120 Years Ago - 1901

Born to John Sr. and Jennie Costa of Monticello, a son, William George, on December 31.

110 Years Ago - 1911

One of the phenomena that occasionally happens to the Delaware River occurred on Friday night about ten o'clock when the ice began to flood and in a half hour's time the river was clear, the flood had subsided and there was not more water in the river than there is usually in mid-summer. And the weather was down to zero at that. Where all the water came from to clear the river at this time is a mystery, although the ice passed through Hancock only five hours before it came around here, which is proof that it was moving at the rate of six miles an hour. Going at that rate there must have been some water behind it, although where it all came from is the mystery as there had been no thaw to speak of. Early Saturday morning, report came from Lackawaxen that the ice had passed there, so that there was no jam at Narrowsburg, which is an unusual occurrence.

Ice racing, that very popular winter sport, will soon be with us and all the racing horses are being put in trim for the campaign. Charles Quick is getting his apparently unbeatable horse ready and any of them that beats Charlie down the stretch have got to step some although Charles Gould has recently purchased a speedy one with which he claims he will show them all up. So the prospects are that we will see some good racing this winter. The Kenoza Lake people expect to start the season in the near future and Tennanah Lake will follow suit immediately after.

100 Years Ago - 1921

Foreman E.D. Bennett of the Erie carpenters on the Delaware and Wyoming Divisions began operations this week to erect a waiting room, a shed and an interfence at the Callicoon station. The material is on the ground and the actual work will commence tomorrow. The structure across the tracks from the present station will measure 8 by 15 for the waiting room and the shed will be 8 by 44. The waiting room will be heated by a stove and electrically lighted. The cost will be approximately $3,000. The fence will cost $1,200 and will commence at the west side of the highway crossing at the station, running between the two tracks and will have gates at the two foot crossings.

Santa was good to Mr. and Mrs. Louis Weber of Beaver Brook. He called there Christmas night and left a 12-pound baby girl.

The roads are in very bad shape, particularly the Yulan-Barryville highway. The big lumber trucks have it rutted badly. Ought there not be some system of recompense whereby the heavy users of the highways should assume the expense to the town they incur?

At its annual session at Ithaca last week the New York State Forest, Fish and Game League recommended that the limit on trout be changed from 6 to 8 inches, and to shorten the rabbit season from October 1 to January 1.

The Christmas entertainment at the Lake Huntington Presbyterian Church Friday night was largely attended and enjoyed by all. Three awards were given for best attendance at Sunday School, the first going to Frederick Meyer and the two seconds to Anna Furk and Anita Gettle. The offering of the evening totaled $22 and will be sent to the needy in Europe.

90 Years Ago - 1931

Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Ellison have announced the engagement of their daughter, Virginia Louise, to Fred H. Starck Jr. of Monticello. No date has been set for the wedding.

The Callicoon Bakery is closed this morning. Martin Koch, who came here last summer, moved his family and all of his belongings last night and early this morning left for New York City. T.M. Gautche, the owner of the bakery, could not be reached, so it is not known whether it will be reopened or not.

Jacob P. Beck, Bernard Henke and L.J. Buddenhagen, directors of the Callicoon Cooperative Dairy Association, attended a meeting of dairymen at Utica over the weekend.

Dorothy, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth Bernhardt, was painfully injured Monday evening while sleigh-riding near the Hunt residence. Then the sled skidded into the bank, her ankle was dislocated and she will probably be incapacitated for several weeks.

Burglars, believed to be heads of families in this region, broke into the feed mill of Clarence D. Fortnam at Cochecton Wednesday night last week and took fifteen 100-pound bags of flour away in a truck.

Announcement has been made of the coming marriage of Gerald Zurn of Lordville and Miss Dorothy Bonnefond of Hancock.

Henry Furk of South Cochecton has been placed as agent of the Endwell Hatchery Co. which has a branch location at Callicoon. The main office is in Binghamton.

Anna Marion Dwyer, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Dwyer of Callicoon, and James Roche of Callicoon, were married at Holy Cross Church at noon, December 27. They were attended by Miss Nora Roche of Great Neck and Francis Dwyer of New York City, sister and brother of the groom and bride. A reception was held at the Franklin Inn. He is employed at Hermann's garage.

80 Years Ago - 1941

At a party at their home on Christmas Eve, Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Skinner of Hurleyville announced the engagement of their daughter, Mildred, to Harold Keegan of Kenoza Lake, and their daughter, Gwendolyn, to Clifford Allen of South Fallsburg. No date has been set for either wedding.

The annual Bauernfeind family reunion was held at the John Bauernfeind homestead in Beechwoods on Christmas Day as had been the custom for the past 28 years. In 1912, the first of the Bauernfeind fledglings wished to try her wings and flew from the home next to a new one of her own. There were 35 members and four generations present and due to the beautiful day with the temperature running up to 60 degrees, the group assembled on the porch and steps for pictures.

Mr. and Mrs. William Maus of Hankins announce the engagement of their daughter, Marian S., to David S. Blatchly, son of Mr. and Mrs. M. Blatchly of Liberty.

