Mountain Top Library - Spring 2024 Events

Ongoing

Mondays

• 2-5pm: Monday Meet-Up- Spend the afternoon sipping coffee & socializing - We’ve got games, puzzles, programs, and more! Join us every Monday afternoon to share stories, play games, learn about local history, and enjoy conversation. All ages welcome.

• 4pm: Yoga with Jess- Conquer Your Case of the Mondays & Start The Week Rejuvenated! All levels welcome - Bring a mat *Part of Monday Meet-Up

Second Mondays

• 3pm: Local History Round Table- Bring Your Pictures & Stories to Share!

Tuesdays

• 10:30am: Learn English with Kathleen!

Thursdays

• 4pm: Piano Hour - Sign Up to Play the Piano or Just Enjoy the Tunes

Homeschool & After-School Enrichment Program:

Thursdays: April 18th & 25th from 4pm-5pm

Our Homeschool & After-School Enrichment Program is a positive and inclusive environment where pre-school and elementary age children can explore their interests, build friendships, and develop valuable life skills. Join us for a fun and educational extension to the school day, where every child can thrive and grow. All are welcome!

Looking for Tech Help? Our Mountain Top Library Digital Navigators are ready to assist!

Digital navigators are trained, trusted guides who help deal with a variety of technology needs.

To schedule an appointment for FREE individualized support at the Mountain Top Library, contact us at 518-589-5707

Special Events

Monday, April 29th - 2 pm: "Effective Communication Strategies: Presented by the Alzheimer's Association, Northeastern New York Chapter" - Explore how communication changes when someone is living with Alzheimer's. Register by calling 518-675-7214

Saturday, May 4th @ 10:30 am-1:30 pm: Earth Day Celebration at Mountain Top Library It's an Earth-stravaganza! Bring Your Earth Day Suit because the Mountain Top Celebrates Earth Day - ALL DAY - Saturday, May 4th! The festivities kick off from 10:30 - 1:30 at Mountain Top Library & when we shut it down - the party continues in Windham at the Main Street Community Center, from 1-5pm.

Saturday May 4th - 12 pm: “Wildlife Show” with Robinson’s Wildlife Lectures. Back by popular demand. Get close to majestic creatures. Sponsored by Stewart’s Shops Holiday Match Grant.

Monday, May 6th - 2 pm: “American Law” – Take a trip to law school with attorney & educator, Joseph M. Zecca.

6093 Main Street 

PO Box 427

Tannersville, NY 12485

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Ashland Speaks

By Lula Anderson

April showers bring May flowers, but what do April Monsoons bring besides mud?  I have a hankerin' to go out and check on my butterfly bushes that I planted in the fall, plus find out if my forsythia survived both the winter and my son's brush cutting, but, alas, it's way too wet to venture forth.  Monday and Tuesday are supposed to be bright and sunny with rain again the rest of the week.  I do hope this weather pattern shifts before summer.  I would love to get out and sit in the sun.  I heard on the radio this morning that hummingbirds have been sighted already.  I have to remember to tell Neil to keep an eye out.  So far, none have hit Judy in the head, but she hasn't been out much because of the aforementioned rain.  

A very happy 80th birthday to my friend Cora.  Her children threw her a surprise party last Saturday and it was very well attended.  We had a chance to catch up with all of the local people in the area. 

Heard that Stanley Soule was home for Easter and had dinner with Aunt Dot Giordano.  Sorry I missed you.

It's restaurant week which gave several of my friends an excuse to go out for lunch.  Had a great meal in Tannersville at Brave the Flames, then went to Tipps Tavern on Main Street Windham .

The East Jewett/ Katterskill UMC delivered more than 70 chicken dinners to shut ins and the elderly last week.  Thank you.

It was sad to hear of the passing of Robert (Bobbie) Hoagland last week.  He had been named Senior of the Year for Greene County a couple of years ago.  His sister, Irene, passed last October and I believe that his brother, John, is the only one still living.  I feel so old, as the Hoagland children were born at the Holdridge farm tenant house to Charles and Peggy.  So many of my friends are gone.  We look to extending our life but have no one to reminisce with.  

Prayers to Maureen McCuller and we hope you feel better soon, Cliff Cool.  

Sympathy to the Clay family from Prattsville.

