BARRYVILLE - The Barryville based non-profit history education group, The Delaware Company will present its annual awards to two worthy recipients on Saturday, May 21 as part of the opening day events at Fort Delaware Museum of Colonial History in Narrowburg.

The awards for 2021 honor the author Ed Van Put of Livingston Manor and publisher Myron Gittell of Kiamesha Lake.

Mr. Van Put, author of such important books as The Beaverkill, Trout Fishing in the Catskills, and The Remarkable Life of James Beecher, will receive the President’s Award, which is presented each year to that person or persons who have made a significant contribution to the support or preservation of local history over a substantial period of time.

“Mr. Van Put is exemplary of what the President’s Award celebrates,” said John Conway, Sullivan County Historian and President of The Delaware Company. “Each of his books is a significant addition to the body of work about Sullivan County’s history, and since its release I have believed that Trout Fishing in the Catskills, which is actually about so much more than just fishing, is one of the five most important books ever written about our county’s history.”

Mr. Gittell persevered for more than ten years in an effort to re-publish Manville B. Wakefield’s classic 1970 book, To The Mountains by Rail. He receives the James W. Burbank Memorial Award, which honors that person or persons who have made a significant contribution to local history over the past year, in the true spirit of the former Sullivan County Historian for whom the award is named. The award is voted on by the Board of Directors and the Executive Director of The Delaware Company.

“There is no more important book on Sullivan County history than To The Mountains by Rail,” said Debra Conway, Executive Director of The Delaware Company and a previous Burbank Award winner. “To have it available again after being out of print for more than 20 years, will introduce an entirely new generation to our history. That is all because of Myron’s persistent efforts. He is well-deserving of the award.”

The awards presentations will take place at around 1 p.m. at the Fort, preceding a program and book signing by A.J. Schenkman, author of Patriots and Spies in Revolutionary New York.