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HOME IN THE COUNTRY
SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT
NOVEMBER, 2013
NOVEMBER, 2013
SULLIVAN COUNTY DEMOCRAT
HOME IN THE COUNTRY
From roughing it to comfortable rtable living Thanks to Roscoe Lumber, Peter Sabadka builds his country getaway eter Sabadka was introduced to the Roscoe area in the early ’80s, when the hunter and fisherman stayed with a friend who owned 220 acres. In 1986, he had a chance to buy some of the land, which by then had been subdivided, and became the owner of a 15-acre parcel made for outdoor living and recreation. “It was all wooded then,” Sabakda recalled in his two-story main room, which encompasses a kitchen, dining room and living room. “I didn’t mind roughing it,” he went on, “but I always wanted to build a house.” A native of Czechoslovakia, Sabadka was 41⁄2 in 1952, when he followed his father Joseph to Ethiopia, where the elder Sabadka had been sent as a technician two years before. The young Czech grew up in the capital Addis Ababa, attended a Christian Brothers Academy (CBA) high school, learned the native language, Amharic, and at 10 was given his first gun, a .22 rifle. He said he hunted gazelles, antelopes and warthogs in the ancient country then ruled by Emperor Haile Selassie. “I only shoot what I eat,” said Sabadka of his lifelong love affair with hunting. He belongs to several hunting clubs. Ironically, he does little hunting at his second home these days. “In the early ’80s it was teeming with deer here,” he said. “But now it’s changed… there are more houses, more coyotes. I sit on my deck and hear them howling.” Sabadka
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earned a scholarship to a CBA college in Illinois and received training in aviation mechanics – just in time for massive layoffs in the industry, in 1972. He would eventually earn permanent status and became a United States citizen in 1978. Since 1972 Sabadka has worked at Metric and Multistandard Components Corp. in Westchester, which specializes in metric industrial components with offices/distribution centers across the USA and even a purchasing office in Germany. His late brother-in-law was a partner in the firm. Continued on page 8H
At left, Pete Sabadka built the drawbridge over the stream to connect with the camping area. Right: Two of the upstairs bedrooms. Below: A view of the deck.
Story and photos by Frank Rizzo
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