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Follow Up on the
News
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A
Story Of Duelling Cell Towers
The latest in the West Hurley company’s local battles
surfaced at a recent February 22nd meeting in Shandaken where
Supervisor Robert Cross Jr. got his fingers burned by other
members of his town board who accused him of hiding crucial
town information on the subject.
It was the attorney for Masterpage, Timothy Morrison of Albany
based firm Whiteman Osterman and Hanna, that did most of the
real talking about Masterpage’s current dilemma. As
he and Masterpage owner Kevin Kellerhouse left town hall before
the official meeting began but not before a Masterpage sales
pitch to benefit another tower company interested in profiting
from the Masterpage failure, Morrison told the Olive Press
that the company is too busy with another project in the town
of Olive and does not have the resources to complete that
project and take on the Shandaken project, which has a deadline
of mid May to become operational.
Now the company wants Shandaken to allow another manufacturer,
Homeland Towers LLC., hand picked by Masterpage and one they
have already made a deal with, to build the tower.
Morrison refused to state specifics of the deal, but noted
that it was struck on the condition that Shandaken award Homeland
the contract to complete what Masterpage could not.
Homeland Towers President Manual Vicente was introduced to
the town board by Kellerhouse as his choice to take over the
contract, and the approved permits, for the 180 foot tower.
While claiming to be the only hope for getting the tower built
as soon as possible, salesman Vicente said he would need the
Board to grant a deadline extension.
Cross has had a cozy relationship with Kellerhouse for years,
inviting Kellerhouse to help draft the town’s cell tower
law two years ago, and then signing a contract with Kellerhouse
shortly thereafter to give Masterpage exclusive rights to
what many consider to be the best tower location in town.
This time, it was Cross’s deliberate choice to hide
his knowledge that Masterpage couldn’t come through
that caused suspicion. He tried explaining that he was tight
lipped about Masterpage because he did not want the information
leaked to the press because he did not want to embarass Kellerhouse.
The board did not award the contract to Homeland Towers. It
is expected that other providers will be asked to offer proposals.
As for Olive, the attorney for Masterpage also said Thursday
that a lawsuit over right of way issues has been settled,
paving the way for the already built Masterpage cell tower
on South Mountain to become operational soon.
The lawsuit held up the installation of utilities to make
the tower operational, just as a previous lawsuit that tried
to keep Masterpage from building on South Mountain, eventually
won in state Appeals Court, also held them up.
Olive Officials are taking a wait and see attitude.
Supervisor Bert Leifeld reports that Kellerhouse and Morrison
did claim to have an agreement and that as soon as the weather
breaks they would begin the final phase of the tower construction.
But, Leifeld added, until a judge signs off on the case there
is no deal.
Further complications surround Masterpage in Olive, Leifeld
said. Verizon continues to pursue plans to build its own tower
on town property at the local transfer station. Verizon is
also slated to rent space on the Masterpage tower.
It remains unclear whether Verizon is planning to utilize
both facilities or if the company is making its own plans
to provide coverage in the event of a Masterpage failure.
Help
Onteora’s Future!
“We want to make sure we get a chance to hear what the
community wants to share, now that they have a chance to look
at plans and any significant information that surrounds it,”
said Ford.
The sessions have been broken into five topics: student needs,
instruction, facilities, transportation and community needs.
“All those concerns surround us as a district, we can’t
make a decision that does not fit in our budget, or doesn’t
fit in our transportation,” Ford added. “We have
to think of all of those effects as we are making a decision
and public input is a valid resource.”
Information will be available on tables from past school board
meetings as the public arrives. New information on transportation
costs will also be presented.
Three proposals from KSQ architects have been presented at
past school board meetings. They range from renovations of
the district, to closing additional elementary schools or
all elementary schools if a central campus is decided on.
There is also a proposal to separate the middle school from
the high school that has gained much support among administration,
teachers and parents, who find the current configuration inconsistent
with quality educational standards. Two proposals have been
introduced defining the middle school as either a six-through-eight
or five-through-eight model. Costs range from $40 million
to $70 million with State aid at approximately 31 percent.
Armand Quadrini and Scott Hillje of KSQ Architects will also
be in attendance, presenting their facilities studies and
bond proposals.
