130 Years Ago - 1896

March 27 will be a red letter night for Gustav Adolph Lodge No. 274. I.O.O.F., at Hortonville when a banquet for members, their families and guests will commemorate the 25th anniversary of the lodge’s existence. It will be held at the hotel of John H. Wagner.

Kenoza Lake – William Moulthrop lost two horses last week of distemper.

Youngsville – George Schwab, who purchased and took possession of the Bury farm about a year ago, has transferred the place to Ed Tremper on condition that the latter keep him during the remainder of his life.

Buck Brook – Mrs. William Huff, Mrs. Fred Knack and Mrs. Fred Hornung are on the sick list.

Fosterdale – Adam Bernhardt of the Beechwoods was in Fosterdale today. Mr. Bernhardt intends moving to his place here some time this month.

120 Years Ago - 1906

Coming Events – Knell & Durr of the Mansion House announce an Easter Ball for Monday, April 16. John Link of North Branch will hold a masquerade ball on Easter Monday.

Henry A. Meyer, the East Main Street merchant, is having a new plate glass front and new porch put on his store building. A glass front will also be placed in the store of Mrs. H.L. Goubelman.

Mrs. David Jackson died at the age of 84 at her home in Briscoe on March 28.

Another new enterprise for Jeffersonville. John Beck has leased his old store building for a term of five years from April 15 to John Costa of Monticello, who will open a fruit and vegetable market there.

A pinochle party was given at the home of Mrs. John Hertel, 109 East 81st St., New York, the other evening in honor of Mrs. Elizabeth Baum of Jeffersonville, who is considered an expert player and who proved her ability by defeating Mrs. Hertel and Wm. Schweizer six straight games, she having as a partner, Wm. Ziegler. 

Ed Schultz, who has been employed in a livery in Callicoon Depot,  yesterday began running the noon mail route from the Depot, in place of George Peters, who returns to the farm at North Branch.

Callicoon – John Mootz has sold the large gray horse he bought of Joseph Deck to a man from Rock Valley.

Messrs. Jacobs and Brog, Ed Kohler’s painters from Jeffersonville, were working at Mrs. George Reinheimer’s last week. 

110 Years Ago - 1916

Headline: “Post Office Plums for Two Jeffersonville Boys” – Frederick W. Schadt was  nominated as postmaster at Jeffersonville and Maurice A. Borden was named postmaster at Liberty.

Jeffersonville  Tent of Maccabees initiated 12 new members into the order last Friday night.

Removal of the snow from roofs, walks and yards has provided extra occupation for many of our local residents the past week, the sun’s rays helping much in the task.

A surprise party was given at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Glassel in the Beechwoods Tuesday night in honor of their daughter, Miss Eleanor K., who has been home for a few days from Rye where she is teaching school. A number of our village young people attended the party and did not get home till the roosters crowed.

J.W. Wilfert, one of our early settlers, on Tuesday sold his 39 acre farm on Swiss Hill to Wm. J. Kennedy of Brooklyn. The price paid for the farm is $2,000 and the purchase includes all the farm stock and fixtures. Mr. Kennedy yesterday bought a team of young horses of Fred Huff of Fremont Center for $425.

Miss Katherine Wagner, aged 51, died of acute nephritis at her home in Jeffersonville Thursday night.

White Sulphur Springs – The Ladies Aid will meet with Mrs. Peter Smith on Thursday, April 6th.

Youngsville – The Frauen Verein will be entertained on Thursday, April 6, by Mrs. John Durr and Miss Kate Boxberger.

Fosterdale – The hay barn of Miss E.M. Story broke in recently from the heavy weight of snow on the roof.

Robins were seen here today.

100 Years Ago - 1926

Clarence V. Mall, youngest son of Mr. and Mrs. Valentine Mall, died of pneumonia at the age of 24 at the Staten Island Hospital in Tottenville on March 28th after an illness of ten days.  He was born on the homestead of his great-grandfather, Squire John C. Mall, one of our earliest and best known justices.

Joseph Alpy has bought of Wm. Kohler the Fred Dedling plumbing shop and lot adjoining the Alpy garage in Delaware, and will use the building for an auto supply store.

The trout season opens next Saturday, April 3. The weather is usually too cold for good fishing at the opening of the season.

