The views and opinions expressed in our letters section are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of Hudson Valley One. You can submit a letter to the editor here.
Project Access
I’d like to give Woodstock Police Department a big shout-out. “Project Access 2” is a project of which local law enforcement do sweeps every three months looking for people illegally parked in accessible designated parking spaces for those with disabilities. This doesn’t mean police stop their normal duty; it simply means law enforcement pays a bit more attention to said issue. To date, Woodstock Police Department has successfully written tickets to those abusing said parking spaces.
This is very exciting to me and people with disabilities. And Woodstock Police Department along with Chief Clayton has obviously paid attention to said issue. I thank you all to the officers paying attention to this issue and the chief for understanding and working well with me. My goal is to make this a countywide program. Ulster County is a large county. This is a program I assisted Albany Police Department, along with Albany Traffic and Safety; also Sheriff James Campbell and Gary Horne and State Police.
The cost of such a ticket in Albany is $250 and the judges hold you to that fine. Of course, this isn’t Albany; however, it’s still a very doable program countywide, no less starting in Woodstock. Again, thank you so very much, Woodstock Police Department and Chief Clayton, for not only listening, but also acting on it. Much appreciated. Keep up the good work, as a community of people appreciate it.
Jacqueline Manganaro
Woodstock
All that is
“A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it cannot survive treason from within.”
– Cicero
Take note: The takeover is complete, as House Republicans have removed Rep. Liz Cheney as conference chair in retaliation for her criticism of former President Trump, his baseless claims of a “stolen” election and his role in the January 6 insurrection. Shame on the GOP/Trumplicans. Instead of censuring Gaetz, MGT, Boebert and the like, the Republican Party that complains about “cancel culture” is doing everything they can to silence anyone who doesn’t worship at the former guy’s feet and support the “Big Lie” that he won in November.
And they clapped and cheered as the truth was discarded. I was no Rep. Liz Cheney fan (a rare sight, a Republican actually standing up to their oath which they took to protect and defend our Constitution), but her political party has completely lost its moral fiber. They want to destroy the possibility of political change before it could destroy them politically. They’ve just cemented the title of “the Trumplican Party” – they are nothing but a shill group now. It’s the end of a true conservative focus and the beginning of an “Authoritarian” political party that cares about power for themselves and the man they have made their leader – someone totally undeserving. How wonderful to perpetuate this lie for an anti-American cult leader, and if you do, you shall be rewarded. What happened to their oath of political office and upholding the truth? Oh yeah, after ousting Liz Cheney, minority leader Kevin McCarthy, who’s comically stupid, said, “The GOP doesn’t question legitimacy of election.” Geddoutahere!
These elected officials drank the Kool-Aid, and it seems they drank an ocean of it. A lot of ‘em are still drinking. The Republicans are going to pay a heavy price for this bullshit as Liz Cheney’s name disappears into the deep hole of the GOP’s “never was.” It’s no longer about policies. It’s about kowtowing to a wannabe dictator and a race to solidify the Trump base. These people have zero spine. They know they have no chance of winning without Trump’s sycophants.
The process is complete. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the “QAnon Trumplican Party, or QTP!” Yeah, stick it in your ear. I thought the Republican representatives would be wearing their new armbands by now: the one that features the SS Nordic Odin rune. You know, the one they floated at one of their CPACs by explicitly using it for their stage design.
Bottom line: The problem is they, the new GOP, control most state houses and are actively passing legislation to suppress votes. Our proactivism will be needed more than ever, for we must push back fully against such anti-American actions if we want democracy. We can’t allow this current GOP, a cover for the germs of a new fascism, to become victorious.
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
US always there to arm & fund Israeli war machine
For anyone familiar with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, there isn’t really much new. The Israeli Army is bulldozing houses in the West Bank so that more Jewish settlers can move in. This “ethnic cleansing” is done so that new immigrants from Brooklyn with the right religion can replace Palestinians.
