Stamford, New York Roundup
Last minute developments side-lined many of the plans for the FFLA's Eastern summer session. Originally planned as a working meeting with the object being the Mount Utsayantha Fire Tower, problems with liability and easements scuttled the plans. The village of Stamford would have liked to have taken over the fire tower and adjacent badly vandalized cabin, but they also needed to acquire the easement that the state has to the tower so that they would have the land under it. It turned out that the acquirement of the easement by the town from the state could not happen in time before the conference and as a result, no work could be done on the fire tower.

The meeting went on, regardless. Twelve people were in attendance at the Friday evening session. As far as business discussed at the meeting, there was little of that as Chairman Argow was not able to attend. The 501c3 issue was touched on briefly with nothing new to add. No other projects were discussed and the bulk of the evening was spent deciding on what Saturday's tower touring would be. A query about if anyone had an inkling where the January Conference was to be got only vague ideas about the possibility of a Memphis, Tennessee location, but that is still speculative. The Summer 2001 meeting, date as yet to be named will take place in Connecticut at Mr. Lance Perry's private lookout tower. Again, the Vermont and Massachusetts contingents are doing the planning. We adjourned around 9:15 p.m.

The weather was not the best for the weekend, with lots of rain. On Saturday, however, it did hold off for the group to make a road trip that was the highlight of the entire weekend. After the usual late start, the group got on the road to Delaware County. The first stop was a visit to Page Pond Hill Tower in Deposit, NY about thirty miles west of Stamford, on the Ahamani Girl Scout Reservation. Ed Engleman, NY-FFLA, is the Ranger there. Page Pond Hill tower is an 80-foot International Stacy or International Derrick, (no name plate) and is in good condition, built in 1935-36 by the CCC's. The cabin is well maintained by Ed and he is going to be seeking some kind of grant funding from the State for a New York State Historical listing in the future. Of course, as in most cases if the one person who cares for the tower ever leaves, it is doubtful it will be taken care of. But it was a pleasure for many members of the group to re-visit the site and see Ed once more after many years.

The next foray was to the Twadell Point Fire Tower in East Branch. This 50-foot tower was a State lookout, last operated in 1979 and has been on private property ever since. It is cared for by the property owner who was very gracious to allow us to hike up the 2-1/2 miles through thick mountainous woods to the tower. Surprisingly, the structure is in relatively good shape. All the windows are intact, with broken ones repaired by the landowner. The wood is weathered but in climbable condition. The cabin is small, and locked but standing, as is an outhouse and some fireplaces. It is one of the oldest sites in NY State. It's history goes back to early 1910-1920 era; Marty's book has the right info. It was a great hike; as a bonus, Marty took the group down to Mr. Howard Bojo's home at East Branch to visit. Howard operated Twadell Point for seventeen years, walking back and forth from his house to the tower every day. For a short time, he and his wife lived at the tower site till the spring went dry. Howard "Bony" Bojo will celebrate his 99th birthday in January 2001! Photos were taken and Howard enjoyed meeting so many other present lookout operators. It was a real treat for all of the group; what a guy! All could only hope to be still around to be 99 like Howard.!!!

Lot of miles had been covered, so it was too late for other tower visits Saturday. Saturday evening's dinner west of Stamford on route 23 capped the day.

Sunday saw rain again; Ray Grimes and Bob Spear drove to the top of Mount Utsayantha and took photos of the tower in the rain clouds. After seeing folks off in Stamford, they headed back to New Jersey in rain showers. Other folks were planning to go on to Leonard Hill , Berry Hill and Rock Rift towers.

Marty Podskoch's book, FIRE TOWERS OF THE CATSKILLS, THEIR HISTORY & LORE, is on sale for $20.00 + $3.00 shipping. Order direct from Marty at podskoch@dmcom.net. It's a great depiction of the history of all the fire towers in the Catskill Preserve and the Shawangunk range. Marty hopes to begin work on a book about Fire Towers of the Adirondacks next.

That's it in a nutshell folks, on to new adventures...!!

Bob Spear