110 Years Ago - 1911

Oscar Robisch, 10-year-old son of Walter Robisch of Hortonville, had his leg broken just above the ankle on Thursday afternoon while sliding downhill near the schoolhouse at Hortonville.

Mrs. Martin Hermann has at her home a curiosity which is seldom, if ever seen, and that is a sprig of lilac tree in bloom. About a week ago she went out to the lilac tree and cut off a sprig which she placed in a jar with other plants in order to keep those plants from toppling over. In a few days the lilac sprig budded and then bloomed forth in all the splendor of its summer beauty, with the exception that the flowers were pure white instead of purple.

On Christmas Day, at the Callicoon Center parsonage, by Rev. J.E. Straub, Charles H. Gorr of North Branch and Miss Ruby M. Ebert of Callicoon were married. They were attended by Frank Hartz and Miss Bertha L. Lahm.

Arthur A. Newmann of Fremont Center and Miss Hattie E. Graby of North Branch were married at the parsonage in Callicoon Center, December 28, and were attended by Wm. Graby and Miss Carrie Newmann.

A quiet wedding took place at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Frey near Callicoon Center, January 1, when their daughter, Clara Anna, was united in marriage with Mr. Wesley Mansfield Dorrer of North Branch. The ceremony was performed by Rev. John Straub. The bride was attended by her sister, Helen, and Frank Lowe of North Branch acted as best man.

A.J. Porr, Cochecton merchant, is wearing a broad smile of late following the arrival of a fine son last week. All are doing fine.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. George Just of East Cochecton, a son, last week.

100 Years Ago - 1921

The Sullivan Chemical Company's Plant at Fernwood closed January 1. Many of the men will seek employment elsewhere.

S.G. Sprague, father of Corporal Russell D. Sprague, the first son of Sullivan County to fall in the World War, died suddenly of heart trouble at his home in Middletown last week, aged 54.

A. Roth has sold the former Yaeger store for $5,000 and the Charles Schmidt business block has been sold for $3,850. Both are located in Jeffersonville.

Ex-sheriff George N. Hembdt will resume activities with the Monticello Construction Co. of which he is a member and which is now at work on a state road job in Orange County.

After watching for three days the den into which he had driven a Canadian lynx, Herman Christian of Neversink shot one that measured 52 inches from tip to tip.

Robert B. McNickle and George Darling, both of Monticello, were respectively appointed by Sheriff Pelton, undersheriff and deputy sheriff.

Miss Elsie C. Lavelle, daughter of Mrs. George A. Lavelle of Hankins and New York, has been awarded one of the highest honors of New York University, in receiving the Phi Beta key.

C.T. Curtis, after serving as treasurer of St. James Episcopal Church of Callicoon for 50 years, has resigned because of his health. Adam Metzger has been elected to succeed Mr. Curtis.

Ed Wagner of Obernburg is the owner of a two-year-old hog that A. Kimmes, the butcher expert, estimates will dress a half ton.

Rudolph Reers, youngest son of C.G. Reers, Narrowsburg, narrowly escaped death while riding down hill last Monday afternoon. He came down the hill from the schoolhouse and across the pond bridge. Going too swiftly that he could not steer his sled, he crashed through the fence and plunged down the Erie embankment, dropping 12 feet. He struck his head, sustaining a compound fracture of the skull and a broken arm. He was taken to a Port Jervis hospital.

90 Years Ago - 1931

An unfortunate accident took place on New Year's Day at the farm of Francis Weiss of near Obernburg when a boy of 17 years of age accidentally shot himself in the head. The lad was spending several days with friends at the Weiss farm and had gone hunting in company with two other boys of about the same age. He was rushed to a physician, who was unable to do anything and he was then ordered to the hospital in Port Jervis. He died en route about five miles from the destination.

Mark Farell, a hand on the farm of Martin Schmidt of North Branch, was sentenced Sunday to six months in County Jail on conviction of having watered milk. Farell, 24, admitted there was some water in the bottom of a milk can into which he poured milk, but said he did not think it amounted to much. He denied that it had been his practice to add water to the milk.

By a vote of 6 to 3 the Port Jervis Common Council adopted an amendment to the city ordinance permitting the showing of moving pictures in the city theatres on Sundays between the hours of 2 and 6 p.m. and 9 and 11 p.m.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. Merton Ferguson of Long Eddy, a daughter on December 29, at the home of Mrs. J. Rivenberg who is taking care of the mother and babe.

