The Peru Gazette

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Shepherd’s Pie 
Fruit Cup 
Bread 
Dessert

Served take-out only, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m., at St. Augustine’s Parish Center, 3030 Main St. , Peru, NY 

All are WELCOME at our table! 

Photo – L-R Greg Badger, Phil Mason Jr., Ann Mason, Douglas Mason, Melvin Irwin.

Albert Mason right and his six sons

By John T Ryan

Peru – July 8, 2023 – It must have been a memorable morning for Phillip, Ann, and Douglas Mason as they watched a painting that recalls their family’s place in Peru’s history being put in place at Heyworth/Mason Park. The three are great-grandchildren of Albert Mason, founder of A. Mason Lumber Company. They watched as artist Greg Badger and Town Councilman Melvin Irwin put the painting in place on the Heyworth/Mason Building. It reproduces an image that once hung in Phillip Mason’s office, the father of Phillip Jr. and Ann, who were present today. In 2016, the Masons donated the original to the Town of Peru. Today it resides in the town hall’s main room. 

A nearby historic marker recalls when A. Mason Lumber Company was Peru’s leading employer. Operating from 1883 to 1972, in its heyday, it employed about eighty-five people during the summer and up to two hundred men and fifty teams of horses in the winter. Many recall the logs floating in the Little AuSable River behind today’s Gazebo before the river transported them to the mill.

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To learn more about the Heyworth/Mason painting project, click his link

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MVP Arena to Host the First Large Convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses Since 2019 

Jehovah’s Witness News Release Edited for brevity.

Albany, New York – After a three-year pandemic pause, one of the world’s largest convention organizations has again chosen Albany to host its global three-day event, the 2023 “Exercise Patience”! Convention. In 2020, the pandemic interrupted that tradition in Albany when the Witnesses canceled their in-person events worldwide and held their convention programs as virtual events in more than 500 languages.

The two congregations of Jehovah’s Witnesses that meet at the recently built Kingdom Hall in Peru, NY, with their more than 140 congregants, are happy to be back at the Albany MVP Arena. For the last several weeks, they have been eagerly anticipating the convention and extending a personal invitation to their neighbors to accompany them for this special three-day event that is both free and open to the public. 

From Friday through Sunday, six convention sessions will explore the quality of patience, highlighting its modern-day relevance through Scriptural examples. A live baptism will be performed following the Saturday morning session and a prerecorded drama will be featured in two parts during the Saturday and Sunday afternoon sessions. 

“Patience is a rare quality, yet needed now more than ever,” said Dobbs. “With so many challenges facing people on all fronts, patience can prove to be lifesaving. To have a three-day program that explores this vital quality and shows us how to better implement it in our lives is very timely.”

The convention is open to the public and no collection is taken. For more information on the program or other convention locations and dates, please go to jw.org and navigate to the “About Us” tab. 

National Weather Service Burlington VT
852 AM EDT Fri Jul 7 2023

Eastern Clinton-Southern Franklin-Western Clinton-Western Essex-
Eastern Essex-Grand Isle-Western Franklin-Orleans-Essex-Western
Chittenden-Lamoille-Caledonia-Washington-Western Addison-Orange-
Eastern Franklin-Eastern Chittenden-Eastern Addison-
Including the cities of Champlain, Plattsburgh, Saranac Lake,
Tupper Lake, Dannemora, Ellenburg, Lake Placid, Newcomb, Port
Henry, Ticonderoga, Alburgh, South Hero, St. Albans, Swanton,
Derby, Newport, Island Pond, Lunenburg, Burlington, Shelburne,
Johnson, Stowe, Hardwick, St. Johnsbury, Montpelier, Waitsfield,
Middlebury, Vergennes, Bradford, Randolph, Enosburg Falls,
Richford, Richmond, Underhill, Bristol, and Ripton

…FLOOD WATCH IN EFFECT FROM NOON EDT TODAY THROUGH THIS EVENING…

* WHAT…Flash flooding caused by excessive rainfall is possible.