The Standard Oil Co., has leased of Mrs. Wilhelmina Volke of Roscoe the Wind lot on South Main Street for a five-year term in order to erect a gas station there.

A fire alarm box has been placed on the pole in front of Dr. VanKeuren’s house. There is another at the firehouse and also at the telephone office.

Jean Erna, the five-month old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth W. Bernhardt of Callicoon, was baptized last Sunday at the home of the child’s grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Bernhardt, in Jeffersonville.

Attorney and Mrs. William Deckelman entertained at a dinner party Thursday evening. The guests were Dr. and Mrs. J.C. Gain, Mr. and Mrs. Val Scheidell, Mr. and Mrs. Charles S. Hick, Mr. and Mrs. Otto W. Meyer and Mr. and Mrs. Wm. Lieb.

Someone has suggested that raising bees might help the farmer. He might try. The farmer is accustomed to being stung by everything else he raises.

Many drivers demand only half of the road, but sometimes they are slow about deciding which half.

90 Years Ago - 1936

Cameron E. Gain, son of Dr. and Mrs. J. Cameron Gain of Jeffersonville, and Miss Virginia Lou Felton of Glendale, Calif., were married in the bride’s home town on March 21.

Mr. and Mrs. George L. Klinger (Fannie Peters) celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary at their home, the former Peters place in North Branch, on March 20 with their nine sons and daughters. They have 28 grandchildren and nine great-grandchildren. Mr. Klinger is 82 and Mrs. Klinger is 80.

Ernie Fimpel Jr. of Brooklyn spent the weekend here with his parents and took a turn at bailing out the cellar. Ernie brought his clarinet along and played with the firemen’s band at the concert Friday night. If you heard any flat notes, he’s the guy who pushed ‘em out, because the pad on one of the clarinet keys came off and of course the key leaked badly.

The barn of Earl Edwards on the former John Von Berger farm, south of Kenoza Lake, was burned on March 7, together with wagons, harness and other articles.

The steel frame of the proposed new theater building on the former Krenrich lot on South Main Street was leveled to the concrete foundation by the high wind of last Sunday morning. This entails a loss of $3,000 to Simon Sattinger, Elliott Moran and Lester Gute, young men of the village, and Herbert W. Grishaber, who started the project to build a new modern theater.

At Bucky’s Inn last Monday night the Jeffersonville Rifle team defeated Narrowsburg by 32 points.

80 Years Ago - 1946

Miss Bernice Schaefer Reum, elder daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Philip Reum, became the bride of Donald Arthur Krantz, son  of Mr. and Mrs. John B. Krantz, both of the Beechwoods, last Sunday afternoon, March 24th.

On Sunday, March 23, Miss Patricia Katherine Poley, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Poley of Youngsville and Lester Paul Bingell, son of Mrs. Mary Bingell and the late William Bingell of Cleveland were married at Cleveland’s Church of Christ.

Some 200 farmer men and women attended the annual meeting of the Sullivan County Dairy Cattle Breeding Association at the central school in Jeff last night. Elected directors were Merle Schoonmaker, Youngs­ville; Harold Reinheimer of Callicoon Center, and Samuel Heinle, White Sulphur Springs, Directors elected to the central association were A. Brey for the Holsteins, Edwin VonBergen for the Jerseys, and Walter C. Weiss for the Guernseys.

District Deputy Frederick W.V. Schadt completed his official visits in the Delaware-Sullivan District last Friday with his homecoming at Callicoon Lodge in Jeffersonville.

The annual firemen’s dinner was held at Bucky’s Inn Monday night.

William Krum, son of Leonard Krum of the Beechwoods, has bought the milk route from Charles Scheidell for delivering milk from the Beechwoods patrons to the Jeffersonville Co-op Creamery.

Carl Stecker, aged 61, died at his home in Delaware, March 26.

Henry Kraft, 72, died at the home of his sister, Mrs. Katie Heuther in Callicoon Center on Sunday.

In bowling, Al Segar is still leading individual scorer with 223, and Oscar Will is second with 220.

70 Years Ago - 1956

They are ripping and tearing at Ted’s – working on the alterations which will double the size of the Jeff Pharmacy.

About sixty attended the annual basketball dinner at the Youngsville Central School.

