7/19/2007

Dear Editor,
This letter is in response to US Rep. Maurice Hinchey’s letter supporting a 10-year FAD for New York City’s Water Supply. Mr. Hinchey’s assertions are so off base from his constituents, he might as well move south and challenge Charles Rangel and his counterparts for their seats.
Mr. Hinchey lauds the DEP’s effort (via the EPA) to lull a generation of locals into “understanding” the draconian land use regulations enforced by NYCDEP. He further explains that NYC will save BILLIONS, which ultimately saves us money (presumably because NYC will use federal and state tax dollars when forced to filter.) Mr. Hinchey commends a $300 MILLION commitment for land purchases in the watershed. He courts watershed residents by supporting open recreational uses, which every resident has complained about since, oh, 1997 (that’s ten years already). Lastly, he shows his true faith in his local constituency by inferring that locals would freely pollute the stream if NYC is forced to filter. Sad.
Since the early 90’s, the DEP has insisted that we were and are providing them with the “cleanest purest water in the world.” Mind you this was on our own prior to DEP’s MOA. Sounds like a bunch of polluters.
NYC told us then that filtration would cost $8 BILLION with $1 BILLION annual operating costs back in 1996. They also insisted it would cost $11 MILLION to build a sewer system in Phoenicia, NY, until bids came in at $17 MILLION. At which time they increased funding by $6 MILLION, but refused to offer an additional $35 THOUSAND annually for a system free to the users, like Pine Hill, Margaretville and other plants they run in the watershed. Accordingly, Phoenicia residents rejected it.
Mr. Hinchey asserts the City’s track record on recreational use on lands is atrocious, yet lauds $300 MILLION worth of land purchases proposed for the next decade in order to protect environmentally sensitive watershed lands. Well, we live in a state “forever wild” forest preserve which is freely used for a multitude of recreational uses, which directly relates to our local economy. You’ve proposed having a local developer sell part of his land to the state for water supply protection, yet the city, who by your own admission, over-regulates recreational uses, is not being asked the same? Could it be that the City would not be able to sell off these lands for a large profit after they have restricted recreational and developable land uses to make their property “highly desirable?” Already DEP land purchases and regulations have, at times, limited growth and the re-establishment of pre-existing structures. If you can’t build new and you can’t fix what’s here, what’s left? Yet, Congressman Hinchey commends padding the pockets of the newest Catskill Mountain land baron, NYC, to the tune of $300 MILLION.
The fees associated with running a sewer plant in Phoenicia, and other Hamlets that pay, is minimal compared to filtration. I would think that with some prodding by our Congressional leaders to find better and more efficient renewable energy resources, many of these plants could be self-maintained and running off-grid within the next 50 years, vastly reducing the cost of operations on these plants in the long-term. DEP could also help subsidize our local, county and state police departments. Paying for their education in watershed protection would reduce salaries for NYC, allow us the right to police ourselves and solve a major PR problem for the City.
If NYC, the EPA, and our Congressional leaders, like Mr. Hinchey continue to disregard the arguments made from watershed residents, businesses and organizations who recognize that a balance is necessary for sustainable growth, why are we being forced to follow regulations enforced by a municipality 100 miles to the south? Why is OUR Congresman standing against us? Is it NYC Political clout? Voter base? Campaign contributions? Who knows for sure. I am appalled that our Congressman would make such nasty inferences about his constituents. We rely on these waterways for so much up here. It just seems at times, our “leaders” and NYC are so short sighted, they literally can’t see the forest for trees, of course, WE can’t cross their lands to see the forest, either.
Robert A. Stanley
Shandaken, NY

Dear Editor,
I am writing this in regard to the humorous use of titles when signing letters to the editor. First, Deputy Alex Gitter's last letter to the editor, he states the mistreatment of Crossroads Ventures by just about anybody who isn't a guest at the best hotel ever created. The only reason you got the title of Deputy, for any position you hold there, is because YOUR FATHER OWNS THE PLACE. Otherwise, Sonny, you would be working somewhere else. Get it? It's called nepotism! There is so much controversy and general acrimony toward the plans ongoing, only a Deputy Idiot would write a letter to the local paper, to open the floodgates of letters such as this one. As it is, the Town of Shandaken is eternally grateful to Dean for thinking of all of us for coming in and single handedly launching the region out of economic despair.
Second, who was the dope that awarded the title of Republican Committeeman to the quintessential political scientist such as Rob't Kalb? After he gets lessons from Rush Limbaugh's radio show, he dons on a T-shirt that says "Republican Committeeman," then he literally goes about the town dictating campaign doctrine. Take a lesson from a reader of the local paper, if you're going to represent yourself as a Republican Committeeman, have some damn class, and do it with some dignity. The Democrats don't have to do one thing during the upcoming election season while this nattering nabob of negatism goes around town.
And finally, Joanne Kalb must have hit her head while she scraped her knee, behind the Eagle, to write a little innocent letter stating the new ambulance corps are great guys, after the recent flap with the last crew. Instead of taking cheap shots in the letters column, come forward with some solutions.
William Thomas
Big Indian, NY

