140 Years Ago - 1886

It is a known fact, says a Hankins correspondent, that dynamite is being used in the Delaware River for the purpose of taking fish. The deed is done on Sunday, too. Should some poor man put an eel rack in the river, the fish warden would have business up this way on double quick time, but the dynamiters have their own way.

English services at the Presbyterian Church in Jeff Sunday evening will be given by Rev. Godduhn.

The fishing at Segar’s Pond at Briscoe is better this year than it has been in a good many years. A pickerel caught there this week measured 22 inches in length and weighed three pounds. There are lots of these big fellows in the pond.

120 Years Ago - 1906

Three horse races will take place in the Liberty driving park in the near future. The events will be a 2:20 trot or pace, a 3:00 trot or pace, and a running race, each for a purse of $100.

Chris Gilbert has sold his farm at Callicoon Center to his brother, William. Chris will remain on the place and work it.

When Louis Mall was driving from his yard to the highway with some of his guests yesterday afternoon, the wagon pole dropped down, frightening the horses, which flung the wagon to one side of the road, throwing the occupants and then ran to near Kraut’s where they were stopped. Mr. Mall and two of his guests were somewhat bruised.

Dr. Rice is having considerable trouble with his Orient auto buckboard which arrived a few weeks ago. It refuses to go more than a few rods at a time, and has to be dragged home. The doctor still has his horse.

Joseph Rosch, the law partner of George H. Carpenter of Liberty, was on Thursday appointed by Governor Higgins special county judge for Sullivan County to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Reuben R. Ellif. 

Howard Bullis of Fremont Center and Miss Bessie Weber of Mileses will be married at the home of the bride June 10.

110 Years Ago - 1916

Jacob Mann, who was born on a farm in Callicoon Center nearly fifty years ago, died recently at his home in Brooklyn. He was married to a daughter of the late George Hust of North Branch.

J.H. Kessler now owns the entire interest of the H.J. Kessler & Co. store on Maple Avenue in Jeffersonville, having bought the interest of C.G. Yager.

Mrs. Ida Goubelman has returned from the city and reopened her millinery store here.

Cornelius Graebner of Callicoon, employed on the Monticello Republican, has been drafted to the Binghamton baseball team, the champions of the State League.

The Democratic County Committee which met at Monticello last week re-elected David S. Avery, chairman; James M. Kelley, secretary; and M.E. Galligan, treasurer. A resolution was adopted endorsing President Woodrow Wilson for renomination. John T. Curtis has been elected Republican County Chairman with Ozias D. Briggs as treasurer and Dr. Frank Laidlaw as secretary.

100 Years Ago - 1926

The Liberty House at Liberty, a 4-story frame structure, was destroyed and four persons were injured by a fire which broke out shortly after 5:30 Sunday afternoon. Callicoon sent its fire truck on orders from Chief Herbert Persbacker to whom the Liberty chief had telephoned for aid and the truck is said to have covered the 22 miles to Liberty in 34 minutes.

The grocery store of Arthur Avery and the feed store of Shapiro Bros. at Monticello were damaged at an estimated $50,000 Sunday morning. While the blaze was at its height, the Erie Hotel, standing about 3 feet away, ignited from the heat and the sparks and was saved only through the prompt action of the firemen. 

Born to Mr. and Mrs. William Bosch of Middletown on Friday, April 9th, a son. Mrs. Bosch was formerly Miss Bertha Engert of Fremont Center.

90 Years Ago - 1936

Hal Eppes of Accord, a dairy farmer better known as Healthy, the milk clown of the Dairmen’s League, will appear at the Callicoon High School on April 22 to address the children in assembly.

Corwin H. Valentine, 55, for many years an undertaker at Damascus and Honesdale, Pa., died at his Honesdale home last Tuesday evening, April 14.

Louis Edwin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Wendelin Dirie, and Miss Maybelle, daughter of Louis Boettger, both of Callicoon, were united in marriage by Rev. J.E. Straub at the Callicoon Center parsonage last Saturday.

Harold W., son of Mr. and Mrs. John Poley of North  Branch, and Miss Lillian, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Green of Liberty, were united in the Callicoon Center parsonage by Rev. J.E. Straub on April 11.

Dr. Frederick A. Cook promised last week to make a “very interesting” reply to the refusal of the American Geographic Society to reconsider his claim that he discovered the North Pole in 1908.

Ward Schweighofer, prominent poultryman at Tyler Hill, Pa., suffered a considerable loss recently when his brooder house was damaged by fire and 800 month-old chicks were suffocated or burned to death.

The location and direction sign on the roof of the Landfield Avenue Garage, Monticello, gave a lost aviator his bearings last week and righted him on his course to New York after he had landed at the race track on the fair grounds for fuel.

80 Years Ago - 1946

On April 1, Harold Madison began service as Acting 4-H Club Agent, according to Harry Stalker, chairman of the 4-H Club Executive Commitee of the Sullivan County Farm Bureau and 4-H Club Association. Mr. Madison is a graduate of the New York State College of Forestry at Syracuse, Class of 1938.

