Sullivan County Democrat 125th Anniversary

Celebrating125 YearsServing Sullivan County

www.scdemocratonline.com SPECIAL 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION Published twice-weeklyVOL. CXXVI NO. 9 4 SECTIONS | 32 PAGES FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 ONE DOLLAR

5 Lower Main St., Callicoon has been the home of the Sullivan County Democrat since 1901. The two-story building has seen many renovations throughout the last 115 years, the latest being a new blue-stone sidewalk in front of the building, which was finished last week. Sending a big “Thank You” toour readers and advertisers are, from the left: Joseph Abraham, Tracy Swendsen, Petra Duffy,

Anthony Morgano, Elizabeth Finnegan, Michelle Reynolds, Carol Montana, Sandy Schrader, AutumnSchanil, Joanna Blanchard, Fred Stabbert III, Rosalie Mycka, Barbara Matos, Cecile Lamy, Ruth Huggler,Liz Tucker, April Spruill, Nyssa Calkin, Patricia Biedinger and Dan Hust. Please see pages 4-5A for a lookat our entire staff.

Democrat turns the page on another year

DEMOCRAT FILE PHOTO

The Democrat office 116 years ago…Shown here is the original Sullivan County Democrat Office as it appeared in the summer of 1900. The posters in the window clearly indicate thatChurch Fairs and Community Picnics were the order of the day. A magnifying glass was used to determine the year 1900 on two of the posters. FredGerman of Delaware Avenue, Callicoon is the young fellow shown at the left. He was a typesetter at that time. Misters Terwilliger, father and son,are also shown. The young Mr. Terwilliger was editor of The Democrat at that time. The office was located in what is now the Ses-u-me Street CarWash across from the old Callicoon School in Callicoon. The photo was loaned to us by Mr. German.

Nearly 8,332 editionshave gone “to press”since the Sullivan

County Democrat wasfounded on a late June day in1891.

The Democrat has endurednearly every kind of naturaldisaster, from floods to bliz-zards, droughts to hurricanes.

But one thing has held truefor the past 125 years – theSullivan County Democrathas never missed a deadline.

“We have come close a cou-ple of times,” Fred StabbertIII, the current publisher ofthe newspaper and third gen-eration of his family to haverun the Democrat since 1927,said. “But we don’t plan onstarting now.”

From the Great Flood of1902, which took out theCochecton Bridge across theDelaware to the Blizzard of‘58, which belted SullivanCounty with a 38-inch snow-storm, the Democrat hastaken some of the biggest hitsnature has had to offer – andstill put ink to newsprint todeliver the news to its faithfulreaders.

There were also the greatfloods of 1996 and 2006, bothclose calls for the Democratoffice on Lower Main St., Cal-licoon.

“We never had water in the

office, but we were surround-ed by it a couple of times,”Stabbert laughed.

And who could forget theblackout of August 14, 2006, aThursday, and a deadline dayfor the twice-weekly SullivanCounty Democrat.

“I think we were down tothe last page when the powerwent out,” Stabbert remem-bered. “I went up to mymother’s house to wait outthe blackout.

“All of a sudden I looked inthe living room and a littlenight light was on,” he said.“My mother had turned off all

the lights in the house exceptfor the nightlight.

“I quickly ran back to theoffice, finished the page andwe made our Friday publica-tion date,” he said.

Tribute to our staff“There have been so many

dedicated and hard-workingpeople who have made such adifference at the Democrat,”Stabbert said. “I’ll never for-get Leota ‘Lee’ Hermann; sheworked for us for more than40 years.”

Lee was the only employeeto work for all three Freds –Sr., Jr. and the Third.

“When my daughter Laurastarted at the office, Lee toldme it was about time toretire,” Stabbert III said. “Leesaid she didn’t want to workfor four generations of ourfamily.”

There was also office man-ager Jean Price, a 30-plus yearemployee, and businessoffice helper Carol Wootan,who put in well over 30 years.

“They were instrumental inthe stability and growth of ournewspaper,” he said. “Theywere so meticulous in every-thing they did.

“And I would be remiss if I

did not mention Tom White,my first editor,” Stabbert said.“He was a literal genius andvery strict. He would yell andscream but somehow we gotthe newspaper out everyweek. He really taught me alot about newspapering.

“And my favorite… has tobe my Uncle Perk,” Stabbertsaid. “I started working withPerk at age 16 and he taughtme how to run the pressesand a lot about printing.

“He and my father werevery close and it was a sad daywhen he died on February 5,1977,” he said. “Looking back,he really got me interested inthe office.”

Celebrates 125 years of Community Journalism

www.crmcny.org

A m eare Ghf tr oebmeA m

www

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Dedication:This 125th Anniversary edition is dedicated

to the memory of my grandparents, Nellie andFred Stabbert Sr. and my parents, Shirley andFred Stabbert Jr. They have inspired me tocontinue a life’s journey which has been bothmeaningful and rewarding.

My father’s dedication to his profession wassteadfast and enduring and he gave me theopportunity to continue the work which he andhis father had started. - The Publisher

Our Sponsors:

PLEASE SEE HISTORY, 3A

The Stabberts:Sullivan County’s newspapering family

Inside:

Who we are and how we started

Meet our editors:past through present

A history of newspapers from our County Historian

Section

ASection

BSection

CSection

D

2A 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016

www.scdemocratonline.com

Still Banking Strong!

Congratulations to the

on their 125thAnniversary!!

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The bell hanging in thebelfry of the CallicoonUnited Methodist

Church was donated to thethen-Methodist-EpiscopalChurch, Callicoon Depot, onDecember 25, 1891 by John F.Anderson, who was a captainin the Civil War. Mr. Ander-son had a daughter, MissAnna Anderson, who was ac-tive in the church and Sun-day School. She was a schoolteacher. He also had a son,Frank, who was a lawyer anda grandson, Frank. CaptainAnderson donated one of thestained glass windows in thesanctuary as well as the bell.

The bottom of the bell is29 inches in diameter and itsheight is approximately thesame. It is supported by ametal framework in which itswings. On the one side ofthe bell there is a largewooden pulley over which

the rope is placed so whenthe rope is pulled the bellwill swing and a heavy metalclapper which hangs inside

of the bell will hit the sides ofthe bell.

This bell is also equippedwith a tolling hammer whichrequires a second rope. Thetolling clapper causes thebell to sound only once eachtime the bell rope is pulled.In the days when the bell wasnew, it was the custom to tollthe church bell for a funeral.There were no funeral par-lors, services were held in thehome of the deceased occa-sionally but mostly in thechurch. There were two dif-ferent customs of tolling thebell. One was to toll the bellone stroke for each year ofthe deceased’s life – if 54years old, the bell was tolled54 times. The other customwas to toll the bell slowly butcontinuously from the timethe funeral procession leftthe church until it arrived atthe cemetery.

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 3Awww.scdemocratonline.com

CONTINUED FROM FRONT PAGE

Stabbert also praised hiscurrent staff, including OfficeManager Sue Owens, a 35-year employee and Senior Ed-itor Dan Hust, who has beenat the Democrat for 20 years.

“We also have many em-ployees with 10-plus years ofexperience and our staff reallyworks as a team,” he said. “It’sgreat to see the extraordinarywork they do every week. My

father and grandfather wouldtruly be amazed.”

The FutureThe Democrat continues to

be Sullivan County’s oldestand most-respected newssource, with a dozen full andpart-time reporters and an-other 20 staff to help producethe newspaper.

“We are embracing our fu-ture, from the latest in com-puter equipment to a newlyredesigned website with ad-vertising on it,” Stabbert said.“I believe our strength is in ourcommitment and caringabout Sullivan County.

“We cover the hard news,the ‘bad’ stuff, because that’swhat we do,” he said. “But weare also Sullivan County’sbiggest cheerleader. If we canmake it to 125 it has to be agreat place.”

HISTORY: Democrat turns 125

Democrat founder was Civil War Capt., prominent Callicoon Depot resident

PHOTO BY HORATIO “BUDDY” KLEIN &

JOHN WIZEMAN

Embossed lettering on thereverse side reads: Clinton H.MeNeely Bell Co., Troy, NY

Capt. John F. Andersonwas a man of action.Like the time in June of

1891 when he didn’t like whatthe Republican Callicoon Echowas reporting he founded hisown newspaper – the SullivanCounty Democrat.

Captain Anderson hiredThomas Pendall as his firsteditor and publisher and therest, as they say, is history.

Today, much of what the re-tired Civil War Captain did re-mains – the town newspaper,the town fire department, abell in the United MethodistChurch and believe it or not –the sewer system.

John’s HistoryA member of Co. “E” 143rd

N.Y. Infantry unit whichfought in the Civil War, hewas discharged on February1, 1863.

From there he returned tohis hometown, CallicoonDepot (as Callicoon wascalled in the late 1800s),where he bought a house on

NYSSA CALKIN | DEMOCRAT

Sullivan County Democrat Publisher Fred Stabbert III stands next to Civil War Capt. John F. Anderson’stombstone at the Callicoon Cemetery. Fred’s father and grandfather, both publishers of the newspa-per, are also buried in the same cemetery.

the corner of Church Streetnear the blinking light (nowknown as Route 97).

Captain Anderson, as heknown about town, was ap-parently a man of consider-able means.

He had a sewer system in-stalled along Church St. fromhis home to the CallicoonCreek, near the formersawmill.

Before the Callicoon Volun-teer Fire Dept. was born, oneof the two fire companies wascalled, “The Anderson Hookand Ladder Co. No. 1” andwas named after him. It waslocated in a building acrossfrom the Stewart-MurphyFun eral Home, which he do-nated to the fire company tobe used as a fire station.

That company merged withthe other fire company intown to form the CallicoonFire Dept.

He also donated a bell tothe United Methodist Churchin Callicoon on December 25,1891.

“I believe our strengthis in our commitmentand caring about Sul-livan County.”

Callicoon United Methodist Church tolls an historic bell

Congrats to

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Sullivan County

Democrat

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125voices

“I enjoy theDemocrat verymuch. I enjoythe Down theDecades. I’vebeen readingit since I wasa tiny littlekid. It’s amaz-ing when I gotout of school,I didn’t know any names, andnow I recognize names ofpeople who were prominentwhen I was a kid.”

Dennis EschenbergCallicoon

“I enjoy theweekendcrosswordpuzzle. I’m acrossword guyso I love theweekend edi-tion. And Ilove the blurbsthey do on thekids – thegrades, where they’regoing – I like to keep tabs onthem.”

Robin MaileyCallicoon

“The Dem-ocrat does agreat jobwith localcoverage. Ireally enjoyseeing pic-tures of peo-ple in thecommunity,especially ouryouth. You can always go tothe Democrat if you want toknow what’s going on lo-cally.”

Melissa ReidKiamesha Lake

BY MARGARET BRUETSCH



125voices

“I like thelocal newsand I likegoing backthrough allthe years inthe DowntheDecades.”

Irma SchillingCochecton

“I try to stay on top off allthat is happening in SullivanCounty, it’s animportantpart of myjob. One ofmy favoritefeatures ofthe SullivanCounty Dem-ocrat is know-ing about thelocal upcom-ing events. It really helps metune into what is happeninglocally in my communities.”

Kristin WhiteWestern Sullivan

Public Library Director

“I like theDemocratbecause Ienjoy seeingpeople inthe paperthat I know.It’s verylocal.”

Joe HerbertJeffersonville

“I enjoy allof the localstories. It’s avery down-home type ofpaper and Iknow a lot ofthe people init.”

Ed JustusJeffersonville

“I read it be-cause it’s allabout localpeople.I mainly readit becauseit’s localnews.”

Jim HammetJeffersonville

“I like read-ing the Dem-ocratbecause itkeeps me upto date onwhat’s hap-pening in thecommunityand at thehigh school.”

Colleen ChudikHankins

“I like toread theDemocratbecause it’svery infor-mal. I likethe goingback in timesection verymuch.”

Steven DidinskyWhite Sulphur Springs

“I like that it promotes allthe localhappeningsin thepaper, bothgood andbad. Theydo a goodjob at see-ing whattakes placewhile keep-ing every-one informed.”

Maria NeumannEquinunk

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1. Business Manager Sue Owens

2. Proofreader Elizabeth Finnegan

3. Route Driver Philip Grisafe

4. Advertising Coordinator SandySchrader (left) & AdministrativeAssistant Patricia Biedinger

5. Advertising RepresentativeCecile Lamy

6.Monticello Office ManagerJoanna Blanchard

7. Editor Carol Montana

8. Graphic Designer Rosalie Mycka

9. Circulation Director Linda Davis

10. Telemarketing CoordinatorMichelle Reynolds (left) andClassified Manager Janet Will

11. Advertising Director Liz Tucker

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3

Dedicatedto Our


125voices

“I enjoythe Demo-crat be-cause I likereadingabout thelocal com-munity andthe localsportssection.”

Jared KubenikLiberty

“I like thefact that itgivesyoung jour-nalists thechance tolearn thenuts andbolts of thecraft. Itgives themthe chance to get their feetwet.”

Ken CohenJeffersonville

“I enjoythe localnews andtheir cover-age on thelocalsports. AndI enjoyFriday’scrosswordpuzzle.”

Pete SigelakisCallicoon

“We sell itand I liketo read itwhen weget it in soI can getthe localnews.”

Ashok ParikhFosterdale

“I like theBethelCorner andall theneighbor-hoodcolumns.”

Thomas O’LaughlinBethel

“I alwaysread theletters tothe editor. Ialso alwayslook at thefirst pageto see if Iknow thewriter, be-fore I readthe Demo-crat. I like to read it cover tocover.”

Alicia IhlefeldtCochecton

“I like thatit’s run bylocal peo-ple. I lovethat it’s anewspaperabout Sulli-van Countyand that itsupportsour eventsand our kids.This newspaper is ours.”

Mark PlesciaGrahamsville

“I love theDemocrat’sclose part-nershipwith theDelawareYouth Cen-ter. And Ilove theDown theDecadesand thesports section.”

Scott HaberliHankins

HardworkingStaff

12. Publisher Fred Stabbert

13. Senior Editor Dan Hust

14. Advertising RepresentativeBarbara Matos

15. Circulation RepresentativeJackie Kohloa

16. Special Sections CoordinatorSusan Panella

17. Intern Anthony Morgano

18. Editorial AssistantTracy Swendsen

19. Sports Editor Joseph Abraham

20. Advertising RepresentativeApril Spruill

21. Reporter Autumn Schanil

22. Graphic Designer Ruth Huggler(left) & Photo Editor Nyssa Calkin

23. Graphic Designer Petra Duffy

24. Route Driver Rich Stagl

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‘You never know what’s going to come in’Sue Owens: 35 years at the Democrat

BY AUTUMN SCHANIL

CALLICOON — Upon walk-ing into the front door of theSullivan County Democratoffice in Callicoon, you maybe greeted by the smilingface, rosy cheeks and honesteyes of Office Business Man-ager Sue Owens.

A military baby born inEngland and raised in Way-mart, Pennsylvania, Owensbegan working at the Demo-crat nearly 35 years ago whenFred Stabbert Jr. still oversawthe paper. The office buildinglacked outside siding and theupstairs office that nowhouses the editorial staff wasa film developing darkroom.

Owens worked alongsideJean Price in the front officein a secretarial position forher first few years with Priceacting as her mentor andconfidant, taking Owensunder her wing, eventuallybecoming close friends.

“The first month that Istarted, they were just begin-ning to move to a computersystem to do the billing andfiling,” said Owens. “Prior tothat they had a ledger of all ofthe accounts. Everything hadto be handwritten, all the ad-vertisements and all thebilling.”

Owens loved the challengethough. At first the computersystem and floppy disks werea bit intimidating but “BigFred,” as Owens called him,sent her and Price to school inHonesdale for computer pro-gramming.

“Big Fred was a gentle giantand he always helped us ac-complish and make good de-cisions.

“Sending us to school was alittle baby start for us, butJean and I went,” said Owens,“and it was interesting. Welearned quite a lot.”

“Big Fred” also sent Owensout to different newspapersto see how their systems wereset up. Much of the function-ing computer system at theDemocrat was thanks to theircomputer programmer Gary

Wootan, and the helpfulinput of both Owens andPrice.

