When Peggy Kownack puts her mind to something, it normally gets done.

In this case, thanks to her efforts in proposing and gathering support for the plan, The Uptown Community Harvest Festival is a finalist for a $10,000 Pepsi Refresh Everything grant.

Peggy, known to many as The Dart Lady, writes the "Unique Perspective" blog on The Record's website. She is a native of Troy and a founding member of The Uptown Initiative. She really cares about this city and isn't shy about offering her ideas on how the Collar City should be revitalized.

Peggy worked hard to get support for the festival proposal, partnering with several other groups seeking funding so the festival proposal vote total would stay in the top 15 list of projects and be eligible for funding.

Among the groups she worked with was the Cohoes Music Hall, which successfully competed for a $25,000 grant.

As a finalist, the festival proposal must now go through a verification process, but Peggy is already making plans for the mid-October event.

Last year’s event featured free games, food and activities for children in the city’s North Central/Uptown neighborhood, but with the Pepsi funding, Peggy plans to open the festival to kids from all over the city.

Congratulations Peggy. Your proposal was right on target and we're proud of your efforts!

I've always said that any one of us at The Record -- or all of us for that matter -- could call in sick, go on vacation, quit, move, etc., and the newspaper would still come out with barely a blip in the work flow.

All of us that is except for Joe Hack.

Somehow, when Joe isn't here, things just don't seem to go as well.

Joe is noting a special milestone in his professional life this Labor Day weekend.
On Saturday, Sept. 3, Joe celebrates his 46th anniversary with The Record.

Journal Register Company CEO John Paton, Senior Publisher - Connecticut & New York Clusters Tom Wiley and Record Publisher Mike O'Sullivan saluted Joe today in a series of emails to all of the employees at The Record, and I would like to add my congratulations, too, having spent my 35-year career here working alongside Joe.

In fact, for a lot of his 46 years, Joe has worked here in the newsroom as an assistant, handling a multitude of tasks. For the past few years, he has worked in the building department.

Joe is an institution at The Record.
He has an amazing recall of events -- particularly if they happened in Green Island -- and of the people he has met over the years.

When we were talking about his upcoming anniversary, I asked him what stands out as he thinks back over his career, be it news events or interesting personalities.

At first, he told me there were too many to recall. Once he got going, however, there were many special moments that came back to him.

Election nights, employee recognition dinners, Christmas parties at the old Mario's, the Century House and the Turf Inn; company picnics in Saratoga and at Grafton Lakes State Park; the addition of the current newsroom in 1972; the current press going on line in 1985; shaking the hand of Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller as he stopped by The Record for a visit; the resignation of President Richard Nixon at the height of the Watergate scandal, and the collapse of the Green Island Bridge on the Ides of March in 1977.

Green Island is a place that is near and dear to Joe's heart. It's the place he calls home. To all of us, he is Mr. Green Island. Not much gets by Joe over there; just ask Village Mayor Ellen McNulty Ryan.

In fact, Joe says he owes his career here to one of the village's most beloved leaders and Ellen's father, the late Jack McNulty.

Prior to joining The Record team, Joe worked for the village, Albany County and even the federal government through his work for the post office.

As Joe's temp job with the village came to an end one Thursday 46 years ago, Jack McNulty stopped by the park where Joe was working and told him to go to The Record and see Walt Kane about a job. He left the park at 2 p.m. and was given a job as a messenger in the business office later that afternoon.

And the rest, as they say, is history.

From the business office to the newsroom to the mailroom to the building department, it's been a pleasure for all of us to work with him.

Congratulations Joe on a job well done!

Kudos to Record sports editor Kevin Moran and his staff for putting together a terrific 48-page high school football preview section, which is available today in print and online.

The section is a must-read for fans of the Friday night lights.

Among the section highlights are:

-- The end of an era: One final season for Shenendehowa icon Brent Steuerwald; (ABOVE)

-- The La Salle Institute Cadets return with 21 of 22 starters from last year as they kick off their 2011 season;

-- The Lansingburgh High School Knights expect to make another super run this season; and

-- It make take Troy High School's Flying Horses a few weeks to come together, but they have the talent to contend.

My thanks also to our sports reporters Laura Amato, Andrew Santillo, Ed Weaver, correspondent Mike Cioffi and Assistant Sports Editor Tim Martin for their work on the section.