Dear Editor,
In response to Peter DiModica’s hilarious letter from your last issue, my family moved to Big Indian in 1970 when I was 3, and I attended Phoenicia Elementary School all the way from kindergarten through 6th grade. I also returned to Big indian every summer through junior high and high school to work at Rudi’s Restaurant, and worked there as a manager for another year right after college. So yes, I did indeed grow up here. Perhaps the reason he has had trouble finding someone who will affirm these facts is that virtually every one of my co-workers, friends and schoolmates from the old days has long since moved away from the area because they could not find good career opportunities here.
In any event, I imagine that Phoenicia still has all my records, and if he acts quickly Mr. DiModica might even easily obtain them before they close our once-great elementary school forever… because, tragically, it seems there may no longer be enough young families with children in our town to justify keeping it open.
Hopefully in November the voters of Shandaken will demand more from their would-be leaders than shoddy research and blind accusations, from candidates who don’t bother to check easily-verified facts before launching ridiculous attacks.
Alex ‘Sascha’ Gitter
Mt. Tremper, NY

Dear Editor,
The Volunteer Firemen and the Board of Fire Commissioners of the Phoenicia Fire District take this opportunity to warn everyone of a hazardous condition, regarding outside lighting fixtures on homes and outbuildings.
On July 1 at 2:30 AM, Mount Tremper, Phoenicia, and Shandaken fire companies responded to a fire on a home on Old Rt.28, Phoenicia. Cause of the fire was a bird's nest on top of a fixture. The bird's nest was constructed of flammable material and was ignited from the heat of the light bulb. Fortunately there was minor damage to the house due to fast response of the fire companies. If you have outside lighting fixtures, please check and if there is a bird's nest on top of it, remove it and in the future discourage birds from nesting on the fixture.
Another word of advice, if you don't have a smoke detector in your residence, we urge you to buy one, they are inexpensive and easy to install. It's a small price to pay if it could save your life and lives of your loved ones. For those of you that have a smoke detector, check it occasionally to make sure it is working properly.
Howard Sebald
Board of Fire Commissioners
Phoenicia Fire District

