TIMES
WALLKILL VALLEY
Maybrook
talks
annexation
By RACHEL COLEMAN
Vol. 34, No 46 3 WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 16, 2016
3
ONE DOLLAR
Military
career in
her future
Schools
honor
veterans
Page 2
Page 22
www.WallkillValleyTimes.net
Veteran’s Day
Tony Marano, 92, recalls his action in the Philipines
By JESSICA COHEN
[email protected]
The village of Maybrook may be
expanding its horizons by 465 acres if a
proposed annexation of land from the
town of Montgomery is approved.
At the village board meeting on
Monday, Trustee Robert Pritchard said
NY Waterways has approached the village
about annexing their property located
between the Stewart State Forest and the
current borders of the village.
The parcel stretches from Charles
Street, (on the other side of the railroad
tracks) and runs along the length of Route
208 (behind the village government center,
Yellow Freight and the intersection with
Interstate 84), all the way to Bracken Road.
Pritchard said NY Waterways wants to
place recreation facilities, residences and
businesses on the parcel. There will be no
industrial uses or factories.
Initial concepts include a new road
that would run through the property from
Charles Street to Bracken Road, providing
a needed alternate route should there be
an emergency.
Pritchard also mentioned a possible
DEC waystation near Charles Street for
those that are pursuing recreation in the
state parklands, giving them access to the
village.
Mayor Dennis Leahy said it was
definitely something the village board
should look into to see if it’s right for
the village. He noted that the kind of
developments being proposed are things
that are going to draw people into the
village.
Harrowing memories, mellowed or
not by time, came to mind for at least
one veteran among many who gathered
for the Veterans Day Ceremony in
Montgomery. Waiting in uniform
to march through the Government
Center parking lot to the Veterans
Monument, Tony Marano was asked
about his recollections from World War
II. He served in the U.S. Navy Air Force,
from1943 to 1946, he said.
Although he turned 92 on Election
Day, he had not forgotten the time his
plane ran out of gas in enemy territory.
He and a few cohorts were flying around
the Philippines looking for Japanese
submarines and ships while bombing
radio stations and small ships in a
Borneo harbor, he said.
“I was young, foolish, and gung ho,”
said Marano. “I enjoyed being in the
Navy, and I was happy with what I was
doing.”
But that day, he said, “The pilot got
nosy and went beyond Singapore to
check on ships out there,” stretching
their 3000-gallon tank of gas. When the
gas ran out, they came down in swamps
north of Borneo near the enemy.
“One fellow said, ‘I’m married—I hate
doing this,’” Marano recalled. “I think
we all prayed.”
They could see enemy lights just
across the bay from where they landed,
as they waited three and a half days, 87
hours, to be exact, before an Army Air
Force plane picked them up. So what did
Continued on page 3
Continued on page 2
Tony Marano, with the American flag, marching in the Town of Montgomery’s Veteran’s Day
Parade.
SERVING CRAWFORD, GARDINER, MAYBROOK, MONTGOMERY, PINE BUSH, SHAWANGUNK, WALDEN AND WALLKILL