CT – 221                       CORNERSTONE TRAVELER                                           OCT. 28 ‘13

 

Hi to all my readers of this biweekly newsletter, The CORNERSTONE TRAVELER, with this hard copy and on the web at www.cornerstonetraveler.com

mid-Hudson Valley news:  The leaves are starting to fall from the trees and all the leaf peepers who came here to admire the fall foliage are now gone.  There will be a lot of raking to get these leaves off our lawns and prepare our lawns for the winter weather still to come.

The temperatures have dropped to below freezing in the mid-Hudson Valley , furnaces are being powered up for heat.

As I observe the traffic in New Paltz, I have to wonder if a traffic circle at the thruway/299 intersection would alleviate the traffic in New Paltz.

Speaking of the traffic woes in New Paltz, I have to wonder of the thinking of the engineers who design the traffic lights at the intersections.  i.e. the traffic light at the Putt Corners/Main Street intersection.  Was it really necessary to have a period of left turning then allow straight driving?  This delay only has more cars entering the center of New Paltz at very   trying times.  I have seen the traffic back up from the lights at the New Paltz plaza to past Ohioville Road.

I really don’t believe the engineers of the traffic lights in New Paltz thought through the consequences of the their traffic light timing.  I just want people to think about their traffic lights and what they accomplish.

observations:

I watched Bill O’Reilley ask if affordable care is a constitutional requirement.  My answer to this dumbass question is: You can’t have Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness without good and affordable health care.

I will give you an example.  Twenty-three years ago I was in an almost tragic accident when this dim wit in a car made a left turn about thirty feet in front of me when I was riding my Harley Sportster.

The resulting accident left me with a twisted spine that the treating doctors thought would require a life time in a wheelchair.  (Thankfully they were wrong.)  A doctor had to thread wires in my face to get all the bones back together.  The Orthopedic surgeon had operate on my mangled and broken shoulder six times with four titanium bolts to repair.

The neurosurgeon drilled four holes in my skull, two of which were needed for the permanent shunt in my brain and a tube through the back of my skull ro drain excess fluid and blood to my stomach.  Thus six weeks in a coma and near death.

My employers health insurance paid over $800,000 for this medical care.

It is something to think about when debating the Affordable Care Act.

sports:

The Giants have finally won a game when they beat the Vikes, giving them a 1-6 record.  The Giants then beat the Eagles by a score of 15- 7.

The Jets beat the Patriots by a score of 30-27 in an overtime stunner.  They were hammered by the Bengals 49-9.

other:

As with all previous issues of this newsletter, everything written here is either copyright protected or copyright pending.  The history of P&G’s follows this newsletter from about the mid 1930’s to almost the present.  Following this history is the short story I wrote called The OLD CEMETERY PLOT.

I hope you like it.

Thank-You -  Rik McGuire

                             History of P&G’s continued to the present

From 1925 – 1945 a number of diverse businesses occupied the building.  These included Carols Clothing Store, Atkins Drug Store,  Schaffert Real Estate Office, Marie Shop and Dicks Bar and Grill among others.

In 1947 Dicks Bar and Grill was purchased by two Lake Mohonk employees, Pat Cafferty and George Jayne.  Legend has it that neither told their wives of their intention to purchase the business.  They immediately changed the Grills name to Pat and Georges.  Among it’s loyal customers it was simply P&G’s.

One of the best things to happen to P&G’s occurred in 1961.  An ex Dodger player named Stormer Nickerson became a bartender.  Stormy as he was affectionately known became something of a legend.  His heart, quiet good humor and generous spirit made P&G’s the one place that welcomed all from the harsher outside world into a refuge for college students, business people, local characters and even for a while, in the 1960’s, bikers.  According to one source.  “They weren’t as rowdy a crew as you might expect because although he was quiet, Stormy commanded and got respect.”  His professional baseball background made him a natural to pitch batting practice for the New Paltz College teams and he did so for a number of seasons.  One college fraternity considered P&G’s their private domain.  The scene of everything important, news, views, camaraderie and especially humor was always evident at P&G’s.

After the St. Helens volcano erupted and news reports discussed the possibility of ash fall out across the U.S., Stormy came to work to find the staff dressed in garbage bags and metal kitchen colanders on their heads.  Since no ash was reported on anyone, Stormy reasoned the

attire had been affective by making everyone laugh their ash off.

In June 1991, after 30 years, Stormy retired from P&G’s.  He died in June of 1994.  From his casual humor that lingers, to his Chile recipe that is still served and the kind memories often repeated by his many friends, Stormy is still here.

In 1969 Edwin Beck bought P&G’s.  His first weekend as owner was completely successful.  The following weekend, however, the place was deserted.  A disheartened Beck couldn’t understand what he had done to alienate everyone so quickly.  He was relieved to learn it was simply a matter of poor timing.  Everyone was away and wallowing in a farm in Bethel NY.  A music festival or something.

Ed Beck never spent time worrying.  He looked across Main Street and up Platekill Avenue, seeing thousands of thirsty college students who, for the most part remained on campus.  Taking a good supply of liquid refreshment, Beck went to the campus and gave the students (all legal in those days) a new place to call home.  He transformed P&G’s from a neighborhood bar into a local institution.

The face of Beck’s personality had much to do with the continued success of P&G’s, the place was fun.  One oft quoted story about Beck concerns a young P&G’s enthusiast who wanted to be just like Beck when he grew up.  It is reported that Beck in all humility replied.  “Well you can’t do both.”

The name Pat and Georges was officially changed to P&G’s in the 1980’s by Ed Beck and his son Mike.  In 1985, Mike bought out his fathers interest.  In 1994, he undertook extensive renovations, making the building exterior appear as it did in 1900, when it was the Casino.

