Shandaken

Shandaken — The Shandaken Food Pantry, in cooperation with the  Phoenicia Methodist Church, is currently open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily and is distributing the following to residents of the area who lost their homes or possessions as a result of Tropical Storm Irene: non-perishable food, toiletries, personal care items, clothing-men, women and children, bedding-sheets, blankets, comforters, shoes, sneakers and boots, furniture and home items including kitchen, living room and bedroom.
For more information please contact Food Pantry Director Jane Todd at 845 688-5828.

By Jay Braman Jr.
SOS is known worldwide as a distress call. Save Our Ship is how it originated, as a cry for help from any sea faring entity that ran the risk of being no more.
On Saturday morning, in a meeting hall in Shandaken, a group of land owners who were hard hit by tropical storm called Irene organized a grassroots effort to demand aide in the wake of that weather event.

They call themselves SOS, as for Save Our Shandaken. The circumstances for the people in this room varied, but all have suffered some degree of loss in the past couple of weeks.

By Jay Braman Jr.
“I’ve got no money in my budget to handle this.”

That is the message that Shandaken Supervisor Rob Stanley delivered to state and federal officials Sunday, just prior to a meeting set up to determine how best to proceed with helping the Catskill Region in the aftermath of tropical storm Irene.

Exactly one week after the storm, Stanley was busy inside the command post set up in the MF Whitney Fire House on Route 214 in Phoenicia.

By Jay Braman Jr.
It’s official. Election season has begun in Shandaken.
The Republicans have chosen the following candidates.

Supervisor Rob Stanley, now in the last few months of his first term, was not challenged in his bid to seek a second term.

Another incumbent, Conservative Vince Bernstein, was granted the Republican endorsement.
And now there is a new face on the political front. Al Higley, who owns the controversial farm stand in Mount Tremper, has thrown his hat into the ring and will run for a council seat on the Republican ticket.

By Jay Braman Jr.
Lights in the Town of Shandaken went dark Monday night after a transformer fire caused electrical outages from Big Indian to Boiceville.

This was just one of the problems of the day, which saw heavy rain, the threat of flooding and some confusion about whether or not Route 28 was underwater.
At about 5 p.m. New York State Electric and Gas (NYSEG) customers in town experienced sporadic outages over a 30-minute period, and a total blackout at approximately 7 p.m.

Shandaken Day 2010

By Jay Braman Jr.
It was the perfect end to a perfect day.

By Jay Braman Jr.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The Town of Shandaken was informed this month that the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) has filed a lawsuit challenging this year’s tax assessments of parts of the wastewater systems in Pine Hill and Chichester.

Phoenicia — The Shandaken Theatrical Society will hold auditions for its fall production, Jules Feiffer’s Little Murders, at the STS Playhouse, 10 Church St., Phoenicia, on Monday and Tuesday, August 23 and 24 at 7 p.m.

By Jay Braman Jr.
The longtime town clerk in the Town of Shandaken was arrested last week following an alleged scuffle between her and the deputy town clerk in the town’s offices in Allaben. Laurilyn Frasier, 59, of Phoenicia, was arrested on Tuesday, July 20 after a complaint was made to the Ulster County Sheriff’s office that Frasier had pushed her deputy, Jacqui Gugleilmetti.