On Tuesday, October 3, Senator Charles "Chuck" Schumer came to visit the Village of Ellenville and parts of the Town of Wawarsing. Mayor Jeffrey Kaplan, Chamber of Commerce President Bill Tochterman and several other local officials accompanied Senator Schumer on a brief walking tour of Ellenville's downtown district.

The Senator arrived at Ellenville's Village Hall and greeted the several people in attendance. The tour group then moved from the current Village Hall to the Village's new Village Hall where Mayor Kaplan spoke with the Senator about possibly housing federal offices in the new building. Kaplan went on to say that he would like to see an unemployment office and a social security office in Ellenville, due to the fact that the groups that those offices serve, the elderly and unemployed, find it difficult to arrange transportation to either Kingston or Monticello. The Senator spoke to his staff saying, "Let's see if we can do that."

After the new building was discussed, the group made its way down Canal Street where it made a stop at the Shadowland Theater. Senator Schumer was greeted by the theater's staff as well as its head of public relations, Martin Rabkin.

Senator Chuck Schumer responding to a question.

After exiting the theater, Senator Schumer made his way down the block to the Aroma Thyme Bistro where he met the restaurant's owners, Marcus and Jamie Guiliano. The Senator was quite noticeably impressed with the restaurant's Zagat rating and quizzed Mr. Guiliano about the various ingredients on his menu.

It was in front of the Aroma Thyme Bistro that Senator Schumer took questions from the various media organizations present. However, first on his list was Ellenville Junior Rebecca Cohen who spoke with the Senator about his high school experiences. Asked about his high school career, Mr. Schumer recalled his basketball team and quipped that their motto used to be, "We may be short, but we're slow."

On a more serious note, Senator Schumer expressed his concern for having properly credentialed teachers educating America's children. He offered the statistic that, "Only three percent of new math teachers have training in math. How can we have that?" He also went on to explain that, after the values set by parents, teachers are the most important factors in a child's education.

As he walked around the downtown, Senator Schumer noticed what he felt were, similarities between Ellenville, Beacon and Hudson. He said, "Where you are is where they were not too long ago. This is very exciting."

After his small press conference, Senator Schumer and the group in attendance took a bus ride up to the Ellenville Regional Hospital. During the bus ride, Senator Schumer was accompanied by his staff, some members of the press and a bag of rugelah from Cohen's Bakery. At the hospital, he met with its President and CEO, Steve Kelley, and took a brief tour of the hospital's new imaging equipment. The Senator also took time out to speak with several staff members as well as posed for pictures.

Throughout the tour the Senator demonstrated an impressive knowledge of the Ellenville area as he recalled time he spent as a youth at the Nevele Hotel. Senator Schumer's visit represents the highest governmental official to visit Ellenville in forty years; the last time being when President Lyndon Johnson attended the dedication of the Ellenville Regional Hospital in 1967.

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