Local residents with long memories will remember the Ellenville Hill Climb, a road rally race that was held over a series of years nearly four decades ago. Could the area be returning to its racing ways? If the Ellenville Journal's internet forum is any indication, the possibility of having a road rally run through twenty miles of roads within the town of Wawarsing is exciting to many.

Wawarsing's town board will decide tonight if it will allow Rally New York to hold a portion of its September 7-8 racing event on the town's roads. People in support of the event focus on three things: increased commerce, publicity for the community and fun.

Those who are against the rally echo the concerns residents of the Sullivan County town of Tusten voiced when they pushed their town board to discontinue races on Lackawaxen Road: damage to the roads, accumulation of trash and general safety issues.

Prior to their approach of Wawarsing, Rally New York officials last made headlines in late June when the Tusten's town board voted 3 to 2 to prevent the race's return to a portion of the town. Liberty, which held races in past years, has done away with them altogether.

Accounts of how widespread the dissatisfaction with the races and their aftermath differ. Rally New York, Ltd. President, Ivan Orisek, argued with the severity and number of complaints that were actually produced by the events. Orisek was backed up in his assertion when Tusten town planning board member told the area's local newspaper that complaints were made by a limited number of people.

But a sign-up sheet at a town board meeting that offered the option to say whether residents were for or against the race found 29 against and only 4 in favor. The race, conducted as a series of time trials, would close a series of roads in the Town of Wawarsing for a period of 3-5 hours on Friday, September 7 and Saturday, September 8.

The Wawarsing Town Board meeting will be held at 7:00 p.m. on the second floor of the Town Hall located on Canal Street in Ellenville.

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