Nothing makes me happier than the first spring afternoon I see smoke curling up from Lou Monteleone’s Pizza Piazza oven at the four corners in Eldred. Last weekend, Lou began his fourteenth year of making his delicious brick oven pizzas. Year after year, the Pizza Piazza business has grown rapidly and last year was recognized as an important destination by a national motorcycle touring magazine. Lou and his brother Frank and Frank’s wife, Phylis, staff the Piazza, which does a huge eat-in and take-out business – and the Piazza has served to revitalize the area by bringing in more people and customers to town. Frank Monteleone and Phylis also own the new Hydro Farm across the street. In the years I have lived here probably four different ice cream shops have opened and closed while June Monteleone has managed The Corner Shop that has been selling the best ice cream, shakes and floats for decades. If you have been sitting around wondering if families working as a team, and putting in the hard work every day really pays off, you only have to look as far as the Monteleone family who have at least five successful businesses within a block of Eldred. In addition, they have revitalized a beautiful small park, built a charging station for electric cars across from Town Hall and on September 14th, Lou Monteleone will once again be hosting his St. Baldricks Pediatric Cancer fundraiser at the Piazza where he had raised over $250,000 in donations for medical research projects that are happening all over the world to find a cure for pediatric cancers. In addition, Frank Monteleone recently accepted a voluntary appointment as the Vice Chair of the Town of Highland Planning Board which is a big responsibility. At Christmas, the Hydro Farm has an unbelievable light show every night while across the street Lou does his traditional Christmas party with Santa and costumed characters and collecting donations for the homeless, no kill pet shelters and Toys for Tots – all because the Monteleone family feels it’s important to give back to our community.

Over the years, the Piazza became a premier destination for brick oven thin crust pizza with fifteen menu items available. The menu offers meat lovers, Garbage pie (with everything), The Okie (pepperoncini, jalapenos and sauce) and the classic Fresca (no sauce, sliced tomatoes, black olives, mozzarella, and olive oil) but hands down my favorite menu item is to order their meatballs with sauce and a huge dollop of mascarpone cheese and fresh basil. Once Lou gets into the groove, he sometimes makes breakfast pizza and an apple crumb dessert pizza (call first before ordering). I guess it’s a reminder that we need to continue to support our wonderful new businesses and our very established businesses to have them continue to flourish and lead to more growth and responsible development for the Town of Highland. Our congratulations to the Monteleone family for all of their contributions to advancing the business community in Eldred.

On Saturday, May 18th, from 10-1 p.m. the Barryville Farmers Market will open for the season. With some new vendors and our favorites, over twenty  vendors will be participating at the Market. In a salute to the Shad Fest celebration there will be shad tastings with celebrity chef Annika Sundvik, a presentation about the history of shad fishing with Sullivan County Historian John Conway, and DJ Wiggleroom playing fish and water themed funk, soul, and disco music. Shad festivities continue that evening at the River’s Edge Bar and Restaurant from 9-11 p.m. featuring world renown singer Miho Hatori and her band Cibo Matto. Free entry for all with a cash bar and special shad themed drinks. For more information about Shad Fest and the Barryville Farmers Market go the barryvillefarmersmarket.org.