The Edinburg Historical Society will meet on Tuesday, May 17 at 7 p.m. at the Edinburg Community Center on Military Road. Toby Edwards will be speaking on “Trapping and the Fur Industry.”

Toby Edwards on trapping and the fur industry

Trapping was carried out for a variety of reasons in the early days of North American settlements. Originally it was for food, fur and other animal products. It has since been expanded to encompass pest control, and wildlife management. According to Wikipedia, wildlife biologists support the use of regulated trapping for sustained harvest of some species of furbearers. Studies have shown that trapping can be an effective method of managing and studying furbearers, controlling damage caused by furbearers and at times reducing the spread of harmful diseases. Trapping requires time, hard work and money. The State and Federal Fish and Wildlife Agency professionals test traps and compile recommendation to improve and modernize the technology of trapping through scientific research know as Best Management Practices.

Raffle

Raffle tickets are being sold for five original oil paintings by Andy Janik. Andie has had a lifelong interest in art. He purchased his first set of oil paints and canvas with money earned from his paper route in Albany, NY. He doodled more than paid attention in school. After his oil paints ran out, he took a brief, 60 year hiatus from art, though he continued to admire the work of others. After he retired, his wife, Sharon, purchased art lessons for him from an artist friend and neighbor Betsy-Apgar-Smith in Schoharie, NY. Now, living in Edinburg NY, Andy is a member of SVAN and is presently enrolled in the Sacandaga Valley Arts Network (SVAN) art classes with Constance Dodge. In the winter months, he participates in art classes at the senior citizens center in Hilton Head, SC.

Andy is still in the learning phase and is very taken with various media in the world of art. He likes sketching and working with watercolors and pastels, but he’s most comfortable with painting in oil. He has exhibited work in the SVAN Arts Center Gallery in Northville, the Northville High School and more recently in the Micropolis Cooperative Art Gallery in Gloversville.

Raffle tickets are available at Edinburg Historical Society meetings and can be purchased from any EHS member or call Claudette Koza, 863-4844. The raffle will take place at our 2016 Fall Festival.