SusanCampriello: My Works

Tour of the Catskills a ‘climber’s race’
The Daily Mail
Sept. 21, 2009

One thousand bike racers and their friends and families visited the Mountaintop this weekend for the second Tour of the Catskills - a more than 100-mile, three-day race around Greene County’s peaks and valleys.

Event staff said 285 bikers participated, traveling from 15 states and four Canadian provinces to bike in the Tour’s two loops and time trial. Last year, 175 racers participated.

The Tour was sponsored by the Catskill Mountain Foundation along with the Hunter Chamber of Commerce and the Windham Chamber of Commerce.

Saturday’s Catskill Epic loop took racers from Windham to Prattsville, Durham and Acra and back to Windham. Sunday’s Mountaintop Classic loop wound through Hunter, Jewett, Windham, Acra, Round Top, Palenville, Tannersville and ended at the Catskill Mountain Foundation offices in Hunter. Professional racers followed slightly different and longer routes that included laps of parts of the main loops.

Tour winners would have spent about 5 hours on the road race staff estimated Sunday, before official results were calculated. The day’s leader in the professional category, Justin Lindine, completed the 75-mile Mountaintop Classic in just more than three hours. He was followed across the finish line by Andrew Guptill, Roger Aspholm, Peter Horn and Cameron Cogburn.

Racers were divided into nine separate age, gender and skill classifications, each with their own winners.

The men’s category three winner was Pavel Gonda of the Czech Republic, who rode for the Pacifico team. Gonda raced in Europe from 2002 until 2005 and picked up the sport again this year, he said.

Gonda arrived in the United States in August to begin studying law at New York University, in New York City.

Gonda said he beat the men’s category three second-place winner Jim Komarmi by 10 centimeters.

“I came here to be first,” the racer, who was places second after Friday’s time trial and third after Saturday’s Catskill Epic, said.

Gonda said both legs presented their own challenges — Saturday’s route scaled and declined several hills and Sunday’s featured a push up Route 32A and a sprint to the finish line.

“It is a very, very beautiful race,” he said.

Komarmi, who coaches Alpine skiing at the Green Mountain Valley School in Vermont, agreed that mountains defined the race.

“It’s definitely a climber’s race,” he said.

Komarmi, who rode for the American Flatbread team, explained that racing was as much about pacing and passing strategy as about speed.

“It’s very much a chess match on the road,” he said.

Komarmi and men’s category three third-place winner Michael Boardman agreed that although the terrain was challenging, the race did not draw a hugely competitive group of riders.

Boardman, of Rockstar Video Games’ team, said he expected that competition would grow as more bikers entered the race.

Catskill Mountain Foundation Executive Director Peter Barker said he expected that participation would increase due to the success of the first two races.

He said no major incidents or injuries were reported over the weekend and that all the racers seemed happy. Happy racers, he said, would return.

Barker said the weekend’s success was due to cooperation of local law enforcement, community members and volunteers who provided food and support to the racers.

“What makes this race so successful is the volunteer effort,” he said.

Police probe yields arrest
Catskill man charged with selling crack cocaine after lengthy investigation
The Daily Mail
Sept. 17, 2009

CATSKILL — A Catskill man has been arrested by village police and charged with selling crack-cocaine from the Catskill Inn, according to the department.

Gerard McCarthy, 51, who police said has been living at the inn, was charged with criminal sale of a controlled substance in the third degree and three counts of criminal possession of a controlled substance, according to police. Both charges are class-B felonies.

Police did not say how much of the drug had been sold.

Village police said McCarthy was indicted by a Greene County grand jury and arraigned before Judge George J. Pulver Jr. Tuesday.

McCarthy is being held in the Greene County Jail on $25,000 bail or $50,000 bond, police said.

Catskill Village Police Lt. Greg Sager said the arrest came after a months-long investigation conducted by Catskill Police in cooperation with State Police in Catskill Bureau of Criminal Investigation and the County District Attorney’s Office into the alleged sales.

“There had been a lot of complaints about activity at the Catskill Inn,” Sager said.

