(letters from March 1, 2007)

Dear Editor,
Members of Olive Matters met in the basement of the Olive Library on Feb. 21, to discuss the need for candidates for the Onteora School Board.
Olive has eight weeks to come up with TWO volunteers and get their petitions signed, especially if Dave Patterson decides not to run again. Both Patterson and Marino D’Orazio are up for reelection. Marino is in favor of the Large Parcel Law.
It has been stated by a local newspaper that Olive Matters is using scare tactics to get people to vote only for Olive candidates. It is being said that the LPL issue is moot because Olive has done a reval. This newspaper intimates that the candidates we support are only interested in defeating the LPL.
WRONG on all accounts.
Olive Matters is dedicated to finding candidates that support affordable quality education AND understands that the LPL is an illegal law and should be repealed. We don't have local representatives who will buck the Albany hierarchy and back-patting politicians. Because Olive is a flyspeck on the total votes Cahill and Bonacic receive, the law will never be repealed.
Please understand that the LPL comes up every year to be voted on by the school board and by the UC legislature. It is not a moot issue. It never will be. If the town of Olive loses its friends on the school board, there are those who will vote for reinstating the LPL, as they still buy into “equal taxes for equal value homes” media spin created by a politician from another town.
Do Not Be Fooled! If the LPL is reinstated this summer by the OCSB your taxes will increase 30% over and above what they are now!
Volunteer to run for the school board and/or email five family members and friends in the Olive/West Hurley township and ask them to run. If you are old enough to vote, you can be on the school board. It would be nice to have young people on the board. This is not the time to “let the other guy do it.”
We have a problem in the town of Olive. Retired seniors with free time have sold their homes and moved out. People with families have moved out. Our enrollment is dwindling. Second home owners don’t live here fulltime, don’t vote here, and mostly don’t volunteer here. They make up 60% of our community. That leaves the few of us to protect the many.
If you believe in affordable quality education, if you would like to decide on the campus downsizing/configuration, and if you can make a just decision regarding the corrupt LPL, please volunteer to run for the upcoming school board election, with or without Olive Matters backing.
A special meeting will be held on March 7 at the Olive Library at 7 PM to discuss candidates and to answer any candidates questions. The next general meeting will be March 21. If we are not in the main meeting room, look for us downstairs in the kitchen.
Drew & Judith Boggess
Members of Olive Matters

Dear Editor,
My name is Rosie Rion and I am a freshman at Syracuse University and a 2006 graduate of Onteora High School. I am sending this letter because I feel it is important it be noted that I, without ever being a student or an athlete with Mr. Boms, was also inspired by him during my time at Onteora High School. Mr. Boms' ability to educate and encourage students does NOT stop at running track and learning biology, but extends much much further. As a musician at OCS, I witnessed first hand his incredible work ethic and amount of initiative. These characteristics brought us school events ripe with opportunity for young performers and inspired me and many other musical students to also work hard and show initiative in order to express ourselves. I know that Mr. Boms isn't trying to organize school events in this situation, but there is a very important point to be made here. He is a fantastic influence on the youth of our community in many areas of academics, athletics, and the arts. He brings great things to Onteora students and should be allowed at least a fair chance at continuing to contribute this to the district. As a brand new Onteora alumn, it saddens me to see such a strong part of my high school be discarded so easily. While I mean absolutely no disrespect to any party of this situation, I feel very strongly that the decision not to rehire Mr. Boms should be reevaluated and, in my more personal opinion, overturned.
Rosie Rion,
Krumville, NY

Dear Editor,
On March 29, 2007 the Onteora School District tax payers will vote on a $1,862,711 bond to replace two boilers and unit ventilators in the Woodstock Elementary School and to do a complete overhaul of the Auditorium at the Onteora Middle/High School. It doesn’t look like the Woodstock School will close any time in the near future. The district has $662, 711, 00 from New York State’s Expanding Our Children’s Education Aid. Some of the State Aid will go to do the Woodstock project and the balance will be added to the monies coming out of the Capital Reserve Fund. Total cost, $1,862,711.
As reported Trustee Rita Vanacore said that this vote if approved is at no cost to the tax payers. It is coming out of the Capital Reserve Fund and the Excel Aid. If the money coming from the Capital Reserve Fund didn’t come from the tax payers, where did it come from?
