TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Not just
for books
Walden library seeks $94K
increase in town funding
By RACHEL COLEMAN
The Town of Montgomery may override
the tax cap this year. Meanwhile, after
their public hearing last week, members of
the town board are considering a request
from the Josephine Louise Public Library
in Walden for an additional $94,000 in their
budget.
While appreciative of the five percent
increase that was proposed in the budget,
Charlie Frank, vice president of the
Josephine Louise Public Library’s board
of trustees, said the increase needed to
be more substantial to address rising
costs and usage, and a disparity in what
neighbors were paying for library services.
“They’re getting the same services for
less than half the cost,” said Frank. “The
village residents are subsidizing the town
residents.”
Frank explained that the library is
funded by taxpayers in the 12586 zip code.
This encompasses the village of Walden,
as well as Town of Montgomery residents
that live outside the village limits.
According to Frank, village residents pay
$53.02 per year, while the town residents
pay $23.40.
Frank said that as of the 2010 census,
there were 6,978 Walden village residents
and 5,562 town residents in the 12586 zip
code, but those numbers have probably
increased over the last six years.
Frank’s proposal does not mean a $30
increase for residents outside the village.
Instead, the additional funding will bring
Continued on page 4
Vol. 34, No 45 3 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2016
Title
eludes
Wallkill girls
3
ONE DOLLAR
Kisses from
Gardiner
Page 46
Page 26
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Honoring our veterans
Bill Besser takes his honor flight
By RACHEL COLEMAN
It all began with a movie, a Marine
and a girl with flaming red hair.
Bill Besser was taken aback by the
outpouring of love and support from a
large cheering crowd as he boarded a
bus in the early morning hours of Sept.
10. As they departed from ShopRite in
Montgomery, he marveled at the nearly
100 motorcycles escorting the bus to
Stewart International Airport and the
people and signs along the roadway.
It was just the first step on the trip of
a lifetime.
After a year of prodding, Besser had
finally agreed to go on the Hudson
Valley Honor Flight, a non-profit that
honors American veterans for their
service by taking them to the nation’s
capitol to visit their memorials—at no
cost to them.
“It was overwhelming in the sense of
‘why are they doing this for me?’” said
Corporal Bill Besser, age 80, who served
in the U.S. Marine Corps for three years
and was discharged in April, 1957. “I
didn’t do anything.”
As a young man, Besser watched
Fighter Squadron, a movie about a
squadron of WWII American fighter
pilots set in 1943. Filled with aspirations
of becoming a fighter pilot, he pursued
aviation in high school. At 17, he wanted
to follow in his older brother’s footsteps
and join the U.S. Marine Corps, but his
father initially refused to sign off.
Besser promised his father he would
return home and at the rank of sergeant.
So in 1954, he entered boot camp at
Parris Island.
“Boot camp is a world unto itself,” said
Continued on page 3
Bill Besser at the Iwo Jima Memorial with active duty U.S. Marines during the Hudson
Valley Honor Flight in September.
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL