Heartwarming Club History

Established in 1902, our organization has seen some wonderful people and their families spend time within the gates of our property over the last century and a half!  Our Clubhouse was once the farm of the Beakes family of Middletown.  Our current President, Rick Van Haaster's wife, Kelly,  is a descendent from that family!

This beautiful handmade wooden sign that is typically located at the front entrance of our property is being refinished by a humble member!  

Member, Eddie Rich, recently took his centurian mother,  to the pond to enjoy the sunshine and some mother-son fishing time at the pond.  Secretary, Nicole Hewson, who was there for the Work Party stopped to say hello and learned that this amazing woman's secret to living 100+ years young is staying busy.  Nicole photographed their big catch and sat and talked with Margarie for while.  Margarie grew up at the club, as her father was one of the caretakers.  She has fond memories of running around the pond with her siblings.  It was an unforgettable beautiful experience to meet someone so amazing!

Just this past week (May 2026), Cindy Miller, daughter of former caretaker, and member, Bob Cherry, donated her father's fishing poles, handing them over to Brian Barker, our Fishing/Pond Committee Chairman, who fondly remembers Bob with a warm humor shared between him and Cindy over his membership card back in the day!  These fishing poles will be used at youth and Veteran events.  Cindy fondly remembers growing up here at Shawangunk Fish & Game Association and she shared some nice photographs of her father with us.  Thank you for paying it forward Cindy!

Past Member Ron Gentile's family who is the late Father-in-Law of current Facilities Management Chairman and Safety Director, Stefano Milioto and his wife Leah donated her dad's beautiful rifles and other momentos of his time at the club.  These have been decommissioned and hung beautifully on the wall with other momentos of Ron's happy memories at Shawangunk Fish & Game Association.  Stefano is photographed below wearing the apron at the Chicken Barbeque with Eric Hewson.

Our benches around the pond are dedicated to individuals whose contributions to the club were impactful, and some of the items on our clubhouse mantle and walls are also tributes to those people.  This page is intended to share some stories and captured moments in time by momentos and photographs and to remember their names.

Pond Bench Memorial Name Plates:  Most recent dedication to past officer, Kyle Conselyea is directly below.  His wife was photographed after a short dedication ceremony on June 2, 2025 led by former President Roger DeRoziere, with members Jim Cole and Bob Zovinka, his two close friends along with officers of the club.

Our good friend and former Board Member and Pond Committee Chairman, Bill Bright, passed away on October 20, 2024.  He will be fondly remembered for being a wonderful hunter, fisherman, trap shooter, and dog owner, and around the block neighbor to members, Eric and Nicole Hewson.  Bill's term on the board was not yet set to end when sadly, he passed away unexpectedly.  Stefano Milioto was amazing and made sure a Bill Bright Memorial Hat complete with duck and American Flag was made to remember him by within the club.  His family and friends donated some of his most treasured items as momentos and a tribute to him is now in the fireplace room of our clubhouse.  Below, you can see two trophy deer hanging above our mantle in the fireplace room, his trap bag, and Secretary/neighbor of Bill's, Nicole Hewson, is wearing the Memorial Hat in the photo below.   The moose painting on preserved tree fungi was painted by Eric Hewson's mother, Susan Stevenson, who was an avid and well known nature photographer and wildlife and war history painter who was well-known in upstate New York for her commissioned work.

Much like Cindy Miller, Siblings, Tammy Porter, and her brother, Herbie,  fondly remember their childhoods at Shawangunk Fish and Game Association with their father.  In fact, Cindy and Tammy are very good friends with one another and their fathers were friends.  After Tammy's dear father's recent passing, she passed along the vintage patch to Board Member, Harvery Stern, who shared it for photography and it has been used as one of our club logos on our Facebook page.  More to follow on this story soon!