AS I REMEMBER IT

Rainy days mean more sorting.  Among this week's treasures I found a  map : STATE ROADS 

This ROAD  MAP of the CATSKILLS AND  VICINITY.  and a list of the High Peaks of the Catskills.  The map cost 40 cents.  The first section was How to reach the Catskills.  The pleasantest rout to the Catskill Mountains during the summer season is by water.  The magnificent Catskills are in sight during sixty  miles of the glorious sail on the Hudson.  

The Day Line of Steamers:  The "Washington Irving" and the "Hendrick Hudson", were probably the most popular which left NYC daily from Desbosses St pier at 8:40 in the morning and West 129th St at 9:20 connecting Kingston Point with trains on the Ulster and Delaware Railroad for the Catskills and at Catskill by auto or private conveyance for all points in the Eastern Catskills.  My father, Leslie, had a class 2 driver's license and had an 8 passenger car with a homemade luggage rack on the top.  One of his jobs was to meet the Day Liner and pick up passengers to bring to our hotel in Ashland.   All of the big hotels had pickup service as most of their clientele stayed for at least a month.  I laugh at the ads trying to lure the traveler into staying with them.  The CATSKILL MOUNTAIN HOUSE was conducted on the American Plan.  For the convenience or tourist there was A La Carte service provided between meals.  Electric lights, steam heat, lavatoried with hot and cold running water.  Many suites had private baths.  New public baths and toilets on each floor convenient to rooms.  

The HEIDELBERG ON THE HILL  commanded a fine view of many miles of both river and mountains and the Berkshire Hills.  Best of Beds, Table First Class sanitary plumbing.  On high ground, two miles from Main Street.  (town not mentioned.) 

    My final selection this week will be a poem by Joh Borroughs which appeared with a picture of a road in Woodland near "Roxmor"  Located in Woodland Valley, Phoenicia 

            Woodland Valley first in line, 

             Because it's Outlook is so fine, 

                    Mountains all around.

             Roxmor's Table is so good,

              This Fact should well be understood,

              A day off here is just the thing,

               For many pleasures it will bring, 

It is so quiet, so wild, and has such superb Mountain Views.

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Sgt James F. Carty, DSC VFW Post 1545

I just want veterans to understand that if they go through a law firm to file for service-connected disabilities, they will find out that they will be charged a sizable fee. 

An accredited VFW service officer will file the proper documentation at no charge. I bring this up once again because I met a veteran who went through a law firm and is upset that his settlement was not what he thought as the firm took a large portion as their fee.

Unfortunately, he signed an agreement that is binding. So. I really want veterans to receive the complete amount they are entitled.   

Any Veteran who has questions regarding how to proceed with filing for your rightful benefits, please contact me at vfwpost1545@gmail.com and I will direct you to a service officer. 

As spring is in the air, it is a good time to remind everyone that if you should  have an American Flag that is worn out and torn, bring it to the front of the VFW building and we will ceremoniously take care of in on Flag Day June 14th. 

I have seen a few tattered flags flying lately and should you have one of them just drop it off. You are welcome to our Flag Day ceremony when we burn the flags as per the ritual, on June 14.

Please, if you are a veteran and qualify for the VFW, please consider joining our Post, or if you are a member and haven’t been to a meeting in a while, please join us and help to continue our mission of helping veterans and community service. If you haven’t heard this lately, Welcome Home. 

Also, as I write this, I realize that many of the town’s population goes on social media which had a myriad of posts regarding the wedding between myself and my bride, Lynn. 

We have been together for 27 years, when we decided to be married lawfully and spiritually. The ceremony was at Christ Episcopal Church in Greenville by Father Jerry Adinolfi at a mass attended by our five daughters and four of our five grandchildren along with the parishioners.

We spent a blissful 2 days at Otesaga Hotel and Resort. The respite was perfect, and the hotel is magnificent. 

Now we are home and getting back to our life together. We want to thank all who wished us well on social media and through texts and emails. We surprised everyone…..including our children. 

At these troubling times that our nation is dealing with, keep our troops still serving throughout the world and keep them in your prayers. God Bless America.

Marc Farmilette, PDC – Commander Post 1545

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Updates on Veterans Monument

By Michael Ryan

JEWETT - The financing is falling into place in such a way to make it seem as if a Veterans Monument was always meant to be in Jewett.

Town councilman John Giordano, last week, gave his colleagues an update on the memorial which, when initially proposed, was fiscally daunting.

It was only a short while ago that Giordano informed everyone the project would cost approximately $20,000, not tapping into taxpayer dollars.

“We are hoping to raise the money in three months and take six months to build it, dedicating it by the end of 2024,” Giordano said at the time.

“I can see this coming together. This is going to happen. Just talking about this monument gives me chills,” Giordano said.

Not knowing how it would work, Giordano spearheaded a fundraising effort that, faster than you can say Jack Robinson, has nearly reached its goal.

Starting from scratch, Giordano reported that close to $16,000 has been collected, allowing the town to put a down payment on the monument.

Giordano said he would meet soon with Henderson Monuments in Catskill to commence design of the stone that will contain up to 300 names.

Presuming all goes well, and there is no reason to believe everything won’t, the memorial is expected to be set along Route 23C, across from the municipal building and next to the current 9/11 tribute.

Giordano, in his report, noted exactly half of the 20 G’s came in one fell swoop through the Greene County Legislature.

Lawmaker James Thorington (District 6, Jewett, Ashland, Prattsville and Windham) provided $10,000, securing a Wayne Speenburgh grant.

Speenburgh, the former legislature chairman, had childhood roots on the mountaintop, having the grant dedicated to him after his passing.

Giordano has also been teaming up with veteran’s groups in the area such as VFW Post #1545 in Windham, accumulating more donations.

Not resting until the task is completed, volunteers are preparing for a rootin’  tootin’ “Chili Cookoff” on Saturday, May 25, serving from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. at VFW Post #1545 on Route 23 on the west end of Windham.

A Silent Auction will be part of the Cookoff with the various donated chili dishes being judged by Stumps Be Gone business owner Tony Geslak, Jewett town clerk May Carl and town councilman John Pumilia.

Prizes will be awarded for 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners. There is no entry fee for the chefs. There will be a donation of $5 per person to enter. Chili will be two bucks a bowl with “live” music from Mountain Justice.

In other matters:

—Council members approved a resolution permitting participants in the upcoming Manitou’s Revenge Ultramarathon to pass through town.

Competitors are expected to be virtually unnoticed, sticking to backwoods routes, beginning June 22 at 5 a.m. on the far boundaries of the town of Windham, outside the hamlet of Maplecrest.

Manitou’s Revenge is no simple sojourn, emphasizing, on its website, that those who sign up must be “highly qualified and/or completely deranged.”

Originating in 2013, Manitou’s Revenge is a 53- mile ultramarathon through the Catskills beginning in Windham on the northern Black Dome Trail and then mostly following the Long Path from Acra Point all the way to downtown Phoenicia.

“This is not like any other ultra you’ve run before,” the website states. “This is a grueling, gnarly, nasty course with approximately 15,000 ft. of climbing, much of it rocky and precipitous.

“To be sure, there are some runnable sections, but you will more often find yourself hiking uphill or down, sometimes hand over hand.

“Expect this course to take you much longer than your average 50- miler. That’s why we are allowing 23 hrs. to complete this monster. 

“You will have to be reasonably self-sufficient. To make matters worse, the course gets progressively more difficult as you go along!

“And to top it all off, the average runner will have to tackle this hardest terrain in the dark. So, there must be something that makes this race worthwhile, right???” their website states

“Yes, the Catskills are truly scenic and wonderful, when you can look up every now and then to sneak a peek, and this will certainly become a memorable experience for anyone who takes on the challenge.”

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Pastor Charmaine Rusin - The Destructive Lie of Devaluation

America.  Land of the free, home of the productive.  If you’ve grown up on American soil - especially the rich agricultural kind that still serves to feed a hearty segment of the people and economy, you value hard work.  

The idea of having a daily siesta, a 2-3 hour break in the middle of the day, as they do in Spain, sounds downright preposterous.  How do those Spaniards get anything done?

 And what about the Italians?  Taking the entire month of August off for “holiday” each year?  Who milks their cows while they’re gone?  Feeds their chickens?  Waters their gardens?

Surely, there must be some real salt-of-the-earth Italians that stay on the job to keep Italian society humming!

We Americans take great pride in our work ethic (something that may be dwindling a bit too quickly - but that’s a story for another week).

We get up with the sun, put in an “honest day’s work,” and shed our blood, sweat, tears, or whatever the job requires.

Day in and day out, driving the trucks, punching the clocks, filing the forms, washing, cooking, cleaning, and more.  We work.  That is, until we can’t.

