Covering Main Street and Beyond.VOLUME 1. HURLEYVILLE, SULLIVAN COUNTY, N.Y. | DECEMBER 2016 NUMBER 7.

BASKETBALLTHE MOST WONDERFUL TIME OF THE YEAR!by Heather Gibson

As we move out of November, and into December two

things are strikingly clear. The election is finally over and the Holiday Season is upon us.

Do the words “Holiday Season” bring you pure joy? If your answer is, “No”, you are not alone. That’s the thing about this time of year, you either can’t get enough, or enough IS enough. So, while some of your neighbors have already put up their lights, finished Black Friday shopping, and trimmed their tree, you might find yourself lacking holiday spirit. You aren’t exactly a “Grinch” per se, but let’s just say you’re still holding onto all things Pumpkin.

A popular Christmas song claims, “It’s the most won-derful time of the year”, but for so many it can be the most difficult time of the year. Perhaps you don’t have the finances to “keep up with the Joneses,” or you’ve lost someone special and you can’t bear the emp-ty seat at the dining room table. Well, I have the very best news! The best way to cheer yourself up is to cheer somebody else up! When we give to others, we give to ourselves in return. So, I hope you find this article motivating, and inspiring, as it’s filled with ideas to help you find your Holiday mojo.

James Gerrard, of Hur-leyville, is a quiet and gentle man who gets paid to serve his community through his work at The Monticello Fire Department. Day in and day out, for nineteen years, he has answered the calls of neighbors in need, but inter-estingly enough, he makes the choice to give when he’s off the clock too. “Fireman Jim”, as he’s affectionately known, enjoys playing San-ta at Hudson River Health-care in Monticello. The staff there gather donations of toys for over 300 children in need. Jim gets to see their big smiles up close, as they sit on his lap and share their Christmas wishes. Through-out the year, Jim can be found reading stories at area elementary schools, and he is very involved in educat-ing children about fire pre-vention. He anonymously adopts a few families this time of year, and his hope is that they might have a brighter holiday due to his contributions.

Carlos Torres, of Mon-ticello, is the founder and president of A Dose of Kind-ness. Carlos exemplifies what it means to give from the heart. The non-profit was founded in 2014, fol-lowing its very first FREE Holiday Dinner. I just knew that an organization with the hash tag #teamgiveback was sure to inspire me, but what inspires Carlos? Just about three years ago, he witnessed a close friend do-

President Barack Obama has appoint-ed Hurleyville na-

tive Rebecca S. Salon to the President’s Committee for People with Intellectual Disabilities.

Currently a resident of Silver Spring, Md., Dr. Sa-lon is project director at the National Center on Leader-ship for the Employment and Economic Advance-ment of People with Dis-abilities, established by the National Disability Insti-tute, and program special-ist at the D.C. Department on Disability Services, po-sitions she has held since 2013.

She previously held nu-merous posts at the Lt. Jo-seph P. Kennedy Institute in Washington, D.C., from 1987 to 2007, including serving as the agency’s di-rector.

Dr. Salon started her ca-reer in the disabilities field in the mid-1970s, when she opened some of the first group homes for adults with intellectual disabili-ties in Sullivan County as a staff member of the Sul-livan County A.R.C.

She earned a bachelor’s degree from SUNY Alba-ny and holds Master’s and doctoral degrees from Syr-acuse University’s School of Education. She grew up in Hurleyville, where her parents, Phil and Marion Salon, owned Salon’s Bun-galows and Salon’s Cor-ners. She is a graduate of Fallsburg High School.

Dr. Salon began her ca-reer at Sullivan County A.R.C., when it was just a school in Parksville. Upon obtaining her Mas-ter’s Degree, she returned to Sullivan County, where she assisted in closing the Parksville school so that the students could attend their own home schools or B.O.C.E.S. She then became the agency’s first Director of Community Living, opening its first group homes and enabling disabled residents who had been institutionalized at Willowbrook and Letch-worth to return to the coun-ty.

As Andy Williams popularly sang, “it is the most wonder-

ful time of the year,” but for many, the holiday season and the often unpredictable win-ter weather brings stress, as well. And while it is—again borrowing from the song lyrics—“the hap-happiest season of all,” sometimes the hectic pace of it all can get folks down.

If that sounds even just a little bit familiar, the 2nd Annual Hurleyville Winter Solstice Candlelight Walk is definitely for you.

The self-guided walk is scheduled for Wednesday, December 21—the winter solstice and the shortest day of the year-- at 4:30 PM at the Milk Train RailTrail in the center of Hurleyville.

“It is a lovely tradition that we hope will bring people of all ages together outdoors in nature, guided by candle-light,” says Jim Cashen, the event organizer.

There will also be live mu-sic, which will take place at the nearby Hurleyville Mak-

nate food to a homeless man and was really touched by this simple selfless act. Car-los began to think of ways to duplicate that act on a much larger scale. So, he gathered a small group of friends together to feed a commu-nity. Much to his surprise, they fed over 1,000 people during that first dinner, and they’ve been feeding the community ever since.

When I say they’ve been “feeding” the community, I’m not just speaking of a hot meal, either. Carlos, and his team, which consists of six board members, including his wife Christine, and four committee members, have been feeding hope, love and light into our local commu-nity for the past few years. Every contribution and do-nation that’s made to them gets put back into the orga-nization. During the Sum-mer, they host a huge street fair in Monticello which consists of live entertain-ment, carnival rides, pony rides, and many different children’s activities. There are a variety of vendors, and it’s all FREE! They’ve also organized Family Day in Liberty, Halloween Parties, Trick or Trunk, and Holiday Craft days.

Much like “Fireman Jim,” Carlos is also humble in not wanting his name men-tioned. He reminded me that it takes his entire team to move mountains, and they do so one step at a time, one volunteer at a time. He

commented, “When people ask me why I do this, I ask them, ‘why not?’ Why not be an example; a role model for our children? Why not donate a bit of time to cre-ate a positive impact on our community? Why not be the change you want to see?”

A Dose Of Kindness is not faith- or politically based. They are a diverse group of volunteers; motivated by their unity, each other’s kindness, and the joy they bring to the children who live here.

Currently, they are look-ing for families who need a little extra help this Holi-day Season. If you know a family who has experienced extreme loss and could use a little pick me up, please email that nomination to ADOKfortheholidays@yahoo.com They are also currently gearing up for their 3rd Annual Free Holi-day Dinner, which will take place at Ted Strobele Recre-ation Center in Monticello on Dec 18th, at 5 PM. For more information, to volun-teer, or to make a donation, please contact Carlos at (845)-742-7475, Devon Sp-agnoli at (845)-423-0988 or on Facebook at www.face-book.com/ADoseofKind-ness1.

While getting involved in an organization and giving of your time is an excel-lent idea, there are many small acts of kindness you can do on a daily basis. At your local coffee house?

Why not buy coffee for a stranger on line? Did we get a bit of snow? Can you help a neighbor shovel their path or driveway? Miss-ing a loved one who lives far away? How about writ-ing a hand written letter or card, instead of posting a note via social media? Are you Christian and have questions about Chanukah? Why not attend a neighbor’s menorah lighting and learn more about how other peo-ple celebrate? You’ve got a Christmas list and you’re checking it twice? What if you added someone to the list who isn’t usually on it? Just simply surprise them with something special? Perhaps a tin of homemade cookies?

Although, he wouldn’t want me to say this, and he spent most of our interview asking me not to mention his name, no one in the county helps us find our Holiday Spirit more than Lou Monte-leone. Lou, who is an active member of his Elded com-munity, had a reoccurring dream more than 12 years ago. In that dream he was dressed as Santa Claus, but he wasn’t giving out gifts, instead he saw himself min-gling among the community and bringing joy to children everywhere. He got excited about this dream and he told it over and over again until one day, a co-worker got sick of hearing it and said, “Lou, why don’t you just do it already!?” And so, his dream came to fruition, and The Santa Express came to life!

The Santa Express, now in its twelfth year, makes stops at eleven different towns (Port Jervis, Bethel, Liberty, Monticello, South Fallsburg, Eldred, Glen Spey, Barryville, Yulan, Narrowsburg, and Milford, PA). This event, which in-vites only those who BE-LIEVE, is perhaps the most magical scene you can wit-ness this Holiday Season. I’m going to recommend that even if you don’t have children, even if you don’t like crowds, that you simply hang back in one of these towns long enough to see and feel the magic.

Lou described, “It’s pure darkness and off in the dis-tance you hear the sleigh bells. The sound gets louder and louder as Santa’s sleigh approaches. Then the night sky is lit up with every color imaginable and every child is greeted with the tune, “Here Comes Santa Claus.” Their eyes grow wide as they see a variety of differ-ent characters: Rudolph, Olaf, Frosty, Gingerbread Men, Jingle Bear, Chrissy Mouse, The Snow Queen, several elves, and Mrs. Claus. Then up high in the sky, the man they’ve all been waiting for.