In the art exhibit at the Nutshell Hotel last Thursday John Rudert of Narrowsburg won first prize; Eve Palmer of Lake Huntington, second prize, with honorable mention to Sadie Harting of Lake Huntington and Flora Ropke of Narrowsburg. Nineteen exhibitors had 92 entries in the show.

Frank A. Parks, son of Mr. and Mrs.  Frank Pecsi, has been named feature editor of the Integrator, student newspaper of Clarkson College.

Ellsworth G. Baer of Callicoon, died at his home on March 23rd at the age of 30; Robert Easton, 64, of Roscoe, former proprietor of the “Bow & Arrow” died at Liberty-Loomis Hospital on March 24.

Piano pupils of Mrs. Ilse Glassel gave a recital at Nolde’s Hotel in Jeff on Sunday afternoon, featuring music by Mozart, commemorating the 200th birthday of the composer. Taking part were Ellen Roth, Joan Glassel, Evelyn Hoering, Carol Nolde and Nancy Schadt of Jeffersonville; Harold Roeder and Anna Rita Rosenberger of Hortonville; Barbara Stana of Mileses and Patricia Cander of Liberty.

A program of Mrs. Glassel’s younger pupils featured Janet and Judy Flax, Bethany Fuller, Howard Feigenbaum, Linda Stecker, Willard and Frederick Schadt, Alan and Kenneth Drake of Jeffersonville, and Louise Roeder of Hortonville.

The Lindsley Barber Shop was closed last Saturday due to a run of measles in the family.

Jeffersonville will have a baseball team headed by Ken Drake in the Delaware Valley Baseball league.

Laurie Ann, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harold Kespert, was baptized on Palm Sunday at the Presbyterian Church in Youngsville.

A surprise bridal shower was given on Saturday night for Miss Betty Pammer of Youngsville at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Sidney Cooper. She will be married to Kenneth Keeler of Livingston Manor on April 23rd.

60 Years Ago - 1966

Sunday, March 20, was the 20th anniversary celebration of the founding of the H. Russell Kenyon VFW Post and the mortgage on the post home in Callicoon was burned in an appropriate ceremony by Paul Hermann, toastmaster, and William Luckey, commander of the post.

One of the first happy reports of Spring is the sighting of a robin by George Schwartz of Jeffersonville who spotted Cock Robin on the lawn of St. Joseph’s Seminary on Friday, March 18.

County Democratic chairman Francis A. Hanofee is to be commended for his bi-partisan support of the bill which would pay the landowners along Route 17B for their losses over 3 rods.

Rumor has it that no stocking will be done in local streams until after the opening of trout season just about a week away.

This Sunday marks the occasion of the silver wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Edward Swope. A party will be given by their daughters, Mrs. Linda Immoor and Miss Sharon Swope.

The Delaware Valley Central School will close Monday and reopen Wednesday morning due to sickness, says Mr. Brown. The diseases that have struck the Delaware Valley School region range from flu, to a sore throat, with a few cases of  scarlatina reported.

50 Years Ago - 1976

Congressman Matthew F. McHugh has announced that the U.S. Military Academy at West Point has admitted Thomas M. Arielly of Neversink to the Class of 1980.

The Democratic committee of Sullivan County last week gave the nod to Lieutenant Robert Flynn Jr. for the position of sheriff whom the present sheriff, Joseph Wasser, assumes his new duties in the Department of Corrections in Albany.

The Sullivan County Democrat is the recipient of the New York Press Association award for Editorial Excellence in 1975. Bert S. Feldman is the editor.

Miss Peggy Long has just celebrated her 25th year of association with the Rhulen Agency, Inc. She began her career with the Monticello Insurance firm in March 1951 in the bookkeeping department, became head bookkeeper and is presently secretary to Walter Rhulen agency president.

Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Bernitt of Callicoon became the parents of twin girls, born March 3rd at Wayne County Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, Pa. They have been named Rebecca Colleen and Jennifer  Collette and weighed 3 lb. 13 oz.  and 4  lb. 1 oz. respectively. They have an older brother, Kenny. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin VanGinhoven of Fremont Center are the maternal grandparents and Mrs. Agnes Bernitt of Callicoon is the paternal grandmother, Mrs. Jack VanGinhoven of Long Eddy and Mrs. Lillian Gillette of North Branch are the two great-grandmothers who are excited over the event.

Jacqueline A. Lewis and Brian K. Davis, both of Livingston Manor, were married February 29 at the White Sulphur Springs Methodist Church.

