All in the Family 2021

The cornerstone of our economy

TA K E O N E F R E E

Allinthe Family

A Special Section of the SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT Family-owned and operated since 1891 • Calllicoon, NY • Section F • January 26, 2021

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ALL IN THE FAMILY

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY 2021

Kritikos family cooks up great food in Liberty

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The diner, which was moved from Manhattan, is now perched overlooking Liberty.

BY ED TOWNSEND

T

he New Munson Diner and Restaurant located at 12 Lake Street in the Village of Liberty has been owned and operated by the Chris Kritikos family for three years.

The newest Liberty diner was purchased in June of 2017 by Kritikos who formerly lived in the Bronx.

Chris is the owner-operator of the diner while his son John

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

The Kritikos family are the owners and managers of the New Munson Diner on Lake Street in the Village of Liberty. Seated from the left is owner Chris, his wife Eleni and son (manager) John.

All in the Family Family-owned businesses; the lifeblood of our economy Published by

Catskill-Delaware Publications, Inc. Publishers of the

(845) 887-5200 Callicoon, NY 12723 January 26, 2021 • Vol. CXXX, No. 66

Publisher: Co- Editors: Editorial Assistants: Advertising Director: Assistant Advertising Director: Special Sections Coordinator: Production Manager: Design and Production: Advertising Coordinator: Business Manager: Assistant Business Manager: Telemarketing Coordinator: Monticello Office Manager: Classified Manager: Production Associates: Circulation & Distribution:

serves as manager.

The diner was originally located on 11th Avenue and 49th Street in New York City and was purchased and moved to its Liberty location by several operators before being purchased by the Kritikos family.

The original Munson Diner while in New York City was called Reggie's Diner and was part of the famous Seinfeld TV show.

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Fred W. Stabbert III Joseph Abraham and Matt Shortall Isabel Braverman, Margaret Bruetsch, Kathy Daley, Richard Ross, Jeanne Sager, Ed Townsend Liz Tucker Barbara Matos Susan Panella Petra Duffy Rosalie Mycka Lillian Ferber Susan Owens Patricia Biedinger Michelle Reynolds Margaret Bruetsch Janet Will Elizabeth Finnegan, Nyssa Calkin, Katey Dnistrian, Jessica Roda Anthony Bertholf, John Fischer, Phil Grisafe

JANUARY 2021

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

ALL IN THE FAMILY

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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY 2021

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 2F

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

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Partitions and other measures are in place at the New Munson Diner to keep customers safe.

Also part of the Kritikos family is mom, Eleni, who does not currently work at the diner as she is employed by the Bronx Board of Education in their lunch department. She is looking at retirement in several years.

Before coming to Liberty, John, who graduated high school in the Bronx and college in Brooklyn, worked at the Long Island City Sheraton Hotels in the IT department.

Chris attended school in Greece in the small island town of Kasos and has worked and owned several restaurants and also owned and worked at several limousine agencies before purchasing the New Munson Diner.

Chris is an accomplished chef and his favorite motto is, “If I can’t eat it I won't serve it.”

The Munson specializes in American/Greek and diner-style food and the most popular meals sold at the diner include Gyros sandwiches, burgers and

ALL IN THE FAMILY

Reubens.

Following the purchase of the diner Chris restored the interior, built a new deck for outside dining, improved and enlarged the parking lot, added new landscaping and made modern improvements to the kitchen.

The journey from the Bronx to Liberty took several turns in the road as Chris was originally looking to buy a summer home here, and he saw that several restaurants were for sale.

A Monticello restaurant owner pointed him in the direction of the Munson and a vision became a reality.

John noted that with the pandemic the restaurant is doing a lot of take-outs because customers are nervous to be around anyone.

The New Munson Diner presently employs three chefs and seven employees overall.

The diner can be reached at 845747-9912. Free delivery is offered within five miles.

89377

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Bill Rieber Jr. in front of his office on Broadway in Monticello.

50 years of serving the community

BY PATRICIO ROBAYO

S

ince 1970, Rieber Realty has been a staple in Sullivan County.

Started by William Rieber Sr., the real estate business set up shop at 390 Broadway in Monticello and has been there ever since.

Rieber Sr. started in banking and managed the Sullivan County Savings and Loan Association in Monticello before starting Rieber

Realty.

