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Highland

August 23, 2022

Paula Campbell
Posted 8/23/22

August 22 - The Upper Del- aware Council (UDC) is an in- creasingly important environ- mental not-for-profit chaired by avid fisherman and High- land resident, Andy Boyer. Created by an Act of …

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Highland

August 23, 2022

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August 22 - The Upper Delaware Council (UDC) is an in- creasingly important environmental not-for-profit chaired by avid fisherman and Highland resident, Andy Boyer. Created by an Act of Congress in 1988 the UDC manages the partnership of the local, state and the Federal Government and oversees the interests of the National Parks Service and the local river commu- nities that stretch along the 73.4 miles that has been designated as the Upper Dela- ware Scenic and Recreational River. With close to 300,000 summer visitors pouring into the river communities, massive ill-advised new development projects are being proposed-including one with a rollercoaster and giant water park no less. The UDC awards grants, holds community events, advises local towns on both sides of the river on compliance with the River Management Plan’s Land and Water Use Guidelines. On Sunday, September 18th starting at 3pm the UDC will be holding their 34th Annual River Valley Awards ceremony to honor local environmental activists for their contributions.

No one in the Town of Highland is surprized that John Pizzolato has been selected to receive the Community Ser- vice Award for his work with the Upper Delaware Scenic Byway, the Greater Barryville Chamber of Commerce, the Upper Delaware Litter Sweep, the Barryville Farmers Mar- ket, the Town of Highland River Access projects, and Shadfest-The Festival of the Founding Fish. Johnny is known for owning multiple successful businesses in town and supporting the growing business community. But for me you learn about a person when they do things when no one is watching. For the past several years Johnny and five other volunteers (including this columnist) has volunteered at the St. Anthony’s Food Pantry in Yulan. We unload the food truck from the County, make up the pantry family’s food boxes and dis- tribute them to our families. Johnny went one step further and used donations from the Barryville Farmers Market’s shoppers and paid for our families to each get a fresh home cooked meal made from locally sourced foods from “A Single Bite” a not-for-profit food program founded by Foster Supply Hospitality who own a group of small boutique hotels and restau- rants throughout the Catskills. These meals are much ap- preciated and a true godsend especially for our seniors.

The keynote speaker at the UDC’s Awards will be Con- gressman Matt Cartwright (PA-8th District) followed by a reception with hors d’oeuvres and a cash bar. Other award recipients are William Rudge who will receive the Distin- guished Service Award for serving for thirty-five years at NYS Department of Environ- mental Conservation. Local journalist Liam Mayo of the River Reporter newspaper will be awarded the Special Recognition Award for providing accurate and insightful local journalism; Sam Macri, 11 years old will receive the Robin Daniels Memorial Lifesaving Award for rescuing his younger brother from drowning in Skinners Falls. The owners of the Cochecton Pump House Dave Lieber
and Jin Zhang will receive the Cultural Achievement Award for their historic preservation and rehabilitation of the abandoned 1881 Standard Oil Pump House and repurposing the site into a successful biergarten and event space. Juan and Carmen Rigal will also receive a Cultural Achievement Award for providing twenty-five years of art exhibits at the Nutshell Arts Center. This year’s Recreation Achievement Award will go to Dan Santoro for his conservation efforts of river and highway clean-ups in Pennsylvania. The other Recreational Award will be given to Corrine Hinton for designing bilingual water safety posters. The Volunteer Award will be presented to Cameron Forehand for creating twenty-seven new website pages for the National Parks Service and the Upper Delaware Scenic and Recreational River website on natural resources subjects. The Oaken Gavel Award will be presented to Jeffrey Dexter the UDC’s representative from Damascus Pennsylvania.

The River Valley Awards Banquet will be held at the Central House Family Resort located at 81 Milanville Road in Beach Lake PA. The Tickets are $31.00 and include the Ceremony and the Buffet. For planning purposes, you need to make your reservation (form available on the UDC website) by Friday, September 9th. The UDC has an excellent website with a lot of information about their programs and the River Valley Awards event. For more information about donating, tickets or details about the event go to upper-delawarecouncil.org /email info@upperdelawarecouncil. org or call 845-252-3022.

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