2/14/2007

Dear Editor,
This is an open letter to the Trustees of Onteora School District:
Judging from the feedback at the Community Forum held on Jan 26 at Onteora High School, and ongoing conversations, it seems like a vast number of people in the Onteora School District are still not sold on one or more of the following three issues that are pushed upon them:
1) A Grades 5-8 Middle School, that puts 9 year olds in the same building as 13 year olds.
2) The closure of another elementary school
3) The need to spend anywhere from $65-$85 million to upgrade our schools.
Respectfully, I believe that until you can convince the public about these issues, you’re going to have an uphill battle on your hands. That would be a shame because we do need to spend money on our infrastructure, and we do need a more distinct Middle School, with at least one extra grade. And yes, we are dealing with declining enrollment.
Each of you carries the title of trustee. I assume this means that you are entrusted by the School District. But surely you’re also entrusted by the public, the parents, the tax payers. We need to be able to place our trust in you too. And at the moment, because of your lack of clarity, you’re not earning that trust.
Last spring, you took a late night, split vote in favor of a Grades 5-8 configuration for a Middle School. Some of us believed that to spell the death of another elementary school, but despite our vocal fears, we were continually assured that such a vote had not been taken. A vote has still not been taken to close another elementary school. But at the Board Meeting on January 15, when KSQ Architects presented their Middle School designs, all options involved the closing of another Elementary School. So, our suspicions were founded, and the vote for a Grades 5-8 configuration turned out to be a back door vote to close another elementary school. Those of you who voted for Grades 5-8 never had the courage to come forward and tell the community as much. You betrayed our trust.
We know your job is not easy. In fact, it looks difficult bordering on thankless. But each of you chose to stand for the role of Trustee, and you are therefore accountable to the voters. Had you put forward an actual vision for the District a year ago, maybe we’d all be in a different place right now. Had you said to us then: ‘We want to create a separate and distinct Middle School for Grades 5-8, it will mean the closure of Bennett as an Elementary, but these are the reasons it’s the right thing to do and this is how we can make it cost effective,’ then maybe you’d have brought the public along with you. But you didn’t. And although such a plan is now on the table, we can’t assume that’s your intention because this board is unbalanced: a full five of the seven trustees live in one of the three towns that makes up this school district. As such, and because of its recent upgrades, we know that Bennett will stay open one way or another; we do not know that Woodstock/West Hurley and Phoenicia will stay open one way or the other. You have never looked us in the eyes and made us that promise. You put the cart before the horse and the result is that people in the district are confused and angry. You’re dividing us when you should be uniting us.
Over the last several months, at Board Meeting after Board Meeting, you have been presented with multiple requests to reconsider your vote. You were presented with reams of evidence relating to the educational and cultural value of rural community schools. Yet the material on the School web site justifying Grades 5-8 is ludicrous: a one-paged typed memo from a Steering Committee followed by pages of documents belonging to the National Middle School Association, none of which specifically endorses the Grades 5-8 configuration. There were limited copies of a pamphlet available at the Community Forum, but most people only saw the quarter page justification on the welcome sheet, which is too little, too late.
The analogy as I see it is that last year you voted yourself authority to go to war. And having given yourself that authority, you’re now going full steam ahead with your war – unwilling to acknowledge that we, the public, have not been sold on this war. We’re worried about the cost, we’re concerned about the justification, we’re confused about the goal. As trustees, you have a responsibility to sell us your vision – to lead us, to bring us along with you, to explain why this war is worth it. You’re not doing that.
At this moment, despite all the figures, there are only two options on the table, each of which calls for the closure of an elementary school:
(A) Turning Bennett into a separate and distinct Grades 5-8 Middle School.
(B) Keeping Bennett open as an elementary, cramming a Grades 5-8 configuration into the current Middle School, and closing Phoenicia or Woodstock instead.
Some of us who speak up frequently at Board Meetings have been led to believe that the only way to save the District’s outlying elementary schools is to get behind (A), and campaign for Bennett as the middle school. Not only does this pit us against those Bennett parents who want to keep the school as an Elementary, but we’re unwilling to do so because we don’t know that you, the Trustees, also believe in this plan. Do you? And if so, when will you come out and say as much? Three of you are up for re-election this year; we have a right to know your vision for the district.
