|
|
 |
Dedications
|
Carl Joseph "Buzz" Mihm
Carl Joseph Mihm, aka "Buzz," was a resident of Rosendale for over 55 years, and wore many hats. Along with his wife, Regina, they raised 11 children on Washington Ave. and always had room for one or two more neighbor children at their nightly family dinner table. He ruled the roost with a stem but loving hand.
In addition to his devotion to his wife and children, Buzz was active at St. Peter's Church, Rosendale. He held positions on the Parish Council and organized the St. Peter's Bazaar for 13 years.
After retiring from IBM in 1977, Buzz drove school buses for Arthur Mulligan Inc. and worked part time in the town of Rosendale Assessors Office.
At Town gatherings you might often hear stories about Buzz Mihm and his family. He is now smiling down on us from Heaven. May the stories go on. He was a great loving man. We miss him.
Carl Joseph Mihm: July 2, 1918 - Sept 6, 2006
|
|
Gary Schwartz
On September 2, 2006 we lost Gary Schwartz, proprietor of Rural Delivery Antiques and a Rosendale resident for two decades. Gary, 51, was felled suddenly by an aortic aneurysm. A memorial service was held at the Slingerland Pavilion in Mohonk Preserve on September 10, where many came to pay respects and share memories.
Gary was the third of five children raised in northern Virginia by Hyman and Clare Schwartz. Attending college in New York, he immersed himself in the cultural and counter-cultural scene there and held a succession of jobs. In 1987 Gary and his then partner Scott Cranin moved to Rosendale. They later established an antiques shop in the building that had once housed The Well, a tavern at 45 Main Street.
Collecting folk art, furniture, and other antiques for sale was Gary’s passion, along with interests in music and dance, cinema, books, cookery, gardening, and health. He participated regularly with the Hudson Valley Gamelan Ensemble and as a tenor with the Mid-Hudson Sacred Harp Sing. He also worked for historical preservation, parks development, and environmental protection. Gary was a member of the Antique Association of Ulster County and a founding member of the Century House Historical Society. His community service included, at various times, working as Assistant Director of the youth program at the Rosendale Recreation Center, membership in the Rosendale Main Street Association and the Rosendale Comprehensive Plan Committee, and working with local chapters of the Democratic and Green parties. He was active in the fight to get a Human Rights Law passed in the Ulster County Legislature.
This past June 13, the building where Gary once lived and worked was purchased by Essell Hoenshell-Watson, proprietor of The Alternative Baker in Kingston.
Rick Schwartz (Gary's brother)
|
|
Remembrances from Jack Walsh
Living in a small town like ours makes it possible to not only make friends, but to get to know who your friend's parents are, and their families. To know the old timers, the guardians and historians of the town, has been a privilege. In the past year our community has lost some of these special people. I would just like to take the opportunity to recognize them.
My friends Lou Cella, Mike Brophy, Charlie Eisenbach, Danny Louis and Aaron Simpsom all lost their fathers this year. I played softball with Mike and Charlie. Danny lived down the street from us, I was Aaron's little league coach, and Louie is a dear friend.
Most people who have lived in Rosendale know the Ritter family. Ray and Dalorous Ritter lost their son Randy this year. We didn't grow up together because Randy was younger than me, but I felt very comfortable shooting the breeze with him whenever our paths crossed.
Tom Rowe and I did business together. With Tom it was always his word and a handshake deal. This is rare.
I did not know Joan Dewitt that well. Ernie and Joan have always been fixtures at our town board meetings, dedicated to the betterment of Rosendale.
Peggy Osterhoutt was the mother of my friends Bobby Hendrickson and Melanie Chapman. I go back a long way with Bob and Mel. I knew who Peggy was and had gotten to know her a little bit better on some of Tim and Dianes get-togethers, including a trip to the Bahamas. She was a kind person, always ready with a laugh.
Niel Hassett passed away just before last year's Street Festival. He is the brother of Kenny Hassett, our dedicated councilman, who devotes much of his time to our communities.
John and Judy Ivankovic have been manning the front gate for the festival at the Stewarts entrance, directing and controlling the traffic onto Main Street for the last 3 years. They are family to me. John lost his sister Linda Munro to cancer this year.
Bobby Auchmoody was too young to go. I remember my sons with him and the other local kids riding bikes, running through the woods by our house, and always playing sand lot football.
I've known the Mihm family for forty years. I see Jim and Gina around all the time. When we were growing up, John and I were joined at the hip. I spent a lot of time at their table. They lost their dad Carl Buzz Mihm this year. Mr. Mihm always made me feel like part of the family.
Marvin Lang lost his wife Rema this year to cancer. She was a sweet and gentle person, and liked by everyone. Rema was a teacher who left a positive impression on her students.