Greene County District Attorney Terry Wilhelm said the investigation yielded evidence that McCarthy had carried out sales of crack-cocaine on July 14, July 16 and July 22 of this year.

Wilhelm and Sager said the investigation is ongoing and could result in more arrests.

CSD celebrates renovation, construction work with ribbon cutting
The Daily Mail
Sept. 14, 2009

The 2009-10 school year got underway last week in Catskill, but the year was officially kicked-off Sunday with the Catskill Central School District’s annual “Parents, Partners and Pancakes” event. This year, the breakfast and outdoor petting zoo ended with a ribbon cutting in the High School library and media center to officially mark completion of ongoing construction and renovation work at the Catskill middle and high schools.

The more than $33 million project was approved through two $16.7 million referendum votes, one in 2005 and a second in 2009 and includes work on the media center, special education classrooms and a new entranceway. New guidance offices and a cafeteria in the Middle School as well as technological upgrades in the schools were also included in the project.

The last phase of the project, which includes work on a fitness center and playing fields as well as installation of new lockers in the High School, will begin later this year, District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said.

Farrell noted that the “labor of love” cost roughly as much as the district’s annual operating budget.

She announced that the 2005 referendum brought only a 27-cent per $1,000 tax impact on district residents. The second brought no impact, she said.

“That is a huge, huge accomplishment and compliment for the community,” she said.

Farrell thanked the volunteers who flipped pancakes earlier in the day. She also thanked her schools’ students for living with construction without complaint and past Board of Education members who had worked to realize the project.

Sen. James L. Seward, R,C,I-Oneonta, recognized former Board President James Garafalo who, Seward said, led the charge to pass each referendum.

“This is a wonderful legacy to your leadership,” Seward told Garafalo while awarding him a special citation from the State Legislature.

Garafalo, who served on the board for 21 years and was the board president in both 2005 and part of 2009, was not reelected to the board this spring.

Seward commended the district for embarking on the project to upgrade the facility to match the quality of the school system.

He said taxpayers stepped up to the plate in each referendum and decided to invest in the district’s future.

Seward said the project fit with the state’s Expanding our Children’s Education (EXCEL) aid program designed to minimize the effect of capital projects on local taxpayers.

At the end of the ceremony, Seward and Garafalo held a pair of over-sized scissors to a red ribbon stretched across two bookshelves in the library while the ribbon was cut by Catskill High School seniors Joseph DiStefano and Nicole Lacy who stood arm-in-arm.

Book brought to life in musical, CD
The Daily Mail
Sept. 14, 2009

Author and artist Hudson Talbott called the transformation of his book, “River of Dreams,” to a musical and now a CD “a kind of a dream.”

The book, which features the Hudson River, and the musical, illustrate the history of what Talbott called “America’s first great super waterway” from its discovery by Europeans in 1609 to the more recent battles waged on pollution and polluters.

The musical version of the book was staged earlier this year. A CD of the original cast, comprised of students from the Cairo-Durham, Catskill and Coxsackie-Athens school districts was officially released Sunday at the Thomas Cole National Historic Site Cedar Grove, in Catskill.

“I’m so glad we all have the opportunity to bring these pieces together in this one wonderful place and share our heritage together,” Talbott said of the launch and accompanying concert of music from the CD’s setting.

The musical production, with music composed by Frank Cuthbert, was partially funded by money given to promote Hudson River history and culture during the Hudson-Champlain-Fulton Quadricentennial Celebration this year. Since the spring performance, the cast has traveled around the state to perform.

Casey Biggs, president of the Greene Arts Foundation and director and producer of the “River of Dreams” musical and CD, said the success of the show has given birth to a new collaboration with himself, Cuthbert, Talbott and the three schools on Talbott’s book, “O’Sullivan Stew.”

Biggs said he was happy with the CD.

“It captures the organic nature of what the show was,” he said.

Biggs said the production was also filmed and is being made into a documentary. The CD was recorded in the Catskill High School auditorium with professional equipment.

