For the past 30 years Greenwood Lake students have attended George F. Baker High School in Tuxedo, NY. Beginning next school year, Tuxedo will lose those students to either the school districts of Warwick or Chester. Nearly 300 Greenwood Lake high school students currently attend George Baker, out of approximately 377. The Greenwood Lake Board of Education decision to switch schools, if it stands, will certainly change Tuxedo. Continue Reading

A big civic conflict in small communities is often the issue of growth — how it happens and where and when. There are those who are pro business, or take to heart the mantra ‘build it and they will come’. Then there are people who advocate converting what is to what could be, such as redeveloping an historical village center. Some residents are Nimbys. Continue Reading

The Twin Towers collapsed onto the streets of Lower Manhattan 11 years ago today, taking with them friends and family and a certain era in the continuing American story. On the local level, the event in New York City had very real consequences and each anniversary offers an occasion to look back and remember. Continue Reading

There was a day when indoor plumbing was a thing of the future. Refrigeration was done with ice kept in ice boxes. And people did their business in little buildings outdoors, when mail order catalogues such as the Sears Roebuck were prized possessions. These structures could vary from fancy to plain and business simple. Continue Reading

Go ahead, it’s already September and you need to head over to the Tuxedo Farmers’ Market this Saturday. There’s fresh produce and baked goods for Labor Day dinner, and a generally fun experience waiting. With the market season heading into the autumn homestretch, the Farmers’ Market is drawing people from throughout Orange and Rockland Counties who want to shop for locally made products. Continue Reading

In response to the death of Sloatsburg Middle School student William Rodloff, Ramapo Central School District Superintendent Dr. Douglas Adams issued the following brief statement: “We are deeply saddened by the death of one of our Suffern Middle School students. Our thoughts and support go out to the student’s family and friends at this difficult time.”

On Monday, August 6, members of the Ramapo Central School District’s clinical staff will be offering grief counseling for students, families and staff from 10:00am-1:00pm at Suffern Middle School and from 2:30pm-4:30pm at the Sloatsburg Village Hall. Suffern Middle School is located at 80 Hemion Road in Suffern; the Sloatsburg Village Hall is located at 96 Orange Turnpike in Sloatsburg.

Dr. Adams letter to Ramapo Central families has been posted on the District home page at www.ramapocentral.org.

Sloatsburg to the rescue.

According to an initial report by the Rockland edition of Newsday.com, a 21-year-old hiker camping out with a group of six or 7 people fell down a ravine early Sunday morning, July 15, injuring her leg. A 3 a.m. rescue call was put into the Sloatsburg Volunteer Fire Department, which carried out the early morning rescue. Sloatsburg Fire Department Chief Aniello Vacchiano said the department got the call following a 3:20 a.m. 911 call and a crew gathered their gear and, along with a Sloatsburg Emergency Medical Services crew, made their way into Harriman State Park by headlights.

Back on April 10, the SFD also dispatched a fire crew through Pine Grove Lakes and up to Torne Mountain to investigate a brush fire that burned out a lower ridge. For that fire call, the department used its rugged 15-ATV brush truck, a 1950s Dodge Power Wagon, originally a US Army military vehicle used for transporting troops and equipment.

Contacted Monday, Sloatsburg Mayor Carl Wright said that “the men and women of our Emergency Services certainly demonstrated their dedication and commitment by achieving this successful rescue. We owe all our volunteers a great vote of thanks and appreciation for their dedicated services.”

Daniel O’Leary has started his Eagle Scout project, which involves blazing roads throughout Sloatsburg to mark fire hydrant locations. The yellow street tags are exceptionally helpful to fire department personnel by indicating with a bright yellow street design just where the village’s 100 hydrants are located. When the yellow blazes appear on a street near you, know that they’re being hand painted as a community project by a local Boy Scout who’s about to get his wings.

Now that school is out for the summer, Annmarie McAnany, children’s librarian at Sloatsburg Public Library, kicks it up a gear as the summer reading season starts. For more than a few years now McAnany has been a literacy pied piper, building up the Sloatsburg Library’s annual summer reading program into a well-attended, active community outreach initiative that draws in elementary age students from across the village. Continue Reading

Gone is the close quartered chaos of the old Jessie’s Bagels, where weekend mornings the double doors would swing open and close with customers coming and going. After 20 years in the same spot, owner Tony Grippo decided it was the right time to expand the shop, try something new and move. Next door. Less than two weeks ago, Jessie’s Bagels made their long anticipated move across the parking lot to the abandoned building that used to house Pacific Pool & Spa. Continue Reading