Mr. and Mrs. Frank S. Bury of Fremont Center announce the engagement of their daughter, Helen, to Lawrence Maurer of Callicoon, on Christmas Day, 1940.

On Friday evening of last week, the Masons of Jeffersonville met and elected Willard Schadt as master. Miss Bernice Fuhrer of Kenoza Lake will serve as Matron of Lincoln Chapter, Order of the Eastern Star.

A daughter, Karen Louise, was born at the Liberty Hospital December 24 to Mr. and Mrs. Victor Hofer of Hurleyville. Mr. Hofer formerly engaged in farming at the George Schmidt farm in North Branch and Mrs. Hofer was the teacher at the Quick School two terms prior to her marriage.

70 Years Ago - 1951

In a letter back home, Harry Fisher of Hortonville, stationed on the USS Newport News in the Mediterranean reports seeing John Moore who is on the Coral Sea. He also reports seeing Mt. Etna erupt and spending Christmas at a party of about 250 orphans in Naples. He expects to be home in June or July.

John P. Kenney, Supervisor of the Town of Fremont, was elected chairman of the Sullivan County Board of Supervisors.

Beatrice Winkler and Arthur Grafmuller were married on Sunday, December 31, at Hankins… Elizabeth Newman of Hortonville and Fred Heflich of Long Eddy were married December 31 at St. Joseph's in Callicoon…Virginia, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Fisher of Hortonville, and Eugene Villeume of Honesdale, were married at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Narrowsburg on December 30…Cecelia Tucker and Theodore Comstock were married January 1 at St. Lucy's Church in Cochecton.

The engagement of Leona Lillian Keesler of Fosterdale to George J. Allgeier has been announced…Mr. and Mrs. Louis Gagliardi of North Branch announce the engagement of their daughter, Rose, to Howard Newman of Callicoon RFD.

60 Years Ago - 1961

Mr. and Mrs. William F. Luckey of Kenoza Lake announce the engagement of their daughter, Linda Irene, to Raymond E. Ferber, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Ferber, RFD 1, Callicoon. No date has been set for the wedding.

Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Newman were honored on the occasion of their 50th wedding anniversary with a party at the Village Inn, Hortonville, on December 28.

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Turner of Callicoon have announced the engagement of their daughter, Donna, to Walter R. Gries, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Gries, Damascus, PA. No date has been set for the wedding…Mrs. Loretta Schmidt announced the engagement of her daughter, Beatrice, to Harry Joseph Bartik, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harry Bartik of Liberty.

Dora Lynn Simmons, first New Year's baby in Sullivan's six hospitals, was born one hour and 35 minutes after midnight, January 1. Her mother, the former Doris Cotton, attended school in Callicoon and Livingston Manor. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Simmons now live in Shandelee.

Mrs. Mary Ort of Eldred will mark her 102nd birthday Saturday.

Firemen from Callicoon, Cochecton and Lookout-Equinunk and neighbors saved the barn on the Thomas Litzenbauer farm at Damascus Township, PA., from destruction by fire on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Stella Ann Day, 13, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Day, Union (near Equinunk, Pa.) died on January 1 after a fall down stairs in her home. She had been carrying her 4-year-old brother when she fell but he was unharmed.

Born to Mr. and Mrs. George Hubert, a son, on December 26, at Liberty-Loomis Hospital.

Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Chellis celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary on December 28.

Mr. and Mrs. Frederick J. Sadenwater celebrated their silver anniversary on January 1 with an open house.

50 years ago - 1971

Mr. and Mrs. Walter C. Vogler of North Branch have announced the engagement of their daughter, Barbara Ann, to Gary E. Hess, son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Hess of Hortonville.

Supervisors Chairman Edward Bisland will be a candidate for chairman at the upcoming organizational meeting in the New Year. Mr. Bisland has served as chairman in 1966 and 1967 and was again elected in 1970.

Harry W. Yates, the youthful lonewolf bank robber who seized $13,400 at gunpoint from the United National Bank in Callicoon March 7, 1968, pleaded innocent in Sullivan County Court to first degree robbery.

On Saturday afternoon, at the Liberty Elks' Annual Christmas Party for children, Santa Claus presented a check in the amount of $500 to Mrs. Charlotte Wright, administrator of the United Cerebral Palsy School on Wawanda Ave. John J. McGorrian was chairman of the event.

A daughter was born Wednesday to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Kent of North Branch.

PFC Douglas P. Mansmann, son of Mr. and Mrs. Douglas H. Mansmann of Hortonville and Central Islip, is now serving a tour of duty with the USMC 1st Bn., in Vietnam.

Edwin E. Worsoe arrived last Tuesday at the home of his brother, Mr. and Mrs. Carl Worsoe of Obernburg, from Ethiopia to spend the Christmas holiday with his family. He will return to Ethiopia on the 4th of January to finish the work that he has been doing for the commercial bank of Ethiopia until the end of February when he will finish his trip around the world.

