Procrastination At Its Finest
From Hudson Valley One: “Some 7,000 gleaming new solar panels uniformly line the site of the now-capped Town of Saugerties landfill. The Town board approved the 2.8-megawatt project last March and the impressive array was erected in just three months, with construction beginning in November.”
Having a project completed in less than a year after being approved is something I have never seen done in Woodstock, which is why I once wrote that most people know about the time zones in the United States but not many know about WST (Woodstock Standard Time), which could also be known as Turtle Time (we may get to the finish line, but it usually takes forever). Considering this Town’s recent accomplishments, perhaps I should have added “or they may not get there at all.”
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Woodstock Pollinator Pathway
There is a revolution starting in Woodstock. Alarmed by the recent decline in pollinators, people are joining together to find out how they can reverse this trend. Pollinators are bees, domestic and wild, moths, butterflies, other insects, birds and others animals that move pollen from flower to flower so that plants can reproduce. They are essential for our food crops and as food for birds and other wildlife, and are at the base of our food web. The loss of 3 billion birds in this country since 1970 may be related to this pollinator decline.
Have you noticed in recent years when looking at your porch light on a warm summer night that there has been a big change? The huge number of moths you used to see flitting and darting around the light has dwindled to just a few, and no more does one see their summer windshield splattered with insects. No doubt you’ve heard about the problem with domestic bees, the colony collapse, and you may have seen pictures of Chinese farmers pollinating their crops by hand with brushes because the insect pollinators are missing.
Why is this happening? Wild places which provided the native plants and other conditions these pollinators require to live are being converted to farms, shops and residential neighborhoods. People plant large lawns, spray pesticides and fill their gardens with non-native ornamental plants. These areas do not support pollinators. Climate change, invasive species and perhaps artificial lights also play a role in this decline.
In order to enhance pollinator and bird habitat several organizations in Woodstock have come together to Create a town-wide “Pollinator Pathway.” Come view an inspiring film and learn how you can participate in this new Project on Monday, February 24th, 7-8:30PM at Woodstock Jewish Congregation 1682 Glasco Turnpike. The event is open to the public with a suggested $5 donation. This project is initiated by the Woodstock Land Conservancy, Woodstock Transition, The Catskill Center and Community Member Partners along with the help of the Woodstock Jewish Congregation. Details at www.pollinator-pathway.org/woodstock
Georgia Asher, Woodstock Land Conservancy
Bearsville
Better Late Than…Thanks For The Community Holiday Party
Our most sincere thanks to all who contributed to the success of the Woodstock Community Holiday Party on Christmas Day: Adams Fairacre Farms, Anatolia Rugs, Bistro To Go, Cheese Louise, Bread Alone, Candlestock, Catskill Art and Office Supply, Catskill Mountain Pizza, Clouds Gallery, Cumberland Farms, Dharmaware, Evolved, Family of Woodstock, Freewheel Pottery, Garden Cafe, Golden Notebook, Gwen’s Gems, Gilded Carriage, Hannaford Supermarkets, and Hickory BBQ.
H. Houst and Son, IGA, It’s A Wrap, Jean Turmo, Jarita’s Florist, Hudson Valley Federal Credit Union, Joshua’s Restaurant, Karma Triyana Dharmachakra, Krause’s Chocolates, Lily’s Boutique, Maria’s Bazar, Marigold Home, Markertek Video Supply, Meredith’s Bread, Mid Hudson Federal Credit Union, Mirabai, Modern Mythology, Mountain Gate Indian Restaurant, Nana’s Creative Cafe, Nancy’s Artisanal Creamery, Oriole 9, and Overlook Mountain Bikes.
Peace, Love & Cupcakes, Pegasus Shoes, People’s Place, Pondicherry, Price Chopper, R&R Taproom, Rare Bear, Reservoir Inn, Saint John’s Roman Catholic Church, Sharkie’s Meatballs, Shindig, Shoprite, Smokehouse of the Catskills, Sparkle, Sunfrost Farms, Sunflower Market, Tinker Toys Too, Walkabout, and Woodsock.
