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In remembrance of Billy Guldy: Uncle Willy sez “The eighties are for the ladies”
Personal reflection | Bea Havranek
I grew up in the Village of New Paltz. In the mid-sixties my sister, Jo, and I and three of our friends at New Paltz High School, Evelyn, Susan and Debbie, started an all-female rock and roll band. We called ourselves “The Queens.” We stayed together until 1970. There is a wild and wonderful history of our band and the places we played at and all that goes with it, but that story is for another time. This story is about Billy Guldy, fondly known as “Uncle Willy” and the only king that Rosendale has ever known, who sadly passed away last week.
In the 1970’s, my husband I moved to Rosendale with our son. At the time, I was freelancing as a photographer and journalist for the Huguenot Herald, the precursor to this newspaper. My beat was the town and village of Rosendale; and I covered everything from the local little league games to the village and town board governments. It was then that I met Billy Guldy, the owner of two infamous establishments on Main Street in the then Village of Rosendale — the Well and the Astoria. He was one of the coolest and most good-natured persons I have ever known.
Billy loved Rosendale. He would open up the Astoria for some of the best partying around for us “grown-up kids” and for the actual kids of Rosendale. On Halloween, there was always a party for the children of Rosendale, with refreshments, candy and entertainment, the latter of which included Uncle Willy. He was a die-hard Yankees fan. He drove a Yankee pin-striped Cadillac around town; and all of us “kids” were always on the lookout for him in his king outfit when we watched the Yankee games on television.
In July of 1980, at a revival of the Rosendale Street Festival, Billy, in his king outfit, emceed all of the entertainment. A reunion of The Queens became the headliner for that year drawing the biggest crowd when we performed on the stage behind the Rosendale firehouse. It was there that Uncle Willy coined the phrase that actually gained some national recognition. “The eighties are for the ladies,” he said when he introduced us. That phrase later made a UPI story in September of 1980 when he went to Georgia to “cheer on” the Atlanta Braves in hopes for a Braves and Yankee world series in 1981.
Uncle Willy stayed throughout our street festival performance, dancing with the crowd and being photographed with us, some of the partiers, and one up-and-coming politician, Maurice Hinchey.
Over the years, I would meet up with Billy when I was the Rosendale town supervisor and later as the county attorney when he could be found walking his dog uptown in the City of Kingston. He always had a big hello, a hug and we would ask how my family and I were doing. He was and is still one of the coolest and most good-natured persons I have ever known.
William J. Guldy Jr. “Uncle Willy” died on Sunday June 23, at HealthAlliance Hospital. He was 85. Born in Kingston July 18, 1938 he is a son of the late William J. Guldy Sr. and Veronica (Mooney) Guldy.
Uncle Willy was a natural host and master of ceremonies he managed and owned many commercial establishments taverns and public houses or bars in this community.
Funeral and cremation arrangements are under the direction of The Joseph V Leahy Funeral Home Inc. 27 Smith Avenue Kingston, NY www.jvleahyfh.com.
Surviving are his daughter Beatrice Capen-Guldy (David Spiro) and her mother, Elizabeth (Beth) Capen. One brother Thomas Guldy (Deborah Sinsabaugh), grandchildren Foxx Moses Spiro, Harper Rue Spiro, McCartney Sunflower Spiro. Many nieces and nephews also survive. Two brothers, Robert “Flower” Guldy and Kevin Guldy, a sister Maryann Liggan predeceased him.
Hold the phone
Point of view | Mala Hoffman
I admit it. I am dependent on my phone. A few weeks ago I drove all the way home after reaching my destination because I had left that essential device on the kitchen counter. And I’m not even on social media. I simply use it for making and receiving calls (and texts, I love texts). But as an educator, I am in full support of the recent efforts on the part of a number of school districts, including Los Angeles and potentially New York City, and locally that of Kingston, to place phones on hold during instructional time.
Students and phones have been connected for many years but having them on in school buildings really became a phenomenon following a spate of bomb threats and later, shootings. Then it was spurred on by concerned parents, wanting to be able to contact their children in dangerous situations. Now, after the isolation of the pandemic and on-line learning, the host and the device have become inseparable.
Many have tried to argue that smartphones can serve educational purposes, and, being the equivalent of computers, they can. Lessons have been designed so that a student can respond to a quiz or a survey using their phones, just as they would their laptops in class. (Don’t get me started on laptops in class). But the bigger question is, do they ultimately detract from learning?
I’m not only talking about the impact of social media here, although the Surgeon General recently declared it a public health emergency and studies abound about bullying and negative impacts on body image, particularly with teenage girls. But there’s also the impulse of simply needing the contact, of not wanting to miss out on a text exchange or respond to a post because the adult at the front of the room is talking about the American Revolution.
According to a report released in June by the Pew Research Center, 72% of high school teachers feel that cell phone distraction is a major problem. In defending its proposed restrictions, members of the Los Angeles school board wrote that excessive use impacts the mental health and well-being of teens, including increased stress, anxiety and sleep issues. Kingston school district officials maintain the position that “efforts to create cell phone-free environments would be aimed at increasing student engagement, improving emotional health and limiting distractions.”
