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ShareJustine Hommel receives history award
  
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Hommel honored for steadfast historic preservation
By Jim Planck
Hudson-Catskill Newspapers
HAINES FALLS — The Mountaintop community turned out in Haines Falls on Saturday to honor one of the Catskill Mountains’ longest serving and most knowledgeable local historians, as the Greene County Historical Society (GCHS) awarded the Town of Hunter’s Justine Hommel the first-ever Jessie Van Vechten Vedder Award for Historic Preservation.
The award is named after the first Greene County Historian and a founding member of the GCHS, who is probably best known for stopping the NYS Department of Transportation in the 1930s from destroying the 18th century stone bridge in Leeds.
Hommel, who is a former board member of the GCHS, is also a founding member of the Mountain Top Historical Society, having served as its president for more than 30 years, and has been Town of Hunter Historian since 1982.
Like Vedder, Hommel, too, has had encounters with DOT — hers in protecting the aesthetic and historic integrity of Kaaterskill Clove, which is, of course, the corridor for State Route 23A from Palenville to Haines Falls and Hunter.
In the 1980s, when DOT was going to replace aging stonework with corrugated steel, it was Hommel who stepped forward and successfully fought to keep it from happening.
The celebration was held at the Haines Falls Free Library, where Hommel served as librarian from 1957 until her retirement in 1988.
In presenting the award — which bears a likeness of the Leeds Stone Bridge — GCHS President Robert Hallock noted the appropriateness of Hommel receiving the award.
Hallock said that Hommel’s activism, love of history, and dedication to historic preservation have benefited not only the county, but the region as a whole, and expressed sincere appreciation for both her historical expertise and her years of service in presenting the award.
Highlights among Hommel’s record of service include the film she created and wrote, “The Valleys, The Mountains and The Clove,” which garnered accolades from the NYS Historical Society for its historical excellence.
Among others, she has provided advisory assistance on the Hudson River School of Painting, the cloves, and the 19th century tourism industry to the Smithsonian, National Geographic Magazine, and the New York Times, as well as for journalist Bill Moyers when he was making a PBS documentary.
While leading the Mountain Top Historical Society, she and the MTHS acquired and restored the historic Haines Falls Ulster & Delaware Railroad Station, and also acquired the campus next to it, and located the Society’s Visitors Center and the Hudson River School Art Trail Interpretive Center there.
GCHS Board Director Tom Satterlee provided background on the plaque, and explained it was made by custom tilemaker Frank Giorgini, of Freehold, with woodwork by B. Goode.
Satterlee noted that Giorgini’s book, “Handmade Tiles,” is basically the industry standard, and that he has performed numerous prestigious public works, including the 2011 Commemorative Centennial Tile for the New York Public Library, and that his pieces grace art centers and museums nationwide.
Town of Hunter Supervisor Dennis Lucas announced that the town board passed a resolution making Hommel’s recognition and achievement part of the town’s official record.
Reading the resolution, Lucas noted Hommel’s 30 years as Town Historian and “the exemplary manner” in which she has interpreted the town’s history “in print, film, and audio,” helping to define “the community’s sense of place,” he said.
The resolution, as read, also expresses the town’s “great appreciation for her body of work,” and her “effective championing of history.”
Mountain Top Historical Society Executive Director Barbara Mattson presented Hommel with a beautiful bouquet of flowers to top the day off, and Hommel fought her emotions to speak to the assembled crowd of friends, family, and fellow historians.
“I can’t say anything or I’ll cry,” Hommel said.
“It’s certainly the greatest honor I’ve ever had, so thank you,” she added.
Laughing, Hommel said that in a recent, similar — but smaller — event, she contacted DOT last year, and suggested to them that when they finished their repair on 23A, rather than put in fake stonework to replace the stonework they had dismantled to do the repairs, they should instead use the real thing since it was right there on hand.
“So I wrote them a letter,” Hommel said, “asking them why not use the stones that are there.”
“They were mined in a quarry nearby,” she added, “so that makes them part of history, too.”
Hommel said that she didn’t hear anything at first, but then got a personal visit.
“One day the men came to me and said,” Hommel explained — laughing and adding in a suitable voice — ‘Where do you want the stones, lady?’ ’’ which drew laughter in its own right from all present.