The best part of her job?“I really enjoy the people

that I work with and I like achallenge. I like the fact that Istill learn something newevery day,” explained Owens,“I really do. And now I’mlearning a lot more becauseof the advancing technology.

“And you never know what’sgoing to come in,” Owenssaid smiling. “I remember

when someone brought in adead rattlesnake [which theygot in trouble for].

“There was another timewhen a man was driving upthe crick road, an eagle wasflying overhead and as he wasdriving, a fish dropped rightout of the eagle’s talons andinto the man’s radiator. It’sjust something that sticks inyour mind, ya know?”

Owens, a hunter, lover ofthe outdoors and a sports-woman, loves to see the

turkeys and other game thatpeople bring in to the paperso they can have their photostaken.

Her funniest memory?“I had a blooper in my early

days here at the paper. Thiswoman called in to the officeone day,” said Owens as if ithappened yesterday, “and sheput an almanac in for achurch event. I thought shesaid ‘booze will be available.’So it went up to the editorialdepartment and they cor-

rected booze [because theyfelt the word wasn’t appropri-ate] to read ‘alcoholic bever-ages’ will be available. Well, itshould have read ‘booths,’that booths would be avail-able at the event, but it ran inthe paper as alcoholic bever-ages. The church was very un-derstanding and we, ofcourse, made a correction.

“But yea, that was my bigblooper,” she said laughing.“Now I make sure I have peo-ple spell everything out.”

AUTUMN SCHANIL | DEMOCRAT

Sue Owens has seen plenty of changes and a lot of different faces at the Democrat over her 35 years working in the front office.

Congratulationsto the

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125thAnniversary

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Congrats on 125 yearsof Sullivan County

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125voices

“I love thestuff aboutthe kids. Wedid a Sulli-van WestTask Forceand they didgreat cover-age of that.I love thepictures especially whenthey’re big enough to see. Ilove the photography.”

Laurie HenryLiberty

“I loveseeing theSullivanWest stu-dents’achieve-ments andathleticshigh-lighted inthe Democrat.”

Deb MoluskyDamascus

“I enjoy theDown theDecadesbecause I’mnow findingI’m in therebecause I’mold.”

John OgozalekFrench Woods

“I like the Democratbecause I can find outaboutwhat’sgoing onaroundtown. I likethe Sportssection, es-peciallywith bowl-ing cover-age because my two eldestkids bowl.”

Nina VerderberDamascus


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Remembering the Democrat:40 years of former editors share their insights. 3-8BSULLIVAN LIFESULLIVAN LIFE

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT www.scdemocratonline.com FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 1B

www.nynewspapers.com

Michelle K. ReaExecutive Director

[email protected]

July, 2016

Fred Stabbert, III

Sullivan County DemocratPO Box 308

Callicoon, New York 12723

Dear Fred,

On the occasion of the Sullivan County Democrat’s 125th anniversary, the board of directors,

newspaper members, and staff of the New York Press Association send our heartiest

congratulations and best wishes.

The newspaper’s enduring legacy is a testament to the significance of local newspapers and to

the commitment and passion of three generations of the Stabbert family and their loyal and

talented employees. The Democrat has remained consistently relevant and serves readers who

are deeply invested in the local communities. The newspaper is an invaluable source of

information that shapes and enriches the county and its citizens.

We also wish to make a deep bow of appreciation to Fred III, and the two Fred’s who

preceded him. Their eternal optimism, good humor, generosity, and involvement in the

community is inspiring. And they’re pretty good golfers too.

Our anniversary wish is that your amazing legacy continues to flourish and thrive —

best wishes for another 125!

Warm regards,

Michelle K. Rea

Executive Director

621 Columbia Street Ext., Suite 100, Cohoes, NY 12047tel: 518.464.6483 fax: 518.464.6489PA

New York Press Association

www.nynewspapers.com

Michelle K. ReaExecutive Director

[email protected]

125voices

“TheSullivanCountyDemocratis truly ahome-townpaper,deeplywoveninto thefabric of our community.Their positive reporting onthe tireless efforts of ourresidents is to be com-mended. Our heartfeltthanks to the Stabbert fam-ily for their commitment toour county. Congratulationson 125 years!”

Alan and Sandra GerryLiberty

“The De-mocrat pri-oritizes theimportanceof news-worthy sto-riesrelevant toour com-munity like no other newsoutlet in the Hudson Valley. Itis our only true, local sourceof accurate news we cancount on every week.”

Marc BaezLiberty

“I love theDemocratbecauseit’s mycommunityand I getto seewhat mykids, mean-ing my stu-dents, are doing. It’s nice tosee them get recognition.”

Dorothy GreccoGlen Spey

“I like thedown toearth, localcoverage ofthe localevents.”

Jack HalchakHurleyville

“It’s a tasteof home. Iknow a lotof people indifferentstates whosubscribeto keepthat tasteof home.”

Sharon CronFerndale

“I like thatthe Demo-crat hasthe localviews rep-resentedand I likethe cover-age oflocalsports.”

Dan ParisiCochecton Center

“I like itwhen theyput in allthe picturesof thesports andthe huntingaroundhere. I likethe picturesof the turkeys.”

Ernest WoodHurleyville

“I enjoy the local coveragethe Democrat always has onthe schools.Havingbeen in thecommunitynow formore than10 years,it’s fun see-ing young-sters whowere firstshown in the Democrat nowhave their senior portraitsand success stories.”

Peg HarrisonNarrowsburg

2B 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016


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Best wisheson the next 125 years.

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125voices

“I look for-ward tocatching upweekly onwhat’s hap-peningnearhome.”

Kenneth ‘Rocky’ Rhodes,Cochecton

“I have been an avid readerof the Democrat for so manyyears. I appreciate the easein whichCountynews iswell writ-ten andconcen-trated inthe firstfewpages ofthe paper. My favorite,hands down, is John Con-way’s Retrospect. Keep upthe good work!”

Bill RieberMonticello

“My favorite thing about theDemocrat is that I get to takea ride in thecar with mybest friendevery Tues-day and Fri-day to pick itup at theconveniencestore. I lovegoing for rides, so I love theDemocrat!”

Cricket the DogCochecton

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilove thehometownfeel it has.”

Barbra CadyLivingston Manor

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 3Bwww.scdemocratonline.com

Remembering the Democrat: Views from past editors

BY JOE WHITE

Some journalists are bril-liant storytellers. Someare fearless muckrakers.

I have had a good life in thenews business mainly be-cause I can take disjointedfacts and ideas and turn theminto a readable columnquicker than most.

I learned how to do that atthe Sullivan County Demo -crat.

When my father was theDemocrat’s editor during thelate 1970s and early 1980s, hedecided that he wanted toadd some younger voices tothe paper’s mix of columnists.The Democrat is a familybusiness, and so I wasdrafted.

I got an offer to write a reg-ular column. At first it wascalled “New Sounds and Sce-narios,” because I wanted towrite about rock music. Lateron, it was called “Scenarios,”as I wandered further frommusical topics to commenton high interest rates, mon-ster trucks and the commer-

cialization of Christmas.I recently found a sheaf of

those columns at the bottomof a box. Boy, was I young 35years ago.

There are a few good linesin there. Mostly, though, thewriting is what you’d expectfrom a 23-year-old kid jazzedup on the over-the-top “NewJournalism” of Hunter S.Thompson and Tom Wolfe,and then handed an eight-inch hole to fill every week ina real newspaper.

“You have not lived untilyou have driven on any one ofthis country’s much vauntedinterstates for seven hours, ina driving rain and gale forcewinds, at the helm of a Volk-swagen,” I wrote in March1981, after a road trip tosomeplace now long forgot-ten.

The rest of the piece isabout how nostalgic I was forthe big Detroit station wag-ons of my childhood, beforethe oil price shocks of the1970s. Pricey gas had left meto drive around in a tiny car

that was no match for bigtrucks on the freeway.

I didn’t know then that Iwould spend the bulk of myjournalism career in Detroit,writing about cars andtrucks – and oil prices.

Turning out that columnwas my first real job in jour-nalism. The challenge of col-lecting my wits to writesomething printable by theDemocrat’s deadline taughtme lessons that have servedme well ever since.

When I began working atmy first full-time newspaperjob at a weekly newspaper onMartha’s Vineyard, Mass., myeditor asked me to start writ-ing a weekly column aboutthe island’s fishing industry.

I knew nothing about theAtlantic fishing industry, but Iwas pretty confident basedon my Democrat experiencethat I could crank out aweekly column.

My reply: “Sure, boss, cando.”

Years later, another editorasked me to write a weekly

column about the auto indus-try, in addition to my day jobcovering the auto industry.

“Sure, boss, can do.” I wrote “Eyes on the Road”

for the Wall Street Journal formore than a decade.

Keep your eyes and earsopen. Connect the dots. Re-member that you are servinga community of readers whowant to be informed, or en-tertained, and ideally both.Above all, deliver the goodson time, because a brilliantstory that’s still in your headdoesn’t do any good.

These are all lessons Istarted learning at the Demo-crat and that have served mewell in every job I have hadsince.

To the Stabbert family andeveryone at the paper, con-gratulations on 125 greatyears!

Joe White joined Reuters in January2015 as the transportation editor,leading coverage of planes, trainsand automobiles. Previously, heserved as the global automotive edi-tor of the Wall Street Journal, wherehe oversaw coverage of the auto in-dustry and ran the Detroit bureau.Joe is co-author (with Paul Ingrassia)of “Comeback: The Fall and Rise ofthe American Automobile Industry,”and he and Paul shared the PulitzerPrize for beat reporting in 1993.

From Democrat columnist to Pulitzer Prize-winner

BY JAN CHERIPKO

Iwent to work for the Sulli-van County Democratback in 1978, starting out

as a dark-room technician,which meant that I developedfilm and processed photos forthe newspaper.

Today, there is no dark-room, no film, no chemicals –all you have to do is click thephoto and drag it to the spoton the page you want.

About a year later, an op-portunity opened as a sportsreporter for the paper, and Igot the job. I drove around the

county covering football, soc-cer, basketball, track andfield, baseball, and summersoftball leagues. In time, Imoved up to become sportseditor, and then co-editor,and eventually editor.

I will be forever grateful thatFred Stabbert Jr. gave me theopportunity to work my wayfrom pretty much the lowestrung of the local publishingladder to become the repre-sentative of the SullivanCounty Democrat.

As I look back on thosedays, what comes to mindfirst are artifacts that symbol-

ize a publishing world longgone: Exacto knives, those lit-tle razor-sharp instrumentsthat every layout person hasstabbed or cut himself or her-self with at least once; stain-less steel containers filledwith chemicals to developfilm (for that matter, film it-self ); large typesetting ma-chines that spit out columnafter column of news; ma-chines to wax the type, whichwas then placed on page lay-outs; metal plates that hadthe news burned into them;telephone booths to call inupdates and stories; phones

that had cords and a dial face– my God, it has happened, Iam old!

But my best memories, therichest by far, are of the peo-ple. When I came on board,Fred Stabbert Jr. was incharge, though watched overby his mother Nellie, the ma-triarch.

Fred Stabbert III, or Fred-die, as we knew him then, wasa student at St. Bonaventure’s.It was a pleasure to see himgrow into such an accom-plished writer. He learned thecraft of writing from one ofthe best ever, Thomas R.

White, who was then editor. From time to time Shirley

Stabbert would stop by, and itwas always a pleasure to seeher, as it was when KathyWerner, often with little onesin tow, dropped off her col-umn. I got to know her son,Michael, well over the years –a bright, inquisitive, thought-ful young man.

My time working for theStabbert family was a periodof great learning for me, andit came from the guidance

A whole family of memories

Joe White

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125voices

“I run the Honeybee Festivaland theDemocratdid a nicespread onus. The De-mocrat isalwayswilling tohelp agoodcause. It’s a local paper thatcovers local events.”

Joan SantoHawley, PA

“I read itmostly forthe sports.Being acoach, Ilike to seewhat typeof publicitymy playerscan get.”

Lionel BillardCochecton

“I appreci-ate theDemocrat’scoverage oflocal artsand culturalevents es-pecially theDelawareValley ArtsAlliance Events.”

Bizzy CoyYulan

“I like theDown theDecades. Ilike read-ing aboutwhat hap-pened inthe pastand I reallyenjoy theoldies. Likethe 1880sand 1890s.”

Jim MosherLake Huntington



and good will of the peoplewith whom I worked. Cer-tainly at the top of the list wasTom. He taught me that get-ting to the truth of a story wasthe paramount demand for awriter. Along with Tom, therewas Chris Stein, general man-ager, who became a life-longfriend.

The list is long, and I fearleaving someone out, but thisis my chance to publiclythank so many who madesuch a wonderful impressionon me and helped shape mylife. Frank Brownell, withwhom I worked as co-editor;the typesetters, Lee Her-mann, and Gladys and BevHoughtaling; Jack Niflot, oneof the kindest, most generouspeople I’ve ever met; Jean

Price, Sue Owens, and NancyStalker, who covered all themyriad office details. PeggyWills, Sally Keith, Kathy Hoff-man, Frank Rizzo, and somany others who sold the adsto keep the bills paid. BobMaroney, Charlie Crist, Jackand Kay Danchak, HankPanchyshyn, Ed Townsend,who brought into words thevaried loves of rural life.Debra Conway, Phil Kaplan,Steve Kurlander, WillowBaum, who were smitten bythe love of writing and foundpeople and a place to helpthat romance grow.

The people I came to knowfrom traveling around Sulli-van County, whose lives en-riched mine: Mickey andReese Roche, two of the mosthonest, hard-working, goodguys one could ever meet;Ken Schultz, an expert bassfisherman, but also a kindand generous man, who oncetook three of my studentsfishing simply because hethought it was a nice thing todo; his wife, Sandy, whohelped my understanding ofthe natural world all aroundus; Ben Wechsler, one of themost intelligent and interest-ing people I’ve ever met; Edand Judy Van Put, Lee andJoan Wulff, Harry Darbee,Walt and Winnie Dette, andso many others who dedi-cated their lives to saving theBeaverkill and the Willowe-moc, the birthplace of flyfishing in America; BarbaraYeomans, Bill Douglass, AndyBoyar, Teddy Weber, Joe Pur-cell, who looked forwardevery year to the shad run inthe Delaware; and Rick Lan-der, who valued and loved the

Delaware River.John Conway, a gracious

man, who lives and breathesSullivan County; Les Kristt,who epitomizes the word“mensch”; Noel Van Swol, anargumentative thinker, oftenunderestimated by his adver-saries; Gloria Krause andElaine Giguere, who broughtout the best in arts and musicin western Sullivan County;Lee Siegel, the definition of agentleman; Gary and JudySiegel, who wedded theirlives to the people and his-tory of Livingston Manor;Skippy Frankel, mayor of theVillage of Liberty, who wasgenuinely concerned for thewelfare of the people of Lib-erty; Ray, Ruth, Pat and PennyPomeroy, whose care andfriendship for my family andme defines goodness; HazelRay, who never had a badword to say about anyone;Alan “Doc” and Mary Fried,who dedicated their lives tohelping others, their commu-nity, and their environment.

And the coaches! I can’t tellyou how impressed I waswith their patience, care,compassion, knowledge, anddiscipline. The parents ofthose young men and womenwho came under their guid-ance should be very pleasedto have had their childrentaught by these gifted people:Paul Zintel, Bob Lynch, JerryDavitt, Ed Riente, Marty VanVleet, Fred and Becky Ahart,Joe and Missy Iatauro, AndyTaggart, Ron Bauer, Bob Elco,Kurt Scheibe, Al Wojtaszek,and my dear friend from dayslong ago, Charlie Donnelly.

The athletes themselves:Maurice “Mo” Martin, Betsy

Johnson Conaty, Jackie Bod-ner, Tammi Reiss, RustyPomeroy, James Cheeks, JohnMeyer, Chris Gilbert, CindyKraus O’Dell, Gail CorteseFasshauer, Michael Stauch,Jodi Makela Peters, and somany more.

One scene is etched in mymemory that captures thewonder of playing sports inhigh school. It was a girls’ bas-ketball game, and there was ascramble for the ball. BetsyJohnson slid on the woodfloor to get it, and in a splitsecond, she looked up with ahuge smile on her face thatsaid, “Isn’t this fun! Life doesn’tget any better than this!”

