To the editor:

Artist-members of the Catskill Artists Gallery and I wish to thank you from the bottom of our collective heart for the help and support you and your paper have been giving us, especially for the wonderful coverage of our premiere two-person show of the work of Cecily Fortescue and Debra Steinfeld, which is running now through October 8. It has been a long haul since our opening in December, and we could not have done it without you!

Thanks for all your help.

Peggy Friedman

Liberty, NY

To the editor:

There are people who say you can never go home. For when you return, those things and people you left behind will never be the same. To these people I would say that they never had the good fortune, as I did, to grow up in a community like Narrowsburg. While things do change over time, it is the people in our lives that we tend to hold on to. They are the ones who provide the real foundation to who we are and what we are to become.

When my dad became ill in January of this past year, I decided it best to return home to be closer to him and my mom. From the moment I arrived, I felt the warm embrace of an entire community filled with both kind and caring people. Not only those I remember from my youth, but so many more who knew my Dad, including those on both sides of the river. I consider it one of the last gifts my father was able to give to me. It was the kind of open-armed welcome, filled with both words and kind expressions of caring that I find even now difficult to properly put into words.

In the past 30 or so years since leaving Narrowsburg, I have had what I felt was the good fortune to travel the world, to see and do so much my father never had the opportunity to do. Yet, as I sit here now, looking out at the river from the home he loved so passionately, and having had a chance to “walk in his shoes” these past six months, I see things he did a lot clearer now. To once again live in this community, as my dad chose to do for the past 55 years, allows me to better understand just how lucky and wise he really was and why he was so proud of his little corner of the world he chose to call home.

To those of you who were able to join us at our little celebration for this man who to his family was always “larger than life” and to those who we missed or were unable to attend, on behalf of myself, my mom, June; my sisters, Linda and Barbara; my brother, Dave; my brother-in-laws, Ron and Rick; my sister-in-law, Sybil; and all Dad’s nieces and nephews, grandchildren and extended family, we would simply like to leave you with the following thought:

They say that the measure of a man can be seen in both the place he chooses to live and the friends he comes to make during his lifetime. Thank you for allowing us to remember Sal in a way that any man could only hope to be remembered—as a loving and devoted husband and father, as well as a well respected and caring friend.

Salvatore DeMauro Jr.

Narrowsburg, NY

To the editor:

With regard to the small group of very loud, rude people from the Smallwood Civic Association who insist on turning every town meeting into a fiasco: find a new hobby! Most of you are retired, do not even spend the whole year in Smallwood, and have way too much time on your hands.

Mr. Allan Scott and our elected town board members have all done a great job for us over the years and they deserve our respect and support. I have not been attending the meetings because I have no desire to be subjected to the same nonsense shouted over and over by these few individuals who do not represent the majority of Smallwood residents. I do, however, keep up with what goes on at these meetings by reading articles in The River Reporter and speaking with people who were there. I find it quite ironic that the vice president of the Smallwood Civic Association protests “aren’t we all entitled to use that beautiful body of water [the Toronto Reservoir]?” when no one can even dip their big toe in the Smallwood Lake unless they join the civic association and pay a lake use fee! When we first bought our house in Smallwood in 1985, we were all “entitled” to use it.

I welcome Woodstone Development’s Chapin Estate. Thanks to Mr. Dubrovsky, my town real estate taxes have gone down. Thank you!

Denise Connolly

Smallwood, NY

To the editor:

I was in attendance at the Bethel Town Board meeting on August 28 for the entirety. I was most interested in the manner in which it was reported. First of all, your reporter did not differentiate in his reporting between what was said publicly during the meeting and what was said after the meeting in private interviews.

Much of what was said in favor of the federally licensed public access to Toronto Reservoir was not reported, except for words by Hal Saltzman and Jeryl Abramson. Information and questions addressed to the board by Bob Barrett, Frank Wolf and Herman Wiener of the Civic Association of Smallwood were ignored, as was a very strident condemnation of Smallwood houses by a county public official whose husband happens to work security for Woodstone Development. Also omitted was a statement by Councilman Bob Blais that he has never heard any word that any member of the civic association has said against the building of homes by Woodstone Development.

The only words said publicly by Mr. Bonnaci had to do with how many houses are on another road. Steve Dubrovsky sat silently throughout the entire meeting. Words that were published were from a private interview with him after the meeting was over, and not open to debate. Since you quoted him saying, in reference to Smallwood having only “self interests, selfish positions,” anyone might ask “who has the selfish interests?” The satisfaction gained from a year of investigation, regular addressing of the town board on this issue, is far from selfish; rather it seems selfless to fight for public rights. And, the right to Toronto Reservoir remains licensed for use for the public for a good number of years yet.

June M. Barrett

Smallwood, NY

To the editor:

Where did Camp Ascalona come from?

