110 Years Ago - 1913

The Lenape Lake Club near Livingston Manor was fined $120 last week for using traps in their private lake. The lake was stocked several years ago and is one of the best private fishing grounds in the state.

A farewell reception was tendered Jimmy Coffey, the New York light-weight, at Frank Keegan’s Wednesday evening. Miss Gertrude Allgeier and Earl Stein supplied the music. Mr. Coffey expects to return the latter part of June. He is due to box in New York the middle of next month.

A large number of people attended the opening of Maas’ Casino in Lake Huntington Tuesday evening.

A firebug is suspected as the cause of the mysterious fire which might have destroyed Menner’s Department Store in Honesdale Sunday morning had not John Roegner been out late at a dance and saw the flames before they had obtained much headway. The fire started at the rear porch in much the same manner as the Erk fire a year ago.

The Jeffersonville graduation class went for a ride Friday evening. They enjoyed a social time at Bauernfeind’s Hall in North Branch. . . A number of residences, also the Mansion House, have been wired for electricity. — Jeff Corresp.

A large crowd attended the Hankins Catholic Church Sunday morning where Alfred Galloway, Charles Hoffman, Mary Kille and Mary Vaughn received their First Holy Communion.

At the annual school meeting held in Long Eddy Mrs. C.G. Armstrong and J.J. Harrigan were elected to the board of education. The teaching force is to be reduced to four teachers. Miss Anna Kenney is to have charge of the high school work and Mr. Haight is to teach the seventh and eighth grades.

100 Years Ago - 1923

Helen Kessler, the only girl in the senior class of the Callicoon High School this year, heads the honor roll of the school for May. She is the only high school student to attain this rating, but 19 others in the grades are on the honor list.

Carpenters are at work repairing the newly purchased home of Mr. and Mrs. Harris G. Hill in Lookout. . . Mr. and Mrs. Fred Hinaman are having their home improved by the installation of hot and cold water and a bathroom and painting the interior. —Lookout Corresp.

Thomas Bennedum and employees are erecting a garage in Hortonville.

Dick Orth, Barton Cargin, Arthur Bauernfeind, Norman Persbacker and Dewitt Weiss went to Newark this week and brought back four Overlands and a Willys-Knight car for Webster Orth. The Overlands were delivered this week to Wm. Reubman, Callicoon Center; Julius Sass and C.A. Vogt of Hankins; and George Rutledge and Melvin Hill of Lookout, Pa.

Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Brown of Kenoza Lake are the proud parents of a little daughter who arrived at their home on May 28.

90 Years Ago - 1933

The house known as the Long Bros. boarding house in the Beechwoods, now owned by J.H. Seckler, was burned to the ground yesterday morning. The house was built by Harry and George Long who conducted a successful boarding business for a number of years. Other outbuildings were saved by the Callicoon Fire Department.

Dr. Adolph H. Schonger, the last survivor of Western Sullivan’s old-time medical practitioners died at his home at North Branch last Saturday, May 27, after an illness of several years. He was born in North Branch. His father, Dr. George Schonger, was graduated from the University of Munich in 1840 and died in 1894. Dr. Schonger was married to Mary G. Stenger of Mileses. She died several years ago.

Leonard Gendler, 19, a three-year resident of Narrowsburg, was  drowned in the Big Eddy of the Delaware when the canoe he was paddling upset.

After members of the Emmett Turner Post, American Legion, decorated graves in 16 cemeteries. Mr. and Mrs. William Turner, parents of the boy after whom the post was named, served luncheon in the basement of the Conklin Hill Church. They were assisted by members of the Ladies Aid there.

Last night two spans of the wooden bridge at Lackawaxen burned. This old structure was formerly an aqueduct for the D&H canal. It has not been determined how the fire started.

Harold Kellam of Fremont Center was the low bidder on the post office messenger job at Callicoon. It is reported his bid was $469.