I think she was right. Life didn’t get much better

than watching people enjoywhat they were doing. I got todrop in from time to time,chat with them, marvel attheir wonderful gifts, andsimply be part of the graciousand welcoming worlds theycreated.

No doubt I’ve left someoneout, and I apologize for thelapse, but my memory is justthat – a memory. To have hadthe chance to witness somany incredible experiencesthrough so many extraordi-nary people is something forwhich I’ll forever be grateful,and I owe a great debt of grat-itude to the Stabbert familyfor letting me be a part of it.

Jan Cheripko is an award-winningauthor of several books for childrenand young adults. In addition to writ-ing and lecturing throughout thecountry and abroad, Jan is a consult-ant to the Highlights Foundation,where he occasionally leads work-shops on writing.

FROM PAGE 3B

REMEMBERING THE DEMOCRAT: Views from past editors

Jan Cheripko

CHERIPKO: Family of memories

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125voices

“I like allthe localnews. Itkeeps youup to dateon localhappeningsand I thinkit’s great they incorporatelocal people to write the arti-cles.”

Cheryl GrahamJeffersonville

“What Ienjoy themost inthe Demo-crat is thesectionthat goesback intime, theDown the Decades.”

John GorzynskiCochecton Center

“I appreci-ate theDemocrat’sfocus onthe factsand thereliabilityof thereporting.”

Barbara ArrindellDamascus, PA



BY FRANK BROWNELL

Looking back on my timeas editor of the SullivanCounty Democrat, my

first thought is that it’s hard tobelieve more than 22 yearshave passed since I resignedmy position and left SullivanCounty. And although the pas-sage of time has dimmed mymemories a bit, some issuesand events remain sharp andclear in my mind.

Perhaps the most spectacu-lar story I ever reported on wasa trip I took to northernCanada, to the massive hy-dropower project then underconstruction to the east ofHudson Bay, a trip sponsoredby the New York Power Author-ity to gain support for a 465-kilovolt transmission line to bebuilt from the project site toFishkill, NY.

Although there was (and stillis) a considerable amount ofopposition to the constructionof such high-voltage transmis-sion lines, there could be nodenying the massive scope ofthe project, which consisted ofa series of 27 dams and dikeson three major river systemsflowing into Hudson Bay, withgenerating stations at eachbody of water formed by thesedams and dikes.

However, the most amazingaspect of this entire projectwas the fact that in order togain enough “fall” for thewater, as the landscape is quitelevel, the builders had to carveout caverns deep in thebedrock and then placedozens of generators in eachcavern.

The caverns themselveswere the size of three footballfields, and when I was under-ground, the entire cavern wasvibrating like a tuning forkfrom the spin of the genera-tors, and the interior felt alivewith the electricity being pro-duced. The only manmadestructure which I have everseen that comes close to themagnitude of this project is

Hoover Dam on the ColoradoRiver, another amazing feat ofhydropower electrical genera-tion made all the more spec-tacular by the fact that it wasbuilt in the 1930s.

Eventually the power linewas built, although I believe itwas built to the north of Sulli-van County, as years later,when I was visiting my motherfor the first time in her newhome halfway between Otegoand Oneonta, I was shocked todiscover that the power linewas within a stone’s throw ofher backyard – talk aboutkarma! But to this day, thememory of that visit and themagnitude of the project re-main firmly etched in mymind.

The most infuriating story Iever covered was the continu-ing saga of the effect of NewYork City’s construction of itsmultiple reservoirs in theCatskills, with the subsequentflooding of several river valleysresulting in the drowning ofmultiple villages and hamletsand small businesses andhomes and farms in order toprovide the city with its much-touted water.

In essence, the city, fordecades and continuing to thisday, has bullied Sullivan

County and the other countiesin its reservoir watersheds bylimiting development, buyingup land which is then effec-tively taken off the tax rolls,and challenging all of its prop-erty tax assessments to mini-mize the amount of money itpays for this water.

Just last year, this story hadyet another depressing chap-ter written when the city suedthe Town of Neversink and Tri-Valley Central School Districtand forced them to repay mil-lions of dollars because thecity claims its assessments aretoo high. To support this con-tention, they claim that al-though the water is priceless,the land upon which the reser-voirs are located is worthless,because it can only be used forone thing – that being as reser-voirs, which to me is the heightof absurdity.

At the time I was editor, I didan editorial on the fact that thecity was paying the equivalentof six cents per thousand gal-lons of water, based on figuresof $30 million in tax paymentsto the affected taxing districtsfor 550 billion gallons of waterper year, which was their con-sumption at the time.

Having just recently re-turned to Sullivan Countyfrom living in Key West, thatfigure was especially upsettingto me, because in the Keys wehad been paying $7 per thou-sand gallons for our water, andI pointed out that if New YorkCity just paid a pittance of 25cents per thousand gallons,the amount of taxes paidwould increase by more than$90 million a year, or basicallyenough to pave every road inthe watershed areas with goldand decrease the cripplingtaxes paid by the residents ofthe Catskills.

And in a continuing affrontto every resident of theCatskills, the city, in order tocontinue receiving a waiver ofEPA regulations that all above-ground water supplies must befiltered, has entered into an

agreement with the EPA whichrequires them to buy a specificamount of land every year tolimit development on the hill-sides, thus preserving thequality of the water.

However, the main reasonthe city was granted thiswaiver in the first place wasbecause they claimed the costof building a filtration plantwould bankrupt the city, asthey said it would cost $10 bil-lion to build such a plant.

Being skeptical by nature, Ithought that the city was mas-sively overestimating the costof such a plant to avoid havingto build it, and in reply to an-other editorial I wrote, an en-gineer wrote in to inform ourreaders that a “ballpark” figurefor the cost of building a filtra-tion plant (at the time) was ap-proximately $1 per gallon perday of consumption.

So based on the figure of 550billion gallons per year, whichequals 1.5 billion gallons perday, a more accurate estimateof the cost of such a plant was$1.5 billion. In other words, thecity lied to the EPA to make itseem like it could not afford tobuild a filtration plant, when infact it could.

However, we know whopaid – and continues to pay –the price for this blatant lie,don’t we? In essence, first thecity forced residents out of thevalleys when they built thereservoirs, and now it is forcingthem off the hillsides in a ruseto avoid paying for a filtrationplant.

Lastly, any recollection onmy part of noteworthy eventsin my tenure as editor wouldbe lacking if it did not includea mention of the yearly re-unions I covered at the site ofthe 1969 Woodstock Festival, ahappening which reverberatedthroughout the nation, butmore so the Town of Bethel,decades after the fact.

The festival was so contro-versial in Sullivan County thatit took 17 years for the place-ment of even the tiniest of

markers at the location at thecorner of Hurd Road and WestShore Drive, although the Vil-lage of Woodstock in UlsterCounty has reveled in its nameassociation with the event andrealized millions of dollars inrevenues, while SullivanCounty paid the price foryearly unauthorized pilgrim-ages to the site for more thanthree decades.

In fact, it was only after Lib-erty native Alan Gerry stood upto the plate and purchased theproperty and built the currentBethel Woods Center for theArts that the county finally re-alized some financial benefitfrom the legacy of the festival.

I’ll never forget the first timeI visited the site in 2009 afterbeing away for many years andbeing moved to tears by thefact that Mr. Gerry had pre-served the site as it had beenjust before the festival, andbuilt the museum and per-forming arts center on top ofthe hill and not on the actualstage site at the bottom of thehill.

In closing, I would like togive a “shout out” to the thou-sands of people of SullivanCounty with whom I had suchpositive interactions throughthe years, with my fondest rec-ollections being of the manygraduations, sporting events,village and town meetings,fairs, festivals, parades, andother similar celebrations ofsmall-town life and ruralAmerica that I had the privi-lege of covering and which soinspired me during my time aseditor. Thanks for the memo-ries ...

Peace.

Frank Brownell, upon completing avaried and travelled career, is currentlyofficially retired, enjoying the good lifeat a senior citizen residence in Os-wego, where he occasionally infuriateshis fellow residents with his outspokenopinions – of which he has many,honed by years of twice-weekly edito-rials. He spends time reading, keepingup on current events and enjoyingmany long walks.

Far afield or close to home, plenty of stories to tell

Frank Brownell

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Congratulations to the Stabbert Familyand the Sullivan County Democrat

on 125 yearsfrom your friends at

125voices

“I buy thepaper be-cause I likeits cover-age ofCountynews. Imean Sulli-van Countyin terms oflegislation – they cover thetown meetings well.”

Elaine Giguere, Lava

“I look at itas a Sulli-van Countystaple. Igrew up intheCatskillsand theDemocrathas always been on mytable. It’s a tried and truepublication.”

Jillian ScheinfeldRock Hill

“I like itwhen theyput in thepictures ofthe hunt-ing – like thebig deer Ididn’t get. Ifit wasn’t forthe sports,there’d be nothing to read.”

William CurryLoch Sheldrake

“I’m veryapprecia-tive ofhow theDemocratpromotesthe workof so manynon-profitswho aretrying to make improve-ments in the county.”

Regina WagnerJeffersonville




BY PHIL KAPLAN

Iam probably the most un-likeliest person that everbecame editor of the Sulli-

van County Democrat.You see, that was not my

plan. I shouldn’t even be writ-ing this.

Growing up in the 1970s inMonticello, I had only one as-piration. I wanted to talkabout sports. And due to myshyness, radio was a perfectmatch for me. And that loveaffair for radio eventually ledme to a career in sports jour-nalism.

I was working for WSULRadio in Monticello in thesummer of 1984, returningback to my hometown afterfailed attempts to find work atradio stations in Florida. Evenwith a bachelor’s degree incommunications, I couldonly find sales jobs, and I wasfrankly not very good.

I was 21. My brother, who Imoved with to PompanoBeach the summer before,was engaged. So it was backto my parents’ place, bar-tending at Roark’s and work-ing some late shifts at WSUL.Nothing had changed.

During my tenure at WSUL– which started during mysenior year of high school atage 17 and continuedthrough college – I coverednews events, meetings andsports. So there was somewriting involved, and I had agreat boss in John Conway.

I would leave my news sto-ries that night and come backthe next day to see how Johnhad marked up my copy,sometimes to a point that itwasn’t recognized. I didn’tappreciate it at the time, butas I look back – and I havetold him – I learned a greatdeal.

I struck up a friendshipwith Jan Cheripko, who at thetime was the sports editor ofthe Democrat. We would see

each other at sporting events.Not sure where and when ithappened, but Jan told me hewas editor of the Democratand needed to hire someoneto oversee the sports section,and would I be interested?

Jan said the transitionwould be easy from radio toprint. I was already writingstories, but instead of insert-ing the audio from an inter-view during my script, Iwould substitute quotes in itsplace.

And the pay? The offer was$180 a week. I was only mak-ing $3.35 an hour at WSUL,and the summer was about toend, so my tips and hours atRoark’s would greatly dimin-ish. I was astonished theywere going to pay me to write.

I said yes. So right aroundLabor Day in 1984, my dadhelped me move my belong-ings to an apartment on themain street of Callicoon justblocks away from the Demo-crat’s office.

I had a good scouting re-port about the Democrat. Myuncle, Ben Kaplan, wrotecolumns on the history ofSullivan County, and it’s fromhim where I got my passionabout sports and being in themedia. I knew sports was im-portant to the Democrat, notjust the western part of thecounty.

I arrived for work, pur-chased a camera to take myphotos for the newspaper,met the staff, and sat at mydesk that included an electrictypewriter.

Jan gave me my first assign-ment: a Delaware Valley foot-ball game on a sunny fall dayon a Saturday afternoon.

I had never been to a foot-ball game. Monticello didn’thave a high school team, so Ididn’t have the opportunity atWSUL. All my football knowl-edge was from watchingNotre Dame and the NFL ontelevision or what I read in

The Sporting News or the var-ious newspapers my dadwould buy during the weekwhen I was growing up.

I’m not sure what I wrote,but I know it summarized theentire game with lots of play-by-play. There were quotes,but that piece was long. Andthe photos were mine.

I settled into the job. Andthere was plenty to writeabout. There were great highschool football teams fromHonesdale, Pa., and highschool basketball teams fromFallsburg, Roscoe, Libertyand Monticello; outstandingathletes like Eldred basket-ball player Tammi Reiss andLiberty basketball playerMaurice Martin; interestingevents like the Red Smith flyfishing dinner in Roscoe; cov-ering the weekend warriorsthat played softball forRoche’s Garage; and thesheer beauty of the DelawareRiver.

And like others before meand after me, I took hundredsof photos of deer and turkeysas hunters proudly arrived atthe Democrat’s office to havetheir entries documented forthe contests we would run. Imeasured plenty of turkeybeards and learned how toadd points for a deer’s rack.

From sportswriter, I waspromoted to sports editorand hired another radio vet-eran named Barry Lewis, whois now editor of the Times-Herald Record in Middle-town. Let me tell you, thatwas a killer sports staff.

It wasn’t long after I be-came managing editor,moved to Jeffersonville, andfollowing another change atthe paper, I was promoted toeditor in 1986. I was only 24.

Yikes.I was thankful that both

Fred Stabbert Jr. and FredStabbert III were confident intheir decision to put me in aleadership role.

I wish I could share morestories with you. However,my tenure was short as edi-tor, and it was 30 years ago. Ican tell you I enjoyed theleadership role and oversee-ing a vibrant staff bringingthe news of Sullivan Countyto the community.

And just as important, mytime spent at the SullivanCounty Democrat played ahuge role in my future injournalism and media pro-fession.

I’m truly grateful for the op-

portunity that the Stabbertfamily gave to a young andcommitted journalist whowas born and raised in Sulli-van County. I’m proud to bejust a small part of the news-paper’s great history andlegacy.

Phil Kaplan is sports editor of theNews Sentinel in Knoxville, Tenn., arole he has served since 2010 afterjoining the newspaper in 1996. Ka-plan is past president of the Associ-ated Press Sports Editors and alecturer in sports journalism at theUniversity of Tennessee.

For the love of sports

Phil Kaplan

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with attractions for all ages.

Rides & Games by

REITHOFFERSHOWS

offering a new lineupof rides, games and

other attractions.Come see - or better yet

enter your own arts and crafts, horticultural,

culinaryor livestock exhibits.

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ALL NEW EVENTS:• Roscoe Beer Company:

Come sample specialty brews by Sullivan County’s ownRoscoe Beer Company • Miniature Horse Pull, main ring Sunday

• Tug of War Contest:Enter a team of 5 and compete for cash prize and trophy

• Watermelon eating contest

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BUDDENHAGEN’SFORD, INC.

S E R V I N G S U L L I VA N C O U N T Y S I N C E T H E 1 9 3 0 s

N E W & U S E D F O R D A N D T R U C K - S A L E S - PA R T S A N D S E R V I C E4

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4332 State Rte. 17B, Hortonville, NY

[email protected]

845-887-4640845-887-5434 fax

Congratulations tothe Stabbert Family

& Staff at theSullivan County

Democrat on 125 years

of 1st Rate News!

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125voices

“I like howcommunityorientedthe Demo-crat is. It’sa greathometownpaper.”

Cat Scott, Hortonville

“I lovethat itkeeps mein touchwithwhat’sgoing onin theCountyfrom peo-ple who have been here for-ever.”

Jennifer Clark,Long Eddy

“I like theDemocratbecause itis SullivanCounty.”

Leslie Shenkel, Callicoon

“What Ilike isthat it’sa smalltownpapergearedaroundthelocalhappenings.”

Kim Capicchioni (right)with granddaughter

Amerie Capicchioni (9), Walton



The first time I walkedpast the Democrat, Iwas like, “What the

hell is this place?” The build-ing – really, all of Callicoon –looked like something out ofthe Wild West.

Thirty years ago, I’d jour-neyed up from the city withsomeone interviewing for ateaching job in Roscoe. Wedecided to take the scenicroute back, meanderingalong the country roads to-wards Callicoon. It was agorgeous August afternoon.I remember passing by asun-dappled cornfield, thevivid green seemingly withinhand’s reach of the car.

Little did I know that I’dend up working at the De-mocrat, eventually marryingone of my soon-to-be fellowreporters. Years later, howmany times did I walk pastthose same buildings in Cal-licoon, heading with my kidstowards the Youth Center tospend lazy, summer after-noons by the pool?

