As I write this Kenoza Lake news column, it is a glorious sunny, fall day in Bethel. We have still not yet had a killer frost. We had a touch of frost a week or so ago, some of my impatien plants got hit. Nothing major yet though.  Still time to plant spring bulbs! I took my hummingbird feeder down back on October 1st and now have suet out. Many of the winter birds have not yet arrived. I haven’t seen a chickadee in a while and the juncos haven’t arrived yet. I have chipmunks stuffing their cheeks to the gills with black oil sunflower seeds. It is amazing how much seeds they suck up, like vacuum cleaners. The white-tail deer rut is getting ready to kick into high gear. A few years ago, Pucky Huddle Road neighbor planted 13 apple trees on his front lawn. He had fencing around all the trees and just a few weeks ago, he removed the protective fencing that protected the base of the tree. Within days, bucks moved in and rubbed up the trees.  (See photo). It may already be too late to save the trees.  Amazing. This past summer my husband Ray did some work around our pear trees.  The fencing was changed, but a porcupine took a liking to the one pear tree and almost destroyed the pear tree. I never knew that a porcupine could cause so much damage. About eight years ago Ray and I planted eight Dunstan chestnut trees.  The trees have been very successful, and our deer love the chestnuts. I have even watched them stand on their hind legs trying to grab a chestnut off the tree, even though they are super prickly. I am going to pick up some chestnuts off the ground and try and grow chestnut trees. Stay tuned to see if I am successful. I see that the corn got chopped, near Fosterdale, at Bernas Corner and Route 17B. There were several trucks and a huge corn chopper in the field the other day. Pucky Huddle Road corn is getting chopped this week.

There will be no Kenoza Lake United Methodist Church service on Sunday, October 22nd, due to a possible COVID exposure. In addition, as Sunday, October 29th is the fifth Sunday of the month, the Western Sullivan Parish church service of the United Methodist Church will be held at the North Branch church. The Kenoza Lake Administrative Board meeting will be postponed to Thursday, October 26th at 7 pm at the church. These meetings are open to anyone who is interested. There will be a combined church service on Sunday, October 29th at 10 am in North Branch.  If you would like to sing in the choir, please come early, around 9:30 am.  There will be no church in Kenoza Lake that day. The Kenoza Lake United Methodist Women will be holding their annual Election Day Chili, Soup & Krispy Kreme doughnut sale on Election Day, at the Kenoza Lake Firehouse. There have been several changes with one’s legislative district.  The Town of Delaware is in District Five, (the George Conklin vs Cat Scott race.) The Town of Bethel is in District One. People that live in the Village of Jeffersonville will be voting for a District One legislator (Rob Doherty vs. Matt McPhilips). Continuing get well wishes and prayers for Pastor Bridgette LeConey who is gaining strength with her recovery, day by day. 

Special Happy Birthday wishes to my former Brownie leader, Lucy Karodontes who will be celebrating her special day next week. 

I recently watched a documentary on Netflix about Tanya Tucker. I keep singing her famous song, Delta Dawn. I love that song.  I recommend the Netflix documentary.  

Hope to see you on Saturday at the Jeffersonville Fire Company’s Roast Beef dinner and dance! Wow! A dance, the first one in more than a decade. Eat in/take out, come out and visit with your friends and neighbors and support our local fire company. 

So, there is a local travel group called “Barbara’s Bunch”. Barbara used to manage Jeff Bank’s bus trips. After Barbara retired from the Jeff Bank, she launched Barbara’s Bunch. She has a Facebook page, and you can follow her trips. Two weeks ago, Barbara’s Bunch set off for a two-week trip to the Middle East and Europe. The first stop on their trips was Israel and the travel trip arrived 24 hours prior to the start of the war. Wow! Talk about scary. Happy to report that Barbara’s group made it out of Israel safe and sound. They returned to the US earlier this week. 

Remember that famous Frank Sinatra song My Way? He sang “regrets, I had a few, but then again, too few to mention? One of my regrets regards one of the naval ships that has recently moved to the Middle East with the Israel war, the USS Dwight D Eisenhower. This aircraft carrier holds 60 aircraft and houses 5,000 sailors. Faithful readers of this column may know that even though I was born and raised in Kenoza Lake, I lived and worked in France, Switzerland, and Belgium from 1982 to 1988 and from 1991 and 1997. Back in 1988, I was on vacation in Cannes, France and the USS Dwight D Eisenhower was docked right off the beach in Cannes. What a sight! I can remember that like it happened yesterday. There were sailors ashore, all along the Boulevard de la Croisette. Sailors were wearing baseball hats saying, “I Like Ike”. The sailors stopped and asked people if they wanted a tour of the ship and for some reason, I said no. So, if one day someone asks me, do I have any regrets, I do and that is one of them, namely that I didn’t take that once in a lifetime opportunity to tour the USS Dwight D Eisenhower.