To the Editor:

Friends of Scott Green will host a fundraising event on Sunday, Sept. 22,  from noon to 4 p.m. at Conkling Hall in Rensselaerville. The event will benefit  Berne resident Scott Green and his long-time partner, Tim Lippert.

Scott is battling  maxillary cancer. Proceeds from the fundraiser will help defray the many costs  associated with Scott’s illness that are not covered by health insurance. 

Free-will donations will be collected at the door. A luncheon donated by local businesses featuring a Crosby Farm pig roast, and sides from Kuhar Family Farm, the Shell Inn, Heather Ridge Farm, and Maryjane Schroeder will be served.

There will  be a cash bar, live music donated by local musicians, a sweet-chance auction of desserts prepared and donated by more than 20 local bakers, as well as a video interview of Scott and Tim, describing their medical journey and their immense  gratitude for the outpouring of community support they have received.

To date, over $12,000 has been raised through a GoFundMe site created by Friends of Scott  Green (gofundme.com/f/stand-strong-with-scott-and-tim). 

Scott Green and Tim Lippert met in 1996 at a hike in Kaaterskill Falls in the  Catskill Mountains. They became friends and ultimately life partners.

That partnership included establishing a painting and construction business and buying the old Crosby farmhouse with 115 acres and building an enterprise that now includes a garlic business, yaks, cattle, and much more.

 Tim serves as the building inspector for the town of Rensselaerville and as well as the city of  Rensselaer.

Scott and Tim found friends and a welcoming community in the small hamlet of Rensselaerville, where they are very active volunteers and board members for the Rensselaerville Library, Conkling Hall, and other organizations. It’s been a great life of hard work, love, and community. 

Normalcy stopped three years ago with Scott’s toothache. After numerous  extractions and infections that would not go away, Scott was finally diagnosed with cancer of the jaw.

After an arduous 12-hour surgery at Mount Sinai in New York City, many days in the intensive-care unit, a rebuilt jaw, infections too numerous to count, debilitating radiation/chemotherapy, and learning to live with the disfiguring vestiges of his treatment, they started to move on.

But months later, the cancer returned and the process has started all over again.

Their resilience is astounding as is Scott’s unending gratitude for continuing to live, to share a life with a dedicated and loving partner like Tim, and for the family members and local community that have stepped up to help care for the animals, drive Scott to appointments, donate gas cards, fundraise, and bear witness to their journey. 

If you would like to help, you can attend the Conkling Hall fundraiser on Sunday afternoon, Sept. 22, or donate at gofundme.com/f/stand-strong-with-scott and-tim

John Arrighi

Rensselaerville