Respectfully, then, I say that there is enough opposition from the public for you to rethink your plans. Be brave. Reopen the issue. Take a full evening out to debate why Grades 5-8 is the perfect plan. Then go home, absorb all the information, and come back and vote on it again. (After all, two Trustees are so new to the Board that they didn’t participate in the previous debate or the vote. Indeed, we have yet to hear them express their thoughts on the subject.) Tell us straight up, one trustee at a time, your vision. Be honest with us. Look us in the eyes and tell us what you’re thinking and why. We’ll respect you all so much more for it. Convince us that you know what you’re doing, and why you’re doing it, and you have a chance to bring us along with you. Otherwise, we end up in a community at war, the cost of which – socially as well as economically – will outweigh any possible benefits.
Tony Fletcher
Mount Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
As reported Onteora’s Superintendent Leslie Ford said at the last forum held at the school that there will be a bond proposal no matter how subsequent meets go. That doesn’t sound like anyone that’s too concerned about how much floating a bond will affect tax payers in her district for years to come. KSQ architects have put out plans that could cost upwards to 80 plus million dollars. It appears that the school and the Board of Education members are really pushing for a bond vote. What’s that all about? The last I looked I didn’t see any of the school buildings anywhere near collapsing, but there are two empty school buildings in West Hurley just sitting there costing tax payers plenty of money. From all reports no one wants the Woodstock or Phoenicia schools closed so why not take the less expensive option and open the West Hurley Schools.
With the declining student population and the district still owing a Debt Service for principal and interest payments associated with previous building projects the Board of Education members must start to show some fiscal discipline. According to the 2007-2008 proposed school budget the district has paid or will pay close to a million dollars in this school year in Debt Service. The district probably will still owe more Debt Service payments from previous building projects that would have to be paid for by district tax payers.
The Onteora Board of Education members should close their book on how to spend and open a book on economics and the effects that raising school taxes have on seniors and everyone living on fixed incomes. Board members ought to get out from underneath the School’s Administers wings and start thinking seriously about some cost effective measures. There are ways to be more cost effective. An example would be out sourcing or sub-contacting all or part of the Maintenance and Custodial departments.
Many retirees continue to have fewer finances to incorporate into their budgets. With everything costing more money including increased taxes, health insurance, medications, food and gas prices leave retirees with less spending money and the ability to save for their taxes. Some retirees that are fortunately enough to receive a retirement check see their pensions reduced year after year because their health assurance costs increase every year. The Feds trying to avoid a recession cut rates twice in eight days. Apparently School Board members are oblivious to the financial state of this country and what they do to retirees when they say yes to everything that’s proposed by the school.
At the last forum Board President Mary Jane Bernholz said, we as a board realize we have to do a better job in the community and getting feedback, and be more open to feedback. We want the information. If the board’s President is serious about getting feedback from all the tax payers in the district she should conduct a district wide opinion survey or a questionnaire. Taking the opinions of a couple of hundred people that attended the recently held forums is not a very good assessment of how district wide tax payers feel. Because of what all of Onteora’s tax payer’s will go through from the decisions made by the members of the board, all tax payers should have a say in their financial future.
William Warnecke
Glenford, NY

Dear Editor,
I was reminded last week after reading in OFP’s last issue an article in which functional literacy was being discussed about a couple video clips I saw a few months ago from CNNN’s What’s This Weird Old Thing Called The World, in which the British host comes to the good old USA to interview “average” Americans to find out just how much us locals “really know about the world that [we] run.”
For those of you who may not know, CNNN is a news and current-affairs channel owned and operated by ChaserCorp. It was founded in 1983 “to counteract liberal bias in the media,” and is the cornerstone of a television network that contains over 40 different channels, spans 294 countries and reaches “a potential cumulative audience of 100 billion people per week.”
At first blush, I thought, surely these videos are some sort of hilarious or not so hilarious—depending on your point of view and gravity of mind—spoof. They are not. Little digs at Americans? Perhaps. Laughs at our expense? Decidedly. (Deserved? You decide.)
What is shocking about these interviews is not that they demonstrate how little we Americans embrace the world around us, but the reluctant knowledge that the participants in the interviews just might, indeed, represent the average American. The interviews for both video clips were conducted in Washington, D.C. Granted, only a couple dozen people were interviewed for each of the videos. But . . . still . . . In any case, the participants—black, white, Hispanic—range in age from early to mid 20s to a few in their early 60s. All looked to be about middle class—a couple lower, a couple upper. Participants appeared to range from college students to working stiffs to professionals and everything in between (no snot-nosed bleeding heart old lefties or ultra-conservative shock-jock right-wing nut jobs). The interviews for both videos were taken throughout the city.