Dear Editor,
If you missed “Live Earth” completely, and you weren’t among the few remaining people that still believe that we went to war in Iraq because Saddam Hussein brought down the towers, or had WMD’s, or that GW was a “uniter”, not a divider, then I hope you’ve recovered from whatever it was that kept you from the first hopeful World Wide miracle that I can remember since the 60’s. An estimated two billion fans in 130 countries and seven continents watched the concert.
How did Al Gore pull this one off? Frankly, I don’t think he did. I think that there was a supernatural interference that our own Michael Lang can speak to. Such things are not the act of a powerful manager, or even the likes of a giant, such as NBC. Such things are the act of an invisible force that we’re lucky to see once in a lifetime.
In these days of our threatened democracy, our threatened safety, and our disillusionment, we needed an event such as Live Earth, to demonstrate that something is larger than the ruling Corporate structure. We, the People, united with the people from other countries together, are surely more powerful than the few elite that presently control our oil, food, water, air, and at present, the future of our planet.
I know that our Constitution is in peril, that our beautiful planet is in peril, and that only a Miracle could save us.
But, on 07/07/07, my faith in miracles was renewed. Perhaps it isn’t all in our hands. Perhaps we are getting some help from an unknown force. For now, I’m going to go with that thought. Next week, you may hear less optimism from me, but I couldn’t resist sharing this moment with my fellow Catskill mountain residents. Isn’t that a miracle in itself?
Jill Paperno
Glenford, NY
Dear Editor,
"The first step in a fascist movement is the combination under an energetic leader of a number of men who possess more than the average share of leisure, brutality, and stupidity. The next step is to fascinate fools and muzzle the intelligent, by emotional excitement on the one hand and terrorism on the other." - Bertrand Russell, Freedom, Harcourt Brace, 1940.
"Most of the greatest evils that man has inflicted upon man have come through people feeling quite certain about something which, in fact, was false." - Bertrand Russell.
"Dogma demands authority, rather than intelligent thought, as the source of opinion; it requires persecution of heretics and hostility to unbelievers; it asks of its disciples that they should inhibit natural kindliness in favor of systematic hatred." -- Bertrand Russell, Unpopular Essays.
"Philosophy should always know that indifference is a militant thing. It batters down the walls of cities and murders the women and children amid the flames and the purloining of altar vessels. When it goes away it leaves smoking ruins, where lie citizens bayonetted through the throat. It is not a children's pastime like mere highway robbery." - Stephen Crane
"Unhappy events abroad have retaught us two simple truths about the liberty of a democratic people. The first truth is that the liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of a private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That, in its essence, is fascism - ownership of government by an individual, by a group, or by any other controlling private power." - FDR: message to Congress proposing the monopoly investigation, 1938)
Lanee Barra
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
The movie Sicko put into pictures the words we who have been speaking for the past 60 years. Did he exaggerate as the critics say? No movie or words could exaggerate the grossness of the mess we are in. He just accented some aspects but barely touched on such things as the economic damage the huge health Insurance benefits are causing; manufacturers can't compete internationally because of the costs; governments at all levels have uncontrolled budgetary increases; enormous numbers of people are going bankrupt with medical bills they can't pay. He didn't show us the infants born prematurely and damaged with cerebral palsy for life because of lack of prenatal care.
He probably exaggerated the health care programs of other countries, but is that worse than the downright lies that have been spread about them? And don't forget that the cost of spreading those lies has been paid for by the money we have given to those HMOs and Insurers. The other countries outrank us health wise in nearly every respect, putting us way down in the 20 some odd place among the nations. That is a truth we should listen to. It is no exaggeration.
He did say that Hillary Clinton has been for Universal Health care. She called the plan submitted early in the Clinton Administration "Universal Health" but it included use of the established HMOs and commercial insurers and could not have been a Single Payer plan. She does not speak out for a plan under the aegis of the Government and covering everyone. The bookkeeping alone with the Clinton plan would have been as costly as the bookkeeping is now - exorbitant.
Right here in Ulster County the health care of families is being threatened by a merger of the Benedictine and Kingston Hospitals requiring an extra facility to be built for reproductive services, including contraceptive assistance, tubal ligation, abortions, vasectomy, and other services. This will tack on about $3 million in building costs to a system which is already costly. Write to the papers and/or write to the trustees of Kingston Hospital, 396 Broadway, Kingston, NY 12401 protesting this intrusion of religion into medical practice and deprivation of needed care.
Mescal Hornbeck
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
I'm sure many of you were as dismayed as I was after the 2000 election fraud. But the deeper stories of election fraud in both the 2000 and 2004 elections have been covered by no American mainstream media. All indications are that both the 2000 and 2004 elections were manipulated and fraudulently won. Yet neither our media nor legal process has any response to the overwhelming evidence of fraud. Why?
We must understand when the MSM (mainstream media) completely ignores an important issue while barraging us with Paris Hilton tabloid news this is tantamount to censorship. The governments response to the 2000 election fraud was the newly enacted law HAVA, the help America vote act. This law has helped pave the way to handing our voting process over to corporate America and institutionalizing electronic voter fraud.
The three corporations who make electronic voter machines, Diebold, Sequoia and E.S&S, all have ties to big defense contractors.
America has abdicated to these private corporations the responsibility of handling elections and counting our votes; corporations that are manufacturing very expensive, highly vulnerable, computerized voting equipment run with secret proprietary software.
These machines can be easily manipulated and errantly programmed. We cannot trust corporate America with our voting process.
Right now in New York State our legislature is being lobbied by big corporations like Microsoft to change its proposed strict new voting laws. The proposed law requires voting machine software to be publicly scrutinized. The powerful corporate lobbies are fighting tooth and nail to keep this from happening and setting a national precedent. We, the People, must contact our state legislature and not let corporate America prevail. Many voting experts believe we don't even need electronic voting machines the simplest is still the most trustworthy, paper ballots in boxes with a highly scrutinized counting process. Electronic voting machines are expensive and cannot be trusted. If our country was really looking to ensure the integrity of our voting process it could by mandating any machine software used in public elections must be open to public scrutiny or no taxpayer dollars will be spent on them. The movement to educate Americans about the realities of voting fraud
is lead by a not for profit called blackboxvoting.org. This week on the Propaganda Machine we will be highlighting the subject of voter fraud in America. As usual the Propaganda Machine is covering the stories the MSM is ignoring. Watch the Propaganda Machine every Sunday evening at 8 p.m. on Woodstock cable access, Channel 23.
Francis Posavec
Woodstock, NY

Dear Editor,
Recently in your community a young man was killed in an alleged drunk driving crash. The family of Andrew “Drew” Dean-Lipson is living one of the most horrific experiences anyone can imagine.
In 2004, nearly 2,000 people were killed and another half-million people were injured in alcohol-related traffic crashes involving an underage driver. For many, these crashes are only the beginning of a long journey.
The horror of a drunk driving crash extends far beyond the loss of a loved one or the shock of permanent injuries as a result of a crash. Those who survive and those who are left behind must cope with unspeakable sorrow and pain. Many victims grapple with a court system that often seems blind to victims’ rights and families may be torn apart by the stark reality that their lives will never be the same.
Think about what it must be like for a victim’s family this morning...Perhaps for just a moment as they awaken they do not remember their loved one is dead then it all comes flooding back as the reality sets in. The family of the victim will never see that person again. They will never see him/her fulfill hopes and dreams.
One thing that happens to victims is that people pull away from them. We as a society have trouble interacting with anyone who has a loved one killed in tragic circumstances. The family of victims needs the support of their friends and community and for everyone to understand what they are going through.
As a trained Victim Advocate for Mothers Against Drunk Driving, I have worked with many families who have been affected by this violent crime of driving while intoxicated. Last year, MADD’s network of trained advocates provided more than 38,000 victims with emotional support, as well as criminal justice and community referrals.
Mothers Against Drunk Driving offers free victim services to anyone affected by drunk-driving tragedies. To access these services, please visit www.MADD.org or call the 24-hour helpline at 877-MADD-HELP (877-623-3435).
Karen Pettigrew, President
MAAD Capital Region Chapter

Dear Editor,
There is an individual running for Ulster County District Attorney whose candidacy is not driven by any political agenda or maneuvering. After Donald Williams announced his intention to retire, Holley Carnright was asked to run on the basis of his experience and the reputation for integrity he has earned during his career here in Ulster County. His only agenda will be to work for the safety and security of our families and communities. He is the most credible candidate and the one best qualified to represent us both here and across the state.
I am a Democrat and I plan to vote for Holley Carnright in November.
Joy Moore
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
NYCA Troupe 2007 extends a big thank you to everyone who generously donated to “Support the Arts,” from our car wash to our can shake, where we were able to display our talents by singing and dancing for your enjoyment. We would also like to thank Sam’s Club, Adams Fairacre Farms and Wal-Mart for allowing us the use of their properties for our fundraising events. In addition to the above we wish to thank Domino’s Pizza for donating lunch.
Laurie Andretta
Deb Cahill
Leslie Dawson
NYCA Troupe 2007 organizers
Hurley, NY

Dear Editor,
A recent article stated that only Bradley is guaranteed a slot in the November elections. Please note that Jonathan Sennett secured the Working Families Party line - the recommendation was actually made before the Dems “kinda sorta” apparently unofficially endorsed him.
We are a small but growing party that pulls a significant number of votes in Ulster County from both enrolled and unaffiliated voters who care about issues (jobs, justice, and good government).
Moreover, our party endorses based on policy and experience after a formal interview and questionnaire. Concerns such as who someone is related to (we just call that nepotism) and political favors, thankfully, do not guide our endorsement process.
Jen Fuentes
Mid-Hudson Working Families Party

Dear Editor,
Ulster County District Attorney candidate Vincent Bradley and his supporters (including County Legislator Parete and Kingston Mayor James Sottile) argue that the only fair action for the Democratic Party to take would be to allow him the right to primary. I agree that a decision of this magnitude should be made by all of the registered members of the party.
Likewise, the same principles should be applied to the Independence and Conservative parties. The Independence Party selected their candidate out of the four who sought the nomination, with only six Independence Party members voting. The Conservative Party selected their candidate out of the two seeking the nomination by only a four-vote margin and not by a majority of those who registered to vote at the convention.
I have asked Mr. Bradley to join with me in requesting permission to primary from the Independence and Conservative party chairs. In anticipation of a favorable response, the Holley Carnright campaign has initiated the petition process for the Independence and Conservative party nominations.
Richard Croce, Chairman
Committee to Elect Carnright
Ulster County District Attorney
New Paltz, NY

Dear Editor,
Can anyone explain why Vincent Bradley is not being allowed to run for district attorney as a Democrat? Here is a young man who grew up in Ulster County in a Democratic family. He did exactly what the leaders of our county tell our young people to do, get your education, get experience and come home and show us alternatives to the way we do things here!
He has accomplished a great deal in his young life. He finished law school, passed the bar, earned his CPA and became an assistant district attorney in the toughest city in the country and our Democratic leaders are balking at the chance to put him on the ballot. He returned to Ulster County because this is his home, this is where his family and friends life. He wants to live here and use his vast experience to help make Ulster County a better place.
For the past 10 years, he has been successfully working in the Manhattan district attorney’s office with the best DA in the country dealing with many of the problems we are now just beginning to see in the towns and cities of Ulster County. Mr. Bradley has already dealt with these situations and he has the contacts to back up his experience.
As for Mr. Bradley making any unnecessary threats to a candidate is absurd! The late Judge Vincent Bradley, a former Supreme Court justice, his Vincent Bradley Jr., candidate for Ulster County district attorney, and the Bradley family have a good name in this county. I, for one, would question the motive of a person making such a claim.
How lucky are we? We have another highly qualified Democratic candidate for Ulster County district attorney in Vincent Bradley. One who is willing to accept the challenge of running for a political office and not hiding behind some political rhetoric to eliminate competition?
Now that the Democrats have the power, they also have the chance to do what is best for the party and the people of Ulster County. Doing the best means letting Vincent Bradley run in the primary and let the best man win. The alternative is splitting the Democratic vote and allowing a Republican candidate to get the job. As a registered Democrat of 18 years, this is not smart politics.
John R. Tremper
Kingston, NY

Dear Editor,
As a member of the Democratic Committee of Saugerties, and one of the individuals who voted for Jonathan Sennett on both ballots at the County Democratic Committee Meeting, I’d like to give my personal thoughts on why Vincent Bradley did not win that election and why I will vote ‘no’ on his being allowed to participate in a primary for the District Attorney position on the Democratic line. These are my own opinions and are not meant to represent those of any other person or group.
When the three Democratic candidates presented their qualifications and answered questions at a Saugerties Democratic Committee meeting I found all three to be knowledgeable and experienced. However, I found two major problems with Vincent Bradley. First, for all his previous years as an eligible voter he has apparently chosen not to be registered as a Democrat. In fact he has only recently registered as a Democrat and won’t actually be one until after this election.
By not choosing to be a registered Democrat he gave up his opportunity to vote in Democratic primaries or to have a say in the decision making of the Democratic Party. For him, having purposely chosen not to have a voice in Democratic primaries, to now ask for special dispensation to run in a Democratic primary, is nerve of the highest order. Let him wait until he is a registered Democrat, and can vote in a Democratic primary, before he asks to be a candidate in such a primary himself.
Second, and perhaps more important to me as an Ulster County resident, is that unlike the other two candidates who have lived in Ulster County and worked in various aspects of its judicial system for a number of years, Vincent Bradley has lived and worked in New York City since 1990. Even though his family is from Ulster County, and he was born here and may have vacationed here, he does not know the concerns and issues of Ulster County and has not been involved in any aspect of the judicial system of Ulster County as have both Jonathan Sennett and Julian Schreibman.
What Vincent Bradley is, is a member of a Democratic Party family that is well connected to the powers of the party and he has come “home” to be given his inheritance of the DA nomination. Well, if there’s one thing most Democrats don’t like, it’s to be told by the party bosses what to do and how to vote. My experience at the Democratic meeting that elected Sennett rather than Bradley is not that Sennett and Schreibman had a deal to give each other their supporters’ votes, but that their supporters preferred either of those candidates, who are truly both Democrats and long time Ulster County residents, to a person who is neither. That’s why he did not win the Democratic nomination and why I will vote ‘no’ on allowing him to participate in a primary election.
The right thing for Vincent Bradley to do, if he really believes in the Democratic Party and wants to support it, is to withdraw his request to participate in a primary, to remove himself from the Conservative and Independence lines, and to support the democratically elected candidate, Jonathan Sennett, rather than splitting the party vote and helping the Republican nominee win the election.
Kenneth Goldberg
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
The recommendation to move women s and men s reproductive health services out of Kingston Hospital is unnecessarily costly and life-threatening. The $3 million cost for a new ambulatory surgical center to be located in the Kingston Medical Arts building would place another burden on taxpayers. Unlike the security of a hospital setting, it would place visitors and staff in jeopardy of harassment and violence.
Do we really want to see any more killings of doctors?
The nine physicians who own or lease a majority of the offices there object to the proposed move of this facility into their building, which was designed only for small office practice, and has an already crowded parking lot. They explain that such a move violates their office contracts and are threatening a lawsuit to stop the plan.
These facilities must be kept within Kingston Hospital, not moved off premises to another location in a non-hospital setting and run by a separate corporation.
Religious rules should not interfere with responsible medical practice.
Solomon Kershaw
New Paltz, NY

