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Post by Uplander on Oct 22, 2006 20:19:33 GMT -5
Hey, what’s with the God-awful "Hoosuck" spelling of “Hoosic?” Historical or not, it looks like an amalgamation of what we used to chant at the Drury - Hoosic Valley football games….
“Hoosic…. Hoosic…. Hoosic…. YOU SUCK! ;D
Is a complete chapter name change possible? Or at least a spelling change?
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Post by fishincane on Oct 26, 2006 15:46:23 GMT -5
Not sure if I would jump the gun on a name change.... There might be a valid reason why it was named as it was. Found this on the web explaining the history behind Hoosuck. berkshirelinks.com/north_adams_ma.phpIt would be interesting to see if there are any living members that were around when the chapter was formed. Actually, when was it formed?
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tophet
New Member
Hoosuck TU Secretary
Posts: 11
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Post by tophet on Oct 27, 2006 17:06:56 GMT -5
The Chapter was formed around 1975. I think that Ernie LeClaire of Williamstown (our immediate past President) was one of the founding members. (I joined around 1993).
Hoosic and its variants all derive from an Algonquin Indian name, having something to do with either the waters or the mountains (I forget which). Actually, the Algonquins had different names for each of the 3 branches. I believe the Hoosic was the Main Branch, the Ashuwillticook (hence the Bike Trail) was the South, and I forget their name for the North.
You can find the story about the Hoosic name in the opening chapter of In This Valley, about the history of the Town of Adams, by Eugene Michalenko. The Adams Historical Society, of which I am a member, sells it for $5 per copy.
When the English settlers came to the area, they used different spellings/corruptions of Hoosic. Originally, the "dominant" one (now archaic) was "Hoosuck," and the Town of Adams was originally called the "Village of East Hoosuck." (You can see it on the Town seal even today). Over time, the two others that came to dominate in Massachusetts were "Hoosic" for the river(s) and "Hoosac" for the mountains and the valley (hence the name of the "Hoosac Valley High School").
But New York and (I think) Vermont do not follow the same convention as Massachusetts. Over there, they refer to the "Hoosick." Hence, the Village of Hoosick Falls in New York.
A few years ago, I submitted a press release for the Chapter to the "hook and bullet" columnist at the Springfield Union-News (now the Republican). He emailed me to question my spelling of the Chapter name, which contrasted with the spelling of the river in the same piece. I went through the whole rigamarole about "Hoosuck" versus "Hoosic" versus "Hoosac" versus "Hoosick," but evidently he did not believe me, because when the "blurb" appeared in his column, it read "Hoosic" throughout, with no distinction between the name of the Chapter or the river.
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tophet
New Member
Hoosuck TU Secretary
Posts: 11
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Post by tophet on Nov 21, 2006 15:45:38 GMT -5
I did some followup checking on the web and here's what I came up with about the "original" Algonquin names of the three branches of the Hoosic River:
The North Branch was called "Mayunsook." So far, I have not been able to find any translation of what that meant.
The South Branch was called "Ashuwillticook." According to the translation I found, this meant "at-the-in-between pleasant river" or (more colloquially) ""pleasant river between the hills."
The Main Branch was called "Hoosic." There are a bunch of different proposed translations for what it meant. Two of them that are referred to as being doubtful are (1) "forbidden" and (2) "the place of the owl." Other, more serious contenders include:
(a) "the place of stones/rock place";
(b) "the river of the pines"; or
(c) "the place beyond (the Hudson)."
Personally, I favor (c) - - mainly just because it sounds cool.
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Post by Joe Overlock on Nov 27, 2006 10:57:20 GMT -5
"River of the Pines" Sounds cool too. Awesome work!
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Post by alansilverman on Feb 5, 2007 20:12:15 GMT -5
I think of all possible spellings, this one is my least favorite. Anything that ends in SUCK needs to be questioned. I prefer the Hoosic spelling, I think, but it's tied with Hoosac. If I had my way, I would change the spelling. I just think the spelling Hoosuck sucks. But, that's just an opinion. I'm not gonna fight it, but I'm glad others feel the same way as I do.
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Post by Joe Overlock on Feb 6, 2007 9:16:36 GMT -5
Bring it up at the meeting, we can always put it to a vote. The chapter was founded as Hoosuck but when TU went digital they registered it as Hoosic on tu.org and all other records. So as far as National is concerned we're the Hoosic chapter.
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