What is disturbing about these interviews is also the reluctant knowledge that close to half of Americans of which the participants are purportedly representative of are going to vote in this year’s “high-stakes” presidential election (as if there’s any other kind). As well they should. But while the two videos may draw some unbelievable laughs, they also demonstrate what I would seriously argue could be defined as bordering on “functional” illiteracy. And that ain’t no laughing matter.
In one video the CNNN host asks Americans on the street which countries the United States should invade next in order to curb terrorism. Many interviewees couldn’t even find the so-called “terrorist” states they named—including Canada, France and Italy—on the map. Nobody questioned the morality or wisdom, not to mention legality, of invading another country. It was merely taken for granted that we should and would.
But it is the other video that causes perhaps even more serious pause—or should. Here are the questions and answers:
Name a country that begins with ‘U’: “Yugoslavia,” “Utah,” “Utopia.” Who’s in the Coalition of the Willing?: “No freaken idea,” “Afghanistan, Kuwait, Iraq, Pakistan.” What’s the religion of Israel?: “Israeli,” “Muslim,” “Islamic,” “Catholic, probably.” What religion are Buddhist monks?: “Islamic . . . I don’t know.” Who won the Vietnam War? “We did . . . wait . . . were we even in the Vietnam war? Yeah? Oh, good.” Who’s Fidel Castro?: “A singer?” How many sides does a triangle have?: “Damn . . . four?” “No sides . . . one?” What is the currency of the United Kingdom?: “What is the United Kingdom . . . I don’t even know,” “Possibly American money,” “Queen . . . Elizabeth’s . . . money? That’s all I know.”
And, as the CNNN host posits, who says Americans aren’t switched on?
We may still be asking ourselves how the H we elected Bush II, not once but twice, but I think the cat’s out of the bag, and the rest of the world is pretty clued in even if we are still running in circles chasing our tails.
Barbara Ellis
Boiceville, NY

Dear Editor,
There has been thousands and thousands of media words written about the proposed Crossroads Ventures LLC Resort at Highmount. Crossroads has carefully crafted a liaison between themselves and NYS (Re: taxpayer owned) Belleayre Ski Center. I have viewed very little media attention to the reality ofthis “connection at the hip.” The rhetoric by the Resort representatives would have us believe that everyone skiing at Belleayre will benefit from this arrangement.
Belleayre Ski Center has AL WAYS touted that it was a family-orientated facility. The fact is that lift tickets have always been priced below competing neighboring private slopes under the guise that the average citizen would also 1ike to ski but can’t afford to; Belleayre’s defense to this accusation is that they have the physical terrain that can be utilized for accommodating novice skiers. Once these novices become accomplished skiers they will meld into the neighboring ski facilities and ALL win benefit. Many years ago a neighboring Facility successfully won a lawsuit that forced Belleayre to raise its price of lift tickets. Like other NYS owned and operated facilities, Belleayne Ski Area is supposed to accommodate the average taxpayer. I suspect that the ,average John Q. Public and his family will in fact be afforded less consideration if this “ski in-ski out” proposal is implemented. We must assume that “ski in- ski out” users will be either people with enough wealth to afford slopeside housing accommodations or their guests.
We need to scrutinize the physical location of the defunct Highmount slope in relationship to the existing Belleayre facili1y. We find that whi1e the summit of both to be in acceptible proximity that the loading areas are separated by a reasonably lengthy and precipitous stretch of County 49A Highway. Connection of these base areas for workers and guests will need shuttle transport. Also if we look at a map we can see that ALL of the Highmount slope descends toward the West Side Resort Site. This appears to me that the Resort will have its own set of trails, ski lift, snow making, grooming and all ancillary necessities paid for by TAXPAYERS. -
The question is - who will get first preference of summer trail maintenance; yes, the brush grows in and needs to be cut back from time to time and the trails have to be mowed to abate the growth of brush. snow making and the winter maintenance; yes, water lines and hydrants freeze from time to time and need maintenance; snow grooming, yes.. grooming equipmen1 breaks down from time to time and there is a need to prioritize trail needs. Does anyone reading this correspondence actually believe that John Q. Public will be afforded these considerations before the “Rich & Famous?” Actua1ly if you are aff1uent or just an “Average Joe” you already know the answer!