Woodstock Apothecary, Woodstock Automotive, Woodstock Design/Woodstock Trading Post, Woodstock Emporium & Holiday Haus, Woodstock Hardware, Woodstock Library, Woodstock Meats, Woodstock Music Store, Woodstock Print Express, Woodstock Pub, Woodstock Senior Recreation Committee, Woodstock Times, Woodstock Wines and Liquors, and Yum Yum Noodle Bar.
We had lots of wonderful food all day thanks to the huge number of local restaurants and volunteer home cooks who made hot vegetables, desserts and vegetarian specialties, most of which arrived piping hot, while others made salads before and during the party. Francine organized the Kitchen and Gwen made gravy all day (and kept me sane); Jo organized and ran the huge composting operation; Fanny ran the live broadcasting of the Party; Arlene organized picking up food from restaurants; Bobbie and Susan treated everyone to hot mulled and cold cider. Thanks to Allan and Shea for picking up from and returning the tables to St. John’s Roman Catholic Church.
Obviously, we couldn’t do any of this without the help and support from the Town of Woodstock. Special thank you to Bob at Meredith’s Bread for his generous donations, to David Gross for making tons of mashed potatoes and to the Men of Phoenix Nation for preparing the turkeys and hams. As always, thanks to Richard for getting us through the day seamlessly and to Ted for all he does.
Great appreciation for the individuals who helped financially sponsor the party: Baker, Carol, Joan and the scores of anonymous contributors; our anonymous book angel supplied lots and lots of wonderful new books, which were given to all the children.
Very special thanks go to the day’s entertainment: The Cupcakes, KTD Chorus, Marilyn Kirby, Richard Pantell & Karen Whitman, Robert Warren, Conor Wenk, Norm Wennet, and the others who stopped by to play! Of course, we cannot forget our elves: Trish and Grant.
It goes without saying that we could not pull this off without the able, exuberant assistance of the dozens and dozens of volunteers who genuinely helped define the ideals of community and holiday.
Finally, I have to express my love, admiration and gratitude to Toni Weidenbacher and Arthur Todd – the better parts of our organizing trio.
‘til next season, warmly,
Chip Brill
Kingston
216 Million Voters!
Of the 327 million citizens of the USA, approximately 216 million are of voting age. What needs to be done now, to convince all of them to vote against Trumpf in November, is this: Look at what is happening to your democratic republic under this current president. He is following the same path that Putin took to take over Russia after the fall of the Soviet Union, only Trumpf is doing it faster than Putin did! Is this what you want to happen in our country? Do you feel comfortable facing a future under a corrupt dictator? Are you o.k. with knowing that you will soon have to keep all your thoughts to yourself, especially on all your electronic devices or risk being falsely accused, tried and jailed via a corrupted DOJ which is now under mob-Trumpf’s demands, via mob-AG Barr’s compliance? Two of the most precious freedoms we have, protected by our nation’s Constitution, are the vote and freedom of speech. Russians don’t have either freedom. They know their votes won’t be honestly counted and they know that all their media forms are controlled by Putin and his appointed propaganda experts. Trumpf is doing his best to do the same here. Denigrating and firing honest people who refuse to dance to his sick tunes or tweeting lies about media sources that don’t worship at his feet, etc. Destroying lives by his actions, not just by caging children and ripping immigrant families apart, but also the lives of innumerable people who have honorably served in elected positions for many years, ruining the careers of many who he considers ‘enemies’ because they testified against his law-breaking actions, be they in our armed forces, our courts, our security agencies or elsewhere.
When Trumpf threatens to “lock her up”, believe him! What he is really saying is, “Destroy them!” We must defeat this autocratic, narcissistic, racist, vindictive, rotten-to-the-core man. It remains to be seen what further damage he will achieve during this last year in his current term. If, however, he were to serve a second term, we will all see our country become unrecognizable and our progeny will come to despise us for allowing this megalomaniacal, autocratic thug to destroy our freedoms and, consequently, their lives!
Mary Phillips-Burke
Woodstock
Heavy Medal
“You know who deserves a posthumous Medal of Honor? James Earl Ray [the confessed assassin of Martin Luther King]. We miss you, James. Godspeed.” — Rush Limbaugh.
Trump gave Americans a lesson in white history with his nationally televised SOTU babble. In his retelling of history, he not only erased the millions of Native peoples prior to Columbus’s arrival in 1492, but also suggested that their lands, livelihoods, and existence were something to be tamed and conquered.
