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.
It takes a village
A huge thank-you to all who participated in the recent exhibit, “Communities for Social Justice” in the Village of Saugerties. We’re so grateful to the artists who generously offered their time and talent to create one-of-kind posters. Thank you for the beauty and creativity you contributed to this project:
We received tremendous support from village merchants. Not only did they offer their storefront windows as exhibit space, they helped express a resounding message throughout the village: inclusivity matters, and that all are welcome in our shops and businesses. We urge locals and visitors to participate in shopping locally this holiday season — supporting the merchants who took a stand for social justice: Bluestone Roasting Co., Bosco’s Mercantile, Capsule Collection, Central House Antiques, Dancing Tulip Floral Boutique, Emerge Gallery, Green, Headspace Hair Salon, Healthy Gourmet To-Go, Hudson Valley Dessert Co., Inquiring Minds Bookstore, Lighthouse Home Essentials, Love Bites Cafe, Lucky Chocolates, Lux Hair Studio, Meraki Boutik, Mother Earth’s Storehouse, Ohana Cafe, Pop Vintage, Saugerties Antique Center, Saugertails Pet Supply, Slices, Smith Hardware, Violet’s Bakery and those who wanted to participate but could not for lack of additional art (we’ll see you next time).
Please check out Inquiring Minds Bookstore, where you can purchase a handmade “Black Lives Matter” sticker by local artist Dina Kravztov for $10, with all proceeds going to a community organization.
Thank you all for using your voice to create spaces that are inclusive and welcoming.
Please consider taking action locally by donating and volunteering at the following organizations:
Civil rights — Rise Up Kingston (riseupkingston.org), Citizen Action of NY (citizenactionny.org), Legal Services of the Hudson Valley (lshvorg), Nobody Leaves Mid-Hudson (nobodyleavesmidhudson.org)
Social equity — Boys and Girls Club (bgclubsulstercounty.org), Saugerties Food Pantry (saugertiesfoodpantry.com), LGBTQ Center of the Hudson Valley (lgbtqcenter.org), People’s Place (peoplesplaceuc.org), The Arc Mid-Hudson (thearc.org), TMI Project (tmiproject.org), Ulster Literacy Association (ulsterliteracy.org)
Environmental protection — Esopus Creek Conservancy (esopuscreekconservancy.org), White Feather Farm Saugerties (whitefeatherfarm.org), Riverkeeper (riverkeeper.org), Woodstock Land Conservancy (woodstocklandconservancy.org), Kingston Land Trust (kingstonlandtrust.org)
Nina Schmidbaur
Saugerties
Who should be vaccinated first?
Public-health officials are debating who should get the doses of the Covid vaccine, since a limited number of people can be vaccinated at a time. It’s obvious that healthcare workers need to be vaccinated first; otherwise who will take care of you if you end up in the hospital for any reason Then essential workers need to be vaccinated, those who stock the grocery stores and take care of people who can’t take care of themselves. This includes those who work at nursing homes and assisted living facilities.
Some months ago there was an interesting article in the journal Science. The authors suggested that young people should be vaccinated first for the flu epidemic since they have a more vigorous immune system and would become more strongly immunized. This should also be done with the vaccines for this epidemic. Young people bring home the Covid virus, so vaccinating them first will protect not only them but also those of us more vulnerable, who are staying home, hoping to avoid exposure to those who are infected.
Of the three vaccines, the two needing very cold conditions need to be used in developed countries which have the facilities to do so. The third vaccine should go to developing countries, which have been using vaccines which need refrigeration. Those who think that all vaccines should be used in countries that developed them need to remember that people travel throughout the world, and infectious people from one country can infect people anywhere in the world.
Andi Weiss Bartczak
Gardiner
Very angry at Trump
‘Our mouth-almighty leader, born digital, found its way to this new podium doing all things awful on the cyber etch-a-sketch … like exhibiting highly unnatural characteristics; especially embracing a cult of personality disorder in which to surround itself. The turning from atoms to bytes of unfettered digital imagination brought a new look to politicking, mainly a look of horror.
An agenda of deception, unfriendliness and a mean-spirited grind found deplorable applause from the messaging like-minded that grew exponentially. Dynamic drivel devoured the more intellectual/creative competition with banal and repetitive effluvium. Controls were set for cruise and politics were non-negotiable. The not-so-delicate balance and rhythm of this culture bulletin board interaction schemata turned ‘ugly values into a monster, with an energy of its own. There was a new rationale soundtrack on constant replay, and with this a tap-dancing-‘round-the-truth reflex!
