Watch The Interview

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Family Photos

Vicki grew up on Maple Avenue in Selkirk, the only daughter of Gilbert Houk and Helen Houk (nee Hempel).  Her father Gil grew up in Edmiston, NY and started his family in Albany, but after his service in World War II he bought their farm in Selkirk and relocated there.  After his kids were grown, he was appointed by Bethlehem town supervisor Bertram Kohinke to the position of Town Assessor, ultimately serving under three administrations in local government.

Having come of age in a vibrant rural neighborhood during the post-war Baby Boom, Vicki walked us through her early life with four brothers, her father’s can-do lifestyle as a young tradesman and farmer, and the impacts of exponential population growth in Bethlehem in those times. Local governments scrambled to find the resources to provide sufficient housing, public services and education, which is perhaps most evident in her tales of attending elementary school in five different locations. This includes the 1859 two-room schoolhouse in Cedar Hill, which now serves as the Bethlehem Historical Association Museum.

Immediately after graduating from Ravena-Coeymans-Selkirk High School in 1967, Vicki met future husband Ralph Folger at Hudson Valley Community College (we’ll let her tell you the story) and his Navy and college journeys took them to Chesapeake Bay, Rochester and other places before the couple returned to her hometown in 1974, when they purchased a 1915 bungalow in Slingerlands.  This was a kit house built by a member of the large Couse family in town, and a half century later, the Folgers still enjoy this great home located near the Slingerlands Historic District.

Vicki is a longtime BHA trustee and volunteer and is past regent for both the Tawasentha and Hannacroix chapters of the Daughters of the American Revolution.  Many of her ancestral lines are Dutch and can be traced back to America’s early European settlements. Visitors to this site may also recognize historically significant Bethlehem surnames in her family tree, such as LaGrange and Spoore.

In fact, she is a direct descendant of Omie La Grange (7^th great grandfather), a Frenchman and early 17^thcentury settler in this region. La Grange is best known for purchasing the 69,000-acre Van Bael patent with partner Johannes Vedder through the heirs of Jan Hendrickse Van Bael, who bought it directly from Mohawk elders. This meant La Grange was a “freeholder” – that rare European resident that owned their land and did not have to pay annual rents to the Dutch Patroon – but the Van Rensselaers laid claim to the land in court and won in 1776. The Anti-Rent movement in the mid-19^th century saw the return of the land to Vicki’s ancestors, with portions staying in the family all they way into the 1950s.

We hope you enjoy her memories as much as we did.

Family Photos