Columnists
Down the Decades
December 1, 2020 Edition
110 Years Ago - 1910
A 400-day clock is on display in the Summer Jewelry Store in Honesdale. The clock is encased in a glass globe and, with but one winding, will run over a year.
Conrad Ruppert of Kenoza Lake and Miss Anna Kohler of Jeffersonville were married at the latter place on ...read more
Garden Guru
The spice is right
A few weeks ago, I wrote about black pepper and its origin. So this week, I decided to take on a couple other spices that are used quite frequently this time of year. The first spice is one that is usually seen adorning a delicious baked ham for Christmas.
Of course I am speaking of cloves, ...read more
Retrospect
Books About Local History Still Make Great Holiday Gifts
Pandemic or no, another holiday season is here, and with it comes the reminder from this column that books about the history of Sullivan County and the surrounding Catskills region make great gifts.
There are a few new books this year and a number of older titles that deserve to be revisited ...read more
Bethel Corner
Bethel - December 1
Happy birthday to Michael Ryder, Glenn Hindley, Robin Zuckerman, Barbara Pavlak, Dan Young, Ilana Gold, Olivia Altman, Ellen Herfield, Jim C, Empress, Alan Perrelli, Jamee Schleifer, Chase, Robin Meddaugh, Ora Ramat, Kelly Levi, Mel Gitlin, Lillian Hendrickson, and Jay Meddaugh.
Anniversary ...read more
About Books
December 4, 2020
COBBLE HILL by Cecily von Ziegesar (Atria). The title prompts an alert: This is a novel, not a sociological study of the latest smartest place in Brooklyn; it's full of real people to get to know intimately. The author of the Gossip Girl books is not just smart, but compassionate and insightful. ...read more
Making Sense Out of Dollars
“A” is for Annuities
Part 1 of 8
An annuity is a contractually executed, relatively low-risk investment product, where the insured (usually, an individual) pays a life insurance company a lump-sum premium at the start of the contract. That money is to be paid back to the insured in fixed, incremental amounts, over ...read more
Kenoza Lake
Kenoza Lake - December 4
Greetings to all! Did you catch that super full Beaver moon this past weekend? Wow!
Whitetail rifle season seemed to be very active this year due to the favorable weather conditions (warm, no rain) for the hunters combined with the Thanksgiving week where some hunters took off the entire week ...read more
Hope for the Day
Appreciate What You Have
Most of us tend to not appreciate what we have until it's gone, at least not to the full extent of appreciation we should show. I think we've all dealt with this in one form or another.
I realized too late after my parents had passed away that I should have done more to show appreciation for ...read more
Woodridge
Woodridge - January 17
Woodridge lost a treasure recently with the passing of Robert Longo, who was born in 1921 in Hazelton, Pennsylvania. He was one of ten children, part of a large and loving, but financially struggling family.
Upon graduation from high school in 1939 Bob decided to get a job to help with the ...read more
Youngsville
January 21
It's been awhile since I have written. The holidays arrived, we were busy and then the weeks somehow got away from me and one week turned into another and then another.
So here we are, into the New Year, 2014, and I am back. I hope everyone had a great holiday season and that the New Year ...read more
Smallwood
Smallwood - December 4
December 4 - November 2020 was month number eleven out of twelve in a very tough year. Only December to go…Lordy, Lordy. I think most Americans are longing for a respite from political acrimony and the rapidly worsening coronavirus numbers.
You and I, we came to greening Sullivan to be happy, ...read more
Jeffersonville
Jeffersonville - December 4
Small Business Saturday in Jeffersonville was dreary, cloudy, with spurts of rain, sleet and drizzle but everyone still said they had a terrific day.
Many enjoyed a FREE horse drawn wagon ride sponsored by the JEMS beautification group! Santa rode in the wagon along with the kids, handing out ...read more
Lake Huntington
Lake Huntington - December 1
I hope you all had a very happy and healthy and fun Thanksgiving. Mine was great, after dessert my brother was laying on my couch and my cousin was nodding off in my lazy boy as I sat on the hard dining room table chair with my cousin's wife.
I know I was being rude but I did not care. I told ...read more
White Sulphur Springs
White Sulphur Springs - August 28
Celebrating their birthdays this month are Tom Lewis August 7, Deb Fink August 8, Matt Dewitt August 19, Tom Edwards August 22.