“Ho, Ho, Ho!” it’s Santa Claus himself!

There’s Christmas music, and there’s even popular

A VISIT WITH SOME WHO CREATE HOLIDAY MAGIC

A faithful reader of The Hurleyville Sentinel has asked us to try to find out if anyone else has ever en-countered a spirit or spirits along the RailTrail. The reader has experienced a strange, though not at all unfriendly, presence at certain places on the trail, and speculates that it might be because of the Feb-ruary 13, 1907 explosion of the boiler on an O&W passenger train just after it exited Smith’s Cut which resulted in the death of three crew men. Anyone who would like to weigh in on the matter can contact The Sentinel via e-mail at hurleysent@hotmail.com. All responses will be kept confidential if requested.

WE WANT TO KNOW

HURLEYVILLENATIVE GETS OBAMAAPPOINTMENT

“This was shortly after the Willowbrook expose by Geraldo Rivera,” Dr. Salon told The Sentinel. “The President’s Committee had just published a report on ‘Changing Patterns in Res-idential Services,’ which spawned the development of community residential programs and a commit-ment to ensure that people with intellectual disabilities have opportunities to have typical lives and choices. The amazing experiences I had at the Sullivan County A.R.C. were invaluable in shaping my interests and the direction of my career.”

Dr. Salon says she knows many of the people on the President’s committee and is excited about the pros-pect of working with them.

“I’ve been an active sup-porter of the self-advocacy movement, through which people with intellectual disabilities influence the direction of the services and supports available to them,” she points out. “For the past 25 years, I have been a volunteer ad-visor to a statewide self-advocacy coalition in the District of Columbia, Proj-ect ACTION!, which has strong links to the national self-advocacy coalition, Self-Advocates Becom-ing Empowered (SABE). I see this appointment as a way to amplify the voice of people with intellectual disabilities, some of whom will be my colleagues on the President’s Commit-tee. I am also strongly committed to supporting the inclusion of people with disabilities in the life of their communities, and look forward to exploring additional ways to support people to live full lives, in-cluding employment, eco-nomic advancement, and self-determination.”

Dr. Salon says she con-siders the appointment “a great capstone to a 40+ year career,” and says she looks forward “to this both as a learning experience and an opportunity to offer some of what I’ve learned over the years.”

Dr. Rebecca S. Salon

COMMUNITY INVITEDTO JOIN IN

CANDLELIGHT WALKer’s Lab, where hot cider and warm bathrooms will also be available. The event is free and open to the public.

Mr. Cashen says there will also be an opportunity for folks who are so inclined to read or recite their favorite poems, preferably with a winter or holiday theme.

“We hope everyone in the community will come cel-ebrate the winter solstice,” he says. “This festival is in-tended to encourage a peace-ful walk and reflection while quieting our minds during what can be a hectic and sometimes stressful holiday season. It is an experience that can bring joy and light in the simplest of ways.”

Mr. Cashen says the event should wrap up by around 6:30 PM.

All that appears to be miss-ing are “marshmallows for toasting, and caroling out in the snow; scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago.”

“Please,” Mr. Cashen im-plores, “come join us!”

CONTINUED ON PAGE 3

Candlelight will illuminate the Milk Train RailTrail in Hur-leyville on December 21 to celebrate the winter solstice.

“This is our second annual event,” says organizer Jim Cash-en. “We decided to call it ‘candlelight’ because it is a more universal term than ‘luminaria.’”

The first winter storm hascome and gone giving

us our first taste of ice and apower outage, as well.Let’s hope it’s the last wesee of both!

Recently I spoke withlongtime friend and longertime Hurleyvilleian AlDeFino. There is no ques-tion that this man is a mas-ter guitarist (you know thiswhen exceptional musiciansbow to his talent) but adarned nice, funny guy.The list of the famous he’splayed with would fill awhole column, but suffice itto say, you can hear him foryourselves at Sorella’s,3562 State Route 55, Kau-neonga Lake most Fridaysand Saturdays from 6-9 PMwith the ever versatile LarryRavdin on sax. Tell themJane sent you.

‘Home Grown’ on WJFFradio on Saturday Decem-ber 3rd welcomes SteveFaubel who passed the reinsof the show to Hurleyville’sKevin McDaniel three yearsago. The show airs live at 1PM at 90.5FM.

And speaking of WJFF,their Music Fair this yearwas a resounding success.Always held the first Satur-day after Thanksgiving, thisfundraiser for the stationhad a wonderful amountand variety of musical in-struments donated this yearand the line of attendeeswas “out the door”. Mem-ber supported, this stationprovides a great service toSullivan County.

We may have seen the lastof the concerts at the Sulli-van County Museum. A bigthank you to Carol Smithand Little Sparrow, whomade them a reality in our

lives for these last 5 years.There’s also something

exciting shaping up in Gra-hamsville for next year. I’msworn to secrecy at thispoint but I can’t wait untilall the “Is” are dotted andthe “Ts” are crossed!!

At this writing, it is un-clear if the Brew is remain-ing open for the winter. If itdoes, the tentative dates forthe Search and Rescue Or-chestra should be December13 and December 27.

The schedule for Decem-ber is set, but make sure youcheck with the venue beforeheading out, as everythingfrom this point until springis “weather permitting.”

For December:2nd Friday, The Pickled

Owl; DREW KELLY (folk,blues and favorite covers), 7PM

2nd Friday, CabernetFrank’s, SEARCH ANDRESCUE ORCHESTRA,(Joanna Gass, SteveSchwartz, Kenny W, EricNeis, Bobby C), 38 MainStreet, Parksville; 7:30 PM-9:30 PM

3rd Saturday, Kevin Mc-Daniel’s HOME GROWNonW JFF with guest SteveFaubel; 90.5FM, 1 PM-2PM

3rd Saturday, The PickledOwl, TERRI HALL (jazzvocalist), 7 PM

4th Sunday, DeFillipisBakery, MUSIC WHEREYOU LEAST EXPECT IT,506 Broadway, Monticello,11 AM to 1:30ish

9th Friday, The Pickled

Owl; BARRY SCHEIN-FELD JAZZ TRIO, 7 PM

10th Saturday, The Pick-led Owl, THE ACQUAIN-TANCES (jazz to rockvariety), 7 PM

11th Sunday, DeFillipisBakery, MUSIC WHEREYOU LEAST EXPECT IT,Monticello, 11 AM to1:30ish

13th Tuesday, TENTA-TIVE, Brew, SEARCHAND RESCUE ORCHES-TRA, Rock Hill 845-796-2222

16th Friday, The PickledOwl, SARA HULSE,CAMPFIRE JONES, JODIOAKS (roots and blue-grass), 6 PM

17th Saturday, The Pick-led Owl, ALBI (acoustic va-riety), 8 PM

18th Sunday, DeFillipisBakery, MUSIC WHEREYOU LEAST EXPECT IT,Monticello, 11 AM to1:30ish

27th Tuesday, TENTA-TIVE, Brew, SEARCHAND RESCUE ORCHES-TRA, Rock Hill 845-796-2222

30th Friday, The PickledOwl, MARK VISCONTI &JUSTIN SUTHERLAND,(acoustic folk, rock, pop) 7PM

31st Saturday, The Pick-led Owl, TALKING MA-CHINE, (modern acousticrock), 8 PM

Wishing all of you ablessed Holiday season, andplease remember your lessfortunate neighbors.

Until next time…

PAGE 2 HURLEYVILLE SENTINEL, HURLEYVILLE, N.Y. DECEMBER 2016

Congratulations go out toFallsburg High School

Chorus members BrendenHooks, Isabel Morales,Guillermo Granados, JennaVairo, Mekayla Perneszi andGrace Strauss for earningArea All-State ChorusAwards from the New YorkState School Music Associa-tion (NYSSMA) on theweekend of November 19-20,2016.

Chorus Director Ms.Colleen O’Toole-Barber isvery proud of these students,who performed so admirablyduring the competition. Ms.Barber and the award recipi-ents are hard at work rehears-ing for the Annual WinterConcert on Tuesday, Decem-ber 13 at the Fallsburg HighSchool Auditorium whichwill feature the differentschool choirs and bands.

The Inquiring Photographerby Heather Gibson

Q. Are you looking forward to Winter? If so, what areyour favorite Winter activities?

Ryan David(Age 4):

“Yes! I like to build a snowman.”

Jayden Williams(Age 10):

“Yes, I like the snow,snowball fights,

building snowmen and forts for when

my dad throwssnowballs at me,

and sledding, I like sledding too.”

Mykenzi Williams(Age 9):

“Yes, my favorite activities are sledding,

snowball fights, drinking hot chocolate,

and making cookies.”

