Margaretville

The Catskill Watershed Corporation Board of Directors August 26 approved five grants – three to correct storm water problems and two to address streambank erosion that threatens property and public utilities.

The Historical Society of the Town of Middletown (HSM) will welcome scholar and author Carol Berkin as the featured speaker at its Fourth Annual Meeting Sunday, Sept. 7 at the New Kingston Valley Grange Hall, Cemetery Road, Margaretville. Prof. Berkin’s topic will be courageous women of the American Revolution. Her talk, “It Was I Who Did It: Spies, Saboteurs, Couriers and Other Heroines of the Revolution,” is made possible by the New York Council for the Humanities, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities.

The Margaretville Hospital and Mountainside Residential Care Center Auxiliary will host its fifth annual Fashion Show & Buffet Luncheon on Saturday, Sept. 20 at 12:30 p.m. at the Purcell Parish Center, Margaretville. Eleanor Barrack will again be the fashion designer utilizing clothing items donated from the auxiliary's Thrift Shop. All the clothing being modeled will be for sale. Many of the items are brand new with original tags.

The Roxbury Rockets unleashed some early season firepower finding the nets 10 times in the two-day Minekill Tournaments. The Rockets blanked Gilboa, 4-0, in opening round action Friday then blasted Schenevus, 6-3 in championship action Saturday. Ryan Skipper had a big weekend. The explosive striker drilled two goals in the opener and three more in the title game. Rudy Staab and Kyle Ciaravino added single goals against Gilboa. Staab also recorded an assist.

By John Bernhardt
When Andes girls’ soccer coach Sandra Baldauf put away the balls at the end of the 2007 season she had reason to be optimistic about the fall of 2008. Baldauf would be losing only two girls to graduation. If she could pick up a handful of younger players, Baldauf anticipated a deep roster this fall. Sometimes funny things can happen on the way to the forum.

By Julia Green
Don’t pull out your dollars just yet: the Family Dollar chain store initially planned for the property adjacent to the Margaretville Post Office isn’t setting up shop in Margaretville quite yet.
“We as a company just elected not to build there,” said Tom Nash, senior vice president for real estate, in an interview. “We re-evaluated the market area and felt that that particular location did not meet our criteria.” Nash said that he doesn’t know if the company will be exploring options to build a retail location anywhere in the Delaware County area.

By Brian Sweeney
A group of Margaretville Central School students and alumni recently experienced a nine-day travel adventure to Ecuador, including several days at the Galapagos Islands. The trip was organized by MCS science teacher Alan Seidman and his wife, Leslie. The couple began planning the excursion several years ago as their “dream trip when they retired” from teaching. The Seidmans have postponed retiring from their careers in education, but the trip was “a go” a year-and-a-half after 21 people agreed to participate.

Who would have imagined any connection between a southern African country, where life expectancy is just 34 years, and the lush mountains of New York? But over the past three years, Hobart resident Dennis Gaboury has been building links between our community and Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city. He has accomplished this by founding ZimKids, a project that helps feed, clothe and educate Bulawayo’s orphans, encourages their creativity and teaches them about the dignity of work.

By Brian Sweeney
New Margaretville Central School Superintendent Anthony Albanese has been on the job since July 1 and is looking forward to the start of school. Mr. Albanese has been working with the board for more than a month and has met many staff members who are already at MCS preparing for a new year.

The Catskill Watershed Corporation (CWC) Board of Directors on July 22 approved two storm water grants to the Town of Shandaken as well as a grant to the Village of Walton to repair a stream bank retaining wall. The board also heard from Executive Director Alan Rosa that a $26 million contract between CWC and New York City has been executed to continue the residential septic repair program through 2017, and to allow planning for two new septic programs to go forward.