Then there are the attacks on mosques using tear gas and rubber bullets. There are the shootings and crippling of protesters determined to save their farms and homes. Or the beating and incarceration of children. We have seen it all before, like an old documentary film on Kristallnacht.
The people of Gaza have endured much more: the genocidal attack on their schools, hospitals, power plants and sewage systems. Israeli military assaults on Gaza always kill lots of children – hundreds, in fact. The ultimate aim of the Israeli Army is extermination, and each new bloodbath tests the boundaries of what Israel can get away with.
What is new about Israel’s murderous behavior is that more Americans are finally becoming aware of our country’s role in perpetuating this carnage. The US protects Israel from the condemnation of the rest of the world at the UN. When it comes to more bombs, missiles and planes, the US is always there to arm and fund the monstrous Israeli war machine. And most of our Congress is simply paid off by the Israel lobby. Our “progressive” Rep. Delgado, for example, rakes in $30,000 per year from the lobby and has never uttered the word apartheid.
Fred Nagel
Rhinebeck
If not, why not?
Did the designers of the Comeau addition take into consideration, aside from the fact the design should complement the Comeau building (CCD issue), the ADA 2010 Standards for Accessible Design? These standards require that all new construction of places, such as office buildings, “be accessible,” which means the designers must include in their plans, among other features, “accessible” entrances and doorways and at least one “accessible” restroom for each sex or a single unisex restroom.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Traffic light is too long
I’m writing because I feel that the traffic light at the corner of Chestnut and Main Street is too long when you are driving north and traffic does not flow. I live in Gardiner, but I dance three times a week at the New Paltz School of Ballet and my brother and sister go to Duzine. Every time my mom brings us, we are stuck at this light for a VERY long time. Sometimes even four cycles and it is very frustrating.
Another reason I feel like this light is too long is because cars that want to go straight across have to either drive fast through the light when it is almost red, or go around cars that are turning, or they wait on line for a very long time and get angry.
Lastly, there are a lot of people walking and the walk or don’t walk lights stop traffic from going in all ways at the same time, and that is silly because it takes forever, the traffic doesn’t flow and everyone is mad! I believe a solution would be to put a light by Clemson Brothers Brewery. It will make that intersection safer and also slow the amount of traffic at the Chestnut intersection. That will make it easier to get across town and have less traffic.
I know you might think it will cost a bunch of money, but I feel it is worth it for all of these reasons. I am asking to please think about this and make a change for everyone’s safety and sanity.
Ella Scandariato, student
Mrs. Allis 4th grade
New Paltz
Love your dog – keep it leashed
This morning, my wife was hiking at the Mohonk Preserve with our sweet whippet, on a leash, as always. AJ has been attacked and injured twice by off-leash dogs and is understandably fearful when approached by strange dogs. A careless dog-owner allowed their two dogs to charge at AJ. Fortunately, my wife was able to deter the dogs with loud shouting. Still, the serenity of the walk was blown away.
Dogs are not permitted to run free at Mohonk; signs are posted, but enforcement is obviously impossible on such a large site. When confronted in such situations, some owners claim, “My dog is friendly” or “he won’t bite.” These statements may be true – until they are not, and someone’s pet is mauled. These owners are prideful and not considerate; no dog is 100 percent predictable.
In addition, there are multiple dangers to unleashed dogs in the woods: porcupines, poisonous snakes, coyotes, barbed-wire fencing – and other dogs. Dogs will chase deer and other wildlife, endangering the native animals and possibly winding up lost. Bike-riders certainly don’t want to run into your dog, possibly injuring both the animal and the rider.
So please, if you love your dog (and dogs in general!), keep it on a leash when you’re walking on a hiking trail. Find a safer place to let it run free.
Larry Kosofsky
New Paltz
Too much good taste can be boring
The problem with being rich is that all your friends are wealthy, and rich people are the most boring people on Earth.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Cahill should support health insurance reforms
Few things in life are more frightening and disruptive than losing your health insurance. For thousands of New Yorkers – many of whom live in the Hudson Valley – that nightmare became real when Health Republic collapsed in 2016. They had to scramble to find new coverage that would include the doctors and hospitals they know and trust and that charged premiums they could manage in their budgets. In this state, that’s not easy. But going without coverage for any period of time, even briefly, is even worse.