Fifteen and fifteen hundredths miles of the county road map adopted by the Board of Supervisors in August of 1929, in pursuance to legislation enacted at Albany the previous winter, were designated for construction in the coming summer by the Board at the closing session for the year last Wednesday. This is in addition to the fourteen and a half miles of the county road systems that were constructed last summer.

Edward D. Knapp, supervisor of the Town of Mamakating, was again elected chair­man of the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors and Jas. H. Brady was again elected clerk of the board at the organizational meeting of the Board at Monticello Monday. It is reported that the same committees that acted in 1930 will again act in 1931.

Mrs. Emma Mitchell will be installed Matron of St. Tammany Chapter January 9. She will succeed Mrs. Elsie Kelley, the present Matron.

A new development in passenger coaches embodying many distinctive features for comfort and convenience in travel, have been added to the equipment of the Erie Limited in its New York-Chicago service. The cars have been designated as Salon Cars and will feature windows of the observation type and arrangements for heating, artificial lighting and ventilation. Another feature is the lounge or rest rooms that have been provided for lady and gentlemen travelers. An individual porter service is provided for each car.

80 Years Ago - 1941

The body of John Young, 50, of Fernwood, remains in the Delaware River despite efforts of many volunteers who have searched since last Friday evening. Mr. Young was drowned when the boat, in which he and Raymond Conner of Long Eddy were crossing the river last Friday evening, upset, and threw both into the frigid water. Mr. Conner managed to make his way to shore but Mr. Young, encumbered with heavy winter clothing, was unable to rescue himself and perished.

Edwin Robisch of Little Ferry, NJ, has been promoted as General Yardmaster for the Erie Railroad at Cleveland, Ohio. Edwin is a Callicoon native, the son of Edward Robisch.

Mr. and Mrs. S.E. Woodley, Narrowsburg, announce the engagement of their daughter, Ida May, to George C. Reinke, Bethlehem, PA. Miss Woodley is principal of South Canaan Consolidated School.

A large pipe organ is now being installed in St. George's Church .The organ was given to the church by the Liberty Theatre. Part of the $500 left to the church in the will of the late Jacob Sander will be used for the installation cost.

Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Barnes who were married on December 24 and are now in Florida for their honeymoon. They will reside in Narrowsburg. — Milanville Corresp.

Lone Troop No. 1, Girl Scouts of Cochecton, held an investiture ceremony January 6 with the following girls receiving their Girl Scout pins after passing their tenderfoot test: Muriel Apfelberg, Edna Bernstein, Mary Campbell, Ruth Clevenz, Betty Coe, Gladys Ehrle, Rose Falchook, Alma Gries, Doris Maas, Wilma Moran, Eleanor Nelson, Elizabeth Porr, Doris Pozzi, Violet Pozzi, Jean Samson, Delores Sauer, Mary Tathanick, Irene Tegeler, Alberta Tyler, Elvira Wormuth, and Rose Marie Wormuth. Lillian Kraack was assisted during the ceremony by Bernice Porr, assistant leader, Mrs. Dorothy B. Rumble, troop committee chairman and Mrs. Marie Wormuth and Mrs. Elvira Wormuth, also members of the troop committee.

70 Years Ago - 1951

Miss Janet Rosenberger, a student of the Joseph Barrese Accordian School of Music, Carbondale, Pa., broadcast on the school's program over radio station WCDL, Carbondale, last Saturday. Janet is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. William Rosenberger of Hortonville.

Born at the Callicoon Hospital, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Elwood Firmback of Narrowsburg, and a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. James Smith of Yulan, both on Tuesday.

Mr. and Mrs. Archer Wood of Long Eddy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on January 2. Mr. Wood has been engaged in the garage business in Long Eddy for many years.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank Ray of Long Eddy have announced the engagement of their daughter, Rachel, to Joseph Budjack, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Talarico of Carbondale, Pa.

About two months ago word was received from the National High School Poetry Association, announcing a contest in poetry. One member of the senior class at DVCS, Barbara Jean Robisch, sent in several entries and one of her poems was accepted for publication in the annual “Anthology of High School Poetry.” A letter concerning the acceptance of the poem and a certificate of merit has been received by Barbara Jean. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Robisch of Hortonville.

60 Years Ago - 1961

Should Joseph Archibald Stacey Jr. be convicted of first degree murder and no recommendation for clemency be made by jury, it would be the first case of capital punishment in the 20th century in Sullivan County. Two men were hung at Monticello in the last decades of the past century but none have paid with their lives for murder in the 1900s. Stacey is accused of shooting 26-year-old Sandra Lee Allison at the Triangle Diner October 29th.

