Second Suspicious Fire In Week Takes Down Grandview Palace

News travels fast in small communities, and yesterday it was not long before everyone in the area knew the second suspicious fire in a week had the Grandview Palace engulfed in flames.  Last week it was the Tamarac and about 30 buildings (most of them derelict) that went up in smoke, the fire supposedly started by someone out burning brush...in my opinion, that explanation seems suspect.  Yesterday, early reports were saying that the boiler for the Grandview Palace was on fire.  Meanwhile, if the State Fire Marshall's K-9 units, police presence and lots of folks wearing jackets that said INVESTIGATOR or DETECTIVE on them is any clue, seems that I would not be the only citizen of the area thinking ARSON.

The fire, which is believed to be the biggest ever seen in Sullivan County,  took 40 fire departments from Orange, Sullivan and Ulster counties to bring under control as firefighters battled the blaze through the night and into this morning.  In what can only be described as a miracle, none of the full time year around residents were injured or killed in the fire, though several firefighters did suffer minor injuries.

One thing is certain, the Grandview Palace is done, from this day forward nothing more than a small footnote in the counties history.  The residents have been told they will NEVER move back to their condominiums, and today uniformed officers were posting "Condemnation" flyers anywhere and everywhere at the property. You can get an idea of what the place used to be like by visiting their website.

The facility had  75-100 year around residents, with the population of the facility heading up closer to four hundred during the summer season.  The place had gone into decline before this fire, with the town of Fallsburg  trying to work with the owners to address a myriad number of serious code violations...that issue in a very sad and tragic way for the residents who have lost everything is now academic.  The fire is out, though acrid smoke drifting up from the rubble shows there are still hot spots as the embers slowly die down.

Some of the PRE-FIRE Real Estate Listings

Studio, 300 sqft, $7,000

1500 State Route 52e E Liberty 12754 NY

Check price

A completely updated studio condominium w/ new windows, w/w carpet, bathroom, microwave oven, refrigerator, central air and more. it's located at the grandview palace resort...
300 sq. ft - 1 bathroom
1 week, 3 days ago in HotPads.com

10 Pictures

1 bed, 630 sqft, $47,200

1500 State Route 52 E Unit I Liberty 12754 NY

$47,200

Mountains is the place to unwind and get rejuvenated. located at the grandview palace resort in the catskills and within a short distance to all forms of entertainment sources...
630 sq. ft - $75/sq. ft - 1 bedroom - 1 bathroom
2 weeks, 6 days ago in HotPads.com - Also found in ResortScape

Homes like "grandview palace liberty": grandview palace catskills

Coming Soon To "Montaindale After Dark"...Community Bulletin Board

Just a little buzzzzzzzz...we here at Mountaindale After Dark will soon be launching a very exciting add on to this blog, the "Sullivan County/Catskills Community Bulletin Board".  It will include a fully accessible calendar where you can add your events, and we can add both public and private boards for your groups and interests, such as local music, gardening, Girl Scouts, or anything else...such as FRACKING.  If you are interested in having a public or private board, or would like to act as a moderator for a specific board, please contact Sherwood Martinelli at marcwoodsocialimaging@gmail.com

There will be boards for Mountaindale, Fallsburg, Morningside and Mountaindale Parks, as well as a few special interest boards.  More boards will be added as interest and membership grows. 

Check back in for more news as we get closer to the launch of this project.

A Milestone...We Have Had 500 Visitors

As our readers know, Mountaindale After Dark is a new blog, having just launched in the month of November. Thanks to our loyal readers, we have reached our first significant milestone, and in our first month. We had 519 visitors in November, thus crossing the 500 visitors milestone, and reaching the milestone of 500 visitors in a single month all at once.

To put this in perspective, the very popular Mountaindale NY News blog took months to reach five hundred visitors, and a few months thereafter to reach 500 visitors in one month. As we move forward, look for more local news articles. We are also ALWAYS looking for events to share with our readers, so if you or your organization want your event publicized, please email the details to marcwoodsocialimaging@gmail.com

Thanks to all of you who follow our words.

Pages Views Reach Milestone

Despite our brief absence while retooling, pleased to announce that the "Mountaindale NY News blog has reached the milestone of 10,000 page views. We zoomed from 5,ooo page views to 10,000 in less than 3 months as our readership continues to grow.

Finding Fault, Placing Fault is Not A Path To Solutions

Does not matter where you look, there is one simple reality...America is broken. There seems to be a lot of finger pointing going on as this group and that one looks to place blame, to find fault. The now generation, kids just getting out of high school and college who are looking for jobs that just do not exist want to blame the Baby Boomers. The Baby Boomers want to say, "not our fault, we played by the rules, and just want what is ours, the government saying they spent all our money, cannot meet their obligations." Those who are involved in the "Occupy Wall St" movement want to blame the one percent who keep getting richer, while those in the Tea Party are upset about TARP and Obamacare, want to talk about personal responsibility rather than collective responsibility.

