110 Years Ago - 1911

The most beautiful and costliest building in Sullivan County was dedicated on May 30. Dedication of St. Joseph's, the new college erected by the Franciscan Fathers at Callicoon, was solemnly dedicated with nearly all the residents of Callicoon bedecking their houses with the United States and papal flags in honor of the occasion. At the present time there are about 50 young men at the college, but provision has been made for about three hundred.

Dr. Frederick A. Cook, the explorer, is coming shortly to visit his brother, Theodore A. Cook, of Callicoon. The doctor will give an open air lecture at Callicoon June 24 on his trip to the pole.

Harry Hill has purchased a half interest in the Western Hotel Livery from Louis Marold, the new firm beginning business yesterday morn­ing.

J. M. Schmidt & Sons, North Branch, advertise the finest line of Iron and Brass Beds selling for $3.75 and $5.50. Other beds from $4.50 to $5.00.

After Tuesday, June 6, all ballots in the Democrat's piano contest will be secret. Ballot boxes will be found at the Callicoon National Bank and the Democrat office, and orders for subscriptions with the money to pay for them may be dropped into the boxes at these places. Standing of contestants at this time are: Miss Mary Brechtel, Cochecton, 61,300; Mrs. Ed Lawson, Long Eddy, 60,900; Miss Annette Graebner, Callicoon, 56,900; Mrs. Peter Bennedum, Hortonville, 51,000; Miss Ruth Brown, Callicoon, 49,900; Miss Marion DeLap, Kenoza Lake, 39,000; Miss Laura Newman, Cochecton Center, 34,300.

100 Years Ago - 1921

Thursday, R.J. Bennett, senior member of the firm of Bennett Brothers, pharmacists, who have stores at Callicoon, Jeffersonville and Roscoe, became the owner, by purchasing from Mrs. O.F. Traynor of New York City, of the large Traynor building and property on Main St., Callicoon. The purchase price is said to be $10,000.

The home of Mr. and Mrs. E.T. Olver of Tyler Hill was the scene of a most joyous occasion Wednesday, May 18, when their only daughter, Pauline, was united in marriage to Duane Abraham of Englewood, N.J.

Walter Toaspern of Barryville and Emma Straub of Eldred were united in marriage May 19 by Rev. Uriah Symonds of Port Jervis.

Born May 20, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Solomon of Rock Valley.

Albert Norton died at his home in White Sulphur Springs early Sunday morning. It will be recalled that Mrs. Norton died suddenly a few weeks ago while calling on neighbors. Mr. Norton was the father of Mrs. Matthew Wood of Callicoon and a brother of Mesdames Casper Engert and Ruth Wilcox of Fremont Center.

Rufus C. Maltby, one time an attorney in Jeffersonville and later a lawyer, Justice of the Peace, Recorder and prominent churchman in Middletown, was sentenced Saturday to serve a year in the Orange County Jail on charges of larceny in the first degree after he had been charged with the embezzlement of $2,000 from one of his clients.

90 Years Ago - 1931

Ernest V. Miller, driver for Schultz, recently moved into the Wedde house near the Hortonville Church.

After an hour of farewells, Otto Hillig and his trans-Atlantic plane “Liberty” took off from the Country Club Airport at Liberty at 8:15 o'clock yesterday morning for a brief tour over Sullivan County before flying to Teterboro Airport near Hackensack, N.J., for further tests. He and his pilot, Capt. Holger Hoiriis, will be unable to leave Newfoundland for the overseas hop to Copenhagen until after May 31, however, with weather conditions as they are at present. “I expect to make the trip to Copenhagen in twenty-eight hours, a distance of 3,100 miles. We will leave Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, with 600 gallons of gasoline which should be more than enough to take us to our destination. The only thing we have to be afraid of is ice on the wings,” Hillig said. He and Hoiriis will carry no life preservers.

State Senator Bernard Downing of New York City died at the Loomis Sanitarium near Liberty Monday.

Francis Huff of Hankins, for more than a year in charge of the Sullivan County Jail, and Fred Knight, one of Monticello's summer policemen, were in Albany last week taking the examination for entrance to the New York State Police. There were 4,200 applicants for fifty-two vacancies.

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. James Ellersick of North Branch on May 20. He has been named Gordon James.

