By Julia Green
The newly christened Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce held its annual awards dinner last Wednesday at The Andes Hotel to honor a number of its members for their accomplishments and commitment to local business.
“Each one of our businesses make up the fabric of our community,” said Carol O’Beirne, executive director of the chamber. “We have been able to grow our chamber at a time when other chambers are shrinking.”

By Brian Sweeney
The Auxiliary of Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center has completed a whirlwind of events to commemorate Wellness Week. The auxiliary has the goal of promoting spiritual, social and emotional wellness through an ongoing series of community events.
This year featured almost daily activities as the auxiliary continued to work in cooperation with a growing number of organizations that has similar goals.
John Riedl, who chairs the auxiliary’s wellness committee, said his group was very pleased with the Wellness Week programming.

By Julia Green
Ninety-eight riders turned out for Saturday’s first-ever Catskill Scenic Ride-n-Peak event in Margaretville, a bike event to benefit the Catskill Area Hospice and Palliative Care Association.
“It went very well,” said Carol O’Beirne, executive director of the Central Catskills Chamber of Commerce. The chamber was one of the collaborators for the event, along with the MARK Project, the KAATS Foundation, The Catskill Center for Conservation and Development, Plattekill Mountain and Delaware County Tourism.
“Feedback was extremely positive and people wanted to see more of the same kind of event,” O’Beirne added.

Matthew J. Perry
Delaware County unveiled a completed environmental impact study last Wednesday that may well figure into negotiations with the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and other downstate interests for years to come.

The Town of Middletown will hold a planning workshop at 6 p.m. on Thursday, May 14 at the Margaretville Firehall to discuss the town’s Comprehensive Plan and to seek feedback from those in attendance.

By Brian Sweeney
A shift to “greener” practices at Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center will save the use of approximately 200,000 foam cups annually.
The decision to cut back on disposable products is just one of the changes being implemented to make the hospital and its sister facility, Mountainside (an 82-bed long-term care facility) more environmentally friendly.

By Julia Green
Cycling enthusiasts and leisurely bike riders won’t have to go far to find something to do this weekend, when the inaugural Catskill Scenic Ride-n-Peak cycling event takes place in and around Margaretville on Saturday, starting at 8 a.m.
“A bicycling event had been simmering for quite awhile,” said Lucci Kelly, one of the event organizers. “At the very beginning I was sitting in then-executive director Joan Lawrence-Bauer’s office at MARK and we were saying, ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could get a professional bike race here?’” Kelly learned that Lawrence-Bauer had had a similar conversation with Christine DuBois, and that other people had been having similar conversations. “A lot of people were thinking the same thing,” she said.

Delhi — A receptive crowd gathered at the Crossroads Café & Coffee Bar in Delhi last Saturday at 11 a.m. to attend Congressman Scott Mur-phy’s first “Congress at Your Corner” in Delaware County.
Delaware County Board of Supervisors Chair, Jim Eisel, introduced Murphy to the room of constituents that included Andes Supervisor, Marty Donnelly, and Delaware County Dem-ocratic Committee Chair, Cindy Lockrow-Shimmerling.

By Julia Green
Voters in the Andes, Margaretville and Roxbury central school districts will vote to approve proposed budgets for the 2009-2010 school year on Tuesday, May 19.

By Julia Green
Two students from Stamford Central School placed first at the Delaware and Otsego County Arts and Cultural Final Spelling Bee on Saturday at The Roxbury Arts Group.