Avery Carrier(Age 6):

“Yes, because you canplay baseball withsnow and a shovel.

I like to shovel, slidedown the slide andland in a big pile of snow. I build asnowman, have a

snow fight. Oh, and I like sledding too.”

Hannah Weiner(Age 6):

“Yes, because I likemaking snowmen andsledding, snowballsand snowball fightswith my sister andbrother and makingsnow forts. I also like having inside

play dates.Snow days are fun!”

Kendall Ingram(Age 11):

“I am looking forward to Winter

very much because I love to ski.

I participate in theschool’s ski cluband I also enjoy

sledding.I’m patiently waiting

for it to snow”

THE HURLEYVILLESENTINEL.

Covering Main Street and Beyond243 Main Street

Hurleyville, NY 12747845-707-6000

hurleysent@hotmail.com

Editor-in-Chief ………………………………………………… John Conway

Sports Editor ……………………………………………..... Angelee Santillo

Photo Editor …………………………………………………... J. James Wall

Hamlet Happeningsby Kathleen Sullivan

Looking for somethingto do in Hurleyville

during the holiday season?The Sullivan County His-torical Society’s 2016 Hol-iday Theme Tree ExhibitOpen House and Receptionwill be held at the SullivanCounty Museum & Cul-tural Center on Sunday, De-cember 4th from 2:00 PMuntil 4:30 PM. Everyone iswelcome to join in the fes-tivities. Admission is freeand donations are alwayswelcome. The Museum &Cultural Center is located at265 Main Street in Hur-leyville.The Historical Society’songoing Veterans’ Exhibitat the Museum featuresmilitary uniforms from theCivil War era throughtoday. The exhibit will alsoinclude a presentation onCongressional Medal ofHonor recipient FrancisCurrey. The Historical Society is in-terested in hiring someoneto shovel snow this winterat the Museum. Please callPat Burns at 845-434-8044for more information.Please visit www.scnyhis-tory.org for more informa-tion on the Sullivan CountyHistorical Society and theSullivan County Museum.The Sullivan County Dra-matic Workshop will pres-ent two holiday shows inDecember at their “off-sea-son” home at the SullivanCounty Museum & Cul-tural Center at 265 MainStreet in Hurleyville.An original work foryounger audiences, “I’mGetting Nuttin for Christ-mas” by Mekalya Pernesziand Megan Grieco, based

on the classic holiday song,will be presented on Friday,December 9th and Satur-day, December 10th at 7:00PM and on Sunday, De-cember 11th at 1:00 PM.A family production of alive radio play, “Miracle on34th Street” will be pre-sented on Friday, December9th and Saturday, Decem-ber 10th at 8:00 PM and onSunday, December 11th at2:00 PM.Admission for “I’m GettingNuttin for Christmas” is$7.00. Admission for “Mir-acle on 34th Street” is$10.00. The admissionprice for both performancestogether is $15.00.Bring an unwrapped toy tohelp support the ThunderCountry “Toys for Tots”drive and receive $2 offyour admission!Dessert, coffee and tea willbe served. Hurleyville-Sullivan Firstwill hold the 20th Annual

“Deck the Doors” holidaydecorating contest onThursday, December 15th.The group will tour everyroad in Hurleyville on thenight of the contest andjudge all holiday-decorateddoors in the hamlet. Win-ners of the contest will beawarded prizes furnishedby Hurleyville businessowners and members ofHurleyville-Sullivan First.The volunteers in Hur-leyville-Sullivan First con-tinue to work on projectscontributing to the revital-ization of our hamlet. Any-one interested in the futureof Hurleyville is encour-aged to join the group.Hurleyville-Sullivan Firstmeets on the 3rd Thursdayof each month at 7:00 PMat the firehouse.Please visit www.hurleyvil-leny.com for more informa-tion and to see the progressHurleyville-Sullivan First ismaking.

Hurleyville-Sullivan First will hold its 20th Annual “Deck the Doors”holiday decorating contest on Thursday, December 15.

Fallsburg High School Chorus members (top row) Brenden Hooksand Guillermo Granados; (middle row) Isabel Morales and JennaVairo; (bottom row) Mekayla Perneszi and Grace Strauss.

The painting party was well attended by moms, children, and evensome dads.

Mrs. Amy Nardi hosted the painting party at Frankie & Johnny’sRestaurant.Everyone enjoyed themselves at the Mommy and Me Painting Party.

Gabriela Almonte poses withher mom, the HonorableAmanda Ward, Fallsburg TownJustice, and the painting onwhich they collaborated.

FALLSBURG HIGHSCHOOL STUDENTS EARNAREA ALL-STATE MUSIC

HONORS

MOMMY AND ME PAINTING PARTY

The SceneMusic and Entertainment in and around Hurleyville

by Jane Harrison

by Gabriela Almonte (age 8)

Mrs. Amy Nardi held a“Mommy and Me”

painting party at 2 PM onSunday, November 20th atFrankie & Johnny’s Restau-rant in Hurleyville.

There were also somedads who went with theirchildren. It was well at-tended. I went with mymom and it made me veryhappy to be there. Mommyand I made a half-pictureand put it together to makea whole picture. It was acaterpillar!

I’m sure my mommy hadfun, too.

DECEMBER 2016 HURLEYVILLE SENTINEL, HURLEYVILLE, N.Y. PAGE 3

MAGIC: FROM FRONT PAGE

music such as Katy Perry’sFirework. Santa Claus andhis helpers get the entirecrowd involved in the enter-tainment by having the chil-dren hold up letters whichspell out the word, “Be-lieve”. Santa movesthroughout the crowd withhis finger touching thenoses of all those he meets.If you’ve been a good boyor girl his finger lights upred! The children are mes-merized by this magicalpower.Just when you think it can’tpossibly get any better,Santa exclaims that it’s timeto measure the town’s spirit.He points to a huge spiritmeter with words like“Imagine,” “Wish,” and“Dream.” Only when themeter reaches the word“Believe” can the sled belifted off the ground forSanta to fly back to theNorth Pole, and just as thathappens Jingle Bells playsand it begins to snow. All that magic happensthrough donations and vol-unteers, who like Lou, sac-rifice their own time to helpothers believe again. Hetakes a lot of pride in mak-ing sure that this is the mostauthentic non-commercial-ized experience for eachchild. He takes the child’sthoughts and feelings intoaccount at every momentduring the experience. During these moments, outin the community, or inSanta’s Workshop in El-dred, Lou doesn’t exist. Heis indeed Santa Claus. Hecomes into town on a sled,and it flies, not drives. Allof these small details, andhow we, the adults in thecrowd, refer to things, infront of young hearts whostill believe, is so very im-portant. The children don’tget gifts. With crowds ofover 1,000 children at somestops, it’s become too hardto give out toys. But, per-

haps there’s a lesson in thattoo. Christmas isn’t aboutgifts. For Lou, it’s not a sea-son, it’s a feeling. TheChristmas magic that Lou,and his entire team create,can’t be found under a tree.I guess in the end we haveto ask ourselves, “Whatmakes it the most wonder-ful time of year, exactly?”Is it the gifts we unwrap oris it the feeling we evoke inothers? It’s always givenme great pleasure to give,because I love to make oth-ers smile. I know that mostemotions are contagious.Every day when we get outof bed, we set a tone. Wedecide to smile or to frown.It’s just that simple. We de-cide to jump into HolidayCheer, or we decide to sitout. Don’t join the crowd justbecause everyone else hasjumped on Santa’s sleigh,but don’t sit on the sidelinesfeeling sorry for yourself ei-ther. Get out there! Love aneighbor! Create less stressand chaos in your own littleworld, by opening yourheart to those you meet. Nomatter what you believe, nomatter which Holiday youand yours celebrate, I wishyou a season filled withendless possibilities! Gofind your Holiday Mojo!Come on, unpack that boxof decorations, it’s time toadd a little tinsel to yourlife!

SOME SCENES FROM AROUND TOWN1

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2 3This new house, one ofthe first homes to bebuilt on Main Street inmany a year, appears tobe nearing completion.

The opening of Casella’sin the old Perk’s marketbuilding is now rightaround the corner.

The rear of the old Perk’sMarket building has alsogotten a facelift and anaddition.

Renovations have com-menced on these twoMain Street residentialproperties, a further signthat the community isbeing revitalized.

This former Main Streetresidence has been con-verted into office space,bringing more people towork in the community.

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Teachers and adminis-trators at BenjaminCosor Elementary

School (BCES) are encour-aging students to explorenature in the outdoors, righton the Fallsburg schoolcampus.

With the help of a Sulli-van Renaissance HealthyCommunity Grant, teachersMs. Leah Exner and Mr.Mark Spina developed apartnership with CornellCooperative Extension(CCE) and local businessesto clear and redevelop ahiking trail in the woods be-hind the school.