After welcoming statements, depending on the number of people,
small groups will be formed or one large group. During the
sessions, people will have the opportunity to talk, ask questions
and express their concerns.
Ford encourages that the public write their thoughts. “Then
we will take all of those ideas and put them on sort of a
word wall, facilities here transportation there, and then
each table or board member will need to take one area and
synthesize them into bold statements,” she said, adding
that one of the architects will then summarize the full meeting
for district use. A full report will be given at a future
school board meeting.
Public input will play a major role on how the board makes
its decision.
“We are in a declining enrollment and we need to adjust
our plans depending on that restriction… We can’t
go away from that but right now that is our reality,”
Ford said, referring to a demographic report that predicts
that by the year 2011 there will be 1526 school age students,
compared to 1916 students enrolled as of December 2006.
Ford said her role at the forum is to help organize and listen
to the public. She has been working in the district for less
than a month, but still coming into the office during snow
days to learn about Onteora in quick time.
Ford was formally introduced to the district by OCS board
president Marino D’Orazio at a February 20 school board
meeting with large attendance. But it turned out that much
of the audience came to protest the elimination of Michael
Boms, high school track coach of 27 years, who was told a
couple of weeks ago by Assistant High Scool Principal Gabe
Buono that he would not have his contract renewed for the
coming spring season.
“By consensus of the board we pulled the track position
and the women’s varsity softball position, they are
not on the consent agenda tonight,” D’Orazio said.
“They are tabled for a future meeting.”
The board will discuss Boms employment during an executive
session.
During public be heard, Boms, a retired Onteora high school
teacher, addressed the school board (see his letter in News
Briefs). Several parents, students and Onteora alumni sat
around the former coach and spoke on his behalf.
Later Buono said he could not discuss confidential issues
but did acknowledge the amount of people who attended the
meeting.
“Mike Boms has done many great things in this community
and for this school, In other business, that should not go
unnoticed.” Buono said. “It was a tough decision
and a professional decision.”
In other business, Assistant Superintendent for Business Victoria
McLaren presented the 2007-2008 budget proposals for BOCES
and Transportation, projecting an overall 15.8 percent increase
from 2005-2006 at a total of $3,540,432 for the latter department,
mostly due to a 19.1 percent increase in contract runs primarily
because of transporting special education students. Taxpayers
will also be asked to vote on four vehicles as replacements
to aging vehicles. In 2006 voters denied two new busses and
according to Interim director of transportation Peter Montalvo,
after this year, the busses will not pass inspection. The
four busses will total $279,825.
BOCES will see an overall 4.99 percent increase for 2007-2008.
The total BOCES budget is projected at $2,820,245 or a $130,888
increase. The State will reimburse 48 percent of the cost,
a drop from 50 percent. BOCES services include staff development,
technology, special education and summer school.
CONCERN
& HOPE AT WEST SHOKAN STORE
"What’s interesting to me is that this store has
gone through a series of different people running it,"
said Jim Sofranko, a West Shokan film maker and electrician.
"When these people came up from Riverdale, suddenly this
place had more business and more people coming out and having
good conversation with real openness in a friendly environment
than you can imagine. I’ve never seen it like that and
it’s all different backgrounds, from weekenders to local
trappers; people on one side of a political issue or another
all just getting along and having a good time. Everybody loves
the place!"
That congenial atmosphere is first among reasons cited by
Sofranko for the decision formulated by a group of people
who independently frequent the establishment to organize a
fundraiser to help the Mansfields cope with the sudden medical
emergency that has confronted the family. Anyone who hasn’t
noticed how devastating a catastrophic illness can be under
the current system of health care in America, they reasoned,
hasn’t been paying attention. So, they got together
and started making calls; securing space at the Olive Public
Library basement from 3 to 6 pm on Sunday, March 4th, arranging
food preparations with other local businesses volunteering
to help and enlisting performers like the angelically voiced
Amy Fradon, Marta, John Wirtz, James Barbaro and three writers
of fascinatingly quirky songs- Mark Brown, Wayne Montecalvo
and Mark Donato, among others.