Fact is, all this fault faulting, all the time spent placing blame is not solving the basic problems that we all face in the UNITED States of America. There is not one example I can find where the energies spent in assigning blame, finding fault in another has solved a problem. It is said America has become a litigious society, and we are...broken down to its simplest essence, a litigious nation is one obsessed with placing blame, finding fault in others, rather than searching for and finding solutions, rather than taking some personal responsibility, rather than realizing we all contributed to problems that we as a nation are facing today.

We all can agree that Social Security is broken...does it really matter who broke it? Question should be, what can we do (individually and collectively) to fix it for those on it, those about to be on it, and for those future citizens who will be on it decades from now? Imagine all our politicians in Washington DC setting aside partisan politics, putting aside their personal agenda (getting re-elected) and sitting in a room together looking for, and exploring solutions. Imagine the media supporting these efforts, and being the catalyst for a national conversation centered around finding solutions, paving a path to the future. No finger pointing, no sacred cows, but instead everyone focused on one question, "What needs to be done to save and preserve Social Security?"

All for one, and one for all. Shared responsibility, shared pain, and when the ship is turned around and heading into a prosperous tomorrow, shared gain for one and all.

In one of our local papers the other day, there was an article on the decline of our bridges here in Sullivan County. The article listed several reasons for this decline of our public infrastructure including shortage of staff, work crews down to less than half of previous levels from what they were say five years ago, as well as a lack of funding. There was a price tag associated with bringing those bridges back to a point of being safe, quotes from people busy wringing their hands as they mused, 'What are we going to do?"

How about looking at the simple facts on the ground. The bridges need fixed. The price to fix and repair all of our bridges, including the replacement of several of them in danger of collapsing is around $16-20 Million dollars. Furthermore, to repair and replace those bridges, keep them in good shape requires a larger staff than the county currently has. Working with round numbers, we have 80,000 citizens in Sullivan county, and it will cost around $16 Million dollars to repair all of our bridges working with the low number. That is a cost of $200 for every man woman and child for our county to have safe bridges, for our county to stop the decay in its tracks, eliminate the worry that one of our bridges could collapse with one of us on it.

Sure, none of us relishes having to cough up $200 for every member of our household, but all of us would love to have safe bridges today, rather than say waiting another 5-10 years for either the state or federal government to come up with the funding to make those repairs, not to mention that by the time the money is found, the price tag for repairs is going to be much higher.

Our county taking on such a public infrastructure restoration program would bring with it a lot of benefits that could go a long way to offsetting the costs incurred...being pro-active is always a good thing. We would be putting out of work people back to work. We would be improving our image outside of the county, and with proper publicity focused on this locally grown solution to a serious problem, we could possibly attract the attention of companies looking for a place to call home, and those companies locating into our county would bring with them new jobs, additional tax revenues. Consider such an investment an investment in our future, putting our money into actions today that will provide a better community for our children tomorrow.

Remembering some of the sayings I grew up with, "You have to spend money to make money" and "There is no such thing as a free lunch." Like it or not, our nation and its communities are broken, and we need to stop talking about the problems, and instead start focusing all of our time and energy on the task of finding solutions, and a lot of times, finding solutions means some short term pains for long term gains. As out mothers have always told us, "You have to take your medicine." We individually and collectively need to take our medicine, have to make the hard choices today to create a better tomorrow. We need less finger pointing, and more efforts focused on the task of finding solutions, locally and nationally.

Real News Unvarnished...11 11 11

It's 11 11 11...This Retaining Wall damaged in Hurricane Irene could collapse today here in Mountaindale, but probably will not. If it does, do we blame it on today, or on Hurricane Irene, or maybe on inadequate maintenance over decades?

It is just after seven in the morning here in Mountaindale, New York and the sun is shining in the sky, my coffee maker did not implode, and the world is still spinning round and round despite the fact that this is 11.11.11 or the eleventh day of the eleventh month of the year twenty eleven. I am going to guess here that each of us will see one of three things happen, or a combination of those things occur.

1. Something good will happen. Feeling lucky, go play your favorite lottery numbers, or maybe decide to take the wife or girlfriend out for dinner. Who knows, something good might happen.

2. Nothing will happen. Today will be like any other day, uneventful, nothing noteworthy will happen.

3. Something bad will happen. Maybe a car accident, or perhaps an F on that test you forgot to study for. Who knows what it could be, but you can bet some people will see something bad happen today.

In short, today is pretty much like all other days, and chances are SOMETHING WILL HAPPEN, as that is what every day is about....STUFF JUST HAPPENS. I even started this blog late last night, today for those who want to split hairs, and some of you will just happen to find your way here thanks to the wonderful world wide web, and a Google search...maybe this blog is what was supposed to happen today, it's mere presence in the ether's of cyber space a momentous cosmic event destined to change our universe forever....WOW, this much be some great coffee I am drinking.

