Several weeks have passed since I was last able and inclined to sit down and pen another “Smallwoodian” column for the Sullivan County Democrat. As many of you know, I own and run the beautiful Sticky Fingers Delectables takeout ice cream shop / soup & stew studio over in Kauneonga Lake, and this time of year things are at their most hectic. Ask anyone in a seasonal culinary business: at the beginning of the season we know exactly how many days there are in ‘high season’ (99 days this year between Memorial Day and Labor Day). During this time, restaurants hereabout need to essentially earn enough revenue to survive the rest of the year. Currently I work seven days a week, 12 -15 hours each day. It’s a lot. Coming home after it all to sit and write a column is a daunting task, even though I write gladly for this paper. So, Dear Reader, I hope you will bear with me now for a few more weeks. The end of High Season is in sight. Today—Friday, August 2nd—there is only one month exactly—31 days!—until the summer hubbub suddenly slams to a halt. Thereafter I hope to see you once again here on a bi-weekly basis because there is always lots to report about in Mongaup Valley and Smallwood from an insider’s perspective.

The summer to date has been a very warm and sunny one, like those roseate summers near the turn of the century when day followed day of bright warm sunshine with showers or rain more the exception than the rule. Of late our summers here in the Northeast have turned much wetter and hotter than those days of yore. Don’t let anyone, even a bloviating magnate, tell you that climate change is a hoax, folks. We see and experience it ourselves with our own eyes. Two years running with very little snow on the ground, and hardly any useable ice on the lakes for ice fishing. Things are warming up and getting wetter.

The abnormally sunny summer this year has meant that the usual planned plethora of activities over in Smallwood has gone ahead full bore with little concern for inclement weather. The Club at Smallwood is preparing for its 70th anniversary celebrations and everyone associated with the Club is atwitter with excitement. The Smallwood Civic Association (SWCA) has likewise been bristling with plans for a great summer, most of which are now coming to fruition. This coming Saturday, August 3rd, the SWCA will be holding its third General Meeting at the Association Lodge on Pine Grove Road, starting at 9:30 AM for coffee and muffins. Also in the Lodge at the moment, Mondays through Thursdays from 7:00 – 9:30 PM, is the “Olympic Watch Party” for people wanting to watch different Olympic events together. What a fantastic idea for community togetherness! Tonight, on Friday, August 2nd, there will be a “Glow in the Dark” Smallwood Youth Experience (SYE) event at which football, volleyball will be played while its light and swimming in the dark will continue until darkness falls or the lifeguard’s final whistle sounds. The Swim is open to all SWCA members and their guests. These popular ‘swims’ are just quite the cat’s meow and the Association holds several of them during the summer. Finally there is “Smallwood Day,” this year on Saturday, August 3rd from 5:30 – 10:00 PM on the Smallwood Beach. There will of course be a huge bonfire in the community fire pit and also a lot of laughter and comraderie into the night. –All of this is just scratching the surface, folks! The beautiful summer days and evenings, unfolding one after another like petals of a flower, is enabling us to be our best selves and happiest beings. I’ll write again soon about these activities, or others coming up but for now I hope you are enjoying the magnificent summer of 2024 and the almost childlike innocence it is inculcating into one and all. September lies ahead and with it, bigger and spookier affairs of the greater world. For now let us live among ourselves and be happy. Be well and flourish!