 

The  OLD  CEMETERY  PLOT

 

It was a few minutes before midnight and the stillness of the night was interrupted by a Screech Owl hunting for prey.  It was a new moon and only a few stars were visible through the thin layer of clouds.

There was so little light that the figure that stood before a gravestone would not have cast a shadow if spirits had the substance to block light and create a shadow.

The spirit scowled at the weeds that grew haphazardly on his grave plot where he had been buried one hundred and forty years earlier

Samuel Jacobs was a soldier in the Ulster All Volunteer Militia that were instrumental in defending Cemetery Ridge against Picketts charge at the battle of Gettysburg at the end of the Civil War.  He was killed by at least three musket balls that stitched his chest on one of the final days of that epic battle.  As a spirit he followed his body back to his hometown, a small village north of New York City

As a spirit he saw the weeping and crying of his family and friends.  He heard his friends curse the southern insurgence against the Union that was so admirably formed less than one hundred years earlier.  As a spirit he could only smile at the comments he heard.

He watched as they lowered his pine casket into the ground.  He watched as the cemetery workers gingerly shoveled the excavated earth back down into his grave.

For many years he watched as family and friends tended his cemetery plot by trimming the grass and pulling unwanted weeds from the ground.   This care of all the plots in the small raised cemetery off a main thoroughfare continued for many years when the town decided a new town cemetery had to be located,  And the cemetery where his body rested with many other

souls was  forgotten and neglected.

This neglect bothered Samuel because he gave his life to keep the union together.  The

least the town could do was care for his grave plot and the plots of others who died before the new town cemetery was located.

The spirit of Samuel bent over to reach and grab a dandelion that was growing over his grave.  He tried to grasp the dandelion and pull it from the earth, but his spiritual hand only grasped nothing and the dandelion remained where it taunted his nightly presence.

Before he faded to nothing, he cursed the town for failing to take care of the cemetery where he and the other spirits were buried.

All the other spirits had already crossed over to a greater plane of spiritual existence, but he could not.  And he was at a loss to explain why he could not cross over.

All he was sure of was that he was deeply distressed that the town of his life had abandoned the old cemetery.  And every summer that the plots were not cared for he became more distressed.

This continued year after year until one scraggly worn middle aged man happened to walk by the cemetery and notice the deplorable condition of the grave yard.  He walked to the cemetery plot and examined each stone carefully.  He came to Samuels stone and noted that Samuel had died at the battle of Gettysburg and more specifically at Pickets charge.  The scraggly man, Cliff, was a student of history and knew well of that pivotal battle of the Civil War.  Cliff knew well of the all volunteer Ulster County militia that was made up of poor farm boys and young men.  Cliff knew through his study of the history of Ulster County that the elite

of the county could not be bothered to volunteer for the Union war effort.  They all thought that was beneath them and left the defense of the Union to those who labored in their mills and stores and worked the land.

Cliff had become so intrigued with the history and life of Mr. Samuel Jacobs, the man  buried beneath his feet, he knew he would research the man in the village archives.

Later after Cliff had searched the dusty and dirty village archives, he learned of Mr. Samuel Jacobs, the son of a respected dairy farmer on the outskirts of the village.  He even went to the local library and used the library P.C. to surf the web too find more about Mr. Jacobs.  Many of his comrades in the county militia wrote to his family expressing their sorrow over his death and they also wrote that Samuel was a valiant and fearless soldier.  His family should be proud.  They wrote, that he died defending the Union that was formed after the British were unceremoniously defeated in the war the colonists thought to be unwinnable.

After all of his research of Mr. Samuel Jacobs, Cliff decided he had to convince the village council that the old cemetery that held the bodies of many of the early settlers of the village should be maintained to show the respect for these dead heros.

Though the village council agreed with Cliff, they told him there was not enough money in the budget for this task.

Cliff just smiled.  “You most likely have all the tools needed to maintain the cemetery plot that are used to maintain other village greens and gardens.  I will only need these tools once a week.  And I am sure you can spare these tools for one day each week.”

“We can’t pay you.”  The village mayor said.

Cliff smiled.  “You won’t have to.  I will volunteer to do the work.”

“By yourself?”  The mayor asked.

Cliff shook his head.  “I am sure I can get more than a few volunteers to help out.  I will just assign my self as supervisor of this all volunteer work crew.”

Within two months the old cemetery became almost a garden with donated flowers for each of the plots.  They installed a white picket fence around the old cemetery.  It became quite the showcase for the town and was photographed by hundreds of periodicals from around the country.

One moonless night as Cliff loaded the lawn equipment into a town truck, a light speared  the grave of Samuel Jacobs.  Curious, Cliff went to the grave plot and saw in the shaft of light the spirit of Samuel Jacobs.

Cliff could only step back and gasp.  “You are the spirit of…”

Samuel Jacobs, the spirit whispered.  I can now cross over to a greater spiritual existence because of your efforts and work on the grounds of our final resting place.

 

“I’m glad I could have been of assistance.  I trust you will be comfortable once you cross over.”

I will.  Trust me.  Samuel Jacobs whispered as he rose with the light to the sky.

 

When Cliff died forty years later, his dying wish to his children and grandchildren was to

be buried   in the old cemetery plot.

It was a fine day for his burial.  The old cemetery had been well taken care of by a few generations of volunteers and this allowed Cliff to cross over to the greater spiritual existence

within days of his burial and he was met immediately by the spirit of Samuel Jacobs who showed him the beauty of the spiritual existence beyond the light after a spirit crossed over.

It was total beauty and peace Cliff admired.

9:32 p.m.

3/21/10

P&G’s