Published: August 21, 2008 09:33 am         

South Valley

By CAROL BRODIE



I haven’t had a bird report

in awhile, but we are still enjoying

our summer birds

around the area. Bill and

Marsha Mabie have had numerous

finches, some orioles,

flickers, a pair of cedar waxwings,

busy little hummingbirds,

among other birds.



Meanwhile, we occasionally

see our pair of cardinals, but

they seem to only visit the

feeder early in the morning

or later in the evening. I finally

did manage to take a

picture of the male one morning.

We had a busy week at

the Cobleskill Fair from Aug.

5 through 10 and enjoyed the

many people who stopped by

our booth to say hello. I can’t

mention them all, but some

of our local area folks whom I

saw were Jim and Carolyn

Sweeney, Marilyn, Jessica

and Grayson Mollen, Margaret,

Tiffany and Brent Mabie,

Connie Capece, Fran and Joslyn

Mabie, Dick and June

Hansen and grandchildren,

Alice Morell, Leland and Pat

Mabie and Annie Anderson,

Raymond and Sandy Sutton,

Rodney Brazie and Darlene

Coon, and Heather Webster

and children, along with her

niece, Sarah Mancuso. My

grandnephew and grandniece,

Jerred and Jaidon

Brodie, also stopped by to see

us one day as they were visiting

the fair with their other

grandparents, Steve and

Amy Fancher.



I also met some new people

this year as they stopped

by to visit and asked that I

mention them in my column.

I enjoyed a nice visit with

Charles and Marilyn Dufresne,

of Worcester, as they

asked about the Mabies, with

some of whom they attended

school with many years ago.

Gerard McGrath, of East

Worcester, stopped by twice

to visit and asked to be remembered

to his good friend,

Clifford Snyder. Frank Sause,

of Hyde Park, also stopped

by the booth and enjoyed a

visit with my dad and mom.

Frank grew up in South Valley

and remembers living in

the current Mollen house

back around 1938.



We were having such a

busy week that I was completely

taken off guard by a

surprise that I knew I had

coming when my friends, Peter

and Louise Siretz, of

Spencer, N.Y., and her son,

Paul, from Florida, walked

into our booth on Friday!

Then on Saturday, my friend,

Veritta “Sam” Munk, and

her husband, Tim, of Rexford,

visited me as they usually

do each year.



But neither “Sam” nor I

were quite ready for the surprise

we received that evening

when our friend, Janette

Reynolds, showed up!

We’ve known each other and

been friends since our days

at Mid-State Baptist Camp,

near Middleburgh, back in

1971, and this was the first

time the three of us have

been together since way back

then!



As with each year, you

wonder what kind of neighbors

you are going to get in

the booths surrounding you,

but once again, we were fortunate

enough to have terrific

neighbors, and we all

had a great time together!

Across from us, in fact, was

Vicki Hazzard, and her little

girl, Samantha, from Cherry

Valley, so it was neat to meet

and get to know them.



It was also very interesting

as I met a young man

from Hungary as he stopped

by to purchase some maple

products. He was very inquisitive

and had lots of

questions about the process

of making maple syrup. One

of the main reasons I enjoy

doing the fairs is because you

get to meet all kinds of people

and it is very interesting

visiting with some of them.

On the other side of the

curtain from us, in Progressland,

is the Schoharie County

Emergency Services booth.

Each year they have daily

drawings for prizes and at

the end of the week, they also

have a drawing for a big prize

as the name is picked from

all of the entries during the

week. I’d like to congratulate

two of the daily winners who

were from the Town of Roseboom.

On Tuesday, Curtis

VanDewerker, of Pleasant

Brook, won the tower fan,

and Rodney Brazie, of South

Valley, won the two thermometers

in Friday’s drawing.



Birthdays and

Anniversaries



Birthday wishes go out to

Claran “Sissy” Lundgren,

Brian VanBuren, Karen Butler,

Jacob Brodie who will be

six years old, Tom Laymon,

Adrienne Mabie, Stacy Van-

Buren, Micah Schecter, Barry

Webster, my dad, Elliot

Brodie, Destiny Miller, Carol

Mabie, and Katelyn France.

Anniversary wishes go to

Mark and Debbie Anderson,

Paul and Gertie Schecter,

Stacy and Lorel VanBuren,

George and Kim Gray, and

Rob and Heather Webster.

Wedding Congratulations

Congratulations to Ben

Shaffer and Lisa Kiesow who

were joined in marriage by

Pastor Ron Fralick at the

Cherry Valley Presbyterian

Church on Saturday, July

19. Ben’s mom, Hilda, reports

that the wedding was

absolutely beautiful and the

radiant couple looked lovely.

The Shaffers farmhouse

was a bustle of activity for a

few days as out of state relatives

arrived to attend the

wedding and the reception,

which was held at the Cobleskill

Ski Lodge, following

the wedding.



The newlyweds enjoyed a

honeymoon in Ocean City,

Md., and are now settling

into their home on Honey

Hill. Ben keeps busy with his

hoof trimming business and

he also works on the family

farm with his dad and mom,

Walt and Hilda Shaffer. Lisa

will be starting a new job

this fall teaching calculus

and algebra at the Richfield

Springs Central School.

Webster Family Reunion

The Webster Family Reunion

was held at Glimmerglass

State Park, Cooperstown,

on Saturday, Aug. 2,

with 63 people attending.

Hayden Nora Mabie, ninemonth-

old daughter of Jerome

and Denise Mabie, of

Locust Grove, Va., was the

youngest family member

present. Myra Webster, of

Cherry Valley, was the oldest

family member present.

Barbara “Bobbie” (Huntington)

Burdick, of Placitas,

N.M., came the furthest distance.

Those attending were

from Cherry Valley, Springfield,

Oneonta, Fort Plain,

Cooperstown, Burlington

Flats, Albany, Troy, Pleasant

Brook, Hartwick, Westford,

Orange, Va., Locust

Grove, Va., Madison Heights,

Va., and Placitas, N.M.

A big “thank you” to Shirley

Webster for sharing the

Webster Reunion information

with me.



Bits and Pieces



Marsha Mabie and daughter

Belinda Hoagland took

Destiny Hoagland and her

girlfriend, Josh and Reise

Hoagland, and Christopher

Bateman to Linerick, Maine,

on Thursday, July 31, where

they all spent a few days at

Marsha’s brother’s camp.

The kids enjoyed all kinds of

water sports and had lots of

outdoor fun. They all returned

home on Tuesday,

Aug. 5.