SusanCampriello: My Works

Cash for Clunkers earns mixed reviews
Auto sales increase, but program’s management is criticized
The Daily Mail
The Register-Star
Sept. 4, 2009

Two weeks after the Car Allowance Rebate System, or CARS, program ended, dealerships in Greene and Columbia counties are reporting positive sales but mixed feelings toward the program’s management.

The CARS program, known familiarly as “Cash for Clunkers,” was meant to promote economic wellness by giving Americans an incentive to turn in their gas-guzzling cars for new, more environmentally friendly models.

Last week, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported that nearly 700,000 “clunkers” were taken off the road and replaced by newer, more fuel-efficient vehicles during the month-long program. The program began in July and ended Aug. 25.

According to the U.S. DOT, dealerships across the nation submitted rebate applications worth $2.877 billion, out of the available $3 billion, with roughly $156 million from dealerships in New York.

“We sold a lot of cars; it was a big boost,” said Peter Backlund, the general manager at Village Dodge, in Hudson, who had to replace more than 40 cars sold off the lot.

“It was much better than I anticipated,” he said.

He said the program was great because it put money back into the hands of the people on the street, “where it belongs.”

“Out of all the programs that the government has been funding,” said Backlund, “I really do not see why they had to debate about spending $3 billion on a program like this,” he said about discussions in the U.S. Congress prior to that body’s June approval of the program.

But not every dealer agreed.

Lenny Romeo, owner of Catskill Buick GMC Pontiac, which serves Greene and Columbia counties, said the way the program had been run was “disgusting” and “ridiculous” and he would not want to participate again.

“The way they ran the program was a total joke,” he said.

Romeo said the program’s false start — it had a brief hiatus in July — and computer system overload had soured him on participating.

Romeo said in August that he had not been paid for the vehicles he sold even those sold early in the program.

The government had promised dealers payments within 10 days.

By this week, Romeo had received payments for only four of the 27 vehicles he had sold through the program. He said a total of $90,000 should come to the dealership.

“If we ran our business that way, we would be out of business,” he said.

But, he admitted, the program did enable people to get financing for new cars, and that more cars moved off his lot than during a regular monthly sales period.

And, he said, about half of the customers who traded their large vehicles, trucks and sport utility vehicles for new Pontiacs and GMC pickup trucks told him they did so only to take advantage of the CARS program.

Phil Thorpe, of Thorpe’s Pontiac GMC, said more than 20 car and truck owners had tried to take advantage of the program at his Tannersville dealership. Only six “clunkers” qualified for the program, he said, characterizing his participation in the program as “limited.”

A car eligible for trade-in had to meet the criteria including being manufactured less than 25 years before trade-in date, have a combined city/highway fuel economy of 18 miles per gallon, had to be insured and registered a year before trade-in and had to be driveable.

Consumers could receive either a $3,500 or $4,500 dealer discount. The price on a new vehicle selected could not exceed $45,000.

Thorpe said last week that he was confident that the government would come through with payments for his vehicles, although he did not say how much he was owed. This week, Thorpe said he had received the entire payment owed him.

Unlike Romeo, Thorpe said he would participate in the program again if it were offered.

Dan Lacy, co-owner of Catskill’s R.C. Lacy Ford Lincoln Mercury Subaru declined to comment about the program until he had been paid by the government, offering only that he had “a lot to say” about it.

Larry Siracusano, owner of Sawyer Chevrolet in Catskill, said the program had gone “OK” and he was low on inventory, but was unavailable for further comment.

Staff at Marchese Ford, in New Lebanon, said the program had seemed to help sales, but could not comment further.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood called the program “wildly successful” because of how it had helped consumers.

“American consumers and workers were the clear winners thanks to the cash for clunkers program,” LaHood said in a press release. “Manufacturing plants have added shifts and recalled workers. Moribund showrooms were brought back to life and consumers bought fuel efficient cars that will save them money and improve the environment.”

According to the U.S. DOT, top trade-ins were the Ford Explorer 4WD, the Ford F150 Pickup 2WD, the 4WD Jeep Grand Cherokee and the 2WD Dodge Caravan/Grand Caravan.

The most popular vehicles purchased included the Toyota Corolla, Honda Civic, Toyota Camry, Ford Focus FWD and the Hyundai Elantra.