As of midday on Tuesday, the Mansfields were in New York City
anxiously trying to find a surgeon to operate on their 13-year-old
son Killian. By all accounts, a remarkable boy who plays fiddle
and has created some remarkable items of art, Killian has
been stricken with a rare form of cancer for which he has
undergone previous operations and extensive therapy and which
has unhappily reappeared recently.
When Killian was nine, he broke his jaw in three places in
a bike accident and after it healed the Mansfields watched
closely for jaw pain or swelling because of a concern for
how well the bone might knit. When swelling did develop two
years later, a troublesome wisdom tooth was suspected and
treated unresponsively with antibiotics and he was checked
for an abscess.
"When (the physician) went to drain the abscess, he immediately
knew that something was off and the next day Killian was being
‘catscanned,’ Phil Mansfield recalled. "Within
a week chemotherapy was started and surgery would follow."
Killian had been diagnosed with synovial sarcoma, an unusual
form of cancer effecting supportive body tissue around joints,
tendons and bursae (which are cushioning tissues in these
and other areas of the body). It strikes mostly young adults,
most typically around knees and elbows, less frequently in
the head and neck area or the abdomen. Killian’s cancer
manifested in the area of his jaw injury and he underwent
a 10 hour operation to remove the tumor along with part of
the bone and reconstruct that portion of his jaw.
During the recovery period, the oncology staff at Columbia
Presbyterian Hospital introduced their young patient to some
forms of therapy which they call "complimentary medicine"
which embraces acupuncture, aroma therapy, chi energy movement,
visualization and other alternative avenues of the healing
process. Killian responded so exuberantly to these approaches
that he became "almost a poster child" for them,
as Mansfield phrased it, speaking before medical groups and
gatherings of donors. His enthusiasm also inspired him to
use his artistic talents to design a graphic called "Grumpy
Fish" which he gave to children in the ward and sells
on t-shirts for proceeds which go to the Hope & Heroes
Children’s Cancer Fund. It seems he had noticed that
most of the donated toys in the recovery center were for very
young children and he felt the need to contribute something
a bit more mature than stuffed animals that would appeal to
11-year-old sophisticates like himself. Another example of
Killian’s art can be seen in the form of a metallic
origami fox which he created with a friend and adorns the
outdoor space behind the store.
An unfortunate aspect of synovial sarcoma is an incidence
of recurrence frequently higher than other forms of cancer
and when it returned to Killian, it brought along a few more
setbacks. Another operation has been postponed twice in the
past few weeks. The second time, last week, the Mansfields
were already in the hospital "pre-op" room in scrubs
and surgical gowns, when they were informed that the key reconstructive
surgeon had gone into labor and a replacement wasn’t
available at Columbia Presbyterian.
"I was saying to my wife this morning that, when you
look at the checks and balances," Mansfield said, "Columbia
Presbyterian has so many checks going for them but this one
counterbalance has equaled everything good they’ve done
for us because this is quite serious."
A highly specialized plastic surgeon with experience in preserving
vascular channels to maintain blood supply in the rebuilt
regions vacated by the tumor is a vital member of the surgical
team for an operation lasting double-digit hours; one difficult
to procure and the nasty, aggressive nature of the affliction,
which threatens to spread rapidly upward into sinus regions
or elsewhere, is the cause of considerable anxiety in the
oncology department of the hospital as well as in the Mansfield
household. A team at another hospital was approached but couldn’t
schedule surgery before March 13th. A new catscan on Tuesday,
however, prompted a surgeon to venture that the removal of
the tumor couldn’t wait that long and, as this is written,
the Mansfields are waiting at the hospital for word of a closer
target date.
"We were all pretty much floored the day they postponed
the surgery," Mansfield said. "But I have to say
that one of the proudest moments for me as a person was later
in the day when my wife, Killian and myself were still in
the City, laughing, just having a good time being together
and I felt so proud to be part of a family that could find
strength in each other. It touched me greatly that Killian
can be such a strong part of that."
There was an undercurrent of tension laced with a dogged optimism
at the store when the call came in from the Mansfields to
those they left in charge that a sooner date was feasible
but anxiety lingers among friends and the customers who find
a touchstone of human kinship in the store’s special
space for community get-together.