The grant writers wantedto allow the school’s chil-dren, families and commu-nity to experience thewonder of nature in theirvery own backyard. Ms.Exner and Mr. Spina arefollowing the principles ofpeople like Richard Louv, achild advocacy expert andauthor of the 2005 book,“Last Child in the Woods:Saving Our Children fromNature-Deficit Disorder.”

The book links the ab-sence of nature in the livesof our “plugged-in” chil-dren to some very upsettingtendencies, such as obesity,attention disorders, loneli-ness, and depression.Louv’s work has generatedscientific evidence support-ing exposure to nature asvital for healthy develop-ment and well-being of

children and adults.In this spirit, Girl Scout

Troop 767 of the Mid-Hud-son Area, under the leader-ship of Fallsburg parentsMs. Jenny Gagnon and Ms.Jenine Alvarado, has beenhelping with the clearing ofbrush and fallen treebranches to open the trail.On their second visit, onNovember 7, they werejoined by Ms. Emily De-vore of CCE, Ms. ColleenEmery of Sullivan Renais-sance, and a communityvolunteer who learned ofthe event that morning at ameeting introducing a newprogram called Volunteersin the Classroom. Mr.Larry Schafman, represent-ing the Fallsburg CentralSchool District WellnessCommittee, was on hand todocument the hour-long op-eration.

Ms. Exner welcomed thegroup coming to help. Sheand Ms. Gagnon demon-strated a whistle and hornthey had brought in case itwas necessary to alert any-one of potential hazardsalong the trail. Ms. Exnerexplained that bear scat hadrecently been found, indi-cating that a bear had beenin the area.

The participants were ex-cited about every discoverythat the teacher pointed

out—the age of fallen trees,identification of trees andbushes, the lack of water inthe creek bed indicating theeffects of the drought in thearea, and, high up in a tree,an eagle’s nest. This lastitem brought several“wows” from both childrenand adults.

On a particularly clear fallafternoon just a hundredfeet from the Cosor Schoolbuilding, thirty children andadults were experiencingwhat one naturalist calls“the rebirth of wonder andjoy.” These girl scouts,their leaders, and the otheradults were giving nature achance to show her gifts.

Because of snow and va-cation schedule for Thanks-giving, students had onlyone day during the week ofNovember 21 to work onpreparing railroad ties andbenches for the project.Taking full advantage of thetime, Ms. Exner had a rig-orous schedule of eighteenclasses scheduled through-out the day to paint, in anassembly line process, therailroad ties generously do-nated by Monticello’sHome Depot. After vaca-tion, students from the addi-tional 24 classes in thebuilding will finish up thepainting of all the railroadties.

With rollers and trays ofCool Calming Green paint(that’s the color), teachershad their students with dis-posable plastic apronspainting one tie per class.Each tie has the name of theteacher on the end. Whenthe paint dries, students willcome back and stencil ontheir individual names in apermanent ink so they willbe on the ties that will beboundaries for the trail.Ms. Exner explained thatyears from now, these stu-dents can show their ownchildren the trail and thenames of those who helpedwith the preparation.

Also on hand to help withthe painting were Ms.SueAnn Boyd of CornellCooperative Extension(CCE), a collaborator withFCSD on the grant, and Ms.Colleen Emery from Sulli-van Renaissance, thegrantor. Meanwhile, in thesame area of the painting,was Lee Smassanow, a re-tired BCES teacher and vol-unteer helping on the trailproject. He was busy as-sembling new benches do-nated by CCE. It was a funand productive day and atimely way to give thanksfor the land and the newtrail being developedthrough the efforts of somany busy hands.

ENJOYING NATURE’S GIFTS

Shown with some of the girl scouts are (left to right) Emily Devorefrom Cornell Cooperative Extension, a collaborator on the grant;BCES teacher and grant writer Ms. Leah Exner; and Colleen Emeryof Sullivan Renaissance, which awarded the Healthy CommunityGrant to the school for the project.

PAGE 4 HURLEYVILLE SENTINEL, HURLEYVILLE, N.Y. DECEMBER 2016

The Hurleyville Fire De-partment is always look-

ing for help, to fight fire orsupport those that do. We evensupply all of the gear and pro-vide all of the training needed,for free. Stop by any Mondaynight and find out how youcan help.

Last issue we talked aboutfire prevention. I would like tocontinue on that topic withsome personal observationsand experiences. I am ap-proaching 48 years as a Hur-leyville firefighter and I amcurrently a Deputy Fire Coor-dinator for the SullivanCounty Bureau of Fire. Myprimary responsibility is to as-sist the fire departments in theTowns of Fallsburg and Nev-ersink, and as backup to theother deputies I have been allover the county assisting dif-ferent fire departmentsthroughout the county.

These are some of my reallife experiences that I haveseen burn down our neighborshomes:• I have been to a number of

calls where the furnace hasmalfunctioned, most of thetime because of a lack ofcleaning. The result is blacksoot throughout the entirehouse. It is as though yougave a group of kids black

talcum powder and toldthem to cover everythingpossible and then you go inand do it again. What amess. The other result canbe CO (carbon monoxide)poisoning. The worst casescenario is your house burnsdown. Get your furnacecleaned. NOW!

• I have seen way too many thimble failures. The thimbleis where the stove pipe goesthrough your house to theoutside. So the stove pipegoes from your stovethrough the thimble to therest of your chimney to theroof top. The thimble getshot and if not installed tocode the fire gets out of afailed thimble or it heatscombustible material that istoo close to the thimble andyou have a catastrophic fail-ure and fire. This can alsohappen if you don’t cleanyour chimney, and have achimney fire. In a dirtychimney the creosotecatches fire and super heatseverything, and this couldcause a thimble failure.Clean your chimney, andhave it inspected by some-one who knows what to lookfor.

• So your stove and fireplace is well maintained. Now it is

time to clean out the ash. Ihave seen people put the ashin a paper bag, plasticbucket or other combustiblecontainer and put it in thegarage, on the back porch,alongside the house, or inthe shed. The results are notgood. Put the ash in a metalbucket with a cover and putit outside, away from thehouse. It will be hot and Ihave seen a brush fire startfrom it and then burn thehouse down. Put that bucketof ash in a safe place!

• Space heaters (electric or kerosene) are another causeof fire I have seen, especiallywhen we have an extendedcold snap. The heater isplaced too close to the bed-ding or furniture. It may takea couple of days to super drythe material but then it mayburst into flames. Keep thesespace heats at a safe dis-tance from all combustiblematerials. Refer to theowner’s manual for recom-mendations.

• If you have a kerosene space heater, make sure you usethe white kerosene. Read thedirections before you use it.The wrong type of fuel isdangerous. It will produce apoor burning flame and Ihave seen it where you can-

not control the flame or eventurn it off. It too will pro-duce deadly CO.

• I have seen people plug power strips into powerstrips with multiple exten-sion cords. If you are lucky itwill trip your circuit breaker.If you are not, it will over-heat the wiring or extensioncord and cause a fire.What I have described

above, you have probably readin a newspaper or seen on TVas a cause of a fire that burneda house down.

I have personally witnessedthese causes. They are some oftop causes I have seen in re-sponding to structure fires.Use some common sensewhen trying to stay warm.Maintain your heating systemsand be safe.

As stated in my last article,make sure you have a workingsmoke detector(s) and CO de-tector (s) in your home. One orboth may save your LIFE.

Winter is soon to be here andthat means cold weather andice. Mark this on your calendar.

Hurleyville Fire Department/ Town of Fallsburg YouthCommission 29st Annual IceFishing Contest on Morning-side Lake Feb.11, 2017.

More on this in the nextissue.

DECEMBER 27, 1930Hurleyville Girls Hurt

in Auto CrashMiss Sarah Hillman,

twenty, suffered severe lac-erations of the face andbody, and Pearl Jacobsonand Mary Schubert, hercompanions, also of this vil-lage, were slightly injuredFriday of last week when acar driven by Miss Hillmanwas struck by a Hi-Landbread truck at the intersec-tion of Loch Sheldrake andHurleyville roads. A brotherof Miss Hillman wasdrowned ten days ago whileskating on MorningsidePond.

High School Notes fromthe Announcer

Outplaying Hurleyvillefrom start to finish, theRoscoe quintet rang up itsfirst victory in the CatskillMountain League at Roscoe.Both teams fought hard, butRoscoe, the better team,won.

Hurleyville was the first toscore when our dashing for-ward, Charles Yavorofskymade two foul shots. Imme-diately after this, Al Keatingbroke loose and made a nicehang shot making the score4-0. At this point Roscoebegan using its scoring abil-ity and quickly sprang intothe lead.

In the second half, ourboys fought hard, but couldnot make their shots good.They kept Roscoe’s scoringdown, but could not add anypoints to their own score.The final score was 25-14.

There was a preliminary

game between the girls ofboth schools with victory forRoscoe. Both teams, scrap-ping hard, made the game atreat to the eye. The scorewas 19-12.

People You KnowAmong those who attend

college and are spending theChristmas vacation withtheir parents are: RoseCohen, Sylvia Garelick,Rose Wizwer, LillianLawrence, Herbert Bil-lowitz, George Schmuckler,Milton Schmuckler, BettySimmons, and Paul Raskin.

JANUARY 1, 1937Breaks Ankle When Pet

Dog Trips her

While strolling along thehighway on Monday withher pet dogs, Mrs. AmorettaJones of Hurleyville, fell andfractured her ankle when oneof the dogs playfully trippedher. The elderly woman wasfound lying on the highwayby hotel guests who passedby on horseback. They re-moved her to the home ofMrs. Fred Mitteer who noti-fied Dr. Harry Jacobs at hisoffice here. Mrs. Jones wastaken to the Monticello Hos-pital where her condition isreported as satisfactory. Sheremains under the care of Dr.Jacobs.

EngagementsAnnounced

Three engagements in-volving Hurleyville resi-dents were announcedduring Christmas week.

The betrothal of MissFrieda Wichinsky, daughterof Mr. and Mrs. JackWichinsky and Jerry Lax ofNew York was made public.The couple plan to wed inJune.

On Christmas Eve, the en-gagement of Miss MarionMetcalf of Monticello, toEdward Reynolds, son of

Mr. and Mrs. RalphReynolds, was announced.They plan to marry soon.

Mr. and Mrs. B.M. Case ofRock Hill have announcedthe engagement of theirdaughter, Gladys, to EarlPeck of Monticello. MissCase, a school teacher in theMitteer district in Hur-leyville for the past fouryears, is a sister to Mrs. PeterLaBaugh. No date has beenset for the wedding.

Christmas at the CountyHome

Christmas was celebratedat the Welfare Home in thereal old-fashioned way.Christmas Eve, by the light ofthe brilliantly lighted Christ-mas tree, welcomed the visitof Jolly Old Saint Nick, whovisited each and every personin the institution bringinggifts that made joyous eachone’s heart. After singingChristmas hymns, several ofthe inmates contributed asong or piece to make theevening a pleasant one.

A little later, the Truthseek-ers’ Club of Mountaindalesang Christmas carols underthe windows of the sick in allthree of the buildings. Themenu for Christmas day forthe old folks was chicken,biscuits and gravy, mashedpotatoes, squash, cranberrysauce, mustard pickles,

mince pie, tea and coffee.There were seventy-eight atthe home.

Grahamsville Man Celebrated his 100th

BirthdayThis past Christmas Day

brought to Charles H. Hall ofGrahamsville a present hehas been waiting just 100years to receive—his centen-nial birthday. The centenar-ian had been conserving hisstrength for days in anticipa-tion of being able to greet thescores of friends and neigh-bors who called Christmasmorning to combine theirChristmas greetings withbirthday wishes.

JANUARY 8, 1937John Knapp Hurt inCoasting Accident

While coasting downhillacross the golf course at theColumbia Hotel here lastSunday, John Knapp, eightyear old son of Mr. and Mrs.Ben Knapp, suffered a deepflesh wound in his thighwhen his sled struck a waterpipe used during the summerto water the greens. Thedeep three cornered gash cutinto leg muscles and nar-rowly escaped severing anartery. Dr. Ralph Breakey ofMonticello treated thewound, which requiredtwelve stitches to close.

An Invitation to the Pub-lic

The public is cordially in-vited to attend the officialopening of Ernie’s Bar andGrill in Hurleyville on Satur-

day evening, January 15.There will be free refresh-ments, entertainment, anddancing. Come one, comeall.

Eagles to Play at Woodridge on

WednesdayThe Sullivan County Ea-

gles, acclaimed SullivanCounty champions, will playthe Woodridge A.C. for theundisputed championship ofSullivan County at theWoodridge High Schoolgym, Wednesday, January19. Woodridge is the onlyteam in the vicinity whichholds a victory over the Ea-gles, and the Hurleyvillequintet is favored to erasethat defeat. The Eagles holdvictories over every otherteam in the county, and avictory over Woodridge willgive them unquestionedrecognition for titular hon-ors. In the Woodridge line-up there will be Podberesky,

Novogradsky, Davis, La-chowitz, and Balbirer. Forthe Eagles, Mormon, Welter,Fisk, Hodge, Levine, Jacob-son, Walter and Knapp will

be ready for action. Thisgame promises to draw ahuge crowd and will start at8:30 P.M. There will bedancing after the game.Compiled by Sullivan County Historian John Conway

From the files of...

From the Firehouse By Jack Halchak, Past Chief H.F.D.

Ernie’s Bar & Grill can be seen with the Gulf gasoline sign in front,just to the left of center in this photo of Hurleyville’s Main Streetfrom the 1940s.

HOME HEATING SEASON IS HERE ARE YOU READY ?

Remember Fireplaces and chimneys are the number one

source of home heating equipment fires.

Fires can be prevented. A few easy steps can save your life!

Have a service person inspect and clean your chimney , wood stove or furnace each year.

Use a metal or glass fireplace screen to keep sparks from hitting nearby carpets or furniture.

Keep kindling, paper, and décor away from fireplaces and wood stoves.

Never use gas or lighter fluid to start a fireplace or wood stove.

Burn only seasoned wood.

DECEMBER 2016 HURLEYVILLE SENTINEL, HURLEYVILLE, N.Y. PAGE 5

POSSESSED

PART ONE

Deke Temple realized hehad made a serious mis-

take almost as soon as he haddone it. Not that it matterednow, he thought. There waslittle he could do to rectifythings at this point.There was no solace in thefact that he was well awarethat being head over heels inlove had clouded his judg-ment, and he resigned him-self to try to make the best ofwhat would surely end upbeing a bad situation.He was standing on the side-walk in front of a tiny busstation on Broadway inMonticello, NY, carrying hisown suitcase and two bagsthat belonged to his girl-friend, Janice Pearson. Asignificantly longer duffeltype bag, containing herskies, lay at his feet. It wassnowing lightly and a coldwind was starting to blow asthe Ford Country Squire sta-tion wagon pulled up to thecurb.“If you’re waiting for a rideto the Columbia, this is it,” ayoung man with thick blackhair and glasses announcedas he exited the driver’s sidedoor and opened the reargate, seemingly all in one

motion. “I’m Stan, and I willbe your driver.”Deke barely gave him aglance as he swung theheavy bags into the back ofthe wagon.“Aren’t there two of you?”the youth asked, and Dekenoticed that he sounded anawful lot like a radio discjockey. “I was told therewere two of you.”“My girlfriend will be righthere,” Deke assured him.“She had to use the ladiesroom.”Janice appeared almost oncue and Deke, mesmerizedby her as always, held theback door of the wagon openfor her to climb in.“Oh honey, I am so excited!This is going to be a mar-velous weekend,” she ex-claimed as she slid across theseat. “It’s already snowing,and I can’t wait to get out onthe hill.”Deke smiled weakly. Hewas madly in love with Jan-ice and there were plenty ofthings he was looking for-ward to about this weekend,but skiing wasn’t one ofthem.He had been dating Janicejust a few months, but he hadfallen in love with her ontheir very first date. Whenshe mentioned that she washeading to the Catskills on along-planned skiing vacationand asked if he wanted tocome along, he had jumped

at the chance in spite of thefact that he had never beenon skis in his life. After all,he told himself, how hardcould it be?He was a reasonably goodathlete, had played collegefootball, and had remained ingood shape in the five yearssince graduation. Besides,he had studied the brochurefor the hotel, Knapp’s Co-lumbia in a small town in themountains called Hur-leyville. It wasn’t very big,and its ski hill was advertisedas “in its second season” and“perfect for skiers of all lev-els of skill.” He was not de-terred, and in fact, mighthave even assured Janice atsome point that he was anexperienced skier; maybeeven hinting that he hadraced, no less.It wasn’t until they hadboarded the bus at Port Au-thority that she burst thatbubble of false security bypresenting him with a letteron the hotel’s stationery thatoutlined the plans for theweekend ahead; plans thatincluded their entry in thehotel’s annual “Luzon Cup”couples ski race.His mind hadn’t known amoment of peace since.The short trip from the busstation to the hotel took aboutten minutes over windingroads that were quickly be-coming snow covered. Stankept up a steady chatter the

