The problem came up for discussion at the July Town Board meeting, with Supervisor Peter DiSclafani said it wasn’t for lack of trying. The tower’s owners, he said, have been trying to make deals with providers and he himself has been on the phone, but so far nothing has happened.
This week those points were confirmed and elaborated on by Chris Ciolfi, Mariner Tower’s man in charge of development.
Bottom line, Ciolfi said, is that both the town and Mariner rolled the dice when they made the deal a couple years ago to build the tower. Back then, he said, the economy was still strong, and all the data supported the notion that if a tower was built that the providers would gladly set up shop.
But then things went sour.
Ciolfi said the carriers, like any business, have been rethinking their plans and no longer want to devote resources to expand coverage in a remote area.
“Back then it was different,” he said, referring to 2007 when the local cellular future looked bright. “Now the providers are looking to get the biggest bang for their buck, and that’s not in Shandaken.”
Ciolfi, who notes that his company is the loss leader in this spectacle given that they paid to build the tower already, said that he keeps trying.
“We’ve been talking to the major carriers, but we no influence on what they build or where they build,” he said.
He also noted that he was glad that the town has pitched in to help by preparing a petition and reaching out to other levels of government for support.
“It all helps,” he added.
On Monday, July 27, DiSclafani said he prepared the petition after the last town board meeting, but has yet to advertise it. He hopes Mariner can use the results as a type of carrot on a stick to entice the likes of Verizon, AT&T or others to give Shandaken a chance.
“We, the undersigned residents of Shandaken, New York, nearby communities, visitors, and travelers appeal to your company to provide cellular phone service to the Shandaken area,” the petition states. “ A ‘user friendly’ telecommunications law is in place, ready for a population of potential cellular phone subscribers that could provide a steady revenue stream. Additionally, a privately-owned cellular phone tower located on Route 42 above Glenbrook Park, is up and awaiting placement of antennas; start-up costs there would be minimal. Furthermore, cellular service is available in adjacent towns which leaves a huge gap in continuous service that is important to the cellular phone subscribers. To residents in this still remote area, the cellular phone is an increasingly essential prerequisite of life: in the case of medical distress or emergency; in case of accident on the roads or in homes; for recreational security in cases where hikers, fishermen, skiers, or others may be lost or injured. Moreover, for adults across our communities, the cellular phone is increasingly the phone of choice, were service available, for the convenience and immediacy it offers, while to the rising generation, it is seen as everyday technology. Providing cellular phone service to our area could contribute both to your company's bottom line and to its reputation as a good neighbor in our community. Therefore, as we believe your investment in Shandaken will be rewarding to your company as well as to the people of our community, we urge you to consider such an investment.”
The petition can be viewed and signed by logging on to the town’s website at www.shandaken.us.

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Quite A Quiet Caucus

In total 83 votes were cast in the only contested race, where former Highway Superintendent Keith Johnson bested current Superintendent Eric Hoffmeister, a Republican,by a margin of 51 to 32.
The big news was barely news to most, as the presu mptive nominees for the three top-of-the-ticket positions were all widely known and uncontested. Running for Town Supervisor on the Republican line will be one-term board member and plumber and actor Rob Stanley of Big Indian. Retired school administrator Jack Jordan of Pine Hill will be making his second attempt for one of two town board openings, along with Phoenicia resident and Kingston lawyer Patricia Ellison, a former chair of the town’s Democratic party.
Although some seemed a bit taken aback by the light turnout, the mood of the evening was friendly and subdued, with the average age of those attending appearing to be in their mid-60’s. What speech-making there was was low-keyed and sometimes even perfunctory, as town party Chairman Ken Umhey sought to move things along quickly enough that he sometimes needed to be brought back to procedural conformity with gentle prompts from the crowd.
Few remarks by candidates ran more than a paragraph or two; most nominations and seconding speeches lasted only a few seconds. And in a new procedural development, uncontested positions - every one it turned out but that of highway superintendent - were all chosen by a single vote cast by the caucus’ secretary - the equivalent of an “affirmation” vote.