"It’s amazing to me the amount of interest and
generosity the people who have gone to this store in the past
months feel compelled to give back to these people,"
commented Sofranko. "These are newcomers to our community
but they have such a magic to create a special space and help
people come together that we’re hoping to give something
back to them."
(Donations will be welcome at the library but, if you can’t
make it there and would like to help out while at the same
time making an investment in community spirit, the Bank of
America has set up a Phil Mansfield Donation Fund account
and checks can be sent to the bank % Mansfield Account at
2808 Rt.28 Shokan NY 12481).
Our
Towns’ Double Lives
Although Lerner
is one of the few fairly recent big-city transplants around
that did not, in fact, ever own a second home in the Catskills,
he said that “two or three folks” on his own
street are only part-time residents. And most reservoir-area
dwellers and can quite likely attest to the same.
The fact is that a grand portion of Olive and Shan-daken’s
taxpayers live double lives: one in the city, and one
in the country. It’s something that the permanent
residents have become accustomed to, and for some, it’s
a crucial part of life.
Alfred Peavy, a broker at Ruth M. Gale Real Estate in
Phoenicia, said that no less than 90 percent of his clientele
comes from the city, either looking to buy a comparatively
secluded getaway home, or hoping to relocate completely.
And he said that this year has been more active than last,
during which he had 15 clients.
Westward Metes & Bounds agent Rachel X. Weissman said
that she would estimate her clients coming from the city
to comprise closer to 75 or 80 percent of the total, with,
on average, three out of five of these buying second homes
rather than permanent residences.
Even for the people moving here for good, however, it
is frequently the case that their livelihoods depend on
business connections in the city. Weissman suggested that
many such people are writers, consultants, and the like,
who are able to conduct their affairs through what she
calls telecommuting – business done primarily by
telephone and over the Internet.
Mark Lerner, for one, left a staff job in the city to
go freelance when he and his family moved to Phoenicia.
He said that because of the cost-of-living difference
between here and the metropolitan area, he probably could
not have afforded to go to work for himself if he had
not made the move.
A similar story is told by Janet Steen, a writer and editor.
She and her husband, Mark Donato – a grant writer
and fundraiser – originally bought a second home
in West Shokan in 1999, while keeping their permanent
address in Brooklyn. Four years later they decided to
make the West Shokan house their full-time residence.
In addition to enjoying the extra space afforded them
by their rural property, Steen said that the monthly cost
of their mortgage is less than they would be paying for
a one-bedroom flat in the city.
Steen said that, even though all of their work comes from
New York, and they still have friends there, she and her
husband have truly come to feel as if they’re part
of their local community, and no longer feel very connected
to the culture of the city.
“We know many of our neighbors,” Steen said.
“We’re very aware of what’s going on
here, with the DEP, the septic system, the tax issue,
the watershed – all of that.”
It’s more or less expected that NYC transplants
that have come to live here full-time would know something
about the local community, and take some interest in its
affairs. But the same is evidently not widely true of
part-time residents (or weekenders, as the locals like
to call them), even though they pay the same taxes as
everyone else.
“I don’t think they care [about local affairs],”
Town of Olive councilman Henry Rank said in a telephone
interview, speaking of the second-home owners in the community.
“It would be nice if they did. I met a couple of
them while campaigning, and asked for their opinions,
but they gave me no response.”
Olive Supervisor Berndt Leifeld agrees that the weekenders
don’t maintain much a vocal presence in the life
of the town – except, he jokes, to complain about
the occasional barking dog and other such “things
that local people take for granted.”
“I can’t think of many that have come to town
board meetings,” said Leifeld.
From an economic standpoint, Leifeld indicated that the
presence of second-home owners and recent settlers has
been beneficial.
“They bring money to the town,” Leifeld said,
“and they definitely brought the real estate market
higher.”
“I find the whole situation more of a plus,”
he concluded, chuckling, “I came from the city myself,
a long time ago.”
Nola Gutmann of Nola Gutmann Realty in Mt. Pleasant contended
that some second-home owners in the area may have more
involvement in local affairs than they are given credit
for.