It is a fact of life, that if you are blessed with longevity, you will find yourself facing physical limitations.  And the trajectory of these limitations is as sure as that of taxes and housing prices - indubitably increasing over time.  

When this change of reality smacks a hard-working country boy or gal in the face, it more than smarts a little.

It can rattle one right down to their red, white, and blue core, as they face the fact that their entire identity and self-worth was tied fast to their productivity.

When their productivity dips, that self-worth clings to it like a crusty barnacle, and both plummet.  

The sad outcome for the resolute American workers is to spend their sunset years depressed and dispirited, believing the lie that their value correlates with their ability to produce. 

These same self-condemning conclusions plague those who find themselves facing a disability long before their age would have brought it on.

While the equation productivity=value may be true for some species, like milk cows and laying hens, it is not the case for humans. 

A few years ago, the most expensive painting in the world was auctioned off at Christie’s Auction House in NYC.  It was not a new or young work of art, but quite an old one.

“Salvator Mundi,” a representation of Jesus painted by Leonardo DaVinci in approximately 1500, sold for $450 million, at the ripe old age of 517!  

Each person is like a one-of-a-kind work of art. Actually, according to the Bible, humans are “God’s masterpieces.”

Those humans who have the gift of maturity in years are like a painting that has been lovingly and carefully developed over an artist’s lifetime, with layers of color and texture uniquely set in place, creating a true masterpiece.

Each individual having been created on purpose, for a purpose, with immeasurable intrinsic value that never diminishes. 

Value those in your life and community who have well-weathered souls, worn-out hands, and layers of beauty and wisdom ready to be unveiled before your admiring eyes.

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Out Lexington Way

By Christine Dwon

I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Mike Ryan for the very touching article he wrote about my husband, Lawrence Dwon, “The Marine and the Hummingbirds,” in the April 12 issue of the Windham Weekly.  Larry has been selected to receive this year’s Greene County Memorial Veteran Award May 18.  The ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the Catskill Point.  Mike’s story is a tribute to Larry’s dedication to country, community and family.  Paul, Liza, Abby and Matthew, Katelyn, Emma, Olivia and myself are truly grateful for the honor and recognition of Larry’s service to his country as a United States Marine and a Vietnam Veteran.

Carol and Alden Constable had a delightful visit at their home in West Kill last week with their granddaughter Cassandra Constable, Corey Laframboise and one-year old great-grandson Wyatt.  They all enjoyed lunch together and Wyatt had a great time playing with Carol’s and Alden’s dog, Brutus.    After the visit Brutus was worn out from playing with Wyatt and took a long nap. Cassandra, Corey and Wyatt and their dog Harley live in California and drove across country to visit family and will be heading back to their home this week.

Many thanks to all who came to support the West Kill/Lexington Community Improvement Association’s annual Maple Brunch on April 14 at the Community Hall in West Kill. It was a great success. There were so many delicious choices of brunch items and an overflowing dessert table.  Thanks also to all who prepared the food, worked and donated savory dishes and desserts.  

Friday, April 19 is the next potluck Dinner Church at 6 p.m. in the Ashland Community UMC, 1216 State Highway 23, Ashland.  Program will be discussing the Sistine Chapel ceiling images from the Bible.  All are invited.

Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. is the annual Patriots’ Day at the Community Hall, 141 Spruceton Road, West Kill.  Guest speaker is Elaine Warfield and she will give a presentation on her book, “The Fenwick Lumber Company in the Northern Catskills Edgewood-Almost Forgotten 1906-1917.”  Part of the history includes Spruceton Valley where there was a camp at the head of Spruceton tram road.  There will be a 50/50 raffle, door prize and light refreshments.  Books will be available for purchase.

Happy 52nd wedding anniversary to Susan and Eugene Constable on Monday, April 22.

April 22 is Jane and Joe Concato’s 46th wedding anniversary.

Marilyn Carreras celebrates her birthday on Wednesday, April 24.

Best wishes to everyone.

On April 24 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m., at the Hunter Public Library, 7965 Main Street, Hunter, Jerrice Baptislery will hold workshops on poetry and writing.

Tuesday, April 23 is Soup and Fellowship Kitchen in the Blue Room at the Kaaterskill UMC, 5942 Main Street, Tannersville from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.  Come join in the fellowship and enjoy a free bowl of soup and sandwich.