One of the things I lovedright from the start about mywife, Kristin, was her eye forthe natural beauty along theUpper Delaware. As a re-porter, she could see things Iwould have speeded by andnever noticed – the windblowing across a hay field,particular wildflowers, theslow-moment corners wherepeople live. (I have a photoKristin got for the Democratat the Wayne County Fair. It’sof a 4-H girl fallen asleep onsome hay, beside her cow.)

I could write at least athousand words about eachof the colleagues I workedwith at the Democrat. Mylongtime friend, former Edi-tor Frank Rizzo, and I playedessentially the same tennisgame for what must havebeen decades – oftenretelling the same Democratstories over and over. Many

of the characters we workedwith were better than fiction.

Charlie Crist (1914-1993),for example, was an elderlygentleman who wrote a col-umn, along with an occa-sional story, for the paper.Charlie had a long and sto-ried career as a reporterstarting back in the 1930s.He knew just about everyonein the county.

Charlie hunted andtrapped and fished. (I didnone of above.) I recall onetime he showed up at a rib-bon-cutting wearing muckboots caked in fresh mud.No one seemed to notice.After telling us all about hisexploits in the woods thatmorning, Charlie took measide and quietly mentionedsome story that needed to betold. He was handing it off tome.

In his later years, Charliewould drive around thecounty (at a VERY slowspeed) with his wife, Gladys.He’d find all kinds of greatnature pictures, snappedfrom the window of hisidling vehicle. (To hell withtraffic held up behind.)

I have a clipping fromCharlie’s column in the De-mocrat, dated August 4,1992. It’s called “Rain Be-yond Control.” Charlie de-scribes how he and Gladyshad been caught in a hugethunderstorm in Monticello:“We drove carefully, eventhough others seemed tothink we were a nuisance onthe road, blew horns andpassed on double lines.”

Despite the fact that it wasgetting harder and harder forCharlie to get around, hiseye for detail remainedsharp, as he reports on astorm that probably every-one was talking about thenext day: “Arriving home Idecided to check the raingauge. It was an even two

inches, which had fallen inless than an hour.”

Actually, Charlie never losthis interest in hard news.Until the day he died, he wasstill sending us stories froma “good source” he had in theNew York State Police. (Ithink it was a neighbor whowas a trooper.)

I recall covering a paradeon Broadway in Monticello.It was a mellow, relaxing sortof assignment, and I was cer-tainly in no hurry that Satur-day morning. Charlieapproached me with a sternlook. Didn’t I know there hadjust been a fatal crash closeby on Route 17? Why wasn’t Ithere? I ought to get a pic-ture.

I always hated prowlingaround the scenes of carwrecks, but this soundedmore like an order than a re-quest. What kind of news-man was I, Charlie seemedto imply. I got going.

Lest anyone think for amoment that life back in the“good ol’ days” was all niceand rosy, try paging throughsome of the old, yellowedvolumes of the SullivanCounty Democrat frommany decades past. Longbefore the era of mandatoryseat belts and air bags, hor-rific crashes were a commonfeature of news reporting.There was one photo of agruesome auto accident thatlooked as if the reporter hadpractically climbed into thecar to get the shot. Life waslived close to the bone backthen.

I remember Charlie callingme one day to tip me offabout an important story upin the Manor that no onewas covering. Dr. Lewis Den-man, a 78-year-old “countrydoctor,” was about to retire.It’s one of my favorite sto-ries, not only because Char-lie put me onto it but

because it demonstrates thereal value of a newspaperlike the Sullivan County De-mocrat, of community jour-nalism.

Listening to Dr. Denmanin his quiet, empty office, Icould feel the weight, theimportance, of all the storiesthat we journalists havebeen entrusted to tell overthe years. Here I was, thisyoung guy, trying to put adoctor’s life in perspective –his 40 years of saving lives.

Dr. Denman recountedone his most memorablehouse calls. There was a ter-rible blizzard, and he had todeliver a baby far out oftown. He was driving a ’52Buick Coupe with tire

chains, and the only way hecould get through was tokeep backing up and crash-ing through the snow drifts.Dr. Denman arrived, a newlife came into the world andmany years later our news-paper was keeping that storyalive.

It was an honor to work atthe Democrat. It was often alot of fun, too. Thanks to allthe great people I met alongthe way.

John Ogozalek has worked since1988 as a history teacher at Nar-rowsburg and then the merged Sul-livan West School District. Prior toteaching, he was a reporter and ed-itor at the Democrat. He and hisfamily live in French Woods, fivemiles north of Long Eddy.

Slow down and read all about it

John Ogozalek

Two decades on, the memories remain strong

In the Spring of 1992, I de-cided to move from my na-tive northern New York to

get a fresh start personallyand professionally.

Since graduating fromSUNY Plattsburgh in 1988with a degree in Psychologyand minor in English-WritingConcentration, I’d been work-ing for Park Newspapers of St.Lawrence County as a re-porter and editor, providingarticles about county andlocal government, crime andcourt proceedings, and fea-tures of all types to a chain ofupstate newspapers in Og-densburg, Massena, Canton,and Potsdam.

I admittedly had neverheard of Sullivan County, lo-cated some 300 miles awayfrom the Canadian borderwhere I grew up, but I plottedout a radius from where mysister lived in Orange County’sMiddletown and began mak-ing the rounds, with my re-sumé and book of clips frommy college newspaper andsubsequent jobs in hand.

Within three days of mysearch, I stumbled upon theSullivan County Democratwhich happened to have anopening for a general assign-ment reporter. I met with thepublishers, the father & sonFred Stabbert(s) and EditorFrank Brownell, and walkedout with a job offer.

That same day, havingscoured the classified ads, Ichecked out a lovely apart-ment in Hortonville andmade a handshake deal tomove in the following week.It all seemed like it wasmeant to be. (Coincidentally,I still reside in that sameapartment 24 years later, apotential record for longevityin the rental world.)

Within two years of starting

at the Democrat, I was pro-moted to News Editor follow-ing Frank Brownell’sdeparture. Now I had the re-sponsibility of assigning arti-cles to the reporting staff,editing copy, selecting photos,and doing layout in the olddays of literal cut-and-paste,while also maintaining a fullschedule of writing myself,both to assure that worthystories got covered and be-cause the love of writing iswhat compels anyone to thejournalism business in thefirst place.

Was it daunting to try to ful-fill all the worthy coverage re-quests? Yes.

Was it exhausting to meetthe twice-weekly deadlinesfor the regular newspaperwhile working simultaneouslyon numerous special sectionsand magazines? Yes.

Was there occasional con-troversy over editorials I’dwritten, internal and externalpolitics that always exertsome influence, and judg-ment calls that had to bemade? Yes.

However, it was also a valu-able learning platform tohone skills in writing, photog-raphy, design, and manage-ment.

As a News Editor in thosedays, I was responsible for thecreative content of my ownarticles, trying to avoid wast-ing expensive print film bygetting the best shot quickly,fact-checking and seeking toimprove reporter contribu-tions, and wielding Exactoknives and paste machines toaffix the articles and photosonto the paste-up page.

There was also a distinctsense of camaraderie. Twicea week, we “put on a show”which required the commit-ment of every single staff

member doing their particu-lar jobs.

Mondays and Thursdayswere referred to as paper-down days. The relief we ex-perienced at bundling upthose broadsheet pages tohead off to the printing presswas palpable, often cele-brated during my time withgathering around a table atthe former Davis’ Bar in Cal-licoon for their 50-centbeers.

I made enduring friend-

ships from sharing thetrenches with the likes of thelate Jack Niflot in advertising,Frank Rizzo in sports, andDan Hust as then a cub re-porter. It was Dan who soably took over for me as NewsEditor when I departed to ac-cept a position at the UpperDelaware Council in 1997.

Lastly, being involved intrue community journalismbrought times of great satis-faction. When all went welland somebody would ex-

press how much an articlehad meant to that individualor a group, nothing was moregratifying.

Though I have not beenwith the Sullivan County De-mocrat for 19 years now –which is nearly four times thelength of my actual tenurethere – I’m forever associatedwith it.

The newspapers them-selves live on in posterity, ofcourse, but so too does thetraining (such as my inabilityto resist writing leads in myhead and taking photos atcommunity events when it’sreally not necessary) and mymemories.

Congratulations for achiev-ing 125 years of serving, re-flecting, critiquing, andpromoting the stories, peo-ple, and communities of theSCD coverage area!

Laurie Ramie joined the staff of theUpper Delaware Council, Inc. (UDC)as the Public Relations Specialist inApril 1997 and has been its Execu-tive Director since June 2012. Thenon-profit organization, based inNarrowsburg, is comprised of 13local governments that border theUpper Delaware River, as well asNew York State, the Commonwealthof Pennsylvania, and the DelawareRiver Basin Commission. The UDCworks in partnership with the Na-tional Park Service to administer theRiver Management Plan for theUpper Delaware Scenic and Recre-ational River, which the U.S. Con-gress designated to the NationalWild and Scenic Rivers System forconservation in 1978. The Town ofDelaware resident also serves asrecording/corresponding secretaryfor the Upper Delaware ScenicByway, Inc., secretary for theDelaware & Hudson TransportationHeritage Council, and is a memberof Bethel Woods Center for the Arts,the Fremont Center CommunityChurch, and the Delaware ValleyArts Alliance.

Laurie Ramie

125voices

“I like toread theDemocratat lunchand I get tokeep up onwhat’sgoing on inthecounty.”

Anne-Marie Kremer,Claryville

“I like toread thewholepaper be-cause itgets tothe point.It’s agood,local paper.”

Thomas Hauschild,Callicoon

“I like theDemocratbecauseit’s agoodrecord ofthe localcommu-nity. Itpicks upthe best of what’s going on.”

Kai BrothersCallicoon Center

“I like theDemocratbecause Ican’t livewithout thelocal newsor theweeklyKenozaLake arti-cle.”

Brad WalrodKenoza Lake

“I like theDemocratbecause Iappreciateits dedica-tion tolocal cover-age.”

Kristin Porter, Callicoon

“I lovetheDemocratbecauseit’s ahome-townpaper andI can stayup [to date] on all the localnews.”

Nancy Buck, Roscoe

“I like thatthe Democ-rat is local.My favoritepart is theDown theDecadessection. It’sthe best.”

Kathy Fraser, Monticello

“My fa-vorite partsof theDemocratare thelocal news,the Downthe Decadesand thefeel-goodstories.”

Russell Brey, Briscoe

But enough about me ...

The best job I would ever hope to haveBY FRANK RIZZO

Afew months ago, for mycurrent job, I inter-viewed the medical

doctor and “new age guru”Deepak Chopra.

Here’s a celebrity withcountless books sold, mil-lions of “followers” and an in-stitute bearing his name. Iasked him what he hoped hislegacy would be. His answerwas blunt: “In two genera-tions, we’ll be forgotten. No-body will give a hoot.” What adowner.

We all have the human wishto make a difference, leave amark on the world after we’vecompleted our journey.Those who toil in journalismknow that the overwhelmingpart of what we do isephemeral. Our product isdestined to be “fish wrap” or“lining bird cages.”

Yet we also know that weare the only constant chroni-clers of the community. Ourarchives and back pages con-stitute the record of our pastthat would otherwise be for-ever lost. That’s got to beworth something, and meas-ures the value of communityjournalism to the people itserves.

All these things come tomind as I am asked to putwords to paper about thenearly 20 years I spent at theSullivan County Democrat. Ilook back on my body of workwith the humble hope that inmany ways it created some-thing of permanent worth tothose on the receiving end ofmy reporting.

The Democrat first came tomy consciousness in thesummer of 1989, which wasmy first time in the riversidehamlet with the funny nameof Callicoon.

I was visiting my friendsKevin and Barbara Gref, andBarbara had been employedas a reporter at the paper forseveral months and gave mea tour of the main office.

It must have been one dayin January 1991 – rememberthat the first Gulf War wasraging – when Barbara calledto tell me that the Democrat’ssports editor, Jeff Mills, wasleaving, and the paper wouldbe looking for a replacement.

Though I had been sportseditor at one college paper, Ihad never taken formal jour-nalism courses and neverconsidered reporting as a ca-reer until several talks withthe Grefs planted the idea inmy head. Now it beckonedlike the songs of the mythical

sirens calling the sailors ofold, especially since I was un-happily underemployed atthe time.

So I sent in a resumé andsome clips, and before long Ihad an appointment withFred Stabbert III. He was gen-eral manager then, severalyears away from replacingFred Jr. as publisher. The in-terview must have gone well,because a few weeks later Iwas offered the position.

I’ll be forever grateful to thefirst people I contacted, theWestern Sullivan League

baseball coaches, for theirunstinting cooperation andhelp as I took my first tenta-tive steps into coverage.

It did not take me long togain insight into what the De-mocrat meant to the localsports scene ever since theStabberts and Jan Cheripkohad introduced a formalsports section back in 1979.

Sure, we could not publishtimely local results as did theMiddletown daily, but wecould lend a narrative struc-ture to the sports seasons,find glory and drama ineveryday games, highlightkids who might not otherwisesee their names in the news-paper and give coverage tothe doormat as well as thechampionship team.

Nowadays everyone, itseems, has a cell phone cam-era at athletic contests.Twenty-five years ago, onlythe Democrat was on thesidelines, snapping away. Inmy 10-plus years as sportseditor, I estimate that I shotabout 50,000 exposures. Un-fortunately, most negativeswere destroyed in the greatflood of 2006. Much else, irre-placeable, was lost that darkday (including, most impor-tantly, one of our resident’slives).

I wanted to start “namingnames” but know that Iwould feel bad about leavingsomeone out. Besides, thestories I could relate andsketches of the personalities Iencountered would requirean article three times thelength.

Suffice to say I met count-less good and decent peoplein my time, both as col-leagues in the workplace andas subjects of my reporting. Icovered many memorablecontests, watched the devel-opment and growth of manygreat athletes and even hadthe sad duty of reporting ontoo many athletes dyingyoung.

With help from such

staffers and freelancers asJoel Brustman, Ted Waddelland Rob Potter, we were ableto create what I believe werethe best scholastic sportspages the Democrat ever of-fered.

I also developed great per-sonal and professional rela-tionships with the editors Iworked with – FrankBrownell, Laurie Ramie andDan Hust. I’m also grateful forthe interns who helped megreatly.

In 2001, for personal rea-sons, I had to reluctantlyleave the best job I wouldever hope to have.

Anyone who’s ever gottenthe journalism bug knowsyou can never get rid of it. Inthe summer of 2006, I learnedthat Dan Hust was looking tostep away from his burden-some position and go back toreporting. Soon I was back inthat familiar place and spentthe next nine years there aseditor-in-chief. I was helpedby such talented writers asDan, Barbara Gref, JeanneSager, Kathy Daley and toomany others to list.

They were fateful, eventfulyears of our county, and I wasglad to have been in the jour-nalistic thick of it, even if thejob could be frustrating,crushing and exasperating.But trade it for anything else?Never for a minute.

Congratulations to the De-mocrat as it celebrates 125years. It is put together by atalented, dedicated staff whomakes sure that, for 104 is-sues a year, the readership isgetting informed and enter-tained.

On a personal note, I ammost profoundly grateful toFred Jr. and Fred III for givingmy young, untested self anopportunity to work for agreat community newspaper.

Frank Rizzo was sports editor of theDemocrat from 1991 through 2001,and editor in chief from 2006 to2015. He now edits two communitynewspapers on Long Island.



125voices

“I like theDemocratbecause it’show I catchup on localnews. Youdon’t missanything.”

Mary Tonjes, Callicoon

“I enjoythe Demo-crat be-causethat’s howI get all ofmy localnews.”

Beverly Paige, Monticello

“I like theDemocratbecausethey’re al-ways on topof all thesmall stuffand events when no oneelse is.”

Lindsey Bauer, Callicoon

“I love theDemocratbecauseit’s a truelocal news-paper.”

Polly Giragosian, Wurtsboro


BY DAN HUST

My closest friendsmight disagree, butI’m more a listener

than a talker. And since mostpeople prefer to speak ratherthan listen, it works out well.

In fact, I’ve listened tothousands of Sullivan Countyresidents, workers, leadersand, yes, criminals talk aboutevery imaginable topic, andI’ve had the good fortune toshare those interviews anddiscussions with thousandsmore.