After explaining the caucus’ rules and introducing the party’s town committee members, Umhey and Joanne Kalb were sworn in by town justice Tom Crucet as, respectively, the caucus’ chairman and secretary, followed immediately by formal nominations.
Bob Stanley Sr. of Big Indian rose to nominate his son Rob for Town Supervisor, seconded by Helen Cordo, who called Stanley “one of the nicest, most caring people I know.” Pat Ellison was nominated by Bob Kalb, who said “I think she’s a very smart lady,” and Ann Maroney seconded. Jane Rossitz, the party’s orator-in-chief of recent years, gave the evening’s only old-time political speech in nominating Jack Jordan for town board, complete with rhetorical flourishes (“Who wants a good government! Who wants honesty!”) and biographical information, seconded by Richard Loveless.
Next, Dave Smith nominated Justice Tom Crucet for reelection, saying he was proud to call him a friend. Rossitz, in seconding, called him “the most patriotic barrister in town.” Phil Davenport nominated Phoenicia surveyor Charles Frasier for the other town justice position, noting his service on “innumerable committees,” with Joe Munster adding only that he was “very proud and pleased to second.”
Georgie Smith nominated Keith Johnson for Highway Superintendent, saying, “We all know what a good job he’s done in the past.” Bob Cross, Jr. seconded, saying, “When I was Supervisor….Keith responded to the people .. and did a great job for two years.” Current Highway Super Eric Hoffmeister was nominated by Patty Hines, who said he’s doing a great job now; the nomination was seconded by Sharon Umhey.
No candidates stood for nomination for the two Assessor positions despite repeated requests from the chair. People from the audience hopefully began suggesting names, but each in turn shook their head no, at which point Umhey moved on to candidates speeches.
Town Board member Rob Stanley lead off, speed-reading through a short, scripted statement. He said that we need to “enlarge our views of the town beyond the present day,” and recognize that “our economy is not dead, merely in ICU.”
“The adrenaline has to start with us,” said Stanley. “As a whole, our town is a jewel...” and we have to “help ourselves reinvigorate this town to its former glory.”
Pat Ellison said the board’s most important job is to ensure that basic services are provided as efficiently and effectively as possible, and that she’d “be fair, impartial, and treat people with respect.” Striking the evening’s only directly confrontational notes, she added how we “frankly don’t have a lot to show” for last year’s 12% tax increase, and that the board had “given us a couple of no-bid contracts” and “a reputation in the county for not doing anything right.” She closed by saying we have to “get this town going back in the right direction.”
Jack Jordan opened by thanking young Doug Clark for his presence, saying to some laughter that he wished “he had brought some of his friends.” With the exception of candidate Stanley, Clark appeared to be the only person at the caucus clearly below the town’s median age of 46. Jordan said “I have no special interest groups that I belong to,” and that he believed in, “Fairness, being fiscally conservative…bringing in money from the outside, and following legal procedures and practices.”
Justice Tom Crucet, ever comfortable as a public speaker, called Shan-daken, “The greatest place on earth to live.” Charlie Frasier, husband of Town Clerk Laurilyn Frasier and notably dressed in a tie, stood next, saying he felt “Honored and privileged to run with Judge Crucet... I’ll be fair, honest, and impartial to every citizen that comes before me.” New York is one of only three states that still permit non-attorneys to hold such positions.
Keith Johnson, speaking briefly and quietly without notes, said that the highway superintendent’s job would be for him, “A continuation of a lifetime of working for the Town of Shandaken.” He reminded people that 600 registered voters never showed up last election. Eric Hofmeister spoke at greater length of his two years on the job, of the grants he’s obtained, new programs initiated, and cost savings realized. He said he’d continue to apply for more grants, and improve the condition of the roads.