That’s all I am going to say on this topic!
Jerry A Fairbairn
Millbrook, NY

Dear Editor,
The web site supporting the "Belleayre Resort at Catskill Resort" erroneously lists the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation ( DEC ) as one of the agreeing parties to the Agreement in Principle ( AIP ) brokered by the Governor and his Deputy Secretary to the Governor for the Environment, Judith Enck.The NYS DEC is even the first agency listed on this web site as agreeing. But no representative of the NYS DEC signed the Agreement in Principle. This error is serious and misleading to people looking at this web site for accurate information. The NYS DEC already has a conflict of interest as a co-developer of the complex, as the lead agency for the project and as the arbiter of the State Environmental Quality Review of the proposed public-private co-development. If the DEC were to be a signatory agency to the AIP their conflict of interest would be even greater. I called the number listed on the web site and requested that the sponsor check their facts and if they found that it was an error to remove it. The person who answered at the phone number listed on the website did not think that checking the facts would be necessary and that it would be a waste of their time. I guess it makes me wonder which of the facts on that web site were worth checking and which would be a waste of time.
Kevin Millar
Owego, NY

Dear Editor,
I recently attended the second Town Board Meeting of the year conducted under the leadership of Peter DiSclafani which included a resolution to hire Ferrandino Associates—a Westchester County consultant—to prepare comments on behalf of the Town of Shandaken regarding the scoping document for the Belleayre Resort.
Supervisor DiSclafani offered an explanation of the need for these services. In early January, it seems the Supervisor was solicited by this firm with an offer to provide comments. Since the deadline for submitting comments was rapidly approaching, the Supervisor chose not to call a special Town Board meeting or prepare his own comments. Rather, he telephoned board members seeking their approval to go ahead and contract for $3,000 with Ferrandino. This is a clear violation of Town Law and the need to conduct town business in open, publicized meetings.
For $3,000 the town received 21⁄4 pages of comments—the majority of which address Belleayre Mountain Ski Center’s Unit Management Plan. None of the comments raised new issues. In the public discussion, it was further revealed that Supervisor DiSclafani now understood that these actions were illegal. However, the voucher had been signed, and the Ferrandino check was already mailed! With no apparent regard for the law, the town board then proceeded to vote (4-1) to approve the resolution authorizing the hiring of Ferrandino. This came days after Ferrandino was already paid. Only Councilman Rob Stanley, who objected throughout the whole process, voted no.
There is so much wrong with this, it is hard to know where to start. But let’s begin with the timeline and the Supervisor’s great need to rush. It doesn’t make sense to me. In early September when the Agreement in Principle was announced, Peter DiSclafani was serving as a town councilman and running for supervisor. He was elected supervisor in early November. The public scoping session was held in early December. The deadline for comments was set for five weeks later—January 14. Since he was already serving as a councilman, and since he apparently believed there was a pressing need for the town to have its own comments, why not develop comments over the course of the many weeks that elapsed this past fall?
Once the Supervisor and Board understood that their actions (with secret meetings and ill conceived contracts were improper) why did they go ahead and approve it? What happened to open government? Transparency? Fiscal Responsibility? Common sense?
Why are we spending $3000 for rehashed comments? For that matter, why are we spending our tax money to challenge the state’s plan to improve and invest millions in the Belleayre Ski Center, the economic engine and single largest employer in the town?
Since when does the product of illegal meetings and improper procedures lead to documents delivered to the State in the name of the ENTIRE Town of Shandaken?
I believe the Town needs to be reimbursed. The Supervisor and the three board members who were so willing to authorize illegal contracts can each ante up $750 to pay Ferrandino, and maybe next time they won’t be so quick to squander taxpayer money.
P.S. Before any editor makes the sexist comment that I am the wife of a consultant to Crossroads, that editor should understand I can and do speak for myself.
