110 years ago - 1912

Adam Metzger, one of the oldest and best known residents of Callicoon, passed away at his home on Sunday evening, the result of old age. He was 82 years of age. Born in Germany, he came to this country in 1854, locating in this village where he conducted a shoe shop up to within a year ago. He was one of the few surviving pioneers of this section, having resided here the longest period of time, with one exception.
The Kenoza Lake band has been reorganized with Andrew Kohler as the leader.
The members of the Town of Delaware Town Board, with Town Highway Supt. W.J. Brown and County Supt. M.H. Wright, met at the Allgeier bridge near Falls Mills a week ago Saturday to receive bids for the construction of a new 20 foot bridge. The following bids were submitted: Henry G. Miller of Jeffersonville, stone arch bridge, $650; Frank Neuberger of Jeffersonville, stone arch bridge, $625; George DeLap of Kenoza Lake, reinforced concrete, $850. The contract was not let as the plans must first be submitted to the department. It is probable that the town itself will build the bridge.
The ladies of the Fosterdale Church have been responsible for many needed repairs. The most urgent needs were a concrete porch and steps, which were added to the church at a cost of $38.50 besides some volunteer labor in repairing the foundation. Two coats of paint, which cost $10; shades, rubber matting, pulpit chair, etc., at a cost of $25; a metal ceiling, costing $232.75, which amount also includes the cost of painting the interior and sash weights in the windows. Thirty dollars of the fair money was applied on the minister’s salary, as was also $16, the net proceeds of an oyster supper.
On Wednesday, a train of 125 cars passed through Callicoon going west. A pusher engine came as far as this village with the train and then returned to Port Jervis. That is the largest train that ever went west over this division. A train of 124 cars went east last summer with one engine.

100 years ago - 1922

Charles Cramer, who spent the past six months at Palm Beach, Fla., arrived at his home in North Branch Wednesday, having made the round trip in his faithful Henry Ford.
School children throughout Sullivan County displayed considerable artistic talent according to Miss Rosamond Adams of the Home Bureau in speaking of the entries in the recent milk poster contest. First place was awarded to Arthur Robisch, Jeffersonville School 7th grader; second place to Gerald Nearing, 7th grade, Long Eddy; third to Carrie Beesmer, 4th grade, Long Eddy School; and fifth to the Barren’s School in the Cochecton District No. 7.
Ralph Adams, 16-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. William Adams of Stalker, Pa., died April 15, following a two week’s illness of pneumonia as the result of having influenza.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Cuddihe of Lordville are the parents of a girl, born April 18.

90 years ago - 1932

Hugh M. Brown, last Civil War veteran in Bethel township, a man whose memory went back to log cabins and panther hunting days in Sullivan County, died Wednesday of heart trouble. His father is reputed to have bagged the largest panther ever shot in Sullivan County.
Eric R. Karg, proprietor of the Olympia Hotel, which was destroyed by fire last week, has leased the Crystal Shower dance hall at Hortonville from Charles Fisher for a period of one year.
A son, Robert, was born April 25 to Otto and Marie Hogencamp of White Sulphur Springs.
A joint meeting of the Callicoon Fire Department and the Fire Commissioners of the Callicoon Fire District was held Monday evening for the purpose of discussing the unification of the Callicoon companies. Most firemen seemed to favor it.
Otto Hillig of Liberty and Holger Horiis, his trans-Atlantic pilot, may make another long distance flight in the next couple of months. They may fly across the Atlantic again just for the sake of being the only two men who ever had done it twice.
Mr. and Mrs. Earl Smith of Fremont Center celebrated their 2nd wedding anniversary on April 20 with Mr. and Mrs. Elmer Hess, Mr. and Mrs. Ray Knack and Robert Knack of Hortonville, and Mr. and Mrs. Frank Bury in attendance.
A son was born to Mr. and Mrs. O. Bowers of White Sulphur Springs at the Hamilton Avenue Hospital in Monticello on Saturday.
Winfield Rivenberg, the blind boy preacher at Long Eddy, filled the pulpit Sunday for Rev. Melconian in his absence.
Mr. and Mrs. Diedrick Bertholf of Loch Sheldrake celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in the presence of their six children and twenty-­four grandchildren, by renewing their marriage vows.
Emil Vollmers Jr. is home after taking a three month auto course in Los Angeles, Calif.
Earl D. Tyler is the operator of the new gasoline roller recently purchased by the town of Cochecton.

