APA chicken BBQ, Aug. 24

In Events, Events - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

August 5, 2023

ALCOVE — The Alcove Preservation Association is sponsoring its annual Take-Out Chicken BBQ on Thursday, Aug. 24, from 4 p.m. until sold out at the Ravena Grange on state Route 143.

For customers’ convenience, this is a drive-thru delivery.

The BBQ includes 1/2 chicken, baked potato, corn on the cob, coleslaw, dinner roll, and dessert. Donation: $15. Event is catered by Frese’s.

Reservations are strongly encouraged: Early reservations, before Aug. 24, can be made by calling Tom Sweeney at 518-756-8666. Call the Ravena Grange at 518-756-9885, the day of the BBQ, starting at 2 p.m.

The BBQ benefits and supports local community organizations and historic endeavors.

Positively Speaking: Consistency

In Health & Wellness, Health & Wellness - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

October 12, 2023

By Toby Moore

For Capital Region Independent Media

Toby Moore

When you ask schoolchildren what they aspire to be when they grow up, their minds dart to specific professions.

One might dream of being a police officer, while another envisions standing at the head of a classroom as a teacher. Some might look to the skies and wish to become pilots, while others see themselves as successful businesspeople.

It’s a natural inclination to visualize a career path at that age. Yet, imagine the surprise if, instead of a job title, one child earnestly declared, “When I grow up, I want to be consistent!”

Habits wield significant influence over our lives. From a young age, sports and physical activity were my passion, from being on the swim team to chasing balls on the soccer field to mastering forms in karate. My love for exercise saw me through triathlons and marathons well into my post-collegiate years.

Even today, if I don’t exercise, it makes me feel off. I at least need to go for a long walk.

My consistency in exercise inadvertently gave birth to a misconception about nutrition. While my dedication to physical activity was commendable and built positive reinforcement loops, my dietary habits developed in the opposite direction, negating the positive effects of my workouts.

Years of reinforcing this belief built a narrative that exercise could compensate for any dietary choices. I theorized that the hours spent in the gym granted me a free pass in the kitchen. “I’ve earned this,” I’d tell myself, making post-workout detours to get a bucket of ice cream.

It began to catch up with me. As the saying goes, “You can’t outrun the fork!”

Consistency is a curious force. Whether applied positively or negatively, its effects compound, slowly solidifying our beliefs, habits and, ultimately, our identities.

I love to encourage people to follow their dreams and live the life they’ve always dreamed of living. If you follow your dreams and stay consistent, you will accomplish them.

John Maxwell, a renowned leadership expert, underscores the profound influence of consistency through an anecdote about his father. His father once said, “John, the beauty of aging is that I find myself loving people more and more!” John candidly responded, “Dad, that’s not necessarily true. There are many who, with age, grow more cynical and distant from others.”

His father’s increasing love for people wasn’t merely a byproduct of age; it was a culmination of a lifetime habit. From his youth, his father deliberately chose to love and connect with people. And like a muscle trained over the years, this habit of love only grew more robust and more pronounced.

In professional pursuits, it’s not uncommon to find ourselves so fixated on our goals that we sometimes forget the importance of supporting and uplifting others by helping them get what they want out of life.

Writer and motivational speaker Zig Ziglar was fond of saying, “You can have everything in life you want if you will just help other people get what they want.”

Similarly, as I allowed unhealthy eating habits despite my fitness dedication, professionals can sometimes become so engrossed in their goals that they overlook aiding others, sometimes overshadowing their overall success.

Ziglar emphasized a broader view of success, suggesting that some dreams might go unrealized if you aren’t helping others accomplish their goals. As Ziglar hinted, true success isn’t just about achieving our goals, it’s about extending a hand and lifting others as we climb.

Rarely will someone reach their goals without the help of others, and just as you need the help of others to accomplish your vision, they need your help to accomplish theirs.

In the realm of professional growth, consistency is critical. However, the fusion of consistent effort and consistency in helping others crafts a legacy.

Work hard, stay consistent and remain focused; you’ll pave the way to your aspirations. Incorporate the consistency of aiding others in achieving their desires, and you’ll elevate your journey and leave a trail of shared successes and mutual triumphs.