Mr. and Mrs. George Henn of Kenoza Lake announce the engagement of their daughter, Joan, to James Graham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Graham of Jeffersonville. A fall wedding is planned.

Incoming Masters of Sullivan County Masonic lodges will be invested Wednesday at the Fallsburg Lodge rooms. The incoming Masters include Al Stanton, Monticello; Fred W. Stabbert Jr., Callicoon; Paul Diamond, Wurtsboro, for Fallsburg; George J. Dexheimer, Neversink, for Liberty; and Harold Reichman for Callicoon Lodge, Jeffersonville.

At the Callicoon Hospital, it was a boy for Mr. and Mrs. Peter Boyle of Hortonville, on Monday; a daughter, Monday, to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Sykes of Hankins; a daughter, Thursday, to Mr. and Mrs. John Michaely of Honesdale, PA.; a daughter, Saturday, to Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Kleinert of Greeley, PA.; and a daughter, Tuesday, to Mr. and Mrs. Walter Longcoy of Honesdale, PA. RD4.

50 years ago - 1971

Damascus Volunteer Ambulance Corps came into existence in September of 1969 because the Tegeler Funeral Home discontinued its ambulance service and the Damascus area needed one. The new two-story garage with meeting room was dedicated last week — almost two years from the time the new corps went into service.

Attorney and Mrs. Richard Newberg of Woodridge won the 1971 Sullivan County Stork Derby — but only by a margin of four minutes. They had a daughter Saturday at 2:06 a.m. at Community Hospital in Monticello. Four minutes later a daughter was born at the same hospital to Mr. and Mrs. Rafael Gandulla of Mountaindale. Both babies weighed in at seven pounds, seven ounces.

New masters of the Sullivan Masonic Lodges were installed at Livingston Manor Tuesday night. To serve this year are David Sprecher, Fallsburg Lodge; Eugene Fuller, Mongaup Lodge in Liberty; Peter Cummings, Callicoon Lodge, in Jeffersonville; Arthur Burgess, Monticello Lodge: Julius Freyberger, Dela­ware Lodge in Callicoon; and Sigmund Berry, Livingston Manor Lodge; J. Ellis Noble, District Deputy Grand Master, was the investing officer.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Hermann of Callicoon announced the engagement of their daughter, Helen Ger­trude, to John Kohrs, son of Gus Kohrs of Milanville, PA. The wedding is planned for some time in April.

Mr. and Mrs. Walter Betsenheider of RD Roscoe have an­nounced the engagement of their daughter, Joan, to Gottfried Schauer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Gottfried J. Schauer of Richmond Hill. No date has been set for the wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Paul Mengle were guests of honor at a 25th wedding anniversary celebration at the Kenoza Lake firehouse on Saturday evening. They are the parents of a son and three daughters.

A baby girl, Michelle Lynn, arrived on December 29 to bless the home of Mr. and Mrs. Gene Girard.

40 Years Ago - 1981

James J. “Jimmy” Gott­schalk of Hankins, a former town of Fremont Supervisor, died at the Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City on Monday, January 6, at the age of 62. He is survived by his wife, Margaret Huff Gottschalk, a son, a daughter, his mother, two brothers and three grandchildren… John “Poppy” Kelly of Liberty died Wednesday, January 8 at the age of 90. He had served as Town of Liberty Superintendent of Highways from 1940 to 1960. As a young man, he was contractor for the excavation of St. Peter's R.C. Church in Liberty, from where services will be conducted on Saturday.

Paul Tylawsky is the new boys basketball coach at Eldred, replacing A. Wojtaszek, who will continue his role as athletic director and as girls soccer coach.

Three Catskill reservoirs fell below the pre-determined “drought emergency” levels on Sunday, January 4, a spokes­man for the Delaware River Basin Commission announced Monday, as he reported the Cannonsville and Pepacton reservoirs in Delaware County and the Neversink Reservoir in Sullivan County were 1.86 million gallons below the desired level. Measures for the preservation of the water supply will be implemented.

Sullivan County's Director of the Association for the Retarded, Marc Brandt, addressed the Liberty Village Council Monday night concerning the ARC's rental and possible purchase of the Franklin Lake School. Mr. Brandt said the ARC will be leasing with an option to purchase the former Maimonides Hospital, sometime in the near future. It is estimated that it would cost the ARC approximately 4 1.2 million dollars to build a unit equivalent to what now exists at the Franklin Lake facility. The ARC plans to house 35 severely mentally retarded people ranging in age from 13 to 30 or 40 years. Mr. Brandt stressed that Sullivan County is one of the few, if not the only county in New York, which would care for all of its mentally retarded residents within the county limits.

