Pre-med lifeguard saves infant

BETHEL, NY — For the past three summers John Gorzynski has worked as a lifeguard at Lake Superior Park without encountering any emergencies.

But on August 10, he was sitting on the lifeguard stand with fellow lifeguard Kelly Mullally when a woman came racing down the hill, yelling that a baby was choking. Gorzynski signaled other lifeguards, conveying that he was leaving his post and that they should call 911. “Then Kelly and I raced to find the child discolored and in distress. I performed the Heimlich maneuver while Kelly swept out the child’s mouth,” Gorzynski said. “The child began to cry a little bit and eventually, it threw up a pickle that had lodged in its throat.”

In 2004, during his senior year at Sullivan West High School, Gorzynski enrolled in the New Visions Health Program. He spent at least half of his school days working in labs and assisting doctors at Catskill Regional Medical Center. He is currently studying biology and chemistry at St. John’s University, with plans to attend medical school.

Candidates for sheriff expected to speak

MONTICELLO, NY — Candidates for Sullivan County Sheriff have been invited to discuss their plans for running the sheriff’s department during an August 18 meeting at Mr. Willy’s on State Route 42.

The Sullivan County Patrolman’s Benevolent Association will host the meeting, where each candidate will have the opportunity to address the association’s membership in an open forum. The candidates are Republican Mike Schiff, a retired state trooper; Democrat Frank Armstrong, a retired Monticello police officer; and Democrat Paul Trust, the sheriff’s department’s chief civil officer. Trust and Armstrong will face off during the primary election on September 13.

Pilot dies in plane crash

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, NY — A 78-year-old pilot died when his single-engine Cessna airplane crashed in a field near Firemen’s Park on August 12.

The plane tore through utility wires before crashing in the field at about 2:00 p.m., and firemen who were preparing for their annual barbecue rushed to pull the pilot from the plane, but John Raftery, a widower who lived in Queens and Woodridge, NY, died on impact. He had taken off from the Sullivan County Airport.

There was no explosion after the crash, which led witnesses and police to think that the plane had run out of gas. The Federal Aviation Administration and the National Transportation Safety Board are leading the investigation into the crash.

Woodstock reunion held despite sheriff’s warning

BETHEL, NY — The people came to Yasgur’s Farm last weekend and Motorcycle Al was there to greet the crowds who show up each year to celebrate the anniversary of Woodstock. Promoter and host Jeryl Abramson said the event was a “private party” this year since the Town of Bethel had denied Yasgur Road Productions’ applications for temporary camping and festival permits.

Sullivan County Sheriff Daniel Hogue sent a letter to Abramson and her husband, Roy Howard, instructing them to post their property “to notify people that the event is cancelled.”

But Abramson ignored the letter. “They want to charge us for all the overtime of the sheriff’s department. They’re out of their minds,” she said. On Friday evening, as cars were being admitted for $35 each, Abramson said 15 security guards would deny admission to anyone driving an RV, and that a group of staff called the “Dream Team” would prevent anyone from sleeping all weekend in order to comply with the town’s denial of a camping permit for the weekend.

“We have people assigned to wake up anyone if they snooze at any time,” Abramson said.

Sullivan County Undersheriff Joseph Decker said his department did not make any arrests during the weekend.

Alliance to Keep Pike Green holds presentations

HAWLEY, PA — The Alliance To Keep Pike Green is organizing an educational campaign to present groups in Pike County with contemporary examples of smart growth tools that other counties have used to preserve rural character. Such tools include conservation easements, transferring development rights and designating special growth areas.

Presentations will be given on Thursday, August 18 at 7:30 p.m. at the Delaware Valley School Board meeting and on Wednesday, August 24 at 7:00 p.m. at the Lackawaxen Township Planning Board meeting.

For more information email info@keeppikegreen.org.

Two drown while swimming in Delaware

In separate incidents, two young men drowned as they tried to swim across the Upper Delaware River last week.

In the afternoon of Wednesday, August 10, Darnell Clarke, 20, of Middletown, NY was close to the middle of the river near Sparrowbush, NY when he called for help. His friends tried to save him, as did a passing canoeist, but Clarke drowned in about 15 feet of water, New York State Police said.

In the afternoon of Saturday, August 13, Eliezer Vazquez, 17, of the Bronx, New York City, drowned in a section of river in the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area, near Bushkill, PA. Vazquez had reportedly stopped for lunch at Freeman Point on the Pennsylvania side of the river during a kayaking trip with two teenage friends and their father, Ricardo Morales. Vazquez tried to swim across the river but only made it about three-quarters of the way across before he started to started to struggle. Despite Morales efforts from his kayak to save the young man, Vazquez drowned in about 14 feet of water.