Friday,  April 26 there is going to be a Brooks’ Chicken BBQ at the Lexington/West Kill UMC, 54 County Route 13A, Lexington, from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., takeout only.  Adult dinners are $15, children 6 – 10 are $8, 5 years old and under are free, chicken half $8.  Menu includes half a chicken, baked potato, green beans, coleslaw, cupcake. 

The Greene County Department of Human Services Senior Nutrition Program menu for the week of April 22 – April 26 is as follows:  Monday—Pasta Primavera with chicken, California vegetable mix, cranberry juice, tropical fruit; Tuesday—Shepherd’s Pie, old fashioned vegetable mix, cookies; Wednesday—Pork chop with gravy, applesauce, mashed potatoes, peas and carrots, Pineapple Delight; Thursday—Crab-topped cod, Au Gratin potatoes, Monaco vegetable mix, fresh fruit; Friday—Bacon cheddar burger, home fry potatoes, green beans, macaroni salad, brownies.  The menu will be the meal that is delivered to all Greene County homebound meal clients.  If you have food allergy, please notify us.  Allergen information is available for prepared food items.  All persons over the age of 60, can receive a meal.  Suggested donation for each meal is $4.  Those wishing to receive a meal must notify the respective location by noon, a day in advance.  The number to call for the Senior Service Center at the Jewett Municipal Building, Route 23C, Jewett is 518-263-4392.

Thank you to all law enforcement, firefighters, EMS, dispatchers, healthcare providers, volunteers, farmers, truck drivers and so many more.

Prayers for all who are dealing with loss, illnesses, healing, difficulties, our country, our military and their families, the world.

Until next week take care, be thankful, be respectful, be safe and please be kind to one another.  Your act of kindness may change someone’s life.

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National EMS Week

By Michael Ryan

ASHLAND - It obviously isn’t true that nobody cares about emergency medical services workers until they need them.

Several hundred folks showed up for a fundraising pancake breakfast at the Ashland municipal building, on a recent Saturday morning.

They were all there to say “thank you” and unofficially commence the 50th Anniversary of National EMS Week, unfolding May 19-25.

The dollars raised help support local ambulance units in raising awareness about what they do and keeping up with rapidly changing realities.

There are a smattering of volunteer teams surviving, but the shift is toward fulltime paid units providing advanced life support (paramedic) and basic life support (hospital transport) for the citizenry.

The event in Ashland was hosted by the town’s ambulance administrator Diane Cross and administrative assistant Heather Younes.

“Oh my God, it was so great,” Cross said in a subsequent phone interview, having been busier than many beavers in the kitchen during the breakfast.

“Honestly, we never expected that much of a turnout. It was busy right out of the box,” Cross said, emphasizing that $2,700 was contributed to the Greene County EMS Council after expenses were paid.

The Greene County Emergency Medical Services Council Inc. has as its purpose to bring assistance, instruction, direction, coordination, efficient delivery and regulation to emergency medical service.

Town of Windham ambulance administrator Davia Montie was among those on hand for the Ashland fundraiser, carrying stacks of flapjacks to tables.

Windham’s advanced life support team will be similarly busy for EMS Week as they open their headquarters, on May 20, to Windham-Ashland-Jewett school students for educational seminars.

Recruiting the next generation of rescue workers has become paramount, Montie says, noting the visit will include a landing and tour of the Air Methods rescue helicopter.

And a countywide “appreciation dinner” is scheduled for May 18 at the Blakcthorne Resort in the town of Durham, extending tribute to all emergency services personnel.

“Honoring Our Past, Forging Our Future” is the theme for the National EMS Week, established in 1974 by President Gerald Ford.

National EMS Week is a celebration of EMS practitioners and the important work they do in our nation's communities, their website states.

It brings together local communities and medical personnel to honor the dedication of those who provide the day-to-day lifesaving services of medicine's frontline.

National EMS Week is presented by the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) in partnership with the National Associations of Emergency Medical Technicians (NAEMT).

These organizations are working to ensure that the important contributions of EMS practitioners in safeguarding the health, safety and well-being of their communities are fully celebrated and recognized.

“Much has changed since 1974, yet there is still much we can learn from those trailblazing clinicians who helped EMS evolve into the sophisticated branch of medicine it is today,” the EMS website states.

“Their dedication, commitment and sacrifice inspire us to take bold steps of our own, to continue to seek out ways to better serve our patients and our communities.