A son arrived at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Leslie Barriger in the evening of May 21. They live in Galilee.

Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schult­heiss have opened up their boarding house on the Delaware River, near Hankins, for the coming year... Harold Deighton is building a home on his lot in Hankins.

A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Matt Hassis of Lake Huntington this past week.

80 Years Ago - 1941

Saturday morning, May 24, Rita Shane of North Branch and George, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Moser of Obernburg, were married at St. Mary's Church, Obernburg, by Rev. Godfrey Doyle.

Work was started here this week by Fred H. Starck Sr. on a new building which will house eight bowling alleys. The structure will measure 120x60 feet.

At the Callicoon Hospital, it was a girl to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Deighton of Hankins on May 22; a son to Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Merklin of Liberty on May 24.

The Milton Mauer farm home in Fremont township, Callicoon RD 2, burned to the ground early yesterday morning. The house and its entire contents were completely destroyed.

Miss Winifred Baer, Callicoon, has been elected cheerleader of the Student Association of New York State College for Teachers at Albany.

Fred Mootz of Callicoon Center has ventured into the cauliflower business for the second year, and during the past two weeks has set out 31,000 plants on his acreage.

70 Years Ago - 1951

Lieut. Warren K. Miller of Callicoon received notice last night to report for examination at Langley Field, on May 28. Lt. Miller, a veteran (and former German prisoner of war) of World War II, has been a member of the Air Force Reserve.

Mr. and Mrs. Charles Deckelman of Obernburg have announced the engagement of their daughter, Doris Ann, to Anthony F. D'Ambra of Providence, R.I. A fall wedding is planned.

Mr. and Mrs. Vincent Hoffman of Hankins are the parents of a son, born Saturday; Mr. and Mrs. William Barlow of Roscoe are the parents of twin sons, born Sunday; all at the Callicoon Hospital.

A carload of 43 mules from Texas arrived here by rail this week for the Ten Mile River Boy Scouts. There were originally forty-two when they left Texas but one was born en route.. What use is to be made of the mules remains a question. — Narrowsburg News.

Hitting the ball at a .750 clip, Callicoon outfielder Stan Kobylenski is leading the Delaware Valley league batsmen, according to the latest figures released by Ted Lilholt league president.

The one stone pier which formerly carried one end of the old Erie R.R. bridge on the Creamery Road, Callicoon, was removed yesterday by workmen for the Hermann Lumber Co. The work was done in connection with the annual work day on the Athletic Field.

On Monday, May 7, Mrs. Kathryn Dirig of French Woods received word that her son, PFC Joseph Dirig, had been injured through enemy action while fighting in Korea. He is in a hospital in Japan with wounds in his left arm, left leg and chest.

John Amback held the grand opening of his electrical shop in Callicoon Center on May 19.

Jim Bouldin of Mileses caught a 10 1/2 lb. wall-eyed pike in the Delaware last week.

60 Years Ago - 1961

Memorial Day originated through the efforts of the Confederate States to honor those brave men, living and dead, who had fought in the Civil War. Memorial Day celebrations in Fremont Center began under the auspices of the G.A.R. Post No. 374, the James Bell Post, which was organized on June 9, 1883, by 84 veterans. The post covered membership from East Branch and Trout Brook (Methol), Long Eddy, North Branch, Callicoon, Acidalia, Mileses, Hankins and Fremont Center.The celebrations began with the raising of the flag on a pole erected near Elwood's store (at one time Frank Bury's and now closed). Then, the G.A.R. men marched in formation with the Fife and Drum Corps to the cemetery where flags were placed on the graves of fallen comrades. A prayer service with a speech or some reminiscing followed. Then the parade moved on to Obernburg where the graves were decorated. A noon dinner was served. A standard item on the menu was soda crackers which were to remind the men of the hard tack (hard, dry biscuits). Coffee and meat were provided by the James Bell Post and those assembled contributed covered dishes to the meal. The celebration was always the largest event in Fremont Center during the entire year (and still remains so.) Memorial Day has become “Old Home Day” to many former residents of the area. Grave services are now held at the grave of PFC Jacob Gross who lost his life in Italy in 1944, at Salerno. The 1961 parade was dedicated to the 84 men of the James Bell Post in observance of the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War.

Emil Lienau and Marian Ebert were named King and Queen of the DVCS junior prom.