As many of these reports suggest, it’s not just learning that is being hampered, it’s student well-being and socialization as well. About a year ago, before any of these policies were being discussed, a teen told me she wished there was a cell-phone ban in her district. She wanted a reason to stop checking it all the time. She wanted the adults in the room to help her. Maybe it’s time to do that.
Biden must withdraw from the race
In my last letter, I predicted that Biden would wipe the floor with the Former Guy at last Thursday’s debate.
He did, because he spoke the truth.
As Rebecca Solnit wrote in The Guardian, “throughout the excruciating evening, Joe Biden in a hoarse voice said diligent things that were reasonably true and definitely sincere; Donald Trump in a booming voice said lurid things that were flamboyantly untrue.” Television throws a spotlight on the surface and turns flamboyance into a blinding day-glo.
Those who respect Joe Biden and those who love him were all appalled by what they saw, on the surface a man with a hoarse voice whose age had caught up with him. No day-glo. But he won, because he spoke the truth. He knows his presidency has been an amazingly successful one, even in the face of a Republican majority House and a Supreme Court stacked with Federalist Society toadies.
Mr. Trump, on the other hand, couldn’t believe his luck. The format permitted him to spew his usual lava flow of lies because truth for Mr. Trump exists only in the context what he gains from it. An Obama, a Clinton (Bill or Hillary, take your pick), an LBJ could have called him out, or ripped him a new [something]. Each question he ignored, and he ignored almost every one, became a platform for yet another falsehood.
Mr. Trump’s rhetorical technique is known as the Gish Gallup, in which, “in a short space of time the galloper confronts an opponent with a rapid series of specious arguments, half-truths, misrepresentations, and outright lies that makes it impossible for the opponent to refute all of them within the format of the debate.” [Wikipedia] There are techniques for dealing with it, but neither Mr. Biden nor those who prepared him seemed to have known them. Nor was Joe up to the job.
Joseph Biden loves his country. That’s why Biden must pass the baton to a younger, more vibrant candidate. There is still time for a new ticket. Those whose lying eyes tell them that the January 6 rioters were actually a busload of tourists will embrace the liar and his party. Those on the fence and the vast majority of Democrats will work with new energy to steer our nation toward a better future.
The Democratic Party is the only organized force in America that can challenge the tidal wave of Republican-Federalist Society-Koch-Russian-Chinese-Iranian mud that threatens to sweep our nation and the world, and which will impoverish our lives. For the good of the nation and the good of the world, Joe Biden must withdraw from the race.
William Weinstein
New Paltz
Sham of a presidential debate
Whoever coined the phrase “ignorance is bliss” clearly never anticipated last week’s sham of a presidential debate. In 2024, ignorance is a clear and present danger to our nation, flaunting itself before millions without shame.
It never had to be this way!
Tim Scott, Jr.
Saugerties
Trumpomania
It would be as disingenuous for Democrats to argue that our candidate didn’t fall short last Thursday as it would be for Republicans to claim that their candidate didn’t lie. But whether Joe Biden or somebody else becomes our standard-bearer, at least we’ll have one worthy of that epithet; in their slavishness to Trump, Republicans have given up any pretense of adhering to a standard, and about the only things their nominee bears are false witness, malice, grudges, bad tidings, and a self-aggrandizing cross.
Let the Trumpers make their snap “Trump Derangement Syndrome” diagnosis of me. Putting aside the fact that I believe “Trumpomania” is the true derangement, I stand guilty — and proudly — as charged. The Republican Party has all the high aims and decorum of a fraternity party, one whose revelers include not only frat-boy president Trump but pledges like Matt Gaetz, Jim Jordan, Josh Hawley, and Ted Cruz and their bimbo dates Marjorie Taylor Greene, Lauren Boebert, Kristi Noem, and, hanging out in the kitchen mixing drinks and metaphors, Katie Britt — all of them drooling for officerships in the fraternity.
There are other Trump supporters besides white supremacists, billionaires and misogynists with whom I might find nonpolitical subjects on which to align. But I’d find it impossible to square qualities like compassion, conscience, honesty, open-mindedness and selflessness with a sybaritic candidate and a sycophantic party that turn back the clock on women, turn a blind eye to corporate abuse and self-enrichment, turn the White House into a feeding trough for opportunists, turn their backs on the planet and turn xenophobes like Greg Abbott, Ron DeSantis and Trump himself loose on immigrants.
And I find it impossible to comprehend how anyone can look at and listen to this crude, cruel sociopath-who-would-be-dictator and stomach spending another second in his company.
Let alone another four years, heaven help us.
Tom Cherwin
Saugerties
Not so fast!
As a born and raised citizen of the United States, I want to make an observation that the debate from last night has at least one question still waiting to be answered. President Biden, after all the years of seeing him and hearing him in debates, as well as in hundreds of speeches, never saw him in the shape he was in yesterday. I want a little more investigation before I believe that what we saw was simply an 81-year-old man losing his faculties in front of the nation.