Martie Gailes
Big Indian, NY

Dear Editor,
It has started early. The new Town Board has been in office barely a month and the over-blown attacks are already flying. The level of hostility at the February Town Board meeting was reminiscent of another time in our not-too-distant past. Some of the faces are the same as before, some are new. At issue was the Town Board hiring a consultant to write 'scoping' comments for the town to submit to DEC by the January 14 deadline, relating to the environmental review of the Belleayre Resort and the expansion of the Ski Center. (The resort and Ski Center expansion must be reviewed together.) One part of the issue was that the new Town Board had been in office for only days before the deadline for submission of comments. The new Supervisor, and seemingly none of the board members, realized that they could call a last-minute meeting to pass a resolution to move on hiring the consultant and authorizing payment. Instead, Supervisor DiSclafani contacted each board member individually and asked if they wanted to go forward with this. Four said yes, one said no. Four agreed to the cost, one did not. All saw the submission before it was sent. The Board passed a resolution at the February meeting formalizing this by a margin of 4-1.
Supervisor DiSclafani publicly took responsibility for not realizing in time that he could have called a meeting on such short notice. Now he knows. He said he would have paid for it himself if the resolution authorizing payment had not passed. What was amazing was that some present treated the Supervisor and some of the Board members as if they had committed the crime of the century. I would call it a blatant attempt to intimidate the Board and drum up animosity toward them. Crossroads consultant Gary Gailes threw the word 'lawsuit' around and Jack Jordan kept saying that this may have been an 'illegal' act. It was not just the words they used, but the tones of voice and accusatory gestures. Supervisor DiSclafani apologized, took responsibility, would have been willing to pay if need be, but that wasn't enough.
So what's the real issue here? The real issue is/was that the pro-Crossroads contingent seems unhappy that the Town submitted scoping comments at all. Apparently they want the Town to sit on sit on its hands, not participate in the review, and ignore the fact that 85% of this major development is in Shandaken. It also happens to be the largest project ever proposed for the entire region. What's more, the attackers blamed the Town because the scoping submission included comments on the Belleayre Ski Center expansion, which by law has to be reviewed with the resort since both impact the same area. They acted as if it was the Town Board's scoping submission that caused the resort and Ski Center to have to be reviewed together which is ridiculous. It is the law that when projects are on the table at the same time for the same area, they must be reviewed together since they impact the same area and resource pool. In addition, combining the review of the Ski Center expansion and the resort is a stipulation stated in the infamous Agreement in Principle, signed by the Governor, the developers, and several other groups and individuals. It was also stated in the Draft Scope released on November 21, 2007, which kicked off the scoping phase of the review. (See DEC website for this)
One more thing. As a result of the Agreement in Principle, what is now on the table has changed very significantly from the original resort plan. Now, on the West side, in addition to the Wildacres Resort complex, there is a new resort complex called the Highmount Spa, in a new location. Both resorts are proposed to have ski-in, ski-out capacity, with lifts and trails joining the Ski Center to both of these resorts. The cost of this interface would be paid for by the taxpayers, not the developers. The last figures I heard were on the front page of last week's Catskill Mountain News and they were 45-75 MILLION in taxpayer dollars for the Ski Center expansion and the interface with both resorts. Chuck Perez, Jack Jordan and others expressed 'outrage' that the Ski Center and resort complexes are being reviewed together. They think they should be reviewed separately. It is a little late for that. Both are on the table now and it is the law that they be reviewed together to determine cumulative impacts. And when the State and the developers of the Belleayre Resort chose to 'marry' the Ski Center and the Wildacres and Highmount Resorts, like it or not, they became 'one' in the eyes of the review in multiple ways. There's no turning back now.
A good motto for future Town Board meetings might be, "Get the facts before you attack".
Judith Wyman
Chichester, NY

Dear Editor,
As a Town of Shandaken citizen, I am appalled with the situation regarding the Phoenicia Lunch Program. We have a collective responsibility to be respectful of the needs of our elders whatever their situation. If we fail at that we fail as human beings. I have personally witnessed the difference this program has made in the lives of those who need the companionship, nutrition, and personal contact the program offers.
I urge you to give this situation the attention it demands. If you require volunteer commitment or a financial donation to help make this happen, I am willing to assist as I suspect are many others. The care of our elderly should not be politicized.
Regards
Hope Liphoff
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
Periodically Oil & Gas companies come through New York attempting to entice landowners to sign land leases for exploration. Members of the CATSKILL LANDOWNERS ASSO. [CLA] have recently been approached.
CLA urges its members and all landowners in the region to be extremely cautious before signing such a lease. While a term of five years with rents and royalties may appear enticing the lease becomes an encumbrance on the land. A landowner will encounter difficulties upon a sale or mortgage. These companies rarely take the appropriate steps to terminate the lease of record so the problem remains many years later.
