Mailbag

To The Editor:
Return with me now to those days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the happy sounds of laughter and giggles, splishing and splashing! It was one of the crown jewels within the Village of Fleischmanns. It was Lake Switzerland with its wondrous and sometimes powerful waterfall!

Many times this past summer I happened to pass the beautiful lake in Pine Hill, located along Route 28 and it reminded me of what we had in Fleischmanns so many years ago when I was just a young whippersnapper.

To The Editor:
My name is Eleanor Aulino. I am better known as “Ellie.” I am president of the Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center Auxiliary.

This is a brief history of my wonderful years in the Catskills. My late husband, Ralph, and I were born and raised in northern New Jersey. In 1961, upon an invitation from Dr. Louis and Eleanor Serafini, we spend a delightful weekend at their second homestead on 94 acres in the Dry Brook Valley.

To The Editor:
Attention all politicians and seniors over 70 skies.

With the Olympic Regional Development Authority (ORDA) in position to take over the Belleayre Ski Area in Highmount, from the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation, us seniors over 70 will lose our free skiing privileges, as we have at Whiteface and Gore Mountain areas. This takeaway was done after ORDA took over the operations from the DEC at Whiteface and Gore mountains.

How bad can the NYS budget be, to remove such a privilege from the over 70 senior community?

To The Editor:
One year ago Hurricane Irene ravaged our community. One year later in Fleischmanns, we are still without the restoration of a valuable infrastructure: the bridge on Bridge Street.

I want to be counted among the over 600 individuals who have signed a petition asking that the bridge on Bridge Street be restored to it pre-flood condition as a vehicular bridge.

To The Editor:
One of the beauties of living in a small town is that people are willing to help their neighbors.  Last week, the Fairview Public Library got help from one neighbor, Fred Miller, who brought his wet-vac to the library to help cleanup a water spill.  Thank you, Fred, for taking the time, on your day off, to help the library!

Susan Carver,
Interim Director
Fairview Public Library

To The Editor:
I read with interest, and much alarm, Mr. Jeffers letter to the editor of August 22 questioning the need to rebuild the Swart Street bridge.

As the person who lives right next to the bridge and has been negotiating Jersey barriers since Memorial Day weekend to get in and out of my driveway, I’ve tried to separate my personal response from one of more community concern.

To The Editor:
On Saturday morning, August 25 I dropped my daughter off at Margaretville Central School.  The incoming freshman class decided to paint the snack shack.  Such good kids!  Anyway, an older gentleman pulls into the parking lot and he and his dog get out.  He proceeds to walk his dog all over the baseball fields.  He does not clean up after his pet.  Are you kidding me? 

I am a pet owner myself and know that owning a pet is a responsibility.   

To The Editor:
Your special section last week on the events and recovery from the flood on August 28, 2011 was I’m sure appreciated by the community. It is good to reminisce and to honor all those who pitched in to help our communities reach a “new normal.” It took the efforts of governmental personnel, charities, businesses, organizations and houses of worship to bring us to where we are today.

However, I noticed a big gap in your reporting. No mention is made of the efforts of the religious community in the recovery effort. It’s as if God was on vacation when the flood hit.

To The Editor:
The Catskill Mountain News for August 1 to August 7 contained good news items, especially for those of us who live away from the Catskills: “Newspaper, cemetery listings online.” It reports that the Margaretville cemetery listings followed a successful cemetery tour by the Living History Tour group and inventory of headstone and other records collections by the Friends of Middletown Cemeteries, and a map of the cemetery I scanned a number of years ago from a blue-print map in the village office.

To the Editor:
As a former camper, camp staff, and member of the so called “Generation Y” I felt compelled to respond to the recent letter from Jill Powell, the Director of Camp Move IT in Bovina.

I have to admit that I read with interest the story about Camp Move IT in the August 7 issue of the Catskill Mountain News. I felt the article explored some gross violations of trust between the owners of the camp and the staff, campers and their parents.