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Southern Ulster Times, Wednesday, August 15, 2018
IN THIS ISSUE
Calendar..........................................12
Craig McKinney................................ 9
Classifieds......................................30
Crossword...................................... 32
Highland......................................... 25
Letters to the Editor........................8
Marlboro........................................ 26
Obituaries...................................... 29
Opinion.............................................8
Police Blotter...................................4
Plattekill........................................ 24
School News................................... 28
Service Directory........................... 36
Sports............................................40
Highland Landing supporters honored
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A plaque was placed at the Highland Landing Park naming the former oil business office as the Frank Skartados Educational Building in honor
of the late Assemblyman.
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park was sparked when he came to a
meeting at Town Hall last November.
“We mugged him in the break room and
gave him a request package for funding
that Nancy [Hammond] had put together
and to our total surprise he went through
the whole package and then stood up and
he took the pamphlet and said I’m gonna
do this,” Van De Bogart recalled. “In
there we had a request for about $375,000
to help us finish the park and by golly
that’s what he came up with. This is a
special honor and we do appreciate Frank
and it’s sad that he’s not here to join us.”
Christopher Whitson, who worked for
Skartados as his community outreach
coordinator, said the Assemblyman was
determined to obtain grant money for
the park.
“The plaque that now memorializes
his passion for education is eternally
here along the Hudson River, a river that
exhilarated him when he never saw such
beauty on his arrival in the United States
when he was a young boy,” Whitson said.
The Association also honored Matt
Smith by naming the Highland Landing
as the Matthew K. Smith Dock. Smith
began working to transform the closed
up oil depot into a town park more than
20 years ago. He eventually was named
the Park Manager by the Town Board and
only recently passed the torch to Lenny
Auchmoody who is working to finish up
all of the last items on the wish list.
Van De Bogart said naming of the dock
for Smith is a “testament to somebody
who has put a lot of dedication into this
park and I really appreciate it; it’s very
worthwhile.”
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The Highland Landing was named the Matthew K. Smith Dock. Pictured L-R park manager
Lenny Auchmoody, Smith and Highland Landing Association President Alan Van De Bogart.
Smith said he was totally surprised by
the honor.
“I had no clue they were going to pull
this on me; I’m astounded but it really
should be in Linda’s name [referring to
his wife],” Smith said in acknowledgment
of her support of the overall effort.
Smith said his idea for a park started
in 1994.
“I helped oversee tearing down the [oil]
tanks and filling in the big holes here,”
he said.
Just above the sign honoring Smith is a
huge run of metal, donated by Herb Litts,
that was once used to carry telegraph
lines across the bridge.
“It was all bent up and I straightened it
out at my farm,” he said, estimating that
it took him about 60 hours to complete.
Smith said the park is, “really coming
around. It’s turning into what we had
planned. It’s taken such a long time
but it’s well worth it. Just look around,
the boat launch, the river walk and the
bulkhead.”
Smith said a ship is coming in October
to dock at the park from the Rhode Island
based Blount Small Ship Adventures
company.
“They have a group from Australia
and they are going to dock here and have
plans to go to the FDR estate and go to
a couple of places here locally,” he said.
“I’ve been talking to them and next year
they have a full schedule here, I believe
nine overnight ship visits, so economic
development is coming.”