Paul Crossman contributed to this report

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.

Volunteers honored at Columbia Memorial Hospital gala
The Daily Mail
May 31, 2009, online

CATSKILL — In the past, a donor to the Columbia-Greene Hospital Foundation has been honored at the Annual Columbia Memorial Hospital Ball. However, this year, the hospital lauded the hard work of volunteers who have raised money for the foundation and have made the hospital a more welcoming place for patients and their families.

Forty-two volunteers, whose tickets were paid for by sponsors, attended the ball, the foundation’s largest fund raising event, held Saturday evening at Catskill Point.

Columbia Memorial Hospital President and Chief Executive Officer Jane Ehrlich said she expected $300,000 to be raised at the ball through tickets and the silent auction, which featured items including dinners and golf rounds.

But, she said, the ball was not only about raising funds for the foundation.

“We are excited to be here tonight to honor our volunteers,” she said.

She said the work of volunteers who did everything from visiting patients through the Hospice program to selling home-knit goods to working in the Second Show and donations made by medical staff had been instrumental to the foundation’s successes this year.

Ehrlich said that medical staff had taken the initiative to make donations to the foundation at a time when many large donors scaled bake their contributions.

In all, donations from medical staff totaled roughly $75,000, she said.

Patti Matheney Schrom, chairwoman of the foundation’s Board of Directors, said the foundation board was grateful to the medical staff for their contributions.

“We do have something to celebrate,” she said.

Rosemary Machin, the president of the Columbia Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, said her volunteers had done a wonderful job over the last year selling crafts and flowers and holding other fundraisers.

The Auxiliary was able to donate more than $45,000 to the hospital to help fund an intensive care renovation project and to purchase much-needed fetal monitors and other equipment.

Dr. Norman Chapin, hospital medical director, thanked the 131 active members of the Auxiliary for making items for patients, for newborns and for fundraisers, though which they have been able to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars. Auxilians also raise money for nursing scholarships, he said.

“Our patients really benefit from all their efforts,” he said.

Chapin thanked the many Hospice volunteers who provide support to patients facing long illnesses and their families.

He read from a letter written by a mother who lost a daughter to cancer. The mother thanked the hospital for making her daughter’s final days comfortable. Staff knew that the young girl had wanted to be a ballerina and had held her while she danced around the room.

“The care and and love she received at Columbia Memorial will never be forgotten,” the letter read.

Chapin said that volunteers use animals and music to help some patients recuperate from surgery or illness.

He also thanked the volunteers who work at the Second Show, a not-for-profit thrift shop on Warren Street in Hudson whose proceeds go to the hospital foundation.

The shop has been able to donate $800,000 during the last 15 years, he said.

“We have in our own backyard a very, very successful way of supporting very, very important missions within our own community,” he said.

The ball was organized by foundation Director of Operations and Special Events Gina Orlando and Barbara S. Johnson, foundation assistant.

Music was provided by the Children’s Peace Project, a group based in Chatham that raises money through CD sales and donations to help children who have been affected by war, and the Big Smoothies.

Bears to emerge from hibernation
Cats, horses and dogs to follow
The Daily Mail
Apr. 11, 2009

With winter melting into spring, artists in Cairo and Catskill are working hard to finish the bear statues that will stand and sit in front of various businesses in Cairo.

Each bear pattern includes a butterfly containing a letter or symbol that corresponds to a question about Henry Hudson. Visitors who can answer all the questions will win a prize from the Cairo Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring the exhibit.

The Chamber will install the bears all around town, rather than just along Main Street, to encourage people to explore each of the town’s hamlets.

Rip is reborn

Don Boutin is creating two bears that show the natural beauty of spring and summer and a small bit of Greene County lore. His bears will be placed across Main Street from each other this summer.

His “Blossom Bear” shows different brightly colored flowers growing along a white picket fence. These he patterned from flowers and a fence in his own backyard garden.

The other bear, which will stand across the street, will show the story of Rip Van Winkle, the most famous resident of Greene County who never was. Rip’s angry wife and her “to do” list, Rip and his dog and the Half Moon are all portrayed on the bear’s chest, belly and rump.

