TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Absentee
ballots
to decide
Montgomery
election
Vol. 33, No 45 3 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 11, 2015
PB girls win
another title
Blue
Mass
Page 40
Page 20
3
ONE DOLLAR
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Raise the glass
Angry Orchard opens the doors to its Walden cider house
By RACHEL COLEMAN
It’s been a week since Election Day.
With just 17 votes separating the candidates for town supervisor, all eyes are
focused on the unopened absentee ballots
received by the Orange County Board of
Elections.
As of Monday afternoon, the Board of
Elections was reporting 121 absentee ballots to be tallied. Those ballots are scheduled to be opened at 9 a.m. on Wednesday,
Nov. 11.
Commissioner David Greene noted that
205 absentee ballots were requested prior
to the election, so the total number could
creep up by Wednesday, but he doubted
they would see that many returned.
According to unofficial election
results from the Board of Elections, Town
Supervisor Mike Hayes currently holds
1,566 votes, while Mayor Dennis Leahy of
Maybrook received 1,549.
For the two town board seats, Republican
incumbents Dan Dempsey (1,575) and
Mark Hoyt (1,543) currently have the highest votes, but challenger John Kidd is
60 votes behind (1,483), leaving enough
room for him to snatch a victory should
the absentee ballots swing against the
Republicans. Fellow challenger Becky
Pearson was close behind with 1,422 votes.
For town justice, current Justice
Frederick Gorss, retained his position
against Lynda Mitchell (1,783 to 1,296).
Angry Orchard Cider Maker Ryan Burk (plaid shirt) toasts the opening of the new facility on Albany Post Road in Walden. He is pictured with (l. - r) Apple Farmer Jeff Crist, Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus, Congressman Sean Patrick Maloney, Empire State
Development Regional Director Meghan Taylor and Town of Montgomery Supervisor Mike Hayes.
Jokes about drinking at 10 a.m.
flowed as easily as the apple cider last
Friday, as local dignitaries gathered to
toast the Town of Montgomery’s newest
business and the Hudson Valley’s booming craft industry.
The assembled group officially welcomed Angry Orchard Cider Company
to its new 60-acre home on Albany Post
Road in Walden, and sampled the first
cider drawn from a keg by Cider Master
Ryan Burk.
“It’s really important for us to highlight how great the Hudson Valley is,”
said Jeff Crist, a fourth-generation
apple farmer whose family bought the
Albany Post Road property in 1963. The
Crist family will continue to farm the
apple orchards and produce an apple
crop for the cider manufacturer. Crist
said a stone house on the property was
built around 1766. The red barn, built
originally for dairy products, was built
around 1900.
“We’re absolutely delighted that
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SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL