Birthday wishes to Aly Steingart, Laura Garone, Kim Simons, Danielle Herbert, Matt Lehman, Madeline Kask, Marc Lerner, Jennifer Berry, Olga Bell, and Molly VanEtten.

Our sympathy goes out to the family and friends of Denise Connolly.

Condolences extend to the family and friends of Michael Lang, promoter of the original Woodstock Concert that brought half a million to the Bethel site in ‘69.

We lost a legend: Sidney Poitier dies at 94 on January 6th.

PSA: Mask. Test. Get vaccinated and boosted. Locations: vaccines.gov. Txt your zip code to 438829. Call 800-232-0233. FMI: 845-807-0925. SC Public Health - 292-5910. Mental Health - 292-8770. Natl Suicide Prevention Lifeline- ‘988’.

A number of us have heard that NYS Dept of Health is moving and merging their offices with Orange County in Middletown. It certainly doesn’t feel like the appropriate time for a change and distancing of services. The number of cases in Sullivan Co is raging and we have a poor health rating as it is.

To Do: Send me your news and local events. Use Townofbethelny.us for info. Contact Cathy McFadden about activities, youth programs, a scheduled Family Fun Day and the annual Ski Programs at Big Bear and Villa Roma. Register today! Use bethelnyparksandrec@gmail.com.

The Town of Bethel Board meetings, held the second and fourth Wednesday of the month, are available on Zoom. Get the link. Stay informed: Pine Grove roadwork, ‘Community Climate Action Plan’, Smallwood BESIDE, and solar and airport projects . Watch the possible Bethel Woods large-scale Campground facility. An $8M grant is in the works with a letter of support from Town of Bethel. With a mass gathering permit for 30,000, the first phase of 528 campsites for 1,475 campers could grow to 4,600 campsites for 13,000 campers for a price tag over $20M.

The Bethel Tax Collector announces we can now pay taxes (only In Full) via an Echeck on line option. Use: www.taxlookup.net, then click Sullivan, then Bethel. Use Bill Number and follow further direction...Rather pay In Person? Tues, Th, Fri, Sat: 9:30-2:30pm at Town Office (583-4350 x108).

Heat cost issues? Contact Town about the CEAP Heat-Energy program applications or HEAP@sullivanny.us (807-0142).

Food insecurity still exists in our community. Please donate nonperishable food to Shephards Pantry.

Sign up for yoga with Ora Ramat in Bethel or Miriam (www.miriamhernandez.com) in Jeff.

Business Watch: Check sullivanny.us/Departments/workforcedevelopment/HotJobs for work.

Support year-round local and BBA businesses: Use www.bethelbusiness.com as a reference/directory. Also, BBA is looking to fill open Board seats.

Heard on the street: Alex and Daryl’s Kauneonga retail store, Industry, is moving to a new space in the same building. Benji & Jake’s will be open! If you haven’t already, order fresh produce all year through Monteleone Gardens. Shop JavaLove on-line. Check out and use our locals who do business online.

For local history’s sake, donate to “The Max & Miriam Yasgur Barn Restoration Project” GoFundMe.com page.

Get ready to Renaissance on the 19th at the G2R Winter Symposium on Zoom at 5:30pm. Applications are also available online. FMI: Sullivanrenaissance.org or call 845-295-2445. A grant workshop will follow on Feb 2.

The BBA Board meeting will be held on the 19th at Duggan Community Center and on Zoom at 6pm.

Attend a ribbon cutting for the Bridge Back to Life Center’s ‘Mobile Treatment Unit’ at the SC Legislative Bldg on the 20th at 1pm. Join ‘Dance It Off’, a teen and adult P&R activity, at Duggan on Thursdays at 4:45pm. Register in advance as Crawford Library hosts Johnny Ciao, ‘the Culinary Rocker’, delivering “Entertaining Stories and a Delectable Dish” via Zoom on the 20th at 6pm.

Culture: Support the arts! Bethelwoodscenter.org, Delawarevalleyartsalliance.org, Catskillartsociety.org, Hurleyvilleartscentre.org, Narrowsburgunion.com, Nesinculturalarts.org, scdw.net, Crawford Library: www.ebcpl.org. Crawford has on-going programs for children, teens and adults to look into.

Cab Frank’s hosts Game Days, Wednesday ‘Caswyn Moon’s Open Mic’, Thursday ‘Cab’raoke’, and live music on weekends.

Looking forward: Register now for the February 20th ‘22 SC Conservation Club’s Annual “King of the Ice” Fishing Contest on White Lake (SulliivanCountyConservationClub@gmail.com).

Suz Sez, “A good way to overcome stress is to help others out of theirs.” DV