Awards galore as Sullivan County becomes more beautiful

By LISA CUTRONI

BETHEL, NY — A hush fell over the audience as Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther was handed the envelope that contained the name of the Golden Feather award recipient.

“I am so excited I can hardly breathe,” Gunther said into the mike as the metallic envelope opener sliced through the thin paper.

“And the winner of the $50,000 Golden Feather award is Lumberland,” Gunther exclaimed, yet the last words of her sentence were barely audible as the audience raised a deafening cheer.

Town of Lumberland residents had created Circle Park, a category C Sullivan Renaissance project, to memorialize Elizabeth Bisland, an 11-year-old Glen Spey resident who tragically lost her life last summer. William McKerrell, a member of the Circle Park project, accepted the award on behalf of the group. “We’re extremely happy. We were winners before we won anything,” McKerrell said.

Winners were plentiful at the Sullivan Renaissance Awards ceremony, held at the Harvest Festival site on August 15. Scheduled to begin at 6:00 o’clock p.m., the festivities which included a performance by the band “Somerville,” a hay bale maze and a feast of hot dogs and other picnic fare, were enjoyed by approximately 40 people as early as 4:45. By 6:00 hundreds of Sullivan County residents and Sullivan Renaissance participants were milling around tables that exhibited information concerning various programs and groups involved with the annual beautification program.

Scanning the many faces participating in the pre-awards party, Glenn Pontier, program coordinator of Sullivan Renaissance, exclaimed, “I didn’t expect all this.” In true recognition of the Renaissance ideal, a diverse group of families, Renaissance participants, the media, and others melted into one sea of excited individuals.

Shortly after 6: 30, Sandra Gerry, chairperson of Sullivan Renaissance, welcomed the hundreds who filled the tent in preparation for the ceremony. After a short flute performance by Meghan Melchick, a long-time resident of Sullivan County, Gerry introduced Pontier.

“Dozens of places that weren’t so beautiful are beautiful now,” Pontier started. Thirty-seven of the original 42 Renaissance groups had completed their projects by the August deadline. The remaining five groups will be finishing in September. In all, the 2005 Sullivan Renaissance groups raised over a million dollars, $75,000 of which was contributed by Senator John Bonacic.

Next to take the podium was Legislator Jodi Goodman, who spoke of the “spirit of renewal,” the concept behind the seasonal program. An addition to the Sullivan Renaissance program, the seasonal program addresses beautification projects in seasonal communities. A grant of $250 dollars is awarded to any seasonal community project that follows the required application process. Most drastic, explained Goodman, were the far reaches to which the enthusiasm of the Sullivan Renaissance program extended, in fact to some of the boroughs of Manhattan. In total, 12 seasonal groups were awarded grants this year.

The School Spruce up Program was second to be recognized. Seven schools, Eldred Central High, GL Cooke Elementary, Sullivan County BOCES in Liberty, Sullivan County BOCES in Youngsville, Sullivan West High School, Roscoe Central and the Serendipity Cafe competed for a first place prize of $500. Grants were given to area schools that wished to participate in small projects to beautify their school grounds or community. This year, tied for first place were GL Cooke and Youngsville. Four scholarships to Sullivan County Community College were also presented: two valuing at $750 and an additional two at $1,500.

A special award was issued to volunteers from Daytop Village in recognition of their services throughout the year.

The category A groups were then introduced to the audience.

Category A groups had been those that created welcome signs, small gardens or replaced signs. All the groups that had completed their projects by the August deadline received a phase-two completion grant of $250. This year, due to the large volume of Category A and B groups, it was decided that there should be two first, second, and third place winners in both categories.

For category A, first place winners, receiving $3,000, were Youngsville and Monticello (de Hoyos Park). Receiving $2,000 each in second place were Monticello Sullivan First and the Recovery Center in Monticello. Third place winners, Parksville and Rock Hill, tied for $1,000. The Environmental Impact award ($1,000), first introduced to the Sullivan Renaissance program last year under the advisement of Sandra Gerry, is presented to a group showing concern for an environmental issue throughout their project. In Category A, the recipient of the award was Monticello’s de Hoyos Park group.

New this year was the Historic Preservation award ($1,000). At the suggestion of the judges, Sullivan Renaissance introduced an award that honored a group who improved the historic integrity of the area in which they were working. This year’s category A winner was Livingston Manor.

Awarded next were the category B groups.

B groups consist of projects that take on more than one category A element, such as park enhancement, roadside beautification or extensive building landscaping. Groups that finished their projects by the deadline in this group received a phase two completion grant totaling $500. The first place winners, receiving $10,000 each, were Neversink and Swan Lake. Second place winners of $7,000 were Rock Hill and Long Eddy. Third place winners, Moutaindale and Cochecton Center, received $5,000. The Environmental Award ($2,000) was presented to Fallsburg, while the Historic Preservation award ($2,000) was given to Long Eddy. The Silver Feather Award of $4,000, donated by Verizon, was given to a category B group that showed promise and initiative in becoming a category C group. The recipient of the Silver Feather award was Long Eddy.

There were only four groups competing in category C.

Category C groups were: Barryville, Bethel, Hurleyville and Lumberland. Barryville, Bethel and Hurleyville won phase-two completion grants of $5,000 each. Hurleyville was presented with the $3,000 Environmental Impact Award and Barryville was awarded the $3,000 Historic Preservation award. Lumberland received the $50,000 Golden Feather Award to continue progress on Circle Park. The Golden Feather award was made possible by Gunther.

As the award ceremony drew to a close, energetic Renaissance groups conversed with one another. Hank D’auria, chairman of the Federation of Sportsmens clubs of Sullivan County, excitedly explained, “It feels really good, not only for me, but we all did it,” after winning both first place for category A and the Environmental Impact award. When asked if this first-time contestant would enter in another Sullivan Renaissance contest, D’auria replied, “I think so. I’m looking forward to moving to category B.”