Early 1980s when Holbert’s Flats was established, nothing but the old Pelican Hut, swamp and trees were across the River. There was no camp—any local can confirm this.

May 1992 Highland Planning Board minutes show an application and denial for permit in 1985, yet the Krehuls operated as a campground for four years without permit. Minutes further show Krehuls informed the code officer that “no one used the land except family and friends.” The board unanimously passed a resolution rejecting Krehul’s application. The law states if a permit is not active for three years; it can’t be renewed.

How do Krehul’s “work with local authorities?” From the moment they acquired this property there has been nothing but smoke and mirrors. If Highland taxpayers knew the money Ascalona has cost them, maybe someone would step forward and urge the code enforcement officer to enforce the law concerning Ascalona: 10 sites, no trailers. When you drive/paddle by Ascalona, what you see is a smoke belching furnace shack, trailers, tents and tarp shanties that stay up all season.

Krehul’s statement about “music, campfires and ghost stories” is an understatement; that’s not all that echoes from there. As for being singled out, “the other campground” looks like and is run like a campground, rules are enforced and they have a contact number where a responsible individual is reached 24/7.

As for the statement on “trains blaring horns” — if the train bothers the Krehul’s that much, why not leave? We don’t mind the train and it’s a lot less noisy than Ascalona and best of all, the train never trespasses.

We welcome any input on how we can encourage Ascalona to abide by the laws that the other campgrounds live by and once again urge Highland to enforce these laws.

Helga Sachno

Lackawaxen, PA

To the editor:

Many years ago I lived in Shohola when, at best, 100 people lived there. It was hard at times growing up there. My mother, Virginia, married Bill Wendt—and thus my birth name of Sullivan became Wendt.

The townspeople didn’t care for my mother, who was a divorced woman with two children, but my new step-grandparents—George and Anna Wendt—treated us as if we were born into their family for which I will always be grateful. They were wonderful and their daughter Inez (Wendt/Hubner) was like my older sister.

In my opinion, there is nowhere on earth that is more beautiful than the entire area back “home.” Thank you for allowing me to keep up with my town and surrounding area where all my relatives live—the Dauche’s, the Leeks, the Rundels and Cookie Bell.

The internet allows me to feel the closeness to everyone. I shall never forget all I know even thought I left at the age of 16. The beauty of the area is still vivid in my memory.

If anyone would like to e-mail me at bondedhearts@yahoo.com. Please do so if you knew my mom Ginny. I will answer all.

Thank you again for allowing my letter to be in your newspaper.

Vicki Sullivan, aka Vicki Wendt

Silverton, OR

Continued on page

To the editor:

Sullivan West Superintendent Michael Johndrow is at it again. When I questioned him during the August 6, 2003 school board meeting, Mr. Johndrow admitted that the foundation building blocks of the new Lake Huntington high school have not been tarred with a waterproof chemical coating to keep the moisture out.

Mr. Johndrow then claimed you don’t need such preventative measures these days. In this climate, that is absolute nonsense especially when you are building on documented swamp land.

You can expect major structural repairs five or six years down the road when the untreated and unprotected foundation starts to crumble and moisture infiltrates the structure.

It was also disclosed that the new high school gymnasium, auditorium, athletic fields and other key areas were not finished when school started. So, students are attending what really is a half finished high school just to create the false illusion for parents and taxpayers that everything has been completed on time.

I have been watching the work on the Delaware Valley building and it looks terrible. All the huge, expensive and historic glass blocks that set off the windows in the building have been replaced with cheap looking windows that would be appropriate in an old and decrepit factory or even a jail.

Delaware Valley students will have to go to school with major construction going on all over the second floor until December. Remember when we were promised that this would never happen and the students would never be exposed to the dust, debris and health risks of the construction process?

Millions of dollars have been poured into the old Narrowsburg building. Have you looked at it lately? The paint on the outside is peeling. The kitchen is still a cramped, ugly and obsolete monstrosity that hasn’t been fixed up in the four years since the merger, and the building itself is still an aging firetrap with narrow stairs.

In fact, the Narrowsburg school building is a major accident just waiting to happen.

One big reason for the increase in the current Sullivan West budget is contract hauling. Incredibly, the Sullivan West administration ignored the defeat of Proposition Three by the voters in June and sold our bus fleet for next to nothing and went for the more expensive leased buses.

That means our transportation budget has unnecessarily increased $971,635 over last year’s transportation cost of $885,847. This is more than double our transportation costs and we will be getting less in actual service for our money.

Remember the big promises that we can run four schools as cheaply as three? It is now crunch time, folks. Hold on to your wallets. The Sullivan West administration can’t deliver on these promises either. You can expect huge budget and tax increases next year.

Sullivan West Superintendent Michael Johndrow has got to go and the sooner we get rid of him the better.

Tony Wayne

Fremont Center, NY