Talbott said performing the musical and launching the CD in a public venue brought the community together.

He said working on the musical and CD was also a lot of fun for the student performers.

Talbott said he, Biggs and Cuthbert collaborated well.

“The three of us — we don’t ever want to stop working together,” he said.

Lesson 1 for schools:
How to stop swine flu
District officials encourage students, teachers to use common-sense hygiene practices to curb spread of H1N1
The Daily Mail
Sept. 8, 2009
The Windham Journal
Sept. 10, 2009

CATSKILL — As schools reopen, area educators and administrators are readying their buildings for learning, playing and perhaps spreading germs like those that could spread the H1N1 flu virus.

School administrations in Greene County are encouraging students and teachers to use common sense hygienic practices and are stepping up cleaning regimens to keep their buildings and grounds clean.

Hand sanitizing products will be available to students in every district, and staff will meet with health care professionals to learn the best way to keep classroom areas clean and students healthy.

School administrators said they will also follow guidelines set forth by the State Education Department and State Department of Health and keep in touch with the County Department of Health.

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Overall, administrators said they would increase cleanings and reassess practices if students

“We are going to hope for the best and prepare for all the contingencies that we can,” Anne Rode, principal of the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School.

Each district has its own procedures in place.

Cairo-Durham Central School District

Ron Agostinoni, assistant principal of Cairo-Durham High School, said nurses will remind students the proper way to wash their hands and prevent the spread of germs.

Hand sanitizer dispensers, like the ones in elementary classrooms, have been installed in classrooms in the Middle School and High School building. Sanitizers will be available to students before lunch period, he said.

He said students and staff will be encouraged to stay home if they exhibit flu-like symptoms.

As with procedure set last spring, bus drivers sanitize buses before, after and between runs, he said.

Catskill

District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said the daily cleaning routine will be enhanced with extra cleanings of commonly touched surfaces such as water fountains, keyboards and doorknobs. Cafeteria areas will also receive extra attention, she said.

Hand sanitizer dispensers will be installed in every classroom, school office and common area, she said.

Farrell said staff will use hand-washing solution that shows dirty spots missed to demonstrate how to properly wash hands.

Farrell said as per request of Greene County Public Health, parents would not be notified of every student who presented severe flu-like symptoms. That could change, Farrell said, if the number of students with those symptoms increases.

Coxsackie-Athens

Coxsackie-Athens Central School District Superintendent Dr. Earle Gregory said at a recent Board of Education meeting that school nurses would be vigilant and aware of any illnesses.

Students will be encouraged to encouraged to thoroughly sanitize their hands.

He said staff will follow protocols set forth by Greene County Public Health and the State Department of Health,including increased cleaning schedules, encouraging students and staff with flu-like symptoms to remain at home for 24 hours after the symptoms disappear, and encourage students not to cough or sneeze into their hands.

District schools would not be closed, he said, unless a large absentee rate was seen.

Greenville

Greenville Central School District Director of Curriculum and Communications Colleen Hall said teachers in her district had already completed a training course on showing students how to keep themselves healthy. Classrooms have been stocked with hand sanitizers, she said. Buildings and grounds crews will continue to keep the buildings clean.

Hall said parents would receive a letter that included information on when a child should be kept at home and information would be posted to the district’s Web site.

She said student health would be monitored so that the schools would know when students were kept home for flu-like symptoms or for other reasons so she schools have a sense of why a student might be absent. Additional building and bus cleanings could be added if needed, she said.

Hunter-Tannersville

Hunter-Tannersville Central School District Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said his building is constantly being cleaned due to several varied construction projects at the school.

High School students will meet with nurses during gym period to review universal precautions. Elementary class teachers will underscore the same precautions, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said parents would be sent guidelines on when to keep students out of school.

The district’s Web site will be updated with information as the year continues, he said.

Darfler-Sweeney said students will be provided with alcohol-free hand sanitizing products and parents will be encouraged to give their children alcohol-free products if they feel the need to give their children anything.

