RENSSELAERVILLE — Rensselaerville will soon disburse the first chunk of its roughly $860,000 Kuhar Endowment Fund to 16 different community groups and organizations in what it hopes will be an annual giveaway for the rest of time. 

In 2022, the town learned that it would be receiving the money in that fund from the late Jeffrey Bogue, an out-of-stater who nevertheless had deep ties to the community, and was a relative of the well-known Kuhars. Bogue’s cousin, Rosemarie Kuhar, told The Enterprise last year that she had “no idea” why he left the town the money, explaining that the attorney in Virginia, where Bogue lived, who made the arrangement had also died. 

The town decided to place the money in a fund that would allow it to give out the interest it generated each year  to eligible, community-oriented applicants. The fund and the applications are managed by the Kuhar Endowment Fund Advisory Committee, which was formed in part by Rosemarie Kuhar. 

The first giveaway will distribute $17,265 among each group and organization who applied this year, namely: 

— A group of residents that is working with the not-for-profit vet clinic Animal Kind to reduce the number of stray cats in Medusa; 

— The Medusa Beautification Committee, which will be planting flowers at the town’s memorial site; 

— The Potter Hollow Cemetery Organization, which is going to revive an abandoned cemetery; 

— The Rensselaerville Cemetery, which will fill sunken graves and clean a fence that runs along the highway; 

— The Tri-Village and Rensselaerville fire companies; 

— The Rensselaerville playground; 

— Rensselaerville Senior Citizens, which will put the money toward trip expenses;

— The Rensselaerville Library, which will increase the children’s book collection and programming at both its main location and the annex;

— The Huyck Preserve, which will hold its first adult education program in the fall; 

— The American Legion Auxiliary, which will complete a replica of the 1942 World War II honor roll, and the American Legion proper, which is attempting to identify unmarked veterans’ graves;

— The Potters Hollow Union Church, for its swap-shop, which offers free clothing;

— The Rensselaerville Historical Society, which wants to put a sign at the corner of county routes 10 and 353, where there’s an unnamed cemetery;

— The Medusa Cemetery, for general maintenance; and

— Conkling Hall, which will buy six folding tables and an accompanying dolly. 

The town board — minus Councilman Brian Wood, who abstained as a volunteer firefighter — voted to accept the advisory committee’s list of recipients; each will have to submit a voucher to receive their portion. Wood said that “anybody who is in financial hardship” could work something out with the town. 

Future changes

The first giveaway also revealed some issues with the process that the committee and town will work out going forward.

Supervisor John Dolce said there was one application sent in by an individual, not an organization, postmarked after the deadline, which he shredded without giving the committee a chance to review. Although he said that he feels the town shouldn’t make exceptions to the rules, Dolce acknowledged that he “should have given it to the committee.”

“If it was from the fire department that did not apply for this, I would have at least said, ‘You know what guys, you better pay closer attention,’” Dolce said.

Wood agreed that making exceptions “opens a Pandora’s box,” causing more problems down the line. 

Also at issue was the committee had more money budgeted this year, $23,008, than the $17,265  requested through the applications — less 10 percent that the committee will hold back each year in case of a shortfall. Kuhar, speaking to the board on behalf of the committee, asked that the surplus be put back into the main fund. 

Dolce responded that, when there’s a certain amount of money to give out, it should all be given out. Although solutions were offered for ways to distribute the extra amount, it was decided that the money would go back into the fund. 

“Let’s keep this in our lessons learned for next year,” Wood said, adding by way of example that “fire departments aren’t going to go bad if we don’t get a little extra money.”

Despite the hiccups, Wood said that he felt the money was “broken up well.”