Many historians would argue that it was not the white colonists who built the foundations of this country, but those they had enslaved.
I watched the speech and heard muthafaker Trump praising someone for being such a great American and helping America so very much, etc. etc. Then he gave the award to Rush Limbaugh! I almost puked.
Limbaugh has demonized migrants and immigrants for years by calling them ‘illegal’ who will ‘undermine’ and ‘attack’ America ‘from within.’ This rabble-rouser radio jock fills hours of airtime each week with hateful commentary. His signature brand of ultra-right, xenophobic — and patently racist — populism…is heard everyday. Trump not only openly devalued that award but also ruined it for all past and future awardees.
Rosa Parks was awarded the Medal of Freedom. Limbaugh is no Rosa Parks. He is clearly the opposite because she stood for ‘principles and integrity.’ Limbaugh does not know such words. Anyone who thinks this whole Limbaugh thing was not a poke in the eye to Black Americans is an idiot. Trump did this during black history month and on Rosa Parks’ birthday, while making a Tuskegee airman and his great grandson watch. I would be willing to bet Stephen Miller (a Neanderthal advisor to our insensitive leader) had a lot to do with this…
To top it off, FLOTUS Melania Trump presented Limbaugh with the medal. First, she never addresses her husband’s appalling cyber-bullying behavior and now she is silent and presents a known racist, homophobe, and anti-immigrant right-winger whose commentaries are meant to bully, the highest civilian honor.
Hey, FLOTUS, is this what you meant when you said #BeBest with your public awareness campaign against bullying…What happened? You’re nothing more than an effn BS artist too…‘nuff said!
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
False allegations
I must respond to the misrepresentations in Leslie Gerber’s letter last week. People who seek alternatives to Woodstock Library demolition do not want to destroy our Library. Quite the opposite! We want to renovate, fix problems and create extra space for a functional, beautiful Woodstock library.
The 2018 referendum would not have eliminated civil service status for library staff. It would have led to a change from a Special District Library to a municipal Town Library, retaining the same staff in their civil service jobs. Quite possibly they would have gained more job security. Not wanting to demolish the Library does not make one a hater or anti-Library.
These false allegations have been repeated often enough that they are largely accepted as true. They seem intended to inspire animosity towards any who question the Special District Library Board’s decision to tear down the library.
This Thursday Feb 20, The SD Library Board will decide whether to sign the $584,000 contract with Tilly for his new library design. The design is for a 6.9 million dollar library. The Board is also paying thousands each month to consultant JC Alten, to bring the size and cost closer to the original 4.4 million dollar specification. This amount does not include equipment, furniture, demolition & interim library relocation.
There are serious design flaws in the Tilly design. Among them, the children’s area entrance is right by the front door, out of sight from the mid-library circulation desk. There are also three French doors that open to the front lawn. Both are a risk to the security of children. For adults, there is no reading room, just a few tiny cafe style tables each with two chairs, placed in active areas. This is not conducive to concentration or leisurely reading.
The Curry Rinzler library plan maintains the character of our library. The renovation and expansion create a highly functional, beautiful library.
The $584,000 financial commitment decision will be made on Feb 20. This is far in advance of the November bond vote on the Tilly building. I hope people who are concerned about this will participate in this Thursday’s meeting at the Library.
Carol Anderson
Woodstock
Public Dialog
Lesley commented last week on the opponents of tearing down the library, who he thinks are not “proposing any reasons why the old building could serve the public better than the new one.” This dialog has gone on in many small towns in our region. A renovation and addition could be 12,000 square feet which is the same size as his choice. A renovation-addition can be insulated as thoroughly as a prefabricated composite product from another state. The existing library has embedded energy which means that it is more ecological than tearing it down for a new one in its place. “Better” is subjective.
The best Library is the result of a staff inspired to serve the public using the vast supply of books from the entire Hudson Valley. The renovated library with the addition of reading rooms, study rooms, presentation room and an inspired staff will be the best Library for Woodstock. I don’t want to vote against a bond; I want to vote for a bond to ecologically upgrade the asset that we already have. I intend to support the Library Trustees to stand up to mega building industry who have little capacity to marry existing structure with their prefabricated composite products. Build the addition using local Woodstock talent.
