We stand once again on the cusp of another Memorial Day long weekend. Driving over to Middletown last Wednesday, the traffic on 17 was heavy, Sullivan-inbound. The winter was cold and very wet; every New Yorker is craving heat and hours of sunshine and camaraderie. Last summer we had unremarkable weather in May followed by Canadian forest fire smoke in June followed by a rather sodden July and August. Let’s all collectively hope that this year falls out differently: that summer comes as we fondly remember it in our sometime past: days warm and sun-splashed and happy, nights aglow with a bonfire going ‘til the wee hours, ‘til the talk went spotty, the glass overturned, the embers died, the night grew ponderous beneath ice blue stars.

Like a crack of springtime thunder people and organizations and businesses around here snap out of recumbency for Memorial Day. Kev’s BBQ has reopened again with a new and improved parking lot while over on Kauneonga Lake, Santorini is packing them in again on its beautiful lakeside deck. (I am told their lunches are delicious and very reasonably priced.) Apropos White/Kauneonga Lake, this Sunday, May 26th from 10:00 – 11:00 AM, the Lake Association of White Lake will be having a public get together under the Sticky Fingers Pavilion (10 Horseshoe Lake Road, Kauneonga Lake, 12749). There will be lots of great information about what is going on with efforts to preserve and care for the lake and also great 2Queens coffee courtesy of the Association! While quantities last you can also purchase bagels and cream cheese with or without lox, red onion, and capers from the Sticky Fingers kitchen. Anyone interested in the future of White Lake is welcome to attend this important meeting, so if you have a neighbor who shares your interest, tell them about it or just bring them along.

Across the highway in Smallwood, things are simmering at an ever more febrile pace as the longest days of high summer approach. As is custom, the Memorial Day weekend means the first of four Smallwood Civic Association (SWCA) General Membership Meetings.  This first meeting will be held on Saturday, May 25th starting at 10:00 AM in the Association Lodge. Human habitation and development over the past 80 years has put a lot of pressure on Mountain Lake, which the Association owns as its major asset. The current Board of Directors of the Association has devoted an enormous amount of time investigating Mountain Lake’s salient environmental issues and squarely and forcefully moving to address them. This summer marks the last summer when Jonathan Hyman will open the SWCA General Membership Meetings as President of the SWCA. On August 31st of this year, a new President and Board will be elected to lead the organization. If you are interested in serving on the Board, please contact Terry Gedan at monte125@aol.com. 

To develop or not to develop, or how best to develop or not develop: these are the thorny and intricate questions which the very important “Town of Bethel Comprehensive Plan Open House” will address on Sunday, June 2nd from 12:00 – 3:00 at Duggan School. Plan to attend and give input because if you live here this plan will be your future life for the foreseeable future. The current plan was last updated in 2006, eons away from post-Covid Bethel. The updated Plan will provide a roadmap for the Town to steer sustainable growth and environmental stewardship. Think how a harbor pilot uses a detailed plan to guide his ship through the shoals and treacherous currents of a strange new harbor. The updated plan will likewise guide us and our elected leaders to choose the best path forward for physical growth, land use, recreation, infrastructure and community development in Bethel. Concerned about where Bethel is going? See you there!