Fiertz, Kim

Kim Fiertz Interview:

This is file 61, cycle 2. This is Jean McMillen. Today’s date is August 2, 2017. I am interviewing Kim Fiertz. She is going to talk about many things including The IMS Parent Organization, Salisbury Family Services, Twin Lakes Beach Club and possibly the Friends of the Scoville Library. First we will start with the genealogical information.

JM:What is your name?

KF:Kim Marks Fiertz

JM:What is your birthdate?

KF:July 24, 1957

JM:Where were you born?

KF:New Heights Park, New York

JM:Your parents’ names.

KF:My father was Edwin Marks. My mother is Sandra Williams Wein.

JM:Do you have siblings?

KF:Yes, Amy Marks Franklin, and Robert Wein Jr.

JM:How did you come to the area?

KF:My husband‘s family had long time roots here. His grandparents moved here, Edwin and Margaret Fowle in the 1960’s. They retired here from Long Island. When we decided to come and look for a weekend house as New York residents, this is the place that my husband was most interested in looking at. In fact the bench in the stone circle by the children’s room entrance at the back of the library was dedicated to Carey’s grandparents. You will see Edwin and Margaret Fowle’s name on that. The first time I was here was for the dedication of that bench for their memorial service in 1980 or so.

JM:That is wonderful to have a piece of history like that. It means a lot.

KF:It does.

JM:You said that you got involved with the Indian Mountain Parents’ Association because your daughter, Margaret went there.

KF:That’s correct.

JM:What offices did you hold while you were in that organization?

2.

KF:We moved here in 2001 when our daughter Maggie was in third grade. She went to Town Hill School which has since merged with Indian Mountain. So when she was a 4th grader which was her last year at Town Hill, I was President of the PTH Parents of town Hill. Then when she graduated up to Indian Mountain School, her second year when she was in 6th grade, I was the Vice President of the Parents’ Association. The next 2 years I was President of the Parents’ Association.

JM:What does the Parents’ Association do?

KF:WE hold activities fund raising. We had a big auction, a Fall Fair, a trunk show. We did nice things for the teachers, a Teacher Breakfast, and teacher parties. Teachers should be appreciated. My job was to find all the room parents; I tried to integrate everybody at that time. There was a little integration needed between the Lower School- Town Hill and Indian Mountain when they merged in 2003. It was not a smooth transition.

JM:You told me about a wish List that the kids did from IMS for Christmas.

KF:That was another part of a program that we did in conjunction with Salisbury Family Services. Each year the social worker Patrice McGrath (See file #97 Patrice McGrath) from Salisbury family Services would provide from their clientele the children’s wish list as to what they would like for Christmas. We put a big poster and the children from IMS would elect a name or a gift. The big story I told you was about the tools. One year there was a mother who asked for tools for her 15 year old boy. The 5th graders decided to adopt him. All the kids brought money in to buy tools from the class as a collective. They went to Herrington’s for the tools. Herrington’s was so touched that they provided a tool box, some drills and a saw. There was so much stuff for this kid; it was fantastic. When the mom saw the pile of tools and equipment, she was in tears. Everybody in the whole room was in tears. It was very touching. It was really nice of these kids and they liked giving that gift. It was fun for everyone.

JM:It is such a nice mingling of the Indian Mountain and the town. This ties right into Family Services. When did you join the board there?

KF:I joined that board I think in 2004 and am still on it.

JM:You are an officer?

KF:I have been President or co-President since about 2006.

JM:You have been co-President with two different ladies?

KF: Yes, Mary Harvey and currently with Helen Scoville.

JM:There again does the board do primarily fund raising?

KF:Fund raising and some overseeing of the social worker and also helping to develop some new programs. For example we established the Community Garden.

JM:Oh that is where it came from!3.

KF:Yes. That was Peggy O’Brien as a board member she was very interested in that. We’re sponsoring a drug education program at Salisbury Central School.

JM:That is “Freedom from Chemical Dependence”.

KF:We have camp programs; all those things are basically administered by Patrice McGrath, the social worker for the town and our administrator and director.

JM:You said something about language interpreters.

KF:Yes last year there was a huge growth in non-English speaking children at Salisbury Central School. It doubled. There was no money in the school budget for that. They had 6 kids who were English as a second language. It really imploded. They needed some interpreters and they also needed some extra money to go into that area. We searched and found a very large grant for that which paid for half of that. This year we will probably pay for some of the interpreters for the refugee family from Syria. An interpreter is not required by the board of education from the state. It is not mandated so there is no money for that. ESL is required and there is funding for that, but not for interpreters. It is sort of a luxury. It will make it easier for the children to learn English. I had a conversation with my oldest friend who is a school administrator in Long Island. She said they had interpreters only to help the parents. It is a hugenot wealthy school district on Long Island. That is how they utilize the interpreters.

JM:It is a good use of the interpreters. “Celebrating Salisbury’s Own “is a fund raiser that you do.

KF:We do a bi-annual fund raiser and we honor local artists, actors; we also did a collective of actors, authors and playwrights one year. This year we are honoring Anne Day who is a photographer on September 23, 2017. There will be an art show at Salisbury Boys School. We earn our money by having a big expensive dinner and also publicity sponsors.

JM:I have a question on the Beach Club. Is it separate from the Twin Lakes Association?

KF:Yes it is totally separate.

JM:Do you have a history of the Beach club? Do you have a list of the Presidents of the Beach club?

KF:I do; I shall provide it for you. (See Banker box labeled “Twin Lakes”)

JM:You have been President of that board.

KF:I was President of the Beach Club from 2001 to 2005.

JM:Now you do Membership?

KF: I do Membership and I also do their insurance because I am a licensed insurance consultant.

JM:You joined the Beach Club for …

4.

KF:Social reasons and access to the lake but mostly for the social aspect. It was nice to have somewhere to swim. They have 2 tennis courts. My daughter learned to play tennis there. I have learned to play tennis there because I really stunk. My husband has improved his tennis there. We have a really nice tennis pro. It is a very robust program considering we have only two tennis courts. It is a lot of fun.

JM:Friends of the Scoville Library, did your husband sort of twist your arm to get involved with that?

KF: No he didn’t. The way that it worked is an old friend, Judy Linscott, who started it initially, asked Carey to join the board. When Carey was done with it, I took his place. There was no arm twisting because Judy meant so much to me that I feel like I want to do it. She passed away about 5 or 6 years ago. She was a really terrific woman. There is a book fund here to purchase books in her honor.

JM:Gardening?

KF:I don’t think it matters. I think it is just books.

JM:Well, when I was on the board they were trying to order books for the things that she was most interested in. I think it was music and gardening, but I am not sure

KF:That’s nice.

JM:When did you actually join the Friends?

KF:About 4 years ago.

JM:Are you a board member or treasurer?

KF:I am a board member.

JM:How many are on the board now?

KF:About 12

JM:The board does fund raising and they do the book sale.

KF:Their fund raising is really just the book sale. We no longer do an appeal letter. It gives us little opportunity to make money. We do the book sale and also the cocktail party in the spring.

JM:The money that you raise goes for what?

KF: It is usually for incidentals like the New York Times subscription, Hoopla which is an on line service that was needed. We also paid for all of the children’s library furniture for the renovation. That was a lot for our small ability to raise money.

JM:Is there anything else that you would like to add to this interview before we close?

KF:No I think that is it.5.

JM:Thank you so very much.

KF:Thank you Jean for doing this for the town.