Madelyn Stein, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Stein, associated in operation of the Delano Hotel, near Monticello, was chosen Miss Sullivan County in the contest held at Liberty last Saturday.

Miss Wilma VanSchoick, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Osmer VanSchoick of Narrowsburg, has received her nurse's cap from Clara Maas Memorial School of Nursing in East Orange, N.J.

Mr. and Mrs. Louis Huter of Bethel, former North Branch residents, will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at the North Branch Methodist Church undercroft on June 5.

Joy Wagner of North Branch and Gary Spielmann of Youngs­ville were named Queen and King of the Jeff Prom recently.

Equipment arrived Monday to begin construction of the new bridge over the Delaware River at Callicoon. Three large structures will be demolished to make room for the new bridges: the homes of Mrs. Emily Ebert and Mr. Hubbe on Delaware Avenue, Pennsylvania side, and the post office building on the New York side. A number of smaller structures in the rear of the homes will also be taken.

Miss Shirley Whitmore, a student at the Charles S. Wilson Memorial Hospital School of Nursing, and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Orville Whitmore, received her cap at a Candlelight Ceremony on May 21.

50 years ago - 1971

On Tuesday, May 18, the last visual evidence of the Woodstock Festival in Bethel in 1969 was removed. Don Lindsley of Liberty and Randolph Peters of Briscoe, operators of a sawmill business, cut, pushed and pulled the performer's pavilion to the ground and took away the logs from which it was made. The only thing that now remains from this historic event are memories.

Russ Hodge, The international decathlon star from Roscoe, is the subject of a feature article in the April issue of “Track and Field News,” which noted, based on personal best marks from all ten types of competition, that he is the highest scoring “decathlete” of time. His father, Russell V. Hodge, was a professional basketball player and his mother, the former Alice Arden, was a high jumper on the 1936 U.S. Olympic team, so Russ comes by his athletic ability naturally.

Marie Kitson and Eugene Flynn, both of North Branch, were named King and Queen of the 1971 Junior Prom of the Delaware Valley Central School.

More contestants for the title of Sullivan County Dairy Princess have entered the race: Elizabeth Ann Buddenhagen, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Buddenhagen, Callicoon; Donna Ferber, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Ferber; Marie Bauernfeind, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Bauernfeind; and Audrey Head, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Head, are all local girls interested.

Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cox of Liberty celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 16 with open house, attended by over one hundred guests.

40 Years Ago - 1981

Mr. and Mrs. Gerald A. Allen of Ferndale have announced the engagement of their daughter, Mary Alene, to Harold G. Roeder III, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harold G. Roeder II of Hortonville. A July 1982 wedding is planned.

The Catskill Region of the Antique Automobile Club of America, primarily a Sullivan County Club, will host its 18th annual Car Meet & Fun Weekend Saturday and Sunday, May 30 and 31, this year. The event is co-sponsored by the Village of Monticello.

Exterior brick work on the new wing of the Wayne County Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, PA., is nearly complete. Superintendent of the job, George Pfeiffer, says that 124,000 bricks have been used and 72 men have put them in place.

The Town of Delaware's Board held a special meeting to pass a resolution giving Supervisor Craig Stewart authorization to sign a contract with contractor Mayo-Lynch from Hoboken to start designing the sewer system. Mayo-Lynch will receive $380,000 to design the system which has already been approved in Step 1 by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Department of Environmental Conservation. The project is expected to go out for bids in November with construction to start next spring.

Dr. John Walter has been selected to become the next president of Sullivan County Community College. He was selected from over one hundred candidates. He comes from St. Joseph's, Mich., where he has served as vice president of Lake Michigan College for some years.

The members of the Yulan Volunteer Fire Company are breathing a bit easier since learning that a lawsuit seeking $4,000 in damages from them has been thrown out of court by the New York State Supreme Court Justice. The complaint charged that the firemen mishandled a chimney fire in the resident's home in 1980.

30 Years Ago - 1991

Dane LaBarr, now of Tampa, Florida, a former Liberty resident and graduate of Liberty High School, has had the privilege of having his 1929 Cadillac used in the movie “Oscar,” starring Sylvester Stallone. Mr. LaBarr has won many awards with his antique automobile in shows up and down the East coast.