Trustee Cindy O’Connor as reported, requested an additional $5,000.00 to purchase a video camera and new jerseys for the football team. Some board members have said that they want to be open and to keep the public fully informed. That same camera that trustee O’Connor wants the district to purchase could be used to video tape all the school board meetings at no or very little expense especially if a volunteer or the school does the taping. The tapes could be broadcasted on any public access TV Station and organization would have the opportunity to show the tapes to their members. .
The next time the district will vote will be in May on the budget and at some point on a multi million dollar reconstruction project at the school.
William Warnecke
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
I commend the bipartisan efforts of the Jail Oversight Committee, Chaired by Legislator Richard Parete, to overcome a perfect storm of errors and ineptitude to complete the construction of the Ulster County Law Enforcement Center.
Now that prisoners have finally moved in, the Ulster County Legislature cannot afford to relax. The matter of outstanding contractor claims must be resolved. The Legislature will soon create a special committee to investigate why the project was drastically late and overbudget.
The special investigatory committee will be armed with subpoeana power that will hopefully shed light on who exactly is responsible the problems associated with this project.
Whether it's corruption, incompetence, or both, the taxpayers deserve our utmost vigilance until those potentially guilty parties are found and held accoutable for their actions.
Joe Roberti
Ulster County Legislator, District 4
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
It has been said that when one talks to himself he/she either is "tilted" or has money in the bank. I am not sure about that, but I believe that if one answers themselves there is room for adjustment.
That very same situation came about twenty minutes ago when it was revealed that Alan Hevesi has been fined $5,000 with no prison time for his four year adventure of greed and common thievery while NY State Controller.
I said to myself, "how can this be? This man used four Civil Service Vehicle Operators [and the vehicles] which cost the tax payers over $400,000 for four years salary plus overtime". Then I said in response, "do you want blood? the man reimbursed the state in the amount of $80,000. How insensitive can you [me] be? The man's wife was/is disabled and she had to be mobile as any one of us would be."
But then on further reflection and thinking how I would meet this challenge, I thought of using one's personal vehicle. Then there is "car service or a taxi. The idea of a friend driving her around did not escape us either. Then we [I] came to [perish the thought], "Access a Ride" or the City bus system.
With much debate we [I] finally agreed with myself that this whole sordid event is ending the way it should. Hevesi did the right thing and resigned before re-seating himself for another term. Mr Hevesi will receive four pensions as he should and he will now become a consultant in the private sector.
I certainly discussed with myself the recent Legislative decision to appoint a person as Controller whose sole experience is balancing his own check book if he has done that. Governor Spitzer deserves his "slap" by the Legislature in that he could have got on Hevesi legally before the election but for his own reasons he ignored that brand of "law breaking". Does anyone know that the State Attorney General may make an arrest, personally?
I posed the question to myself as to how this new Controller will do with managing the huge NYS pension system, overseeing contracts, corruption and whatever. We; that is myself and I came upon the solution which is to hire Mr. Hevesi's newly formed consultant group to "advise" the Controller's office for the next four years. [Remember, you heard it from me first]
And the Democrats told us that Callaghan was a failure. Ok, but we were disenfranchised. The first time in history that we "voted for nobody".
Glenn T. Anderson
Olivebridge, NY

Dear Editor,
How can otherwise intelligent people allow themselves to become blind to the fact that there are many beliefs in the world which centuries of ancestors have embraced as absolute truths which must be adhered to because that is what they have been taught, each in his own realm? There is no quarrel with people believing what they have been taught to believe but there is a quarrel with having people demand through their government that what they believe is morally right, is the word of God (told their ancestors by God in person) and requires all people to obey. This deprives others of their rights. We are back to square one on the right of women to reproductive choice. They should be entitled to this and not deprived of it because of a belief in something called the "sanctity of life" as defined by the leaders and teachers in one particular sector of religion.
The achievements made by human beings could never have occurred if a few people had objected to them on their own religious beliefs or had denied the validity of truths which had to be adhered to if a project were to be successful. We wouldn't have pyramids or telephones or safe and effective medicine if beliefs instead of facts were to have been adhered to. Until man gets down to brass tacks and is not afraid to question matters considered sacred we are going to continue to be in the mess we are in world wide. A world in which a religious sect can inflict indignities on its own adherents as well as on the rest of the world is a poor reflection on the character of the God people profess to worship. They aren't listening to what this God really is saying, do you think?