As a citizen, I have the right to inquire and insist that we, the public, get more information about his supposed cold that he was dealing with. When did he get the cold? Did he have a fever? Was he given any drug to help him get through the cold so he could perform better in the debate? Did he have a urine analysis to see if he may have been given something that could have compromised his ability to think and speak clearly?
All the panic that has been fomenting about President Biden and his horrible performance seems to be like such a knee-jerk reaction, and the focus about his age was the easiest way to write off the man. How about the idea that there could have been something in his food or drink that day, or in some drug that he may have been given that could be the culprit and the cause of such a rare poor performance.
I am not ready to throw Joe Biden under the bus. And I am not ready to believe that it was part of his aging process. Please, everybody who reads this piece, to remember how powerful, clear, and energetic the president was just five months ago when he gave such an uplifting State of the Union message. Most of us who are aging go through that process more slowly unless something foreign invades our bodies and hastens a deterioration of the body. I believe in Joe Biden, and something was wrong with him last night, and I want more information. If you resonate with my point of view, and are willing to help get more specific and clear information about Joe Biden’s health, please do whatever you can to get this citizen’s request to others.
Marty Klein
Kingston
William and Marty’s fantasies
I’ve prepared my letter BEFORE the upcoming debate. Quite amusing are the letters from William Weinstein and Marty Klein, last week. I can’t explain what’s responsible for their delusional thinking. Is it their Kool-Aid, some defective weed, or something else?
William, of course, is always touting Biden and thinks that Biden and all his Democratic blue city “leaders” are the answer to all our woes. They are hardly the answer to ANYTHING……..they are the CAUSE of EVERYTHING! Biden’s and his blue state governor’s and mayor’s failures are too many to recount.
Even though William will jump off a cliff at a moment’s notice for Biden, Marty Klein, on the other hand, will apparently jump out of a plane at 50,000 feet for Biden — and with no parachute! Marty says “Joe Biden has been an excellent president.” Who else besides Jill Biden, William Weinstein and Marty Klein believe that whopper??!!
Another beauty from Marty is his humorous “Biden has compassion and really cares, and has certainly righted the ship” — yeah, just like the captain of the Titanic!
And yet another comment suitable for Comedy Central — ”Biden’s proven his abilities in spite of ‘a few mistakes along the way.” A “few” mistakes? Marty, did you have a Rip Van Winkle type rest, where you missed the majority of his MANY and SIGNIFICANT mistakes?
Then, per Marty, Trump will have a shocking surprise for us in October, followed by the House of Representatives and Supreme Court possibly deciding who the next president will be. I think we lost Marty in the rabbit hole of conspiracy theories. Marty criticizes the Supreme Court as a “kangaroo court” even though Marty fails to acknowledge that several decisions favored liberals which means that some of the conservative judges agreed with the liberal judges.
Finally, Marty GUARANTEES a Biden landslide victory in November. I don’t think Marty will look very becoming with a substantial quantity of egg all over his face. However, I have a guarantee that is much more realistic … Trump will NOT be helping Biden find his way off the stage after the debate.
John N. Butz
Modena
More wasted tax dollars
How is it that Woodstock has been paying a Woodstock police officer, an officer who has not worked one tour of duty on patrol or in the station house since May of last year, $500 a week.
Howard Harris
Woodstock
Electrifying
I was devastated to learn of his passing
But his memory, his legacy, everlasting
He captured this boy’s heart with every swing
To watch him play was truly a thing
His swing at the plate, a sight to behold
Hits after hits, never growing old
His speed on the bases, always a thrill
With a glove like magic, a testament of skill
I saw him play in his prime
His presence on the field, so sublime
His speed and agility, his precision and might
Made him a force to behold, a true delight
In late ’54 and ’55, the boy began
To create a scrapbook, a lifelong fan
He pasted in photos, articles, and stats
His love for Willie Mays, truly all that
The Say Hey Kid, they called him with love
A true Giant, sent from above
With his baseball ability, he soared
Every aspect of his 5-tool game, we all adored
He was a hero to fans, a role model to all
His talent and grace always stood tall
In the games’ Golden Era, he reigned supreme
A legend in the making, a baseball dream
I’ll remember the cheers, the chants of his name
Willie is forever in my heart’s hall of fame
His impact on the game, immeasurable
His spirit, his passion, always so memorable
So here’s to you, Willie Mays, forever young
In this boy’s now aching heart, your praises sung
The joy you brought, the magic you spun
In the annals of baseball, you are second to none
Yes, Willie Mays, his is an enduring flame,
the greatest all-around player to grace the game.
In our hearts and memories, he’ll forever reign…
With speed and power, he dazzled the crowd,
in center field, his grace was unmatched. Let me say & believe me… the opposing pitchers, “they all were cowed.”
His talent unmatched, his spirit untamed
in the outfield, his presence proclaimed,
a force to be reckoned with, and a sight to behold.
Willie Mays, a real legend, his story told.