I’ve listened to governors,farmers, senators, murderers,actors, bus drivers, scientists,charlatans, preachers, teach-ers and a Miss America ortwo – even a First Lady whohappens to be running forPresident.

I’ve met people who’vesaved lives and peoplewho’ve taken them. I’veshared the stories of the mosttalented individuals theworld has seen, including aNobel Peace Prize awardeeand actors with the word“Oscar” permanently at-tached to their names.

But what’s kept my careerfirmly rooted in communityjournalism is the commu-nity – the “ordinary” folk whoinhabit, and define, this tinyswath of the globe.

That’s been much of my jobsince 1996, when I took therole of reporter/photogra-pher to satisfy my Master’sDegree requirements (and,unlike many of my fellowgrad school interns, to getpaid doing it).

Less than a year later, I wasunexpectedly named editor,and coupled with the deathof my father, I stayed farlonger than I ever antici-pated.

Had I left for the “biggerand better” roles in corpo-rate media, I suspect I wouldhave mostly been confinedto the “criminal/scandal ofthe day” pieces that pass forjournalism.

Instead, I’ve been allowedwide latitude to pursue allsorts of stories I think will in-

terest our readers – ones Itypically find interesting my-self.

Most importantly to me,I’ve been free to write farmore about the people whomake a difference in ourcommunity, as opposed tothose who would do it harm.

True, there’s excitement incourtroom drama, ambu-lance-chasing, and fieryspectacle. There’s a need forreporters to be watchdogs, towrite about wrongdoing, torelate pain and suffering andevil to readers.

But there’s reason to alsohighlight the unsung heroes,to champion those otherwiseunseen, to herald the dailygood deeds which go on somuch more often than theheadline-grabbing crimes.

Here at the SullivanCounty Democrat, I’ve beenallowed to take that journal-istically less-trodden path, toworry more about qualitythan quantity, to inspire andmotivate vs. depress and hor-rify.

I don’t claim to know wherecommunity journalism isheaded. Even at this level, it’sa vastly changed industry,thanks to social media’s free,crowd-sourced immediacy.

Then again, I’ve alwayspreferred “slow-cooked” re-porting over the fast-foodversion prevalent in digitalmedia. Indeed, while we rel-ish publishing a “scoop” asmuch as anyone else, my en-tire tenure has been moreabout getting it right thangetting it first, about beingmore in-depth and more in-formative than the guy who’sbeen quicker with pen andkeyboard.

If that makes me anachro-nistic, so be it. People de-serve a decently researched,correctly spelled, interest-ingly written story, and whileI’ll not claim to have givensuch every single time, it’s aconstant, consistent goal –one that I deeply hope willnever be irrelevant, despitethe trend of the day.

Not that I’ll deny havingbeen around a long time.

Though I started as a reporterin 1996, I actually beganworking at the Democratduring its centennial year. Infact, I arrived mere weeksafter the 100th anniversaryissue debuted, eager to try asummer job that didn’t in-volve gardening (my previoussummer’s duty).

That May of 1991, I had justturned 16 and barely had adriver’s license when Pub-lisher Fred Stabbert Jr. andhis son Fred III put me be-hind the wheel of the com-pany van.

I found twin loves the firstday I drove that old Chevy –cruising the roads of SullivanCounty, and talk radio. Thevan was surprisingly respon-sive and comfortable, andthe AM-only radio enter-tained me with controversialloudmouths like Bob Grantand Rush Limbaugh duringlate-night runs to and from

the Port Jervis printing plant.I had been perusing the

Democrat as long as I’d beenable to read, but at that pointmy interest in journalism hadnot manifested. I was happyto simply be getting paid toproofread amidst driving er-rands, mowing the tiny patchof grass behind the Callicoonoffice, and picking up end-less cigarette butts on thesidewalk and parking lot.

I spent three more sum-mers being the office gopher,and I’m proud to say a desk Iassembled still serves its pur-pose in our production room!

Two things pushed me on-ward to this career:

• Eileen Israel, a former ad-junct professor of freshmancomposition at SUNY Sullivan,who encouraged me to writewhen none had before; and

• Joining the student paperat college, which thrust meinto the world of editing and

reporting, which in turn ledto grad school and anotherstudent paper.

Five years nearly to the dayafter I first joined the Demo -crat, I returned – still ateenager – as a full-time re-porter. Twenty years later, Iremain a full-time reporter –or senior editor, or staffwriter/photographer, or techguy, or whatever they call methese days.

Aw, never mind the titles.Just call me what everyoneelse does – you know, “Dan ...from the Democrat.”

Dan Hust is a native of SullivanCounty (Kenoza Lake, to be precise),where he’s spent two decades get-ting to know a place he oncethought he knew well! He’s alsobeen blessed to share the love ofwriting for four years with freshmancomposition students at SUNY Sulli-van – including in the very roomwhere he developed that love.

Dan Hust

Frank Rizzo

“I likethe De-mocratbecauseit’s awonder-fulpaper.It’s sogreat to have a family-runbusiness for that manyyears that does such goodcoverage of the area.”

Kathleen JohnsonNarrowsburg

“I like theDemocratbecause itkeeps meinformedof what’sgoing onin theriver val-ley. Whether it’s differentprojects our partners aredoing or stories about theriver itself, they have it.”

Ingrid Peterec,Minisink Ford

“I like theDemocratbecause ittells thingsthe waythey are. Irespectthose whosay thingsthe way they are. And it’smore oriented towards Sul-livan County than others.”

Charlie SabatinoMonticello

“I think theDemocratdoes a fab-ulous jobsupportingthe county.There’s faircoverage oneverythingand it’s pretty widespread.And the writers always tryto emphasize the positivehappenings in the county.”Helena Manzione, Bethel

Although most peoplewould be hardpressed to name

more than a handful of themtoday, Sullivan County hasbeen home to more than 30different newspapers overthe years. These include theSullivan County Whig, thecounty’s first paper, whichbegan publishing in Bloom-ingburg in 1821, before even-tually moving to Monticelloand morphing into the Re-publican Watchman, and theEvening News, which was fora short time during WorldWar II the only daily newspa-per ever published in thecounty.

As unlikely as it might seemtoday, dozens of communi-ties in the county once sup-ported their own papers,

including Wurtsboro, WhiteLake, Livingston Manor, Nar-rowsburg and Hurleyville.And a few communities havehad more than one paper –often at the same time.

Monticello, the county’slargest community almostfrom the beginning, has beenhome to the Chronicle, theHerald, the Republican, theRepublican Watchman, theBulletin, and the EveningNews, in addition to theWhig. The Independent, theRegister, the Gazette, andothers have been publishedin Liberty, which has longbeen the county’s secondlargest village. Douglas, theonly city in Sullivan County’shistory, once had both theJournal and the Gazette. Jef-fersonville was home to the

Local Record as well asthe Volksblatt, a Ger-man language paper.The hamlet of Calli-coon was also at onetime home to twonewspapers, the Calli-coon Echo and the Sul-livan CountyDemocrat.

One by one, for vari-ous reasons, thesenewspapers fell by thewayside. While, as lateas the 1960s there werestill nearly a dozen pa-pers in Sullivan County,nearly all of them weregone by the end of theCentury.

The Sullivan CountyDemocrat, establishedin the summer of 1891, hasoutlived them all, including

many much more modern un-dertakings. In fact, the newspa-per, now a twice-weeklypublication, is celebrating itsquasquicentennial – yes, that’sthe word for 125th anniversarythis year.

Callicoon Depot had be-come a bustling communitywith the arrival of the NewYork & Erie Railroad in 1848,and it continued to growthroughout the latter half ofthe 19th Century. The Calli-coon Echo had been estab-lished as an independentnewspaper in 1875 by E.I. Gor-ton and P.L. Jacobs, and wasedited by Gorton. Publishedevery Friday as a six-column,four page weekly, it hailed it-self as “the working man’spaper,” and claimed to be “thecheapest and best paper pub-lished in Sullivan County.”

Gorton prided himself on

being “fearless in his criti-cisms,” and touted the Echoas the only paper in SullivanCounty that did not use“patent outsides or blocks,”meaning it was completelyabout local and regionalnews.

It is not exactly known whatprompted the organization ofan alternate newspaper inthe community in 1891, butthere were a number of sig-nificant issues dividing thecountry – and the county – atthe time. For one, on the na-tional level, the populistmovement was picking upsteam, primarily amongfarmers who felt they werebeing priced out of businessby the banks and the rail-roads. In Sullivan County,there were a number of other

The History of the Democrat:Clips of days gone by highlightinghistoric moments. In this sectionSULLIVAN LIFESULLIVAN LIFE

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT www.scdemocratonline.com FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 1C

125voices

“I like theDemocratbecausethe powerof a localnewssource likethe Democ-rat lies inits ability totie together a disparategroup of people throughshared values and interests.In the era of social mediawe need a vital local news-paper now more than ever.Here’s to 125 more.”

Aaron Hicklin, Equinunk

“I like thenews andwhat ishappen-ing locally.They do avery nicejob. I thinkit’s a verywelcom-ing and informative paper,and I think the staff is justgreat.”

Judy Delaine Knight, Narrowsburg and NYC

Metropolitan Area

“I like thelocal storiesabout thelocal busi-nesses andpeople. AndI like look-ing backdown thedecadesand recalling memories.”Kelly Bonnaci, Smallwood

“I love theDemocratbecause it’sa localpaper thatcovers allof SullivanCounty andadvertisingwith themis so easy.”

Charity Muzuruk, Liberty

“I like theDemocratbecause Ithink it cov-ers thelocal newsquite welland withgreat accu-racy.”

Jim Lomax, Bethel

“It’s ahome-townpaper. Itscoverageis wide-spread ofnot onlySullivanCounty,but Wayne County as well.It’s an all-point coveragepaper.”

Marie Smith, Liberty

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike havingaccess tolocalnews.”Sherri Eccleston, Minisink

“I love theDemocrat.My hus-band and Iare faithfulsubscribersand itkeeps us intouch withwhat’sgoing on.”

Wendy Brown,Horseshoe Lake

At 108 years old, Marie Zaleskyis still reading the newspaper

BY AUTUMN SCHANIL

At the age of 108, MarieZalesky, who grew upin Hortonville and

now resides at the RoscoeCommunity Nursing Home,still reads the SullivanCounty Democrat everyTuesday and Friday.

Zalesky is one of thepaper’s longest and oldestsubscribers.

“I got the paper yesterday,but I didn’t get a chance toread the whole thing yet,”Zalesky told the Democrat,“but I will. I’ll read the wholepaper. I’ve been reading it foryears. It’s a great newspaper.”

Zalesky attended a one-room school in Hortonvillewith about 30 other chil-dren. She was there untileighth grade when schoolended.

Zalesky had alwaysworked on her grandpar-ents’ farm in Callicoon, har-vesting hay and rye from thefields, working in the veg-

etable gardens and helpingto raise cows, chickens andpigs. She cleaned the eight-room house where hergrandparents often rentedrooms to visitors, calling itthe Main Road House.

And once school was fin-ished she began babysittingand eventually started work-ing as a housecleaneraround the county.

“I have worked hard all mylife and I’ve gone to manyplaces,” said Zalesky. “I usedto go during the summer-time to work in the boardinghouses because peoplestayed a long time and it wasgood work.

“I worked in Monticellocooking and cleaning forone family for nearly sixyears.”

Even after retirement Za-lesky kept on the move, vol-unteering for the RetiredSenior Volunteer Program(RSVP) out of Monticelloand at the Grover M Her-mann Hospital in Callicoon

the same day it opened itsdoors in 1972 until just twoyears ago when she was 106.

The one thing that sheloves the most in life, isspending time with herdaughter Ellie.

“I spent most of my lifewith my husband. I methim through his sister. Wewere together for 57 years,”Zalesky explained. “We hadone daughter, Ellie, mywonderful girl. She’s a flightattendant now and shegoes everywhere. I can’t tellyou how many places I’vebeen to with her. I’ve evenbeen to Amsterdam.”

“A lot of things havechanged in the world sinceI was young,” said Zalesky.“A lot has certainlychanged, but a lot hasstayed the same too.

“And the Stabberts, myGod I know them from way,way, way back and a lot ofthe people who work theretoo. They were always goodto me.”

AUTUMN SCHANIL | DEMOCRAT

Marie Zalesky, of Hortonville, at the age of 108 is one of the SullivanCounty Democrat’s oldest subscribers.

The QuasquicentennialBY JOHN CONWAY

SULLIVAN COUNTY HISTORIAN

When a New York State Governor wanted to meet people on thecampaign trail, he took a… train. This October 17, 1928 editionreports that NYS Governor Franklin D. Roosevelt’s arrival in Cal-licoon on an Erie passenger train drew a crowd of 400 to hearan impromptu speech.

CONTINUED ON PAGE 2C

Sullivan County Historian John Conway

2C 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016


issues, including a proposal gainingpopularity throughout the state tomake County Clerks and Sheriffssalaried officials. And the temperancecontroversy had heated up to the boil-ing point as a few of the county’stowns had voted to go dry and “re-spectable gentlemen and good citi-zens” were lining up on both sides ofthe issue.

Whatever the impetus, one of thecommunity’s most prominent citi-zens, Captain John Firman Anderson,

who had fought in the Civil War asan officer in Company E of Sulli-van County’s own 143rd Regi-ment, mustering out in 1863 toreturn home to raise prizedshort horn cattle and practicelaw, eventually serving as thecounty’s District Attorney, de-cided Callicoon needed an-other newspaper.

So Captain Anderson fi-nanced the formation of theSullivan County Democrat,which began publishing onThursdays in 1891. Like mostof the papers in the county –

FROM PAGE 1C

The February 20, 1958 edition was historic for many reasons, not the least ofwhich was reporting on the N’easter which ripped up the East Coast, dumping38 inches of snow on Sullivan County. It also marked the largest press run in thehistory of the Democrat to that date – 2,800 copies. At right is a feature used bymany newspapers back in the day of ‘Hot Lead’ production.

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125voices

I like theDemocratbecause Ilike the up-to-datenews andlocal infor-mation.”

Barbara Klar,Livingston Manor

“I lovethat theDemocratis socommu-nity ori-entedand itnever for-getsabout Sullivan County.”

Pete MalteseSwan Lake

“I love theDemocratbecause Ilove thehometownnews. Ilove thatit’s twiceweeklyand I enjoyhaving local news coverageon what’s going on in theCounty and the surroundingareas. It’s our hometownpaper.”

George KinneRoscoe

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike toread thefront pageand theletters tothe editor.”

Gary MaasCochecton

Now that’s news!Above, the Democratfront page headlinesays it all, “GreatestWar Ends.” A report byJohn C. Metcalfe of theNew York Herald-Tri-bune started, “Thegreatest war of all timeended at 7 o’clock Tues-day night, August 14,1945. Only the formalityof signing the surrenderterms remained.”At right, one of SullivanCounty’s most sensa-tional stories of the early1900s was “MelvinCounch Hides Woman inHis Office for ThreeYears!” A former DistrictAttorney and prominentSullivan County attorney,Couch has a secret roomin his law office were hekept a woman for 3 years.

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 3Cwww.scdemocratonline.com

or throughout the nation, for thatmatter – the Democrat went througha number of editors and publishersduring those early years, includingThomas Pendell, S.S. Pomeroy, MattCollins and William Heidt, Jr.

It was under Heidt’s leadership in1921 that a young Fred Stabbert Sr.joined the paper, and in 1927 he as-sumed ownership, thus ending therapid turnover in management.Stabbert remained at the helm, ef-fectively re-inventing the paper,until a heart attack claimed his lifein April of 1963. At that point, hisson, Fred Jr. assumed command,and he served as publisher untilhis retirement on December 31,1993.

CONTINIUED ON PAGE 4C

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125voices

“I like theDemocratbecause it’sa team ofvery dedi-cated peo-ple andthey’re ledby a very great person inFred. He’s very communityoriented. The articles are fair,considerate and balanced.And they stress the positiveattributes in the stories.”

Darlene Fedun, Liberty

“I reallylike thesupport ofthe localbusi-nessesand howthe De-mocratshow-cases com-munityevents.”

Cathy PatyBethel

“The Sulli-van CountyDemocrathas alwayscovered thelocal newson an in-depth andpersonallevel. Rather than just get-ting a headline, readers getthe essence of the story andany nuance. Congratula-tions on 125 years of publi-cation.”