Soon after, his son, William Rieber Jr. started working in the office at 17 years old, and as soon as he turned 18, got his real estate license and started working for his father.

They’ve created hundreds of subdivided lots in six New York counties and handled the sale and buying of real estate for over 50 years.

“Before the real estate business,

my father would buy properties and subdivide them and sell off building lots,” said Rieber Jr. Over the years, Rieber Jr. said they have dealt with over 1,500 parcels throughout New York.

Today they are part of the Sullivan County Board of Realtors Multiple Listing Service and Hudson Gateway Multiple Listing Service.

Today the company is owned by William Rieber Jr. and his sister,

Karen Sussman Rieber. Rieber Jr. is also a volunteer fireman and Town Supervisor of Thompson.

But they aren’t the only family members in the business; Rieber Jr.’s niece Cara Rieber, his sons Sean and Brandon Rieber are also involved. While they might not be family by blood, Rieber said the rest of the Rieber Realty people

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ALL IN THE FAMILY

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY 2021

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are like family. This includes salespeople Angela and Aaron Rein, and Jill Halpern Steingart. Also, office secretary Ronda McClernon has been with the real estate company for over 20 years.

“That’s the Monticello family,” said Rieber Jr. Back when the business started, everything had to be done by hand. Rieber said that listings were on index cards, and they would need to drive around to take photos of properties, wait for the film to come back from the developer before putting ads out in the newspaper.

Rieber said now, with MLS and the internet, once a property is listed, they can get several offers on a property within hours.

But even with all the technological advances, Rieber said you still need that personal touch in real estate.

“We meet you, and we have a

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY 2021

conversation, see what your thoughts are...sometimes you need a little nudge in the right direction. You want to get a broker who can get the deal done, who knows the ropes and can get you the right people,” said Rieber.

When Rieber Jr. reflected that some of his sons followed in the family business he said, “It wasn’t a very lucrative business (real estate), I encouraged them to find their way and they all did.”

He said he would argue a lot with his dad when they used to work together. “I was younger. I thought I could do everything better,” said Rieber.

“I don’t really get that with my sons, which is what I’m thankful for. We don’t argue; we work together and play off of each other. It’s great; there’s no competition.”

Cara shared similar feelings as Sister and brother Karen Sussman Rieber and Bill Rieber Jr. Rieber regarding the small office relationships and how well every- On the cover: Keeping it in the family, from the left, Haley Heins (Brandon’s fiance), Karen Sussman Rieber, and Brandon Rieber. one works together.

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ALL IN THE FAMILY

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Jill Halpern Steingart at one of her home sales.

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“We cover for each other, everybody. Everybody picks up the pieces where somebody can’t,” said Cara.

Cara, who has been going to Rieber Realty since she was a kid, has fond memories of playing office in one of the spare rooms.

She and her cousins would go around and charge everyone for

taking out their garbage and doing office chores.

With the money she and her cousins collected, they would run around the corner to the soda machine or go to the diner.

So when joining the family business, Cara said it was sort by default because of always being in the office all the time.

“We’re full service; we’ve got a lot of knowledge between all of us,” said Cara. “My grandfather started it, and he bestowed all his knowledge on Billy and Karen, and they have bestowed it upon myself and Brandon and Sean. It’s kind of an all in the family thing,” Cara added.

Rieber said on the future of his business, “I assume we probably will be here to serve the county and adjoining counties. We like what we do, and we like meeting people and putting deals together and making people happy, both on the sell-side and the buy-side.”

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Three generations of a family providing fuel for other families CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

Since being founded by Melvin Pierce back in 1959, Cochecton Oil has grown from just a single truck into a company many Sullivan County residents rely on.

F

BY MATT SHORTALL or more than 60 years, three generations of the Pierce family at Cochecton

Oil and Propane Co. have kept the heat on in Sullivan County.

It all began in 1959 when Melvin and Henrietta Pierce purchased their first home which

was heated by oil, a source of heating that wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t widely used in Western Sullivan County at that time.

Melvin worked for the Sullivan

County Department of Public Works as a truck driver after coming out of the military. He purchased his first oil truck as a side business that provided a

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

JANUARY 2021

service he himself needed too.

The business expanded over the years, attracting more and more clients and finally adding propane to their line of products in 1985.