So here is to Willie, a baseball king,
his greatness forever in our hearts will ring…
Neil Jarmel
West Hurley
Hey, Neil
It seems that the consensus among, even POTUS Biden’s most ardent supporters, is that his debate performance was an unmitigated disaster. And yet I have a suspicion that Neil Jarmel and his fellow TDS sufferers will maintain their unyielding support for their candidate, Joe Biden. With this in view, the following is yet, another response to Neil Jarmel’s (and by extension his fellow Feedback TDS sufferers’) predictable, angst ridden, anti-Trump Feedback diatribes. (Sung to the tune of the Beatles’ “Hey Jude.” (Hey Neil, William Weinstein, Tom Cherwin, Marty Klein et el: thanks for the inspiration!)
Hey Neil, Trump’s made you mad
so please send in, another letter
Remember to write what’s in your heart
then you will start to feel much better
(Stanza)
Hey Neil don’t hesitate
you’re a real T-D-S go getter
We know that, Trump’s always under your skin
so, write again and you’ll feel better
(Bridge)
And though Joe just caused you much pain, say Trump’s insane
and write more harsh words that drop like boulders
For since you think Trump’s such a fool, hey Neil, it’s cool
to write of this burden on your shoulders
(Stanza)
Hey Neil, “Trump’s such a clown”
so, you’ve told us…in every letter
November’s election is on your mind
and if Trump wins, you won’t feel better
(Bridge)
So let what’s in just come right out: give us a shout
Trump’s picking a V.P. to perform with
And well we know, Neil, that it’s true: no one will do
for Trump’s pick will make the right wing, bolder
(Stanza)
Hey Neil , if you feel sad
you should just write, another letter
Please let out the T-D-S within
and you’ll begin to feel much better
better, better, better, better, better, oh!
(Chorus: should be sung, repeatedly, by Neil’s fellow TDS sufferers until they feel better. Note: the singer can substitute “Trump’s a crook” or “Felon Trump” or “Fascist Trump” or “Trump’s a clown” or any other anti-Trump mantra, for the original and comprehensive “I hate Trump.”)
Na, na na na na na na: na na na na: I hate Trump…
George Civile
Gardiner
Modern medicine
Two days ago, I put my foot into my sneaker and got bitten by something (spider?) several times. It’s painful and itchy and possibly infected, so I went to my doctor at Nuvance in Kingston to have a look. Nobody there would look at it. Nobody. Not one, single person, and how many medically knowledgeable people can there be in that warren of many rooms? Right afterwards, I went to a store and complained to the cashier about Nuvance not helping me. She said she’s called her doctor at Nuvance three times to get her blood results and still hasn’t heard back. Recently, I was in the hospital for three days. My doctor never visited me or returned my calls about it.
This is modern medicine?
Mamie Spiegel
Bearsville
Independent thinkers
Please stop referring to our current committee as the “McKnight faction.” We are a group of independent thinkers, dedicated to the democratic party. Our committee is not run by or dictated by a particular person. Our candidates were put forth and selected due to their desire to dedicate themselves to the Town of Hurley, not to a specific person.
Zahava Wilson, Vice Chair
Hurley Democratic Committee
Remaining questions
In response to the Woodstock Housing Committee’ s (WHC) cheerleading letter in last week’s paper, the unfortunate facts and questions remain:
Fact: Habitat for Humanity stated at the WHC forum it costs them $500,000 to build a single two-bedroom ranch utilizing donated supplies and labor. They sell the house for $200,000 to a lucky qualified recipient and take a $300,000 loss.
Question: Outside of a national non-profit like HFH, who is going to take that kind of loss to create affordable housing?
Fact: $175,000 was given by the town to the Woodstock Housing Alliance (WHA) to offer help building ADU’s (accessory swelling units). Not a single dollar was spent to build anything and the program was canceled.
Question: How is that money being repurposed and is the town seeking public input on how to best utilize it for affordable housing?
Fact: The Pro-Housing Pledge supported by three members of the town board and “ applauded” by the WHC calls for a “ streamlining of regulations “ to allow for a “ broad range of development.” It does not specify artist, senior or affordable housing as its primary goal. It is also not clear which regulations will be streamlined.
Question: Shouldn’t the public have an opportunity to weigh in on such a drastic change to our town development oversight?
Fact: Woodstock does not have an open space protection law or plan. Every neighboring community does.
Question: Shouldn’t the comprehensive town plan be followed regarding protecting Woodstock’s natural resources ? It is listed as the respondent’s number-one goal. And shouldn’t Woodstock work to pass an open space protection law?
Fact: Current zoning does not prevent hundreds of ADU’s from currently being built. Ken Panza made this very clear in his recent letter to the editor and comments to the WHC.
Question: So why the rush to streamline regulations to open up Woodstock to a “ broad range of development?”
Fact: Woodstock needs approximately 200 units of affordable housing.
Question: Shouldn’t the focus be on creating 200 units of affordable housing while protecting Woodstock’s identity as rural, an artist community and tourist destination?
Michael Veitch
Woodstock
We were lucky, this time
Dear driver who hit and demolished the DPW barricade on South Chestnut Street Tuesday night; I want to make it clear that you could have easily hit one of our workers … and anyone out walking in the neighborhood.