This current muthafaker “His ‘Swollenness” with hate-filled, red-meat extravaganzas has twisted further and further away. On the twitter-verse screen the only function is to promulgate fragmented crypt o-propaganda, coupled with post-political futurism comments, and what appears and certainly smells to be a huge, repulsive, quasi-radioactive, spectacularly inept borderline-troglodyte pile of high-density, lowbrow, on your shoe pieces of dogshit.
They, GOP Rethuglicans, have surrendered the right to be offended by tweets. This is beyond rich. shameless! Are there no mirrors in the elected Republicans houses’ when they attack Neera Tanden, the nominee to lead the Office of Management and Budget by incoming president-elect Biden, because of twitter comments?
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Pandemic not tired of us
We’ve all just experienced some of the most distressing and disturbing nine months we’ve ever lived, and in spite of good news about vaccines, there is no tangible end in sight. It’s no surprise that many of us are experiencing pandemic fatigue.
I am a mental-health nurse serving on the front lines as a crisis worker. As such, I have access to coping strategies and resources to help face the hopefully final, but potentially hardest part of this shared experience. The holidays are coming, and with them, scientists warn, the worst leg of this pandemic.
While we can’t change the reality we find ourselves in, experts remind us that we can change our relationship to it. According to author, Buddhist, and meditation teacher Jack Kornfield, “Decades of neuroscience studies show the power of mindfulness to relieve stress, awaken our positive capacities and bring balance to our lives.” If you are experiencing anxiety or depression (some symptoms are irritability, sadness, disrupted eating and sleeping patterns) you might find some relief by practicing mindfulness techniques.
Exercise 1: Release tension in your body by tightening, then relaxing each muscle group, starting at your forehead and working your way to your toes. To finish, inhale deeply through your nose to the count of three, hold for three, then breathe out through nose or mouth to the count of five. Repeat three times.
Exercise 2: Notice the stories you are telling yourself. Humans have six thousand to 20 thousand thoughts a day, and the majority tend to be negative. To combat this, try sitting in a comfortable seat; take a deep, relaxing breath, then tune into your senses. Imagine one pleasant thing you have tasted, two things you have smelled, three things you have felt; four things you have heard, and five things you can see. You have just taken a break from your mind.
You can reach the Mobile Mental Health Team at 844-277-4820. A trained professional will assist you and provide you with appropriate resources.
If you are concerned about over-using drugs or alcohol, contact Alcoholics Anonymous at https://ulsterdistricts.aahmbny.org or alternatively, Samadhi at https://samadhiny.org. If you are affected by someone else’s drinking, contact Al Anon at https://www.al-anon-ulster-sullivan-ny.org.
If you or a neighbor are in need of holiday support, contact People’s Place in Kingston and online: The Pandemic ofLove.com. If you’re experiencing food insecurity, there are well-stocked free food fridges in Kingston at 122 Clinton Avenue and 14 Van Buren Street, and many food pantries and soup kitchens throughout the county. Find one near you at https://ulstercountyny.gov/aging/food-pantries. Finally, Kingston’s Covid-19 Rental Assistance Program can be accessed through Rupco.
Jo Shuman
Cottekill
To the dedicated staff
You and your staff and publication are a rescue squad of a different kind these days. Your publication keeps our community together in ways that quells our panic, while at the same time lets us know what’s happening so that we can keep abreast of what we might need to do.
Our grateful thanks to all involved, and know that you are greatly appreciated.
Ann and Dan Guenther
New Paltz
Amazing volunteer firefighters
I was out for a walk on Main Street feeling tired from the day and thinking, damn, it feels cold. Then a few fire trucks flew by. I immediately thought about New Paltz’s volunteer members and the neighboring volunteer departments who were responding. These firefighters were probably also tired from their day jobs and noticing what felt like the first day of winter. But they dropped what they were doing because help was needed.
The next morning, New Paltz Fire Department chief [Corey] Wirthmann explained to me that he estimates flames from the burning barn on Springtown Road may have reached 80 feet high. He also explained how he was especially proud of the team because they made the call to focus aggressively on saving the house next to the burning barn, dousing it with water while managing the barn’s fire.