80 years ago - 1942

The New York State National Forensic League Tournament was held in Jeffersonville last Friday and Saturday. The debate team from Jeff-Y scored six points and lost none, making them the state champions. Louise Hahn and Elizabeth Merklin were on Jeff’s affirmative team with Gwendolyn Abel and Abe Rosenfeld on the negative team.
Mr. and Mrs. Reuben J. Bennett of Callicoon announce the engagement of their daughter, Mryl V., to Sgt. James C. Vanderpoel of Altamont. He is stationed at Fort Bragg, N.C., and had been a teacher in Narrowsburg.
Gasoline rationing is almost upon us and will become effective after May 15th.
Dr. Howard C. VanKeuren, 57, formerly of Jeffersonville, is in the Callicoon Hospital, following a fall downstairs in his home in Narrowsburg. There are no broken bones but he will be in the hospital at least a week.
The committee has decided on holding the Callicoon township centennial celebration on June 26 and 27 at the Jeffersonville school and grounds.
A marriage license has been issued in Honesdale and William Hempstead of Callicoon and Catherine F. McClelland of Carbondale, Pa.
Mr. and Mrs. Otto Kron Jr. are the parents of a baby girl born at their home in Pea Brook Monday morning. This is their fourth child including one boy.
Pvt. Walter Hartz, stationed at Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont, states that 8 bakers arise at 4 a.m. daily to begin baking the 2,700 loaves of bread consumed daily by the men at the camp.
Margaret Clifford of North Branch and Fannie Falchook of Lake Huntington were among the more than 50 in Sullivan County who applied for citizenship at the Naturalization Court to be held May 4th.
Miss Genevieve Fitzpatrick, formerly of Hankins, has been proclaimed the foremost woman bowler in Middletown where she has won considerable amounts of prize money and several awards.
An eye specialist visited Kenneth Zieres at the Callicoon Hospital last week and determined that the little chap would lose the sight of his right eye. The injury was sustained in an automobile accident Easter Sunday.
The Callicoon movie theatre will reopen tomorrow under the management of Howard Lesser. The premises has recently undergone extensive renovation including a new entrance, modernization of the sound equipment and projection.

70 years ago - 1952

Mr. and Mrs. James Wilcox of Roscoe RFD 2 announce the engagement of their daughter, Shirley, to Pvt. Fred K. Bunt. Pvt. Bunt is stationed in the Panama Canal Zone.
Edward Plaskin, 57, the Roscoe-Callicoon mail carrier, died suddenly of a heart attack April 19. He had made the morning mail run.
Funeral services were held April 23 for PFC Wm. Meyer of Narrowsburg who was killed in the Korean fighting November 5, 1951. This is the second Narrowsburg boy to lose his life in the Korean War. Pvt. Christian Wieland was killed August 13, 1950.
Geraldine Popolillo, who will become the bride of Allen Minckler of Long Eddy on May 3, was the guest of honor at a surprise variety shower at the Full Gospel Assembly Church in Hankins.
The infant daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Roth of Jeffersonville was found dead when her grandmother went to get her for an afternoon bottle.
Arthur Hassis, R.D.S.A., having completed a two week’s course in radar school at Boston, Mass., returned to his ship at Newport, R.I., and he is now out to sea.
A check in the amount of $541,039 for the balance of state aid for schools in Sullivan County was received in Monticello by County Treasurer Arch Armstrong. The amount compares to $498,270 received last year.
Mrs. Joy Friedman of Livingston Manor has taken the position of case worker in the Sullivan County Welfare Department.

60 years ago - 1962

Twenty teenage boys, employed as waiters and busboys at the Flagler Hotel, narrowly escaped death Wednesday afternoon when the building in which they were sleeping was gutted by fire.
More than 250 children participated in the First Annual Easter Egg Hunt sponsored by the Delaware Youth Center in Callicoon last Saturday.
Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Meyer of Tyler Hill, Pa., are the parents of a son born Saturday at the Callicoon Hospital.
On Sunday, April 22, Leo the infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Leo Kratz, was baptized at the Presbyterian Church in Jeffersonville.
The White Lake Speedway will reopen for the summer racing season on the afternoon of April 29 under the supervision of Larry Granger of the Victory Speedway.