A very special birthday celebration this past weekend was held for Alice Edwards, known to many as “Grandma Alice,” turned 100 years old. On Saturday she was surprised ...read more
Older & Wiser
Medicare Advantage Plans
Last week we reviewed Medicare Prescription Coverage or Part D. This week we will look into Medicare Advantage Plans.
Medicare's Annual Election Period is the time of year when you can make changes to your Medicare coverage. Open Enrollment is October 15 through December 7, and any changes you ...read more
Monticello
Monticello - November 16
This will be my last column for the Democrat for Monticello.
Good Luck to the three new members who were installed at the Monticello Elks Club and they are: Kyle McNair, Deborah Walker and Rosemarie Paty.
The Roast Beef dinner that was recently held by the Monticello Kiwanians seemed to be ...read more
Narrowsburg
Narrowsburg - January 15
In one of my 2018 “Narrowsburg News” columns, I requested information on a house in the Luxton Lake section of town. I had just bought the circa 1860s farmhouse, which was abandoned for many decades, and was starting the process of renovating it. I had heard tales it was called “Sleepy Hollow” ...read more
Library Directors Corner
Picture Books as Mirrors and Windows
According to Jane Gangi, a Mount Saint Mary College education professor, “To develop healthy identities and become proficient readers, children must see themselves in books. All children need both ‘mirror' and ‘window' books - books in which they see themselves and books in which they learn about ...read more
Give Us Paws
A hairy matter
You're really lucky to be human: you get to choose what you wear. Longer days and warmer weather make us want to change our wardrobe and get the lighter, brighter attire ready to wear. Pets? They each get one coat, with underwear that sheds in bits and pieces, all over the place. And no fur-bearing ...read more
EMS Coordinator
EMS - May 11
The requirements to be a paramedic are intense. It is a career choice for the brave at heart and not without consequences. Paramedicine is the highest level of EMS training. A paramedic can perform advanced life support skills such as initiating an IV, administering medications and advanced ...read more
Looking Back: At Vietnam
A Modern Look
Prologue:
Future editions of this column will cover various weapons of America's modern military.
There will be articles about our bombers, fighters, helicopters, drones, tanks, submarines and aircraft carriers over the past 45 years since Vietnam--and also a glimpse into our future ...read more
Highland
Highland - December 1
December 1 - With another slightly weird Covid-19 Thanksgiving in the books, its' time to think about the upcoming Christmas season and how we as families can celebrate our holiday traditions safely observing social distancing and contact free events. I have two great suggestions.
One of my ...read more
Jewish Culture
The Light of Existence
Recently, I read a biography of Rabbi Avigdor Miller, titled, “Rav Avigdor Miller - His Life and His Revolution”. Biographies of great people are enjoyable to read and are a great source of wisdom. Rabbi Miller was a very interesting person and his teachings have a very widespread influence.
He ...read more
Liberty
Liberty - November 24
Hello Everyone: I'm glad the happiness of Thanksgiving is upon us. Our family has so much to thank the Good Lord for and that will be our main prayer as we hold hands around the table before enjoying our traditional dinner. Our family has grown with a new daughter-in-law and three of our grands ...read more
The Job Coach
Why do you want to work here?
Why do you want to work here?
In a previous article, I talked about answering the question, “what is your greatest weakness?” As you may recall, this is a traditional interview question - a common question that you can anticipate getting at some point during an interview. And because you know ...read more
Veterans Voice
My personal experiences …
Vietnam ended for me during May 1969 when I was seriously wounded on “Hamburger Hill.” Hill 937 was located in the Ashau Valley, a stronghold and Headquarters for the North Vietnam Army, located along the Ho Chi Minh trail, by means of Cambodia and Laos zigzagging along the western border of ...read more
Greening Sullivan
Summing up
I am going to take a leave of absence from this weekly column. It has been a privilege to share ideas with you to solve a problem about which I care very deeply.
I know that we share a common concern that our Earth is losing its ability to support human life. I am puzzled that so many hesitate ...read more
Looking Back: America's Military
The Lovable “Wart Hog”
Prelude
The Post Vietnam war produced a period of relative peace for most US Forces. However, American engineering and technology aggressively continued, with the result that within 10 years, the USAF would stand-up the most modern, stealthy and heavily Armadas in history. From the huge AF ...read more