And they saved the house that was just feet from the barn. Pictures from that evening are surreal. They illustrate the impressive feat. The house looked like it was on fire, too, but damage was minimal.
Thank you! Over 60 firefighters assisted from seven area departments including New Paltz, Highland, Modena, Plattekill, Gardiner, Rifton and Tillson.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Georgia runoff
“Georgia, Georgia/The whole day through/Just an old sweet song/Keeps Georgia on my mind.”
I hope these song lyrics will inspire you to keep Georgia and its two worthy U.S. Senate candidates, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, on your mind, at least until January 5.
On that day, Georgia will have the power to put an end to the madness of King Donald and the last four years — a madness manifested most recently with the king’s refusing to bow to the will of the people and give up his crown, with his corrupt lackeys abetting his treason and with his most unwavering, unthinking subjects continuing to not only threaten but to in fact carry out acts of violence until their defeated king is re-coronated.
Georgians can depose two of the king’s most loyal and corrupt court jesters, Senators Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue. And you and I can prove our loyalty to our as-yet-not-completely-corrupted country. We can donate money to the Ossoff and/or Warnock campaign; we can text or call voters — of all colors and of all ages, since different organizations target different audiences.
Toward the end of the great song, the words “No peace I find” appear. I’m afraid those words will prove prescient, for the country and every one of its citizens, if you and I don’t do what it takes to prove them wrong.
I’m keeping “Georgia on My Mind and I hope you will as well and that you’ll encourage others to. I hope the thought that you can Make America an Old Sweet Song Again is enough inspiration. But if it’s not, there’s always https://youtu.be/lmsQyRCOnjE.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Leaf and brush pickup
The Town of New Paltz Highway department is asking for your help! All Town of New Paltz residents are able to leave brush out in the spring for pickup (dates/times will be announced) and leaves in the fall for pickup (dates/times to be announced) by the town highway department.
Recently, there has been an increasing amount of residents putting brush out in the fall for a spring pickup. This has caused issues with drainage in ditches and road hazards for town residents along with possible issues during upcoming plowing. The placing of any material within the town’s right-of-way (25 feet from center of road or 14 feet from the edge of the blacktop) is prohibited unless authorized by the highway department. Anyone not compliant with these rules can be sited by the Town of New Paltz.
We are happy to make these services available to our residents as long as they are done in the correct time frame and season. I ask that you respect our schedule and follow the guidelines for said services. I also request that residents do not put out brush in anticipation of it being picked up early.
This action forces a change in our regular work schedule in order to remedy a potential traffic hazard or drainage issue. This interference could result in the department not being able to maintain regular seasonal duties causing a back-up and possible hazards for residents and the highway crews alike. Again, failure to comply with the request could cause a resident to be sighted under town code 89-1
With the unfortunate coronavirus upswing, I cannot guarantee the staffing of the highway department in the spring which could cancel or delay any type of debris pick up due to lack of a work force. This could potentially leave our roads littered with piles of brush. We have every intent on continuing this service, but ask for you to wait until this service is announced to insure our safety as well as yours while driving on our roads.
Thank you for your consideration! If there are questions, please feel free to call the highway department at 255-5050
Chris Marx
Highway Superintendent
New Paltz
Problems worse every day
If you think the pandemic is a hoax, the latest news will be of no concern. Pfizer offered the administration an opportunity to purchase a Covid vaccine showing great promise. Our government turned down the offer but other countries jumped at the chance.
After Pfizer’s first 50-million double doses are distributed, the company will be unable to fill orders until June or July. Because of very serious missteps, we have a raging pandemic, with many people ignoring protective efforts to help everyone such as wearing masks.
We all know who is responsible for this fiasco. Some of you voted for him and after 49 court judgments upholding the election results, still refuse to acknowledge that he lost the election or that there is a pandemic killing 2000 fellow Americans every day.
A country united could begin to solve our problems which grow worse each day
Hal Chorny
Gardiner
Covid -19 at age 72
I have walked to the back of the Covid cave, where almost no daylight reaches. Thankfully my wife is with me. We feed at the TV each evening swallowing more fear than dinner.
One of my distractions has been making many walking sticks in my basement shop. There is no room left in the 20-stick holding stand. I decided to make magic wands which seem more appropriate to what is needed.
Last December, me and three close friends entered our tenth year of eating breakfast once a week. When Covid-19 stole that time, it caused a flat spot in my world view that used to get rounded in our deep conversations.
