Wallkill Valley Times Apr. 24 2019 | Page 2

2 Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, April 24, 2019 IN THIS ISSUE Calendar. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12 Classifieds. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 Crossword. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 Letters to the Editor. . . . . . . . . . 8 Obituaries. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Opinion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 School News. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Service Directory. . . . . . . . . . . 30 Sports. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 Walden.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 PUBLIC AGENDA WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24 Wallkill Board of Education, 7 p.m. Leptondale Elementary School. Town of Crawford Planning Board. 7 p.m. Town Hall, 121 Route 302, Pine Bush. THURSDAY, APRIL 25 Valley Central Board of Education, 5:15 p.m. Administration building, 944 Route 17K, Montgomery. BOCES Vote and Election and Tenure Review. Pine Bush Board of Education, 7 p.m. Circleville Middle School, 1951 Route 302, Circleville. MONDAY, APRIL 29 Maybrook Village Board, 7 p.m. Village Hall, 111 Schipps Lane. Special meeting to adopt the budget. Town of Montgomery Planning Board, 7:30 p.m. Town Hall, 110 Bracken Road, Montgomery. WEDNESDAY, MAY 1 Climate Smart Gardiner Task Force. 7 p.m. Town Hall, Route 44-55, Gardiner. HOW TO REACH US OFFICE: 300 Stony Brook Court Newburgh, NY 12550 PHONE: [phone], FAX: [phone] Emails may be directed to the following : ADVERTISING [email protected] CALENDAR SUBMISSIONS [email protected] TO REACH THE EDITOR [email protected] FOR THE SPORTS DEPARTMENT [email protected] PUBLIC NOTICES [email protected] WEBSITE www.timescommunitypapers.com The Wallkill Valley Times, (USPS 699-490) is a weekly newspaper published every Wednesday at Newburgh, NY 12550, with offices at 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY. Single copy: $1 at newsstand. By mail in Orange, Ulster or Sullivan Counties: $40 annually, $44 out of county. Periodicals permit at Newburgh, NY. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Wallkill Valley Times, 300 Stony Brook Court, Newburgh, NY 12550. Fitzpatrick new Montgomery Historian By LAURA FITZGERALD [email protected] N ewly appointed Village of Montgomery Historian Brian Fitzpatrick strode around the village museum, pointing out exhibits displaying village businesses, buildings, and school and military memorabilia. He had a smile on his face as he talked about his plans for the role. He stopped at a plastic display board with the words, “honoring our past, celebrating the present, and embracing the future,” the new motto Fitzpatrick will live by as historian. “When you think about history, you’re sometimes looking in the rear- view mirror,” Fitzpatrick said. “You’re trying to capture what happened, and whose involved, and what was it like? While you’re doing that, what’s really happening is history is today.” He wants to showcase events with a long history, like St. Pat’s Ramble. He will interview current business owners while cataloguing past village businesses. He also wants to talk to and interview ordinary village residents and past residents, cataloguing their memories and current day to day life. “Everyone has a history because it’s their memories and their recollection of what happened,” Fitzpatrick said. Fitzpatrick pointed to City Winery as a future project that will restore the old Montgomery Worsted Mills factory, highlighting the future of the village while preserving the past. “With City Winery we’re watching history in the making,” Fitzpatrick said. “It’s the restoration of an incredible historic site. Restoring a building and putting life back into it at that scale is an incredible opportunity for us to save the past and build on the future.” He also wants to incorporate new visual story-telling elements, such as Brian Fitzpatrick became the new Village of Montgomery historian on April 2, replacing pre- vious historian Marion Wild. videos or pictures. As for events, he plans to open the museum one night a week, bring in historic speakers and open the museum for events on the front lawn. It fits into his overall strategy of engaging the community—from businesses to Valley Central School District to local veterans—building on the programs previous historian Marion Wild created. Fitzpatrick will be aided in the role by his wife, Charlene, and granddaughter. Fitzpatrick has been preparing for the role since July, when he started working with Wild. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to take the role at first, but Wild was good at convincing him. “It’s tough to say no to Marion Wild,” Fitzpatrick said. The village historian since 1990, Wild left a strong legacy for Fitzpatrick to follow. “She’s not as tall as me, but I’m not going to be able to fill her shoes,” Fitzpatrick said. Wild transitioned the village museum to its current home across the street at 142 Clinton Street, expanding the museum’s capacity. Fitzpatrick said Wild is a strong writer and contributed tremendously to cataloguing and recording village history. “Marion’s contribution to the village, to the museum, to its history, her knowledge, her passion, is second to none,” Fitzpatrick said. Other previous historians are Joseph Wilkin, Emma Locke and Mary Kovar. The museum will host a grand opening on April 27 at 1 p.m. A short opening ceremony will be followed by light refreshments in the museum garden. For more information, call 457-7576 or email [email protected]. Maybrook trustees reject budget Continued from page 1 The fund balance is a municipality’s difference between assets and liabilities. The New York State Government Finance Officers’ Association recommends municipalities keep a fund balance of at least two months of annual total expenditures as insurance against unanticipated expenses or revenue shortfalls. Trustee James Barnett, Daryl Capozzoli, and Kevin Greany voted against the proposed budget, while Mayor Dennis Leahy and Deputy Mayor Robert Pritchard voted for the proposed budget. Now, the board must negotiate and adopt a new budget before the state deadline of May 1. Several village residents expressed concern about the tax hike at public hearings. “I just don’t think it’s fair,” village resident Tom Walcott said. Pritchard said the village will probably go over the 2 percent tax cap more often than not in the coming years to avoid another huge spike in taxes, which requires the passing of a local law. The special meeting for the budget workshop will be on April 29 at 7 p.m.