The snow and the ice are starting to melt. The temperature's starting to rise a little higher each and every day. All around the village and town, residents are pulling their short-sleeved shirts out of the closet and are starting to pack away their winter coats. Everyone can feel it happening: spring is coming.

It's been a tough winter for Ellenville and Wawarsing, and even the entire state of New York. Our village is facing a tough budgetary crisis that's prompted some harsh words and feelings from residents. Our town may lose one of its flagship businesses, Gillette Creamery, which would be yet another blow to our flagging economy. Our state's governor, whose office is just an hour or so north of here, has resigned amid scandal and hypocrisy. No…winter hasn't been particularly kind to any of us.

But with winter's exit and spring's entrance, we can see that things are starting to turn around. Our village officials are exploring as many options as they can to try and turn the budget around, seeking a way to end the general fund's deficit and start anew in the upcoming fiscal year. While Gillette Creamery's future in the area isn't assured, town and village officials are working closely with the UCDC to try and make sure that not only can the business stay, but that they can also expand to offer new jobs to our community's citizens. Even Albany's got someone new in the governor's chair; former deputy-governor David Patterson seems poised to bridge the gap between parties to fix the state's broken budget and make New York a great place to live and work once again. All across the board, it looks like people are trying to turn things around and bring a fresh and positive outlook to their lives. The Ellenville Journal is no different.

Our expansion into Pine Bush is just one part of our efforts to continue bringing our area's important news and goings-on to all of the communities who really care about our region's success. One of the next steps in that effort is our new, monthly column, "The Good Neighbor Files." These will be articles that focus on people in and around our region who work hard to make Ellenville, Wawarsing, Pine Bush, and the surrounding areas wonderful places to live. We all know that our close-knit communities are great places to be — that's why we continue to live and work here. We at the Journal want to shine our spotlight on those folks who help our corner of the Hudson Valley live up to its full potential…but we can't do it without you.

If you know someone who deserves to be featured in our "Good Neighbor Files," send an e-mail to us at goodneighbor@ellenvillejournal.com, or send us a snail-mail letter to P.O. Box 669, Ellenville Journal, NY, 12428.

We know you're out there — let your voices be heard!

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