The 28th annual parade and display of antique cars will be held on Saturday, June 1, on Broadway in Monticello. It is sponsored by the 80-member Catskill Region Antique Automobile Club.

Elena Rios and Heidi Hesse, 4-H members, will represent Sullivan County at the State Fair August 22 to September 2. Susan Hahn will be the alternate.

The engagement of Shannon Dee Turner, daughter of Nancy Turner of Mileses, and Shawn Bailey of Medina, Ohio, has been announced. No wedding date has been set.

The Centennial Celebration of the Woodridge United Methodist Church continued on April 27 with a covered dish supper. Rev. Betty Johnson, a former pastor, and her husband, Rev. Emmett Johnson, former pastor at Napanoch and Ulster Heights, were guests. Since most people living in this area during the 19th century “lived off the land,” a special exhibit of early farming and logging tools, arranged by Nancy Atwell, were on display. The next special event will be a chicken barbecue on June 1. Rev. Betty Theilmann is the present pastor of the church.

Twelve buses brought 600 SUNY Binghamton students to hit the waters of the Delaware at Callicoon in what has become a traditional outing for members of the graduating senior class.

Frank Doty Patterson II, a direct descendant of the family that founded the Eddy Farm resort (near Port Jervis) 162 years ago, visited the property that has launched log rafts from the spot where guests now swim. The spot was once called “Patterson's Eddy.” The last raft left Patterson's Eddy in 1908, the victim of the railroad which was now able to carry logs to market all year around.

Susan Lauterstein, 17, daughter of Dr. Joseph Lauterstein, will represent Sullivan County at the 1991 Miss Teen World of Beauty Pageant to be held at the Georgian Resort Hotel in Lake George from May 31 through June 2.

20 Years Ago - 2001

One of Sullivan County's most well-liked state representatives, retired New York State Senator Charles D. “Charlie” Cook, 66, died Wednesday evening at O'Connor Hospital in Delhi. Cook's career in public service spanned 33 years, from 1965 to 1998. A staunch Republican, Cook never lost an election nor a primary, and ran for his 40th Senatorial seat unopposed for many years. Cook is survived by his wife Dorothy, three children and three grandchildren.

Thanks to Mother Nature, area motorists have some more potholes and bumps to avoid along the local roadways this spring. The combination of the long snowy winter and the torrential rainstorm on December 17 have taken a toll on numerous roads.

Months after Bill and Betty Higgins began raising money to restore and refurbish the Parksville Veterans Memorial, the work is nearly complete. It features names of Parksville residents who have served in the U.S. Armed Forces during wartime. The original wooden honor roll was started in 1942 by Jack Fiddle.

The Sullivan County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program annual recognition luncheon honored 387 volunteers who gave over 74,000 hours of service to the community. Senior of the Year was Danny Resnick of the Town of Thompson. For the following townships, the seniors of the year are: Bethel, William Burns; Callicoon, Virginia “Tina” Carlucci; Cochecton, Doreen Stephenson; Delaware, Eleanor Glassel; Fallsburg, Lucille Pantel; Forestburgh, Ida Crawford; Fremont, John Pike; Highland, Grace Koehler; Liberty, Doris DeVoe; Lumberland, Phyllis Knapp; Mamakating, Jack Davidson; Neversink, Winifred Barner; Rockland, Virginia Tempel.

10 Years Ago - 2011

An accidental discharge of a handgun in the Neversink Town Hall on a Monday afternoon resulted in the resignation of two town employees. Code Enforcement Officer Dave Sparling, to whom the gun was registered, apparently was showing Deputy Town Clerk Sue Kitson his handgun when she pulled the trigger and the gun discharged, officials said. Luckily no one was hurt. The bullet hit a chair, ricocheted through the floor and wound up in the basement of the corner office space facing Route 55 in the hamlet of Grahamsville.

The Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) Laboratory has been named 2011 Lab of the Year by Medical Laboratory Observer (MLO) Magazine. This award is a tribute to the hard work and dedication of the Laboratory staff at CRMC.

Bethel Woods Center for the Arts helped to support the charitable efforts of Habitat for Humanity of Sullivan County by participating in the Yo Gabba Gabba Concert Tour's donation program. Habitat received $3,185 as proceeds from the concert in August of 2010, which will be used to fund the construction of a house in South Fallsburg.