Garden Club Tour

Shawangunk Garden Club at Railway Station

Many green thumbs were united today as members of the Shawangunk Garden Club visited Mountaindale today for a tour of the numerous beautiful plantings around our community. The tour was hosted by members of the Mountaindale Action Committee and the Mountaindale Community Development Project (MCDP) and coordinated by neighbor, Susan Cioffi. Susan has been an area resident for several decades and was looking forward to proudly sharing her town with her friends.



Hummingbird Feeders, Hanging Baskets &
Planter Boxes on Main Street



We began bright and early at the Mountaindale Railway Station for a closer look at the beautiful landscaping outside and the unique historical photographs inside, We then walked over to the Hummingbird Garden to see the hummingbirds, butterflies and swallows flying acrobatically overhead. The tour continued as a leisurely stroll down Post Hill Road and Main Street to admire our train themed new banners and colorful planters, planted by local girl scouts & karate school families, as well as the rock garden maintained by Hospitality Green. We continued on to the Firehouse to admire the lovely flower garden that the Mountaindale Action Committee planted along the inner courtyard of the building, which leads to stairs to the gateway to the O&W Rails to Trails.

We admired a few more of their berm gardens and then headed to their other flower gardens at Quiat Road and Hatt Road. Everyone was given one of the new Town of Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail brochures to get a better understanding of how these locations fit into the original railway track line. At Quiat Road, our guests enjoyed seeing the historical Signal House and  one of the newly installed interpretive signs. A total of 4 interpretive signs were designed by the O&W Rails to Trails Committee and paid for in part, by a grant from Parks & Trails NY. A lot of the labor for the sign installation was an in kind donation from Bugsy Bennett, but more on that in the future.

The club members enjoyed a delicious lunch at Uccelli Restaurant. We all had a wonderful time together. The best part was learning from each other as many gardening tips were shared. If I can speak for the Action Committee members, I think it's also very gratifying to have new visitors express their appreciation for all that is done to make Mountaindale one of the more attractive communities around. The Shawangunk Garden Club invited everyone to a public reception for their Photo Flower Show on Saturday, August 18th from noon to 3PM in the Gallery of the Ellenville Public Library at 40 Center Street in Ellenville. All are welcome.

3rd Annual Sullivan Striders Rail Trail Race

We were blessed with perfect racing weather on Sunday for the 3rd Annual Sullivan Striders Race/Walk on the Town of Fallsburg Rails to Trails. The deluge started AFTER everyone went home & the electronic timing devices were removed. There were 84 participants who completed the race by crossing the finish line.

The winner of the 4 Mile Race was a 39 year old neighbor from Wurtsboro, NY, Raymond Revell, who finished with a time of 23:44.3. That's an impressive average pace of 5.56 Minutes per mile!  Even more inspiring was William Rosenberg, a 71 year old runner from Wallkill, NY, who finished the race in just under 35 minutes.  Please visit Race Results for the full listing of all runner & walker stats.  

Janet Gula and Alexandra Lalieu

There was also great support from several of our Main Street Mountaindale businesses.  Janet Gula of Radiant Yoga of Mountaindale led a pre-race stretch to help everyone prepare their muscles. Alexandra Lalieu of  Upstate Karate of Mountaindale strongly encouraged her students to participate in full karate uniform so that there were 16 students & their families involved in the activity. Joan Collins, Woodridge Village Board Member and Kiwanian, was the Grand Marshall and started everyone on the race. The Mountaindale Fire Company permitted the Firehouse to serve as the registration base, and the Mountaindale Action Commitee assisted the Striders in hosting and providing refreshments. As usual, everyone was greeted by our delightful former Legislady, Leni Binder. Although she no longer holds public office, she is still a very active community volunteer. Speaking of volunteers, the Mountaindale Ambulance Squad stood ready to help anyone in need, and there was great support from Woodridge Kiwanis and the Village of Woodridge who are both important members of the Town of Fallsburg Rail Trail Committee.

It was also nice to see the runners supporting each other.  When one runner mentioned she was disappointed that she hadn't improved her run time of 43 minutes since last year, veteran runner Brian Cavanaugh suggested she do some upper body strength training to overcome her plateau. The morning ended nicely with the awarding of beautiful plants as prizes from the Manza Family Farm. Maryann and Tom Manza deserve a huge round of applause for all of their hard work in coordinating this significant fundraiser for the Rail Trail. You can find out how to join the Sullivan Striders running club at http://www.sullivanstriders.org/. Click here for more Race Day photos.

9th Annual Francis Currey Day

This Saturday marks the 9th Annual Francis Currey Day at Morningside Park in Hurleyville, New York. Currey Day is a wonderful local free fun day for the whole family. It includes musical performances by favorites like David & Julie Bloch and the wonderful Rausch Brothers band.  There will also be dancing, games, rides, displays, food vendors and a spectacular Fireworks display at dusk. I always especially enjoy the raising of the ginormous flag.

However, let us not lose sight that the purpose of this gala event is to honor our home grown hero, Francis Currey, the winner of the prestigious Congressional Medal of Honor for his valor during a particularly difficult battle during WW II.  This is our nation’s highest military award. Here is a brief summary of his heroic act from NY State Senator John Bonacic's site:

An automatic rifleman with Company K, 120th Infantry, 30th Infantry Division, Sergeant Currey, only 19 years old at the time, and his platoon of 30 men were assigned to defend the small Belgian town of Malmedy with little more than small arms. Facing a column of German tanks intent on flanking his battalion, Currey repeatedly braved enemy fire to inflict heavy losses on the enemy, rescue five American soldiers that had been pinned down, and thwarted the enemy advance.

The event is sponsored by the Town of Fallsburg, Thunder 102 radio and Party Master, Perry Gip. On a personal note, I must commend Perry & his crew for the fabulous Olympic Gold themed decorations they did for the recent Graduation Ceremonies at Fallsburg High School. For more information, please call the Town of Fallsburg at 845-434-8810 or Morningside Park at 845-434-5877