FRIENDS OF HISTORIC GROOMS TAVERN

P.O. Box 1166

CLIFTON PARK, NEW YORK 12065

Contact:  Alexandra Verrigni

(518)  399-2446

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      

June 2, 2008                                                                                       

FRIENDS TO HOST ARCHEOLOGICAL LECTURE Our Earliest Inhabitants along the Mohawk River

CLIFTON PARK, New York – The Friends of Historic Grooms Tavern, a not-for-profit association dedicated to Historic Grooms Tavern, will host an archeological talk by Fred Stevens on Sunday afternoon, June 29, 2008 from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm at the Grooms Tavern, corner of Grooms and Sugarhill Roads, Rexford, New York.  Mr. Stevens’ talk is entitled, “Early Man in Clifton Park:   Evidence for 10,000 years of pre-Colonial Occupation in Clifton Park, New York.” 

Born in Grooms Corners in 1939, Fred Stevens attended Shenendehowa High School, graduating third in his class; and, University of Colorado, where he was conferred a BS in Chemical Engineering in 1960.  He worked for, among others, Dow Corning Corporation and Schenectady Chemical (now SIGroup) in a variety of engineering and managerial areas prior to his retirement in 2000.  His interest in archeology was spawned by Clifton Park’s First Town Historian, Howard Becker, his next door neighbor. 

Mr. Stevens currently serves on the Board of Iroquois Indian Museum and supervises the Archeological Department which is investigating several pre-historic sites in the Schoharie Creek watershed.  He is an active volunteer with NYS Museum, Southern Adirondack project, and member and officer of many NYS and national archeological organizations. 

Mr. Stevens has amassed a large collection of Indian artifacts, subject of this talk, presenting evidence of over 10,000 years of nearly continuous human occupation of the town of Clifton Park.   The lecture begins with small bands of “hunters and gatherers” and ends with larger occupying groups along the Mohawk River, Alplaus Creek and around Ballston and Round Lakes. 

The public is invited to attend this fascinating review of our origins.  Admission is free and refreshments will be served.