I have never been a fan of death. It seems too permanent. For the last 20 years however, I have been at peace with the inevitability of dying, in part because I knew that Loucks Funeral Home would most likely be handling my funeral arrangements. Allan Loucks has been a mainstay in our community for the past half-century or so. In that time, Loucks Funeral Home has been a community sponsor for everything from Ellenville Little League to the A.Y.S.O. Soccer League. And over that time, thousands of people have had their funeral arrangements capably and professionally handled by Loucks. In fact, Allan Loucks has been handling the day-to-day affairs at the funeral home since 1967. Forty-two years can wear on a person, and just recently Allan Loucks decided to retire. No doubt Loucks deserves a break. So now that Loucks Funeral Home has been sold and Allan Loucks will no longer be there, I am once again starting to get nervous about my own mortality. I've only got two choices — live forever, or have Allan come back to make a special appearance when I move to the next life. Until that time, I wish the best for the Loucks family……….More inevitability. The clock is ticking on Gillette Creamery moving out of Ellenville. The worst part of this move is that the community loses another quality business. The Gillette family has also always been heavily involved in anything Ellenville. The loss of such a fine business and family will be tough to take. Over the last couple of years the Gillettes have desperately tried to find a way to keep their business in Ellenville. Last year I proposed that the Gillette family move their business to Kelly Farm on Route 209 and that J.B. Gillette build Gillette Stadium on the grounds. Looks like that probably won't happen, but negotiations are still ongoing……….I drove through the Nevele Hotel grounds last week and was saddened to see the dilapidated condition of the buildings and grounds of this once-great resort. I was on my way to see Bob Klipper who runs the Nevele Stables. I first met Bob Klipper when I worked at the Nevele in the late eighties and early nineties, a time-period when the first signs of the hotel's decline became evident. Klipper is as nice a gentleman as you would want to meet. The longtime proprietor of the Nevele Stables has been a popular substitute teacher in Ellenville for several years. Klipper loves two things — kids and horses. Despite the prolonged economic slump at the stables, Klipper always accommodated the former Ellenville Summer Recreation program by only charging a couple of bucks per kid for horseback rides. We would take upwards of a hundred young kids up to the stables where Bob and his staff would patiently give every kid a couple of laps around the dirt track. The smiles on the faces of young kids couldn't make up for the lack of business, but it always seemed to be enough for Bob Klipper. Year after year, Klipper would turn down an offer to raise his fees, saying, "I just love seeing the kids happy." That tells you all you need to know about Bob Klipper. And that is why driving through the Nevele the other day, I was struck by the horrible appearance of the hotel. To get to the stables, you have to pass the aging, neglected buildings, overgrown weeds, large potholes, and the garbage that is strewn about the property. Even the most hardened city visitor might have second thoughts about traversing this landscape to ride a horse. That is the dilemma that faces Bob Klipper. So it is time that our village and town leadership do something to help Bob Klipper. It's time for our leaders to lead. Many people would agree that our former village manager got out of Dodge just in time. But for all his well-documented shortcomings, the former village manager actually had some good ideas. One of those ideas was to move the village street department, renovate the current building, and move Bob Klipper and his horses into the newly refurbished stables on Berme Road. With the new playground just a short time from completion, and the increased traffic the playground will bring, what better business to be nearby than a stable that provides horseback riding? Kids love horses and just maybe people will travel to Ellenville to enjoy some horseback riding. We owe that much to Bob Klipper. Hopefully, Mayor Jeff Kaplan will make some moves……….The Ellenville Cook-Taylor American Legion Post 111 has been involved in sponsoring local baseball teams for about the past six years. The American Legion is another organization that continually gives back to the community, and especially kids. One problem the Legion has faced, though, is getting and maintaining local coaches. So this year, the Ellenville legion baseball team will play its home games in Sullivan County………..The Annual Ellenville H.S. Athletic Banquet was held last week at the Hudson Valley Resort. The banquet honors all varsity Blue Devils athletes from the past school year. Ellenville Athletic Director Mary Borriello did another fine job putting together this annual event, but the banquet is getting to be a marathon. This year's banquet lasted four hours and did not end until after 9 p.m. Since the event is always held on a school night, there should be moves made to shorten the program. I'm not complaining, mind you. After all, the Blue Devils teams hung three new championship banners on the wall this year, capturing the Section 9 – Class C football championship, the boys Section 9 – Class B indoor track championship, and the boys Section 9 – Class B outdoor track and field championship. The kids deserve their recognition so I will sit for four hours, but maybe we could introduce a student-athlete and all his accomplishments at one time. Borriello exhorted the girls programs to work harder and challenge the boys in putting up a banner. It is believed that the last championship banner hung by the Lady Blue Devils was the 2000 M.H.A.L. Champion basketball team………………..The baseball season kicks it up a notch as the Yankees and Mets meet this weekend in the annual Subway Series. The bottom line is that until the Mets beat the Yankees in the World Series, this town belongs to the Yankees. Until next time…

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