Tom Fiore and his sister Bev Sapenaro recently lost their mother. Tom is our building inspector and has been a great asset to our town.
Our prayers and thoughts go out to these people who are our friends and neighbors. They are Louie Cella, John Brophy, Mr. Eisenbach, Aaron Simpson Sr., Clide Louise, Randy Ritter, Tom Rowe, Joan Dewitt, Peggy Osterhought, Neil Hassett, Rema Lang, Linda Munro, Buzz Mihm, and Melba Fiorie.
Jack Walsh
|
2006's Dedications
|
Allan Blatt
Allan Blatt was a remarkable man who is loved and remembered by everyone he came into contact with. Anyone who knew him instantly absorbed his huge personality. His sense of humor (which was apparent in even the shortest of conversations) was dwarfed only by his ambitions and achievements. He had an iron will to succeed which was downplayed by his laid back personality. Al would try things other people thought were crazy or even impossible, and countless times would prove them wrong. After all, he was the guy who started a multi-million dollar business from the trunk of his car. Al hated having a boss, and had been traveling the world, working for himself since he was seventeen. He carried these ideals with him to his amazingly successful business - New Global Cigars.
Anyone having the pleasure to work with Al would tell you, he was a friend first and a boss second. Allan knew how to live life to the fullest, all the while achieving his goals (no matter how high). His life, love and experience was inspiring and will be carried on by all who knew and loved him.
In memory of Al, smoke a cigar and puff towards the sky...
Matthew Mesic and the team at New Global
|
|
Michael Wood
The problem with knowing a person that has good character, high standards and depth to their soul is that they challenge you to be a better person simply by knowing them. Michael Wood was that kind of person. While sitting next to him one morning at 32 Lunch in 1999, he asked me if I wanted to work “for a day or two.” Three years latter we were still working and that was the start of a friendship that lasted until his death on May 8, 2006.
Mike was an active member of the fellowship of A.A., he worked the crisis hot line for Family of Woodstock, was on the Democratic Committee in Rosendale, as well as a Street Festival volunteer... Yet that doesn’t tell the whole story. More then anything he was a person who would work behind the scenes to do what need to be done. He was the kind of friend to me, honest, funny, thoughtful, loyal and true, that I hope to be to others.
It is people like Mike that make Rosendale such a great place to live, and we as a community will miss him. See you on the other side.
Love,
Ken Walsh
|
2005's Dedications
|
To Harry, Bob, Eddie and "Mr D."
This year's Rosendale Street Festival is dedicated to four very important and prominent people from Rosendale. They are Gerard Defelicis, Ed Jasinski, Harry Skerritt and Bob Skerritt. This is hard to write because of the great relationship I had with each one of these individuals.
I was a permanent fixture at the Skerritt's house growing up. It was there that I forged a lifelong friendship with Harry Skerritt and his brother Jack, while their father Bob looked on. There was always good snowball practice with the Skerritt boys, and the cars always made the best targets. Afterwards we would head back to the Skerritt's where Bob always had a pot of tomato sauce cooking that we could warm up on. One time, we had just gotten off the school bus and we bombed an unmarked police car. My brothers and I ran into the Skerritt's house to hide, while Harry and Jackie spread Vicks Vapor Rub on themselves and answered the door in their bathrobes pretending to be sick. I don't know if that police officer believed Harry and Jackie but we got away with it.
Bob Skerritt was the first one to help my family in a time of need. We had just moved to Rosendale two days earlier when the pipes froze in our house and broke. I will never forget how Bob pitched-in to help, and wouldn't accept anything but a thank you from my dad. Harry (Billy, we called him), after years of experience in construction, became our town building inspector. He will be missed by this community for his fairness, knowledge and helpfulness.
I had great respect for Gerard Defelicis, I called him "Mr. D." He was the father of my good friends Bobby and Cindy, but he had a special place in my heart after he spotted me at Albany Airport one day. I was a young man just coming home from Marine Corps basic training when Mr. D. tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Welcome home!" I was never so happy to see a friendly face. Mr. D. insisted on driving me home. He wouldn't take no for an answer. I was scheduled to take a connecting flight to NY City. He laughed and said, "This is a better way." Everyone knew where they stood with Mr. D. He was a no-nonsense kind of guy. I asked for his opinion on many occasions, knowing I would always get a straight answer. I enjoyed many interesting conversations with him and Mrs. D. on the corner of Brown and James. These I will miss.