At the Callicoon Hospital it was a girl for Mr. and Mrs. Frank V. Wagner of Callicoon on April 12; a boy on April 15 to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Seipp of Damascus, Pa.

Mrs. Anna Voight, Red Cross leader for the Town of Fremont, announces that the Junior Red Cross boys and girls of Long Eddy have completed knitted afghans.

Lieut. Harold Bjorklund of the Navy was released from service last week.

The annual dinner of the Sullivan County Bowling league was held at the Olympia Hotel, Callicoon, last Sunday evening with 89 bowlers, their wives and friends present. Fred Stabbert was succeeded as president by Jack Golden. Dr. Lowell Quiggle is vice-president and Gerald Nearing secretary-treasurer as the result of recent elections.

In an essay contest, entitled “The Dairymen’s League – Its Aims and Purposes,” Eugene Hahn of the Jeffersonville Central School has been named first place winner, Georgia Stackhouse of the Monticello High School won second place.

The newlyweds, Mr. and Mrs. Chauncey Sprague of Damascus, were tendered a shower Wednesday evening in the dining room of the Methodist Church of Damascus.

The Conservation Department truck brought 700 brown trout and 300 rainbows here today for planting in the Callicoon Creek.

70 Years Ago - 1956

A “Community Hospital” for Roscoe came one step closer to reality last Monday night when some forty residents of the area in and around  Roscoe and the Manor gathered at the Roscoe Firehouse to unanimously agree that a hospital was needed.

Jeffersonville’ Lincoln Chapter of the Order of Eastern Star will officially receive Mrs. Leota Hermann of Callicoon and August Asplund of Sidney, District Grand officers, at a meeting scheduled for April 26 in the Masonic Hall. Emma Smith and George Winkelstern are the matron and patron of the local chapter.

Robert G. Edwards, principal of Youngsville Central School, and Paul Gaebel, owner of Youngsville Garage, received the Automobile Club of New York’s certificate of commendation in recognition of outstanding service to the community through their participation in the high school driver education course.

The Friedman House, a 15-room vacation resort on Dairyland Road near Woodridge, was destroyed by flames early Monday. The unoccupied resort building was leveled in less than two hours. Damage was estimated at $40,000.

The Kenoza Lake Fire Department honored members of the Auxiliary at a home-style ham dinner at the Lake Jefferson last Monday evening.

A 60-car southbound freight train was wrecked on the main line of the O&W Railroad at Strongtown, between Ferndale and Hurleyville, after 15 cars piled up last Friday. It took two days to clear the wreckage.

60 Years Ago - 1966

A letter has been made available to the Democrat by  Fred Starck of Callicoon. The letter was written by Grover M. Hermann, formerly of Callicoon and reaffirms his offer of $500,000 for the Sullivan County Community College if the college is located on the Loch Sheldrake site which has already been given the college trustees.

More than 1300 eggs were hidden by the directors of the Delaware Youth Center on  Saturday for their annual Easter Egg Hunt. It is estimated that 269 children participated in the activity.

A Requiem Mass for Paul A.A. Rouis, 68, of Burlingham, a wheelhorse for the Democratic Party in Sullivan County for four decades, will be celebrated at Our Lady of Assumption Church in Bloomingburg.

Miss Virginia Rasmussen has been chosen “Outstanding Junior of the Year” by  Court Father Raphael #1542 of Callicoon, Catholic Daughters of America.

Work has not yet commenced on the new bank building in Callicoon. A partial grading of the lot was accomplished last fall and early winter, but the severe weather caused a stoppage of that work.

50 Years Ago - 1976

Elaine Stratton of Grahamsville has been accepted for admission to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She is the first woman from the 27th District to be admitted to a service academy under a bill signed into law last fall which opened the academies to women for the first time. Congressman Matthew McHugh made the nomination.

Nearly 500 persons attended the open house of Marshall Machinery near Beach Lake, PA, on Friday, hosted by John and Marjorie Marshall. Company and service representatives from Allis Chalmers, New Idea, Hess- ton and Safemark joined in partaking of pancakes and sausage, Wayne County maple syrup, doughnuts, milk, hot dogs and coffee which were offered throughout the day. Door awards totaling $1,000 in value were given away during the day.

Gail-Diane Coopersmith  has been awarded her Class A harness driver’s license and became the only woman so accredited at Monticello Raceway.

40 Years Ago - 1986

The Catskill Chapter of the  Hotel Sales and Marketing Association International (HSMAI) presented a $300 check to Sullivan County Community College’s Hotel Technology division to aid SCCC students in expenses when they attend the April 11-13 Annual Student HSMAI Convention at the Boston Marriot.

Richard Smalls of Monticello took more than 20 pounds in brown trout from Strolowitz Pond at the Mongaup Reservoir. He was fishing alone from a boat.

A painting, donated by wildlife artist John Obolewicz of Barryville brought $460 to benefit the Sullivan County Chapter of Ducks Unlimited during an auction held at the 2nd annual banquet dinner held at the Eldred Preserve. More than $9,500 was raised.