Callicoon and vicinity are experiencing a building boom. The renovations on the Zimmerman building are going forward rapidly. The floor and ceiling in George’s Restaurant are being lowered and a new porch and sun parlor on the second floor will add greatly to the appearance of the building. Work was started Monday on the garage and residence of Wm. Rosenberger at Hortonville. Edgar Hermann plans to start work on his house at Hortonville within several weeks.

Mr. and Mrs. George Keesler of Damascus, Pa., celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary May 21 at the Galilee Grange Hall with 90 guests present.

Chairman Baudendistel of the Board of Supervisors has appointed A.M. Scriber, publisher of the Monticello Watchman, as county historian.

80 Years Ago - 1943

Miss Ethel Baer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Baer, Callicoon, graduated on Monday from the N.Y.S. College of Home Economics at Cornell. She is the fiancee of Pvt. John W. Poley Jr., and has accepted a position as assistant dietitian in the cafeteria of the International Business Machines Corp. at Endicott.

The Women’s Bowling club gave a miscellaneous shower for Miss Helen Kohn on May 23 at the home of Mrs. Fred W. Stabbert.

Dedication of the Honor Roll of the boys in service from the Town of Bethel will be held May 29 at the Square in Kauneonga Lake.

Opposition to the Hortonville site for the Delaware Valley Central School won out in the voting last Tuesday evening when 512 votes were cast against the proposition and 464 were cast in favor.

Allen Heyn, son of Mrs. Maud Heyn, Callicoon, is back on duty with the U.S. Navy. He was on the cruiser Juneau when it was torpedoed and sunk in the Pacific. Rescued, hospitalized and fully recovered, Allen is back in the business of protecting his country. Also on the ship, and all lost in the sinking, were the five Sullivan brothers, one of whom died five days before the rescue of a few survivors.

Twenty percent of the 20,000,000 pieces of mail sent each week to United States soldiers overseas is sent V-Mail. This is four times the amount of mail sent during World War I.

70 Years Ago - 1953

The Methodist Church of North Branch is celebrating its 100th anniversary this week. As the church sanctuary has recently been remodeled, there will be a rededication service included in the celebration.

Announcement has been made of the engagement of Winifred, daughter of Supervisor and Mrs. John P. Kenney of Long Eddy, to Leon E. Giroux of Schenectady. An August wedding is planned.

Johann Balsamo of Brooklyn and George Schoonmaker of Youngsville were united in marriage May 23.

At the Callicoon Hospital it was a daughter Saturday to Mr. and Mrs. James Turk, of Callicoon, and to Mr. and Mrs. Edward Purcell of Eldred; a daughter, Tuesday, to Mr. and Mrs. John Mylczynski of Roscoe and to Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Amthor of Callicoon.

At the special election held at the Kenoza Lake Firehouse on Tuesday of last week, the voters of the fire district approved the expenditure of $11,000 to buy a new fire truck which shall be a 500 gallon pumper with a 300 gallon booster tank.

Miss Gertrude Ferrara of Callicoon Center was feted at a bridal shower Saturday evening. She will become the bride of Vincent Schmidt on June 13 at St. George’s Church in Jeffersonville.

60 Years Ago - 1963

Agnes Robisch, after serving thirty-five years, ten months and eighteen days of being the “Voice With a Smile” to Callicoon residents, retired from the New York Telephone Company.

Betty Ann Meckle, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Meckle of Narrowsburg, and Raymond Rutledge, son of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Rutledge of Rutledgedale, Pa., were married at St. Francis Xavier Church in Narrowsburg on May 25.

The 57th annual commencement exercises were held at St. Joseph’s Seraphic Seminary on May 27, with a class of twenty-seven.

Miss Beverly Gray and Miss Donna Bowers of Roscoe hosted a baby shower for Miss Gray’s sister, Mrs. Frank DelMontier on Tuesday evening at the Rockland Firehouse.

On May 27, Mrs. Charles Bergner of Callicoon celebrated her 90th birthday with a family dinner at the home of her son, Mr. and Mrs. William Bergner in Callicoon. On Sunday several members of the Women’s Literary Club visited Mrs. Bergner and presented her with a bouquet of flowers and a scroll honoring her as a charter member of the club which was organized in 1904.