50 years ago - 1972

Bob Lander’s Canoe Rental Service started to launch canoes on the Main Street property he recently purchased from Edward Klimchok. The canoes are generally launch­ed in the Callicoon Creek a few hundred yards to the Delaware. During the week, Mr. Lander hauls the canoes to the creek bank and when the canoeists arrive on the weekend, they drive down to an area by the creek. This is one of Callicoon’s newer businesses.
Roselia Huerta Walter, 25, of Divine Corners and her 5-month-old daughter, Sacha Walter, were killed in a two-car crash at the red light between Hurleyville and Loch Sheldrake at 8:30 p.m. on Sunday.
Harry James and his Swingin’ Band have been engaged to play at the May 4th opening of the Mighty M. The music gets underway at 7:15 with post time at 8:30 p.m.
A good crowd attended the open house of Lakeside Apartments, 2 miles south of Callicoon on Route 97. Re­fresh­ments were served to those who came to look over the new apartments and the demonstration of electrical appliances. Narrowsburg Kitch­ens owns the installation.
The Apollo 16 explorers are returning back to earth, having reached their target and probed the moon and its environment. They are to splash down April 27 in the Pacific about 1,500 miles south of Honolulu, more than 24 hours early. Young and Duke had spent 71 hours and 2 minutes on the lunar surface exceeding the previous record by a little more than 4 hours. They also stowed a record 245 lbs. of lunar rock and soil samples on board.
John Phillips of Parksville has been designated as one of the top three winners in the recently held annual Christmas card design contest sponsored by the New York State Association for Retarded Children. Four additional cards from the Parksville school facility were given top honorable mention. The cards were designed by Jacqueline Miller of Woodridge, Mark Pistilli of Monticello and Michael Williams of Wood­ridge, who had two cards receiving honors.
The Honesdale Savings and Loan Association held a dinner party in the Paladium Room at Bethany Colony Ltd., on April 15th in observance of their 50th anniversary.

40 years ago - 1982

Audrey Kelly, secretary at McLaughlin Brothers in Monticello, was the lucky winner of the Sullivan County Democrat’s drawing held during National Secretary’s Week last week.
An Upper Delaware Heritage Fair was held at the Delaware Youth Center on April 24, with movies, historical books, old photographs, etc. on display. John Niflot of the Upper Basket Historical Society was chairman. Participants included: Citizens For The Preservation of Our Heritage, showing photos of historical buildings in Wayne County; Delaware County Historical Society, rafting exhibit; Town of Deerpark historian; Sullivan County Planning Department (slides of Stone Arch Bridge preservation project), architecture exhibit; Minisink Valley Historical Society; Delaware Free Library showing a canal movie titled “The Canawlers”; Basket Historical Society; National Park Service, books and literature; Fort Delaware; and Delaware Valley Arts Alliance, old Arlington Hotel preservation project.
The 150th anniversary of the Wurtsboro United Meth­odist Church began this year with the rededication of the refurbished George W. Maier Fellowship Hall on February 7. The W.S.C.S. will sponsor three smorgasbords on May 1, August 14 and November 6.
Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Whitmore of Conklin Hill, Pa., are the parents of twins, Jeffrey Earl and Jennifer Katherine, born April 18 at the Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pa. Grandparents are Mr. and Mrs. Orville Whitmore of Conklin Hill, Pa., and Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Planz of Abrahamsville, Pa.
More than 12,000 daffodils were sold for the benefit of the Sullivan County Unit of the American Cancer Society Crusade Against Cancer. For the second straight year, students from Delaware Valley Central School in Callicoon sold the most flowers, 2,700, raising $820 for the benefit.
Clark Hallock of Narrowsburg has been elected president of the newly formed shad fishing club in Sullivan County.