With the tremendous number of allergies and respiratory problems, caused by air pollutants on the rise it would be advisable to reduce the pollution in our homes. Perhaps starting with those air freshener sprays would be good because they are very harmful and easily omitted along with detergents with scents added. Freshly dry cleaned material, new rugs, and candles (except the beeswax) contaminate the air. Saut?ing and frying foods, especially if a hood fan is not used, contaminates. Good ventilation is important. Windows a little open and exhaust fans are a help. Those air freshener machines are said to be ineffective. Vacuuming frequently and using machines with microfilters is helpful. Carbon monoxide is a threat to life and being sure your stoves and furnace are safe can be proven by use of carbon monoxide detectors. Contact your furnace and fuel providers for information. Never burn charcoal indoors. Our extremely tightly constructed doors and windows help conserve heat but contribute to polluted air.
Mescal Hornbeck
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
I have worked as a nurse in Kingston for the past 14 years, and am very concerned that the impending “affiliation” between Kingston and Benedictine Hospitals will put “woman’s reproductive services” in jeopardy. These essential services are often lumped together, and discussed as if they could be relocated out of Kingston Hospital into a separate unit without any impact on overall quality of care. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Reproductive health care cannot be separated from general hospital care. Daily issues arise in the ER, OR, the Med Surg floor, the Maternity unit, and elsewhere in a hospital that require doctors and nurses to discuss issues such as birth control, condom use, HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted diseases, abortions, vasectomies, fertility issues, tubal ligations, and end of life issues for the terminally ill.
For example: I was taught in nursing school that an important part of giving excellent care to a newly postpartum mother is to warn her of the health risks of getting pregnant too quickly. I was also taught to suggest that she go on birth control immediately and to kindly share with her and her partner the contraceptive options available to her.
Another example: Let’s say I send one of my patients to the Hospital ER with a suspected sexually transmitted disease. After an accurate diagnosis, I expect part of his/her treatment at the ER will include a conversation with my patient about having safer sex in the future that would include the use of condoms. Not doing so puts my patient and others in the community at great unnecessary risk in the future.
Executives of our two local hospitals have assured the community that Kingston Hospitals’ services would remain as they are, but many “devilish details” continue to haunt me. Why does there need to be a “woman’s reproductive clinic” at a “proximate location” if the services at Kingston Hospital will not become restricted by the Catholic directives that are in place at Benedictine? Why can’t all services remain intact and on location at Kingston Hospital?
Why is there such imbalance in the recently released Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) between Kingston and Benedictine Hospitals, as pointed out by the Kingston Daily Freeman on Jan 21st? And I quote, “A section of the Memorandum of Agreement guarantees that the surviving form of Benedictine Hospital within this joint operation ‘will conform’ to Catholic principles. But there is as yet no written equivalent guarantee that Kingston Hospital will deliver the ‘full range of reproductive health services,’ that the state’s Berger Commission says the arrangement will ‘allow’. Without such an explicit guarantee or statement of mission (that would contain precise language naming all preserved services, I might add), the MOA could be construed as effectively one-sided.”
The hospitals’ new PR firm promised on Jan 19 to develop a plan within the next three weeks that would allow for public comment. We are still waiting!
These issues are far too critical for our community to sit back and wait passively to be invited into a process which thus far only includes decisions that come out of back rooms in dim light, and only include a few selected CEOs. Our community has formed a new group to address these issues and insist on protection of patients’ rights and community access to care in Ulster County. We are called Health Care STAT and we’re made up of men and woman, both gay and straight, lawyers, doctors, nurses, social workers and community activists. This proposed hospital affiliation is coding and needs attention STAT!
Jo Shuman, RN
Cottekill, NY

Dear Editor,
Funny thing, we humans are not the only ones celebrating love this month. February is the time of year when a very special and unique little mammal goes on the hunt for a mate. Here’s a hint: It’s North America’s only marsupial, i.e. has a pouch, has thumbs on its hind feet, and eats everything imaginable including rats, mice, snails, slugs, carrion and cat, dog and human food. Right, it’s the opossum!
Thirteen days after mating, 5 to 8, or sometimes more, babies are born. The babies are the size of a honeybee at birth. They quickly work their way up into mama’s pouch where they attach to a nipple and live for the next two to three months. When they outgrow the pouch, they ride around on mama’s back for another month. At four months they’re on their own.
