Greetings faithful readers! So good to be back writing my Kenoza Lake column. So many people have told me over the past few months that they have missed my column. My duties of being the Town of Bethel Tax Collector, the White Lake Fire District Treasurer and having my own income tax practice keeps me super busy from January 1st until April 15th. I enjoyed working with Matt Shortall and Joe Abraham when they were the editors of the newspaper. I have had the good fortune to have met Derek on several occasions and look forward to working with him.

The most popular question I am asked is when are the hummingbirds coming? Answer, Soon! Last year, the hummingbirds arrived on May 2nd.The Evening Grosbeaks arrived April 29th.  The Baltimore Orioles arrive about the same time as the Rose-Breasted Grosbeaks and hummingbirds do. Tuesday night a bear arrived on the Otto back deck and pulled down the pole that the hummingbird feeder sits on. So, my husband Ray must get that fixed lickety-split. I have been saving old oranges for the Baltimore Orioles.

Last night I received a text message from a Pucky Huddle neighbor saying that they had just seen a mother bear with four, yes four, tiny cubs.  The cubs were the size of a cat, so they were born this year. Can’t wait to see them.

My deepest sympathy to the Chellis family with the passing of Marilyn Chellis.  Marilyn and her husband Butch worshipped at the Kenoza Lake United Methodist church when Bill Chellis was the Kenoza Lake pastor.

No church in Kenoza Lake this coming Sunday, rather a hymn sing in the Liberty UMC, 9:00 am start time.  All are welcome.

This past Tuesday I toured the tornado damage.  I had a good chat with Doug Kautz and Jim & Evelyn Weissman.  Doug is lucky to be alive. The Weissman farm was spared. Brendon Cunningham has a video he took of the tornado from Burr Road. The video is out there on Facebook. It shows the tornado turning north and heading towards Jeffersonville/Callicoon Center/Roscoe. The original path of the tornado was Narrowsburg, Lava, Fosterdale, Bethel, White Lake. But for the grace of God the Town of Bethel was spared. It was important to listen to the cell phone warnings that we received last Saturday. I am waiting to find out how we can help impacted individuals.

What a shock about Tucker Carlson getting fired. Wow!  Folks are flocking to Newsmax (Channel 222 on Spectrum). Should be interesting to see where Tucker Carlson lands. News Max? Who will replace Tucker on Fox? Tulsi Gabbard? I just heard Bill O’Reilly say that the reason why Tucker Carlson was so popular was because he wasn’t predictable, and he wasn’t dull. People tuned in because they didn’t know what they were going to get that night. I totally agree.

Congratulations to fellow Sullivan County Democrat columnist Sue Bodenstein on winning the Western Sullivan library board. Rev. Phyllis Haynes also won. Most folks in Jeffersonville know Sue Bodenstein. Rev. Haynes is the pastor of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Narrowsburg. Speaking of libraries, the Sullivan West Central School District budget vote will take place on Tuesday, May 16th from noon until 9:00pm. IMPORTANT! The vote will NOT be held at the school, but rather the Western Sullivan Public Library on Center Street (near the gas station and ice cream stand.) I don’t know yet who is running for the school board. Elections have consequences.  Very important.

The Town of Bethel will hold their annual “dump clean-up weekend” on Saturday May 6th & Sunday May 7th. This is only available to Town of Bethel residents. The Youngsville Fire company will hold their roast beef dinner on Saturday, April 29th. Eat in/take out.  Yum, yum!