“This year, we celebrate EMS Week by honoring our past—by taking a pause to recognize the contributions of each generation, the people who dreamed that we could save more lives and have less suffering, and then found ways to make it happen.

“EMS Week is never just about the past, however. It’s also about inspiring the EMS clinicians just starting out and the young people who haven’t even discovered EMS yet. 

“It’s about learning from the challenges and building on the successes of the last five decades. It’s about forging our future—a future in which the next generation has the tools they need to deliver compassionate care and alleviate suffering in communities everywhere,” their website states.

“EMS is usually all about the moment. Thinking about your last patient could distract you from what’s happening to the person lying on the stretcher in front of you right now. 

“Worrying too much about the next call isn’t too helpful, when you have no idea what it might bring. But the past holds immense lessons.

“Whether it’s the experience of the people who train us or the struggles and triumphs from EMS’s earliest days,” their website states.

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LEGISLATURE STUFF - Doing Things the Right Way

By Michael Ryan

CATSKILL - It may not mean much to everyday citizens but it matters a lot that the Greene County Sheriff’s Office received Accreditation on the new jail during a county legislature meeting, earlier this week.

And actually it is deeply significant for we mules of taxation, according to New York State Sheriff’s Association executive director Peter Kehoe.

Kehoe was in the house for a legislative Public Safety committee meeting, on Monday night, telling lawmakers, “accreditation isn’t something that is available just for the asking.

“It doesn’t just happen. It takes a lot of hard work by many people,” Kehoe said, mentioning jail superintendent Michael Overbaugh, Lieutenant Dan Rubino and Correction Officer/ Accreditation Officer Alan Scully.

This is the first time the Greene County jail has received accreditation, struggling for many years to stay above regulatory waters as the old lockup, on Main Street in Catskill, aged and deteriorated.

“The sheriff’s office had to meet a very strict set of standards,” Kehoe said. “There are 166 individual components, scrutinized by an outside board of assessors. They met or exceeded every one of those standards.”

Accreditation not only puts the county on solid legal and safety grounds, it also “increases public confidence in our institutions,” Kehoe said.

And the old adage, “the buck stops here,” was fitted to Greene County sheriff Pete Kusminsky, who gratefully accepted a plaque from State Sheriff’s Association president Craig Dumond.

“Everyone should be proud of this accomplishment,” Dumond said, noting the leadership of undersheriff Adam Brainard and Kusminksky.

Kusminsky, cajoled into giving a speech, spread any praise elsewhere, saying, “Officer Scully worked extremely hard for this accreditation.

“Something like this usually takes a longer time and at the same time, we’re working short-handed. This was no easy thing to do,” Kusminsky said.

The local sheriff’s department Road Patrol Division was similarly granted accreditation three years ago, returning to the fold after 30 years.

“Less than half of the State’s 62 counties have qualified for corrections accreditation, so this occasion should serve to remind you of something that I’m sure you already know,” Kehoe said.

“You have an outstanding sheriff and an outstanding sheriff’s office here in Greene County that are in pursuit of excellence in their operations.

“I think this is a particularly appropriate time for us to be doing this, for in just a couple more weeks, we will be observing National Correctional Officers Week,” Kehoe said.

“This is where the whole country is encouraged to pause and recognize the importance and difficulty of the work performed by our correctional officers.”

Correctional officers are “generally the unsung heroes of the criminal justice system,” Kehoe said.

“They spend a large part of their lives locked up behind bars with some of the worst people in our society.

“They keep us safe from those people, but they also must keep those people safe from each other.

“And they must always be mindful that some of the people in their charge are actually innocent. And they must remember always that both the innocent and the guilty are entitled to humane, respectful treatment.

“It is a tough, unenviable job that we ask these good public servants to perform, and we owe them our gratitude for their willingness to do it and to do it right.

“Here in Greene County, obviously they do it right as evidenced by this accreditation tonight,” Kehoe said.

Legislature chairman Patrick Linger, in a telephone interview said, “this is a first time deal for us and a big deal. This is the result of many people doing their jobs well.”

Recalling the old jail, Linger said, “I remember many meetings between the State Commission of Corrections and [former legislature chairmen] Wayne Speenburgh and Kevin Lewis.

“These meetings were necessary because of violations at the old jail. We absolutely were not fulfilling the requirements.

“Jails are not treated the best by their inhabitants. When we built the new jail, we took the extra steps to show the State we are doing the right thing on a regular basis,” Linger said.

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