In 1993, with Melvin’s health declining, his son Peter took over the business. Peter and his wife Norma have carried on the family tradition ever since, with their son Patrick joining the business

ALL IN THE FAMILY

too, about three years ago. Their eldest son, Michael, served in the US Army and continues to serve in the National Guard along with working full-time in law enforcement, but he still continues to

help out part-time.

“We’ve been growing in leaps and bounds,” Peter said.

While oil continues to be their CONTINUED ON PAGE 12F

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

From left, Norma, Peter and Patrick Pierce are carrying on the family tradition at Cochecton Oil and Propane.

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primary product with the biggest sales, Peter said propane sales are expanding as most new construction uses propane based heating over oil. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The fabric of our society has changed where itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s moving more toward clean energy, which propane is,â&#x20AC;? Peter said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;The propane sales have grown exponentially in the last few years.â&#x20AC;?

Cochecton Oil serves a mixture of residential and commercial properties, and with the expansion of the real estate market in upstate New York, theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeing even more residential business.

With the pandemic affecting nearly every aspect of life in our region, essential services like the ones Cochecton Oil provides became even more important.

SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Weâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been busy,â&#x20AC;? says Peter. â&#x20AC;&#x153;More people are home doing some jobs around their house, maybe putting a generator in, so that has created some business for us.â&#x20AC;?

Peter says that a lot of second-home owners, which are a substantial part of their clientele, moved up to the area full-time in March and have been working from home ever since. â&#x20AC;&#x153;So that also was an uptick in our business. We were servicing places that would otherwise not be inhabited in the colder months,â&#x20AC;? Peter said. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We appreciate their business and welcome them in our community.â&#x20AC;?

And with the real estate market

JANUARY 2021

Cochecton Oil serves a mixture of residential and commercial properties, and with the expansion of the real estate market theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re seeing even more residential business.

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booming in the county right now, the Pierce family expects even more business to come. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Thereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s calls all the time about transfers of ownership, or people doing renovations in their house and they need gas lines run all over the place,â&#x20AC;?

Patrick explained. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Everybody wants a generator nowadays because they canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be out of work and not have their internet. Thatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s a big

part of whatâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s made this year so busy for us.â&#x20AC;?

Patrick said his favorite part of the job is knowing that they're working for themselves. He sees himself working to expand the business even more and eventually take over the reins from his parents one day. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re not just listening and taking orders from someone else, but youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re trying to create your own destiny,â&#x20AC;? Patrick said about being part of a family-owned business.

For Peter, the most fulfilling part of the job is providing an essential service and knowing that his customers are satisfied. â&#x20AC;&#x153;It certainly makes the environment much more pleasant when youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re able to perform your job and the customers are happy.â&#x20AC;?

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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

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Proud to Salute all ourAre Sullivan County Teams & Cheerleaders!

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Congratula tions Cochecton O il 57741

JERC-128568

Thank you to the family businesses of Sullivan County for your important contributions to the business community

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CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS

Bennett Lawn and Log LLC has been a staple in its community since it was started by Alan Bennett in 1974.

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SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT

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JANUARY 2021

From left, Bennett Lawn and Log LLC owner Alan Bennett, with his daughter Linda Letosky and son Bruce Bennett.

Linda said some of the perks of working for a family business include the flexibility it provides and, she joked that, “You know your coworkers well.”

Bruce and Linda are the second generation of Bennetts to run the business, which Alan started in 1974. At the time, Alan was a mechanic for New York State.

“We grew up with the business,” Letosky said.

Bruce began working at Bennett Lawn and Log LLC full-time when he graduated from college in 1986, and Linda has contributed her skills on and off over the decades.

While Bruce and Linda share certain duties like counterwork and parts lookup, Linda handles the paperwork and Bruce is the mechanic … taking after their father.

“It came natural to me,” he said.

And the lineage goes beyond that of their father Alan. Their grandfather had a similar business in his day, working with chainsaws, lawnmowers, snowmobiles and motorcycles.

Machines sold and repaired at Bennett Lawn and Log LLC include chainsaws, lawnmowers, trimmers, brushcutters, edgers, pressure washers, etc., as well as parts and accessories for them.

They’re open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (but close from noon-1 p.m. for lunch), Saturday from 8 a.m. to noon, and they’re closed on Sundays.

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