Covid has not shut down my mind, but I find I am focused on family and our welfare. The myriad decisions we need to make such as: do I use hand sanitizer after picking up the mail? Do I wear when getting out of the car to pump gas? These decisions have stolen a place I once used for reflection on how I was living. Now I contemplate mostly on how to survive.
Having lost power to our house several months ago caused us to lose food in our freezer. That was the time we had just come to the conclusion buying food was a life-threatening event. I bought a generator and large storage containers for gas. I took out of my footlocker the hunkering down skills the Marines taught me. I’m now not sure if that is the right response, because on some level I know doing all this is nothing more than a distraction from the fact that the Covid-19 virus is as fluid as air.
My thoughts are that we are on a continuum that will never return to the way things were. I feel altered by what has happened to me and to those I know. Fear of death changed me when I went to war, fear of death is redoing how I live now, this is not superficial.
As winter sinks its icicle teeth in, I feel compelled to crawl to the mouth of the cave and place my hands to the sides of my mouth and call out: “Covid, thank you for leading me to making beauty as distraction. Covid, thank you for showing me who I have and how important it is to care for them. Covid, thank you for the depth of intimacy that only death could show me. Covid, thank you for reminding me that all we have is love.”
I shall not forget you.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Kingston meetings not broadcast
The City of Kingston and around the towns should be more transparent. Meetings are not broadcast on Public Access Television. The list of city and towns collecting revenue from cable franchise fees from the cable subscribers doesn’t direct any funds to the public access station. There are more than 6000 cables subscribers in Kingston.
City of Kingston cable franchise fees are $410,000, Town of Marbletown cable franchise fees are $105,821, Town of Kingston cable franchise fees are $18,250, Town of Ulster cable franchise fees are $20,650.
Clark Richters
Kingston
Try to see it my way
It is wonderful that the mainstream media and many feedback writers — inspired by Joe Biden’s self-serving appeals — are now calling for national unity. However, they seem to have forgotten that they made every effort for the last four years to undermine and reject such unity by relentlessly attacking 2016’s presidential victor Donald J Trump. Indeed, despite the phony Mueller investigation, unprecedented media bias, a partisan impeachment, the politicization of the coronavirus pandemic (in which they blamed Trump for all the deaths the virus caused while ignoring his efforts to stop it by travel bans and the developing of therapeutics and a vaccine) and the labeling of Trump and his followers as racists and worse; the mainstream media (and those afflicted with Trump Derangement Syndrome or TDS. The) theme song now seems to be (to borrow from that great Christian anthem) “Let There be Peace on Earth.” However, instead of taking responsibility for any lack of peace, by singing “and let it begin with me” they’ve changed the refrain to “and let it begin with you.” (The “you,” of course, being all those who voted for Donald Trump and consider him to be a great Potus).
With this in view, the following is the mainstream media’s Joe Biden-inspired, version of the aforementioned song “Let There be Peace on Earth.”
All TDS sufferers are encouraged to sing this song with all the conviction that lives so abundantly in their enthusiastic but hypocritical hearts. (Speaking of peace on earth, did I mention that Potus Trump has brokered yet another normalization of ties between Israel and one of her former enemies? This time it’s Morocco.)
Let there be peace on earth
and let it begin with you
to accept Uncle Joe
is something we all must do
With Joe as our Potus
brothers we can be
let’s all cheer our new Potus
in perfect harmony
Let’s all give Joe some love
let this be our goal for sure
If we support dear Joe
for hatred we’ll find a cure
Just take this moment
and sing this moment
the new words of this song
“There will be peace on earth
once you admit you’re wrong”
George Civile
Gardiner
Virus obscenity
No need to worry about the coronavirus any more, now that such effective treatment is available/ Oh wait, that’s just for Trump and his cronies.
Of all the obscenities of the Trump era, this is perhaps the most obscene: that while millions suffer and hundreds of thousands die from this terrible virus, the tiny privileged few — infected because they flout all precautions — bounce back to health within days and then boast about it.
Jo Salas
New Paltz
Covid and more
If masks, shutdowns, lockdowns and lockouts worked, why is Covid not only still here, but they say it’s worse than it was in March?. Could it be that Covid is just like any virus and prospers in cold weather just like the common cold and the flu? Which is why we start flu shots in September so your immunity will be in effect by mid October at the start of flu season.