Welcome aboard to Laura, our new high school sports reporter, who will be spending a lot of Friday nights under the lights. Say hello when you see her out at a game.

Praise also goes to Chief Photographer Mike McMahon and photographers Jim Carras and Jeff Couch for their terrific photos.

Thanks also to the local advertisers who supported this section!

Today is reporter Dave Canfield's last day at The Record.
Dave has done a terrific job as our cops and court reporter. He deserves praise for his understanding of the court process and his ability to convey what happens each day in an understandable way for our readers. His attention to detail and the way he relates to people also deserve kudos.
Above all, I salute him for being fair, a darn good writer and a nice guy.
As he leaves us today for a job with another Capital District area newspaper, the Glens Falls Post Star, I thank him for all he has done while at The Record and I wish him well.
Best of luck to you Dave!

Record reporter Danielle Sanzone was recently selected to participate in the 2011 Video Boot Camp sponsored by our parent company, Journal Register Company.

The camp, which will be held Aug. 16 and 17 at JRC headquarters in Yardley, Pa., is expected to be an intensive session to improve video technical and storytelling abilities, and to prepare individuals to train their newsroom colleagues.

Training leader will be Chet Rhodes, former assistant managing editor of news video for The Washington Post.

Record website regulars are already familiar with Danielle's video work. Since JRC adopted its "Digital First" philosophy in covering the news on its various platforms, Danielle has easily integrated the use of video to tell the various stories she uncovers on her beat here at The Record.

All boot camp attendees were chosen based on demonstrated skill and enthusiasm, so I am particularly pleased that Danielle's efforts are being recognized by JRC.

We at The Record recently recognized Danielle for producing the most videos during our newsroom video competition.

Congratulations Danielle!

Friday night I was back in our sports department talking with Record Sports Editor Kevin Moran, when reporter Andrew Santillo told us he had just read on Twitter that former first lady Betty Ford had died.

While I moved quickly to help the copy desk get the story up on our website, out on our social media accounts and in print, I thought about how much I had admired Mrs. Ford over the years for her candor and her advocacy work on behalf of millions of Americans.

She first caught my attention in the mid-'70s when I was off attending college in western New York and she was debuting on the national stage as our first lady during the difficult, post-Watergate era. While I have always been fascinated with politics and the ways of Washington, D.C., I found myself intrigued by this first lady who openly spoke her mind -- regardless of whether her husband or the national Republican Party agreed with her.

I don't think I truly appreciated the grace and dignity she showed in publicly battling breast cancer until I was faced with the same diagnosis more than 30 years later. I know my own diagnosis inspired many of my friends and relatives to go for overdue mammograms, but can you imagine the countless number of women Betty Ford inspired to seek breast examinations and possibly saved their lives?

She has left a lasting impact on the women of this nation.

Perhaps former President George H. W. Bush best summed up Betty Ford's legacy: “She was a wonderful wife and mother; a great friend; and a courageous first lady. No one confronted life’s struggles with more fortitude or honesty, and as a result, we all learned from the challenges she faced.”

The Record participated in its first “Troy Night Out” in June.

For the uninitiated, “Troy Night Out” is a monthly arts and cultural event held the last Friday of every month in downtown Troy from 5 to 9 p.m. Organizers say the special event regularly draws more than 1,000 people to the Collar City to enjoy art, music, restaurants and shops throughout downtown.


First, let me offer my thanks to Elizabeth Young, executive director of the Troy Business Improvement District, for helping us host the event in our Community Media Lab, located on the first floor of our building at the corner of Broadway and Fifth Avenue in downtown Troy.

Elizabeth is a terrific lady to work with and her energy and enthusiasm are contagious.

Our TNO event featured a photo exhibit by ASlyerImage Photography and a performance by area musician Greg Guba.

The photo exhibit, which features the work of Charlie and Gina Slyer and their daughters Toni and Amanda, is still on display in our Community Media Lab, which is open to the public from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday through the end of this month.


We invited you to stop by and check out the work of this talented family and consider purchasing one or two or three of their reasonably priced photos.

Our thanks also go to Greg Guba, a local musician with more than 30 years of experience, who performed a variety of musical styles throughout the evening.

Everyone who stopped by to visit us that night commented on how much they enjoyed Greg’s music and the photos taken by the Slyer family.

Stay tuned for a schedule of future “Troy Night Out” events planned in our Community Media Lab.