When threatened an opossum may make a show of their 50 short teeth, hiss or growl, but in reality they are gentle and placid and prefer to be left alone. If unable to escape they may fall into an involuntary shock-like state, i.e. “play possum”.
Sadly, in the wild, few live longer than a year. They have many predators; humans, cats, dogs, owls, fox, coyotes and cars. Cars. That’s why I’m writing now. These are slow moving nocturnal animals. Please don’t run them over. Slow down. Enjoy these gentle, beneficial creatures.
Jo-Anne Rowley
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
Any woman who has spent time exploring the on line dating scene has her share of emails tucked away. My girlfriends and I often exchange letters from the net; the beautiful, the bizarre, the comical, and (a personal favorite) letters from the "mad poets society" (men in love with love).
I would like to publish a collection of on line dating correspondence; primarily emails sent by men to women. This is one way women can share their experiences with a larger audience.
Any notable contributions would be appreciated. E mail addresses and names must be removed to insure privacy. If published, I cannot compensate the sender with monetary disbursement or, for reasons of liability, give credit.
Please send your email contributions to:
Nothing Real L.L.C., P.O Box 930, Stone Ridge, NY 12484
June Skinner
Stone Ridge, NY

Dear Editor,
Most of you reading this letter are likely doing so in the warmth of your homes where food on the table is a given, as is the companionship of loving family members. Not all Woodstockers or, for that matter, residents of Ulster County are so lucky. In our midst are those who are hungry, mentally ill, homeless, addicted, psychologically, sexually and physically abused, inadequately clothed or just down on their luck. You may have seen them, perhaps viewing them fearfully, considering them depraved people to be walked around and ignored. Those you see are but the tip of the iceberg.
Most less fortunate, abused, and troubled people are seldom seen and their needs largely go unmet. I have recently become familiar with many such people by working (without pay) at Family of Woodstock. I am not religious, but the thought "there but for the grace of God . . ." is often with me.
I am a volunteer, but what I do is most fulfilling and rewarding work. I belong to a group of community members who answer Family's 24 hour crisis Hotline. We also try to respectfully meet the needs of those who walk into our facility at 16 Rock City Road. Family provides guidance, emergency food and emergency shelter for the needy. Family is Ulster County's vital social service agency
We always need people willing to serve our community by 'working' the Hotline. The time commitment is not large, usually one 3 or 4 hour shift per week, always with a supervisor. The training for the Hotline is enlightening and provides most people with a new perspective and insight into our community. Our spring volunteer training session, which starts late in February, is well spaced over 37 hours on evenings and weekends and includes sessions on listening skills, confidentiality, domestic violence, mental health, ethics plus other community issues. Interested? Call Sue or Tamara at 679-2485 or 338-2370.
Mark D. Shulman
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
Last year we had our 200 year old farm house on Dry Brook Road renovated. We call it “The Little Olive” and the addition is referred to as “The West Wing”
I’ll take a moment to publicly acknowledge the people who were involved for their fine work. First, the architect Michael Lockwood who translated what we wanted into feasible plans. And then Mark McAniff the multifaceted kitchen designer who has worn “coats of many colors” And John DeGondea, the builder, who held the construction together, start to finish. Cool hands, keen eyes, sharp saws and WKZE aficionado. A master with wood, reliable and patient. Mostly. And ever cheerful Jimmy Hyde, the chain saw sculptor with Maine on his mind; The Allison brothers who dug deep and poured true; Gene Knoth and his merry plumbers, Brad, Tom and Pat; the Sourdough King of the Catskills, “I’m an electrician, not a magician” Bob Lepp; Kent Kleiner, punster with the shiny pate and the smoothest touch in taping; Nikki Somer an artist with a brush and roller who loves to paint; Otto Bernstein, stone mason, “Chimneys. It’s what I do”; Tim the sander from Gilboa who spends his life crawling around floors making them look beautiful. And then there was Daniel Dudley, restoration carpenter extraordinaire, who was at home over the range with one of the trickiest and toughest finishing touches—hanging and venting the range hood. Don’t ask!.
While renovation isn’t my favorite thing to live through, all that saw dust and debris and many choice expletives has resulted in “Sweetie” saying “I love to come home to “The Little Olive”. Me too.
Karl Steinbrenner
West Shokan, NY
ps They’re all in the phonebook...