Strong Turnout for Hobart Community Alliance

Staff Report

HOBART — The recently formed Hobart Community Alliance (HCA) had a strong turnout for its meeting at the Hobart Community Hall on Thursday, October 30th meeting, despite the inclement weather.

Don Thomases said that a Steering Committee composed of Don Thomases, Don Dales, and Kathy Duyer will provide leadership of the HCA until new leaders are elected.

Thanks to a gift to the Hobart Community Alliance from Doris Rich, a clean-up committee was formed to take responsibility for cleaning the garden areas around the two Hobart signs on Main Street, at both ends of the village. Committee members will plant flowers around the signs, at least twice a year. Michelle Stephens, Evelyn Aguirre, and Kathy Duyer have agreed to work on this project.

Treasurer’s Report

Don Dales delivered the Treasurer’s Report and said that the HCA has four funds. The General Fund has the $1939 that was received from the Hobart Civic Association. The Kiosk Fund has $3336, to be used to maintain the kiosks along the rail trail in Stamford and Hobart. The Christmas Lights Fund has $1540 remaining from the donations collected, to be used to repair or replace lights as needed in the future. These three funds are deposited in the Hobart Community Alliance checking account. The fourth fund, made up of monies received as donations for the Hobart History Sign Project, has been deposited into an account controlled by Hobart Historical Society. It contains $4050, which will be used to maintain the current signs, create new signs about the history of the buildings in the village, as well as presenting another Hobart History Day in 2026, a decision that will be made together with the Hobart History Society.

Carolyn Bennett, former Director/Curator of the Zadock Pratt Museum in Greene County and the Town of Prattsville’s Historian for two decades, is curating an exhibit of early 20th century photographer and Hobart resident, Anna Carroll. Carroll’s photographs will be displayed in 2026 at MURAL Art Gallery on Main Street in Hobart. Anna Carroll lived in Hobart from 1868until her death in 1925 and photographed family, friends, and many places in the community. Bennett will give a presentation about Carroll at the November 5, 2025, meeting of the Hobart Historical Society, 56 Cornell Avenue, starting at 6:00 p.m.

Don Thomases and Julie Rockefeller recently spoke with every business owner that has a sign on the kiosks in Stamford and Hobart. They collected the annual fee from any business that will continue to have a sign on the kiosk. They also cleaned the maps and refreshed the information stickers.

There is a new radio station in Stamford called THE PULL. Don Thomases has a radio show called “On with Don.” On November 11, he will be interviewing Ralph and Nancy Beisler. To listen to Don’s interviews and other radio shows from The Pull, go to thepull.org and choose LISTEN at the top of the page.

The Stamford Library is reaching out to the community to gather feedback about the new library facility to be constructed. The goal of the new facility is to meet the needs of the community. Please take about 10 minutes to complete the survey online at https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/BTSB2DV or stop by the library to complete the survey on paper.

The group discussed potential projects for the HCA to consider: Improve lighting on Cornell Avenue. Encourage more public use of the park behind the Community Center by added landscaping and other improvements. Repair the sliding board at the Hobart park. Erect a fence around the basketball court to prevent balls from going into the street. Take the steps necessary to slow down traffic on Main Street Encourage improvement of vacant buildings on Main Street. Replace lamp posts on Main Street. Investigate grants to make further improvements to Main Street

This brainstorming session will be continued at the next meeting.

Come with ideas!

Announcements shared with the HBA included:

- The Hobart Rotary Club invites the community to a free turkey dinner on Sunday, November 23, 2025, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. at the Community Center, 80 Cornell Avenue. Made possible by the generous donation of turkeys from Mallinkrodt.

Next Meeting Dates

The regular schedule for HCA meetings is on the last Thursday of the month. Because the last Thursday of November falls on Thanksgiving and the last Thursday of December is Christmas, we will vary the usual schedule in those months. The next two meetings will be held on Monday, November 24, and Monday, December 22.