30 years ago - 1992

Plans are underway for the opening of a Monticello branch office for The First National Bank of Jeffersonville. The bank was chartered in 1913. In 1967 they opened an office in Eldred and in 1985 they opened offices in both Liberty and Loch Sheldrake.
About 400 people attended the open house at the Agway Energy located on Route 52W in Liberty. The Hillside Greenhouses set up a display of plants to welcome spring. David Fulton won the 150 gallons of fuel oil… In celebration of their 5th anniversary, the Monticello Agway warehouse recently enlarged their facility by 33 percent. S & R Construction of Youngsville did the enlarging work which began in October and was completed in February.
Lillian Lahm and Gail Peake, secretaries for C.E. Mills Chevrolet in Callicoon, have been designated as the Democrat’s “Secretary of the Year.” They received gift baskets from Jilly’s Gifts in Monticello, compliments of the Democrat.
The Mountaindale Fire Department Ambulance Corps will celebrate its 28th anniversary on May 7.
Students at the Delaware Valley Job Corps Center helped restore the Beach Lake Community Center, the former old schoolhouse. The school officially closed in 1973. Amy Wood recalled that the school had three large rooms with six classrooms in the upper story, two to each room. The gymnasium and another room (which will become a mentoring room) was on the first floor. Working with a $12,000 grant and students from the Job Corps and its New York City area residents, the Berlin Township Community Center Corp., is fulfilling its promise to create a community center.
Facing rising costs and dwindling donations, officers of the Monticello Volunteer Ambulance Corps are hoping to close a funding gap by billing patients for the services they provide. “It’s not something we wanted to do, it’s a necessary evil,” said Monticello Volunteer Ambulance Corps president Bill Franklin.

20 years ago - 2002

Project Liberty was set up the day after the 9-11 tragedies to help all those affected by those events. Chapters were set up in nine adjacent counties to New York City and throughout the state. The Sullivan County Chapter is run by the United Way, the only non-governmental agency to run a local chapter. “Some people are hesitant to ask for help if they were not directly involved with those events,” Project Liberty Team Leader Jane Lawson commented. “We were all affected and stressed by it. We are here to help.”
The stars of the hit HBO show “Sopranos” left their mob mentality behind for a trip to the Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon to raise money for St. Peter’s Regional Catholic School in Liberty. Actors Federico Castellucio and Vincent Pastore were among those asked by Kiamesha resident and actor Tony Darrow to help raise funds.
In a tough fiscal year that has been rocking school districts across the county, the Sullivan West Board of Education is going out to voters with a $25 million proposed budget. The budget approved by the board Tuesday includes a 3.22 percent increase over last year’s budget and a proposed 9.9 percent increase in taxes.

10 years ago - 2012

Thursday evening Bethel became the third, and largest, Sullivan County town to ban the practice of hydraulic fracturing. The board resolution to adopt local law # 1-2012 passed unanimously and thereby outlawed the use of fracking to extract the highly sought-after commodity in this scenic part of the county known worldwide as the site of the1969 Woodstock Festival.
For 25 years Walter Egner has been a fixture at the annual talent show at Hortonville Presbyterian Church. This year was no different as Egner made his 26th appearance along with 17 other acts in front of a packed house in this small Sullivan County hamlet.
BIRTHS: A daughter, Emily Marie, on April 9, 2012, to Melissa and Mitch Houghtaling of Liberty; a daughter, Kahlleigh Dee Everitt, on April 10, 2012, to Erin Allen and Patrick Everitt of Youngsville; a son, Shane Michael Greene, on April 13, 2012 to Mary Beth Edwards and Jason Greene of Livingston Manor; a son, Steele Russell, on April 13, 2012 to Christina and John Daletto of Narrowsburg.
Kim Baum of Roscoe and Conrad Baum of Callicoon Center announce the engagement of their daughter, Alexis, to Sean Conley of Narrowsburg, son of John and Cheryl Conley.
DEATHS: Joe Finn of Cochecton passed away on April 30, 2012... Albert “Al” Van Dyke Jr. passed away April 30, 2012 at the age of 81... Violet M. Hill of North Branch died May 1, 2012... Irene Knudsen of Roscoe died May 2, 2012... David Poley passed away suddenly on April 29, 2012.