Rescuing the Grafton Fire Tower

with Dick Gibbs

Thursday, April 18, 2024 at 7pm on Zoom

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In the mid-1980s, Dick Gibbs came upon a deteriorated Dickinson Hill Fire Tower while mountain biking with his friend Ben Hill. Then and there, the two shook hands and pledged to fix it. Dick will share the story of how the Friends of Grafton Lakes State Park and other volunteers restored and preserved the tower so it could be opened to the public.

Pre-registration is required. The suggested voluntary donation is $5, though any amount is welcome. To register, just click the link below.

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Sorry, registration is closed
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Dick Gibbs left his early roots on his family farm in southeastern Minnesota to earn a Chemical Engineering degree at the University of Minnesota and a PhD at RPI. Following RPI, he worked at the New York State DEC for 35 years developing and managing the Automotive Emissions Laboratory, a small group of scientists that worked on measuring and reducing emissions from cars, trucks, and buses.
 

In retirement, he has focused on forest management through his efforts with the New York Forest Owners Association (NYFOA) and on land conservation through involvement with the Rensselaer Plateau Alliance (RPA). He and his wife Shari are founding members of the RPA, and as retired board members are active volunteers. They have also demonstrated their conservation ethic by donating the development rights on their 150 acre farm to the Agricultural Stewardship Association (ASA) through a conservation easement so as to preserve in perpetuity agricultural land, forestland, and open space in Rensselaer County.
 

Living with Type 1 diabetes for nearly 50 years, Dick has enjoyed years of recreational cycling with the Mohawk Hudson Cycling Club. He finds the hills of the Rensselaer Plateau to be challenging, and most importantly, to be cherished from the views at the top of the Dickinson Hill Fire Tower.
 

Questions? Please contact Dan Morse at dan@rensselaerplateau.org.

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