entire trip in that radio an-nouncer’s voice of his, butDeke heard little of what hesaid, trying instead to distracthimself from his dread bystaring at—and fantasizingabout—Janice’s long andshapely legs. It was solely atestament to her physicalcharms that he was able tomomentarily put aside theapprehension he felt abouthaving to either perform inthe ski race or tell her he hadlied to her.After registering at the frontdesk—as Mr. and Mrs. JohnSmith—and settling intotheir room, they took a walkaround the hotel grounds,watching as the darkness de-scended, bringing with it themuted electric lighting thatilluminated the walkwaysbetween the buildings. They paused to kiss, but justbriefly, because Janice pulledaway suddenly, her eyesbright with excitement.“I can’t tell you how much Iam looking forward to youand me winning the LuzonCup, Deke!” she blurted out.“I have thought about win-ning that cup ever since lastwinter when my friendMargie won it with herboyfriend, Stu. They’re mar-ried now.”“Do you think there’s a con-nection?” Deke asked imp-ishly. To his surprise, she an-swered, and seriously, at that.“I guess we’ll find out.”Needless to say, he slept littlethat night. The after dinnerdrinks and dancing had tiredhim out, but his mind was onthe next day’s race. Janice’swell-calculated plans calledfor an early breakfast andthen some warm-up runs onthe hill before the prelimi-nary heats began at 11 AM.He would, of course, have torent skis and boots, since hehad nothing of his own. Hehad sold them when he

moved to the city, he had toldher. Another lie. The breakfast layout waselaborate, but it was wastedon him. He ate mechani-cally, saying little. She jokedabout him getting his gameface on, a remnant of years ofserious competition, sheguessed. He noted that herenergy was exceeded only byher enthusiasm for the up-coming event. Her prepara-tion included scouting theother possible entrants, andshe passed the time at break-fast speculating about the rel-ative abilities of couple aftercouple as they made theirway along the buffet line.She actually recognized twocouples from the year before,she said. Deke was onlypaying partial attention, buthe couldn’t help but noticeone of the couples shepointed out. The man wastall, even taller than his own6’4” and he was nearly asbroad shouldered. Thewoman was considerablyshorter, but had that unmis-takable springy step of anathlete. This was the coupleto beat, Janice proclaimed,and if looking the part hadanything to do with it, he hadto agree.They headed for the ski hillas soon as they’d eaten. Theweather was cool and crispunder bright sunny skies.The overnight snowfall hadadded a few inches of pow-dery snow to the accumula-tion, and the hills looked wellcovered. The ski shop was arudimentary facility, small,but well stocked with skisand poles and boots and evensome clothing. There weretwo employees behind thecluttered counter, an elderlyman and a younger woman,and the man greeted them asthey walked in.Deke carried the duffel withJanice’s skis and a small can-vas bag with her boots and a

few other miscellaneousitems. Passing by a fulllength mirror on the way tothe counter, he couldn’t helpbut glance sideways andliked what he saw. “At least you look like askier,” he thought to himself,forgetting his apprehensionfor just a moment.“Well, you are certainly agrand gaillard,” the man be-hind the counter ventured ina raspy, French accentedvoice, looking Deke up anddown. “And those skisyou’re carrying certainly donot belong to you.”Deke knew skis were sizedaccording to a person’sheight, and Janice’s skis wereobviously much too short forhim. The elderly man couldtell that, too.“No, I need to rent skis,”Deke said. “Unless youdon’t have anything in mysize,” he added hopefully.The old man scrunched uphis face in lieu of answering.After a time, he shook hishead.“I might not, at that,” he fi-nally said. “How tall areyou, nearly two meters?”“I’m not sure about that,”Deke said, unable to convertmeters to feet and inches soquickly in his head. “I’m ashade over six foot four. Ifyou can’t accommodate me,I will understand.”“Follow me,” the old guysaid, gesturing with his hand.“I just might have a bonne

idee.”Deke joined the man behindthe counter and followed himdown a narrow hallway to asmall room, which they en-tered, and the old guyswitched on a light, that is tosay he tugged on a string, il-luminating a bare bulb hang-ing from the steeply slopingceiling. “You are going to have towatch your head in here,” hesaid sternly. “It’s not meantfor average height gonzes, letalone one as tall as you. Butthere are some old woodenskies over here that I broughtwith me from a place I usedto work years ago. Theywere discarding a lot ofequipment, so I salvagedwhat I could and have beencarrying it from place toplace ever since. I knowthere was a long pair of skisamong them.”“You don’t say,” Deke said,ducking to follow the old guyto the back of the room.“Yes, I do say,” he replied. “Iam certain of it. By the way,my name is Michel, buteveryone calls me Mike.And what do they call you?”“I’m De…” Deke started tosay before realizing they hadregistered under differentnames. “I’m deeply proud tomeet you, Mike,” he finallymanaged. “My name isJohn… John Smith.“You know, I’m not sur-prised at that, not at all,” theold fellow chuckled. “Kind

of bet myself you would bewhen I saw that young ladyyou walked in with. We get alot of John Smiths here at theColumbia, and a lot of Jone-ses and Johnsons, too. Evenhad a Kilroy once. Ofcourse, not as many as weused to get at the Laurelswhen I worked there. Haveyou ever been to the Laurels?Swingingest place in themountains, I‘d say. Not thatwe don’t get our share here,you see. Swingers, I mean.”“Any luck with the skis?”Deke asked.He heard Mike moving somestuff around, but couldn’t re-ally see what he was doing.“Ha! Just as I thought,”Mike said, turning aroundwith a long pair of woodenskis. “A bit cabosse, but Ican get them in workingorder for you.”“Wonderful,” Deke said,hoping his disappointmentwasn’t too evident as heturned to lead the way out ofthe room. He had been mo-mentarily hopeful, but it wasbeginning to look like hewould have to hit the slopesafter all.

“Possessed” is a work of fic-tion and any resemblance toactual persons or events isstrictly coincidental, exceptwhen it is not. Don’t missPart Two in the next issue ofThe Hurleyville Sentinel!

SPOTLIGHT ON A HURLEYVILLE TREASUREBy Kathleen Sullivan

“PERK JACOBSON”

Louis Benjamin (“Perk” toall of us who knew him)

Jacobson, the son of Bessieand Max Jacobson, was bornon November 14, 1909 on thefamily farm in Divine Cor-ners, New York. Along withhis seven brothers and sisters,he was devoted to his fam-ily’s well being. He helpedout with boarders and soldmeat butchered by his father,going door-to-door by horse-drawn wagon. Perk got his nickname whenthe local harness maker mis-pronounced his Hebrewname which was pronounced"Bear-ka."Perk married Florence Fru-movich in 1940, and they be-came parents of twodaughters, Myrna Coffey andBette Jacobson Godfrey.Local farmers taught Perkhow to make sausage. Aftermuch trial and error he got therecipe right and earned theenthusiastic approval of his“coaches.” Perk also madedelicious pickles which werealways available in a barrel atPerk’s Market.Perk’s Market on Main Streetin Hurleyville featured thesausage made by Perk, pro-duce, and dry goods. Perkand Florence worked in themarket seven days a week.Perk’s Market prosperedthrough the 50’s. The mar-ket’s customers includedschools, resorts and folksfrom all the surroundingtowns. Delivery service wasalways available. The onlytime the market was closedwas when Perk served in the

U.S. Army during World WarII.Perk was drafted into theArmy due to a clerical error.He had a lifelong eye condi-tion, retinitis pigmentosa,which could have probablykept him home. However, be-cause of his inherent sense ofresponsibility he did what hewas called to do. In camp, heimprovised a way of gettingfrom his tent to the mess halland back to his tent by hold-ing a rope in the dark.

While working as a cook inthe Army during the war Perkdevised a method of gleaninginformation from Germansoldiers that always worked.He didn't want them to knowhe was Jewish, could speakYiddish, and could often un-derstand their conversations.So, he told them, in very basicGerman, "gut sprechen, gutessen!" (If they talked good,they would eat good). When he returned to theStates after the war, Perk was

in an Army base kitchen andsaw the cooks making "beau-tiful green vegetables" duringthe winter. He learned thatthe Army had been freezingthe vegetables for later use.He got the specifications forthe process and for construc-tion of the freezers. When hecame back to Hurleyville helooked for a place to establisha business. He partnered withhis sister, Rose and purchaseda building on "CreameryRoad" (9 Mongaup Roadtoday), built the cooler andfreezer in the basement,opened Mountain FrostedFoods, and obtained an exclu-sive distributorship for Bird-seye frozen vegetables. Rose suggested bringing in apartner who operated a simi-lar business in New YorkCity. The new partner, Mr.Shindler, made some poorbusiness decisions includingover-ordering box cars ofvegetables which could notbe processed in a timely man-ner. He was eventually sued

by a guest at a hotel whobroke a tooth on a cherry pitfrom one of his cans of fruitsalad. He declared bank-ruptcy. Mountain FrostedFoods could not obtain fi-nancing and the business wasforced to close. There wouldbe no "Mr. Birdseye" in Hur-leyville!Perk and Florence enjoyedtraveling after they retired.They traveled to exotic loca-tions with friends and familyand made many new friendsat campgrounds across thenation. Deteriorating eye-sight forced Perk to give uphis passions-- golf andbridge-- later in life.Perk contributed significantlyto the community. He was amember of the HurleyvilleFire Department for 75 years.He belonged to CongregationAnschei Hurleyville and wasa founding contributor toLochmor Golf Course. Perknever missed a church supperat the Hurleyville UnitedMethodist Church. He was

an early supporter of beauti-fication in Hurleyville-- wa-tering flower barrels alongMain Street and serving as avolunteer caretaker at theHurleyville Jewish Cemetery.He generously supportedfamily and neighbors in anyway he could.

