Community

Claryville — Frost Valley YMCA’s Outdoor Sporting Program will hold a 3-D Archery Shoot and Barbecue on Saturday, Aug. 9 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Participants of all ages are invited to test their skills on Frost Valley’s new 3-D course. The course features 28 lifelike targets that will challenge archers of all skill levels. The course is rearranged for every shoot, presenting different challenges for each event.

The Delaware County Fair in Walton will open Monday and feature a demolition derby at 7 p.m.
Tuesday’s program will feature a free grandstand all day and night with the firefighters’ parade with bands at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday will be children’s day at the fair and the grandstand will feature modified truck and tractor pulling.

By Matthew J. Perry
During the heavy rains of late July, the threat of flooding hovered over much of the Catskills—and a new automated phone service made sure that residents had the word. Delaware County has a grant-funded contract with Hyper-Reach, a Rochester broadcast notification service that provides software and phone banks that can reach thousands of households in the event or threat of any emergency.
The service went into action last Wednesday after heavy rains had already swelled county streams.

By Matthew J. Perry
The majority of the seats were filled in the Delaware Academy auditorium on Thursday night in Delhi by landowners, concerned citizens and even a handful of land men working for gas companies.
Everyone was hungry for information, and two experts working with the Central New York Landowners Coalition (CNYLA,) which organized the meeting, supplied three hours worth on natural gas speculation, drilling and leasing. It was a scratch into the surface of an issue that could reconfigure—or scar—the face of Catskill mountain communities in the coming years.

By Brian Sweeney
An internal investigation by the New York State Police has cleared all troopers of any wrongdoing in the accidental death of Trooper David Brinkerhoff in an April 2007 gunfight at a Margaretville farmhouse. The classified report was obtained by The New York Times under the Freedom of Information Law.
During a gun battle with fugitive Travis Trim, Trooper Brinkerhoff was killed by a shot to the back of the head from fellow Trooper Norville Yearwood. The troopers, part of an Elite Mobile Response Team, had stormed the farmhouse in search of Trim.

By Julia Green
The president and principal broker of Coldwell Banker Timberland Properties recently opened a new office in Stamford, upping his locations to three. The office, which was previously CB Lawrence Real Estate, was officially acquired in May and opened for business under its new owner last month.

Local homeowners and small business owners will meet with energy efficiency professionals in August to begin taking steps to reduce the hardships of soaring fuel costs in the coming winter heating season. The Catskill Center for Conservation & Development will host the 6 p.m., August 18 meeting. The evening will be sponsored by Mid-Hudson Energy $mart Communities, an outreach arm of the New York State Energy Research & Development Authority, with its local partner, the Margaretville Energy $mart Partnership and the Greater Margaretville Chamber of Commerce.

Nearly 20 Main Street, Delhi businesses have delightful additions to their display windows this week: solar spinning sculptures. The sculptures, which use solar energy to power their rotating bases, are novel pieces constructed by area artists. They are for sale by means of a silent auction sheet at each participating business. The silent auction began on July 26 and will end at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 9.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development in Arkville will host an evening with Nancy Alexander, landscape architect with the New York State Department of Transportation, who will speak tonight on the merits of making Route 28 a designated scenic byway.

Region getting education about natural gas drilling

By Matthew J. Perry
The Central New York Landowners Association will bring a lawyer, a geologist and 55,000 acres of land to a forum at 7 p.m. tomorrow night at Delaware Academy in Delhi to spread awareness of the gas-bearing formation called the Marcellus Shale, which is locked thousands of feet under the Catskills, and the complicated means of getting it out.