Bob Lavaggi
Bearsville
A Tale of Too Many Falsehoods
Alas, last week’s Woodstock Times was full of erroneous library information. This extended even to the editorial, which used the so-called Library Alliance’s fictitious figure of $6.9 million as the potential cost of the new building. The Library has publicly stated that it will keep its architect within its budget of $4.4 MM.
If anyone is not certain that the Library Alliance is made up of the same people and ideas behind the ugly referendum in 2018 which sought to destroy the Woodstock Library altogether, take a look at the new group’s website. Much of its content is taken from the writings which promoted the referendum, including descriptions of different library governance systems which are irrelevant today. It even includes an article by Bob Lavaggi, who last year asked me for a private meeting with him to discuss Library issues. He eventually told me that, although he still favored a renovation, he was going to end his participation in the campaign to prevent new construction. Didn’t keep his word.
With all its rhetoric and falsehoods, the Library Alliance continues to ignore these basic issues: 1. Experts agree that there is no certainty the old building can be renovated. Once we begin to take it apart, there is a serious chance we will find deterioration that cannot be remedied.
2. There is equally no certainty that a renovation would actually cost less than a new building.
3. Even if successful, a renovation might extend the life of the old Library building for another 20-25 years. A properly constructed new building should last for at least a century. And a renovation and addition would also entail a multi-million dollar bond, which taxpayers would have to pay off over 10 years rather than 30, increasing the yearly tax hike.
4. Claims that a renovated building could be made as energy-efficient as a new one are pure fantasy.
5. Here’s the real kicker. Nobody in the opposition has ever even attempted to explain how a renovated building could serve the public as well as or better than a new building. Nobody. Ever.
Leslie Gerber
Woodstock
Augmented Reality?
Reality is the most spectacular thing there is. I don’t think it can be augmented.
“Augmented reality” eludes to “Man+machine.” It is a catchphrase being pushed by 5G enthusiasts, trying to get us to believe that the promise of a sci-fi-movie-style future is what we want — or is even a good idea.
You may have noticed that many of these movies show us the risk of letting technology overtake our natural lives. When we separate ourselves from nature with amazing new toys, are we augmenting reality or just diminishing our connection to Reality?
We should not ignore the biological health effects of artificial EMFs (electromagnetic fields) in favor of the lure of techno-gadgets. Like mold, EMF Pollution harms everyone, yet not everyone notices it right away, or understands what is making them feel sick. It is a form of air pollution.
Rex Gabor Funk
Woodstock
Self-serving Obituary
It is with deep sadness that I learn about the too soon death of fellow Woodstocker and local girl, Chrissy Anderson.
It is with profund revulsion and disgust that I read the self serving obituary by someone named David Foster Andersen in this week’s Woodstock Times.
David Foster Andersen: this is why we have #METOO.
Are you seriously telling me that the police had to be called to keep you from stalking beautiful Chrissy on her deathbed?
I am beyond nauseated.
Men — do something about your brothers!
Chrissy did not want to see you, Mr. Anderson. An unthinking caregiver made a terrible mistake and let you in where you did not belong. Chrissy, in her eternal grace, was kind- because how could she be anything else? That is who she was.
Shame on you, Mr. Andersen. Shame for thinking only of yourself and your so called lovelorn heart.
Shame on you for befouling Chrissy’s beautiful self. Shame.
Alexandra Angeloch Hafner
Woodstock
Chrissy’s Memory
What was the Woodstock Times thinking when it published David Anderson’s self-centered ramblings regarding Christine Anderson. Chrissy was a generous, respected, life long member of the Woodstock community. It was irresponsible, insensitive, and a sensationalist move on the part of the Times to treat these ramblings as if they were some sort of sanctioned obituary. The content was insulting to Christine’s memory, and hurtful to those who loved her.
Chrissy passed away peacefully on January 25th, in her own home as was her wish, surrounded by the loving care of her many friends and Hospice. “Old Woodstock” and those of us who truly knew her will miss her lovely spirit.
A family (and tribe) authorized tribute in Chrissy’s memory will be forth coming.
