Sands Ring News

• Critical need for new roof
• Facebook Fans
• Homestead's new boiler
• Sands Family History
• Additional volunteers needed
• Membership Application

Sands Ring's Roof Needs an Angel

By Bruce J. Stanley
Atter examining the current state of the roof on Sands Ring Homestead Museum, Albert Conley, Head of the Town of Cornwall Building and Grounds Department, says we need a new roof as soon as possible. The Board of Truatees agrees that the Homestead needs the help of an angel or maybe the help of many angels. The estimated costs to replace our aging roof with cedar shakes is about $50,000. The Town also got a quote on replacing the shake roof with architectural asphalt roofing material and the story there isn't much better. The cost for thls is approximately $30,000. According to Conley, it is costly because they have to get to bare wood and put down a new underlayment.

The Town's budget, given the current financial state of all agencies, is so tight that for the foreseeable future only basic services across the town can be covered. Conley hopes that the roof will last
at least thorough this winter. Safety will never be compromised.

The current cedar shake roof was donated by the generosity of Ralph E. Ogden back in the 1960's. Thank goodness for people like Mr. Ogden. The Board of Trustees is discussing our alternatives. We continue to investigate aggressively all grant leads, but again, given the current financial climate a lot of these have dried up.

I guess Albert Conley is right . . . we need help now. An angel or maybe many angels can assist us and the Town of Cornwall deal with our short and long-term crisis. It would be a crime to let such a piece of Comwall's history deteriorate to extinction.

If you have any ideas or contacts regarding this project, contact the Board of Trustees at sandsring friend at yahoo.com or call the Homestead at 845-534-4829. Also, we are creating a Roofing Fund.

Sands Ring Now on Facebook!

By Colleen A. Zlock
In Apnl, Sands Ring launched its official page on the social network Facebook. After only a few short months, we already have an impressive 172 fans. Many are former students and parents using the interesting wall to express their gratitude for the school programs we offer and others their support for the preservation of the homestead and the history it keeps alive in the community. Please find us on Facebook and become a fan, too! Learn interesting facts about Sands Ring history, keep posted on upcoming events, open houses and news. We invite you to share your memories of the homestead.

A Chance Meeting Leads To New Heating System for Sands Ring Homestead

I attend virtually all Cornwall Town Board meetings. I have questioned my own sanity at times for doing so as there does seem to be a heavy dose of masochism involved. .. .. . .that said, I'm glad I did attend a work session meeting earlier this summer.

Town Board meetings tend to attract the same audience month to month, (I call us the "peanut gallery"). This particular meeting however, I noticed a couple who I had never seen at a meeting before and they were sitting right next to me. As the meeting was opened up to public comment they introduced themselves as Bruce and Sally Stanley with whom the board seemed very
familiar.

Bruce and Sally began to describe the needs of the Sands Ring Homestead Museum and as they went through their list which seemed similar to most "to do lists" for any home, I became particularly attentive when they mentioned the need for a new heating system. Comfort systems have been my career virtually my entire adult life, (started working fix a local boiler manufacturer right out of high school because they had a college tuition reimbursement program). I knew when I heard Bruce and Sally's need for assistance that I could help with thie particular project.

I have to admit I didn't how exactly what Sands Ring Homestead was but I had been looking for an opportunity where I could give back to the town where my wife and I have lived for more than fourteen years and thls seemed right up my alley. Once I learned that Sands Ring is a home built in 1760 the opportunity to install a boiler in a home with such history, (and mechanical
challenges), really got my creative juices flowing.

I have been in the heating business for 29 years now and I have been very fortunate to have encountered many wonderful people in the industry who have influenced my career and helped me along the way. I knew I could call on many of these people to provide needed materials for the project so I began writing some emails requesting assistance in the form of required components
for a new heating systam.

I had one huge obatacle which I was very concerned about however.. . . . ..it was myself. Twenty-nine years of heavy lifting and working in strange positions in small boiler rooms had taken its toll on my knees and I knew I could not do the work required at the Homestead by myself . That's when I called on a dear fiend who is a life long resident of Cornwall, Bruce Perry of Perry
Plumbing, Heating &Cooling.

Bruce and his wife Leslie are great fiends of myself and my wife and we often travel together but now I needed ta ask a huge favor of Bruce.. . .... could he provide much of the labor required to install the boiler at Sands Ring? I have to admit I was trying to come up with some clever way of asking him because I knew this was no small favor but I decided to just hit him straight on with it and before I was able to complete my request he said "sure I will help"!

As you can imagine, the Homestead posed some unique challenges with the install ... ..none the least being getting a 350 pound cast iron boiler up the stairs to the second floor mechanical room, (a closet really). Bruce and his employee Pete had to maneuver the boiler gently through the 90 degree turn in the narrow steps which at times, I have to admit, I thought might be a deal
breaker for the project. Persietence paid off and once the boiler was upstairs we began the process of installation and within 48 hours the Homestead was ready for whatever a cold Cornwall winter could throw at it.

Some technical details of the project:

• Boiler is a HydroTherm HW-100-CON providing 72,000 BTUH of heat to the home.
• The home presently requires only about 2/3 of the boiler's output so there is plenty of capacity to expand the radiation in the home at a later date if needed.
• The home is split into two heating zones, (upstairs and downstairs), and additional piping for a third zone was installed for future projects.
• All components of the heating system are brand new, valves, circulator, expansion tank, etc.

My experience with this project has inspired me to accept a position on the Board of trustees at the museum and I have thrown my name into the hat for the position of vice president on the Board as well. I am thankful for the opportunity the project offered me to contribute to the town I love so much and to work with othere who feel the same way.

Gerry Wagner and the entire Board of Trustees would like to give Special THANKS to:
Bruce Perry I Perry Plumbing Heating & Cooling
Tim Markel, VP of Mestek, Inc / HydroTherm
Boilers
Mickey McPhillips I Taco, Inc.
Al Conley I Supt. of Buildings & Grounds Town of Cornwall

Need for Additional Volunteers

With a small Board of Trustees and an even smaller educational staff, we need additional volunteers to help us with our 2010 events. If you enjoy history and wish to help out, please join Friends of Sands Ring and indicate your wish to volunteer .
If you’re on our current list of volunteers, Thank you! We will be contacting you.
If you would like to volunteer, we really need and appreciate your assistance. Call us at 845-534-4829 or e-mail us at sandsringfriends@yahoo.com