killian Waldorf's.. I don't know the name of that place now, but the post card Chris Quimby shows is a very similar view.

We swam in the Bash Bish that ran thru our farm...no large tree for a rope to swing from there...was one at Waldorf's...fun, fun, fun so long ago.

Judy