To be notified when this book is out of production and has been released to the public, visit the book's page on the website of arcadiapublishing.com and under where it says, "This product is not yet published. The on sale date is 11/01/2010, click the link that says, "Notify Me When This Book Is Available."

A short time after the release, working together with Arcadia's marketing department, book-signings will be scheduled, the first of which will be held at one of Broadway's businesses, with signings and "Monticello picture nights" (where you are invited to help identify people shown in unlabeled photos) to be announced here and on the book's Facebook page. Visit said page to view some vintage photos of Monticello.

Reply To A Letter Purporting To Be From The Village Manager

Response To A Letter Purporting to be From The Village Manager

This note on FACEBOOK

“Nobody can acquire honor by doing what is wrong”

- Thos. Jefferson

By TOM RUE

On October 6, 1896 the Sullivan County Ladies Monument Association, Inc. unveiled a major landmark for a small at a prominent entry to Monticello's Broadway, at the corner Jefferson Street. Its purpose was "to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers and sailors who fought to preserve the Union," and funds were collected from private donors throughout Sullivan County.

In 1918 the organization met again and added a second panel recognizing the men and women lost in the World War. In 1942, a plaque was placed on a boulder in the corner which was known as "Memorial Park" remembering Jack C. Stapleton, a Fireman First Class in the U.S. Navy was placed by the Mayor's Civic Advisory Committee of Women.

In the spring of 1972, to make way for the widening of Jefferson Street, the statue was relocated to its present more obscure small park, a half block to the east. According to a news account headlined "Monumental Task!", the work was done by Sullivan County Monument Works, under the supervision of, proprietor Irv Feinstein.

Shortly thereafter, a boulder bearing a brass plaque memorializing World War 2 veteran Ralph Stapleton was also moved from the corner of Jefferson Street to its present site.

January 21, 2010
By Tom Rue
At the reorganizational meeting of the Village of Monticello Board of Trustees held on Monday, April 6, 2009, I was appointed Village Historian by the Village Manager. The last time a Village Historian was named was 2004, in an appointment made by then Village Manager Richard Sush.. The day after my appointment I posted a Certified letter to the last gentleman known to occupy this position, and hand-delivered a copy to the Village Clerk. I cited the New York State Art and Cultural Affairs Law §57.09, which requires of all local historians:

“He or she shall make an annual report, in the month of January, to the local appointing officer or officers and to the state historian of the work which has been accomplished during the preceding year. He or she shall, upon retirement or removal from office, turn over to the local county, city, town or village authorities, or to his or her successor in office, if one has been then appointed, all materials gathered during his or her incumbency and all correspondence relating thereto.”

(from Psychology Today)

Putting faith in luck can be seen as ceding control of destiny to the universe. But luck is not the same as chance. People who believe luck works in their favour are motivated to try challenging tasks and persist at them, according to new research by Maia Young at UCLA. "The more you think of luck as a stable personal trait, the more you feel personal agency," Young says. And feeling in control breeds confidence.

You can also practice specific strategies to make luck work for you. By studying lucky people, Richard Wiseman of the University of Hertfordshire in the UK has distilled four steps to good fortune.

• BREAK ROUTINE: Meet new people; walk a different route to work. New experiences offer fresh opportunities.

• TURN BAD INTO GOOD: If something upsetting happens, consider how it could have been worse, and try to draw something positive from it.

• TRUST YOUR GUT: Decisions informed by intuition often produce happier outcomes. Meditation can quiet the noise around your hunches.

• LOOK UP: Positive expectations are often self-fulfilling because they increase motivation and persistence.

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Related Links

The Luck Factor by Richard Wiseman, The Skeptical Inquirer, May/June 2003 - "A ten-year scientific study into the nature of luck has revealed that, to a large extent, people make their own good and bad fortune. The results also show that it is possible to enhance the amount of luck that people encounter in their lives.

Born lucky? The relationship between feeling lucky and month of birth, Personality and Individual Differences, 39 (2005), 1451-1460: "Research suggests that season of birth is associated with several psychiatric and neurological disorders, and also with adult monoamine neurotransmitter turnover."

More on the Psychology of Luck by Richard Wiseman, University of Hertfordshire, UK

The following video clips show the process and discussion that takes place at meetings of the Village of Monticello Board of Trustees. These clips show a motion by Trustee Carmen Rue on July 6, 2009 to hire Raymond Nargizian as Village Manager; seconded by Trustee Scott Schoonmaker, Trustee Victor Marinello also voting yes. The motion carried 3 to 2.

The Town of Thompson, Capelli Enterprises, Inc.; and Thunder 102 Radio provided a country western concert, playing to an estimated 1,000 people in the grandstands of the Mighty M Racino (aka Monticello Racetrack) for Sullivan County's bicentennial bash.

The musical event feature country-western musical lin-up including Iron Cowboy, Somerville Brothers, and Cowboy Crush.

To: Monticello Village Manager, Mayor, Trustees, Attorney, Clerk, and Others Whom It May Concern:

Following is an historical summary of residency requirements placed on past appointed Village Managers. Historically, the last person prior to one recent brief occupant of the office who was fired at the end of December, to be “permanently” appointed by the Board of Trustees as Village Manager who lived inside Village limits at the time of his hiring as Manager was Robert Norris of Lake Street, some 21 years ago in 1998.

NYS Village Law § 3-300(2)(a) permits the Board of Trustees to exempt any appointed Village officer who might otherwise be required to live within municipal limits from a residency requirement, provided the person lives within the county “in which the village is wholly or partially situated.” The Monticello Village Board has always complied with this law. Manager Zachary Kelson in 2008, Manager Raymond Nargizian in 2006, and Manager Richard Sush in 2001, were all specifically and lawfully authorized by resolution of the Board of Trustees to live outside the limits of the Village of Monticello. All three men were indeed and remain Sullivan County residents.