Perk’s daughter, Myrna, de-scribes her father: “So manyparts to this man…generous,but uncomfortable acceptinggifts from others. He was al-ways positive, even after theloss of parents, siblings,friends and his eyesight.”Perk’s daughter, Bette, said ofher father, “In the finaldecades of his life, as Perk’ssight was continually dimin-ishing, his patience may havebeen tried, but he, and his es-sential nature, always movedforward, savored the past, andappreciated what he couldfrom each and every day.Such people build a world forall of us.”Bonnie Makofsky, Perk’sniece, spoke at the dedicationof Perk’s bench in the Hur-leyville Firemen’s Park in2006, “Uncle Perk was one ofthe people who made it sowonderful to have grown upin Hurleyville.”Perk passed away in 2004.He saw Hurleyville fromhorse and buggy timesthrough the boarding houseand resort boom to the start ofthe rebirth of the hamlet heloved.Perk is one of Hurleyville’smany extraordinary treasures.Visit www.hurleyvilleny.comto find more treasures in Hur-leyville.

Perk and Florence Jacobson in1997. The occasion was the69th Annual S.C. Volunteer Fire-fighters’ Assn. Parade for whichPerk served as Honorary GrandMarshal.

The ski hill at the Columbia in the 1960s.

The Hurleyville area was oncehome to nearly forty hotels,none any more well-known thanthe Columbia. Originallyknown as The Columbia Farm,it was founded by John HarmsKnapp in 1891 and when itclosed in 1969 it was the oldestcontinuously operating hotel inSullivan County. This is an ex-traordinary story set at the Co-lumbia one winter in the early1960s. It is not likely you haveheard it before, but once youhave, it is not likely you will for-get it. Please enjoy this first ofthree installments, exclusivelyin The Hurleyville Sentinel…

BY JACK ROBBIN

Perk’s family poses during the dedication of Perk’s bench in Hur-leyville Firemen’s Park in 2006. From left to right (back row) MerilynGriff, Bonnie Makofsky, Les Witherel, Meredith Makofsky, Helen Carl-son and Michael Makofsky; (front row) Gail Makofsky and Pearl Kol-lender..

EMS Beat By Albee E. Bochman, AEMT-P

First, and foremost, I hopeeveryone had a happy,

healthy and safe Thanksgivingholiday.“Help! I’ve fallen and can’t getup!” How many times have weseen that television commercialover the years and had a littlelaugh watching it? As funny asit may have seemed at the time,those of us who possess the“Red, White, and Blue” carddo not take that quote forgranted.Falls are the leading cause ofdeath from injury among peo-ple 65 and older. Furthermore,and quite alarmingly, one-fourth of seniors who fracturea hip from a fall will die withinsix months of the injury. Ap-proximately 9,500 deaths inolder Americans are associatedwith falls each year. Food forthought, right?As the winter months ap-proach, it is critical we prepareourselves for the possibility ofslipping, sliding, and falling.Hip fractures are not the onlyconcern. For seniors who falland are unable to get up ontheir own, the period of timespent immobile often affectstheir health outcome. Musclecell breakdown starts to occurwithin 30-60 minutes of com-pression due to falling. Dehy-dration, pressure sores,hypothermia, and pneumoniaare other complications thatmay result. Additionally, bruis-ing the size of one’s fist is a10% blood loss. A 30% bloodloss is considered life threaten-ing. More food for thought,huh?Getting help after an immobi-lizing fall increases the chanceof survival by 80% and in-creases the likelihood of a re-turn to independent living. Ican’t stress enough the impor-tance of calling 911 and re-questing the assistance ofParamedics to properly assessand treat potential injuries froma fall. Injuries that do not ap-pear on the surface may hauntyou hours, days, or even weeksdown the road.

So what can we do to avoidthese unwelcomed and unfore-seen incidents?Exercise to improve balanceand strengthen your muscleshelps prevent falls;Make your home safer by re-moving loose rugs, and addinghandrails to stairs and hall-ways;Make sure you have adequatelighting in dark areas.Don’t be so vain when it comesto using canes and walkers in-side and outside the home;

Place non-slip strips or mats inthe shower or bath.And most importantly, avoidgoing outside during badweather. Watch the forecast andPLAN ACCORDINGLY !!!Falls are inevitable as we “ma-ture” (the new senior term,LOL). As your EMS provider,we are here to serve and pro-tect. Let’s protect ourselvesfrom unnecessary falls and re-lated injuries.Be safe and stay well, Hur-leyville!!!

PAGE 6 HURLEYVILLE SENTINEL, HURLEYVILLE, N.Y. DECEMBER 2016

By Angelee Santillo

You can walk into al-most any full-ser-vice bar in Sullivan

County and scan the roomto find an electronic dartmachine hidden in the cor-ner by a pool table or stand-ing alone in full view. Ifyou’re an average patron,perhaps sometimes you’vegot a few extra bucks onyou and decide to give it ashot, sliding singles into thefeeder and marveling at thebright screen over the manyoptions for game play.What’s cricket got to dowith darts, anyway? Youlikely shoot around for a lit-tle while, about half of thesoft-tip missiles actuallysticking, the others strewnupon the ground where theyfell after bouncing off theboard. Then, your food ar-rives at the table, or thereare people waiting their turnbehind you who look likethey actually know how toplay, and you concede, nobetter at darts than before,but flooded with the nostal-gia of childhood hangouts infriends’ basements.

But have you ever stayedto watch those people be-hind you—the ones who ac-tually know how to play-- inaction? There’s somethingpeculiar about the way theyplay. They don’t just chuckthe darts at the bullseye andhope for the best, but in-stead throw them with pre-cision and focus, evertuned-in to the pie chart-looking board in front ofthem. These people are re-ally good, and it’s the kindof skill one can only attainby playing a whole lot.

Are people really playingdarts often enough nowa-days to become that good atit?

As it turns out, darts arehuge in Sullivan County,and it’s all thanks to Hur-leyville’s own Shawn Mc-Carthy of CatskillAmusements. Shawn’s fam-ily business is well-knownfor supplying high-endamusements and gamingmachines throughout mostof the Catskills and theHudson Valley, but the com-pany namesake may be bestknown to locals for runningthe Catskill Amusements

Dart Leagues (CADL). Fa-cilitated in three counties(Sullivan, Orange, and Ul-ster), the leagues have beenhugely popular among menand women of all ages, butnowhere more than in Sulli-van County, where theleague currently sits on anastonishing 24 teams, allgathered each week at a dif-ferent participating bar forcompetitive play.

We’ve also got a hometeam, and you’ve probablybeen there before.

It’s the Tuesday beforeThanksgiving, and thedimly-lit lakeside tavern isquiet, but not empty. It’s thecalm before the storm, asBum & Kel’s in Loch Shel-drake is due to celebrate 44years of business onWednesday the 23rd with anevening of food and fun.Julie Bowers (née Mor-man), one of the ownerswho has long been in thefamily business, sits at thebar chatting with customersabout the anniversary, andshe’s kind enough to takesome time out of the busy

preparations to talk aboutsomething important to theculture of Bum & Kel’s forquite some time now –darts. Bum & Kel’s has par-ticipated in the CADL forover a decade, a significantportion of the bar’s history,and Julie plays on one of thebar’s two teams this winterseason.

She is joined by her hus-band, Ryan, a fellow team-mate and dart aficionadowho has played in theleague on a number of dif-ferent teams for years. Julieand Ryan offered a shortrundown on darts as a com-petitive sport, well-aware ofhow foreign the concept canbe to people who don’t playdarts themselves.

The basics: teams gohead-to-head each week in amixed league made up ofboth men and women. Play-ers are assigned handicaps,similar to the way it’s donein golf, to rank people basedon skill, give teams the op-portunity to make strategicmatchups, and to alter theoverall scores in the end.Some teams take handicapsand proper player-to-playermatchups rather seriously,

but for the Bum & Kel’s A-team, they’ve got a setlineup that they stick to eachweek.

