http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/ Austerlitz, NY News http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/b28660f58ec7b52fac3a45b667491651.html The Buffalo Bisons Bantam Major '94s defeated the Cheektowaga Warriors 32 After a scoreless first Josh Little Ryan Halt scored but the Warriors led 21 going into the third Lucas Buscemi John Richmond tied things up and on a 5on3 power play Halt Eric Adolf Buscemi notched the game winner http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/f8bb6422407e42b3d92e979123ab716c.html US Rep John Hall DDover has endorsed Jonathan Smith for state Assembly in the 102nd District and Democrat Ken Dow for the 41st state Senate District seat http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/26799b48cb5fc32e968f48a6d5781c6a.html Scoring the game's first four goals the Spackenkill High School boys'soccer team defeated unbeaten Rhinebeck on Sunday 42 at Vassar College http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/30274cb19a285cebb0a0074b86f647f8.html Why does the MTA dump perfectly good scrap metal into the ocean http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/145db54c8874a853f9bc8f34c8b484a4.html Staten Islanders know where to go for a meal: to the North Shore which is home to a number of inviting restaurants http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/f9ae967c7d5dc255cf48178a9999ab08.html A bull was seen loose 0n a Woodhaven street A year earlier almost to the day another bull was spotted in nearby Briarwood http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/f2a10e2d100fbd60c933beac80a26342.html EARLVILLE The Earlville Opera House West Gallery is pleased to announce an opportunity for talented youth in our community with its fourth annual TeensART 2008 Exhibit from Oct 11 Nov 15 Deadline http://www.axtora.com/homesites/us/new-york/austerlitz/content/3d92e99673427ae41bd220a5288cd3fa.html Ron Belfi who served his country in Vietnam now awaits a new liver CHATHAM Ron Belfi works to get off the couchHis stomach bulges from his lean frame His mind is clouded; he can't even remember what Army rank he held back when he was crawling through Vietnamese jungles But if you ask him his face shows what he saw in the war Cirrhosis has slowed Belfi to a crawl His liver doesn't work No one in his family is an eligible donor There aren't any in the family of his wife Judy either He needs a liver from a total stranger someone with Type O blood Belfi 61 will die if he does not get a transplant But he's not planning his funeral He's fighting It's what he's been doing for 40 years since he came home from combat Veterans know you can return with wounds Belfi's liver is his I look at the positive side of everything Belfi said I don't let these things get in my way This Bronx native's story is one version that could be told by any of the 2000 New Yorkers on the United Network for Organ Sharing waiting for a liver transplant Nationwide some 16000 people are on that list Belfi enlisted in the late 1960s to escape East 122nd Street in Harlem and a home left empty by the death of his mother When he came back he needed help He thought it would be enough if he left the city He and his wife drove as far as one tank of gas in a Chevrolet Vega would take them from Riverdale Avenue in the Bronx That trip up the Taconic Parkway ended in East Chatham Judy got a job as a waitress He found work where a man with difficulties in his past could succeed the Berkshire Farm Center in Canaan a residential program for troubled teens He knew how to connect with the kids sent there a place where many staff members burn out from the strain of reforming young people who don't always want to change In 20 years as a senior counselor he didn't sugarcoat it at Berkshire He taught boys how to use their heads instead of their fists He took them fishing for the first time in their lives He showed them somebody actually cared It was a symbiotic relationship he said in his Bronx accent I took from them they took from me Belfi built the home for his new life himself He cut trees on their property dried the wood and built a house a lifelong dream for the son of a contractor He walked his land to find the right stones the ones with right angles and flat fronts and made a massive fireplace that could be a home furnishings magazine centerpiece Deep in the woods there are places you cannot hear the rest of the world Unless of course you've carried it there with you Ron Belfi thought rural isolation would take him farther from Vietnam Instead he started drinking Bottles and bottles of wine he called it his medicine Judy said her husband was a happy drunk the guy who was doing dance splits in the middle of the party He'd binge and then go days without a drink He and Judy talked about adopting Judy said they'd get one if it came from heaven Danny his niece's 4yearold son came into their lives when they were 53 The boy's mother was schizophrenic He had not been nurtured and had no upper body strength because he spent so much time in a crib He needed operations to uncross his eyes Belfi brought Danny into the house he spent 25 years building another lost boy who needed love He had a son Today Danny is a healthy 11yearold who loves soccer and squeezes on the couch so he can be closer to his dad Belfi quit drinking cold turkey five years ago after learning about his cirrhosis Maybe it was from hepatitis C possibly contracted in Vietnam Booze certainly was part of it Now four decades later Belfi is in mortal combat once again The liver is the largest organ in the body It removes germs and bacteria from the blood and provides immunity against infection It prevents bloodclotting and produces bile to absorb fats You cannot live without a functioning liver and scar tissue has blocked the blood flow in Belfi's He goes to Albany Medical Center every 10 days to have the fluids in his belly drained Belfi is in Westchester Medical Center waiting for the call that his number is up on the transplant list He's increasingly weak in pain and losing blood and his kidneys are starting to fail from the strain He gets more points for that moves to a higher priority area of the statewide liver transplant waiting list More than 80 percent of patients survive the transplant surgery Donated livers and transplanted pieces from living donors grow to normal size within weeks Belfi's approach to this new life the one is which he spends his time waiting is like his philosophy for taking care of boys who seemed forgotten It's got to be something that's in you Belfi said You've got to tolerate everything and take a lesson from everything Waldman can be reached at 4545080 or by email at swaldmantimesunioncom How to help To learn more about organ donation or how to donate to Ron Belfi visit wwwDonateLifeNyorg or contact the Liver Transplant Center at 914 4938916