A Sullivan County icon retires

Posted 8/21/12

BARRYVILLE, NY — On Friday, December 18, the Town of Highland threw a surprise retirement party for outgoing Superintendent Andy Boyar at the newly opened Catskills Mountains Resort on Mail …

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A Sullivan County icon retires

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BARRYVILLE, NY — On Friday, December 18, the Town of Highland threw a surprise retirement party for outgoing Superintendent Andy Boyar at the newly opened Catskills Mountains Resort on Mail Road—just one day before the venue’s grand opening on the 19th. At the buffet dinner, a number of friends and officials stood up to pay tribute to Boyar, who was not only superintendent of the Town of Highland for 24 years (over two non-consecutive terms), but also has served in offices including town attorney, town justice, member of the Eldred Central School District School Board, Town of Highland representative on the Upper Delaware Council, and chairman of the erstwhile Sullivan County Board of Supervisors.

Jean Vandermark, Town of Highland bookkeeper and secretary to the superintendent, drew a laugh from the crowd with her lament that Boyar was leaving after she and Town Clerk Doreen Hanson had “just gotten him trained,” but Boyar jumped in to say, “No, it’s really true,” in turn paying a tribute to Vandermark and Hanson for their support and advice over the years. Other speakers included Andy’s brother, Edward Boyar, town councilman James Gutekunst, long-time friend and realtor Gibson McKean and Columbia professor emeritus Peter Kolesar. The latter two paid tribute, among other things, to Boyar’s fishing enthusiasm—which serves this newspaper well in the form of his current fishing column, The Incompleat Angler.

Some, including Gutekunst, noted Boyar’s facility for listening, an ability that The River Reporter also noted and commended in the Best of 40 editorial from July 19, 2012 that we reprint on this page. The speakers were unanimous in thanking Boyar for his years of service and what they characterized as his singular dedication and effectiveness in making Highland a place where people, in Hanson’s words, “want to live, work and raise a family.”

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