Francine Tremper of Youngsville was declared the winner in the Loyalty Day Queen contest sponsored by the H. Russell Kenyon Post No. 5808, Callicoon. First runner-up was Tracey Immoor of Youngsville and Karin MacEntee was second runner-up. Francine will represent the local post in the county judging on April 26.

Clarence Reeves, a member of the Lava Fire Department, was named Fireman of the Year by the Sullivan County Firemen’s Volunteer Association at their dinner held in Jeffersonville. Reeves was cited for his timely rescue of an elderly woman from her burning home on February 6.

Stephen H. Wormuth of Lake Huntington, a former commissioner of jurors for Sullivan County and a life-long area resident, died Wednesday, April 9, 1986, in Honesdale, Pa.

Audley Dorrer, a 60-year old member of the Callicoon Fire Department, will be guest of honor at a testimonial dinner on May 3.

30 Years Ago - 1996

Heavy rains Tuesday caused rising waters of the East Branch of the Callicoon Creek along Route 52A between Jeffersonville and Hortonville. The Diehl’s Farm pasture was under several feet of water. Heavy rains and flooding of back roads also forced school officials to close school early in Livingston Manor, Roscoe and Jeffersonville.

The Ames department store chain unveiled two new stores in the area – one in Liberty and the other in Monticello, after buying the leases to the former Jamesway stores on Route 52 and 42 respectively after that retail outlet went out of business.

Sullivan County is soon to embark on two major capital projects that will boost the local economy now and for years to come. The one is the long-awaited resurfacing of the runway at Sullivan County International Airport in Bethel; the other is the construction of a third cell at the county landfill near Monticello.

A grassroots effort to monitor water quality in a collection of lakes and streams that feed the Upper Delaware River is underway with local residents trained and ready to take their springtime water samples.

Local Penn State student Linda Baker of Jeffersonville, a senior at Penn State in a combined degree of Astrophysics and Aerospace Engineering, has worked with a team of Penn State students, professors, and Lockheed-Martin engineers to successfully complete an experimental package for onboard the Shuttle Endeavor’s mission STS-77.

WJFF/Radio Catskill’s fourth annual Spring Folk Concert Benefit will turn up the temperature at the Western Hotel’s Harmonie Hall in downtown Callicoon Saturday, April 20, featuring Amy Fradon, Margo Hennebach, and the Jazzabels.

Sullivan County Legislative chair Rusty Pomeroy presented certificates of official recognition to the Sullivan County CC Generals and their coaching staff, noting that the basketball team won its fifth consecutive Region XV Division III championship and third national championship in five years while finishing with a 31-3 record.

20 Years Ago - 2006

One of the most devastating fires in recent Sullivan County history took down the main building of the Villa Roma – one of the county’s biggest employers – Tuesday night. It was not until daylight that the fire was brought under control. Firefighters from 22 area departments were able to prevent the massive flames from reaching the wings leading to the guest rooms. Only 15 of the approximately 200 rooms were taken down by the blaze.

A possible anthrax scare had the Lawrence H. Cooke Courthouse in Monticello on lockdown Tuesday morning. Although tests came back negative for anthrax, changes are in order for the way the mail is handled at the courthouse.

Tara Zanetti of Grahamsville and Frank Poje of Liberty were united in marriage at St. Peter’s Church in Liberty on July 9, 2005 with Father Ed Straub officiating. The bride is the daughter of Keith and Pam Zanetti of Grahamsville. The groom is the son of Linda Prince and the late Frank Poje of Liberty.

Pamela and Keith Zanetti of Grahamsville announce the engagement of their daughter, Amy, to Charlie Hicks of Grahamsville. The groom elect is the son of Anne Marie and Larry Hicks of Neversink.

10 Years Ago - 2016

The New York State Gaming Commission last week took unprecedented action against six standardbred trainers who administered potentially dangerous and performance-enhancing doses of cobalt to race horses in violation of Commission racing rules. Among those implicated are five trainers who raced horses at Monticello Casino and Raceway. They have all been suspended immediately by the Commission which will refer these matters to appropriate law enforcement for contemplation of animal cruelty charges.

Wheelchair users at The Center for Discovery (The Center) may soon be getting around a lot faster and with their own power, all thanks to a “frustrated Occupational Therapist” and Google. The Center in Harris is being awarded a grant from the Google.org Impact Challenge: Disabilities of $1.125 million to help complete the development of the indieGo, which is a compact power unit that lets manual wheelchairs roll on and off, providing power when needed. The funds will be used to bring the indieGo device to market at a fraction of the cost of a powered wheelchair. The indieGo device is being developed right in Hurleyville, at the Vera and Walter Scherr Maker’s Lab which is funded by long-term supporters of The Center. Motivated by the “desire to offer a particularly bright young individual the ability to move on his own,” Power Mobility program director, John Damiao, is currently working at the Maker’s Lab, collaborating with a team of designers, fabricators, medical experts, therapists and technicians, improving and refining the device.