The officers of the Hortonville Juvenile Grange were guests of the Bloomingburg Juvenile and Subordinate Grange on May 24.

50 Years Ago - 1973

An estimated 7500 people came to greet the High Iron Company’s “Farewell to 2101” as the steam engine made its way along the Erie Railroad, stopping in Callicoon to help mark the 100th anniversary of tourism which is being observed in the county this year. Callicoon has always been honored to have been selected by the High Iron Company as a major stopping point in her excursions which have meant so much to the entire community and her visitors. The Western Hotel was befittingly decked out in patriotic banners and served as a memorable background to the scene having served as a resting place for travelers on the railroad for many years.

Harry W. Yates, 27, was found guilty of second degree robbery Friday night by a Sullivan County jury for robbing the First National Bank in Jeffersonville on September 5, 1972.

The whole Peck family was on hand, Arthur and Beth and their children, Alison, Anita and Wayne, to begin business at their new location in Callicoon, when the store opened Wednesday morning.

The second annual Teenie Weenie contest, sponsored by the Delaware Youth Center, resulted in Judy Metzger of Callicoon and Charles Hahl of Roscoe being chosen King and Queen. Runners-up were Jill Norris of Fremont Center and Thomas Connell of North Branch. Deborah Minckler of Long Eddy was last year’s queen.

Henry Roemer of Callicoon was guest of honor at a luncheon at the Autumn Inn on the occasion of his 85th birthday, sponsored by the Telephone Pioneers. Mr. Roemer is a retired lineman for the New York Telephone Company.

Mr. and Mrs. Dan LaBarr of Narrowsburg were given a surprise 35th wedding anniversary at home Sunday. Their actual day of celebration was the 17th.

Ed Bianco and his wife, Roseanne, opened an Italian-American restaurant in Hankins this week. They are from Brooklyn and have a family involvement in the restaurant business spanning 50 years.

40 Years Ago - 1983

“The first Saturday in June will be a very special day for Roebling’s Delaware Aqueduct,” according to Superintendent John T. Hutzky. Beginning at 3 p.m. there will be a ceremony of rededication on the bridge at Minisink Ford. The bridge, which is owned by the National Park Service, is America’s oldest wire suspension bridge and a forerunner of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Anthony L. “Hank” Roos, former president of the United National Bank in Callicoon, died Thursday, May 26, at the Princeton, N.J., Medical Center. He was 75 years of age and had been president of the UNB from 1962 to 1975 when he retired.

April Brafman, a junior at the Monticello High School, has been named Miss Sullivan Teen. She will compete for the National Miss Teenager title in Miami, Fla., at the end of October.

The State of New York Office of General Services has announced that an apparent low bid of $212,572 had been received for a fire standpipe system to be installed in various buildings of the Woodbourne Correctional Facility here.

Robert Parks is the latest fisherman to break the old New York state record for big shad. He took his 7 lb. 14 oz. prize fish towards the end of the shad run in the Delaware River at Barryville. Mr. Parks is from Monticello.

Herman and Blanche Worzel of Pond Eddy celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on April 24. Mr. Worzel is retired from the Erie Railroad after 51 years of service. At the open house, a special guest was Mrs. Anna Martin of Ocean Grove, N.J., who was their matron of honor.

30 years ago - 1993

The Bethel Park Committee has been working for nearly two years to develop the first public park facility in the Town of Bethel on the Old White Lake Turnpike. Final preparations are underway to hold a grand opening of the new park around the July 4 weekend. The committee hopes to open the former Hotel Rotterdam pool to the public at that time. Future plans tentatively include a picnic pavilion, restrooms, beach volleyball, tennis courts, baseball field, an amphitheatre and meeting room.

Breaking with the recommendation of its own advisory commission and the pilots association at Sullivan County International Airport, the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors Airport Subcommittee Thursday picked a Liberty man to be the airport’s next fixed base operator (FBO) which fuels, services and repairs planes at the airport in Bethel. The latest FBO is John L. Nichols of Liberty, who replaces Robert Wells Aviation. 