Pookie Godvin
Bozeman, Montana
Stalking
Stalking. NY penal laws define stalking as the unwarranted pursuit of another person and this is not a one-time event. Instead, it is characterized as a pattern of malicious and willful behavior by an accused person. A person can be charged under Penal 240.26 to .31 or 120.45 to .60.
The above is New York State’s definition of criminal stalking and describes precisely the self admitted behavior of David Foster Anderson in his misbegotten “eulogy” published in your February 13 edition. How any respectable publication would have seen fit to print such an obscene abomination as this is a complete mystery to me and I’m sure many others. For an individual to carry on such a pattern of unwanted contact and pursuit, culminating in the shameless invasion of this poor woman’s final hours of privacy is despicable. For the paper to aid and abet his narcissistic delusion is inexcusable. You should be ashamed of the gross disrespect you showed in participating in such horrific and arguably criminal action.
Thomas Moore
Woodstock
Editor’s note: We received these letters, as well as a couple of private communications regarding the passing of Christine Anderson.
Please understand that the piece in question was a paid post, the space was bought. As editor, I generally don’t see ads before the paper goes to bed or until the final walk through. And at that point, I’m more concerned with the editorial content and its presentation.
We’ve been waiting and searching for weeks for someone to write something or submit something about Crissy, who I knew, though not well. And we heard from no one, save for a couple of sweet short letters. Did she have relatives? Friends who would say something? I’ve since learned that there will be an obituary forthcoming, one that I hope, and expect will honor Christine’s memory.
Facts About The New Library Building
On behalf of the Woodstock Library Board, I would like to update readers on our progress in building a new library. I also want to correct a few recent inaccuracies published in the Woodstock Times.
Our building project now has over 500 unique donors, large and small, representing a broad spectrum of our community. We’ve raised over $130,000, and we will soon meet a $150,000 matching grant, which will double our donations to $300,000. We will cover pre-construction costs with donations. We encourage you to add your voice and donate at newlibrarywoodstock.org.
After a five-month hiatus, our architect Stephen Tilly is now working on Design Development — an important phase where costs are trimmed and details fleshed out. Tilly has met with our building committee chair Howard Kagan and our Construction Manager Agent J.C. Alten to ensure we will stay within our $4.4 million budget.
Two corrections: Contrary to an editorial in this paper last week, the project is not projected to fall “between $4.4 million and $6.9 million.” Also, no board vote is required for Tilly to resume work. Our contract allows his moving in and out of hiatus.
We are aware of the “Library Alliance’s” call to “Fix it. Don’t Tear it Down.” Keep one fact in mind. Any renovation and expansion would also cost millions. For over four years our board commissioned professional studies. We listened to task forces and consultants. If there were a way to renovate and add on that would save the taxpayers money and produce the library we need, we would be doing it. In 2018, the library board decided that our town needed a brand new green structure, custom designed to provide more spaces and programs. Ten months later, town voters voted two to one to trust the board’s governance. And just four months ago, the slate of pro-new building trustees won all three seats on the board.
We thank all of the many people helping us move forward. Everyone has Library Wars battle fatigue. This will all be over on November 3 when, we are confident, the bond for our new library will pass.
Dorothea Marcus
President, Woodstock Library
Jean Turmo Offers Discounts To Muni ID Card Holders
Thanks, Jean Turmo, for being the first business in town to offer discounts to those who show their Woodstock Municipal ID. As Municipal IDs roll out across our area and the country, cities and towns use business discounts to encourage all residents to get one, whether as a primary or back-up ID. When many of us get the ID card, we protect those in our community who really need official photo ID.
Woodstock Immigrant Support (WIS) encourages everyone to go to the Town Clerk’s office and apply for a Woodstock ID. It’s easy. I’ve got mine. Contact the Town Clerk or the town website for details. Show your pride in your home town and stand with those in our community who most need a photo ID.
If your business wants to support this effort, please contact WIS at wdstk.is@gmail.com.
Thank you Jean Turmo for being the first of what we hope will be many.
Laura Kaplan, WIS
Woodstock
Slaying The Dragon
Timothy Snyder, the Yale history professor and author of the New York Times #1 bestseller “On Tyranny,” recently said a number of things we should all take to heart: “It’s horrible that these people [who’ve lost positions and reputations after standing up to Trump] have faced consequences. The rest of us should feel solidarity with them, and try to make it understood that those consequences are worth something, that we hear them — that we will do something about it.