* WHERE…Portions of northern New York, including the following
counties, Eastern Clinton, Eastern Essex, Southern Franklin,
Western Clinton and Western Essex. Portions of Vermont, including
the following counties, Caledonia, Eastern Addison, Eastern
Chittenden, Eastern Franklin, Essex, Grand Isle, Lamoille, Orange,
Orleans, Washington, Western Addison, Western Chittenden and
Western Franklin.

* WHEN…From Noon EDT today through 10 PM this evening.

* IMPACTS…Excessive runoff may result in flash flooding of creeks,
streams, and other low-lying and flood-prone locations. Flooding
may occur in poor drainage and urban areas. Storm drains and
ditches may become clogged with debris.

* ADDITIONAL DETAILS…
– There is the potential for localized torrential rainfall of
greater than 2 inches.
– http://www.weather.gov/safety/flood

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS…

You should monitor later forecasts and be prepared to take action
should Flash Flood Warnings be issued.

BRIDGE NY funding makes communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change

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Thoughts from Behind the Pressline from the Sun Community News Publisher 

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Shane St. Cyr points to the digester

Joe Giroux thanks Assemblyman Jones for his efforts on behalf of North Country farmers.

Trucks transport the gas to the pipeline

Jon Rulfs handles the dried material used for bedding

Some of the farm’s new equipment

Adirondack Farms Digester

Cornell engineer Lauren Ray

By John T Ryan

Peru – While dairy farming contributes a small percentage of overall greenhouse gas emissions, North Country farmers say they want to do their part in achieving national and state gas reduction goals.

Last Friday, the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program (NNYADP) conducted a media day at Adirondack Farms to highlight its latest research programs, especially two case studies: one a farm digester converting dairy manure into electrical energy with the capacity to add food waste for co-digestion and one being conducted at Adirondack Farms involving the installation of a new anaerobic co-digestion system to generate natural gas energy. The presenters included Beekmantown farmer and NNYADP Co-Chair Joe Giroux, Jon Rulfs and Shane St. Cyr of Adirondack Farms, Lauren Ray from Cornell University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Assemblyman Billy Jones.

Adirondack Farms has been utilizing an anaerobic digester system to process its manure since 2017. The digester system breaks down manure’s organic solid and gaseous material to the point where the liquid portion is used as fertilizer, the dried portion as cow bedding, and the gas portion for energy production. The liquid portion is delivered to Adirondack’s nearby fields by pipeline, eliminating truck hauling.

Up until about ten months ago, Adirondack’s gas-powered generators fed electricity into the power grid; however, as of about thirty days ago, the gas is being piped to a Suburban Propane truck for transport to a natural gas pipeline. Jon Rulfs explained, “We had been producing electricity, but we found it wasn’t financially feasible over time. We hope this will be better for us, but that has yet to be seen. We hope to be part of the solution to the climate issues we face today.”

In June 2022, Michael Stivala, President and Chief Executive Officer of Suburban Propane, stated, “Our investment in a digester system at Adirondack Farms is the latest endeavor in our ongoing commitment to bring renewable energy to local communities.” Federal and state governments are supporting the farmers’ efforts. Lauren Ray, one of Cornell University Agriculture Energy Systems Engineers involved in the case studies, noted the federal Inflation Reduction Act’s 30% investment tax credit and New York State’s recently enacted state 20% investment tax credit for future projects. New York State aims to reduce greenhouse emissions by 40% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. The national dairy industry aims to be carbon neutral by 2050.

Assemblyman Billy Jones has secured over $1,500,000 in state funding for NNYADP since 2019. He commented, “Many do not realize that innovative agricultural research is happening here in the North Country. As dairy farmers across the country face challenges, the Northern New York Agricultural Development Program’s projects provide vital data and insights to help our local agricultural industry adopt the most recent green technologies and be a leader in groundbreaking research.”

Joe Giroux described NNYADP’s long research history, such as drainage tile, water quality pest control, and phosphorus management, to enhance agriculture’s environmental stewardship. He stated, “People don’t realize how much farming has changed over the past forty years.”

The Ticonderoga Fire Department was lined up to walk in the parade when the emergency call came in

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Sausage Gravy & Biscuits
Fruit Cup
Yogurt
Dessert

Served take-out only, 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. at St. Augustine’s Parish Center, 3030 Main St., Peru, NY 12972

All are welcome at our table!

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