Assemblyman Steve Cymbrowitz has introduced a bill (Assembly Bill A3573) that would use funds from the Federal Home Loan Bank to ensure that, in the future, troubled insurance companies could be rescued – and continue covering the people who depend on them. If Assemblyman Cymbrowitz’s bill passes, no New Yorker will ever again have to experience a disaster like the abrupt failure of Health Republic.
Please join your fellow New Yorkers in contacting Assemblyman Kevin Cahill, chairman of the Insurance Committee of the State Legislature, and asking him to support Assembly bill A3573.
Robert DiFrancesco
Mount Kisco
Charity begins at home
Growing up, we all heard the truisms of the time: “You take care of your own first.” “The hand that feeds gets bitten.” “Charity begins at home.” Recent tabulations of costs for immigrants allowed to flood our country have totaled to date 150 billion dollars. Something is very wrong here.
A recent commentary: 40 thousand? 40 million? to lose their places of living soon. We see on TV folks living in their cars; some have no idea where they will go to survive. What about those in homes? Hundreds of personal items, furniture, clothing to be removed. It all sounds and looks like people living in a war-torn country. We’re going to have ‘Hooverville’-like communities everywhere (a shantytown in Central Park during the Great Depression).
Wouldn’t that $150 billion have been better served to keep Americans in their homes during these horrid, unprecedented pandemic times? Shouldn’t we come first?
Our American idealism, “Give me your hungry, your tired, your poor.” Noble, yes, but there has to be a line drawn. We can’t feed, house the world’s poor and hungry. Statistics state one in six American children are hungry. House all these people while millions of our own are soon to be homeless, hungry? For me, it is again a question of common sense. Take care of your own first. What is left over, help where needed.
We have a horrendous debt, yet we spend these billions on immigrants? Once again, common sense must prevail. Allow only a certain number in each year. Learn English, our constitution and documents. Lines/rules are drawn in every aspect of life They must be drawn regarding immigrants.
It is wrong to allow these thousands to flood our country. Wrong that our own people are without. Just plain wrong!
Joyce Benedict
Hyde Park
Warren Wiegand: Infrastructure investments in Gardiner
I am seeking the nomination in the June 22 primary to be the Democratic Party’s candidate for the Gardiner Town Board.
Over the last 18 years, I have worked to make Gardiner a better place to live, including by making wise investments in Gardiner’s infrastructure. I have focused on improving our roads, bridges, sidewalks and town buildings, keeping the town’s assets safe and productive, while at the same time ensuring that taxpayers’ money is spent prudently.
In 2006 and 2007, I led the fundraising to build the new Gardiner Library, resulting in $500,000 raised from over 40 percent of Gardiner’s residents. While I was on the Town Board in 2009, we built the new transfer station. Over the next five years, I was a leader in raising money to protect farms and open space, resulting in protecting the Kiernan and Hess farms (with over 200 acres) from development. In 2012-2013, we built the sidewalks in the hamlet, relying almost 100 percent on federal and state grants. In 2013-2020, we replaced several aging and potentially dangerous snowplows, taking advantage of low-interest-rate notes. And in 2015-2016, we updated the Highway Department garage to make it safer and to protect the water table from runoff from ice-control salt.
These improvements were done without a significant increase in Gardiner’s property tax. In fact, over this time, Gardiner’s taxes were the second-lowest among Ulster County’s 19 towns. The funding for these important improvements came from many outside sources: state and federal grants, county subsidies, previously “lost” town financial reserves, outside donations (like the Open Space Institute), private contributions from Gardiner residents and low-interest notes.
May I have your support? I promise to continue to make prudent investments in Gardiner’s infrastructure using smart sources of funding.
