Contributed photo The Sullivan County Visitors Association unveiled its 2008 travel guide cover at its annual dinner meeting on December 6.

Visitors association’s tie-dyed eagle for ’08

Tourism business people applaud image

By FRITZ MAYER

MONTICELLO, NY—Two icons of the Sullivan County tourism industry were joined together to promote the county. One is the hallowed field where the original Woodstock Festival was held; the other is the American bald eagle, which graces the county sky in ever increasing numbers. With the eagle being taken off the United States endangered species list in June, and with the new museum devoted to all things Woodstock at the Bethel Woods Center scheduled to open this spring, the Sullivan County Visitors Association (SCVA) decided to merge the two ideas into a single tie-dyed eagle that will grace the cover of the next Sullivan County Travel Guide, which should be ready to ship in January 2008.

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Gas leasing companies invading Northeast PA

County extension urging and facilitating public education

By TOM KANE

DAMASCUS, PA—There’s a gas leasing frenzy going on in the Southern Tier of New York, and it’s spreading to northeast Pennsylvania.

Landmen—representatives of natural gas companies, brokers and speculators have been swarming over parts of western and central Pennsylvania since the early 1990s. Since that time, over 30 companies have been active in that region, asking landowners to give their company a lease on their property in order to explore for natural gas deposits.

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Concert to benefit Marshall Cooper

Community rallies for stricken opera singer; medical tourism at issue

By SANDY LONG

MATAMORAS, PA—When Marshall Cooper, a professional opera singer and voice instructor from Matamoras, was struck with a stabbing pain in his hip as he performed in Harrisburg two years ago, he knew that something was seriously wrong. Barely able to make it off the stage, the lirico spinto tenor, who spent 20 years performing and teaching in Europe, found himself suddenly grounded, forced to cancel performances and, worst of all, facing hip replacement surgery without medical insurance.

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Other stories in this issue:

• Report reveals decline in 178 bird species
• Roebling project wraps up
• Lawmakers surprised by college funding request
• Some PA citizens call for a constitutional convention
• Sullivan County to study landfill alternatives
• U.S. Marines collect more than toys for tots
• Park service superintendent Forney to retire

A D V E R T I S E M E N T S