Eric Chaboty, Neversink

PHOTO BY MIKE BLOOM

Fred Stabbert, III joined the paper out of St. Bonaven-ture University in May of 1983, and took over as pub-lisher on January 1, 1994, continuing to this day. Thepaper has undergone a number of changes during theStabberts’ tenure, perhaps most notably its growthfrom a Thursday weekly with a circulation of just over500 readers in and around Callicoon to a twice-weeklypublication serving nearly 8,000 throughout all of Sul-livan County and northeastern Pennsylvania. Throughit all, it has remained an independent, family-runnewspaper.

The future of print newspapers may appear bleak, asdailies and weeklies from coast to coast continue tofold due to declining ad revenues and reader apathy,but community journalism will likely always have itsplace. A recent survey by the National Newspaper As-sociation showed that fully two-thirds of adults insmall town America regularly read their local paper,and that 40 percent of small town residents list theirhometown paper as their primary source for news.

Given its strong commitment to the communityand the community’s reciprocity, perhaps another125 years isn’t out of the question for the SullivanCounty Democrat.



CONTINUED FROM PAGE 3C

A new invention, called the Aeroplane, was flown 61 miles byWilbur Wright in September of 1908, and the Sullivan CountyDemocrat had it on the front page. A world record at the timefor the longest flight, Wilbur beat his brother Orville’s record.Oh sibling rivalry.At right, it was July 24, 1953 and Route 17 – the Quickway – isgetting ready to open. Apparently officials were so anxious toget the road open, they opened up one lane of the bridge be-fore all work was complete. But not to worry, they put boardsacross the road to slow the traffic down. Truly amazing.

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125voices

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike thehuman in-terest sto-ries.”

Kathy McDoal,Roscoe

“I like theDemocrat’scomprehen-sive cover-age of localevents andactivities.”

MaryPaige Lang-Clouse, Yulan

“I like theDemocratbecause ithas a home-town feeland it’ssmall townproud.”

Regina Coulter,Callicoon

“I enjoy the Sullivan CountyDemocratbecause itmakes thecounty abetterplace tolive. It pro-vides uswith amaz-ing information about thecommunity we live in andbeyond.”

Franklin Trapp,Swinging Bridge


During the early part of the 1900s itwas not uncommon to find nationalnews on the front page of the SullivanCounty Democrat. Weekly newspaperswere often people’s main source ofnews, along with radio, and later television. In the December 11, 1941 edition,above, the Democrat declares, “TheUnited States is at War;Defense Work Begun Here.” The pub-lisher, Fred W. Stabbert Sr., was soflustered by the attack on Pearl Har-bor, that he inadvertently wrote Nov.11 in the front page nameplate, in-stead of December 11. The datesthroughout the newspaper were allthankfully correct.At left, an October 1907 editiontalks about opening trade in the Ori-ent and also contained ads on thefront page. This is the earliest physi-cal edition in Democrat records.When Fred Stabbert Sr. began work-ing at the Democrat in 1921 therewere no records of past editionsand he went into the cellar to findevery copy back to 1907. We arecertainly glad he did. Today, thenewspapers are bound yearly andalso microfilmed.

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Happy 125 Years to the Sullivan County Democrat!

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4161

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Congratulations Fred Stabbert & the Sullivan County Democrat

on 125 yearsfrom your friends the Kubeniks

CONGRATULATIONSSULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT!CONGRATULATIONSSULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT!

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DEMOCRATon your

125th Anniversary!

I’m proud to be your

Kenoza Lake NewsCorrespondent.

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4171

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125voices

“I like thefact that theDemocrat isabout localtowns andlocal peo-ple. It’s notcity news,it’s abouteveryday people.”

Karen Rohrmann, Cochecton

“I like theDemocratbecause it’sa hometownpaper thatdeals withhometown,local news,and the ad-vertising is reasonable.”

Andy White, Cochecton

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike thephotogra-phy in thepaper.”

Beth HeinleLake Huntington

“I like theDemocratbecause thestaff is fan-tastic. I likethe localnews andthe sports.”

Tony Ramos,Lake Huntington



Tragedy… and triumph. Theworld of reporting the newstakes many forms, from thetragic and heart-wrenching tothe triumphant and reward-ing. In the top edition, datedAugust 12, 1913, there ap-peared much tragedy in andaround Callicoon. First a manwas run over by a train whilewalking along the tracksreading a letter and then afalling house crushed anotherman. There was also a drown-ing deathIn the newpaper on the bot-tom, who could forget July20, 1969, when Lt. Col. NeilArmstrong said, “That’s onesmall step for man, one giantleap for mankind.” The Demo-crat was there… almost… asstaff photographer Jack Niflottook a picture of the infa-mous event on a black-and-white television.

Congratulations!The Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs

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4159

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Congratulations Sullivan CountyDemocrat on 125 Years!

The Sullivan County Chamber of Commercewould like to extend a heartfelt thank you

to Fred, the Stabbert Familyand the Sullivan County Democrat Newspaperfor all of their contributions to Sullivan County

over the past 125 years!

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196 Bridgeville Road, Suite 7Monticello, NY 12701

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Phone: 845.791.4200Fax: 845.791.4220

Congratulations to the Stabbert familyand the Sullivan County Democrat.

The Erlwein and Myers familiesof Myers Century FarmFamily owned since 1842

God bless you and all who maketheir living here and call it home.

4177

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Congratulationsfrom all of us at

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Louis Milucky, Taxidermist

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To Freddie and All the employees of the Democrat -Thanks for all the great service

and good luck for another 125 years.

4179

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792

Congratulations to theSullivan County Democrat

& the Stabbert Family!

Happy 125th Anniversary!Fran, Gail & Debra

Frances S. ClementeAttorney at Law

[email protected]. Box 86632 Lower Main StreetCallicoon, NY 12723

(845) 887-6344(570) 729-8607

Fax (845) 887-6341

NEW YORK PENNSYLVANIA

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125voices

“I love toknowwhat’sgoing onand I loveto readthe com-munitycolumns.”

James Kosier, Monticello

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike thatit’s on-line.”

Lynne Albee, Roscoe

“My favorite part of the De-mocrat isthe DowntheDecadesbecauseobviously anewspaperwith 125years be-hind it hasinforma-tion that can give you agreat history of the county.”

Peter Pierce, Cochecton

“I like thecoverageof thewesternend of theSullivanCountynewsalong withthe localsports section. I alwaysenjoy looking at the Downthe Decades.”

Sean Nearing, Cochecton


It was the Age of Aquarius for Sullivan County on August 15-17, 1969 as nearly 500,000 young people attended a concert at Max Yasgur’s field in the Town ofBethel. The concert would come to be known as Woodstock and was one of the defining moments of a generation of young people in the 1960s. The Democratwas there, every day, including Publisher Fred Stabbert Jr., whose trusty Ford station wagon went down Hurd Rd. through a sea of people to the famous fourcorners and the concert site. Even Fred Stabbert III, then age 8, attended the festival, an historic moment in Sullivan County’s 207-year history. Today, LibertyCable Television pioneer Alan Gerry has built Bethel Woods Center for the Arts on the site of the former festival, and the outdoor concert venue and museumrecently celebrated its 10th Anniversary to much fanfare.

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125voices

“I like the Democrat be-cause it’s nice to have apaper that focuses not onlyon local events but histori-cal events. Ilike theDown theDecades.And I think,for peoplewho havelived herefor a longtime, theDemocratmakes them feel more con-nected with the county. Andfor newcomers it’s all thethings you need to knowabout the community. Ithink the Democrat reflectsall that Sullivan County hasto offer. ”

Petra MucciaLiberty

“I enjoythe DowntheDecadessectionand Ithink itcontainsusefuland inter-estinghistorical information andfacts. I think that whoeverdoes that does a good job,especially since they haveto go through all that infor-mation and it’s probablytime-consuming.”

KC Garn, Cochecton

“The Democrat is a SullivanCounty tradition. I knew FredJr., who wasa commonsense leaderand goodfriend of thecounty. AndFred III hascarried onthat traditonof keeping Sullivan Countywell-informed with a top-notch newspaper. ”

Walter GariglianoNeversink



Proud to be a part ofnewspaper history

BY ED TOWNSEND

Founded in 1891 theSullivan County De-mocrat is celebrating

125 years of service.Wow ... what a story ... from

a Callicoon-focused weeklyto a countywide twice-weekly, this great newspaperhas survived and flourishedunder the continuous greatleadership of the Stabbertfamily ownership since 1927.

It's only fitting that I havehad the pleasure and honorof writing for the Democratfor so many years of my longand illustrious photojournal-ism career that now stretchesinto its 73rd year.

Yes folks that 73-years ofwriting newspaper columnsstarted when I was eightyears of age and my uncleCliff Sprague, one of the own-ers of the Liberty Gazette,

asked me to start writing acolumn on the ElementarySchool Life at Liberty HighSchool.

I've seen and done a lotover these years that in-cluded having lunch withPresident Lyndon Johnson,met English Royalty, hadmany friendly chats withGovernor Nelson Rockefellerwhen he used to frequentlyvisit Grossinger's, and wasamazed that he always re-membered my first name.

Some of my sports cover-age included playing golfwith Tiger Woods in a mediapro-am and bowling withHall of Famer Parker Bohn III.And who could ever forgetworking as a member of thepress at the 1969 WoodstockFestival.

Love what I have done andfeel so blessed to have

worked in the SullivanCounty weekly newspaperfield with great newspaperpublishers and editors likeFred Stabbert III, Fred Stab-bert Jr., Harold and ClaraSchue at the former LibertyRegister, Don and Emily Bat-tey at the former LivingstonManor Times and SullivanCounty Times-Press, CharlieCrist at the Times-HeraldRecord and Ruby Katz, ArtSugerman and Les Woods atSouthern News York Publish-ers.

When I first started in theSullivan County weekly fieldback in the late 1950s therewere 12 weekly newspapersin this county, and it wastruly dedication by Fred Stab-bert Jr. and Fred Stabbert IIIthat brought great knowledgeand business experiencealong with a dedicated staff

that has made the twice-weekly Sullivan County De-mocrat what it is today – anaward-winning publicationthat truly gives its readers allthe news that's fit to print.

Some of my fondest mem-ories of Fred Stabbert Jr. wasthat Fred and I sort of had ahabit of slipping into thepublisher’s office during theannual Sullivan County De-mocrat Christmas Partywhere we would reminisceabout where the weeklynewspaper business wastoday and where it use to be30 to 50 years ago.

Our discussions would al-ways focus on the manyweekly newspapers that dot-ted the local Sullivan Countyscenery in the 40s, 50s and60s.

Great memories of thepast are what we hold closeto our heart, and I smilewhen I see the continuedgrowth of this outstandingnewspaper.

Happy anniversary, Sulli-van County Democrat!

ED TOWNSEND

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125voices

“The thingI like themostabout theDemocratis that it isso incredi-bly sup-portive ofthe Forest-burgh Playhouse.”

Jill Behling PaduaNarrowsburg

“I like theDemocratbecausethey tellthe wholestory.”

Kris DouglasRock Hill

“I love theDemocratbecause Ilove thelocalevents andthe pic-tures arealways great. It’s very com-munity-oriented.”

Diana D’AgatiJeffersonville

Stabbert Family:A family of writers, readers andpublishers say “Thank You.”In this SectionSULLIVAN LIFESULLIVAN LIFE

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT www.scdemocratonline.com FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 1D

125voices

“I like theDemocratbecause itpromotesbusinessesin the area.It keepsfolks up todate onwhat’s happening withbusinesses, especially withthe Catskill Regional Med-ical Center.”

Joanie Rollin, Otisville

“I like theDemocratbecauseit’s truly alocalnewspa-per, tellingus abouteverythingwe want to know and abouteverything that’s going on.”

Denise Connolly,Smallwood

“I like thefact that itkeeps us in-formedabout allthe localhappeningsandevents.”

Shirley Weitzner,Callicoon Center

“I like theNellie’sCorner. Ilove thesmall localarticlesfrom Mon-ticello,Bethel andSmall-wood.”

Neelie Lynch, Smallwood

“I like theDemocratbecause it’sa greatlocal news-paper thatdoesn’t feellike a localnewspaper.They covera wide range of events andI love how community ori-ented it is.”

Brock Lady, Hortonville

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike thefact thatthey putthe Bethelracetrackresults init with pictures of the localwinners.”

Tracy Chirico, Hopewell Junction

“I thinkfrom myexperi-ence, theDemocratis alwaysverytimely incovering crucial issues thatimpact the local communi-ties and businesses.”

Jodie Dawson, Jeffersonville

BY DAN HUST

The year 1927 saw thefirst solo, nonstoptransatlantic flight; the

first successful long-distancetelevision transmission; thefirst feature-length film withsynchronized dialogue; andthe first road game of theHarlem Globetrotters.

It also saw the purchase ofthe Sullivan County Demo -crat – then already 36 years inoperation – for $1,100 by a 35-year-old Fred Stabbert.

From there to the presentday, the title of “Publisher”has remained attached to thatname.

Fred Stabbert Sr. had cometo the paper in 1921 as a“printer’s devil” (apprentice),leaving his brother Herm torun the family farm their dadFrank had started in Obern-burg in the 1890s.

“He was probably well-readand very interested in theworld around him. And backthen, getting out of Obern-burg probably meant movingto Callicoon!” surmises FredIII, the Democrat’s currentpublisher.

Known to friends and fam-ily as “Fritz,” Fred Sr. neverfinished a brief stint at Cor-nell University, but he capa-bly completed the trainingoffered at Milo Bennett’s In-tertype School in Toledo,Ohio.

That made him a valuableasset at the Democrat – as aLinotype operator, responsi-ble for literally setting thetype via hot slugs of lead.

Even as publisher, Fred Sr.could be found fixing one orboth of the Linotype ma-chines at the paper – andoften other local newspapers’Linotypes.

“It was long, hot days,” FredIII relates. “These machineshad 500-degree furnaces tomelt the lead.”

But neither the heat fromthe Linotypes nor the eco-nomic fires of the Great De-pression slowed him in themission to deliver factual,timely, informative news towhat was then a mostly Calli-

coon readership.Even as radio and then tel-

evision entered area homes,the Democrat continued tobe a vital source of informa-tion, and at the close of the1950s, Fred Sr. became presi-dent of the New York Press As-sociation (NYPA).

A heart attack felled him in1963 – but there was anotherFred Stabbert to take thereins.

Fred Jr.’s legacyBorn in a second-floor bed-

room that’s now home to theDemocrat’s editorial officesuite, Fred Jr. grew up in thefamily business yet wasn’tnecessarily tied to its future.

“My dad was drafted intothe U.S. Army during the Ko-rean conflict,” Fred III ex-plains.

Stationed in northern Vir-ginia, Fred Jr. kept overhear-ing a familiar sound on base,one that his superiors at firstdenied existed.

“It was a top-secret press,but he knew what the equip-ment sounded like,” laughsFred III.

So Fred Jr. put his Linotypeskills to work for both theArmy (printing daily code

cards) and the nearby Wash-ington Post newspaper.

Upon his honorable dis-charge, he landed a job withthe federal civil defense officein New York City, to which hecommuted by Erie train fromthe family home in Callicoon.

This was the early 1960s,when the fear of nuclear at-tack was at its height, andFred Jr.’s role meant he wason the front lines of the ColdWar.

“I’ll never forget we had aGeiger counter at the house,”recalls Fred III.

The April 1963 death of FredSr. forever changed thecourse of his son’s life. FredSr.’s widow Nellie becamepublisher of the Democratfor several months, but ulti-mately Fred Jr. decided to giveup his government career topreserve and grow the familybusiness.

That included welcomingthe change that continues toenvelop the newspaper in-dustry: the advance of com-puters.

“He saw it coming, and heembraced this technology,”says Fred III. “In 1970, webought a Compugraphics

machine and entered the‘cold-type’ era.”

Under his leadership, theDemocrat grew from eightemployees to 28 and in 1980permanently switched from aweekly to a twice-weekly.

“He hired some very intelli-gent people, including EditorTom White, who came upwith the idea of going twice aweek,” notes Fred III. “Wetried it as an experiment andnever went back.”