“I get a lot of phone calls from people saying,
‘What’s going on with this, what’s going
on with that?’” Gutmann said. “Some
couples have one person registered here and another registered
in the city, so they can vote both places.”
Though there’s no disputing that nearly everyone
benefits from the tax dollars spent by weekenders, it’s
really the businesses in the area that find the most reason
to appreciate their presence – whether it be permanent
or merely occasional.
Lauri Kennedy, whose Cracker Mill Hearth & Emporium,
off of Rt. 28 in Shokan, has been in business for 32 years,
said that “The more area gets developed, the more
customers there are.”
Alfred Peavy of Ruth M. Gale Real Estate keeps his enthusiasm
in check, saying that realistically, “There aren’t
that many houses on the market [in the area.]”
He said that, with zoning restrictions around the area
of the reservoir, “There’s not enough land
to have a huge expansion in the number of homes. There’s
very little room for new growth.”
This
Ain’t No Party, Folks
“As clerks, we really shouldn’t
be making administrative decisions,”
came the word from the speaker addressing
a 3 PM session entitled, “Dept. of Health
– Births, Deaths & Marriages”
in the Beekman Parlor on the second floor.
“We’re simply not prepared, or
elected, for that. Our jobs are clerical…”
Simultaneous sessions in the Sutton Parlor,
Nassau Suite, and three separate Trianon ballrooms
were dealing with “Stormwater Regulations:
What Town Boards Need To Know;” “Census
2010: Town Role and Responsibility;”
“Land Use Case Reviews for Town Attorneys;”
a “Purchasing Workshop;” “Interpersonal
Project Review” for town planners; “Personnel
Issues: Tardiness, Leaves of Absence;”
“Public Relations Practices in Small
Towns and Large Towns;” “Reconstructed
Income and Expense Statements;” “Pre-Trial
Hearings” and DWI Motion Practices”
for town justices; “Making A Good Record:
Minutes, Findings & Decision Documents”
for zoning officials; and a “Staff Attorneys
Q and A.”
And that’s not mentioning the smaller
sessions for court clerks and CPAs.
“We don’t really have press passes
you know,” say the staff people at registration
along the Promenade as large Upstate men and
women gather wherever more than a single chair
sits up and down the long gaudily-chandeliered
room. “We can’t really have you
going into the sessions people have paid for.”
Someone sees G. Jeffrey Haber, the Association’s
longstanding Executive Director, emerging
from the elevators and motions toward him.
Haber, a large man with a down-home demeanor,
makes his way over, says he doesn’t
usually get media requests for his events,
but then asks that a name badge be made with
“PRESS” written in all caps across
its tops.
I place it on my one year old, who’s
busy waving to everyone in sight, wearing
his very first suit… along with a Woodstock
Baby t-shirt complete with peace insignia.
And white sneakers.
We make our way to the vendors’ area,
where dozens of companies hawking everything
from municipal accounting services to streetlights
and traffic planning systems are handing out
pens, candy and business cards… and
commenting about the baby in their midst.
“What can I say; our townspeople elected
him supervisor,” I said. “I’m
his handler.”
Milo waved and clapped as people made to kiss
him.
At a booth for the state Office of Real Property
Services, I asked if anyone from the Mid-Hudson
Valley or Catskills had been through, remembering
how large a role the agency had played in
local politics – and news – of
recent years, via the regular onslaught of
tax assessment revals and the painful inter-municipality
battles involved in the Onteora School District’s
implementation of the state legislature’s
new “Large Parcel” law. I mention
the word “Olive” and the man,
quickly places a gold star onto a map,. Right
over the Ashokan Reservoir, noting that the
Hurley town supervisor, Mike Shultis, had
also been through earlier.
Few other ORPS stars fill the spaces between
the Hudson and Binghamton as we head on.
At a booth for the state Comptrollers’
office, a person working in agency public
relations says its been a busy season, what
with all the political back and forth involving
elected Comptroller Alan Hevesi’s January
resignation and the state legislature’s
more recent choice of one of its own to head
the powerful agency over new Governor Eliot
Spitzer’s own choices. But the man added
that in the final rounds, actual changes would
be few unless the new guy, Thomas DiNapoli,
started changing his deputies… who seem
to hold the actual reins in state government.
