📆 Bethlehem Area Events

🏘️💰 BIG APARTMENT SALE IN SLINGERLANDS SIGNALS STRONG LOCAL HOUSING DEMAND

🐷🌾 WHY PIGS? A LOOK INSIDE ONE OF RCS’S MOST UNIQUE LOCAL FARMS

🍎📚 VOORHEESVILLE APPOINTS NEW MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

✡️🕯️ HOLOCAUST MUSEUM IN UPSTATE NEW YORK BOOSTS SECURITY AS ANTISEMITIC THREATS RISE

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According to Adirondack Capital Partners (ACP), the 98-unit Meadowbrook Apartments community in Slingerlands was recently sold for an undisclosed amount. ACP Managing Partner Michael Hunter Coghill represented both the seller, Berkeley Property LLC, and the buyer in the transaction.

Located in one of the Capital Region’s most desirable suburban areas, Meadowbrook Apartments offers a mix of spacious one- and two-bedroom apartments in a quiet, park-like setting while remaining close to Albany employment centers, shopping, and major transportation routes.

🏡 Why This Matters to Bethlehem Residents

The sale reflects a larger trend happening across Bethlehem and the surrounding communities:

📈 Demand for rental housing remains strong
🏘️ Multifamily properties continue attracting investors
🚧 Limited new housing development is increasing competition
💵 Property values and rental demand remain stable

Coghill noted that investors continue targeting upstate communities like Slingerlands because they offer:
✔️ Stable occupancy
✔️ Strong long-term returns
✔️ Lower risk compared to downstate markets
✔️ Limited new apartment supply

For local residents, transactions like this are another sign that Bethlehem continues to be viewed as a highly desirable place to live — thanks to its schools, neighborhoods, access to Albany, and overall quality of life.

At the same time, the continued demand for apartments also raises ongoing community conversations around:
🏗️ Future housing development
🚗 Traffic and infrastructure
🏘️ Housing affordability
📊 Population growth and planning

As the Capital Region housing market continues evolving, Slingerlands and the Town of Bethlehem remain firmly on the radar for both residents and investors alike.

🔗 Read more:
https://nyrej.com/adirondack-capital-partners-arranges-sale-of-98-unit-meadowbrook-apartments-in-slingerlands

#BethlehemNY #Slingerlands #CapitalRegion #RealEstate #HousingMarket #LocalNews #BethlehemLocalNews #CommunityUpdate #518News

If you’ve ever driven along Route 144 and spotted the pigs roaming at Tinhorn Farm, you may have found yourself asking:

🐷 “Why pigs?”

That’s exactly what the RCS Community Business Association recently asked Tinhorn Farm owner David-John Stacey — and his answers offered a fascinating glimpse into local farming, animal care, and the passion behind one of the community’s most unique agricultural operations.

For Stacey, pigs came after what he jokingly calls the “gateway farm animal” — chickens 🐔

After becoming interested in livestock farming, he spent nearly two years researching pigs before finally purchasing his first two piglets, Benny and Mama Pig, from a farm in Berkshire County.

Today, Tinhorn Farm raises pastured pigs, meaning the animals spend most of their lives outdoors with plenty of room to roam, root, and forage naturally.

🌱 What does that look like?

The pigs enjoy:
🌾 Grass & clover
🐛 Worms & bugs
🌼 Flowers & weeds
🐸 Even the occasional frog or ground bird egg

The pigs still receive locally milled grain feed, but the open-pasture environment allows them to behave naturally — something Stacey believes creates calmer, healthier animals.

“Pigs specifically need to root,” Stacey explained. “They’re much happier when that’s possible.”

🐷 Tinhorn Farm specializes in two heritage pig breeds:
✔️ Gloucester Old Spots
✔️ Large Blacks

These breeds are known for being:
❤️ Friendly
🧘 Calm
👩‍🌾 Easy to handle
🐷 Excellent mothers

And yes — they all have names.

Current residents include:
🐽 Donna
🐽 Lulu
🐽 Marge
🐽 Diana
🐽 Tammy
🐽 Berky Girl
…and a boar named Rochester.

One of the most entertaining stories Stacey shared involved purchasing a pig from Wisconsin. Expecting a livestock trailer, he instead watched the pig arrive in… a Prius 🚗😂

Not only was the pig riding freely inside the car, but two other pigs were also headed to New Hampshire in the same vehicle.

“It was a surprise,” Stacey said with a laugh.

🏡 Why stories like this matter locally

In a fast-growing world increasingly disconnected from agriculture, small local farms like Tinhorn Farm help preserve:
🌾 Agricultural traditions
🥕 Local food systems
🐷 Ethical animal practices
👨‍👩‍👧 Community connection to farming

They also give local families and children a chance to better understand where food comes from and how farming actually works.

And yes — visitors are welcome.