At around 10 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25, you were going what our DPW staff said was at a minimum +40 mph southbound up the hill to leave the village on South Chestnut/NYS Route 208.
Our staff said they felt there was more than one person in the car because they heard laughter and voices as you flew through this residential section of the village.
You were driving through an emergency construction zone where our team had been working for the last 12 hours.
The old and failing watermain that the team was working on will be replaced this summer. We have previously announced how 1.3 miles of our public water system will be replaced from Southside to Sunset Ridge via South and North Chestnut streets.
We considered excluding the section on South Chestnut because costs have skyrocketed, but in the end decided to borrow additional money and take on the whole $3.88 million project. That turned out to be a very good call to expand the project as the old pipe keeps failing, requiring temporary fixes.
We have been holding our breath waiting for this 1.3 mile replacement, while keeping it patched together. Tuesday was one of those very long days into night where our DPW workers had to once again give many hours to attend to our aging infrastructure. In fact, our team did not go home until 4 a.m.
You drove through our DPW construction zone so fast, smashing the wooden construction barricade made from 2×6’s before anyone could look closely enough at your car to share details when the New Paltz Police Department was notified.
There are nine full time and two summer helpers in our department of public works. What kind of absolute chaos and pain would you have caused in people’s lives and our community had you injured or killed any of our guys?
I cannot help but fear how we could have been lumped in with the other fatalities that area families and communities have been forced to endure this year at the hands of dangerous and negligent drivers.
I’m grateful Ulster County Executive Metzger just launched “Safe Start to Summer 2024,” a road safety campaign designed to elevate awareness about the dangers of speeding and distracted driving, to promote a culture of safety and respect on roadways.
I’ll also continue to wish for — and work towards — a cultural change where streets and sidewalks are designed so vehicle operators are not conditioned to believe that their needs are more important than pedestrians or someone simply trying to do their job outside.
How damaged is your vehicle from crashing through the village’s barricade? Pieces of the barricade were launched over 60 feet away. I am deeply disturbed by your actions, and also feeling incredibly relieved that it was not unimaginably worse.
Mayor Tim Rogers
New Paltz
Remove the blinders
The Woodstock Housing Committee and Woodstock Town Board need to remove the blinders to improve their false vision and remove their fingers from their ears to listen.
Their pro-housing vision is wrong for a small unique town. We already have enough people in Woodstock.
More people = more cars and less parking.
More people = less resources to survive (food, water and fresh air).
More people = less quality of life.
More people = less trees, animals and fresh streams.
More people = more traffic.
More people = more garbage.
More people = more town services required.
More people = higher taxes (Woodstock has been overspending for the past 20 years with much waste and continues this trend).
Woodstock does not need more people.
I would love to have an affordable place to live at the beach, but guess what? There are none available. Just because people believe they should be allowed to live in Woodstock, doesn’t mean they can. We only have so much land. If we place buildings on every wooded lot or open space or mountaintop, there will be no beauty left to enjoy (or for artists to paint or create).
The town receives their cut from sales taxes primarily from tourists. More housing will not change that — it hasn’t in 40 years.
There are only a handful of businesses in town which the locals support year-round and why they are still in business. Woodstock became a tourist town a long time ago — as the New York Times said previously ‘You can do Woodstock in 30 minutes’.
How about cut spending to make Woodstock more affordable?
More housing is not the answer. A changing of the guard and his minions may be the answer?
Natalie Cyr
Woodstock
D — Background to the rise of Donald Trump #1
2016 was a turning point in my political life when I witnessed Donald Trump becoming the next president, following Barack Obama. I felt instinctively when Obama finished his eight years as POTUS and Hillary Clinton was nominated to run for president, the Democratic Party would lose the forthcoming election. At that point in time, I felt nominating Hillary Clinton as POTUS was a no go. The election confirmed this. Or As Tom Schaller and Paul Waldman state in their book ‘White Rural Rage, The Threat to American Democracy, “it was the backlash against America’s first black president, that pushed Trump into the White House.”
This is not a reflection of my attitude toward or about women. And certainly, not about Hillary who I thought would have made a decent president. But to have her follow Barrack Obama with the ‘birther’ conspiracy around him, opened the door for the racist element to become to the forefront once again. And with a woman who carried a great deal of baggage with her as Bill Clinton’s missus, justifiable or not, it was inevitable that Donald Trump assumed the mantle as POTUS.
Robert Kagan in his book, Rebellion, How Anti-liberalism is Tearing America Apart — Again, states there was no missing the white supremacy attitudes, which combined long developing anti-immigrant sentiments with hostility to the very idea of a black president. As Obama himself observed late, “It was as if my very presence in the White House had triggered a deep-seated panic, a sense that the natural order had been disrupted.” And it was. a Let’s look at this. There were five major social eruptions, five worldwide, one United States, that impacted the US.
