NEW SCOTLAND – Don and Ann Eberle hold a lot of history inside their 200-year-old farmhouse. They have model steamboats; historical paintings; antique furniture; and a beautiful mural, two stories tall that illustrates the Hudson River, with Hudson River Day Line steamboats carrying passengers, cattle, or hauling tugboats, the historic Catskill Mountain House, and a rushing waterfall that descends from the second floor to the downstairs hallway.

The couple’s love of history, along with their hard work and dedication, were causes for a recent recognition.
After 60 years in the workforce, Don Eberle, now 76, retired in October from Capital Financial Planning. "I never had a problem getting up and going to work," Eberle said.
Todd Slingerland is the principal managing partner for the company, and felt that Eberle had dedicated "a lot of time, treasure, and talent" in his 35 years as a financial advisor.

To recognize the Eberles’ work, Slingerland established two grant funds, honoring Eberle, and his wife, Ann. One grant will support the New Scotland Historical Society, and the other will fund a steamboat exhibit at the Albany Museum of History and Art in honor of the Eberles.
Willard Osterhout is the president of the New Scotland Historical Society, and said the group is pleased to receive the money. It will be used for "preservation, restoration, and education," he said.

The society is hoping to set up a $500 scholarship that could be awarded to any New Scotland student – home-schooled, private-schooled, or public-schooled – who has interest in history, Osterhout told The Enterprise.

Osterhout said the initial endowment is $2,000 with an additional $1,000 a year.

The group will publicly honor the Eberles, and announce the grant on Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. at the Wyman Osterhout Community Center in New Salem, he said.
Mr. Eberle said that the grants "came about as a surprise, rather, a shock."
"We just thought it was such a great idea," Mrs. Eberle said, adding, "It’s better than a gold watch."
"Todd always admired my work ethic and my accomplishments," Mr. Eberle said.

The Eberles, Slingerland told The Enterprise, "are just wonderful people."

Mr. Eberle was on the board of the New Scotland Historical Society for a number of years, he said. Mrs. Eberle was the president for a time, and, along with her brother, who is a designer, she helped to remodel the museum, located in the community center, she said.

Slingerland and his company set up a fund that will appear as a line item in the historical society’s budget, he said. It will get annual contributions to sustain it, he said.

If the society has a project it is interested in pursuing, the idea can be pitched to him, and Slingerland will decide if it is something that his company would be interested in underwriting.
"We couldn’t think of anything more fitting," Slingerland said of honoring Eberle through a grant supporting the historical society. "Their name will always be attached to this society, as well it should be," he said.
Slingerland said that the historical society is "near and dear to my heart, too." He grew up in Berne and graduated from Berne-Knox-Westerlo High School, he said.

A working man for 60 years

Mr. Eberle entered the workforce as a mail boy at the Albany Hardware and Iron Company when he was 16. He worked there for 20 years until the company closed, at which point, he was the corporate secretary, he said.

In the time between his work as a mail boy, and his retirement, Mr. Eberle said he has worked in various sales positions – hardware, dental materials, and educating consulting sales.

He then got involved with financial services. He worked as a financial advisor for 32 years with Waddell and Reed, he said. It is there that he first met Slingerland, about 10 years ago. Slingerland was hired as the division manager, and Eberle was a senior financial advisor.

In 2003, Slingerland broke off from Waddell and Reed, creating his own business – Capital Financial Planning. He took Eberle with him, Mr. Eberle said.
The two worked together really well, Mr. Eberle said. Slingerland is "a real people person," he said.
"I’ve always enjoyed what I do," Mr. Eberle said of all of his various jobs.

Mrs. Eberle has also worked in a variety of fields, she said. She started out as a writer for The Knickerbocker News, a Gannett daily which covered Albany, and then wrote for The Spotlight, which then was an independent weekly newspaper covering Bethlehem, she said. She went on to sell advertising for The Spotlight, she said, and later became a fashion consultant.
The Eberles celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in June, and Mr. Eberle retired from work in October. They raised three children, and are proud grandparents of seven, Mr. Eberle said. With a modest smile, he said, "Things kind of came together this past year."

Mrs. Eberle grew up in New Salem and said that she has admired the house where they now live since she was 10 years old, when she and her mother were invited there for tea. She and her husband moved into the house in 1987, she said with a bright smile.
She said of Todd Slingerland, "I think it’s remarkable that he came up with this way to acknowledge Don’s achievements"and to support things that Don has a great interest in." "I was touched to be included."
"I’m very pleased, and very proud," Mr. Eberle said of Slingerland’s unique way of honoring his 35 years in the field.
He said that, when he hears people talking of retiring after 20 years with a company, he says, "Twenty years, my goodness, you’re just getting started!"

With 60 years of work experience behind him, Mr. Eberle said, he has contemplated building a model railroad, and he has plans to continue traveling with his wife.

They will take a cruise in the Mediterranean in the spring, he said.
The Eberles are "a gem in our society" and are well deserving of the recognition, Slingerland said.