By Jeanne Sager
BETHEL — August 18, 2006 — The feather in Nancy Levine’s cap is golden.
After three years of hard work, Levine and the band of folks who “don’t say no to Nancy,” were flying high Monday evening.
The Swan Lake category C Sullivan Renaissance project walked off with the big prize in this year’s competition – the $50,000 Golden Feather Award.
The prize, secured several years ago by Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther, goes to one project a year.
The winner is said to have “exhibited the highest level of excellence in all aspects of the project” over a three-year period.
That excellence in Swan Lake Revitalization came from a diverse community filled with full-time and part-time residents of different faiths.
“I think it’s brought a lot of people together that didn’t otherwise know each other,” said resident M.K. Mooney. “It’s a community-bonding experience.”
Town of Liberty Supervisor Frank DeMayo commended what he called a “dedicated little community” for setting aside their differences to make something happen.
He pointed the finger to Levine.
“She’s infectious, and you’re right, you can’t say ‘No’ to Nancy!” he said with a laugh.
But Levine, a lifelong Swan Lake resident, pointed her finger back into the community.
The project began when Angela Streppone moved Black Bear Fuel Oil into the heart of Swan Lake four years ago, Levine explained.
“She came into Swan Lake, bought a business and made it look nice . . . and made everything else look so bad!” she quipped.
Levine said she wanted something good to come of the shame, so with Streppone’s help and a grant from Renaissance, they started hanging baskets of flowers in Swan Lake in 2004.
Help began pouring in.
Ana LaGattuta became Levine’s “right-hand woman.”
Tom and Mark LaGattuta of E&T Landscaping donated their equipment, plants and labor for gardening projects.
“They are Swan Lake kids who grew up, raised their families in Swan Lake, did well, and want to give back to their community,” Levine explained.
Then Daytop stepped up, sending their residents out to lend a hand anywhere they could.
“These men, they came and they worked so hard, and they didn’t want to leave at 4 o’clock when the day was done,” Levine said.
Next in line were the Swan Lake firemen who played host to spaghetti dinner fund-raisers and did the “million little things we couldn’t do ourselves,” Levine said, from picking up garbage to weed-whacking to watering the flowers.
They did that with water from the Swan Lake Country Store where Jay Patel and family have gone as far as to create storage for the Renaissance when needed.
Levine said the list could go on and on.
“There are 3,000 people to thank,” she said, quickly adding Keith Torrens, who donated his carpentry expertise to finish up a gazebo made by the kids at BOCES, and Andy Kavleski, his daughter Andrea, and the Liberty High School shop students, who made garbage receptacles.
“They’re so nice, people don’t even want to use them!” Levine said.
Even Tony Murolo, owner of Swan Lake, lent a hand – he was the man responsible for granting permission to turn around the waterfall area of the lake and create a real park which he will be donating to the town.
Now, with the help of the Liberty Community Development Corporation – which has held two workshops in the hamlet to gather ideas from the residents – Swan Lake is headed for bigger and better things.
CDC President Heinrich Strauch said the Golden Feather is start-up money that can be used as leverage to bring in larger sums of money from foundations and municipal grants.
An idea bandied about to add sidewalks on the main drag will cost substantially more than $50,000 but this is money that could be used for a community match or at least to prove the community has been recognized in the past and is a good investment.
“[Renaissance] has changed Swan Lake over the past two years already,” Strauch said. “This is such a great confirmation of our efforts.”
For Levine, the confirmation comes from the people of her community.
“The kids who ride bikes through town – now they stop to pick garbage up,” she said. “They’re proud to be from Swan Lake, they don’t have to be ashamed of it.”
Although the Golden Feather was the big prize of the night, Swan Lake isn’t the only one of the 43 community projects to get a shot in the arm at Monday’s award ceremony.
Sandra Gerry, the woman who started Sullivan Renaissance six years ago, said every single volunteer is a winner on behalf of Sullivan County.
“You’re really raising the bar,” Gerry told the crowd assembled in the Bethel Woods pavilion.
Other winners included:
Category A
First place ($3,000):
Eldred Central School – Beautification of front-side entrance
South Fallsburg Action Committee – Railroad Plaza walkway beautification
Second place ($2,000):
Center for Fallsburg Youth – Bridge of Flowers
Roscoe Chamber of Commerce – Municipal parking lot clock and garden
Third Place ($1,000):
Liberty St. Peter’s Church – Biblical garden
Woodridge Housing Authority – Eagle Ridge signage and gardens
Project Maintenance ($1,000):
Roscoe Chamber of Commerce – Municipal parking lot clock and garden
Showing of Flowers ($1,000, sponsored by the Sullivan County Democrat):
Roscoe Chamber of Commerce – Municipal parking lot clock and garden
Category B
First place ($10,000):
Monticello Recovery Center – 3 year plan to clean up, repair street fronts in a square block of Monticello
Neversink – Neversink Renaissance/ Daniel Pierce Library – miles of marigolds
Second place ($7,000):
Forestburgh – Main Street beautification
Monticello Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs – de Hoyos Park Gazebo and bulletin board
Third place ($5,000):
Jeffersonville JEMS – Sullivan West landscaping
Mountaindale Action Committee – garden beds at bulletin board park
Silver Feather ($2,500):
Mountaindale Action Committee – garden beds at bulletin board park
Environmental Impact ($1,000):
Mountaindale Action Committee – garden beds at bulletin board park
Mountaindale Community Development – greenhouse garden with solar watering system, Main Street flower boxes
Historic Preservation ($1,000):
Long Eddy – Long Eddy Renaissance – historical interpretive signs, landscaping
Showing of Flowers ($1,000):
Neversink – Neversink Renaissance/ Daniel Pierce Library – miles of marigolds
Project Maintenance ($1,000):
Monticello Recovery Center – 3 year plan to clean up, repair street fronts in a square block of Monticello
Monticello Federation of Sportsmen’s Clubs – de Hoyos Park Gazebo and bulletin board
Category C
Golden Feather ($50,000) – Assemblywoman Aileen Gunther:
Swan Lake Renaissance – Swan Lake Revitalization
Silver Feather ($2500) – Senator John J. Bonacic:
Rock Hill – signage, landscape architect
Environmental Impact ($1,000):
Lumberland –  Circle Park
Historic Preservation ($1,000):
Hurleyville Sullivan First – Veteran’s Park, Main Street Revitalization
Showing of Flowers ($1,000):
Bethel – Kauneonga Lake Corridor
Project Maintenance ($1,000):
Lumberland –  Circle Park
SCCC Scholarships
Full Time ($1,500):
Darrin Darby of Grahamsville – Neversink project
Matthew Blanchard of Hurleyville – Mountaindale and Fallsburg projects
Part Time ($750):
Mark Wilson of Monticello – Monticello project