1. — 1792-1815, was the heyday of the French Revolution, albeit, the Napoleonic Revolution. These wars between the French and the European monarchies, eliminated eleven hundred years of feudalism on the European Continent and upset the existing status quo. This unleashed the great:
2. — German migrations into this country starting with the 1830s, followed by the:
3. — Irish migrations of the 1850s. Both groups had different languages, different dress, different culture. In addition, the Irish brought Catholicism into a Protestant country. Then there was the:
4. — Civil War in this country of 1860-1865, the black population of the south was given their freedom in the 12th, 13th and 14th amendments. (Civil War Amendments)
5 — First World War. The granddaddy of all social disruptions was unleashed at the end of the war when there were mass migrations of eastern Europeans outside of western Europe. They came also with their distinctive customs and languages.
6. — Today, Latinos from Mexico and South America, likewise.
This migration from countries outside the continental US is nothing new — it goes back to the founding of the country. Although initially, it was in drips and drabs, not the quantity arriving in the epochs of the last 175 years. But it upset the natural order. What is the natural order? Stay tuned. More to come.
Robert LaPolt
New Paltz
Support the Gardiner Library
As many residents are aware, the Gardiner Library can only raise its budget with the permission of local voters.
This process has begun with the gathering of signatures of registered voters regarding a proposition that will be on the local ballot in November.
During the recent gathering of signatures, I had the pleasure of speaking with many Gardiner voters about our library and the need for a slight increase in the budget. Overwhelmingly, the response was positive. Thank you to all who signed the petition.
Look for the library proposition on the back of the ballot this November.
Glenn Gidaly
Gardiner
Prayer in school
The story about the Ten Commandments in school classrooms doesn’t seem to be ending.
Actually, it began years ago and continues on. Just this week, Oklahoma public schools are being directed to teach the Bible.
A child of the south, my mother sent me as a youngster to local vacation bible schools every summer. That means I spent a week each with Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Baptists and Church of Christers when I was quite young. The Catholics didn’t have vacation bible school at the time and I never understood why,
There were no Muslims, Hindus or Jews in my world at that time.
Elementary school also influenced my religious beliefs, but not how you might think. This was the Bible Belt. In the classroom each morning, right after reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, a student recited a prayer. For some children, this experience may not have been so bad. For others, it was excruciating.
Just standing in front of the class is hard on a lot of little kids. Standing in front of the class and reciting a prayer can be a hellish experience, especially if they don’t feel they really know a prayer. It was hardest on the Catholics because they began and ended each session with the sign of the cross.
My memory brings up Maria Talamantez when I recall the morning prayers. Standing at the head of the class, Maria appeared embarrassed, flustered, frightened. While she struggled with the sign of the cross and the Our Father, I sat at my desk praying quietly and fervently to God, Jesus, and anyone else I could think of. I thanked them that my name hadn’t been called on that day.
Meanwhile, Maria prayed as fast as she could and so quietly that she couldn’t be heard by most of us in the room.
I don’t think the teacher cared, really. She was simply filling a required slot and looked forward to escaping into a math exercise or reading a story. For me, this time was pure torture. And, I was grateful that I was an Episcopalian because I didn’t use the sign of the cross and the Episcopalian Lord’s Prayer seemed shorter and faster than Maria’ Roman Catholic Version.
Thurman Greco
Woodstock
A local tragedy
A few months ago, Judge Rounds sentenced a severely mentally ill man to 18 years for strangling his father to death.
The Tillson man had a long history of hospitalizations and was actually taken to Health Alliance (HA) Hospital by the police for erratic public behavior, the day before he allegedly murdered his father. Although having an extensive history of severe mental illness he was not, at the least, kept the allowable 72 hours or transferred to St. Francis!
HA has been the recipient of tens of millions from NYS for a new addition and lately has pleaded for a 40 million dollar loan to keep the hospital functioning!
HA closed their psychiatric wing years ago claiming a need for Covid beds and transferred patients and staff to St. Francis in Poughkeepsie.
The beds were never utilized and, while our NYS and local politicians all celebrated the $140 million dollar groundbreaking with golden shovels, except for a few letters of protest, they were not strong enough in demanding the return of the 30 beds!
Our politicians should have made the millions of construction dollars contingent upon reinstatement of the mental health beds in addition to enhancing the postpartum experience and other non-critical improvements.
Also, did anyone look at Westchester Medical (WM) and HA’s finances before giving them millions of dollars, as now WM/HA are begging for more money and threatening closures??!
In the sad case cited above, after he was released, while still symptomatic, the family called the Mobile Crisis Unit, who told them to call the police, with the net sad result of a brutal murder.
Nationwide and apparently locally, we have no real safety net and/or adequate services for these vulnerable sick people.
Unless I’m missing some significant information, it would appear, based on the news reports that the hospital and, indirectly, our local politicians have some if not major culpability in this local tragedy.
Ron Stonitsch
New Paltz
Word game
“No,” once a fortress stands besieged by the relentless march of progress, its walls crumbling under the siege engines of innovation and the battering rams of self-entitlement. Like a knight discarding his armor in favor of a cloak of invisibility, I’ve wielded “No” not as a weapon but as a shield against the arrows of overreach — be they launched by the slingers of advertisements, the catapults of political machinations, or the trebuchets of media’s manipulation. Yet, in stripping “No” from our lexicon, we lose more than a word; we forfeit a part of our humanity, akin to Prometheus relinquishing fire, leaving us to shiver in the darkness of unbounded desire.