Others at neighboring state booths, from the
Department of Environmental Conservation to
Transportation, Corrections, Parole and Parks,
voiced similar thoughts… albeit with
a request that their sentiments not be attributed
to actual names.
Someone I’ve received forwarded e-mails
from at the Department of State, who identified
himself as “one of your deep throats,
even if you never realized it,” said
that those actually working in state government
were hoping Spitzer’s reform activities
would move beyond the top spheres where his
appointments have taken all the notice, and
concentrate on lower levels where actual decisions
get made, where administration really happens.
“The Association of Towns of the State
of New York was established in 1933 to help
towns obtain greater economy and efficiency.
The Association serves town governments by
providing training programs, research and
information services, technical assistance,
legal services, computer software programs,
insurance programs and a variety of publications
to member towns,” reads the official
literature touting what appears online as
http://www.nytowns.org/. “It represents
town governments by providing advocacy in
Albany, monitoring legislation and regulatory
action, lobbying and presenting initiatives
solely on behalf of towns. The Association
gains all of its revenue from dues and activities
and receives no State or federal assistance.”
They claim 97 percent of New York’s
932 towns as its members, representing over
20,000 elected and appointed officials. They
also note the growing percent of the state’s
population living in townships, ranging in
size from some under 100 in the Adirondacks
to many over 756,000 population Hempstead
and another 74 with populations over 20,000…
as well as the growing pressures being put
on smaller municipalities by the growing security
costs implemented by the federal government,
or the debts of the state and its larger cities…
including the big one everyone was meeting
in.
We run into most of the Woodstock Planning
Board and hear that their chairman, Michael
Mullally, got the shortest answer of the day
to a question he’d asked during a Q
and A session. It was about whether planning
boards should feel obligated about answering
dozens of e-mails they received.
Later, Woodstock town supervisor’s secretary
Angela Sweet said that in addition to the
planners mentioned, town supervisor Jeremy
Wilber, councilmen Bill McKenna and Chris
Collins, and planners Clem Holquist and Randolph
Horner were all in attendance.
Town clerk Laurilyn Frasier of Shandaken said
her town’s two judges, Tom Crucet and
Mike Miranda, were also there.
Olive supervisors’ secretary Susan Horner
said she’d heard that town planners
had spoken about going, but she was unsure
if any actually had.
“Rosendale asked if we wanted to share
a bus down,” said Sweet, who had nothing
but praise for the session. “It’s
an amazing resource.”
She spoke about how, boring topics withstood,
the actual information passed on about governing
at the annual meeting and training school
was often invaluable. But more importantly,
so was the opportunity allowed elected officials
to meet their peers across the state and realize
that the issues they wrestled with, prosaic
or not, were all of a piece.
“Everything’s geared to your office,
but the great stuff happens when you get to
sit in on other events,” said Frasier,
noting how it was important for clerks to
learn about town board responsibilities, or
planners to know about traffic or legal concerns.
“I think it’s wonderful…
you’re solving one person’s problems
just by talking.”
As it gets dark and people make for the last
sessions for the day, buzzing about how not
only Sitzer, but new Attorney General Andrew
Cuomo would be keynote speakers in the morning,
Milo and I sit in on a few conversations.
Middle aged men and women wearing nametags
laugh about having new problems with unspent
snow removal budgets. Someone asks about what
they do when people try to shout them down
in meetings. Turns out, someone adds, there’ll
be a session on just that subject the next
morning.
A group of highway superintendents walk by
with that classic Upstate swagger of men who’ve
spent lifetimes outdoors.
“Cocktails at 6 pm?” one with
a beard asks the group that’s seated,
sparking thoughts of public misperceptions
about what these elected officials might be
doing in the Big Apple on taxpayers’
expense.
“Golly, I don’t know…”
replies a town clerk with a timid smile.
“It’s the best place to meet everyone
who’s here,” added the bearded
highway guy. “And besides, they’ll
have fresh coffee as well as beer…”
A
Jar Of Olives...