Everyone have a great 11.11.11

November 12, 2011 Artist Reception for Renowned Photographer Louis H Jawitz

For anyone who has enjoyed a meal in Mountaindale's new Uccelli Restaurant, you cannot help but notice the stunning photographs from around the world that adorn the walls of Robert's restaurant taken by renowned artist and photograph Louis H. Jawitz who now resides in our area. This Saturday November 12th, 2011 Robert will be holding an Artist Reception for the artist from 2:00-4:00 PM, and you are invited. Please stop by for some wine and cheese, meet Lou, and enjoy his beautiful photographic studies from around the world, including a breathtaking picture of the Twin Towers.

About The Artist

Artist Statement of Louis Jawitz

It was decades ago when I picked up my first camera, shot that first photograph that drew me into this mystical world that allows one with a simple lens to capture the essence of humanity, its foils, its toils and its triumphs.

I had gotten my first camera while serving on the nuclear aircraft carrier "Enterprise" and being in such close quarters found myself taking pictures of my shipmates, working at their assigned tasks, relaxing down below in the crew quarters. Back then, it was a waiting process, sending my film off to be developed, waiting with anticipation to see my first photographs. On the day the photos arrived, I carefully laid each one on my blanket, was amazed that the camera had not just captured the image of my friends, but had also caught the essence of who they were. Many of my ship mates started to buy my photos from me. They started to ask for shots of themselves and little did I know those early orders would lead not only to a lifetime love of photography, but would also set me on my life long career path.

All these years later and I'm still taking people shots, capturing the essence of them in my photographs.

2nd ANNUAL O&W RAILS TO TRAILS RACE-Request For Sponsorships!

Greetings Walkers and Runners!

It is that time of year again, and the Sullivan Striders and Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail Committee are busy making plans for the second annual O&W Rails to Trails Race, and are looking for a helping hand from all our wonderful local shops and businesses...without the help/sponsorship from these folks, this race would not be possible, and without the race, a lot of the improvements as well as maintenance of our beautiful trail would not be possible. Below is their Press Release/Letter, and hope everyone reading this will consider making a donation, as well as joining in the fun of this event as a volunteer or participant in the run or walk on July 17th! You can print this article, fill out the sponsorship information, and MAIL IT IN TODAY! For questions, or additional questions you can email: mmanza1@hvc.rr.com

More news on the event itself in coming days!

Dear Friend,

On July 17, 2011 the Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail Committee, with help from the Sullivan Striders Running and Walking Club, is sponsoring a 4 mile run and 2 mile walk to benefit the Mountaindale, Woodridge and Fallsburg rail to trail projects. These communities are working together to beautify the trails for everyone’s enjoyment.

Our projects include landscaping, trail maintenance, signage, trail markers, creating parking areas and much more. Eventually, we will have a continuous trail with maps and brochures, resting areas, visitor’s centers and our dream bridge over the Neversink River where the old train track crossed from Woodridge to South Fallsburg.

The Rails to Trails Race will help defray some of our operating expenses. Most work on the trails is completed by volunteers but supplies are needed to keep this project alive. You can help to keep this important cause going by being a sponsor to our running race and walk. The race is an excellent way to get “acquainted” with the rail trail in our hometown.

One way for us to achieve our goals is to ask you, our friends, our family and business acquaintances to support this race by becoming a sponsor. We greatly appreciate any contributions or donations in kind that you are able to provide to us.

The sponsorship categories are as follows:

$500.00-Company name/logo will be prominently printed on the back of our event tee shirts and at mile markers.

$250.00-Company name/logo will be prominently printed on the back of our event tee shirts.

$100.00-Company name/logo will be printed on the back of our event tee shirts.
$ 50.00-Company name will be printed on the back of our event tee shirts.

$ 25.00-Company name will be printed on the back of our event tee shirts.

If you are interested in helping us attain our goal in making this fundraiser and race a success, please complete the enclosed sponsor form and return as soon as possible. Please make your check payable to the Sullivan Striders Club-Rails to Trail Race. If you have any questions regarding the race, becoming a sponsor or volunteering please feel free to contact Maryann Manza at 845-313-2560 or Allen Frishman at 845-701-1984.

Thank you for your support.

Sincerely,

Maryann Manza, Race Coordinator & Committee Member
Kim Klemen, Sullivan Striders Club President
Allen Frishman, Fallsburg O&W Rail Trail Committee Chair
2nd ANNUAL O&W RAILS TO TRAILS RACE Sponsorship Information:

Name

Address

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

_____________________________________________

Telephone

Contact person, if a business ___________________________

Donation amount enclosed:

$500.00*
$250.00*
$100.00*
$50.00
$25.00
$10.00
Other

Mail completed form to:
Sullivan Striders Club O & W Rails To Trails Race
PO Box 702
Rock Hill, NY 12775-0702

*For those sponsoring $500.00, $250.00 or $100.00 please provide us with your company logo.

If you’d like to receive an acknowledgment for the amount of your donation please check here.