Log in Subscribe

Highland - March 17

Paula Campbell - Community Correspondent
Posted 3/16/20

These are some crazy days. I was particularly bummed that the Yulan Fire Department's 49th Annual Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner was cancelled. The Eldred schools are set to close until March 28 and …

This item is available in full to subscribers.

Please log in to continue

Log in

Highland - March 17

Posted

These are some crazy days. I was particularly bummed that the Yulan Fire Department's 49th Annual Corned Beef and Cabbage Dinner was cancelled. The Eldred schools are set to close until March 28 and the administration will decide after the closure when they will reopen but it looks like it will be on April 3.

The good news is the employees at the school will be paid during the closure. The New York City St. Patrick's Day Parade which has been held continuously for 260 years has been postponed not cancelled- which seems like a ray of hope that a virus hailing from China and named after a Mexican beer has not stopped the biggest Irish pride parade in America.

The Sunshine Hall Library and the other libraries in the Ramapo Catskill Library System that encompasses forty seven chartered libraries in Orange, Rockland, Sullivan, and parts of Ulster counties and serve a population of over 800,000 patrons will be shuttered for two weeks until they all reopen on Saturday March 28 when they will resume their regular schedules.

During the closure you can access their data base and download e-books and other materials using your Library card. There will be no fines for overdue library materials during the emergency closure. Just to note the Sunshine Library will leave their Wi-Fi service on and it can be accessed outside the building. This is exceptionally good news for our friend Boris!

Well one very good thing we all can look forward to is that our Sullivan County Historian John Conway will be a featured speaker at the Sunshine Hall Free Library on the day they reopen, Saturday March 28 at 2 p.m. John is on a Book Tour for his latest book “In Further Retrospect.” The book is a compilation of his 32 years of his writings his column “Retrospect” and includes his favorite columns and how his life as a writer evolved.

While some might not be enthralled by the idea of listening to a historian-take my word for it John Conway is a master storyteller and his being a historian means that in addition to his absorbing tales of local misfortunes, miscreants, mayhem and usually a murder or two his stories are accurate and based on facts.

I have been on several walks with John and Deborah Conway and always accompanied by Preston their dog and it was a wonderful experience. Several years ago, on a perfect Catskill autumn day John and Debora held an amazing walk through the Minisink Battleground. They expected twenty-five to thirty people but close to two hundred and fifty people showed up. It was a fabulous time filled with engrossing battlefield stories that have stayed with me to this day.

When John is at the Sunshine Hall Free Library signed copies of his new book “In Further Retrospect” will be available for sale. All proceeds from the book sales will go to the Delaware Company a local historical not-for-profit whose mission is to further educational history programs including the preservation of local historical sites and install official markers that designate local historical landmarks in our community.

I was sorry to see the posting on Facebook by the Catskill Mountains Resort in Barryville announcing that since many of their visitors and guests come from New York City and other areas affected by the virus, that they were cancelling all of their events and closing down their operations until further notice.

Between the Resort and the RCLS Library system a lot of local people just found themselves out of work. Stay safe everyone and help your neighbors in need.

Comments

No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here