Edwin Jasinski was known to his friends as "Eddy J." You never saw Ed without a smile on his face. He was the kind of person you knew you would have fun with. I remember the first time I ever met Ed and his brother Chick. They where with a group of St. Peters' boys who wanted to challenge us South Street boys to a snowball fight. I knew the Jasinski boys Mike, John and Ed from competing in track events during high school. We spent more time together as young adults, playing flag football, hanging out after softball games at the pier, and having campouts up in the mountains. These were the carefree fun times young men have before settling down. I will always remember those years with Eddy, his brother Mike, and the rest of the gang who seemed to always be together with fond memories. Eddy J. had a lot of friends and I was lucky to be one of them.
Each of these men were good people, they will be missed by their family, friends, and community... and they will be missed by me,
Jack Walsh
2005 Festival Chair
|
|
Steve Burgh - Beloved Musician
Burgh is best known for his studio guitar performances with the genuine who's who of good American popular music;
a quick search on the internet that includes CD merchandisers will document his behind-the-scenes-yet-vast influence on modern recording.
That, however, was not the Steve Burgh that we remember in the Hudson Valley, because Steve was not a name-dropper,
and many of us who worked with him only had a hint of his importance. What we remember is a gifted man with an amazing skill set (engineer, producer, accompanist, arranger) who accorded us the same respect and professionalism that he gave the luminaries of the music business. The four years that I played with Steve, and this is true for many others in the valley, will probably continue to influence the way I make music for the duration of my stay on the planet. He was a friend, a raconteur, a charming dinner guest and a man whose gusto for life and culture will always be remembered; its quintessence as marvelously complex as the fine Bordeaux we savored to mark our happiest performances.
- Kurt Henry
It may be that Steve will be the only Grammy winner to ever grace both our stages and our benefits. He did both last year with Kurt, and also played the festival with Peggy Atwood. He was a strong supporter of a communitarian ethic and the Rosendale Street Festival in particular. He had offered to volunteer; I could never make up my mind how to add his legendary bluntness to our volatile mix. We lost him way too young. May he live forever in our gratitude and our memories
- The Moose
|
|
Personal Note from Program Guide Editor
I grew up in nearby Woodstock, NY. In high school, I befriended a very interesting kid named John Ibrahim. He lived on Route 213, in one of those cute row of old houses just west of the Rosendale train trestle. Between the ages of 15 and 17, I would take Trailways from Woodstock, and walk through Rosendale on the way to John's house.
John and I were little hippie kids, having just missed the 60s and yet not feeling identified with the culture of 1980. At that time, Rosendale didn't seem very "alternative" to us. We felt like we just had to walk a little more quickly on our way through town, because we must certainly be viewed as weird kids.
Yet, when I look back on clippings from the 1980 Street Festival, it looks like there was so much creativity, art, and community going on. I wish we had seen and embraced this, and hadn't chosen to isolate ourselves from the community. I guess that's part of being an insecure teenager.
It seems that Rosendale's cultural boon has continued with an ambitious vengeance. Today, the town and surrounding areas are abound with artists, small shopkeeper-entrepreneurs, and even our own modest assortment of interesting people who seem to incessantly walk the streets. These are all somehow harmoniously combined with the more traditionally-minded people who've been living in this area for generations. It just amazes me what a melting pot we are.
The Festival's planning committee is a case-in-point. So many people from such different backgrounds, managing to pull together something so huge and celebratory, and all with very meager resources.
I'm proud to be a resident of Rosendale, and even more so to be a member of our community. John isn't with us anymore, having died in a mental institution at the age of 24. Among many other problems, he was plagued by a feeling of not fitting in to society. If he only knew what I was doing in this place now, he'd certainly have to smile and be comforted.
Mark Bernard (pictured on the right, overly clothed)
2005 Program Guide and Web Designer
|
2004's Dedications
|
Dearest Diesel Don Burhans
"Hey, Hey, Hey, What Can I Say"
It is Rosendale Street Festival time again. I always enjoyed hanging out with you. We would listen to great music and walk up and down Main Street checking everything out. We would see friends we hadn't seen in years.
Back at the '70s street festivals, your nickname was Donzie. We would tell you, "California has its Fonzie and Rosendale has its Donzie." I was in my late teens when you became one of my best friends. You told me things about life that I will never forget. They helped make me into the person I am now.
When I moved to Texas in the '80s and I was feeling homesick, I would get a "Thinking of You" card in the mail. It made me smile to see your name on it. You must have known I needed some cheering up.
In the '90s I married one of your best friends, Levi, and you were there. Four years later when Levi and I drifted apart you had the shoulder I needed. In 1996 you married the love of your life, Jeanne, and I was there. Instead of looking lost, in life, you were totally happy to be found by someone so special. I know, in my heart, she was your fantasy because of how much she made you smile.
Well Diesel, the street festival is here and we are dedicating it to you. We wish you were here too.
Your friend, Mary Lavoie
|
|
 |