Teresa Marie Taggert and Victor James LaPointe were married at St. Aloysius Church in Livingston Manor on February 14.

40 Years Ago - 1986

June B. Tegeler has been appointed vice-president and branch manager of the Jeffersonville office of the First National Bank of Jeffersonville. She began her banking career in 1971 as a teller trainer.

Incumbent  Trustee Harry Wild and former Trustee Charles Prince were elected to the village board in Tuesday’s Village of Liberty election

Incumbent trustees Lucille Bradshaw and Ed McManus were re-elected to their positions on the Monticello Village Board. Village Justice Mark Schulman ran unopposed. Walter Rogers won his first two-year term as trustee, replacing William Fedun who did not seek re-election. Only 159 of the 3,560 registered voters in the village went to the polls.

In Jeffersonville incumbent trustees Robert DuBois and Michael LaJoie received 27 and 26 votes respectively as they won re-election. Walter McKeen was elected to a fifth term as police justice. 

Harold Thompson was re-elected trustee for a second two-year term in the Village of Wurtsboro election, receiving 53 of the 54 votes cast. There are nearly 600 voters registered.

Nearly 100 skaters participated in the February 28 Skate-a-Thon at the Delaware Community Center. Nearly $4,700 was pledged.

According to the Department of Public Works Superintendent Charles Myers, the Civil War Cannon, which was a familiar sight at the Monticello Court House and most recently had disappeared, has been located in a shed at the County Highway Department and will be replaced on the lawn sometime this spring.

Al Etkin, a member and past commander of VFW Post 9588, Monticello, has been appointed a 1986 National Aide-de-Camp by National VFW Commander-in-Chief, John Stam who says, “I know Comrade Etkin will do an outstanding job for the VFW, the veterans and the community.”

Ed DeCamp and Myron “Mickey” LaBarr, two World War II veterans who have been American Legion members 62 years of the Legion’s 67 years of organization, were honored Saturday night at Bernie’s Chateau in Monticello.

Gerry Davitt, J-YCS basketball coach, took over the duties as baseball coach as of March 9. The first president of the Sullivan County Baseball Umpires Association, Mr. Davitt says he still hopes to do some umpiring during the year. 

Even though several residents  have voiced opposition to the reappointment of George Frosch as the Hancock representative to the Conference of Upper Delaware Townships elected officials and National Park Service (NPS) personnel say a better replacement may be hard to find.

The St. Bonaventure University Jazz Ensemble will play at the Western Hotel in Callicoon on St. Patrick’s Day.

The new owners of the Cochecton General Store, Howard Schuchman and Joseph Porcaro, who purchased the business in January, plan to continue to offer “a little bit of everything” to the residents and vacationers in that area.

Heavy rains on Friday caused significant flooding throughout Sullivan County Fire Control Center, area fire department answered 46 “pump out” calls within 24 hours. An employee of S&K Servicenter in Parksville, said between Friday and Saturday the station sold about 15 tires to motorists who got flats as a result of hitting a pothole. A section of Route 97 a half mile east of Minisink Ford flooded as the Delaware River overflowed its banks in the heaviest flooding since 1955, according to some old time natives.

At the New York State Press Association convention held in Albany, the Sullivan County Democrat was awarded a second place for Best Sports Coverage among Division II newspapers (circulation 3500 to 7500) for the second consecutive year. Another repeat performance was the Best Coverage of Business and Economic News in which the Democrat received an honorable mention. For the first time ever, the Democrat received an honorable mention for the Best Editorial Page.

Daisy the elephant raised a few eyebrows Sunday and won first place in the category of originality for the Community  Health Center in the St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Yulan. The Delaware Valley Job Corps in Callicoon took a first as the best marching group.

Miguel Rios and Meryl Tucker, both of Liberty, and their adult advisor, Linda Pomeroy met with State Senator Charles Cook and Assemblyman Richard Coombe while they attended the 4-H Club Capital Days program in Albany.

In 1820 Isaac Van Wagner had a few cows and a couple of chickens to tend to on the 140-acres that overlooked the mountains bordering Sullivan and Ulster counties. Today, the Furman Farm, owned and cared for by Pete and Carol Furman and their family, Amy, 16, Karen, 14, and Chip, 12, has grown to 226 acres and is proudly celebrating 166 years as a family owned farm.

