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Wallkill Valley Times, Wednesday, July 24, 2019
Angry Orchard responds to racial profiling complaint
By LAURA FITZGERALD
[email protected]
A couple claims they were racially profiled during
a marriage proposal at Angry Orchard in Walden last
Sunday.
A woman who identifies herself as Marie Cleone
posted to Facebook and said she and her soon-to-be fiancé
drove to Angry Orchard last Sunday from New York City
to enjoy the afternoon with a group of six of their friends.
Before she and her boyfriend could sit down, a young
lady from security approached the couple and apologized,
saying she had to check Cleone’s boyfriend’s back pocket
because she was told he stole a T-shirt from the gift store.
Cleone’s boyfriend then emptied all his pockets, taking
care to keep the ring box hidden from Cleone’s sight. The
security staff left, and Cleone’s boyfriend began his
proposal speech. Then, the couple was interrupted again.
“Mid proposal, the same young lady from security
walks back towards us and says to me, ‘I’m sorry, I need
to check your bag. I was told that he gave it to you, and
you put it in your bag.’,” Cleone wrote in a Facebook post.
“Mind you, my bag isn’t even large enough to fit a T-shirt.
I emptied my entire bag in front of her.”
It was then that Cleone questioned the security staff’s
intentions.
“Since this was the SECOND time she had walked over,
I said, ‘I know you’re just doing your job, but I can’t help
but wonder if this is because we’re Black. We’re the only
Black people here at your establishment.’ Of course, she
said that wasn’t the case,” Cleone wrote.
Cleone’s boyfriend then proposed, to which she happily
said yes. Their six friends walked over to congratulate
and hug them.
The group was then approached a third time by the
same security guard, who asked to check everyone’s
purses and pockets. Six other security staff approached
the group.
“Of course my friends told them none of us stole a
T-shirt from their establishment, at which point they
Marie Cleone, who claims Angry Orchard racially profiled her
and her boyfriend during their wedding proposal, posted a
picture online, stating that security waved them goodbye
in the parking lot after they had harassed the couple and
their friends.
started getting aggressive and saying that not only them,
but also patrons saw my boyfriend steal the shirt and/
or transfer it to me to put in my bag!!” Cleone wrote.
“Another woman in security yelled to one of the male
security, ‘Call the police! I saw you steal it.’”
Cleone then inquired if Angry Orchard had security
cameras. When the security staff said yes, she asked that
they roll back the tape so they could see that no one in
their party stole anything.
Security then took their picture, recorded video, and
took a picture of their vehicle’s license plate number.
“We as a group decided to leave rather than be attacked
by the multiple security guards of Angry Orchard,”
Cleone wrote. “I have never been so humiliated in my
life, myself and some of my friends left Angry Orchard
in tears. On what was supposed to be the best day of my
life, I was chased out of Angry Orchard by security who
followed us all the way to parking lot.”
Cleone went on to say she would have no reason to steal
a T-shirt from the gift shop, as she could afford to by all of
them because she is a doctor.
“I implore Angry Orchard to roll back their security
footage on July 21, 2019 because they owe all 8 of us an
apology. Angry Orchard if you don’t want Black People
buying your product or frequenting your establishment,
then maybe put a sign on the door so that we know we are
not welcome. I love hard cider, but Angry Orchard will
never touch these lips again,” Cleone said, concluding
her post.
Angry Orchard released a statement on Tuesday,
stating the company launched an investigation into the
incident. The company also apologized to Cleone and
offered to make it right.
“We recognize that we badly mishandled this situation
and our team’s response was inexcusable,” Angry
Orchard said in their statement, which was posted to
Facebook.
Angry Orchard fired the security team members
working that day and the manager who was on duty. The
company also initiated mandatory training for its staff.
“We are initiating additional, mandatory training on
security awareness and unconscious bias for everyone
on staff to prevent something like this from happening in
the future,” Angry Orchard stated. “We’re deeply sorry
that our guests were mistreated. This event does not
reflect our company values of respect for all and creating
a welcoming environment for our guests, and while we
wish it didn’t occur at all, we are treating this moment as
a valuable learning experience for our staff.”
Shawangunk in search of a good mechanic
By TED REMSNYDER
Finding a mechanic to fix the array
of heavy machinery found in a highway
garage is no easy task, and the Town of
Shawangunk Highway Department has
been searching for a new mechanic since
May. With the winter season only several
months away, the agency hopes to have
someone in place in the near future.
During his report to the Shawangunk
Town Board during its meeting on
Thursday night, Highway Superintendent
Joseph LoCicero said the hiring process
is in full swing. “We are still without a
mechanic,” he informed the board during
last week’s meeting. “We interviewed
three candidates yesterday and I thought
all three were very good.” LoCicero added
that the department has two or three
more interviews scheduled this week
for the position, but the agency is still
accepting applications.
Three of the department’s trucks are
currently down. “It’s very hard to find
a mechanic,” LoCicero told the board.
“I’m noticing more and more as I drive
around that other mechanic shops are
also looking for mechanics. So it seems to
be a dying art in some way. Unfortunately
the mechanic we need here has to be
kind of a hands-on, all-around kind of
mechanic. It can’t just be a gas mechanic
or a small-engine mechanic. He’s got to be
diesel and big engines and construction
equipment.”
LoCicero noted that the village has
attracted hungry, young applicants in
their early 20s eager to fill the position,
but they don’t have the experience
working on that variety of equipment,
and the department head said he’s wary
about having a young hire train on the
job with millions of dollar’s worth of the
agency’s equipment.
Councilman Robert Miller suggested
the possibility of hiring a semi-retired
older master mechanic on a part-time
basis to train a younger mechanic.
LoCicero replied that he liked the idea,
but would have to clear it with the union
first and also said he hoped for funding
for an assistant mechanic during the next
budget season.
In May, the board heard a presentation
from a rep from the Munistat financial
advisory firm about the possible savings
the village could incur by refinancing the
bonds the town issued in 2009 to fund the
construction of the Town Hall. During the
July 18 meeting, the board unanimously
passed a resolution to refund the bonds.
The bonds included a 10-year call, so the
time was right to pass the resolution. “We
had to do this to start the ball rolling so
we can call the bonds in November and
then resell them,” Town Supervisor John
Valk said. “There’s a certain window, so
that’s why we started it now.”
The resolution states that “Whereas, it
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