By Jack Halchak, past chief HFD
The Hurleyville Fire Department is always looking for help, to fight fire or support those that do. We even supply all of the gear and provide all of the training needed, for free. Stop by any Monday night and find out how you can help. It has been a while since someone stopped by. Ryan Green did and is now a member. Welcome aboard to our newest member: Ryan Green.
The 16th Annual Morningside Fishing Classic was held on the first day of the New York State bass season. The 5 a.m. start greeted us with a misty fog and a very calm Morningside Lake with temperatures in the low 60s. Because of all the recent rain the lake was a little high and with the crazy weather that we have had (cold, hot, cold, hot) the weed growth was at a minimum. The water was a bit cool and tea stained in color, but clear. There were also a couple of brief showers during the contest. At times it got bright and the sun tried to poke through, but didn’t.
A lot of fish were caught early, at the start of the contest. Many were caught on rubber worms, black and sweet potato in color were popular, fished Carolina rigged or Texas rigged.
But it seemed that the winners needed something different to catch the bigger fish. Case in point: The winner, Steven Bennett, used a multi-color crank bait to put 9.85 lbs. of bass into his live well to take home first place. He had a 3.09 and 2.10 pounder in his limit of five fish. Second place went to Tom Clegg of Newburgh. Tom used a black worm and fished it wacky style to fill his live well with five quality bass. Tom has placed in this tournament for a number of years and he won it last year. Third place went to Chad Unger of Forestburgh with 7.51 pounds of fish. Chad used a spinner bait to get his fish. Using the spinner bait he also caught the lunker of the day a 5.14 pounder that also won him a fifty dollar bill for the lunker (largest fish of the day by weight).
Only one pickerel was entered, and that was entered by Noah Crowley of Liberty. It was 18.50 inches long and weighed 1.38 pounds.
Close to Morningside Lake is the Morningside Four Corners intersection. The old Morningside Hotel was near the lake and the intersection was always referred to “Morningside Four Corners.”
The fire department has responded to many, many accidents at this intersection over the years.
Let’s take a look at the roads that make up the intersection.
Going from Hurleyville to Loch Sheldrake the road is variously called: County Road 104, Main Street, Loch Sheldrake-Hurleyville Road, and Francis Currey Boulevard.
Making a left toward Liberty, it is County Road 51 or Hilldale Road.
Making the right toward Old Falls, it is County Road 52 or Brickman Road.
So where is the problem and why are there so many accidents at this intersection? The line of sight is good coming from all directions. When you are driving from Loch Sheldrake to Hurleyville you CAN NOT beat the light. 99 out of 100 times it will be RED when you get to it. Coming from Hurleyville to the light you can see the light as you round the corner. Coming from Liberty you can see the light change at least once and coming from Old Falls the line of sight is fine.
I have sat at the light and had a car pass me on the right and make a turn onto Brickman Road and at the same time I have even had a car pass me on the left and make the left towards Liberty all while the light was RED. There are signs on all of the corners that say “no right turn on red.”
Another time, while my wife and I were working on the Welcome to Hurleyville sign, we watched a car run the red light and get hit.
I have questioned people at the various accidents and they say “I thought I could beat the light.”
You can’t.
For a light with a good line of sight and no right turn on red, there are way too many accidents at this intersection. You can’t beat the light.
Please be careful at the “Morningside Four Corners” intersection.
As long as we are talking about traffic take note of the construction on Main Street in Hurleyville. With construction going on and the traffic cones the road is a little narrow.
If you see any red or blue emergency lights, pull over in a safe spot and let the emergency vehicles pass.
Summer is upon us and it brings more traffic.
Drive with care and be careful at the “Morningside Four Corners.” Remember you can’t beat the light, try as you might. If you try, you will likely hear me asking, “what happened?”