At the same time, Fred Jr.rose to political prominence.Whereas Fred Sr. hadlaunched one unsuccessfulrun for the NYS Assemblyagainst popular incumbentHyman “Bucky” Mintz, FredJr. slowly worked his way upthrough the local DemocraticParty ranks, eventually be-coming county chairman for16 years.

He even served on the Elec-toral College, casting one of41 votes from New York thatcrucially ensured JimmyCarter’s ascension to the U.S.Presidency.

But he didn’t forget the De-mocrat, which by the 1980s

was the last of what had oncebeen a competitive coterie ofdecades-old newspapersserving Sullivan County’s var-ied communities.

“It was very managedgrowth,” Fred III explains.“Dad could really sense whatpeople would like and wantto read.”

Fred III learns the ropesIndeed, Fred III had a front

row seat to it all, travelingwith his father to the Wood-stock festival, the opening ofthe two local hospitals, thecreation of SUNY Sullivan’scampus, meeting hoteliersand politicians and plenty ofmemorable characters.

“I just soaked it all up,” herecalls.

He also worked in the of-fice – originally simply as auseful, 8-year-old nuisance.

“Lillian Neer [the Demo -crat’s front office reception-ist] would pay me five centsfor every fly I killed,” helaughs.

Over time, he and older sis-

-BY KATHY DALEY

They were tough news-paper guys and gentle-men at the same time.

The work was rough andthey frequently sacrificedtheir own paychecks to keepthe lights on, the employeessalaried and the newspapersrolling off the presses weekafter week.

Fred Stabbert Jr. – the sec-ond of the three to operatethe Sullivan County Democ-rat down through the years –is not here to tell his story.But his good friend and fel-low newspaper publisherRubin ‘Ruby’ Katz is glad tostep up to the plate.

“Fred was a real gentle-man, a hard-working man,”said Katz, during an inter-view at his Monticello home.“Those were days of longhours, no time off, and thepoliticians always on yourback.”

From shortly after WorldWar II until 1973, Katzowned and printed a host oflocal weekly newspapers: theBulletin-Sentinel and theEvening News, both coveringMonticello, the Liberty Newsof that village, and, finally,the Republican Watchman ofMonticello. His office was onSt. John's Street in Monti-cello.

Meanwhile in Callicoon,Fred Jr. oversaw the Democ-rat, purchased by his fatherin 1927. Both Stabbert andKatz were engaged in provid-ing the news so crucial to thelife of towns everywhere.

Crimes and car accidents,babies’ births and friends'deaths, the upcoming pennysocial and what's doing at

the church and synagogue,how politics are faring – it allgets tossed into the weeklynewspaper.

In terms of coverage andseeking the all-importantadvertisers, “I stayed awayfrom the western part of the

county, where Fred was,”said Katz, “and he stayed

Nine decades later, you’ll still findFred Stabbert running the paper

An inside look at ‘Fred Jr.’ from a long-ago newspaper chum

In March of 1966, Rubin Katz, a Monticello publisher, and Fred W. Stabbert Jr., Callicoon publisher, were among the New York State weeklynewspaper publishers invited to the Executive Mansion in Albany by Governor Rockefeller for dinner. From the left are, Ruby Katz of theRepublican Watchman, Gov. Nelson A. Rockefeller and Happy, his wife, and Fred W. Stabbert Jr. of the Sullivan County Democrat.

PLEASE SEE 9 DECADES, 2D

PLEASE SEE FRED JR., 4D

Through the Years . . .Here is the list of publishers of the Sullivan CountyDemocrat as researched in our archives. The Democraturges anyone with additional information on the earlyhistory of this newspaper (before 1910) to please contactus at (845) 887-5200.1. Thomas Pendell . . . . . . . . . . . .editor and publisher 1891- . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Thursday, May 3, 1894

2. Loughran Terwilliger .May 3, 1894 - December 31, 19013. Ralph L. Marks . . . . January 1, 1902 - February 13, 1903 4. Amelia I. Marks . .February 14, 1903- September 2, 19035. Harry S. Allison . . . . . . . . . . . .September 3, 1903 - 19056. Solon S. Pomroy . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1905 - August 26, 19087. K.M. Pomroy . . . . .August 27, 1908 - December 8, 19098. Matt T. Collins & Fred H. Young . . . .December 9, 1909 - . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .November 10, 19109. Matt T. Collins . . November 11, 1910 - January 25, 191510. William Heidt . . . .January 26, 1915 - February 1, 192711. Fred W. Stabbert Sr. . .February 2, 1927 - April 28, 196312. Fred W. Stabbert Jr. .April 29, 1963 - December 31, 199313. Fred W. Stabbert III . . . . . . . . .January 1, 1994 - present

It was happy days for Fred Jr., left, and his dad, Fred Sr. at the familyhomestead in Obernburg.

2D 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016


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“I love thefact thattheDemocrat isall about usand our lit-tle area ofthe world. Ilike that itshows thehistory, the people, and thefuture of the County.”

Nancy Hackett,Cochecton

“I reallyenjoy theDown theDecadesbecausemy fa-vorite partis goingback andseeinghow far I can remember.”

Cindy Odell, Bethany, PA

“I love thefact thattheDemocratalwaysrepresentsat all theevents inthe town. Ilove that they’re so consider-ate and want to showcaseeveryone.”

Pamela Mayer, Milanville, PA

“What Ilove themost abouttheDemocratis that in aage whereeverythingis digital, there is still aprint version. It’s a cohesivefeel of small town Americaand you can count on it.”

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ters Mary and Billie were al-lowed to take papers off thepress, help address copies, andrun extra editions out to placesas needed.

(Fred’s two other sisters,Laurie and Kathy, didn’t workat the Democrat in theiryouth, but ironically they noware involved – Laurie as a co-publisher of the upstateCatskill Mountain News, Kathyas the Democrat’s own award-winning “Lifelines” colum-nist.)

“I loved it,” Fred affirms. “Iliked to see how somethingwent from a thought to theprinted page.”

Eventually, Fred got that op-portunity himself, when hewas assigned to cover a tennistournament at the former Kut-sher’s Hotel in Monticello. Thatwent so well that Editor TomWhite kept sending him out.

Thus it’s no surprise Fredchose to study mass commu-nications, graduating from St.Bonaventure University in1983.

“I had the best teacher ever,”he remembers. “Dr. RussellJandoli, the first graduate ofthe Columbia School of Jour-nalism.”

The newsroom-like experi-ence Dr. Jandoli afforded Fredand his classmates inspiredhim to seek magazine employ-ment – but he promised tocome back to help out at theDemocrat for the summer.

Thirty-three years on, asFred puts it, “I’ve had a longsummer.”

Through those threedecades, he’s vaulted from re-porter/photographer to gen-eral manager to executiveeditor to publisher, guiding thepaper through tremendouschanges – more so than in allits prior history.

Digital typesetting arrived inthe late ‘70s, followed by digitalphotography in the late ‘90s.The darkroom was replaced bya suite of computers, while thelayout tables where reportersand editors used to cut andpaste pages (and their fingers)were superseded by iMacs andthe Internet.

The Democrat was one ofthe first local papers to have awebsite (in 1995!), demon-strating the continued focuson keeping pace with technol-ogy.

“It’s realizing your staff cando a better job if you have theright tools,” Fred explains.

Most important to him, he

earned his dad’s pride andconfidence, formally replacingFred Jr. as publisher on Janu-ary 1, 1994.

“I got to work over 25 yearswith my father,” Fred gratefullyexplains. “I think he saw myability to take the paper to anew level, and he wanted togive me the experience of run-ning it.”

Fred Jr. took the mantle ofpublisher emeritus, still open-ing the mail and walkingthrough the office every dayuntil his death in 2009.

“He was always ‘on the job’for the Democrat,” Fred IIIfondly recalls.

In 2004, Fred followed in hisgrandfather’s footsteps, aswell, and became president ofthe New York Press Associa-tion, where he remains a val-ued board member.

He also served on the SUNYSullivan Board of Trustees andis a Director of Jeff Bank andan active member of the Sulli-van County Partnership forEconomic Development andthe Callicoon Kiwanis, amongothers.

But like his forebears, hehasn’t forgotten the familybusiness, and he believes inthe Democrat’s future more

than ever.“Weekly newspapers are still

doing well,” he observes. “Wehave a niche and still provide apackage that’s important toour communities.

“Our website is healthy,” headds, “but our print product ismuch more comprehensive.”

That’s thanks in no smallpart to what he praises as “agreat staff who’s done a lot ofhard work and created a loyalfollowing.

“I also have to thank my en-tire family,” Fred adds, notingtheir patience and sacrificewhile he’s worked a job that “is

not 9-to-5!”Indeed, Fred has inherited

the same love of family the en-tire Stabbert clan shares.

“I met my wife, Regina Sulli-van, at college,” he relates,“and I told my roommate theday I met her that I’d marryher.”

Thirty years later, Fred andRegina are the proud parentsof Laura (a sales executive inNYC), Claire (a teacher inRochester) and Andrew (anengineering student at PennState).

True, there is no Fred Stab-bert IV, but Fred III is confidenthis progeny will carry on acherished family tradition thatis more than 90 years old.

The Democrat, after all, stillhas an important role to play.

“We’re the heartbeat of thecounty,” he affirms. “And wehave to thank all of our readersand business owners who’vesupported us for 125 years.Without them, we couldn’thave done it.”

Above, in one of their lastphotos together, Fred andShirley share a loving momentduring a big Christmas Dinner.Serving dinners for 30 werecommon affairs at their Calli-coon home.At left: Fred III, left, talks withthen-Jeff Bank President andCEO Wayne Zanetti at lastyear’s Partnership Dinner.Stabbert and Zanetti also aremembers of the Jeff Bankboard of Directors as their fa-thers were with United Na-tional Bank in Callicoon.

FROM PAGE 1D

9 DECADES: Stabberts keep Sullivan County in the news

FRIDAY, JULY 15, 2016 SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT 125TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION 3Dwww.scdemocratonline.com

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“I like theDemocratbecause fora smalltown news-paper itgives a lotof informa-tion. Weneed theDemocrat for our county. Ithighlights the people and thechurches well.”

Father Ignatius VuJeffersonville

“I would say that thebiggestthing thatpeople ap-preciateabout liv-ing in Sul-livanCountyare ourclose knitcommunities. The Democratsupports the feeling of com-munity by reporting thenews, providing updates onall our villages and hamlets,and creating and preservingthe archive of our lives.”

Charlie Barbuti, Liberty

“I think thebest thingabout theDemocrat isthat it stillremains apiece ofhometownculture.”

Arthur Glick, Monticello

“I like theDemocratbecausethe cover-age is re-ally good,especiallythe politi-cal cover-age.

Steve Agoston, Bethel

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Congratulationson a great 125 years!

Thank you for keepingSullivan County strong.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1Daway from the eastern part.We didn't invade eachother's territory.”

Both the RepublicanWatchman and the Democ-rat were weekly papers thattended to be about eightpages long. Both werebroadsheets, that is, thelong, tall style of newspaperrather than the Daily News'tabloid size.

“I ran a Republican news-paper and Fred ran a Demo-cratic newspaper,” Katzadded, “with the paper lean-ing politically toward thephilosophy of the particularparty.”

Katz and Stabbert didn’t letpolitics get in the way offriendship. They were kin-dred spirits from the get go.

For one thing, both experi-enced the solidity of farmlife. Katz was born on hisfamily's first farm nearWurtsboro and raised on thesecond farm, which was inGlen Wild near Rock Hill.Fred Jr.’s father grew up on

the family farm in Obern-burg, and the spread re-mained in the family untilthe mid-1970s, operated byFred Jr.’s uncle HermanStabbert and his wife Cathy.

The two newspapermenenjoyed the outdoors, andon the rare occasions theyfound to break away fromwork, they would hunt to-gether and fish.

They differed in that FredJr., being from a newspaper-ing family, was born withprinter's ink in his blood, asthe industry cliché goes.Both he and his father at-tended Linotype schools tolearn the “hot metal” style oftypesetting.

Rubin Katz, on the otherhand, says about his entryinto newspapering, “I got inby accident.”

“It was after my time inWorld War II, and I was hav-ing a beer in Roark's Tavernin Monticello, when a youngguy began talking with me.After a while he said 'howwould you like to own half a

newspaper?' I told him I did-n't have any money. He said'You don't need it. Mymother will finance you.'”

It turns out the man wasJack Taylor, a Linotype oper-ator, with an apparentlywealthy mother who soughta partner for her son beforeshe'd finance the newspapercalled the Bulletin Sentinel.That began Katz's career innewspapers, eventually buy-ing out Taylor and scoopingup other newspapers.

At one point and for sev-eral years, Fred Jr. broughtthe Democrat to be printedby Katz.

“He printed his own until Iwent and got (a more mod-ern) offset press,” said Katz.“Fred was a very good cus-tomer. He always paid hisbill.”

Both men also put breadon the table by taking incommercial printing work ofbusiness forms, brochures,business cards and letter-heads.

But it was the position of

publisher that offered perks.In 1966, Katz and Stabbert

were among New York Stateweekly newspaper publish-ers invited by Gov. NelsonRockefeller to dinner at theexecutive mansion in Al-bany. Some time later, theRockefellers asked the hus-bands and wives to a specialluncheon at the Rockefellerestate in Pocantico Hills,Westchester. Katz's wife Bar-bara recalled attending withFred and Shirley Stabbert.

“Shirley and I were comingout of the ladies room,” Bar-bara said, “when GovernorRockefeller was walking byand he smiled and said, “Hi-ya, ladies!”

Barbara and Shirley hadalso known each other fromtheir days at the Jefferson-ville-Youngsville CentralSchool, where Shirley taughtsecond grade and Barbarawas art teacher.

Eventually Katz sold his

papers to a large companythat, after time, closed them.Because he was required tosign a non-compete clauseprohibiting involvement innewspapers or printing, helaunched into commercialreal estate, which, at age 93,he still finds compelling.

A growing number of out-of-area businesses havephoned him, looking to get atoehold in Sullivan Countyas the Montreign ResortCasino project moves along,he reported.

And Katz continues to bean avid reader of the Sulli-van County Democrat.

“Look at what Fred III hasaccomplished,” he said. “Hetook hold and he’s changedit to a semi-weekly [twiceweekly] paper full of newsand special sections at atime when other newspa-pers are falling down rightand left. The Democrat isour No. 1 paper.”

FRED JR: Ruby and Fred built a friendship which lasted a lifetime

KATHY DALEY | DEMOCRAT

Former local newspaper publisher Rubin “Ruby” Katz, age 93, op-erates R.J. Katz Realty from his home in Monticello, where he liveswith wife Barbara.

Ruby Katz’s newspaper, the Bulletin-Sentinel, covered news in the Monticello- Fallsburg area, includ-ing the visit by Gubernatorial candidate Nelson Rockefeller in Sept. 1958. At left in photo is Assem-blyman Hyman “Bucky” Mintz and at right is Assemblyman Malcom Wilson, Rocky’s running mate.


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ALL JEWELRY REPAIRSDONE ON PREMISES

atulations to the Sullivan County DemocrCongr

at’atulations to the Sullivan County Democr

s and Staff Editors Publisher

atulations to the Sullivan County DemocrCongrage and advertisements to inform the public for the past 125 yearxcellent coverfor the e

s Publisherat’atulations to the Sullivan County Democrage and advertisements to inform the public for the past 125 year

s and Staff Editors,s Publisherage and advertisements to inform the public for the past 125 year

s.age and advertisements to inform the public for the past 125 year

SULLIVAN COUNTY

SHERIFF’S OFFICE4 Bushnell Ave., Monticello, NY 12701

845-794-7100

Michael A. Schiff, SheriffEric J. Chaboty, Undersheriff

Blake A. Muthig, Chief of PatrolHarold L. Smith, Jr., Jail Administrator

& Acting Chief Civil Division

YOUR COUNTY POLICE FORCE SINCE 1809

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“The thingI like bestabout theDemocratis the localnews andthe sportssection.”

Kevin EsselmanLake Huntington

“I liketheDemocratbecause Ilike thestories init thathavelocal in-terest.”

Tom NuttycombNarrowsburg

“I like theDemocratbecauseit’s full oflocal newsand com-munity go-ings on.”

Mary Kosier, Monticello

“I love thegoing backthroughthe years. Ilove read-ing about100 yearsago andseeingwhat hap-pened in Sullivan County.”