The leases contain many onerous provisions which can extend it beyond the stated term as well as permitting easements across lands to serve the transport of oil or gas from a neighbors property. If you are approached we strongly suggest review by your attorney before entering into such a lease.
CLA is dedicated to the proposition that enlightened private stewardship has and will continue to provide a most effective method of preserving the aesthetic and environmental integrity of Catskill lands. For more information please visit www.catskilllandowners.org.
John J. Wadlin
President, CLA
Big Indian, NY

Dear Editor,
Former President Eisenhower warned that the greatest threat to our country could eventually become the military-industrial complex. Nevertheless, most politicians have managed to convince most Americans that a loosely organized band of third world criminals are the greatest threat our country faces.
The former head of the bin Laden unit, Michael Scheuer, wrote: “It’s about the impact of our policies in the Islamic world. And because we won’t talk about that here in America, we’re not adequately defended.” However, my Democratic representatives in Congress, Senators Clinton, Schumer and Rep. Gillibrand refuse to mention that our past and present policies in the Middle East endanger our safety.
They ignore the fact that our CIA brought twenty-five years of tyranny and repression upon the Iranian people, which concluded with the Ayatollah Khomeini’s revolution. That covert operation helped convince many people throughout the Islamic world that America was its mortal enemy. They avoid mentioning the fact that in 1980, Iraq’s president, Saddam Hussein, invaded Iran and was supported our tax dollars. Eight blood-soaked years later, hundreds of thousands of young Iranian men and boys had been injured or killed.
We’re not adequately defended, because they refuse to talk about how our past and present policies impact the Islamic world. They won’t acknowledge that our military has been ordered to commit horrendous acts, which has caused needless tragedy in the lives of millions of people. Yet, they've never suggest that America spend less on its military, whose primary mission is to protect the assets of the very wealthy or admit that most of the anguish, which our country suffers from can be traced to militarism and imperialism.
Those Republicans and Democrats in Congress that depend on contributions from arms dealers and the military industrial complex are endangering our safety.
Jim O'Leary
Delhi, NY

Dear Editor,
It has been twenty years since my father last wrote one of these annual letters, asking your help in allowing us to stock Woodland Brook’s fly fishing stretch. It hardly seems possible that it has been that long. Tempus Fuget awful fast. In one way or another, the message has been the same each year. In memory of my father, and to get the request for alms out once again, I’m reprising the letter I first sent in 1989.
Here it is:
I have the sad duty to report that my father, Paul O’Neil, who has written these letters for many years, died last spring. The prospering of the Woodland Trout Fund and its result—the annual stocking of a 2 mile fly fishing only stretch of one of the East Coast’s loveliest trout streams—was one of the uppermost things on his mind in the final part of his life.
I have been asked to carry on in his stead. I would have killed, if I hadn’t been granted the honor. I know about the physical effort of stocking, having helped for the past twenty years—that part is not new to me. This part of it is. I’ll do my best.
Let me share a few things with you. When I was young, I would cringe when my father walked up to a stranger fishing Woodland Brook to talk. Besides wanting to chat, my father’s other purpose was to see if the person’s line was attached to (A) a fly, (B) fleshy bait of some sort, or (C) a dangerous metal lure. If it was a fly, he would put the gentle touch on the angler (ask the person to become a contributor—the world being divided into two camps, you see, contributors and all those others). If it was the dreaded (B) or (C), Pop would be kind but firm in his advice. “Go down to the Esopus,” he’d tell them. “ It’s a much better place to fish with a rig like that. You won’t catch anything here.” This embarrassed me terribly. “Damn,” I’d think, “here we go again. He’s going to ask them for money, or he’s going to tell them to get the Hell out of here. How can he DO that? Different strokes for different folks, right man?”
