Happy Monday!
And you know you're getting old
By Darren Johnson
Journal & Press
Greenwich was buzzing on Saturday as two new businesses — Whistles, Bells & Bottoms, a clothing store, and CLUTCH, a general store — opened with Assemblywoman Carrie Woerner as MC. We took some photos and will report on these businesses more fully in the days ahead.
Congrats to these two new businesses. It seems like the Village of Greenwich is going in a positive direction in recent years.
In the Groove
Also, at the same time was a Record Fair, organized by Jason Planitzer, at the vacated 99 Main St. storefront that’s been multiple iterations of a coffeehouse. That event, too, was very well attended.
Look at all of these people! Maybe a record shop — slash — coffee house would work there. Planitzer may have cracked the code to make 99 Main a winner.
I’m sure you may have a few vinyls sitting around, or maybe you know someone who does. How do you know if they are worth anything?
Planitzer said: The more time you spend in used record stores, scouring the bins and flipping through thousands and thousands of records, the more you tend to absorb. Especially if you’re spending several hours a day several days a week doing so, you just naturally notice things and remember things. But most people aren’t doing that for several hours after work every day. Maybe they’ve got a few boxes down in the basement they haven’t touched in 30 years and one day they’re doing some spring cleaning and decide today is the day to pick the hobby back up. Or maybe you’ve got a bunch of records you took from your dad, and you’ve been building a collection from things you’ve found at shops and estate sales and thrift stores over the years : ) Many people might look on eBay to see what the records they have are selling for, and once they see a Simon & Garfunkel record listed for $300.00 they think they’re sitting on a goldmine. That’s generally not the case. eBay is particularly misleading, because you’re seeing what someone is asking for something, not necessarily what it’s worth. Odds are your James Taylor and Seals & Crofts and Joan Baez records aren’t going to fetch much. Now maybe you’ve got some less common things in that stack of LPs. Bands you’ve never heard of with some far out psychedelic album covers. Jazz records from the 1960’s on the Blue Note or Prestige or Riverside labels. Get to know Discogs, and if the records are in good condition, you can get a better idea of the median value. Condition is key, though, as is the exact edition. Is it an original or a reissue. It takes time and practice to recognize, but those are most important in determining the value of a record.
You can read the whole article here: https://cccnews.info/2024/05/31/record-fair-coming-to-upstate-greenwich-ny/
And Now for the Weather
We’ll get a couple of nice days and then cooler and rainy this week, so enjoy the outdoors now.
Just as an Aside
You know you’re getting old if you get these publications in your mailbox and kind of look forward to them. Nostalgia can be comforting, though the idea of time passing you by — and Bon Jovi being a senior citizen — is a good cure for nostalgia.
I try to add a various nostalgia elements to Journal & Press. People like to feel a place has a timeline, and that people existed before us, and that we’re continuing the story somehow. But it’s easy to treat nostalgia like a security blanket, and to never try anything new. Let’s not get too comfortable in knowing the work of our predecessors if it doesn’t mean we also aren’t forging a path — for our successors.
And now for the comics… ‘Filbert’ by LA Bonté
Final Thoughts
In our region, the Battenkill gets a lot of publicity. I live near where it forks with the Hudson River, which people are pretty ho-hum about here.
But it’s the HUDSON RIVER. One of the most famous rivers in the country, despite it not being nearly as big as, say, the Mississippi or Missouri rivers.
I can walk or bike across the river at any time and enter Saratoga County, thanks to the folks at Hudson Crossing Park, who dotted all the i’s and crossed all the t’s to get the Dix Bridge, which had become rickety and dangerous, refurbished over a decade ago. They are one of the most effective non-profits in our region.
Consider attending the HCP Banquet by the Bridge June 13. It’s a very nice event. Maybe I’ll see you there.
Details: www.HudsonCrossingPark.org/banquet-by-the-bridge.
Have a great week!