Holding the award and looking at the filled library, Hommel expressed her appreciation.
“I am truly honored,” she said.
To reach reporter Jim Planck, call 518-943-2100, ext. 3324, or e-mail jplanck@thedailymail.net.
The award is named after the first Greene County Historian and a founding member of the GCHS, who is probably best known for stopping the NYS Department of Transportation in the 1930s from destroying the 18th century stone bridge in Leeds.
Hommel, who is a former board member of the GCHS, is also a founding member of the Mountain Top Historical Society, having served as its president for more than 30 years, and has been Town of Hunter Historian since 1982.
Like Vedder, Hommel, too, has had encounters with DOT — hers in protecting the aesthetic and historic integrity of Kaaterskill Clove, which is, of course, the corridor for State Route 23A from Palenville to Haines Falls and Hunter.
In the 1980s, when DOT was going to replace aging stonework with corrugated steel, it was Hommel who stepped forward and successfully fought to keep it from happening.
The celebration was held at the Haines Falls Free Library, where Hommel served as librarian from 1957 until her retirement in 1988.
In presenting the award — which bears a likeness of the Leeds Stone Bridge — GCHS President Robert Hallock noted the appropriateness of Hommel receiving the award.
Hallock said that Hommel’s activism, love of history, and dedication to historic preservation have benefited not only the county, but the region as a whole, and expressed sincere appreciation for both her historical expertise and her years of service in presenting the award.
Highlights among Hommel’s record of service include the film she created and wrote, “The Valleys, The Mountains and The Clove,” which garnered accolades from the NYS Historical Society for its historical excellence.
Among others, she has provided advisory assistance on the Hudson River School of Painting, the cloves, and the 19th century tourism industry to the Smithsonian, National Geographic Magazine, and the New York Times, as well as for journalist Bill Moyers when he was making a PBS documentary.
While leading the Mountain Top Historical Society, she and the MTHS acquired and restored the historic Haines Falls Ulster & Delaware Railroad Station, and also acquired the campus next to it, and located the Society’s Visitors Center and the Hudson River School Art Trail Interpretive Center there.
GCHS Board Director Tom Satterlee provided background on the plaque, and explained it was made by custom tilemaker Frank Giorgini, of Freehold, with woodwork by B. Goode.
Satterlee noted that Giorgini’s book, “Handmade Tiles,” is basically the industry standard, and that he has performed numerous prestigious public works, including the 2011 Commemorative Centennial Tile for the New York Public Library, and that his pieces grace art centers and museums nationwide.
Town of Hunter Supervisor Dennis Lucas announced that the town board passed a resolution making Hommel’s recognition and achievement part of the town’s official record.
Reading the resolution, Lucas noted Hommel’s 30 years as Town Historian and “the exemplary manner” in which she has interpreted the town’s history “in print, film, and audio,” helping to define “the community’s sense of place,” he said.
The resolution, as read, also expresses the town’s “great appreciation for her body of work,” and her “effective championing of history.”
Mountain Top Historical Society Executive Director Barbara Mattson presented Hommel with a beautiful bouquet of flowers to top the day off, and Hommel fought her emotions to speak to the assembled crowd of friends, family, and fellow historians.
“I can’t say anything or I’ll cry,” Hommel said.
“It’s certainly the greatest honor I’ve ever had, so thank you,” she added.
Laughing, Hommel said that in a recent, similar — but smaller — event, she contacted DOT last year, and suggested to them that when they finished their repair on 23A, rather than put in fake stonework to replace the stonework they had dismantled to do the repairs, they should instead use the real thing since it was right there on hand.
“So I wrote them a letter,” Hommel said, “asking them why not use the stones that are there.”
“They were mined in a quarry nearby,” she added, “so that makes them part of history, too.”
Hommel said that she didn’t hear anything at first, but then got a personal visit.
“One day the men came to me and said,” Hommel explained — laughing and adding in a suitable voice — ‘Where do you want the stones, lady?’ ’’ which drew laughter in its own right from all present.
Holding the award and looking at the filled library, Hommel expressed her appreciation.
“I am truly honored,” she said.
To reach reporter Jim Planck, call 518-943-2100, ext. 3324, or e-mail jplanck@thedailymail.net.
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