Windham-Ashland-Jewett

Anne Rode said teachers and staff will meet with staff from Greene County Public Health to discuss how to prevent germs from spreading in the school building and on buses. Bus drivers would have an additional training to revisit safety checks and additional cleanliness protocols.

The school has ordered bottles of hand sanitizers for distribution as well as dispensers for all classrooms, common areas and offices in the school building.

She said the school reminds students to wash their hands and be mindful that they will be around many other children every year.

Information regarding the district’s procedures and the virus will be posted on the district’s Web site, she said, adding that information will also be included in a parent newsletter.

School administrators said physical contact — hallway greetings or during athletic events and gym class — will not be prevented or banned.

As Hunter-Tannersville’s Superintendent Patrick Darfler-Sweeney said, common sense hygiene practices will prevail, echoing what other administrators said.

“If we do a really good job with that, we will take care of 99.9 percent of the other stuff,” he said.

Schools to get stimulus funds
Money will be used to support improvements to teaching methods, learning environment
The Daily Mail
Sept. 3, 2009

CATSKILL — New programs and program features could be coming to the Catskill Central School District through more than $260,000 from the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act of 2009 as well as from other grant sources, according to District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell.

The district will receive a preliminary estimate of $263,324 available over a 27-month period through the stimulus measure, according to the New York State Education Department and the Office of Gov. David A. Paterson. The money can be used to support teaching and learning improvement efforts. Final allotments will be announced later in the year.

“Any penny we get goes a long way,” Farrell said of the coming money.

She said the money, and additional funds through the Dyson Foundation in conjunction with Greene County Mental Health, will help implement an extended-day elementary school program that could be used for tutoring sessions or homework assistance.

She said the district will begin a search for additional staff to provide more opportunities for secondary students to prepare for Regents examinations or attend tutoring sessions, to receive counseling and to possibly pass failed courses through Online instructional services.

Farrell said further funds would come to the District through the Individuals with Disabilities Act.

According to the department, approximately 700 New York schools, mostly in lower-income areas, will receive more than $900 million through the Recovery Act.

Greene County schools will receive $788,464 in the following amounts:

- $138,042 for the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- $263,324 for the Catskill Central School District;

- $133,728 for the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- $122,019 for the Greenville Central School District;

- $85,132 for the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- $46,219 for the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

But, as Cairo-Durham Central School’s Business Manager Lissa Jilek pointed out Wednesday, the funding is not guaranteed. Schools must still apply for the funds, she said.

Allocations were determined based on a “No Child Left Behind” program count of qualifying children including those in families living below the poverty line, living in foster care or in institutions for the neglected and who are receiving Temporary Assistance for Needy Families.

According to program data gathered, 6.86 percent of qualifying children in New York reside in Greene County with the following break-down:

- 1.15 percent in the Cairo-Durham Central School District;

- 2.40 percent in the Catskill Central School District;

- 1.14 percent in the Coxsackie-Athens Central School District;

- 0.96 percent in the Greenville Central School District;

- 0.80 percent in the Hunter-Tannersville Central School District;

- 0.41 percent in the Windham-Ashland-Jewett Central School District.

Sen. Kirsten E. Gillibrand, D-NY, said in a statement that education is one of the most important investments that can be made for the future of New York.

“These federal dollars will help give New York students the education they need to succeed in the 21st century by providing more early education, extended learning opportunities, better training for teachers and a stronger role for parents,” she said.

Second flotilla to visit Catskill and Coxsackie
Hudson’s anniversary marked with arrival of Dutch ships
The Daily Mail
Sept. 1, 2009

CATSKILL — The actual 400th Anniversary of Henry Hudson’s sail through the region is coming in mid-September — and so is a fleet of Dutch flat bottomed boats.

This parade of ships is being sponsored by the Government of the Kingdom of the Netherlands’ NY400 project and is organized in partnership with the Dutch “Stichting ter Promotie van het Traditionele Schip” (Foundation to Promote Traditional Ships, or S.P.T.S.) according to the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation. The Foundation has organized several events in New York and the Netherlands to celebrate Hudson’s voyage.