Warren Wiegand
Gardiner
Only 5% of voters came out to approve Saugerties budget
Saugerties’ school superintendent thanked the community for “a nearly 76 percent approval” of the proposed school budget. That’s very nice, but it’s also very misleading. Maybe 76 percent of those who voted approved of it, but that certainly does not reflect true approval.
Here are more realistic numbers*: There are a total of 15,625 registered voters in the Saugerties CSD and only 1,049 voted (a whopping less than seven percent); of those, 790 voted Yes for the budget. Let’s face it, the majority of non-voters don’t turn out for the vote because they feel that it is an exercise in futility. It would be more accurate to say, “Of the 6.7 percent of eligible voters, nearly 76 percent approved of the budget; the other 93.3 percent (14,578), or the majority of them, either don’t approve or don’t care.” It would also be more accurate to say that, “Out of all eligible voters, only five percent came out to show their approval for the budget.”
George D Heidcamp, Sr.
Saugerties
*Some numbers noted herein may change slightly once absentee ballots are counted and included in the totals.
Protesting on Main Street
“He’s always on trial for just being born. He’s the neighborhood bully.”
– “Neighborhood Bully,” Bob Dylan
After driving through New Paltz on a return trip from Albany, two family members informed me when they arrived home of seeing people lining Main Street protesting against Israel in the latest conflict between Israel and Hamas. This, along with a news story that CNN is under fire for having hired a writer (freelance contributor Adeel Raja) who posted on social media, among other anti-Semitic things, that he believes the world needs another “Hitler,” caused me to consider, once again, not only the ever-present and increasing anti-Semitism that exists in the world, but the ever-present existential dangers Israel faces from people whose goal is either the total annihilation or dissolution of the Jewish state.
In my consideration of these things, I remembered as a young boy overhearing a conversation among a friend’s family members in which Jews were mentioned. They were talking about the Holocaust and Hitler and my friend’s brother’s wife joked, “Well, the problem with Hitler is that he didn’t finish the job.” Although everyone laughed, I was too young to appreciate the “humor” or even the implications of the “joke.” Perhaps even more disturbing than this overheard conversation of my youth was hearing someone I knew from the Middle East deny that the Holocaust (also known as the Shoah) ever occurred. And when questioned regarding what he would say if irrefutable proof was offered, proving he was wrong, hearing him respond: “If it happened, then they [the Jews] deserved it.”
I once heard Dennis Prager, the conservative radio talk show host and author, himself a Jew, state that the safety and security that is afforded Jews in America is, historically, unprecedented. He also said he didn’t expect it to last. With this in mind, those Main Street protestors, many of them ignorant of the historical persecution of Jews, or the Shoah (which means “catastrophe” in Hebrew and refers to the genocide of European Jews) and the reasons for the establishment of a Jewish state, may truly believe that, despite the thousands of rockets fired into Israel’s civilian populated areas, the Israeli government is not really acting to protect its people or existence, but is simply practicing Israeli oppression. They may even be convinced that Hamas’ military actions are justified because of perceived Israeli offenses, both real and imagined. However, the anti-Semitic calls for “another Hitler” by CNN’s contributor Adeel Raja, as well as casual “Hitler didn’t finish the job” jokes, should remind us that “the final solution” was also based upon perceived estimations of Jewish offenses when they were defenseless, all of which were imagined. (I can almost hear someone thinking “Imagined? They deserved it.”)
The long history of Jews being persecuted in every generation, as well as the calls for her present-day annihilation by Iran and others (as well as the unhidden anti-Israel sentiments bordering on anti-Semitism of Congress members like Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, reflective of far too many in this country), indicate what Israel’s fate would be if Israel was not vigilant in her own defense: Israel’s destruction. With this in view, the pure in heart (those seeking to recognize the prejudices in their own hearts and renounce them) should seek to educate themselves regarding the truth of these matters and then reconsider the worthiness of the protests they make and support against Israel who, despite making the deserts of the once-barren land bloom, is seen as the “neighborhood bully” by their enemies simply because they exist and defend themselves.