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 Families interested in seeing the pigs can contact Tinhorn Farm through:
📱 Facebook or Instagram: @tinhormfarm

🔗 Read the full feature:
https://discoverrcs.com/why-pigs/

#RCSCommunity #LocalFarms #TinhornFarm #SupportLocalFarms #CommunitySpotlight #518News #FarmLife #RavenaNY #SelkirkNY #BethlehemLocalNewsInsider

The Voorheesville Central School District has officially welcomed a familiar face into a new leadership role as Cathleen Goodwin has been appointed the next Voorheesville Middle School Principal 👏

The appointment was unanimously approved by the VCSD Board of Education during its May 5 meeting and will officially take effect on July 1.

For many families and students in the district, Goodwin is already a well-known and trusted member of the school community. She has served as the Middle and High School Assistant Principal and brings nearly two decades of educational experience to the role.

📖 Over the past 18 years, Goodwin has worked across virtually every level of education, teaching students from:
👶 Pre-K
🧒 Elementary
🎓 Middle School
🎒 High School

Superintendent Frank Macri praised her dedication and leadership within the district.

🗣️ “Cathleen has served our district with dedication in her role as Middle and High School Assistant Principal, and I am confident she will continue to support our students, staff and school community in this new capacity,” Macri said.

Goodwin shared that she is excited to continue building relationships and helping students thrive during the important middle school years.

💬 “I am deeply honored to step into the role of Principal at Voorheesville Middle School,” Goodwin said. “I know what makes Voorheesville special.”

She emphasized her commitment to ensuring every student feels:
✅ Seen
✅ Supported
✅ Challenged to do their best

🏡 Why this matters to the community

School leadership plays a major role in shaping student culture, school climate, and educational success — especially during the middle school years, which are often some of the most formative for students.

For many in Voorheesville, promoting someone who already understands the district’s culture, families, and values provides:
🤝 Stability
📚 Continuity
❤️ Strong community connection

As VCSD prepares for the 2026–27 school year, district leaders say they are excited for the future of the middle school under Goodwin’s leadership.

For more head to; https://www.voorheesville.org/voorheesville-announces-athletics-and-middle-school-leaders/

#Voorheesville #VCSD #518Schools #EducationNews #SchoolLeadership #CommunityNews #BethlehemLocalNewsInsider #CapitalRegionSchools⚾🔥 RAVENS KEEP ROLLING!

A powerful piece of New York history is increasing security protections amid growing concerns over antisemitism and religious hate crimes across the state.

The Safe Haven Holocaust Refugee Shelter Museum in Oswego — the only site in the United States that housed Holocaust refugees during World War II — has recently upgraded security measures to better protect visitors, staff, and the important history preserved within its walls.

The museum tells the story of how nearly 1,000 refugees fleeing Nazi Germany were welcomed to Fort Ontario in Oswego during World War II, making the city a rare American safe haven during one of history’s darkest periods.

🗣️ “You don’t have to visit Auschwitz-Birkenau,” said museum president Paul Lear. “You come here to Oswego, New York to find proof that the Holocaust actually happened.”

Today, however, the museum finds itself confronting a different challenge:
⚠️ rising antisemitism and growing safety concerns.

🔒 New security upgrades now include:
📹 Doorbell camera entry systems
🚨 Panic buttons
📷 Interior and exterior surveillance cameras
🪟 Updated windows and safety systems
🔥 Modernized fire protection equipment

Visitors must now ring a doorbell before being admitted into the building.

“It’s a shame this has to be done,” Lear said. “But because of these attacks, these threats, we really had to up our game here.”

💰 The growing cost of protection

Jewish organizations across New York are spending hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on security upgrades.

Mark Segel, president and CEO of the Jewish Federation of Central New York, referred to the expense as:
💬 “The antisemitism tax.”

According to Segel, Jewish communities in Central New York alone are now spending more than:
💵 $700,000 annually on security measures.

He noted that concerns have intensified significantly since the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel.

📊 At the same time, reported religious hate crimes in New York have sharply increased:
➡️ 21 incidents in 2021
➡️ More than 500 incidents in 2023

The rise in threats has impacted communities across the state, including incidents involving:
⚠️ Threats against Jewish students at Cornell
⚠️ A shooting outside an Albany synagogue

🏡 Why this matters to our community

While this story is unfolding in Oswego, it reflects broader concerns being felt in communities throughout New York — including here in the Capital Region.

For many residents, museums and historical institutions serve not only as educational resources, but also as reminders of:
📚 The importance of truth
🤝 Community understanding
🕊️ Religious tolerance
🛑 The dangers of hate and historical denial

Museum leaders say one of their greatest ongoing concerns is the increasing number of people denying the Holocaust ever happened.

“Our challenge is that we’re dealing with a vocal minority of hateful people,” Segel said.

Even amid those challenges, the museum continues its mission:
🕯️ preserving history
📖 educating future generations
❤️ ensuring stories of survival are never forgotten

🔗 Read more:
https://spectrumlocalnews.com/nys/capital-region/news/2026/05/05/enhancing-security-at-oswego-holocaust-museum

#NewYork #HolocaustEducation #CommunityNews #NeverForget #CapitalRegion #JewishCommunity #AntiHate #BethlehemLocalNewsInsider

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