“The handicaps andmatchups really affect theoutcomes,” Ryan offers, de-tecting my confusion at therules of the game. “You canrun a number of differentmatchups – your best vs.their best, your best vs. theirworst, and try to see how tobest leverage your scores.”

After listening some more,I get a sense of just howcompetitive this league is.There have been argumentsover referring to darts as anactual sport versus a “gameof skill,” but the energy andregimented format put forthby the league and SullivanCounty locals makes it rivalany of the other reputableleagues we have here. Thereare even separate winter andsummer leagues, and al-though the winter season isfar more popular, they bothfill up quickly. It’s tough tosay exactly why and howdarts caught on so fiercelyin Sullivan County, but thequality of play and theseamlessness with whichthe league is run likely hassomething to do with it.

“I tried the pool league wehave here,” Julie says,glancing at the pool table atthe front of the bar, “but Ididn’t enjoy it. It wasn’t forme. So we joined the dartleague and have been play-ing ever since.”

Everything is donethrough the machines byCatskill Amusements, andthey’re linked to the Internetso that there is continuitythroughout every electronicdartboard in the county. Ac-cording to Julie and Ryan,you can approach anyCatskill Amusements dartmachine in Sullivan andfind photos of the most re-cent tournament champions,statistics, and handicaps ofall the players. The successof the league has forged bet-ter players out of manywho’ve thrown darts foryears, and some have eventraveled upstate to the NewYork State Dart Tournamenton occasion, where they’verepresented Sullivan Countyby doing very well!

“We’ve had some reallygood players in this league,”says Ryan.

But for him, the best out-

come of the CADL over theyears has been the promo-tion of local businesses inSullivan County.

“The point of the league isto spread love and spendmoney at local businesses,”he says, sipping on a beerand smiling as he looksaround the bar at his wife’sfamily establishment. “Welike to try new bars and newfoods. We always get dinnerand drinks [on dart night]because Julie, being a barowner, understands the im-portance of supportinglocal.”

Feeling so welcomed andengaged by my new friendsat Bum & Kel’s, I couldhave talked all night aboutthe ins-and-outs of darts. Bythe end, I even got the itchto find a bar and jump on ateam myself. But as thenight came to a close, I hadto ask the most importantquestion: has Bum & Kel’sever won a darts champi-onship?

Believe it or not, despitemultiple plaques on thewalls and having placed 2ndand 3rd on a few occasions,the league veterans havenever won the whole thing!

“We usually make play-offs,” Julie says, smiling atthe question. “But wehaven’t won a champi-onship yet.”

They say they’re amidst a“rebuilding year” this win-ter and that, although confi-dent in their team’s ability tobe a real challenge for thebest teams in the league, thisis not likely to be theirchampionship season. Nextyear, though, after gettingused to the lineup they havenow, Bum & Kel’s believesthey have a real shot atsnagging the title.

In any case, you don’thave to be in the somewhat-intimidating 24-team dartleague to enjoy the game,although anyone is welcometo start a new team with aparticipating establishment.The next time you headdown to Bum & Kel’s on aquiet night, take a minute toexcuse yourself from thefriendly conversationaround you and try yourhand at the dartboard acrossfrom the bar. There’s a goodchance you – like so manyothers in Sullivan County –will find the sport to besomething you really enjoy.

ALL DARTS LEAD TO HURLEYVILLECatskill Amusements Dart Leagues

SENTINEL SPORTSAngelee Santillo, Sports Editor

By Angelee Santillo

To be able to properlycover the Comets, our

hometown team that haslong represented Fallsburgand its surrounding com-munities (including Hur-leyville) withblack-and-gold pride, it isonly fitting to have a fel-low Comet provide suchreporting. Thus, it is withgreat excitement that wewelcome Julia Batista, ajunior at Fallsburg HighSchool and a five-yearComets volleyball player,to the Sentinel staff!

Julia, having previouslylived in Middletown,Queens, and Puerto Rico,eventually settled with herfamily in Woodbourne andhas considered the Falls-burg district home eversince. She believes thesmall community feel, es-pecially in comparison to

the large ones in whichshe’s lived before, makesa big difference.

“To live in Fallsburgmeans that you knowmany of the other peoplewho go to school with youand many of the commu-nity members,” Julia saysof her town. “It is a veryclose-knit community andI like that very much.”

Batista began playingvolleyball at Fallsburg inthe sixth grade and learnedthroughout her years as aComet that the competi-tiveness and the constantsupport of her teammatesin helping her grow as anathlete kept her loving thegame.

Julia is just as excited tojoin the Sentinel Sportsstaff as we are to have heron board, not only becauseit’s helping to prepare herfor a future career in writ-

ing (she wants to work inpublishing), but becauseshe hopes her work willconnect Fallsburg athletesand parents with thegreater community and getpeople out to support theComets at home games.

“It's important to supportour local sports because itshows that people do care,that people do support ourschool and our studentathletes,” Batista says. “Itinspires more students tocome out and play.”

With a gift for writing, alove for Fallsburg Cometsculture, and an under-standing of the importanceof community support ofour local teams, JuliaBatista is a natural fit forThe Hurleyville Sentinel,and we couldn’t beprouder to welcome her tothe team!

By Julia Batista

As the year 2016 comesto a close, one of

Fallsburg High School’smost important seasons isjust beginning. Basketballis one of the most es-teemed sports for theschool and its playersalike, and both the girlsand boys varsity basketballteams have begun takingthe steps necessary for asuccessful season.

Coaches Daniel Red-mond and Lionel Whiteboth have hopes and plansfor their teams this season.Redmond has alreadycoached the girls for anumber of years, and heknows what it takes tobuild an exceptional team.The Comets girls varsitybasketball team currentlyholds a record of going tosectionals for 7 years in arow, and Redmond saysthat he aims to reach waybeyond that. He’s confi-dent that his girls havewhat it takes to bring them-selves to the sectional fi-nals and maybe even tostates, carrying the schoolname with pride. The girlsthemselves are confidentabout the season, as well.

“I hope that our team willgo into these games strongand make it into sectionalsand maybe even the nextround,” said Sierra Barbi-ani, looking ahead to theseason. “I have a lot ofhope for my team thisyear.”

“We have all built achemistry, and I feel thatwith the team this year wecan do big things,” Dia-mond Weeks elaborated.“If everyone puts in the ef-fort I think we will be morethan ready.”

Indeed, many of the girlsare beyond ready and ex-cited to start to play on thecourt and get Fallsburg theSection 9 title.

Coach White, the Cometsboys varsity coach, is anew addition to the Falls-burg sports administration.He has expressed excite-ment to be coaching in

Fallsburg, the school heonce attended and playedfor. As a coach, he wants tomake sure his boys have “agood and successful sea-son,” and he wants his sen-iors to graduate. Just likethe girls team, many of hisplayers are eager and readyto get out on the court andplay their hearts out.

“Talent-wise, I thinkwe’re ready for this season.We just need to work onteam chemistry the most ifwe want to get anythingpast the second round insectionals” said playerBritain Burgess of histeam.

Rashaad Nurse addedthat, “If the team keepspracticing hard, follows

through, and stays ontrack” with what they learnin practice, they will beready for the season morethan ever.

Dedication, hard work,leadership, heart, hustleand so many more charac-teristics are needed to havea strong high school sportsteam. With the optimisticmindset that the girls andboys varsity basketballteams have, hopefully bothteams can start strong andmaintain outstanding sea-sons. The Hurleyville Sen-tinel and the Fallsburgsurrounding area will becheering the Comets on attheir home games this sea-son, with both schedulesprovided in this issue.

SENTINEL ON-GROUNDAT HOME OF THE COMETS

FALLSBURG BASKETBALL GETTING UNDERWAY

Fallsburg Boys Varsity Basketball Home ScheduleNovember 29. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Rondout Valley

December 6. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. S.S. SewardDecember 8. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Sullivan West

December 14. @ 5:00PM - Fallsburg vs. EllenvilleDecember 16. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Goshen

January 10. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Chester AcademyJanuary 12. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Port Jervis

January 20. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. LibertyFebruary 2. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. CornwallFebruary 10. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. O’NeillFebruary 13. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Onteora

Fallsburg Girls Varsity Basketball Home ScheduleDecember 13. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Port JervisDecember 21. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Cornwall

January 4. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. EllenvilleJanuary 11. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. O’Neill

January 19. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Burke CatholicFebruary 1. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Rondout Valley

February 7. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Chester AcademyFebruary 15. @ 6:00PM - Fallsburg vs. Liberty

An electronic dart game provided by Catskill Amusements.

Bum & Kel’s Lakeside Tavern in Loch Sheldrake sponsors two teams in Sullivan County’s Catskill Amuse-ments Dart League.