According to the Foundation, the 19 low-slung “skutsjes,” or cargo boats, fishing boats and barges participating in the flotilla are direct descendants of ships that could be seen along Dutch coastlines in the 17th century.

The ships left Amsterdam, Holland, Aug. 20 and are scheduled to arrive in New York City today. They will linger Downstate, visiting waterfront communities in Westchester County and on Long Island, as well as New York City harbors until Sept. 14.

The flotilla will leave New York City Sept. 14 and is scheduled to arrive in Albany Sept. 20. But between Sept. 18 and Sept. 20, boats from the flotilla will be anchored in Catskill and Coxsackie.

Henry Hudson and his crew sailed the Half Moon into the mouth of the river that now bears his name on Sept. 12, 1609. On Sept. 15-16, the crew stopped near Catskill, then proceeded north, nearly reaching Albany before turning around and returning to New York Bay.

Local officials said celebrations will be planned for when the boats drop anchor.

Catskill Village President Vincent Seeley said the village will welcome the boats, although with a smaller celebration than was held for the arrival of the Half Moon on River Day in June.

“I think it is another great historic moment for the Village of Catskill,” Seeley said of the planned visit.

Village of Coxsackie Mayor Mark Evans said the anticipated stop in Coxsackie would be great because the June flotilla did not come to his community.

Coxsackie Town Supervisor Alex Betke said it would be exciting to have the types of ships that sailed during the time of Henry Hudson come to Coxsackie.

“It is a great community event for us all to get together and utilize our beautiful Riverfront Park,” he said.

Betke said a celebration in Coxsackie would be planned.

The flotilla will also make stops in Nyack, Peekskill, Cold Spring and Kingston, according to the Henry Hudson 400 Foundation.

$16.7m construction project on schedule, budget
The Daily Mail
Aug. 3, 2009

CATSKILL—Construction on the $16.7 million expansion and renovation project is on schedule and should be completed by early fall, according to project manager Terry Damon, of Armlin Damon Associates.

Damon presented his mid-summer project to the Catskill District Board of Education at their meeting last week.

Parts of the project could be completed as early as mid-August, he said.

“Everything is coming together as it should be,” he said.

Work on the classroom conversion in the High School is underway, with floor slabs being laid in the new science room, which was the school’s art room. Pipe work in the space has been completed, Damon said, and ventilation work has begun.

The art room will be relocated to the site of the former library.

Workers have been installing drywall and skylights in the new library, he said.

Damon said he anticipated that curbing work in front of the school could begin in the middle of August.

He answered board members’ questions saying painting and ceiling work in the cafeteria in ongoing and new doors and windows could be installed soon. That space, and the building’s media center, could be finished by September, he said. The guidance area could be occupied in either September or October.

Damon also announced that the project was still on-budget despite the many changes the project has undergone.

District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell scheduled a walk-through of the new rooms with the board for August 19. A ribbon-cutting ceremony has been scheduled for September 13.

Catskill school board inks bus contracts
Cost of transporting students going up in 2009
The Daily Mail
July 30, 2009

CATSKILL — The Catskill Central School District Board of Education approved contracts Wednesday evening with First Student and Coxsackie Transport to shuttle more than 1,600 students between their homes and the district’s three school buildings during the upcoming school year.

District Superintendent Dr. Kathleen Farrell said she had anticipated an increase in cost for shuttling first- through 12th-grade students to the district’s three school buildings.

District Assistant Superintendent for Business Kimberly Lewis said the cost of the service would cost about 30 percent more than last year’s service.

That contract was awarded to the First Student busing company.

“The good news is even though the cost is up, it is nothing we did not budget for and did not anticipate,” Farrell said.

Roughly $2 million was budgeted for transportation costs for the 2009-10 school year.

The contract will cost $60,348 per bus and is based on 20 buses.

Any bus monitors or attendants the district requested would be paid $15,000.

The contract requires a $54,834 cost to add or cancel a bus trip.