Boutin placed Rip Van Winkle in promotional materials for a local balloon festival in 1999 and an automobile revival in 2003. In other works, Rip fishes, skis and dozes in a hammock. But Rip’s image as a young man on Boutin’s bear is one of the few, if only, instances where he is without his identifying long white beard.

Boutin’s Rip is recognizable from one painting or poster to the next, but Rip’s eyes and nose are familiar to anyone who has met Boutin.

“Everybody says when I do Rip, he has a likeness to me,” Boutin said.

Although Rip is a popular subject, Boutin also paints custom wall murals and scenes on benches and tables.

He first moved to the area in 1983, when he worked in the lacquer department at Sotheby’s in Columbia County, restoring and painting antiques. He used paint and putty to refurbish pieces and, in some cases, make them look like they were made of marble.

Boutin began painting his living room walls to look like beige stone shortly after moving into his Cairo home. The corners of the room have been made to look like wood and painted vines run along the faux beams. The room is complete with a bookshelf that looks three-dimensional.

He said his wife, Maureen, would sometimes wake up at 3:30 a.m. and find him working on the living room.

Boutin works in an upstairs studio in his Cairo home, surrounded by pictures of Rip, of cats and of flowers.

Toward the end of winter, a large nearly-finished painting of an explorer’s ship whose crew were bears and carried by butterflies — which promotes Cairo’s Quadricentennial — was propped on an easel.

Boutin said he had a very different idea in mind at first — the iconic Titanic. However, his daughter, who is away at college in Rochester, reminded him of an image she recalled from childhood of a ship with butterflies. And so, Boutin redesigned the painting.

Another Quadricentennial-themed painting, this one with Hudson’s Half Moon, adorns the cover of the most recent Greene County tourism guide. Hudson’s crew includes bears and cats. Rip appears, too, sharing a canoe with his own bear-and-cat crew. Friendly natives in their own canoe are paddling toward the Half Moon.

By late winter, Boutin was nearly finished with his two bears but was still planning for the cats he is creating for Catskill’s Cat’n Around celebration. One cat will show scenes from Catskill’s history, including the Catskill Mountain House and railroad tracks.

Boutin said he may borrow some settings from Thomas Cole’s famous works for the cat. He said he likes to incorporate Cole’s Hudson River scenes and mountains into the background of his own works of art.

His other cat will show the favorite, Rip, although the cat and bear will be different.

Boutin is not sure why he started to paint Rip relaxing, with Hudson’s legendary diminutive crew or ever as a mountainside waterfall.

“All of the sudden I started doing him,” Boutin said.

Father and daughter team up

Ken Richards, or Kenny Rich, created five cats for last year’s Cat’n Around exhibit and auction.

This year he will make two cats for Catskill and a rocking horse for Hors’n Around Saugerties — that village’s public art event.

Before work began on these projects, Richards and his 14-year-old daughter, Roxy, began designing their bears for Cairo’s interactive Quadricentennial street art project. Richards said he heard that Cairo was going to start its own project and asked if he could be involved. His daughter, who helped put together last year’s “Country Cat,” asked if she could create a bear, too.

Richards told her that she could submit a design and create the bear if her design was selected by a sponsor. Roxy submitted “Honey Bear,” a life-like bear whose pot of honey doubles as a bank.

“Honey Bear” went to the “Unibearsity of Honey,” Roxy explained, showing where she would print the alma mater on the bear’s red sweater.

Richards said he showed his daughter how to use different brushstrokes and painting techniques and tools, like a sponge and an airbrush, to create the bear’s fur and sweater details. The fur was created using four light and dark shades and the sweater has ribbing at the collar and cuffs.

Roxy said she is dedicating the bear to a friend on Long Island who loves Winnie the Pooh.

Roxy, who lives downstate, said all her friends there know about “Honey Bear.”

“They think it is really cool,” she said, “there is no opportunity like this on Long Island.”

The other bear being created by the Richards family is the “Gummy Bear,” a mate to last year’s favorite “Kit Cat.” The bear will resemble a gummy bear candy bursting out of its wrapper.

By late winter, Richards had only fashioned the foil wrapper around the bear’s neck and limbs and cut a large bite out of the bear’s right ear. But, when it is finished, visitors to the bear will be able to see little gummy bears inside the bear’s chest.
Richards is letting his 10-year-old son, Skylar, paint the bear’s solid-colored limbs and head.