After all, a journey shared with others, where we not only chase our dreams but also facilitate the dreams of those around us, is the most rewarding pursuit of all.

Toby Moore is a columnist, the star of Emmy-nominated “A Separate Peace,” and the CEO of Cubestream Inc.

GOOD NEWS!: Grange honors family’s half-century of service to veterans

In News, News - Ravena, The Ravena News Herald

October 23, 2023

By Melanie Lekocevic

Capital Region Independent Media

The Bethlehem Grange, working through the New York State Grange, presented the Community Citizen Award to Tom and Patty Wilsey for their work housing veterans in need. Pictured, left to right, are LeeAnn Cross, the Wilseys’ niece who volunteers at the boarding house; Tom Wilsey; Bethlehem Grange Master Vernon Cross; Patty Wilsey; and Bethlehem Grange President Carol Carpenter. Melanie Lekocevic/For Capital Region Independent Media

SELKIRK — When a veteran returns from service and struggles to reintegrate into the community, perhaps enduring years of difficulties, where can they go?

Locally, there is a resource for older veterans who have nowhere else to go — Doc’s Creekside on River Road in Selkirk.

A boarding house that specializes in housing mostly elderly veterans struggling with issues ranging from post-traumatic stress disorder to mental health and substance abuse, Doc’s Creekside has been run by three generations of the same family for the past 53 years.

The boarding house first got its start by Tom Wilsey’s grandmother more than a half-century ago, housing young girls who were going blind. When the area blind school moved away, the home transitioned to house struggling veterans.

For the past 20 years, Doc’s Creekside has been run by Tom and Patty Wilsey, continuing the tradition Tom’s grandmother started so many years ago.

The couple was honored for their many years of working with veterans in need by the Bethlehem Grange, which awarded the Wilseys with the Community Citizen Award from the statewide Grange.

“We are the third-generation boarding veterans,” Patty Wilsey said. “Veterans usually come to us from a social worker at the VA. They are not able to live on their own anymore, but they are not at the point where they have to go to assisted living. So we are the in-between.”

Most of the veterans living at Doc’s Creekside are in their 70s and struggle with issues like post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, or mental health issues like schizophrenia, Wilsey said.

Doc’s Creekside is not funded by the state, and the residents of the boarding house self-pay their fees, which include three meals a day, a private bedroom and bathroom. There is also a community room with TVs and games, where the veterans can gather and socialize.

In addition to housing and feeding the veterans, the Wilseys make sure they get to their medical appointments at the VA in Albany and bring them to Walmart once a week. A social worker visits the facility to make sure they are taking their medications, and most have fiduciaries who handle their personal finances.

Doc’s Creekside has rooms to house 12 veterans, and currently has 11 living onsite. For many, issues such as mental health and substance abuse have made it difficult for them to live independently.

“These people have nowhere else to go,” Tom Wilsey said. “They would otherwise be at the mission or out on the street. They would be homeless if not for our boarding house.”

LeeAnn Cross, Patty and Tom’s niece, has been helping out at the boarding house her entire life, and recalls many years of visiting with the veterans, helping out, and sometimes just saying hi.

“I love the guys and they love me,” Cross said. “I go up and talk and visit with them. They like it that they are noticed. A lot of them don’t have families, so they like when I visit with them. It’s wonderful seeing the smiles on their faces.”

Jackie Schrom from the Bethlehem Grange said she recently got to know the Wilseys and their work with veterans, and felt they were deserving of recognition.

“We are honoring them for their service to the veterans, for so many years of devoted time, energy and love,” Schrom said. “I was introduced to Patty not too long ago and I was overwhelmed with what they do. We brought this to the board and decided they were deserving of a community service award.”

The Bethlehem Grange petitioned the statewide Grange to select the Wilseys for the Community Citizen Award and held an award ceremony Oct. 4.

“One of the most important things the Grange can do is honor worthy people in the community for the contributions that they make,” said state Grange secretary Ryan Orton. “Without them, our communities would be very lacking in many respects.”

“This is certainly a deserved award,” Orton said.