Keep Rip Van Winkle

To the editor:

In the recent two weeks or son, there have been articles in the Catskill Daily Mail starting that the Village Board of Trustees of the Village of Catskill want to put the statue of RVW to be bed for good, and get rid of the old and start with the new, however, only one village board member wants to do this.

There is no reason that only the village board and their experts/company that they hire gets the only say about Rip Van Winkle history and the statue that stands so proud on Main Street in Catskill.

This should be left up to the entire village of Catskill residents and all Greene County residents, not just the board and its hired company that doesn’t even live in Greene County, not to mention the waste of taxpayer money to hire that company.

I urge all village of Catskill residents, March 19, 2019 is the village elections, don’t vote for the person who wants to kill the history of Rip Van Winkle and the statue that stands over Main Street for months at a time. Don’t vote for the current village that thinks he is the only one that has the say to put Rip Van Winkle history and statue down the toilet.

Now is the time to voice your say about all the great history, that Mr. Seeley says is too old to keep. What’s wrong with history, it’s what is taught in school every day.

To all village of Catskill residents and all Greene County residents, if you want the history of Rip Van Winkle alive for years to come (especially for our children and grandchildren), voice your concerns now before it is too late, attend village meetings, write letters to all village of Catskill officials, and all Greene County lawmakers as well.

Rip Van Winkle is a part of Greene County and Catskill and the entire state of New York, also write all lawmakers in Albany, also Governor Cuomo if you want to keep RVW.

In closing, while I support keeping the old, RVW history and statue alive for years, I do not support keeping my voice unheard.

Elton Vandermark Jr.

Catskill