Richards, who is a commercial artist and air-brusher, was just starting to work on his Catskill cat as his daughter was finishing her bear.

One cat is modeled after the 1953 Hudson Hornet hot rod, complete with flame decals and a seat in which a small pet can pose.

Once the body and the painting is completed, Roxy and her father can start giving their animals props, such as the hat and rake of the “Country Cat.”

“That is the fun part …” said Richards.

“… the accessories,” Roxy added.

He said he was trying to figure out how to attach side mirrors and other add-ons to the “Hudson Hornet” cat in a way that they will not get broken.

Richards said he watched adults try to pull the fake bullets and cell phone from his police cat last summer. This year, he said, he will put two bolts in all his attachments. He said he has also given advice to new participating artists on how they can make sure their creations are not vandalized.

Boutin, the Richards family and the other artists creating bears this year were required by the Cairo Chamber of Commerce to hide a butterfly in their patterns. But, they said, there were no other guidelines for the bears.

“That is the cool thing about these — anything goes,” Richards said.

Still time for Hudson artists

The city of Hudson is bringing back its “Best in Show” exhibit, which will open on Warren Street July 4.
The deadline for artist applications is April 24, and a sponsor-artist reception will be held April 30.

Interested sponsors and artists can contact the Columbia County Chamber of Commerce at 518-828-4417, or go online to www.columbiachamber-ny.com.

“Cake Eaters” director: film is about love in the face of loss
The Daily Mail
Mar. 22, 2009

CATSKILL — Mary Stuart Masterson emerged from an opening curtain on the movie stage in Catskill’s Community Theater after the 7 p.m. showing of “The Cake Eaters” and took a dramatic curtsy in front of an applauding audience of about 300 who attended the screening and a question and answer session Saturday.

“I’m sorry I didn’t bring cake,” she joked.

Masterson explained that the tile of the movie, which was written by Jayce Bartok, who also appears as Guy in the film, referred to a regional term that distinguishes “the haves” from “the have-nots.” She said the characters in the film all wanted something they thought was out reach, but for one moment are able to have it, or, rather, get to eat their cake.

Saturday’s session was moderated by Lisa Thomas and Margo Pelletier of Thin Edge Films.

Masterson said Bartok’s script was quasi-autobiographical. His mother, she said, suffered from neuropathy and passed away shortly before he wrote the script. She said Bartok wanted to present a character going through the similar problem of losing their motor function but not a loss of their mental or emotional capacity.

The character of Georgia, played by Kristen Stewart (”Twilight”), suffers from Friedreich’s ataxia, a genetic disorder that causes progressive damage to the nervous system. Georgia, Masterson said, is at the age where children gain more freedom from their parents and just wants to lose her virginity and take control of her life before she becomes more dependent on her mother.

“To me, it has always been about love in spite of life, love in the face of loss,” she said.

Masterson said that although the movie’s themes of illness, death and return are familiar, conflicts in the story were allowed resonate rather than be pushed into violent or graphic scenes.

“That heightened violence or that gratuitous sex would have taken away from the apparent kind of stillness inside of this story,” she said.

She said that the most important task of a director is to view the film every time as if it was the first time. She likened the process to that of a staged play where every moment in every performance needed to be fresh.

She explained that the script evolved throughout the filming process, noting, for example, that scenes occurring in the Kimbrough family’s kitchen were written much later than the original draft.

Masterson said she and the producers are relying on word-of-mouth buzz and reviews to draw audiences to their low-budget film, which is scheduled to be released on DVD on Tuesday. The Community Theater will screen the film today at 2 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. and weekday evenings at 7:15 through Thursday.

Masterson and her cast and crew filmed in Catskill, Athens and Hudson three years ago.

She said the classic architecture and near gentrification she found while driving through Columbia and Greene counties scouting filming locations fit the feel of the film.

“It is in the past and in the present, both,” she said.

“Cake Eaters” resonates with hometown crowd
The Daily Mail
Mar. 20, 2009

CATSKILL — The first audience to view “The Cake Eaters” in Greene County murmured excitedly when familiar places including Catskill’s Green Lake Homestead resort, The Iron Horse Bar, in Hudson, and DiStefano’s Meat Market, in Cairo, appeared before them on the big screen in the Community Theater, in Catskill.

