Despite the fact that many people were looking forward to yet another masterpiece by field-artist Roger Baker, it seems a case of miscommunication and misunderstanding has extinguished the project before it even got underway. The piece was to be cut into nearby Kelly field on route 209, and was inspired by the Currier and Ives print called "The American Fireman," which can be seen in the Ellenville Public Library and Museum.

Baker says that there wasn't enough time to make the project happen, but considering how long the planning process for the project has been — roughly two and a half years — there's a bit more to this story than a simple loss of time.

"That was quite a blow to what we were doing. The picture that Roger was going to cut is on all of our t-shirts, it's on our programs, it's on all of our posters. It's really frustrating for us," says Chris Depew, Kerhonkson Fire Company's assistant chief and chairman of the Southern Ulster Public Safety Association, or SUPSA, which is comprised of Wawarsing's four fire companies: Cragsmoor, Ellenville, Kerhonkson, and Napanoch. Depew and SUPSA have been working for six years to prepare for the coming of the Hudson Valley Volunteer Firemen's Association Convention to the Ellenville-Wawarsing area. Baker's art was the centerpiece of the entire affair, says Depew, with sketches of the planned art adorning their promotional materials.

"It certainly isn't going to affect the parade at all, but it is certainly going to affect our ability to show off our town," says Depew. "We wanted to show people the things that we're really good at."

So what happened?

The cause behind the project's abandonment is simple, but the kind of thing that can cause major damage and distress: miscommunication.

About two and a half years ago, says Depew, he got in touch with Joe Sherry, son of Rosalie Sherry. Sherry is one of the three owners of Kelly Field on Route 209, the site of several festivals, carnivals, and shows over the years; the other two owners are her sisters-in-law Alberta and Pat Kelly. Depew says he asked Joe if the field could be used for Baker's field-art in the summer of 2008 in conjunction with the HVVFA Convention, and that Joe agreed, prompting Depew and SUPSA to continue with plans for Baker's project, which would involve firefighters' vehicles to surround the field's perimeter.

However, Alberta Kelly says that the consent SUPSA was given was not quite enough.

"Whoever gave them permission for this had no right to," says Alberta. Apparently, none of the three owners of the field say that they knew about the project, and only learned about it last Tuesday, says her sister Pat Kelly.

Pat also says that she learned about the project by accident, and that she spoke with Baker about not knowing about the project.

"When I did find out, I spoke with Roger, and he was shocked that we weren't even notified that they had plans to do anything," says Pat.

Alberta also counts the many firefighter vehicles and trucks that would've ringed the perimeter of the field as part of why she didn't want the event to take place. "We just came to a mutual decision that we weren't going to do it," says Pat.

But Joe Sherry's mother, Rosalie, whose father formerly owned the field, doesn't share the opinions of her sisters-in-law, saying that she was "100% for it," and "didn't see any reason it could not happen."

"I feel very badly about this," says Rosalie. She says that she called Depew on the phone to say that she would do everything she could to have the field be made available — until she finally got a hold of Roger Baker, who told her that it was simply too late to begin the project, and that there wasn't enough time.

Depew has his doubts about the way the events unfolded, saying that he finds it "hard to believe that they didn't know."

"We've had an artist working on this thing, drawings have been all over the place, posters have been all over town for the last two years," he says.

"We've been talking to [Joe Sherry] every month or so ever since then, and he never led us to believe that we needed to know anything more," Depew continues. "We didn't even know that there was a corporation or anything… The only thing they asked us to do was to add them to our insurance. So if they didn't know about it, why did they ask us to add them to our insurance?"

In spite of the setback, however, the convention is at hand, and begins this very day. The festivities and parades are still all on schedule, and festivities and revelry will continue without Baker's much-anticipated field-artwork.

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