The dichotomy of “No” and “Yes” reminds me of a cosmic dance, where “No” often plays the part of gravity — binding, defining, limiting — while “Yes” is the light, ever-expanding, reaching into the infinite. Yet, without the dark matter of “No,” the universe of “Yes” cannot merge into meaningful constellations. The paradox lies therein; “Yes” begets choice, yet choice begets the need for the definition “No” provides.
In the political theater, “No” and “Yes” are the masks worn by actors on a stage that are too grand for the simplicity of their script. My partner, a keen observer of this drama, notes how “No” finds favor in the lexicon of the conservatives, a bulwark against change, while “Yes” dances on the tongues of progressives, a harbinger of possibility. Yet, beneath these veneers, both conceal their true faces with layers of subtext and implication, weaving a tapestry of governance that, in its complexity, obscures as much as it reveals.
The personal realm, too, is not immune to this linguistic sleight of hand. If our relationships mirrored the governance of nations, “No” and “Yes” would be the twin deities we worship, each demanding sacrifice in turn. Yet, in elevating these words above the altar of understanding, we risk the sanctity of connection, forgetting that in the space between “No” and “Yes” lies the dialogue of souls.
We find ourselves lost in this game of words, a labyrinth constructed by the architects of rhetoric and maintained by the custodians of law. In this maze, “No” and “Yes” are not merely words but spells, conjuring realities that shape our world, redirecting the flow of wealth, obscuring truth and sowing the seeds of distrust.
As the fabric of society weaves itself around the poles of “No” and “Yes,” we see the reflection of our collective psyche. In mirroring the ambiguity of our leaders, we fray the threads of trust, discipline and creativity — those virtues upon which democracy prides itself. The irony is not lost on me that the mantra of “divide and conquer” prevails in the pursuit of abundance for all, leaving a chasm where a bridge of “enough” should span.
Thus, in this narrative, I craft where “No” and “Yes” are but players on a stage grander than any playwright could imagine; I ponder the essence of what we seek. Is it the freedom to choose without constraint or the wisdom to understand the weight of our choices? In this tale of two words, the journey is not toward the answer, but within the question itself, for it is there, in the heart of inquiry, that truth resides.
Larry Winters
New Paltz
Fully equipped
Republicans have weaponized the word “weaponize.”
Sparrow
Phoenicia
Distress, need help!
Ships fly flags as identification. Before radio, semaphore and Morse code were used ship to ship. When old glory is hoisted and flown upside down, that signals serious trouble aboard ship.
I believe Mrs. Alito flew her American flag upside down to express her belief that America is in deepening trouble.
Manhattan has a DA that will not prosecute massive shoplifting, numerous street crimes and prostitution. But with the help of our nation’s AG, Merrick Garland, did prosecute Trump on business expenses fraud, as felonies, not as is normal, as misdemeanors. Bragg and Garland have weaponized commerce law.
My neighbors flew Black Lives Matter banners. The leadership of that organization is corrupt, but that was their First Amendment right.
Judge Alito and his wife have equal protection.
Behave dumb, speak dumb and write dumb. God knows “we’re in with the in crowd, we know what the in crowd knows.” President Biden has lost it. Please look at Rhode Island Governor Gina Marie Raimondo, ccurrent commerce secretary. Her only blemish is her Harvard degree … forgive that youthful indiscretion!
Paul Raymond
New Paltz
Sarahana’s campaign victory: Lessons for the Democratic Party
With the primary contest in the 103rd Assembly District now over, Sarahana Shrestha’s decisive victory over Gabi Madden, a recipient of generous corporate contributions, offers important lessons for the Democratic Party’s future in New York state. Thus far, the real battle has not been between Democrats and Republicans; it has been between two increasingly polarized sectors of the Democratic Party. One sector relies on local activists and volunteers for campaign work and fund-raising; it stands for economic and social justice in practice and speaking the truth to power. The other sector relies on donations from major corporations, real estate syndicates, land developers and lobbyists. The voters were not taken in by political action committees (PACs) operating as fronts for wealthy donors. They heard enough of cosmetic reforms, vague abstractions and pious declarations about “progressive” principles that only shore up the status quo with its glaring inequalities.
Some local context is in order, for it has statewide implications. This was a hotly contested primary in which Gabi’s campaign sent attractive, sophisticated and expensive attacks through the media (including the U. S. mail); these frequent announcements claimed that Sarahana did little or nothing for her constituents, was largely or entirely unavailable to serve them and cared little about the delivery of resources to the towns and jurisdictions in her district. It was hard to keep up with this flood-tide of distortions and misrepresentations about Sarahana’s record.
In reality, Sarahana has been outspoken in challenging the mainstream policies and legislation advanced by her own party whenever these measures ignored the needs of middle- and low-income families. She and her staff met regularly with people in her Assembly district regardless of party affiliation or ideology. Her constituents relied on their own observations and experience, not the stories conjured up in attack ads and voted accordingly. An existential problem thus arises, for the governor and both houses of the state legislature are in the hands of the Democratic Party, and the handwriting is on the wall.