The theater’s marquee and any given train’s whistle as it passes the town are also featured in the movie, which was filmed here in 2006.

Several moviegoers said the filming locations contributed to the picture’s realism.

“It didn’t have that slick Hollywood feel,” Ron Tunison said after the premier.

His wife, Alice, who is a councilwoman in the Town of Cairo, agreed.

She said the story, which explores new and old relationships in two families after the return of one family’s son, was something that could take place in any of the towns in the area.

“It was very real, it was very believable,” she said.

The film stars Kristen Stewart (“Twilight”) as Georgia Kaminski, a terminally ill teenage girl who wants to enjoy life and love before she dies. She befriends Beagle, played by Aaron Stanford of the “X-Men” film series, who is coming to terms with the recent death of his mother and return of his brother, Guy, played by the film’s writer, Jayce Bartok. Elizabeth Ashley, who was nominated for an Emmy Award for her work on “Evening Shade,” stars as Georgia’s grandmother, who shares a secret with the boys’ father, played by Bruce Dern (“Black Sunday”).

Best actress Oscar nominee Melissa Leo (“Frozen River”) and Jesse L. Martin (“Law and Order”) are also featured in the film.

“The Cake Eaters” will be shown at Community Theater today at 2 p.m., 7 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m. and 7:15 p.m. and weekday evenings at 7:15 through Thursday.

The film’s director, Mary Stuart Masterson, will hold a question and answer session after today’s 7 p.m. showing.

Although the plot’s slow pace was not a hit with all its teenage viewers, students at Catskill High School enjoyed seeing their school on film.

“It was pretty cool,” William Meyer said.

His classmate Alex Irzarry said Georgia’s longing for love resonated with today’s teens.

“People talk about losing their virginity a lot,” Irzarry said.

He and his friends agreed that the serious film had some humorous moments.

Greene County Judge Daniel K. Lalor and his wife Susan, whose riverside Athens summer home was prominently featured as the Kaminskis’ house, were also in the audience.

Susan Lalor said that seeing her home brought a mixture of weird and wonderful feelings.

She said the house was chosen for its somewhat rundown appearance.

“Now I look at it and say, ‘God, that needs to be painted,’” she said.

She said that watching the shooting, which took only a few days, go from start to finish was exhilarating.

Filming took place at several other Catskill locations, including the cemetery on Thompson Street and at houses on Grand Street and Cauterskill Avenue, she said.

Barber Bobby Meo can be seen reading a newspaper in one scene that takes place in his barbershop on Main Street.

Catskill resident Noreen Wilson, who enjoyed the story as well as its setting, said she would buy the DVD after its release Tuesday.

“Oh, absolutely,” she said.

In a surprise move, Herrington’s closes
The Daily Mail and The Register-Star
Feb. 21, 2009

CATSKILL — The economic downturn has claimed another victim. Herrington’s lumber and building materials store on Water Street in Catskill closed Friday.

“It was simply an economic decision,” said Ken Blass of Blass Communications, a spokesman for Ed Herrington Inc.

Five employees were laid off Friday and two were offered positions at the retailer’s other locations, Blass said.

The company employs more than 170 people in stores and showrooms in Connecticut and Massachusetts as well as in Hudson, Chatham, Hillsdale and Millerton.

An office in Lenox, Mass., was also closed, but its employees were moved to other locations, he said.

Mike Simmons, who worked at the store until it closed, said that the chain had laid off more than 10 employees over the last month.

“Nobody’s been buying stuff,” Simmons said.

Last July, Ed Herrington, Inc. purchased Dunn Builders Supply, which had been in Catskill for over 50 years, from owner Steven Dunn.

At the time of purchase, Ed Herrington, president and chief executive officer of the chain, said the purchase was an exciting move that would expand Herrington’s reach across the region.

“While this is not the outcome we had intended, the decision to close our Catskill location will better position our company for future opportunities and ready us to meet the changing landscape of the building industry,” Herrington said in a press release Friday.

“Our computer system allows customers to use their account at any store, so Catskill customers will experience no difficulty in transacting business at any Herrington’s store location,” General Manager Richard Herrington said in the release.

Customers can call (518) 828-9431 for service, he said.

According to the Village of Catskill Downtown and Waterfront Revitalization Plan, the 1.82-acre Water Street property, which is still owned by Dunn, is considered part of the plan’s Uncle Sam Bridge node.