No wonder Dr. Fauci has been predicting a second wave in the fall because of infective procedures and the normal virus season.
Is there any actual evidence it was worth all the damage to the economy and the millions of school children who have lost a school year they will never make up.
Arrogant Governor Andy Cuomo is in the process of going through another shutdown without any proof the last one did any good. New York leads the country in Covid deaths and using deaths per 100,000 compares New York to states like Wyoming and the Dakotas whose populations are less than some boroughs of NYC — apples to oranges. Florida, which has a greater population and a larger percentage of seniors, has fewer total deaths. Governor Cuomo forced nursing homes to take in people sick with Covid. Then when the story broke, he had the Democratic state legislature pass a law forbidding lawsuits. Giving Cuomo an Emmy for his handling of the pandemic is like giving Captain Edward Smith a seamanship award for his handling of the .
I love listening to the Democrats whining about Trump refusing to concede and filing lawsuits about to overturn the election claiming voter fraud after they spent three-plus years trying to get Trump out of office with their phony impeachment investigation using the Steele dossier which they knew to be untrue. Didn’t anybody ever tell them turnabout? What goes around comes around. What’s good for the goose is sauce for the gander. Payback’s a “b” etc.
I saw hidden Joe Biden in his joint news conference with Kamala Harris when he said if he had a real conflict with her, he’d say he came up with a disease and resign. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales it’s said, “Many a true word is spoken in jest.” I’ve always felt the deal made with Biden was if he got elected, he wouldn’t serve four years. |
The only question I had was how he would exit — on his own or would they push him? Now there is the addition of Hunter Biden. I can’t wait to see where this goes. Anybody see the 2.5 carat diamond Hunter can’t remember whom he gave it to?
John Habersberger
New Paltz
Donut judge
Bagel holes taste different than donut holes.
Sparrow
Phoenicia
And the winner is
Our own part-time supervisor Bill McKenna, maintaining his position as the highest-paid supervisor in Ulster County. Higher than the other 18 Ulster County town supervisors, many of whom govern towns with populations larger than Woodstock.
How did this come about? Probably because he accepted a raise he did not need and because in some other Ulster County towns the supervisors’’ salaries remained unchanged. So once again, congratulations. The taxpayers of Woodstock should be overjoyed
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Vassar Brothers job cuts
Nuvance was “saddened” to announce a substantial cut in Vassar Hospital staff — 14 radiology assistant technologists. “Like many … businesses, we are not immune to financial losses.” Notice: It did not announce cuts in executive salaries, nor dividend cuts to its stockholders.
It is no accident that its CEO, John W. Murphy, was named Business Person of the Year. Murphy makes the big bucks because he knows that his primary responsibility is not so much to his patients but to his stockholders, who want to see profits. In fact, in describing Nuvance, Bloomberg Business says that “The company’s line of business includes providing management services on a contract and fee basis.”
If you are luckless enough to find yourself ending up in any Nuvance hospital, aren’t you now reassured? Your care, however diminished, will be “managed” to maximize profits consistent with what you — what all of us — let them get away with. When are we going to wake up and realize: In the world of healthcare, the profit motive is poison?
Paul Cooper
Kingston
Questionable beliefs
John Habersberger (“Maybe I wasn’t clear,” letter, December 2, 2020) reports that 99.995 percent of Covid cases survive, I checked the numbers on the CDC website: https://covid.cdc.gov/covid-data-tracker/#demographics. Across all age groups the death rate was 1.9 percent.
Were that the whole story, that’s still a lot more than the 0.005 percent that Habersberger believes to be true, although it’s still not mind-boggling. However, when age groups are taken into account it’s a very different story. For 85-plus-year-olds, it’s 23%! For 75-to-84-year–olds, it’s 12.4 percent. For 65 to 74, it’s 5.2 percent.
All these figures are higher for men. Mr. Habersberger’s arithmetic and thinking seems to me to be as developed as his political beliefs; his numbers are closer to accurate for people under the age of four.
He references Dumbo in his remarks about mask-wearing. I suspect this is an unconscious awareness of the wisdom of his opinions. I hope his letter doesn’t influence anyone. His ignorance is dangerous. Perhaps HV1 should do some fact-checking before printing such misleading information.
Meyer Rothberg
Saugerties
Join the family! 
