Greetings faithful readers!  Finally, some sunshine.  What a wet and rainy May and early June. 

Yesterday I was delighted to see a male Eastern Blue Bird three times in the same day, at the same place, in front of my house. I am keeping my fingers crossed that he and his honey have a nest in one of my many bluebird houses.  I love birds and bluebirds are my favorite bird, even though I rarely see one.

 My husband Ray told me that we have a mother/hen wood duck in our wood duck box. Yippee!  We changed things up this year with our wood duck boxes. Wood ducks are very fussy regarding their nest boxes, as are bluebirds.  Not all bird houses are the same. 

I have yet to see a poult from this year’s bred turkeys.  Too many predators. We have red and gray foxes, bears, raccoons and skunks roaming around the Otto homestead looking for food.  Turtle lay egging season is in full swing. I have my turtle escort shovel in my car and have used it to escort a snapper across the road. Came across a huge, busted turtle nest, about a dozen busted eggs. Sad, but everyone must eat. It pains me to see dead turtles on the road, especially the backroads. Two weeks ago, I went to the fish fry in White Sulphur Springs and came across almost a dozen different snapping turtles laying eggs along the sides of the backroads.  

I went to Lake George on June 8-11 for the NYS Tax Receivers and Collectors annual convention.  Great event! It was fantastic to meet property and school tax collectors and receivers from across NYS. I learned a bunch of things and met a bunch of people. On the last afternoon of the conference, I took a little ride up the western coast of Lake George.  Gorgeous houses.  The one thing that really struck me was how clean Lake George is, no junky cars parked by houses, no garbage. Pristine, gorgeous. We had a gala with a “penny social” of gift baskets that everyone brought. I was delighted to win a wren (bird) house!  Like I said, I love birds. 

In case you haven’t noticed, the windows in the top floor of the Fern Hotel in downtown Kenoza Lake are boarded up. The former hotel and special care home will be demolished sometime soon. 

There will be no church in Kenoza Lake on Sunday, June 29.  Instead, there will be a “fifth Sunday” service at the White Sulphur Springs Firefighters’ pavilion.  Kenoza Lake will be getting a new head pastor for Kenoza Lake beginning July 1. We are hoping to have a welcome reception for our pastor, sometime this summer. The new pastor will be affiliated with the Monticello United Methodist Church, which will be in the same parish as Kenoza Lake, come July 1. There will be other Methodist churches part of the same parish. Some of our local Catholic churches are closing or curtailing services.  The Mongaup Valley Catholic church recently had a farewell service. The Catholic church in Kauneonga Lake will be having a farewell service at the end of this summer. Fewer and fewer people regularly attend church. 

Last year I went to the Sight and Sound show in Lancaster, PA. This was my first time seeing a show at this amazing facility.  Today, Thursday June 19, there are two groups from the area attending the current show called Noah.  The White Sulphur Springs United Methodist church as well as the Town of Bethel seniors both had travel trips there this week. Speaking of travel, a group of local people were in Paris this past week with Barbara Hahl’s travel bunch.  I saw Barbara’s amazing photos of Paris and Normandy on Facebook.  Barbara’s trip had fantastic weather. 

Some folks don’t “do” Facebook.  Yes, there is a 1% 2% nasty/negative element.  However, there are, IMHO, positives outweigh the negatives.  Speaking of nasty, there have been super negative items out there regarding the Sheriff’s race. The Sheriff’s race will be concluded on Tuesday, June 24.  Early voting ends on Sunday the 22nd. No voting on the 23rd. In person voting at your polling place on June 24. All registered Republicans, please do not forget to vote. In the Town of Bethel, the Democrats are having a primary for two Town Board seats, there are four candidates for two seats.     

So, there was an amazing bill that got passed in Albany this month by our legislators. You now don’t need to have a Masters’ degree to become a CPA.  Wow! Amazing. When I went to college 50 years ago, you only needed a Bachelor of Science.  Then in 2009, it was changed to a master’s degree.  Now it has been reduced to a bachelor’s degree.  Wow! 

Congratulations to the White Lake post office for winning second prize in customer service for post offices of similar sizes across NYS.  Great job Maria and team!

The Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs will hold their third annual youth fishing event on Saturday, June 21. The event will be held at Morningside Park in Hurleyville from 9am-2pm. Free event for all youth, ages 3 to 15. 

What is going on with my Mets?  Five straight losses.  Yikes!  Say it ain’t so. Curiously the Yankees are 0 – 5 in their last games as well.