The property features a number of buildings of a variety of sizes and ages, as well as some docks along the shore of Catskill Creek.

“The variety in size and location of the buildings would allow water-dependent and water-enhanced uses, along with retail shops, offices, artisan and craft space museums or other tourist destination, and countless others. Planning for future uses and design of this complex of structures should be a high priority for implementation of this revitalization strategy,” the plan reads.

Dunn said he was unaware of plans to close the store. He said he had recently been in the building to see some ongoing renovation and electric work.

“Something’s not right,” he said.

Athens branch of credit union to close Feb. 20
The Daily Mail
Feb. 6, 2009

In a letter to its members, the Columbia-Greene Federal Credit Union announced that it will close its Athens branch office later this month.

The branch at 3 N. Warren St., which was opened in 2007, will close Feb. 20.

The letter explained that the “prohibitive cost” of keeping the underutilized branch open led to the decision.

“We are currently exploring other branch location options to include the installation of a full-service ATM facility in Greene County,” the letter said.

Members will be able to make deposits and withdrawals as well as transfers and payments at the site, according to the letter.

“We are working on some new and exciting services coming your way this year at out Hudson branch, along with the launching of out new CGFCU website,” the letter said.

Kip Summerlin, the credit union’s director of marketing, said Thursday that more information on future plans will be made available.

Despite money woes, hospital plans to expand services in Greene
The Daily Mail and The Register-Star
Dec. 12, 2008

This year, Columbia Memorial Hospital sought a $1.7 grant under Phase 6 of the HEAL NY program. In September, the grant was denied.

The hospital board is still moving forward with plans to expand services in both Columbia and Greene counties, but will have to rely on other sources for the money. The denial has also put some pressure on the hospital’s fund-raising arm to out-raise past campaigns.

Jane Ehrlich, the hospital’s chief executive officer, said that last year the hospital underwent a $2.5 million budget reduction, leaving the board to assess the need for management and secretarial staff and to negotiate contracts.

With a staff of about 1,400, the hospital is the largest private employer in Columbia and Greene counties. Any loss of medical or maintenance staff will hurt the quality of care patients will receive, so such staffing cuts are not an option, she said.

The hospital is also looking at possible cuts in the reimbursements from Medicare and Medicaid, she said, and she predicted that the number of uninsured and underinsured patients using facilities will continue to rise.

Ehrlich estimated that this year, the hospital has spent $7 million on free care for patients, about a $1 million more than it did last year.

All of these factors have taken a toll on the hospital’s finances and although the hospital was about on target of staying within its $105 million budget this year, if these predictions come true, she said, the scope of the care the hospital facilities provide may have to be narrowed.

But patients, regardless of their insurance coverage or status, still need the be served.

“The practices have been building, and it’s getting to the point where it’s getting more and more difficult for new patients to get appointments,” she said.

Without the HEAL NY grant, plans to expand service and facilities have had to be scaled back and to be implemented incrementally. The first phase of the plan will extend hours various facilities will be open to patients. The hospital board is talking about consolidating services into a few locations.

From a real estate prospective, consolidating services will save the hospital money, Ehrlich said. She said that new buildings are still part of the hospital’s plan, but no moves will be made until the board can get a good idea of the real estate landscape, as well as the hospital’s own finances for the coming years.

And that’s where the Columbia-Greene Hospital Foundation can help the hospital.

The foundation solicits donations and grants from corporations, individuals and agencies that can be used for construction and renovation projects.

Keith Lampman, who will enter his eighth year as the foundation’s executive director in February, has seen the renovation of the maternity wing and the hospice unit, waiting areas and seven new surgery suites, as well as the construction of the two-story hallway connecting the hospital and the medical office building, all of which were made possible at least in part by donations.

This year, the foundation has raised $1,940,000, and although that figure is $300,000 shy of last year’s total, Lampman is enthusiastic that donations will keep coming in through the end of the year.

“We have three weeks left,” he said.

Lampman, who was born at the hospital, enjoys describing and showing some of the renovation projects, which have increased the amount of natural light in recovery rooms and hallways, have centralized nursing stations, and have made patient areas more private by replacing curtain partitions with walls.