30 Years Ago - 1991

Bret Gray scored a game-high 43 points Saturday as the Wildcats defeated host John A. Coleman 77-69 at the consolation game of the Statesman's Tournament. Gray, a junior guard, now needs just 53 more points to reach the 1,000 point plateau for his career.

Randall Wells, a member of the Nattituk Fire Department in Long Island and future son-in-law of Mr. and Mrs. David Minckler of Jeffersonville, will appear on “Rescue 911” on January 8 in the re-enactment of the rescue of a boy from a sand tunnel.

The flag at the Monticello Middle School flew at half staff Friday in memory of eighth-grade student Jennifer Broadie who was killed in a fire Wednesday night. More than $400 was collected at the school for the family of Mrs. Cora Ivory and five other children who lived in the home which was destroyed.

The restoration of the Roebling Suspension Bridge in Minisink Ford has earned top honors in the Waterfront Center's Excellence on the Waterfront project competition. NPS Superintendent John Hutsky accepted the award at the eighth conference held in Washington, D.C.

Gary Ransom of Callicoon and Glenn M. Glaab of Monticello have been honored by NYSEG for 25 years and 30 years of service respectively.

Richard W. Schrumpf of Callicoon Center, a Town of Callicoon Justice, died January 3 at the Community General Hospital in Harris. He was 77 years of age and married to the former Lois Aldrich of Callicoon. He had three daughters and five grandchildren.

20 Years Ago - 2001

Dane Clarke of Monticello was Sullivan County's first big winner in the NYS Lottery's new Instant Millions game. The single father of two, who was recently partially disabled by a stroke, won $2 million in the Lottery's scratch-off ticket game.

The Sullivan County Legislature's Planning and Community Development Com­mittee ap­proved a resolution to apply for a $78,000 USDA Rural Business Enterprise Grant (RBEG). The grant will be used to develop a mobile cheesemaking training module, which will visit area farms and illustrate the production of grassland cheeses.

A new community center for recreation is being planned for the Eldred Senior High School, to be dedicated in honor of the former Eldred teacher and coach Ken Bjorn. The proposed project is being funded by private and business donations, and more fundraising events are planned.

A boy, Kristopher Rasmussen, was born to Kris and Annette Rasmussen of Youngs­­ville, on January 7, 2001.

Danielle Hernandez and Jason Gaebel, both of Youngs­ville and high school sweethearts since 1994, were married September 23, 2000 in the Presbyterian Church in Jeffersonville.

Mr. and Mrs. Ronald (Judith) Highhouse announce the engagement of their daughter Sarah Elizabeth Highhouse, to Bradley Allan Field, son of Master Chief and Mrs. Gordon (Darlene) Field. Miss Highhouse is the team leader of the Genesis Solar Racing Team which is designing a car to compete in this summer's American Solar Challenge 2001 from Chicago, Ill., to Palm Springs, Calif.

Participants in the Sullivan County Democrat's most recent online poll answered the question “How much of your holiday shopping was done exclusively in Sullivan County?” You said, ALL ELSEWHERE - 49.44%; A mix of both - 31.46%; Bah, humbug! None at all! - 13.48%; All here - 5.62%. Eighty-nine of you voted.

10 Years Ago - 2011

William Browne of Roscoe Central School, a second-year student in the Sullivan County BOCES Natural Resources Program placed first in the skid-steer operation competition at the 5th Annual Cobleskill Agriculture and Natural Resources High School Day, hosted at SUNY Cobleskill. The day consists of friendly competition between various high schools from across the state in events from livestock judging, to tree identification, to welding, as well as campus and facility tours.

The Tri-Valley Bears varsity and junior varsity boys' basketball teams visited the Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum in Cooperstown as part of the two teams' two-day competition in the 2010 Dick White Holiday Basketball Tournament at the Red Bursey Gymnasium at Cooperstown Central School. Another highlight of the trip was visiting with Sullivan County native David Bertram, Head Coach of the Cooperstown Central School Redskins varsity basketball team, which hosted the tournament. Bertram, a 1990 graduate of Eldred Central School is in his 11th year of coaching at Cooperstown Central School. In the varsity consolation game, Cooperstown defeated T-V, 77-40.