Work continues to progress on the new Grover M. Hermann division of the Sullivan County Community General Hospital with predictions of a May opening - possibly even April. Visitors are welcome at the construction site to see what is being done. Six patients' rooms have been sponsored, leaving 11 still to be sponsored. The operating room is to be dedicated to Mr. C.P. Kautz, and the lobby to his widow, Mrs. C.P. Kautz, who is a major contributor to the hospital's building fund. The local area fund drive has raised $280,000 in gifts and pledges. Principal contributor to the hospital's building fund is Grover M. Hermann of Pebble Beach, Calif., a native of Callicoon and a prominent industrialist/philanthropist. His gifts total $500,000.

40 Years Ago - 1981

Monticello Village Police are investigating a rash of vandalism when windows in two Monticello elementary schools were smashed over the weekend: 20 in the K.L. Rutherford School on Lloyd Lane; 10 windows and 3 doors at the George L. Cooke School on Franklin Ave.

Don A. Zylstra, who farms around 200 acres in Cochecton and maintains a herd of 80 dairy cattle, was one of 24 winners of an Agway Energy sweepstakes held in a 12-state area recently. His prize consists of about $1,000 in merchandise.

When the state legislature met in November it passed a bill that provided a state reduction in taxes at Monticello Raceway for three years and an increase in purses for all upstate New York tracks. The winter meet ran from November 14 to January 4. “The winter meet did not go at all well,” said Leo Doobin, president of Monticello Raceway. “The very cold weather hurt us. I would say our loss will be in the hundreds of thousands.”

Richard R. Freda, president of Outdoor Adventures, Ltd., of Callicoon, became the Northeast distributor for “Instaboat,” a folding aluminum boat and “Instaport,” a folding fiberglass dinghy. Both were introduced at the recent sporting goods Manufacturer's Association Exposition at the New York Coliseum.

30 Years Ago - 1991

Two fires of suspicious origin Christmas week made a total of five structure fires over the past two months being scrutinized as possible arsons, according to Liberty Fire Chief Paul LeRoy. Fire destroyed a barn and trailer on Old Route 17 near the Raggedy Ann Restaurant. A UPS employee spotted a second Christmas week fire in an unoccupied bungalow on White Sulphur Road. Other fires under investigation are a home on Fern­dale-Loomis Road near the Cornell Cooperative Extension and two separate fires at an auto junkyard in Ferndale.

Mr. and Mrs. Warren Brey of Kenoza Lake have announced the engagement of their daughter, Stephanie, to Mark Anthony Tyler of Lake Huntington. A June 1991 wedding is planned.

John Barnes of Barryville accepted a $75 check and free mount, courtesy of Rod's Taxidermy in Callicoon, in the Democrat's Big Buck Contest for his 9 pointer which measured 82 1/2 points. He also won $25 for the weight contest.

The first babies of Sullivan and Wayne counties both made their grand entry into the new world on Tuesday, January 1, 1991. Susan and David Kirk of Milford, PA., became the parents of their second girl, Adrianne Kirk, who arrived at 12:35 a.m. at the Wayne Memorial Hospital in Honesdale, PA. She weighed 7 lbs. 8 oz. and measured 20 inches long. Mark Anthony Muniz Jr., son of Dawn and Mark Anthony Muniz Sr. of Monticello, was born at 5:54 a.m. at Community General Hospital in Harris. He weighed 6 lbs. 1 3/4 oz. and measured 20 inches long.

20 Years Ago - 2001

Sean Hanofee, one of the organizers of the Liberty Bell Drop at the Liberty Museum and Arts Center in downtown Liberty on New Year's Eve, got down on one knee and proposed to Rose Callihan - and she accepted - before an enthusiastic audience just minutes before the ringing in of the new year.

Mr. and Mrs. Howard Wehner Jr. of Lancaster announce the engagement of their daughter, Wendy, to Staff Sergeant Milton Jobe Smith, son of Kathryn Ann Smith of Somerville, Tenn., and the late George Smith. Miss Wehner is the granddaughter of Howard and Myrtle Wehner of White Sulphur Springs and the late Lynn and Anita Loughrey, formerly of Liberty.

The Liberty Parks & Recreation Department has a new soccer field at Pearson Park, thanks to the Sullivan County BOCES Heavy Equipment/ Agricultural Mechanics class. Students of Mr. Raum's class who worked on the project included Ryan Bose, Phil Horn, Garrett Connor, Tim Sazoff, Joe Hernandez, Rich Stagl, Steve Klantz, Matt Fulton, Jason Huggler, William Gould, Chris Freer and Ed Oathout.

10 Years Ago - 2011

This past December County Court Judge Burt Ledina administered the oath of office to his successor, attorney Michael F. McGuire of Liberty. Family Court Judge Mark Meddaugh was master of ceremonies and Retired New York State Supreme Court and Appellate Division Associate Judge Anthony Kane was also on hand.

Wayne Memorial celebrates the arrival of the first baby born of 2011 in Wayne County, PA, Makayla Marie Reisen born January 2, 2011 to Melissa Pegolo and Eric Reisen of Lake Ariel, PA.

Catskill Regional Medical Center celebrated the arrival of the first baby born of 2011 in Sullivan County, Chardae Iyanna Davis born January 3, 2011 to Vincent and Donna Davis of Liberty.