Lewis said a local company had been interested in contracting with the district but the change in certain bus routes had not been finalized in time for an agreement to be reached.

Farrell said a company in Columbia County had also been contacted but could not add service in Catskill to its current rounds.

Pre-Kindergarten and Kindergarten students will be bused this coming year by Coxsackie Transport.

Four buses will transport children to Catskill Elementary School at a cost of $54,735 each. One bus will make four daily trips from students’ homes to the school, another bus will make two daily trips and two buses will make three daily trips.

The cost for adding a bus during the year would be $54, 735, as well, and the fee for canceling a bus would be $35,000.

The district could request a bus monitor or attendant for $17,220, each. Aids will be present on the morning bus to the school and the afternoon bus leaving the school, Farrell said.

She said that the two bus services provide a good return for their dollar.

“Coxsackie Transport and First Student have been attentive to our requests and our needs in terms of safety and training for drivers and equipment upgrades and other issues,” Farrell said.

She said allowing pre-K and Kindergarten students on the same bus makes financial sense, as does running door-to-door service on one vehicle.

“[Kids] will do a little bonding, hopefully positive bonding,” she said.

Board member Michael Bulich said he thought parents of young students should be responsible for bringing their children to and from school.

“I am on the fence with letting little kids, that age, on a bus,” he said.

Lewis said another bid request had been issued Wednesday for transportation of students in special and athletic programs.

Catskill Firefighters christen “Tower of Power” truck
New ladder truck is largest in Greene
The Daily Mail
July 20, 2009

CATSKILL—Firefighters from area departments formally welcomed the Catskill Fire Department’s “Tower of Power” tower 3-15 truck Sunday afternoon with a champagne christening and a traditional wet-down at the department station on Central Avenue.

The 2008 Sutphen SP95 Aerial Platform ladder truck is equipped to respond to any emergencies at Catskill’s three nursing homes, two school campuses, shopping centers and Greene County Office Building on Main Street and will be able to service any future businesses or facilities, Catskill Fire Chief Jack Ormerod said during his remarks to a crowd gathered for the celebration at the station.

“This truck is going to be top-notch for this community,” he said.

The truck, named the “Tower of Power” by a third-grade class at Catskill Elementary School, is the first truck of its kind, and the largest truck, to be purchased by a fire department in Greene County, Ormerod said.

Ormerod thanked a number of individuals including his officers, Catskill Village Trustee Patrick McCullouch, who served on the truck committee, and John Rideout, an engineer with Sutphen who has been helping the department with truck maintenance.

He also thanked the City of Hudson Fire Department for covering Catskill calls during the roughly three months while Catskill firefighters readied the tower truck for service and completed truck a training course.

Tower 3-15 was purchased last winter to replace a 1986 ladder truck. That truck was sold to the Athens Fire Department, and joined trucks from West Athens-Limestreet, the City of Hudson and Greenport departments for the wet-down.

After Ormerod spoke, some of Catskill elected officials thanked Catskill’s 58 active duty volunteer firefighters for their work and dedication.

McCulloch recounted the process of finding the truck among eight others and securing more than $600,000 to purchase the truck late last year.

“As the Village continues to grow, so must the Fire Department.” he said. “We need to give them the tools to serve the community.”

County Legislator Karen Deyo (R-Catskill) said that all Catskill residents should appreciate the time the firefighters give to protect the community. She wished the department luck with the new truck.

“Your volunteer work does not go unrecognized,” she said.

Fire Company President Paul Overbaugh said he was proud of how the department has come together since Catskill’s three former companies were consolidated in 2003.

After the speeches concluded, Second Assistant Chief Paul Ormerod Jr. christened the truck, breaking a bottle of champagne on its front bumper.

He said the new truck has already responded to recent fires in Catskill including one at the Catskill Elks Lodge, in May, and a more recent blaze in an apartment building on Thompson Street.

Firefighters on those calls were able to get above the flames by using the bucket on the truck’s 95-foot arm, he said.

Refreshments, including two cakes topped with pictures of the new tower truck “printed” in icing, were served after the wet-down.