As the speechmaking ended and the meeting was about to briefly recess to set up the voting machine for the highway super vote, former town board member and Crossroads employee Al Frisenda asked if people realized that not having assessor’s candidates would mean those positions would go to people from another party. Frisenda then said he’d heard, “They’re planning to appoint Peter Dimodica” to one of the positions, a comment which caused considerable rumbling. Frisenda then nominated John Horn for an assessor’s position, who reluctantly agreed. Linda Arnold said she’d be willing to serve as a placeholder candidate until a committee on vacancies was able to fill the slot. Bob Kalb nominated her, Joanne Kalb cast the vote on behalf of all, and in the end, there will be an assessor’s race come November.
The town’s Democrats are set to hold their caucus on Tuesday, August 11.

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A Kid’s Take On Summer

Lately, I have been looking through some old stuff, and I found a box of old Gameboy color games. I found Pokemon Silver and Pokemon Red. It was genuinely exciting, and then I was at a yard sale and found Pokemon Gold and Pokemon Yellow, and they work too! During summer vacation, I, and many others, have more freedom to do stuff with friends. I live right near Pine Hill lake, so it’s nice when I can meet with friends really easily.It seems to me like there are less geese at the lake this year, though I’m not sure why. It just seems to be. The adults have been busy at work! My mom leaves at the same time, and comes back at the same time, as she does all year. She is busy as a bee all summer longon the house. While I was away at sleep-away camp, she completely retiled the bathroom.She works really hard all summer long, and a lot of people benefit from it. A lot of adults work really hard all summer long! The weather this summer has been to my liking. I like how it really hasn’t been over 85 degrees. The heat is one of the summer things which I dread most, in fact. Because of it, I usually don’t enjoy summer vacation, because it’s hot out. But the clouds and temperatures are quite nice this year. The rain hasn’t affected my fun yet, but it has affected local businesses. Tubing has apparently had a difficult time of it! After the rain, the waters are more dangerous. And at the Pine Hill Lake, not as many people have been going, because the water is cold. But overall the rain hasn’t affected my summer, and I most certainly hope that it hasn’t affected the summer fun of any one else! The summer has been pretty good so far. I do hope that it doesn’t get too hot in August, but if it is, I am sure that I would still be able to have fun. The summer may be half way over, but I really like to think I have half way to go, of fun and laughs. I hope your summer, whether you have it off or not, is fun and entertaining.

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New Business Paradigm

n a perfect summer’s day, James Anthony tells the story of how he and partner Fredrik Larsson, the business’ founder, not only ended up in Shokan from a Brooklyn start, but just how surprised they’ve been by the way things have turned out.
Fredrik, he says, was the Scandinavian part of the equation, born in Stockholm with a longheld island summer home on the islands of the nearby Baltic. After attending New York’s Fashion Institute of Technology, he spent eight years working successfully as an in-demand interior designer. And then 9/11 occurred.
“A lot of business fell off, all throughout the city,” Anthony says of that time. “Fredrik decided it was time to change direction. So he and a friend decided to start a retail store.”
That was Just Scandinavian, located in the downtown Manhattan Tribeca neighborhood. The idea was simple, Larsson adds – to introduce classic Scandinavian design with contemporary elements not seen in the States before. And including ALL the region’s countries, including previously overlooked Norway and Iceland.
The latter opened a rift between Fredrik and his partner, so before long he started over with his refined concept. Scandinavian Grace, based in the up-and-coming Williamsburg neighborhood in Brooklyn, turned out to be immediately successful, leading to a doubling in size of the original store on Bedford and North 9th, and the opening of a second Scandinavian Grace café in the tonier Park Slope area of the same borough one and a half years in.
During the interim, James says, he and Fredrik started coming to the Catskills, recommended to the Phoenicia area by Brooklyn customers who’d been buying, and occasionally moving up full time, into the Route 28 corridor all the way up to Andes, Bovina and Delhi, as well as Schoharie and other parts of Delaware County. Eventually, they too bought a home up here, in Mt. Tremper.
They eventually rented the former Just Alan store along Route 28 and opened for business last October because, as both chime in, “We wanted to spend more time Upstate.”