The foundation raises money through its capital campaigns, annual appeals and special events, such as February’s Snow Ball, an event to raise money for Kaaterskill Care Nursing and Rehabilitation Center. It also holds a hospital ball in June, a golf tournament in August and a tennis tournament in September. While hundreds of thousands of dollars are raised at such events every year, smaller, individual donations play a large part in funding the hospital’s capital projects. Lampman estimated that 40 percent of the foundation’s donations come from individuals giving $100 or less.

“If all 50,000 households within Columbia and Greene counties gave $25 (less than 50 cents per week), we’d receive another $1,250,000 each year,” Lampman said in an e-mail.

The foundation works closely with the Columbia Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, which runs Second Show, on Warren Street in Hudson, whose proceeds also help fund hospital projects. Two years ago, the Auxiliary announced that in the previous 10 years, the thrift store had made $500,000 for the hospital.

“You can give to the hospital by donating you old clothes,” Lampman said, “by buying cupcakes through the Columbia Memorial Hospital Auxiliary, by giving an outright gift, either through the appeal or the capital campaign [or] by coming to one of our events.”

Next year, hospital staff will receive a new cafeteria through a $250,000 donation from the Kellner family. Jane Ehrlich said the board plans on applying for a Federal grant to construct elderly housing adjacent to the medical arts center, in Catskill. Housing units there will allow members of the increasing population of elderly people in the region to live independently but close to medical care.

Lampman is looking at future projects, too, and said that 2009 will be an important year for laying the groundwork for future financial donations and partnerships. Still, the tumultuous economic times and demands on state and federal grants will make make every gift even more important to the hospital than in the past.

“The foundation is going to become more important than ever as cuts come into place,” he said.

State giving the gift of warmth
84 coats to be delivered to Cairo church, Catskill food pantry
The Daily Mail
Nov. 28, 2008

With temperatures, not to mention family savings, dropping, Greene and Columbia county residents can be thankful for a state gift of free coats.

Gov. David A. Paterson announced that the Department of Correctional Services has donated more than 190 winter coats to area distribution centers, according to a press release issued on Nov. 24.

According to the Governor’s office, 108 coats will be presented to the City of Hudson’s coat drive; 60 coats will be given to Resurrection Lutheran Church, in Cairo; and 24 coats will go to God’s Storehouse and Food Pantry, in Catskill.

“This is a small gesture, but hopefully these coats will find their way to individuals who need them this winter,” Paterson said in the press release. “It is in the spirit of Thanksgiving that we hope to provide a little warmth to the most vulnerable of our residents.”

Seven thousand of the blue polyester-and-cotton coats will be distributed statewide in a variety of adult sizes. Although the coats, which were manufactured by inmates at Clinton Correctional Facility’s Apparel Shop and were part of the standard correction officer uniform until 2006, they closely resemble commercially made coats.

“It was apparent that we would no longer have a use for these coats, and it made sense to make this most of these surplus items by helping our fellow New Yorkers,” Brian Fischer, department commissioner, said in the release.

The coats began their journey to their new homes after an inventory of items in storage was conducted, Correctional Services spokesman Erik Kriss said Wednesday. Fischer approached the Governor about giving the coats away, an idea that appealed to the Governor. Fischer worked with prison supervisors, inclucing Hudson Correctional Facility’s Jeff McCoy, to choose centers to receive the coats, Kriss said.

Hudson Mayor Rick Scalera worked with the department to procure the coats, said Rev. Ed Cross, who coordinates the Community Warmth Program, which grew out of a winter hearing forum held in August.

Coat deliveries began immediately, and items will be available to the public in the coming weeks.

Cross said Wednesday that he is busy planning giveaway events for this winter, but people who need winter coats and blankets can contact him at any time. He said that the department’s gift almost doubled the supply of coats the City has collected from individual donations and drives, such as one sponsored by the Bank of Greene County.

The coats will be available at Resurrection Lutheran Church, in Cairo, during a giveaway on Dec. 20, Joyce Notarnicola, who runs such events, said. Charlotte Stengle, who ran the church coat giveaway until this year, said that more than 100 winter coats were picked up by residents last winter.

Mary Irvis of God’s Storehouse and Food Pantry said that most of the 50 coats available every year are usually taken by mid-winter, and the coats should help extend availability.

Corrections coats were given to organizations in 35 communities across the state.