30 Years Ago - 1996

After 14 months of thought, five months of informational meetings and what some characterized as an uncertainty of figures, residents in the Delaware Valley Central School district overwhelmingly defeated the merger consideration with Narrowsburg, 621 to 335.

The absentee and affidavit ballots in three Monticello village elections were counted Tuesday, and the results were the same as they were when the polls closed on March 19. Republican James Kenny is mayor of Monticello with fellow Republicans, David Rosenberg and Monis I. Brafman, as his trustees on a village board that now outnumbers Democrats 4-1.

The Sullivan County Cornell Cooperative Extension announc­ed that the newly created Sullivan County Area Farmers’ Market is scheduled to begin operation June 7 on Darbee Lane in Liberty and continue every Friday through October.

The Coalition Against Casino Gambling met Tuesday to gather strength and strategy from a national leader in fighting the spread of what he calls “this predatory industry.” Lee Karr, chairman of the local grassroots lobbying group, contributed an air of urgency to the ongoing debate about whether legalized gambling should be allowed in New York State.

Jennie Flax of Jeffersonville, a homemaker and a longtime area resident, died Friday, March 22, 1996, at the Mary Imogene Bassett Hospital in Cooperstown. She was the wife of Jeffersonville dentist, Dr. Jules Flax.

Students and staff at Narrowsburg Central School recently welcomed Kimika Tajiri, a student from Toyama, Japan. During her visit, Kimika stayed with NCS teacher Sandy Cheng’s family.

Bruce Reichman won $300 after redeeming the winning flyer at the C.E. Mills Chevrolet dealership in Callicoon. His name was drawn from a total of 105 flyers that were returned to the Presidents’ Day Weekend sales promotion event.

For the first time in the 10-year history of the Mid-Hudson Athletic League Boys Volleyball Tournament, a Fallsburg team reached the final round, and won a match. Coach Mike Weiner called it the equivalent of “The ‘69 Miracle Mets.”

20 Years Ago - 2006

Ida “Skippy” Frankel Lipschutz, 86, former mayor of the Village of Liberty, died March 26, 2006 at Orange Regional Medical Center.

Catholic Youth Organization members from Holy Cross Church/St. Patrick’s Church, in Callicoon and Long Eddy, recently presented a check for $445 to Herb Bauernfeind, president of Interfaith Outreach Unit. The money was raised through the “Souper Bowl of Caring” program.

Kenny Abplanalp, a 10-year-old of Youngsville, caught a 23-inch pickerel weighing 23/4 pounds while ice fishing with friends on Lake Superior in the town of Bethel. 

Watermark Communications in Monticello has decided to return WVOS AM/FM to its most popular format, country music. They will continue to emphasize local news as well as national news provided by the ABC Network.

Former Sullivan Spartan Eddie Gonzalez recently signed with the River City Rascals of the Frontier League as a catcher. The Rascals play in O’Fallon, Mo.

10 Years Ago - 2016

Last Wed­nes­day, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced that 19 properties, resources and districts have been recommended by the New York State Board for Historic Preservation as additions to the State and National Registers of Historic Places. In Sullivan County, thanks to the attentive and persistant work of Town of Delaware Historian Cindy Herbert and consultant Neil Larson of Larson Fisher Associates, Inc., the hamlet of Callicoon has been nominated. So what does this nomination mean for the hamlet of Callicoon? A Historic District designation along with the Preserve New York Grant that the hamlet was awarded in September 2014 and Sullivan Renaissance TAG Grant of $2,500, mean all of the buildings within the survey area fall within a New York State Rehabilitation Tax Credit-eligible census tract.

Roscoe’s Fritz Kirchner undoubtedly is now the starting catcher for God’s over 50 Angel’s All-Star Softball team. Fred J. “Fritz” Kirchner Jr. passed on to his heavenly rewards on March 17 but his softball legacy will live on forever. An outstanding businessman, Fritz was the retired president and co-owner of Kirchner’s Chevrolet Corp-Chrysler Dodge Jeep of Roscoe. 

Ten-year-old Breanna Ross has been redeeming cans and bottles since she was seven in order to raise funds for the MS Walk for the Cure. Inspired by her Dad’s illness, Breanna now calls her project “Cans for the Cure,” and has already raised $1,700 for this year’s Walk.