“We have a long tradition of recognizing heroes as the people who resist power. Freedom isn’t a ride you take; it’s something you have to take hold of. A lot of us have to be willing to dissent. When a lot of us dissent, it’s no longer dissent — it’s opposition, and people aren’t so lonely, and more people can have courage. Because you can pick on a hundred people, but it’s a lot harder to pick on a million.”
Right on! There’s strength in numbers, and none in numbness. If all of us with eyes to see, hearts to feel, and hands to join rise up together in opposition, we can slay the dragon.
We’ll do it by organizing, by marching, by protesting, by rallying, by candlelight-vigiling and doorbell-ringing and letter-writing, by speaking loudly and clearly to our government and gently but forcefully to our children — especially those of voting age — and then by going to the polls, en masse but as one, and restoring the United States as the Land of Opportunity rather than the land of opportunism, a nation united and not a nation divided.
After all, we’re the United States. And our motto is “E Pluribus Unum”: “Out of Many, One.”
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
What You Need
“You can’t always get what you want, but if you try sometime, you might find, you get what you need…”
Great song, greater words!
We have a huge opportunity right here in our small town to start thinking deeply into the difference between want and need. Some may want a big fancy new library, but is it truly needed? We are living in increasingly troubled times with our one and only environment taking it on the chin. The availability of resources for environmental protection, social programs and, frankly, everything decent is rapidly diminishing. We need to hunker down and protect, cherish and perfect what we already have.
Perfect the library with a loving touch of renovation and, perhaps, a small addition.
Peter Koch
Woodstock
5G Nightmare Ahead
Contrary to the current academic bureaucratic technocrat making policy decisions for the human race, the Native Americans made policy that considered the wellbeing of the next seven generations. The obvious wisdom being followed was that the children are our future. What shortsightedness to allow them to be experimented on with untested wireless technologies including 5G that operate on known toxic microwave/millimeter/radiation. Children absorb twice the radiation from the same source as an adult. Their bones absorb 10 times the radiation as an adult. Babies absorb 20 times, and an unborn absorbs 200 times the radiation as an adult.
Wireless devices are tested for safety with a test of the unit to see if it causes the temperature in a plastic skull filled with liquid resembling matter to raise one degree in 6 minutes. If the temperature doesn’t raise 1 degree it’s considered safe and approved by the FCC for you and your children’s use. There is no consideration of a child being surrounded by 30 other kids with microwave emitting I-Pads in a classroom. There is no consideration of the chronic and long-term exposure children will receive throughout their school years.
Then we have idiotic people who can’t see past their noses, let alone seven generations, planning to irradiate every square inch of earth so they can have robots, autonomous cars and drones that operate on 5G networks. Forget that the birds will be dropping out of the sky and already have, or massive beaching of whales and dolphins escaping the sea being microwaved with 5G WiFi, or that bees will have no place to flee and plants won’t germinate. In Norway, a school did a repeatable experiment that documented seeds will not germinate in a room with school strength commercial WiFi router but will germinate in a room without the WiFi. Now imagine 5Gradiation everywhere. How can educated people be so blinded so as to not protect the children who are our most valuable asset.
It should be noted that although Einstein was an incredible genius he did not know the concept of a chain reaction till it was pointed out to him. Telecoms deploying 5G everywhere, what could possibly go wrong?
How about every other kid with autism as one Columbia University professor has suggested. Mice go sterile in four generations from cell phone strength radiation exposures. Maybe that’s the real plan for the human race.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
Banking On It
To the residents of the Town of Kingston, your most valuable asset is the Bluestone Wild Forest. It is forever protected, under Article XIV of the NYS Constitution. It is a New York City’s commuter’s dream. In 10 minutes, one can hop on the bus or thruway and travel to work. The wetlands are a bonanza for wildlife, clean water and soils. Wetlands are the kidneys in your community. They filter your clean country drinking water.
The abundance of trees capture carbon and release oxygen, free, clean, fresh country air. Trees freely offer natural respirations for your country homes. They are the lungs of the earth. Your home is your best financial investment. Town of Kingston property values will double in the very near future, without a pre-cast cement plant. You can bank on it.