In view of Sarahana’s re-election, the voters have spoken clearly about their view of corporate donations from developers and lobbyists in the funding of campaigns. Democrats need to take a hard look at the results of huge corporate donations and the largesse provided by lobbyists. Dependence on such donations leads to a systematic failure to address such issues as unaffordable housing, the prohibitively high cost of college tuition, unchecked land development and environmental degradation. This backward policy drives prospective voters (especially white youth and people of color) down the road of cynicism and apathy. Even worse, such dark money and the political paralysis to which it leads drive prospective voters into libertarian movements, MAGA rabbit holes and the appeals of outright demagogues. The lessons to be learned here cannot be ignored if the Democratic Party is to grow and remain true to its principles of economic and social justice.
Irwin Sperber
Gardiner
The real debate
I watched the presidential debate Thursday night, but did so on the Elon Musk channel at x.com, along with allegedly nine million other viewers. That platform called the “Real Debate” included RFK Jr. being live-streamed from a separate stage, also with a podium, responding to the same questions posed to Biden and Trump by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Diana Bash. CIA controlled CNN (https:// www.grunge.com/611728/the-usgovernments-secret-plan-to-control-themedia-explained/), exposed as a financial contributor to the campaigns of both Biden and Trump, strategically refused to allow RFK Jr. from directly participating in the presidential debate, so Elon Musk made the Real Debate platform available. Watching Trump’s usual antics, 34 lies and three tired arguments to every question, was predictable and boring. Watching Biden’s apparent serious cognitive decline and memory lapses was shocking, considering the upbeat performance he gave in his State of the Union address. It appears to me that Biden must have had some type of radio receiver on him during the prepared State of the Union address, telling him exactly what to say, but that would not work in a debate requiring impromptu responses.
The performance of both candidates was very depressing. Meanwhile, RFK Jr.’s responses were introduced after each of the other two candidates responded. He speaks to those of us who want an end to war and the undue influence and massive spending of and by the military industrial complex, the importance of dealing with the spiraling climate change problems, the problem of mandated forced unsafe and ineffective Covid vaccinations, the Ukrainian problem created by NATO expansion, the violations of free speech and criminalized journalism, the capture of federal agencies by large greedy corporations, the lack of transparency in government and much more. RFK Jr. concluded if the public wants real change, (and not more of the same puppet master Council of Foreign Relations agenda (https://www.jstor.org/ stable/27555883), that they should vote for him (https://www.newsweek.com/rfkjr-june-2024-debate-trumpbiden-1918584).
My problem with RFK Jr. though, is his stance on Israel, never admitting that a real genocide is taking place in Gaza, like Biden and Trump. Even so, I believe RFK Jr., a firm believer in true democracy, would respond to the people’s protests and demands on that issue, unlike the other two. Candidates Jill Stein and Cornell West have no real chance of winning the election. So, do we let corrupt-felon wanna-be dictator-Trump, and cognitively deficient genocide-Joe, continue to pull the levers of government and lead the country closer to doomsday as it is hurtling to now (https://thebulletin.org/doomsdayclock/current-time/)? Or, do we put a very capable, honest, successful environmental and vaccine injury lawyer, very familiar with government process, in the White House to effect real change in the aforementioned existential matters. To me, I see no other viable choice but RFK Jr.
Steve Romine
Woodstock
How about a volunteer waterfall park?
A flyer went out last week to every Woodstock resident. The flyer invites us to partake in the annual Volunteer Day and extolls the many residents who have given their skills and resources to benefit our town. As we thank our volunteers, it is time for some of the town businesses to think of ways to contribute.
Woodstock Way, the up-scale hotel that is occupying the very center of our town, has built a lovely little park with rest space and a viewing area across from our Mill Stream waterfall. This waterfall is a very special natural resource within the downtown area. Why is there a restrictive sign that says the little park area is only available to Woodstock Way hotel guests? It is our waterfall, on a New York State waterway. Why can’t we all enjoy it? A good civic gesture would be for Woodstock Way to volunteer to make the little waterfall park open for the benefit of all Woodstock.
DeeDee Halleck
Willow
Congratulations Assembly District 103 — dark money lost
Congratulations to the Sarahana Shrestha campaign in their landslide victory in the recent AD103 Democratic primary. More importantly, congratulations go to the voters and constituents of our assembly district for fighting back on the influence of corporate donations, the dark money that has put our national state and local politics up for sale. Assemblymember Shrestha ran on a progressive platform to address our local and stateside needs, without succumbing to enticement and perception of dark money influence. The fact that voters of AD103 supported a candidate who ran on her accomplishments and progressive vision, without accepting corporate donations truly brings hope to a broad spectrum of voters and non-voters. I say if we can vote in an AD103 representative without the gross influence of dark money, other state Assembly and state Senate elections can do likewise. Let’s set that standard for all elections, right here in the Hudson Valley.
Maggie Veve
New Paltz
Join the family! 