Of course, at the same time I was terribly proud of him for the way he carried off this exercise. Whatever the message the visitor received, it was delivered with a lightness of spirit and equanimity that was the very breath of soft mountain poetry. When I was even younger, and before the fly fishing only idea was promoted and put into operation by Fred Muehleck and his friends, I would commonly use any device to pull trout out of Woodland. If I’d been privy to dynamite, I’d have used it. Though one trout catching art I was keen to master kept eluding me—the ancient practice of tickling trout (now highly illegal, according to New York Statute, by the way).&n bsp; But the beautiful Trudi Miller knew how to do it—having been taught by her father Paul, a past master of everything a kid would consider useful—archery, gunnery, etc. I was madly in love with Trudi, but that emotion was tempered by pangs of heartfelt jealousy. After all, was it fair that she should have this magnificent talent, and that I should never master it? Tickle them? It was hard enough to entice the little darlings with worms, grasshoppers, crickets, and the gallery of other things that I used (which I will certainly not list here). So the advice my father would give interlopers years later about the uselessness of plying that kind of angling on Woodland Brook was not completely on the mark. But, as Huckleberry Finn said, it was mainl y the truth. On certain steamy summer days with the water low, I defy anyone to catch a trout from Woodland, outside of tickling them or using dynamite.
My conversion to the divine pursuit of fly fishing came at the hands of my father who took me down to the brook when I was twelve, equipped me with the second best fly rod in the cabin (my mother’s nicely balanced Shakespeare glass rod) and started me out with a Royal Coachman dry with white bucktail wing (Chile Allam’s favorite fly). On my ninth cast I hooked and caught a 14 inch wild rainbow. “JESUS!!!” my father intoned loudly, “keep the tip up, Mike, keep the line tight!!!” I did, and I’ve been a fly fisherman ever since—with strong ties to Woodland Brook, which become steadily more indelible as I age.
Now—I will not be coy. And, I will suffer no youthful attack of embarrassment as I ask you to contribute to this year’s stocking fund, and perhaps dig a little deeper than you might have otherwise as a memorial to Paul O’Neil.
The exact number of fat, healthy, spirited Brown Trout that we put into the stream will be defined to some extent by your munificence in response to this letter. Your generous and prompt response will, as always, be greatly appreciated.
To help us stock the stream, please send a check, made out to THE WOODLAND TROUT FUND, to Mike O’Neil, 101 Rambling Road, Vernon, CT 06066.
Mike O’Neil
Vernon, CT

Dear Editor,
I want to take the time to thank everyone at the Mountainside Residential Care Center. The people there were absolutely wonderful and gave us the best care that we could have asked for. And when the time came they went over and above from what was expected of them! Thank you very much for everything that you did for us!
I also, want to thank our friends, family, Al’s Restaurant (Paul), Riccardella’s Restaurant (Mike), Michelangelo’s Pizzeria (Mike and Kim) and Phoenicia Wines and Spirits (Declan) for everything that they have done to make this time a little easier.
Thank for all your love and support.
Dorothy Gaede
Phoenicia, NY

Dear Editor,
I am writing this letter for one simple reason. to thank all those who have been there for me in my community. I am a freshman at Elmira College in Elmira New York, and the truth is I wouldn’t be here without the help of those in my hometown of Phoenicia, New York, the community of Shandaken and those beyond throughout Ulster County. Without the encouragement of everyone, getting into and being able to afford an amazing school like Elmira College, would have been difficult if not impossible.
I want to thank so many people for helping me get to this point in my life. First and foremost, my family, Diane Gehermy Methodist Youth Group leader, Pastor Richard of the Phoenicia United Methodist Church, and the rest of those in the church who helped me get to where I am. I’d also like to thank the ladies in the Thrift Store and Food Pantry, especially Ruth Houska and Hope Gilsinger, not only did they give me a generous amount of money for the purchase of books, but they gave me kindness and great advice. The Phoenicia Library Association was no different, thank you Molly Kilb, Debbie, Regina Johnson, and Judith Singer. I’d also like to thank the Shandaken Theatrical Society, for their generous contribution and their help in building my character; this includes the help of Dorothy Toman, who directed the first play I was ever a part of, thank you Sparrow and Violet for helping me with the art of theater and acting, and for your advice. Thank you to Tania Barriklo, Cole, and Sophia, a family I could always count on for their support. I also want to thank Liz Potter, Don Bucher, Lulu, and Gingy, who gave me so much advice, support and kindness before I left for schooL The ladies at Ulster Savings Bank, Jodi Reyes, Jackee Dragun, Janine Miller, Jane Booth thank you for helping me maximize my finances for college and giving me great advice. Robin and Ray Kirk ftom the Nest Egg, Ice Cream Station, and Video Store, thank you so much for the job experience and for your support. Finally, to a great community, school, and all the wonderful people in it, thank you so much for your support) your advice, and your encouragement. Thank you all so much!
Sincerely,
Iiona Scully
Elmira, NY


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