Local government symbols and military history is the subject of talk at Military Museum on March 17

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The Saratoga County Seal reflects the fact that the historic Battle of Saratoga was fought within the county in 1777. The history behind this seal and others is the subject of a March 17 talk.

SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (03/12/2018) (readMedia)-- New York's local government seals inspired by military history will be the topic of a free talk on Saturday, March 17 at 2 p.m. at the New York State Military Museum here.

"Hidden in Plain Sight: Seals and Symbols of our Military History in New York" will be presented by Marvin Bubie, a Capital Region resident who specializes in sigillography-the study of seals attached to documents as a source of historical information.

Bubie has written three books on how history is reflected in town, village and county symbols, shields and coats of arms we see on documents, police cars and fire trucks.

His talk will focus on the military references included on New York local government symbols and the military stories behind them.

Most of these symbols refer to the Revolutionary War, such as the Saratoga County seal, which reflects the Battle of Saratoga, or Bennington NY's seal which references the Battle of Bennington. But others, like that for the Town of Fort Edward, which references the Fort Edward built in 1755 during the French and Indian War, are related to other conflicts.

Marvin Bubie was born and raised in the Capital District of New York, graduating from Averill Park High School and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. He is a retiree from GE and has lived in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Georgia and Virginia. In addition, he spent 18 months in Germany with the US Army and has returned to Europe many times visiting Switzerland, Italy, Austria and Germany.

Over the years he has collected the seals from various cities, towns, counties, boroughs and villages in this county as well as those in Europe. Each seal is a mini-history lesson and a collection all relating to a common heritage tell of a reverence for that heritage. Marvin has three books – the first covering the Dutch heritage of New York's Hudson River from Manhattan to Amsterdam, NY, the second illustrating municipal symbols along the Erie Canal and the third has seals from Maine to Georgia that celebrate participation in the American Revolution.

The New York State Military Museum is located at 61 Lake Avenue in Saratoga Springs.