Zura Capelli
Town of Ulster
Lyme Disease Clinics
One solution to Lyme disease is local affordable clinics staffed by Lyme literate healthcare practitioners that include infectious disease doctors, herbalists, chiropractors, naturopathic doctors for nutritional support, with massage therapists and exercise programs, and the use of the Rife machine. These clinics would not only treat chronically ill patients but would also educate people about prevention, self-care and a consistent detox practice to deal with and eliminate dead bacteria (endotoxins) heavy metals, acidic bodies, etc. (Dr. Rawl’s Herbal Protocol) Appropriate testing needs to be mandatory. If you don’t know what you have, which co-infections you are carrying, how can you treat your symptoms and the disease itself? The Elissa and Western Blot are only 50% accurate and they do not test for co-infections. I recommend the lab Igenex for testing of Lyme and co-infections. Its testing results are 98% accurate. Igenex accepts Medicare.
At the present time most medical doctors are not trained to deal with this illness (Stephen Buhner suggests medical doctors need 1,000 hours of additional training.) These clinics could also be a resource for allopathic doctors who are not yet Lyme literate. Treatments need to be variable and adaptive. No one treatment will work for all patients. Every time a Lyme bacteria and a co-infection(s) enters a human host it encounters a unique ecological environment and attacks the weakest parts of a body — different for everyone. Often two or more coinfections combine synergistically to form a third pathogenic entity that attacks the body, or the joints, the brain, or the heart. (Healing Lyme, 2015– Some Comments On the Dynamics of Co-infections.) Tick-borne diseases have been documented around the world for millennia. (Chinese Medicine’s Insights Into Lyme Disease, Difficult disease and the Understanding of Gu Syndrome Treatment — Paul L. Reller L.Ac.)
Lyme disease (and its co-infections), as we now know it, have been around at least since the 70’s, (I know someone who was infected in 1970) infecting about 300,000+ people a year. It was most likely manmade. (Bitten — The Secret History of Lyme Disease and Biological Weapons – Kris Newby) If we do nothing about Lyme disease, it will continue to spread and increase at a tremendous cost to our population. According to Stephen Buhner there is a strong relationship between Lyme disease (and co-infections) and M.S., ALS, Alzheimer’s disease and autoimmune disease. (Stephen Buhner – Healing Lyme 2015)
We will need funding for these clinics. We also need to be proactive and stop debating the existence and continuation of chronic Lyme and its co-infections. Despite aggressive antibiotic treatment, many people with chronic conditions are not getting better. (Antibiotic treatment may be effective only in the early stages of this illnesses. (Stephen Buhner)
Barbara Adrienne Rosen
West Hurley
Time For Reassessment
It’s time for the Library Board to reassess the efficacy of their hiring a down river architect to build a new excessively expensive and grandiose library, after demolishing our landmark town Library and destroying the vintage trees which surround it.
Since 2007, the Library Board has been spending our tax dollars without our permission on grandiose ideas, like the illegally sited Annex. There are approximately 3149 full time residents in our small town of Woodstock. 71% Woodstock’s residents responded to a Library sponsored survey by choosing No Tear Down! The new mantra of the 71% who want “No Tear Down” is: Fix The Library! Don’t Tear It Down! Renovate, revitalize and upgrade.
Hera
Bearsville
Having Patience
One of my problems is I have absolutely no patience and hate waiting. Many a time I will walk out of Hannaford if the checkout line is too long.
So, last week while in Pegasus Footwear, searching for new boots, I was totally amazed at the extreme patience Alexis Hernandez, Manager Of the Store exhibited with a female customer who was beautifully dressed, and probably in her 40s.
The woman kept on asking for different shoes, tried each and every shoe and no matter what appeared displeased and even irritated as the shoes were brought before her.
Hernandez, a smile on her face, met each request with her calm demeanor, offering more choices for this customer. Personally, I was getting annoyed and felt like kicking her out.
I left Pegasus having put a down payment on a pair of sale shoes, no boots, and marveled to myself about the above and beyond, not only patience, but customer service exhibited by Hernandez, the manager.
Maralyn Master
Woodstock
One Look
Television teaches us all to stare in the same direction.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Join the family! 
