FOCUS - Delaware County 2016

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elaware county

A PUBLICATION OF THE DAILY STAR

FRIDAY, JULY 29, 2016

Voices of Delaware County: LEN UTTER

Farming, government have changed with the times By Cheryl Petersen Contributing Writer

I t m ay b e h a r d t o believe, but there were 43,000 dairy farms in New York in 1960. By 1997, the number had shrunk to 8,000. In Delaware County, the number of dairy farms dropped from 419 to 249 in that nearly 40-year time period. The plummet was due in part to a whole-herd dairy buyout program instituted in the 1980s, when farmers were given the opportunity to place a price on their herd. The government then, in an effort to reduce a glut of milk and raise milk prices, would pay the bidding price and buy out the farmer. “The girls were so mad at me when I put a price on our herd and enter(ed) my bid to the government,” Len Utter of Middletown said. The “girls” are his wife, Betty, and two daughters, Darsie and Christine. Utter’s bid was so high t h at t h e g ove r n m e n t denied his offer. However, the Utters decided to sell the cows in 1986. “I took a job working with the county highway crew. Worked there for 12 years,” he said. “The minute someone heard I was retiring in 1999, I was asked to run for the position of Middletown Supervisor. In a moment of weakness, I nodded my head,” he said.

County’s geography presents unique challenges By Cheryl Petersen Contributing Writer

CHERYL RICHARDSON PHOTO

Delaware County consists of 19 towns, each with a supervisor and council. The 19 supervisors form a board and meet throughout the year at the county

seat of Delhi. Within the townships, there may be villages and hamlets. Villages have their own municipal leaders. “Leaders in the county

are homegrown,” said Utter. “They start from home and home is paramount to them. But, they are affected by mandates See UTTER, Page 2

Voices of Delaware County: CHRISTOPHER DURHAM

Arts, quality of life lure second-home owners By Cheryl Petersen Contributing Writer

Second-home owners make up 50 percent of the property owners in many Delaware County townships. “I come upstate on the weekends to get a breath of fresh air,” said Christopher Durham, of Roxbury. Durham began “weekending” in 2003, buoyed by modest success and a desire to have a place to which he could get away. He purchased an 1840s house on a Roxbury creek. He carries his appreciation for home between Roxbury and New York City. “I love both places,” he said. Durham grew up on a farm in Virginia. Thirtyfour years ago, he moved to New York City to become an actor. He has played roles in television shows such as “Madame Secretary” and “Rescue Me.” But, he also relishes other forms of art and is unafraid to try new skills. “I now interior design, paint pet portraits and apply goldleaf to antiques here in the county,” he said. It was on the weekends that Durham honed his

Voices of Delaware County: CINDY HEANEY

CONTRIBUTED PHOTO

artist and handyman skills, he said. “I retrofitted the kitchen to my house to reflect the 1940s, black-andwhite checkered” style, he explained, while commenting on the luxury of his weekend home having

a dining room. “My city apartment is too small to invite guests over, but here I can frequent the farmers’ markets, prepare the food at home and invite guests over to eat around a large table,” said Durham, a vegetarian who enjoys the

greens grown locally. He also built an art studio on his property, next to the house. “The professional business space allows me to expand my work here in the area,” said Durham, who doesn’t hesitate to look for opportunities. Meeting his neighbors is natural. “I moved here the same time Greg Henderson and Joseph Massa bought what is now The Roxbury Motel,” he said. The contemporary Catskill lodging is three houses away from Durham’s home. Durham recently restored an antique oval frame by applying 23-carat gold leaf and burnishing it to a sheen for The Roxbury. It is the power of wordof-mouth that reveals the county’s talent. Word is out that Durham paints pet portraits with strokes of love for animals. He’s also becoming known as an interior decorator who can stay within budget. “Bed-and-breakfasts and barn wedding venues in the county are becoming prevalent,” said Durham. “I’m willing to shop for furnishings, choose themes and colors for rooms, or pick wildflowers See DURHAM, Page 2

Cindy Heaney sees the good, the bad and the ugly. In regard to mental health and addiction problems, she said, “Delaware County is not any different from other counties in New York, except our geography can be a barrier to taking care of oneself or getting help when needed.” The county’s land mass spans 1,446 square miles, larger than the state of Rhode Island. The population density is 32 people per square mile, compared to the Albany area with 200 people per square mile. “The rugged terrain, though stunningly beautiful, comes with secondary roads and long winters, making it difficult to take ownership of issues and find effective solutions to problems,” said Heaney. “Even the lack of transportation becomes an issue.” After growing up on Long Island and graduating high school in 1976, Heaney moved to the area to earn a psychology degree at SUNY Oneonta. “That’s where I met my husband, a homegrown Franklin boy,” she said. Heaney went on to earn a master’s degree in social work at Syracuse University, but returned to Franklin to marry, live and raise a family. “We got married on our property,” recalled Heaney. “I made my own wedding dress. We borrowed tables and chairs from Salvation Army for the event. Friends and family brought food to celebrate on a

beautiful blue sky September day.” The couple then began tearing down an old, 14-room farm house and reusing all the wood, fixtures, oak beams and bricks to build the house they live in now on top of a hill in Franklin. “All with the help of in-laws,” said Heaney in regard to the house job. Heaney became a family alcoholism counselor at the Delaware County Mental Health Clinic in 1985 and now is the county’s director of mental health. The 2016 mental health department budget is nearly $5 million. The county share is about 14 percent of the entire cost. The department receives about $2 million in revenue and state aid is also about $2 million. For more than 30 years, Heaney has been battling the negative effects of substance abuse in the county. Abuse affects not only the addict, but also surrounding family members, neighbors, and the economy. Of the more than 100 foster children in the county, many are served by the department. “Poverty and lack of education fuels addiction and it’s a vicious cycle,” said Heaney. The county poverty rate is 16.5 percent. Though the unemployment rate is above five percent, down from 8.7 percent in 2012, “It’s difficult to find skilled labor for the workforce,” said Heaney. “Add that to the fact that many places of work See HEANEY, Page 2

A history of places: Towns and townships From the notes of Howard F. Davidson, dated April 15, 1971; transcribed by Ed Davidson, March 30, 2006, courtesy of the Delaware County NY Genealogy and History Site: Although several of the Patents granted included township rights, no town was erected, in what is now Delaware County, until the formation of the Town of Harpersfield April 11, 1787. This town included all the land in Harper Indian Purchase plus the land in Sir William Johnson purchase south of the Charlotte and Sesquehanna rivers between the east and west lines of the Harper purchase, extended one mile to the rivers. The following year, 1788, all land in New York State was placed into townships for the first time. There were one hundred and twenty towns in all. The existing town of Woodstock, in Ulster County, extended its bounds westward to the West Branch of the Delaware, thus placing part of Delhi village in the Town of Woodstock, Ulster County

and part in the Town of Harpersfield, Montgomery County. The Town of Middletown was erected March 3, 1789 from portions of Rochester and Woodstock. Middletown now contained that portion of Delhi which had been in Woodstock. The Town of Harpersfield was divided on April 10, 1792; a new town by the name of Franklin was erected. The division line between these two towns being the Patent line dividing the Whitesborough and the Franklin Patents. Ironically, the Franklin Patent was left in the Town of Harpersfield while the Whitesborough Patent was part of the new Town of Franklin. The next year, on March 12, 1793, another new town by the name of Kortright was formed from a portion of Harpersfield. The Franklin Patent was included in this new town. When Delaware County was erected on March 10, 1797, it placed all Delhi Village in one county, but See HISTORY, Page 2


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