Mary Jane Covart, Monticello

Entitled to our opinions since 1891Lifelines

BY KATHY WERNER

The Sullivan County De-mocrat has given itsreaders 125 years of

opinions, beginning with thename of this newspaper. De-mocrat. Talk about wearingyour heart on your sleeve!

No doubt in those first is-sues, there were editorials ofsupport for New York Gover-nor David B. Hill of Elmira(D) who had taken overwhen New York GovernorGrover Cleveland ran forPresident. In 1891, Hill alsoran for and won a U.S. Sen-ate seat, but he did not go toWashington until he had ful-filled his term as New YorkGovernor. A very busy De-mocrat!

In the early years, the De-mocrat supported Demo-cratic candidates. In theearly days of publishing,newspapers had a very defi-nite bent. I do know myStabbert forebears werestaunch Roosevelt support-ers and I remember a hugeHarry Truman poster thathung in the barn behind thepaper when I was a young-ster, but it mysteriously dis-appeared. Grandpa Stabberteven ran, albeit unsuccess-fully, as a Democrat for StateAssembly in 1954, losing toRepublican incumbentHyman “Bucky” Mintz.

Today, the newspaper stilloffers its endorsements on

local political races, pickingcandidates from every polit-ical stripe as they try andfind the best candidates forSullivan County.

So the paper was foundedwith a political opinion, andit’s never been shy about giv-ing columnists a place to

sound off.Since its first edition 12-

and-a-half decades ago, theDemocrat has been a placefor people to offer theiropinions. For 6,500 weeks,Democrat columnists havewritten about life as they ex-perienced it.

There were always localnews stories, of course,about the big snowstorms,the price of milk, and the oc-casional dastardly deed.

But at the heart of thenewspaper are individualsletting us know their opin-ions, from the home-spun to

the provocative, political toreligious, from local issues tointernational causes.

I have been writing a col-umn for this newspapersince 1977. My model forthis was, of course, mygrandmother Nellie Cather-ine Stabbert, who beganwriting her column “Whilethe Kettle Boils” in 1939under the byline “N.C.S.” Formany readers the “Kettle”was the Democrat, and theywould not miss a column.Even now, reprints of hercolumn appear in each issueof the Democrat in their fa-miliar place in the lower left-hand corner of the editorialpage, entertaining yet an-other generation of Democ-rat readers. For 77 years,Nellie’s columns have run inthe Democrat, somethingsurely worthy of a GuinnessWorld Record.

I have been fortunateenough to share the Democ-rat’s opinion space with awide array of columnistsover the years. While mycurrent company is exem-plary, I also remember thelate Bruce Wells who had acolumn entitled “In Depth”for many years which ex-plored local politics. Even ayoung Joseph B. White, whowould go on to win a PulitzerPrize for his reporting on theauto industry in the WallStreet Journal, started as acolumnist in the Democrat.And local favorite CharlieCrist ended his illustriousjournalism career as acolumnist at the Democrat.

We columnists have all satat our desks, with pen ortypewriter or computer,waiting for that mystical mo-ment when inspirationmeets deadline, and we un-burden ourselves of ourthoughts for the week.

Opinion columnist Kathy Stabbert Werner with granddaughter Adeline

PLEASE SEE LIFELINES, 8D

“This is how wemake sense of theworld, with all itscomplexity, unfair-ness, and beauty.”



125voices

Congratulationsto Freddieand The Entire Staffon your125th anniversary.

Your dedication and hard work has paid off.

From,Mom & Dad Sullivan

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“I like thesports sec-tion and theelectioncoverage. Ialso reallyenjoy theeditorialsand EileenHennessy’scolumn.”

Ed GrundCochecton Center

“I like theLakeHunting-ton newsand theletters tothe editor.I reallyenjoyEileen’scolumn.”

Anna Story,Lake Huntington

“As the Supervisor in theTown of Bethel since 2008,I like thenews sec-tion of theDemocrat. Itis alwaysfair and bal-anced andcovers theissues fac-ing theTown accu-rately. They assist us withpress releases, help wantedads, and legal notices in atimely and professionalmanner. It’s a great home-town newspaper.”

Daniel Sturm, Bethel

“I like theDemocratbecause Ilike how itcovers thelocalnews.”

Eleanor NoberNarrowsburg

“I likethat theDemocratis compre-hensivecoverageof thecounty.Basically,it’s finecoverageof the county and the indi-viduals that make it agreat place to live andwork.”

Jim Kayton, Hancock

Community Revitalization • Water/Sewer Environmental Consulting • Bridge Design

Planning/Zoning Board Review • Grant Writing Construction Administration/Inspection Green Infrastructure • Recreational Trails

Facilities • Recycling/Composting/Solid Waste

Ellenville Office (845) 647-4408 | Newburgh Office (845) 391-8360

w w w . B a r t o n a n d L o g u i d i c e . c o m

congratulates the Sullivan County Democrat for providing 125 years of service!

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“Congratu-lations on125 years ofexcellence.It’s a realfamily news-paper andpart of theSullivanCounty community. I go backa long ways with the news-paper and truly appreciateall you do..”

Ed SykesTown of Delaware Supervisor

Congratulations!Long Ago ... But Near at Heart

BY ANNE STABBERT ROBISCH FOLAND

The Sullivan County De-mocrat and the build-ing it occupies have

been a part of my life forever.You see, I was born upstairsin the room that now housesthe editorial offices. July 4,1926 was a beautiful Sundayand the church bells wereringing as I made my ap-pearance.

At the time Mama andPapa lived over Larry Milk'sbutcher shop. My earliestmemory is the day I decidedto ride my Kiddie Kar downthe long, steep staircase, Ican't recall the results butI'm sure I was banged up.

When Sonny arrived onMay 9, 1928 I had my firstbaby brother, Fred W. Stab-bert, Jr.

Mama and Sonny liked tonap in the afternoon so Iwould go down to the shopand spend time with Papa. Itwas a magical place – noiseand lights and movement –all fascinating to a smallchild.

And to this day I miss thenewspaper press, the folder,the Linotypes, the jobpresses, the type cases, thestones where the paper wascomposed weekly, even thatpot stove where the usedtype was melted for reuse.Mostly I miss the compan-ionship of my fellow work-ers.

I still see the faces andhear the voices of the menwho worked there – Papa,Sonny, Ken Graebner, ArtMyers, Vance Hunt, Bill Fink,Dick Coburn, Jack Niflot,

Frank Trinkner, Tom Hubers,Jim McKiernan, GeorgeInman, Ed Callahan, Perk

and Tim Robisch and others.Dozens of Printer's Devils

passed through the shop in-

cluding Martin Rudy, Ron El-dred, Joe Leroy and even Jen-nie's grandson, Rich

Grossinger.Papa had been hired in

1924 by William Heidt, whoowned the paper at the time.When the Heidt family de-cided to move to Ithaca,Papa purchased the businessand the building.

With the stock market col-lapse in 1929 a depressionfollowed. Many businessesfailed and it was onlythrough the kindness ofCharlie Kautz that the De-mocrat survived.

Once I found a ledger from1932 and in one month Papahad taken in the grand sumof $12.00. To keep the Demo-crat operating Papa had tohire a printer just in casesomeone, anyone wouldneed something printed. Thebusiness ran in the red for along time.

The family moved to theHalladay House on GregoryStreet in 1934 and my broth-ers, Edwin Frank and RobertHerman joined the Stab-berts.

The Democrat was a full-service shop. Not only wasthe Democrat publishedevery Thursday, job printingbecame a mainstay of thebusiness. There was a largedemand for feed tags andtrespass signs. Programs cel-ebrating events or anniver-saries were popular. Beforefolders were invented littlefingers folded all those 4-page signatures. Then wewalked around and around atable sliding one signatureinto another to form book-lets. In a family businesschild labor is acceptable anddesired. Both Sonny's and mykids inherited those chores.

I went to Syracuse in 1943but only stayed two years.With all the men off to war, Ileft college to work at the of-fice. When WW II ended themen returned home and ro-mances sprang up like dan-delions. Gerald “Perk”Robisch and I were marriedon October 6, 1946.

Our first home was theapartment where I was born.I traded office work for the$12.00 rent. Jake and DaisySanders were our neighborsacross the hall. With ourmove to our home on Route97, the children began arriv-ing and I continued officework part time. A great chal-lenge was the checkbookwhich Papa had never bal-anced. Four months later Ifinally got that checkbook inshape.

Someone asked me what Idid at the Democrat. My an-swer? “Everything.” I wrotestories, answered the phone,read the correspondence,proofread all the type anddid the bookwork includingsubscriptions, wages andbilling. I also ran the Addres-sograph and the folder andwrapped singles on publica-tion day. I handset type forheadlines and, sometimes,in my spare time, I threw theused type back into thedrawer where it was stored.

When Papa died on April28, 1963 Sonny took overmanagement of the busi-ness. I stayed on until 1970

Anne Stabbert Robisch Foland

ANTIQUE PALACE EMPORIUMRt. 52 West / 300 Chestnut St., Liberty, NY 12754 • 845-292-2270

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“Thank You ForYour Business

and God Bless”

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Congratulations and blessingsto the

Sullivan County Democratand Staff.

laongratuCY

rsJeffe984

ations on 125 years!ndseur frio at

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Peppino’sPeppino’s Family Restaurant& Pizzeria

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Thank you for inviting usto join your

125TH birthday edition.

WE ARE HONORED!Our main offi ce is located at:9046 US Highway 31, STE 7Berrien Springs, MI 49103

Phone:(888) 473-3103 (toll free)Fax: (206) 984-2240

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Anne and Perk Robisch ready the press for another day’s work.

Keeping a print shop clean was a necessity not only for appearance but also for resourcefulness. Metalchips swept off the floor were remelted to make “pigs” which wentback into the linotype to cast lines. In this photo, Anne Robisch,left, Dick Coburn, center, and Ray Salvia do a clean job.

125voices

“I like theDown theDecades. Ilike to seewhat’s past.”

JenniferOlsen

Callicoon

“The Demo -crat is anewspaperwhich is acredit to Sul-livan Countyand also thesurroundingcounties. Interms ofquality, unbi-ased reporting and accuracyit is tops. It also has a nicemix between news, sports,homespun news and a familyfocus.”

Phil Coombe IIIGrahamsville

“I likewhen theDemocratdoes thepictures ofwildlife.And I loveall thelocal stufflike theTractor or Trout parades.”

Bernadette McAuliff,Youngsville

“I like FredStabbert. Ilike the factthat Fred’scarried onthe traditionand there’sstill a goodlocal news-paper in print.”

Ellany Gable, Callicoon

S u l l i v a nS u l l i v a nWhere Futures Begin & D

n B O C E Sn B O C E Sed!hievDreams are Ac

...an BOCESSulliv

or All Agesgrams fProviding EducationalPro

for 1vingfor ser

Congratulatio

125 years!yg Sullivan Count

ons and Thank yoou

(845) 295-4000(845) 295-40000|scboces.org0|scboces an County BSullivw us aolloe & fLik

BOCESat

an County BSullivg( ) BOCES

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CongratulationsOn 125 Years of Service

to Sullivan County

Complete DESIGNING & PLANTING Service

845-482-4184

Thony LandscapingRICHARD THONYJeffersonville, NY

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41827

Congratulations to theSullivan County Democrat

on 125 years!18 x 21Installed

$3,640Plus Tax

Happy Anniversary!

42084

when I returned to school tofinish my Bachelor's andMaster's degrees.

Freddie (Fred W. StabbertIII) graduated from St.Bonaventure University in1983 and returned home tobegin work at the Democrat.Soon great changes began.Hot type was antiquatedand offset printing offered aquicker, less expensivemeans of printing. Anotherbenefit was the availabilityof hundreds of type fontsand the ability to use nu-merous photos to enhancestories. The newspaper isnow printed in Middletown.

With Sonny's death on Au-gust 10, 2009, Freddie hasbecome the owner and pub-lisher. He is well-known forhis involvement in commu-nity causes and organiza-tions.

The busy shop has be-come a series of small cubi-cles, each with a computer.For someone who grew upwith hot type the silence isun-nerving.

The Democrat is pub-lished twice weekly and isthe only true newspaper re-

maining in Sullivan County.All the upgrades have en-abled coverage of manycommunity events. I re-member the days whenthere were 12 newspapers inthe county but they have allgone the way of the dodobird. Only the Democrat hassurvived to continue its serv-ice as a repository of impor-tant events and acommunity voice.

Two of Sonny's daughtersalso have printers' ink run-ning through their veins.Kathy Werner writes a popu-lar weekly column in the De-mocrat. Laurie Sanfordpublishes the CatskillMountain News with herhusband, Richard.

My heartfelt thanks toFreddie for making me apart of the Democrat again.I have come full circle.

Congratulations on thisanniversary and continuedlong life to the SullivanCounty Democrat.

Ann Foland’s opinion columnLong Ago But Near at Heart appearsevery Tuesday on the editorial pageof the Democrat.

When Fred Stabbert Sr. bought theSullivan County Democrat onFebruary 1, 1927, then publisher

William Heidt, Jr. said, “While Mr. Stab-bert scarcely needs an introduction, Iwish to say, however, that he hasdemonstrated his ability and willingnessto carry on along the same progressivelines that I believe are essential to thesuccess of a rural press and in a mannerthat will earn for him the respect andcontinued patronage of the communityhe serves.”

Those words, written 89 years ago,were a foreshadowing of the way FredSr., his son, Fred Jr., and grandson, FredIII, have operated the Sullivan CountyDemocrat.

But we must also add thatit has been a two-way streetin that a supportive and

very encouraging community of won-derful people have given this companythe ability to carry on for 125 years.

It is a milestone which Sullivan Countyas a whole can be very proud of.

The staff of the Sullivan County Demo-crat will continue to do its part in bring-ing our residents the news, features,sports, business news, advertisementsand special features which have keptreaders coming back – generation aftergeneration.

And the Stabbert family would like tosincerely thank everyone who has madethe last 125 years so successful. Yoursupport is certainly what got us heretoday. Thank you!

125voices



“I like theDemocratbecauseit’s a greatcompanywith along his-tory ofcommit-ment tolocal busi-nesses.”

Josh HughesRoscoe

Congratulationson

125 Years!- Les, Gene

& the rest of the gangat

Kristt Company

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To Fredand the staff

at theSullivan County

Democrat

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4

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“I’d be remiss if I didn’tmention the Stabbert family.We look at it as a newspa-per and they’ve run a smallbusinessfor manyyears andthey do itwell. TheDemocratis success-ful be-cause ofthe Stab-bert family and because ofits coverage of local events.It’s a good paper that keepsyou involved.”

Tom BoseYoungsville

“I’ve alwaysbeen im-pressedwith howthe Democrat isan absolutecommunitypaper thatgives na-tional andglobal per-spective in a fair and bal-anced manner.”

Kristine PetrikBethel

434-5051

Congratulations125 Years!

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Congratulations to ‘The Sullivan County Democrat’& the Stabbert Family on 125 years!

This is how we make senseof the world, with all its com-plexity, unfairness, andbeauty. We write down ourreactions; we evaluate theactions of man and nature;we mourn and rejoice andwonder as life unfolds. Wewrite to find the humor inour daily struggles; we writeto reflect on our past andwonder about our future; wewrite to remember peoplethat we can never forget.

Because my Grandpa Fredand Grandma Nellie Stab-bert worked as hard as theyknew how, and my fatherFred, Jr. after them, and mybrother Fred III after him,the Democrat is celebratingthis momentous birthday.

Because they all saw theimportance of opinion writ-

ing as a necessary accompa-niment to the local news, myfellow columnists and I havebeen able to practice thecraft that has been my fam-ily’s work for generations.

In addition, of course, let-ters to the editor have alwaysbeen encouraged, wherebyour readers can offer theiropinions to the public. That’swhat freedom of the press isall about.

Thanks to the enduringlegacy of the Democrat,readers have been entitled toour opinions (and theirs!) forthe last 125 years. May itcontinue to be published till2141 – its 250th Anniver-sary – and beyond!

Kathy Werner’s Lifelines opinionarticles appear each Friday on theDemocrat’s editorial page.

FROM PAGE 5D

LIFELINES: IN OUR OPINION EDITORIAL |

Thank you, thank you!

Documents

Sullivan County Democrat 125th Anniversary