Three Views of Copake in our last issue

It was interesting to see the three views of Copake in your last issue. The General Store was built by my great grandfather, Grant D. Langdon in 1890 after he old store that had been moved from up main street burned. That building was the Methodist Church before it was moved to the corner. An account of the fire is in my book Scandal in the Courtroom.The building where the Drug store is was the livery for Miller House, which was owned by my great grandfather at one time too. His grandfather, John Langdon was Supervisor and had a town office in the building. My second book is now available and also includes some local history. It is Rebels of the North, How Land Policy Caused the Civil War. Both books are available at my web site, www.grantlangdon.com.

An Open Letter To All Interested Copake Taxpayers

An Open Letter To All Interested Copake Taxpayers An individual who I consider to be a friend, and who is a Republican candidate for the Copake Town Board, has voiced criticism of the Democratic minority members of the Copake Town Board for not following the Town Manual regarding audits of Town spending. I must remind him that he must get his facts correct if he wants to be critical. The Town Policy Manual was passed by the Democratic majority in 2007, and included a requirement regarding CPA audits of Town records. The first two opportunities to perform such audits were after the end of the 2007 and 2008 tax years in early 2008 and 2009, when the Republicans had the Board majority. If he is being critical, and rightly so, of the Board's inaction, it is the inaction of the Republican controlled Board that he is criticizing, the Board that he aspires to join. The Town Supervisor is responsible for following the Policy Manual with the consent of the Board. It is not up to one particular member of the minority to assure that the Policy Manual is followed. The problem now seems to be that there is a deficit because of the economy, but no one knows at this time just what that deficit is because the numbers reported are inconsistent. It is now necessary to go back and perform the audits that were required by the Town Policy Manual before we can learn what the impact of the deficit will be on our taxes next year. Morris Ordover

PUTTING THE TOWN FIRST

PUTTING THE TOWN FIRST

I would like to commend Linda Gabaccia and Bob Sacks on their effort to make a financial sacrifice, even though the rest of the board did not agree. These are the types of people we need on our town board.

The ideas that came from Bob and Linda and the rest of the people that attended the budget meeting were refreshing. To see people involved with such passion was a positive step forward. Missing from this meeting was our deputy supervisor Joe Laporta and Harvey Webber who are both running for our two town board seats in November. How they can miss this mandatory and critically important meeting when all departments had to be there is beyond me. If they think their ideas are not important enough for us to hear, then how can they say they are truly interested in Copake. Yes, it’s a tough time for the town. That’s when we need people to stand together not apart.

George Fillipovits

The Astors and Dineharts

Bob:

Fascinating article for me as my house is in West Copake just down the road from the Reformed Church and the churchyard where various Astors and Dineharts are buried.

Do you have any idea where "The Big House" was located and what became of it?

I am under the impression that "Suk" Langdon's mother was a Dinehart. However her farm was in Copake proper and his mid-way between Copake and West Copake.

Any light you can shed would be interesting to me.

Thanks

Leonard Ladin

Saving Money in the Present Budget Crisis

Saving Money in the Present Budget Crisis

Hearing one option to saving money in the present budget crisis is cutting the police budget. That causes me to think back to when Copake was protected by three part time constables. It also was covered by the County Sheriff and the State Police at that time. At one time the State Police stationed a policeman and a car in Copake. That work very well and was easy on the local budget. In earner times they had a mounted policeman that stabled his horse at my barn on Church Street. That barn burned in 1985, was arson and the Copake Police was named the lead agency in investigating that fire. They proved to be no help at all, and the arson investigation by the State never took place even though it was requested by the then Fire Chief, Dell Walton. It is up to the people of Copake to decide how they want to be policed, but it does need to be policed.

Grant langdon

The Copake News and Politics Forum

For over a year now, Copake has an emailed Internet forum on news and politics. Currently 200 of your neighbors subscribe to it. We all know that government functions best when citizens are informed and involved and the forum has made great strides to accomplish this. Think back to when Chief Assessor Harry Higgins was assigning outrageous assessments to some homeowners and carrying out illegal schemes on the job. A group of citizens got together and publicized what they knew about this. Ultimately Higgins was convicted on felony counts. Bob’s Copake Chronicle, which appears periodically, has been doing an excellent job as an online newspaper. For over a year now, Copake has an emailed Internet forum on news and politics. Currently 200 of your neighbors subscribe to it. We all know that government functions best when citizens are informed and involved and the forum has made great strides to accomplish this. Think back to when Chief Assessor Harry Higgins was assigning outrageous assessments to some homeowners and carrying out illegal schemes on the job. A group of citizens got together and publicized what they knew about this. Ultimately Higgins was convicted on felony counts. Bob’s Copake Chronicle, which appears periodically, has been doing an excellent job as an online newspaper. The Copake News and Politics forum which functions on an almost daily basis, supplements that by serving as a channel for late breaking information about important meetings in Town Hall etc. and giving voice on important issues to any resident who subscribes. To receive a maximum of one email daily with whatever postings that may have been sent by your neighbors that day, contact me at Khovard@Juno.com Just insert the words "subscribe digest" in the subject area of your message Howard Blue Moderator of the Copake News and Politics Forumwhich functions on an almost daily basis, supplements that by serving as a channel for late breaking information about important meetings in Town Hall etc. and giving voice on important issues to any resident who subscribes. To receive a maximum of one email daily with whatever postings that may have been sent by your neighbors that day, contact me at Khovard@Juno.com Just insert the words "subscribe digest" in the subject area of your message Howard Blue Moderator of the Copake News and Politics Forum

Henry Astor and the Swimming Hole

Bob: The NYT obit of Henry Astor is the first real indept account that I have ever had the pleasure of reading about "ol Henry Astor. As kids we were always in awe of the barns in West Copake, some of the Astor houses and the general appearance of West Copake itself. I believe the "Big House" was torn down before I was born.

My Grandmother, Mina Ackley was born in West Copake across from the Dutch Reform church where her family too attended services. I don't recall her ever talking about Henry Astor. Probably my grandmother's family thought little of Astor and his money, therefore, no conversation in public. Grammy was not known as a warm and talkative woman.

I'm of the mind that Sook or John Langdon may have some Astor information as it was their relative who married Astor. I know Sook talks about the Dineharts often. Melvina was a Dinehart and Sooks ancestor.

My family's farm, Empire Farm on Empire Rd was built by Henry Astor. He loved racing horses. He put in the first race track the farm had back at the end of the 19th century. One of the barns, now gone, burned in the Copake Fires , was dated 1898.

My sister Mary has an old photo of the farm as Astor would have known it. I have a postcard photo that is in Florida.

We used to swimming in the Roe Jan Kill down at Killian Waldorf's.. I don't know the name of that place now, but the post card Chris Quimby shows is a very similar view.

We swam in the Bash Bish that ran thru our farm...no large tree for a rope to swing from there...was one at Waldorf's...fun, fun, fun so long ago.

Judy