“Swedes spend most of their time in the country,” James explains. “And we realized, in opening this store, that the designs we were selling wasn’t precious, our items were made to be used. It made sense…”
From the start, people started dropping in who knew their stores in Brooklyn.
“And every weekend we met more like-minded people,” he adds, describing the growing numbers of Brooklyn folks who have started buying homes in this corridor, and then moving up full time. “There’s this connection between the two places that’s young. I joke that this side of the river is new money and the other side’s old. What we see coming through, and buying here, are jewelers and designers, musicians and filmmakers, all people who have found ways of utilizing the new technologies to attempt living simpler lives.”
And, James added, it was all baed more in Phoenicia than any of the older centers, such as Woodstock or New Paltz.
“Stop in Sweet Sue’s on a Saturday and it’s like the West Village, or Bedford,” James says. “It’s the same energy.”
So back to the story… of the crash and how, beyond expectations, it was the Upstate outpost, here in Shokan, that ended up beating out the Brooklyn headquarters.
“We had expanded 300 percent right when the recession started and we were certain this location would be a liability when it actually turned out to be our savior,” James says. “Last year, everything fell by 75 percent on November 1, then remained down in the city through the holidays. Everyone was decimated…”
Except for the Shokan store, Fredrik adds. Where friends and folks passing through started stopping in for the kafe, and buying gifts for the holidays.
“Over the next seven months, it turns out that it was this store that grew consistently, allowing us to stay alive in the city while all our competitors ended up having to close down,” James explains. “It turns out this was the safe haven that other stores in New York didn’t have. Our hearts still beat strong because of it.”
Yes, the two added, they have temporarily closed their Park Slope Kafe, and shrunk the size of their Williamsburg Butik back to what it was originally. But they’ve got great options… of either closing down their city operations and keeping the Route 28 enterprise alive, turning it into a destination store, or waiting out the downturn and reviving what they had, knowing that what they’ve built up here can hold them, justr in case.
“It’s a great place to be,” James says as Fredrik works with a steady stream of customers.
It’s a weekday afternoon…After entering a bright, naturally-lit Kafe area where great Swedish coffee and cakes, plus lunch quiches and salads, are served, one is almost immediately attracted into a massive elll-shaped showroom tastefully decorated with sleek furniture settings and oodles of fine accessory items, from milk-based soaps to glassware and lush cotton towels. It’s definitely a store that, while more expensive than some in the area, is on a par with the best of Woodstock, Rhinebeck and New York. In other words, it is classy... yet also Catskillian.
“We’re building our website, thinking of going global,” James is saying. “And the way we talk about the Catskills, I’m finding, is the way everyone was talking about Williamsburg ten years ago.”
James says that, starting August 15, he and Fredrik will be starting a Saturday night outdoor film series of Scandinavian classics, one from each of the region’s nations and cultures. There’ll be free popcorn and wine, like an art opening… only with cinema. Come the autumn, they see doing the same indoors with the great Ingmar Bergman, and perhaps Lars Van Trier and other Dogma directors come next winter.
Then he adds how much nicer it is working in the Catskills, where the people he’s known from New York are able to lose a certain “tunnel vision” and become more human.
“You stop and say hi,” James says. “People would be mortified if you tried doing that in the city…”
As it stands now, he and Fredrik have limited their trips to New York to a single day-long voyage for chores each week. Otherwise, they’ve turned to concentrating their efforts on expanding a local base from up here that is starting to include clients from Hudson to Newburgh, from Tivoli to Oneonta.
“It turns out we can reach people from here, including Manhattanites, that we could never get to in Brooklyn,” he says. “Who knew?”
He pauses, and temporarily free of duties, Fredrik chips in…
“Now, if we can only reach out to Woodstock…”
Scandinavian Grace is located at 2866 State Route 28 in Shokan, and is open most days. For further information call 657-2759 or visit www.scandinaviangrace.com.
If in Brooklyn, their Williamsburg Butik is at 167 North 9th Street. We’ll let you know if and when the President Street Kafe in Park Slope reopens…