In closing, the latent and not-so-latent anti-Semitism I’ve seen (and even experienced in my own heart in my youth because of hearing and believing evil anti-Semitic propaganda) leads me to believe that Dennis Prager may well be right about the longevity of the safety and security of the Jewish people, even in America. And because of this, Israel, as well as Jewish people, should not be letting down their guards or laying down their weapons before hostile nations, allies or even friendly neighbors that surround them…ever again.
George Civile
Gardiner
IDA not serving taxpayers
The Daily Freeman reports that the Romeo Kia car dealership in Kingston gained approval from the Ulster County Industrial Development Agency (IDA) for a $1.7 million tax break. Romeo “compromised” on protections for a bald eagle’s nest on the property for its proposed new showroom (“Romeo Gets Tax Breaks,” 5/19/21).
The story hints at a feel-good happy ending: Romeo is reasonable, a vulnerable species is protected, the IDA unanimously approves Romeo’s payment-in-lieu-of-taxes, all is good in the world.
What is lost in this story is a familiar narrative that we all should be feeling bad about. Why is the Ulster IDA awarding any million-dollar-plus tax breaks to Romeo Kia, eagles or not? Romeo is clearly a profitable business in Kingston, with multiple dealerships dotting the major byways. It wants to move its Kia location from cramped quarters on Schwenk Drive to the much-more-spacious lot on 9W. Fine. It wants to sell more Kia cars. Normally, when successful businesses want to expand, they borrow from financial institutions with the expectation of future profits. 2021 is a good time to take a loan, with interest rates at historic lows.
Instead, Romeo will now be borrowing from us – generous taxpayers – courtesy of the IDA. What is the IDA’s logic in this gift of taxpayers’ dollars? The IDA, seemingly answerable to no one or nothing, is happy to use public money to favor a particular business – one that is already successful, already locally rooted. Why aren’t the local burghers screaming “socialism”?
It’s way past time to scrutinize the purpose and the operations of Ulster’s IDA. Oh, and congratulations, Romeo Kia. Lucky you!
Tom Denton
Highland
Forcing children to wear masks unnecessary
Face masks are damaging our schoolchildren. Experts have indicated that there has been an alarming increase in emotional, psychological and social problems among schoolchildren – including self-harm and suicide. The rise of these problems coincides directly with the imposition of mask-wearing. Children are being forced to wear cloth face masks, which, according to OSHA (Occupational Safety & Health Administration) do not even meet the minimum requirements for PPE (Personal Protective Equipment). The definitive mask study was done by Copenhagen University Hospital with over 6,000 subjects, and the results indicated there is no significant benefit from mask-wearing!
Schoolchildren have little, if any, risk of catching or transmitting Covid, and those rare students who do get sick have mild symptoms (and should stay home anyway). The recovery rate from Covid for children is virtually 100 percent. Why then are we forcing them to wear masks, which are clearly exacerbating all of their problems and contributing to their isolation, confusion, fear and anxiety?
Forcing children to wear masks is unnecessary, unconscionable and abusive. Haven’t we inflicted enough damage on our children already? These draconian measures must stop. The children have no voice and no choice. But you and I do! The health and safety of our children is at stake. Please speak out to your local school boards and demand an end to this perverse and useless form of child abuse.
Eli Kassirer
New Paltz
Be careful where we get our facts
In the April 14 issue of Hudson Valley One, there was a letter respectfully disagreeing with the points I made about the problems with HR1 a few weeks earlier. Mr. Frisch starts with quoting Wikipedia. Have you ever seen Monuments Men, a World War II movie starring Matt Damon, John Goodman and Bill Murray? Matt Damon is riding a wagon with a French farmer-turned-Resistance-fighter when he butchers a compliment he attempted to make in French. The farmer asks him where he learned French. Matt tells him Canada. The farmer says, “Canada? No!” In the same vein I say, “Wikipedia? No!” You discredit yourself citing Wikipedia. I use Wikipedia to find out the boiling point of water. It is not a good source for unbiased evaluation of policy or politics.
