Editorial Pain, Part II

I wrote about Ryan and his late sister Kayla in last week's editorial. They were special people from a great family. I hope that everyone reading this goes to the celebration of life today at 5pm at the Timothy Murphy Park.

Ryan deserves the elevation, and his friends and family deserve catharsis.

Some comments were thrown about Monday's Middleburgh village board meeting opposing the donation of funds raised to the New York Wildlife Rescue Center by Mayor Bergan. Those comments were ignorant, wrong, and quite cruel under the circumstances. A few minutes of attention would have avoided the tangent.

Ryan and Kayla spent untold time at Wes Laraway's farm and rescue. Kayla was an outstanding, big-hearted person who did more through the rescue than most. Mr. Laraway has been tireless in his efforts to honor her legacy since her passing in 2016.

Mr. Laraway also has not taken a cent from his hours-- at all hours of the day and days of the week-- rescuing animals. The man's main fault is that he expends himself for the benefit of families and animals in need. Not only does he not take a salary, he donates more in a year in time, money, and sweat, than many people do in a lifetime. I can think of no better tribute to Ryan, who I knew since he was 6, than to have his family and friends present for a concert performed by his band, and the proceeds donated to the rescue. Trustee Bob Tinker and DPW head Nick Dunscombe correctly pointed this out during the meeting.

I've written about Wes many times in my editorials. The man is not perfect in politics. He is close to it in education. In animal rescue, he is first class. If it has scales, feathers, or fur (or even porcupine quills) and it lives in New York State, chances are that Wes Laraway has been out on a 2am call taking care of the animal.

Was there miscommunication from organizer Mike Bernard, who I've also known for a long time? Not any that I see. He's done something very kind for Ryan and his family. Any from Supervisor Laraway? Not unless I'm missing something.  We’re also doing our best to help, offering complimentary space in our paper. 

No one is profiting, except Ryan’s legacy.

The current park use rules were set up during my tenure as Middleburgh's Mayor. They still work well. The rules aren't the problem, nor the organization of an event for a person many people in the community loved.

I hope that all of our readers will support the event and the rescue at PO Box 410, Middleburgh, NY 12122 or https://nywildliferescue.org/support-us/. Tell them the Mountain Eagle sent you.

Ryan and Kayla Urrey's lives mattered very much to me. I hope that their memory will be the same blessing that they were both in life.

-- Matthew Avitabile, Publisher