The Catskill Actors Theatre in Highland Lake will kick off its 1993 summer season with a performance starring well-known actors Joanna Kerns and Ed Begley Jr. in “Love Letters,” by A.R. Gurney.

Florence Neukrug has been named chairperson of Antiques in August, the 34th annual antique show and sale at  Monticello High School to benefit Community General Hospital. Ms. Neukrug and her family for many years operated the Avon Lodge in Woodridge.

The hopes of Liberty’s sectional prospects rest on the arm of Julie Tighe, (9-9, 182 strikeouts, and an ERA just over 2.00), since, as coach Harold Tighe pointed out, the team batting average is under .250, and the defense has been spotty. The fourth seeded Lady Indians face John S. Burke, seeded sixth, today in the first round of Section IX Class C softballs sectionals. 

20 years ago - 2003

Registered nurses at Catskill Regional Medical Center (CRMC) filed an unfair labor practice charge against hospital management on Friday after contract negotiations broke down. In their new contract, the 130 RNs want to improve staffing at the hospital by reducing “floating” which is the temporary transfer of nurses to units for which they have not been trained, and the amount of overtime a nurse can work. The RNs believe these conditions pose a threat to the safe care of patients.

Carly Speer, 16, is currently undergoing training at the Sullivan County Airport to become the first female firefighter in White Sulphur Springs’ history. Her father, Michael, is chief of the White Sulphur Department, and Carly’s brother, Ryan, 24, joined the department when he was her age. Her grandpa, Harold Speer, started fighting fires in 1963 for the Monticello Fire Department.

Bill and Helen Rieger still tear up at the sounds of their 17 grandchildren bursting out into the strains of “You Are My Sunshine.” The couple recently celebrated 60 years of wedded bliss, surrounded by their five children, one “foster” daughter, 17 grandchildren, one great-grandchild and dozens of friends and family members in the Holy Cross Church on Route 97. She was a Bestenheider from Buck Brook. They married in 1943 in the Protestant faith in Callicoon Center, but Helen studied for a year to become a Catholic and was baptized the night before the second wedding at the Old Holy Cross Chapel in St. Joseph’s Seminary.

10 Years Ago - 2013

Eighteen years ago, at a ribbon cutting ceremony, Dr. Alan “Doc” Fried could look on with satisfaction as the Catskill Fly Fishing Center and Museum on Old Route 17 opened its doors, fulfilling a dream he had nurtured with the late Roscoe fly tier Elsie Darbee. The community doctor and man of many talents and interests had even raised the chickens with Elsie’s husband Harry to create the material for the legendary “Blue Dun” flies. Fried, 87, who died last week after battling a rare blood cancer, lived long enough to see the completion of the Joan Wulff Gallery and Catskill Rodmakers Workshop addition to the museum. The foundation was poured the last week of August 2012, and according to Krul, Doc would show almost daily to check on the progress.

Eileen Haworth Weil would have been proud – and very much moved – by the first annual scholarship fund brunch held in her memory. The Sullivan County Human Rights Commission-sponsored event celebrated people like her: tenacious, vibrant, committed to equality and justice,  including Teamsters 445 union rep Sandy Shaddock, lifelong activist Dr. Emmett Bassett and Sullivan Alliance for Sustainable Development co-founder Dick Riseling. Together, they were honored for sharing the spirit of Weil, a Summitville resident who succumbed to cancer in March 2012.

It was full speed ahead for the 51 competitors in the second annual Sullivan County Soap Box Derby last Sunday.The youngsters raced their gravity-powered cars down Liberty’s North Main Street on a newly paved track lined with thousands of hay bales.The three divisional winners are bound for Akron, Ohio on July 21-27 to compete with other “local champions” in the All-American Soap Box Derby World Championship. Sullivan County champions are Gabriella “Gabby” Nolan in the Super Stock Division, whose car was sponsored by Hillside Greenhouses; Joshua Knack in the Stock Division, sponsored by BK Logging; and Isaiah Velez in the Superkids Division, sponsored by Guardian Angel Motor Sports.