I was asked to show some specific language supporting my positions. The bill is almost 800 pages long. Massive. I did read some of it. In the part where felon voting is covered, it starts out stating that minorities are disparately impacted by not allowing felons to vote and the unfairness of this. What the paragraph does not explain is that minorities are overrepresented in felon populations. This is because minorities are overrepresented in committing felonies. I am not making this up. Look in the FBI’s crime tables, Table 43 (coincidentally, this is covered in Wikipedia, too). The higher crime levels are a direct consequence of Democrat policies. No race is inherently criminal. Bad social policies (welfare) target minorities and create these problems.
Mr. Frisch states that most Republicans support this bill. That statement may be based on a poll that was a news story at the end of February. The poll was taken by a think tank called Data for Progress. If you go to their website, you will see in big letters “Data for Progress is the think tank for the future of progressivism.” So, this poll was executed by a group of leftists. What could go wrong? We have to be careful where we get our facts. In this poll they managed somehow to come to the conclusion that their data indicated that 57 percent of Republicans supported HR 1. Yeah, right.
This letter is too short to go over all the points again. The major problems with the bill are moving control of our federal elections to Washington, having a partisan committee determine congressional districts, making massive mail-in ballot (not talking about absentee ballots) distribution universal and degrading voter eligibility assurances. I don’t want everyone living in this county to vote. I only want eligible voters to vote. Under our current laws, that is easy for every citizen to do.
Unless the Senate eliminates the filibuster, this is all a moot point, because they won’t have the votes to override the filibuster.
Since most of us got our Trump Operation Warp Speed vaccinations, can we get back to normal? I want to get my takeout order in a timely fashion, and with the Democrats sending out more stimulus checks, people are smartly doing the math and staying home. Maybe we could send Joe some checks and he would stay in his basement. I can imagine Kamala cackling uncontrollably at this idea.
Tom McGee
Gardiner
Fifteen days in prison? Decades later…
In the 1980s, New Paltz’s town attorney, at the request of the police chief, drew up a law proposing to make skateboarding illegal. The law included penalties of $250 or 15 days in prison.
In contrast, on February 24, 2021, the Village of New Paltz Board of Trustees adopted a resolution supporting that a skate garden be built on the southwest corner of Hasbrouck Park, where the playground used to be located before it was relocated to the northeast corner.
“Skate park noise, according to every study conducted on the subject, consistently falls well below ordinary recreational standards and is completely appropriate for residential areas” (https://publicskateparkguide.org).
New Paltz’s proposed skate garden project has received encouraging support for its design from the broader community and youth leadership. However, the project is anticipated to cost a considerable amount of money that the Village does not currently have in its recreation fund.
The New Paltz Community Foundation has agreed to function as the conduit for skate garden donations to be used for construction, as they did with Hasbrouck Park playground donations. The Foundation will be the recipient of skate garden donations and subsequently provide the raised funds to the Village. Kristen Bowe, as chairperson of the skate garden fundraising committee, has been authorized by the Village Board to designate members of the committee to solicit funds from donors.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Freeman, Zaloga for Saugerties Town Board
I am writing to wholeheartedly support the candidacies of Kevin Freeman and Kayleigh Zaloga for the Saugerties Town Board. Both have received the endorsement of the Saugerties Democratic Committee (SDC).
As both a current member and past chair of the SDC, I feel confident that they possess the experience, intellect and enthusiastic love of Saugerties to be wonderful additions to our town government.
You can learn more about Kayleigh and Kevin through Facebook, Instagram or their websites, www.kayzalogaforsaugerties.com and www.kevinforsaugerties.org.
Early voting is from June 12 to 20 at the Saugerties Senior Center. Primary Day is Tuesday, June 22, with regular polling sites open from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.
I hope you will consider voting for Kayleigh and Kevin.
Mike Harkavy
Saugerties
Pros and cons
I wish to thank Celia Watson Seupel for her May 19 article interviewing locals still decide whether to get the vaccine, or not. For the 52% of folks who are not fully vaccinated and want to know more about the pros and cons before making their final decision, I am listing a few completely independent, public supported websites, which offer a great deal of information: Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.(childrenshealthdefense.com), Dr. Joseph Mercola (www.mercola.com), Del BIgtree (thehighwire.com).