It’s
All Just One Big Family
Giving
Some Thought To Geneology
To
make the story more interesting, this twin
brother of my grandmother was a seaman who
had drowned in 1918. All our side of the family
knew was that he was taken by a horse-drawn
carriage and buried in Brooklyn. That was
the end of Nils Nilsen, sea captain of USCG
Lilac. What we didn’t know, or were
never told, was that Nils had married, and
his wife Anna was pregnant with this entire
line of relatives. Let me tell you, genes
do not lie. There on the Ancestry website
were posted pictures of my grandmother and
her family. There was my nose on my great
-grand uncle Aksel’s portrait. Now I
know whom to blame. Nils Nilsen , the drowned
sailor, was the spitting image of my dad.
With the death of my mom and the discovery
of a line of cousins, I came to realize that
we truly are one big family. If you take the
time to get to know someone, you will probably
discover a connection. Solveig Normann of
Samsonville grew up on that little, and I
mean little, island in Norway. Chances are
she got her mail from my cousin Martin Axelsen
who was the postmaster. That’s the key—getting
to know someone better. The way to do that
is ask questions and listen. If you listen,
you’ll find a connection.
This past week Maggie Kunkle celebrated her
sixty-eighth birthday (again!) at a little
luncheon prepared by Barbara Parete and hosted
by her daughters Pat Tosi and Barbara Churchill.
Allison Tosi made the third generation of
Kunkle women. Maggie talked about living in
Germany during the depression between the
wars, and I was reminded that history is really
about people. My parents and aunts and uncles
lived through that same time. We share common
space and time on this precarious planet.
The Ancient Greeks believed that the Three
Fates sat on the edge of the “Other
World,” weaving our lives into a complex
tapestry forming a design that they, not mortals,
could see. The fates were the three Greek
Goddesses of Destiny, otherwise known as the
Moirae. They were timeless old hags who wove
the threads of destiny that control our lives.
They were the original “spin doctors.”
The Fates are: Clotho, who spins the Thread
of Life, Lachesis, who allots the length of
the yarn, and Atropos who does the snip (the
final one). People dangled on strings that
sometimes tangled with others. In other words,
we were hanging on by strings of various lengths
that wove together and then separated from
time to time. We may connect for a time and
then move on to weave into some other life.
For example, Sue and David Beatty, whose children:
Clay, Sarah, and Kristen, all academic and
sports stars of Onteora, are moving on to
Hamilton, New York. However, their lives and
contributions are already woven into this
part of the tapestry in Olive. They are forever
part of our community. This metaphor is one
that applies even today. We are individuals
with a limited time to become part of some
greater design. All we need to do is connect
with someone and become part of the big picture.
One way to connect with others is to combine
our individual talents to synergize and find
solutions to problems bigger than we are.
On Saturday, March 10, from 2 to 5 p.m., the
Olive Democrats are hosting a Wine and Cheese
Party at the Boiceville Inn. It is an open
house, called Cabin Fever, to get us out of
our snowbound homes to reconnect and “Whine”
about the state of affairs of health care,
cell towers, and property taxes. Perhaps we
can, collectively, make some progress toward
solving some of these issues.
Another way we can reconnect is to join together
in a common cause. Jim Sofranko, Anne Marie
Johanssen and Bev Stein have joined together
to make a difference in a young boy Killian’s
life. Killian is an Onteora Middle School
student with a rare cancer called Sinovial
Sarcoma. This thirteen year old plays bass
guitar and practices Origami while undergoing
chemo, radiation, operations and alternative
treatments. The amazing thing about this boy
is his spirit to help doctors learn about
treating this disease to help others. His
parents run the American General Store, which
has again become a gathering place, as it
once was when Skin Davis owned it.
There will be a fundraiser at the Olive Free
Library on March 4 from 3-6 p.m. to help with
Killian’s medical bills. Of course,
there will be good things to eat and the music
of Mark Brown, Amy Frayden, Mark Donato, Jim
Barbaro, and John Wirtz.
We are one big family, sometimes dysfunctional,
but all here with a purpose. Unless we dare
to “tangle” and “mingle”
with others, we may never see our lives as
part of the universal tapestry. Did you ever
ponder how weak and breakable is a single
thread, yet when it is woven into a cloth
with other threads, it is impossible to tear?
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