Maplewood Manor recently had their annual flower show, presented by the Horticulture Therapy Group of Saratoga County Master Gardeners. With the assistance of the Maplewood Manor staff, 118 residents and their family and friends toured the vast array of flowers on display. As well as enjoying the scents and colors, several residents won door prizes of potted plants. *A special thanks to Dyer's Greenhouse, Sunnyside Gardens, Brookside Nursery, and The Gardeners at Lowes Drive for loaning the beautiful flowers for the day.

Flowers are for all occassions. When someone is sick, when we are feeling celebratory, want to congratulate someone, tell them we love and appreciate them, we have flowers in hand. A 2005 Rutgers University study put the scientific specifics behind the effect flowers have on us. The study found that humans have evolved to activate positive emotional feelings with flowers, similar to the way that other plants simulate the behavior of certain animals in performing pollination. Flowers were found to improve memory and social interaction, especially among the elderly, and people of all ages who were presented with flowers produced a genuine smile and happiness. In other words, flowers make us happy. But you already knew that...(right, dutiful boyfriends out there?) Read more about the study here. Stop and smell the roses, for your mental health's sake.



Greenfield Elementary third graders enjoyed their end of the year school picnic on June 13. It was a beautiful day for the festivities.

Every picnic should include a trip to Ben & Jerry's and upon returning to the park with treats in hand, one third grader made the mistake of leaving his ice cream cone at the foot of a tree. A bold squirrel made his way to the bottom of the tree, snatched the cone and made his way back up to revel in his ice cream delight. Hopefully that didn't spoil the third grader's day...

This reminds me of children book author Laura Numeroff's series-- "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie," "If You Give a Pig a Pancake,"..."a Moose a Muffin..."

If you give a squirrel [an opportunity to have some ice cream] chances are [he's going to take it]...


All of you ice cream, Congress Park-goers have been forewarned...

Photo provided by Regina Montana, mother of a third grade teacher

 by Heather Mabee, Vice Regent of the Saratoga DAR Chapter 

On a sunny, Sunday, July 1 afternoon, Daughters of the Revolution (DAR) from three states came together in the Ireland Street Cemetery in Chesterfield, MA to honor John Halbert. The Revolutionary War patriot and Chesterfield native served as a sergeant in Capt. Robert Webster's Company of Minutemen, and as a lieutenant in Capt. Bonney's Company, Dickerson's Regiment, during the American Revolution.

Halbert's grave had gone unknown and unmarked until late last year when his fourth great-grandson Douglass Mather Mabee of Saratoga Springs, NY with his wife Heather, member of the Saratoga Chapter, visited Chesterfield looking for his ancestors' resting place.

The First Resistance Chapter of Pittsfield, MA; Mary Mattoon Chapter of Amherst, MA; Betty Allen Chapter of Northhampton, MA; and Battle of Shallow Ford Chapter of Winston-Salem, NC joined the Saratoga Chapter to pay tribute to the Mabee's revolutionary ancestor. 

"We came up here about seven years ago looking for the cemetery where John Halbert was buried. We found his parents and his wife, but there was no marker for him," said Mabee.

Halbert's parents, Thomas and Margaret were buried in the 1700s, and were blackened with such an age. "We very carefully scrubbed the monuments with snow and hairbrush and tried to straighten them out a bit," Mabee continued. 

It was then that Mabee decided to get a headstone made for his ancestor. Working with Cemetery Superintendent Bill Jolly and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Mabee had a gravestone made and installed at the Ireland Street Cemetery last summer. "We are pretty certain he is buried in this cemetery, but this may not be the exact site." 

Mabee is president of the Vermont Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, Deputy Governor of the Vermont Society of Colonial Wars and a member of the New York Sons of the American Revolution Saratoga Battlefield Chapter. 

Spending a year in preparation with the local town persons, the show of colonial representation included members of the 2nd Continental Artillery from Fort Edward New York; the Massachusetts Sons of the American Revolution Continental Color Guard; guest fife player Yonna Osborne of the Sudbury Ancient Fyfe and Drum Companie; and Mabee and Chesterfield town historian Dee Cinner gave a brief history of Halbert's life at the grave site. A bell was rung 13 times to represent the 13 colonies, musket fire belched smoke into the air and a field cannon thundered its presence throughout the cemetery.