R.M Williams
Highland
Pride in the Park
The Village of New Paltz Board of Trustees, in collaboration with the Maya Gold Foundation’s Youth Action Team, invites the community to join us for a free LGBTQ+ Pride celebration in Hasbrouck Park on Saturday, June 5, 2021 from 1 until 5 p.m. Other community partners include Haus of Peculiar, Resisterhood Choir and more to be announced.
Upon learning that the big annual event sponsored by the Kingston-based Hudson Valley LGBTQ Center was canceled as of last week, I decided to make some moves since the park is already reserved and Pride means a lot to me and to our community. Thanks to the rest of the Village Board, my friends and the other community groups that have so far reached out to help. I am so excited to say Pride in the Park is going to be the best LGBTQ+ celebration in Hasbrouck Park ever (or at least in awhile).
In addition to performances from Haus of Peculiar and Resisterhood Choir, the event (so far) will feature a Kids’ Zone, presented by the Maya Gold Foundation’s Youth Action Team. It will include crafts, Henna by The Tipsy Turtle, Erik the Reptile Guy and voter registration presented by the New Paltz Democratic Committee and the Ulster County Young Democrats. There will also be a Really, Really Free Market where you can bring something you no longer need and leave with something used and new to you. We are working with Kingston Needs a SkatePark to bring a pop-up skate park to the event, too! A number of other community groups and community leaders have signed up to bring cool tables/actions to the event too, so stay tuned for the full lineup which we will release as we get closer to the event as it is ever evolving. The event information linked here will be updated regularly: http://bit.ly/newpaltzpride.
This event is a work-in-progress on a short timeline and it’s going to take a village to make it as fabulous a celebration of our LGBTQ+ Pride as we deserve. To that end, if you or your group/organization are interested in hosting your own “booth” (it’s a bring your own tent/table affair), then please sign up at https://forms.gle/um5U1DxoRw3JEoq6A.
Community members wishing to help out in any way are also welcome to email me at awojcik@villageofnewpaltz.org with “Pride” in the subject line.
As your rainbow-haired queer lady serving you as a member of the Village Board, I look forward to safely celebrating our community’s LGBTQ+ history and our LGBTQ+ Pride with all of you June 5th in Hasbrouck Park.
Alex Wojcik
New Paltz
Remembering Chip Brill
I got to know Chip Brill during the years when we worked together on the Woodstock free all-day holiday party on Christmas Day. Chip was always well organized, knew how to contact people and get things done.
Chip was dedicated, worked hard, never complained and brought out the best in everyone. When I’d get overwhelmed, Chip was helpful, supportive, kind and managed to make everything work out. Chip was the best! No matter what, he never lost his gentle sense of humor.
Toni (Antonia) Wdeidenbacher
Woodstock
Foster care awareness
May is Foster Care Awareness Month, and as the Hudson Valley Homefinder for Northern Rivers Family of Services, I want to ask our community to consider opening their hearts and homes to children in foster care.
No matter where you are, there’s a child nearby who needs a supportive, loving foster home. My job is to help make sure there are local foster homes that can keep children in their own community, their own school and near family, friends and other supports. That’s the number-one way to make the healing process work.
I live here. I work here. I’m committed to making this an even better place to be, and supporting our most vulnerable friends and neighbors is one of the best ways to do that. Being a foster parent is a big responsibility, but I’m here to help show you how and why it will be one of the best things you’ll ever do. There are a lot of ways that you can get involved with supporting youth and families in foster care, and our Northern Rivers Foster Care team is here to provide 24/7/365 support throughout your journey.
If you’ve ever thought about being a foster parent, why not give us a call at 1-844-855-2273 or check out some of the great, socially-distanced events we’re holding by visiting our website, www.northernrivers.org/foster-care.
Jessica Hatch
Hudson
Join the family! 
