Recently when the rainstorms agreed to a pause, a beautiful new “dove” flew into Barryville and landed on Route 97 near the eagle observatory last weekend. In many cultures a dove is thought to bring good luck, unity, hope and peace. This dove is one of the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce’s Dove Trail’s very popular public art program that showcases fiberglass dove sculptures that are wonderfully designed and painted by local artists. In all sixty-six doves have been installed throughout the County. Our newest Dove is sponsored by local businessman Jules Robinson who owns Silver Canoes, a full-service river canoe and rafting livery on the Delaware River and Rent My Escape.com, which rents family vacation homes in both New York and in Puerto Rico. The Dove was designed and painted by Catherine Four of Eldred, who also painted the Dove which is installed in Eldred and her design reflects Mr. Robinson’s love and appreciation for both places- New York on the banks of the Delaware River and at the Humacao Natural Reserve on the ocean in Puerto Rico. Jules Robinson’s roots in our area run deep. At the unveiling ceremony Jules told the guests at the event that his family came to the area over one hundred years ago and that the Delaware River is such a gift and he pointed out the farmhouse built in the 1800’s right on the banks of the river that belonged to his mother. He told all of us gathered around the Dove how his life here in Sullivan County has been good for him and his family, and he is grateful for all the community support he has been given. After the unveiling of this beautiful Dove, we enjoyed some refreshments as his gathered friends congratulated him and wished him continued good fortunes. Next time you are headed north on Route 97, take a look at Jules Robinson’s very pretty Dove.

I was really happy to see a posting that the old Clancy’s Diner site at the junction of route 55 and 97 that was the Barryville Creamery which closed down suddenly several months ago will be reopening again soon. Its going to be a Chilly Willys. I remember them as having a fleet of ice cream trucks but there are others that are restaurants. In addition to ice cream, they will have hamburgers and hotdogs and fries and I am sure other menu items as well. The posting did not include a date when the Chilly Willys restaurant will be opening but I am hoping it will be sometime in July. I am happy that the location will be open and busy as it is the gateway to Barryville and gets a lot of traffic. Now it might be a very opportune time for the New York State Department of Transportation to do something about changing that blinking red light and put in a full stop traffic light. We will be having a lot of visitors and people will be walking around that area more now that the River’s Edge is open and doing a lot of business and the river access is cleaned up and is being used. Changing the traffic light would go a long way in providing better pedestrian and traffic safety for our town.