Dear Editor,
I would like to honor some very special folks in our community. Healthcare is a Human Right (HCHR) has been providing free holistic healthcare clinics for Family of Woodstock since 2003.
The staff of practitioners who volunteer their services regularly during the year have more than earned my gratitude and admiration. They are people whose hearts and minds said YES to the concept that EVERYONE, regardless of income, deserves the best healthcare we can offer, and they had the conviction to act on that belief.
With the legendary Family of Woodstock as our hosts, we have provided that care, no strings attached, for 4 years.
As the director and co-founder of HCHR, I’d like to acknowledge and publicly thank the following practitioners: Julie Evans - massage, Vickie O’Dougherty - Homeopathy, Julia Rose - Acupuncture, Jipala Reicher-Kagan - Acupuncture, Lainy Reicher - Nutrition and Kabbalistic Healing, Joan Apter - Aromatherapy, Maha Golden - Flower Essences and Infant Massage, Thurman Greco - Reflexology and Reike.
Other excellent practitioners have participated, but these wonderwomen are the core of our staff.
We are expanding the FOW clinic to Phoenecia, and welcome Suzy Brown - Craniosacral Therapy, and Adelinda Hyde - Reike, to our community of healers. We expect to establish clinics in Kingston and Ellenville in the coming months, and we invite qualified healers to contact us at 845-246-5783, or 845-688-2323.
Ultimately, our goal is to provide a model of what we want healthcare to be - comprehensive, integrative, and available to all, regardless of ability to pay. Healthcare is, after all, a Human Right.
Susan Weeks, RPA-C
Saugerties, NY

Dear Editor,
George Pignatello died on July 3, 2007. He is survived by a whole community of fellow wood workers, clients, fishermen, waitresses, farmers, townspeople, locals and city people, all of which count themselves as his close friends because George made everyone feel like his best friend.
George was a great man. He did a lot of work for our 4H club, building the original coops that later formed the "coopers" network, which is now a column in the
Phoenicia Times and Olive Press. He built countless works of art in all of our lives, counters, shelves, beds, chairs, benches, and restorations. He loved wood and often saw the potential in a piece of unfinished wood that the rest of us might miss. He was like that with people too. He was a skilled fisherman who made beautiful hand carved nets and had a deep appreciation for local rivers and the trout which they hold. I could call down to his woodshop and get up to the minute reports on the Esopus hatches and fishing conditions. He was happy to share his precious time on the water with young people, including my nephew, who he took fishing on many occasions.
I want to thank the many people who supported George in his final days and
who helped George's girlfriend, Miss Jane, arrange his funeral and wake. Dr. Harry and Laurel, Donna, Colleen, Mitch, Fred, Phillipe, Kathy, Lisa, lan, Murray, Daniel, Tall Mike, Jason, Lee, Jenny, Peter, Rose, David G, and Suzanne C, who helped us up here at Holz Farm to provide a wake for George after the funeral service.
Finally, I want to thank the brave and skilled wood workers who actually built his coffin and carried him into the funeral
home. Wood guys Dwayne C, Ray, Big Ed, Red Ed, Tom, James, John, Joe, Ricky,
Vince, Kyle, Jason and Lee, and of course, Suzanne C, who did the upholstery. This must have been the hardest job of their lives and they did it with such grace.
Finally, I'd like to thank Mark Wilsey of Gormley Funeral Home, who isn't afraid to "think outside the box".
George was greatly loved and he leaves great people behind. It has been my privilege to know him and I am grateful for the rich community he leaves behind.
Sincerely,
George Holz
Woodland Valley, NY