The Gardiner Town Board honored retiring Town Clerk Michelle Mosher with a fitting tribute at the end of its December 13 meeting.

The board voted unanimously to name the Town Hall’s meeting room in Mosher’s honor. It was the room where Mosher attended meetings for over three decades. She is believed to be the longest-serving elected official in the modern era of the Town of Gardiner.

The board managed to keep the naming of the room in Mosher’s honor a secret, and the retiring Town Clerk was visibly moved by the action, wiping away tears after learning of the special honor.

Councilwoman Laura Walls, who was one of six Town Supervisors Mosher worked under since first being elected Town Clerk in November 1995, introduced a resolution to name the meeting room in Mosher’s honor.

The resolution noted that Mosher was first appointed confidential secretary to former Supervisor Mike Moran in January 1992. Mosher was appointed deputy clerk in January 1995 and began serving as the town’s clerk on January 1, 1996.

When Mosher serves her last day on December 30, she will have served 26 years as the town’s clerk.

The resolution noted that in working with six different supervisors, Mosher “ensured stability and consistency in governmental operations of the Town of Gardiner.”

After the resolution was approved unanimously, Supervisor Marybeth Majestic said all five living supervisors that Mosher worked for were at the meeting. In addition to Majestic and Walls, Mosher served as the Town Clerk for Joe Katz, Jack Hayes and Carl Zatz and the late Leroy Carlson.

“Michelle has been an incredible asset to the Town of Gardiner,” Majestic said. “She was always professional and everyone that came to Town Hall was treated respectfully. Her assistance to me, as Town Supervisor, was greatly appreciated. I wish Michelle well and I thank her for her service to the community.”

Mosher told the Wallkill Valley Times that she was surprised and honored to have the Gardiner meeting room named after her.

Mosher said her first involvement with the Town of Gardiner came when her father-in-law, Raymond Mosher, who was a member of the Assessment Review Board, asked her to take notes for Grievance Day in 1989.

“Who would have thought I would be retiring 33 years later as Town Clerk,” she said. “I have enjoyed being the Town Clerk for Gardiner.”

Mosher said the Town Clerk is typically the first person in local government that residents interact with.

“It is our responsibility to make them comfortable, guide them the best we can,” she said. “That all came naturally to me. It didn’t matter who you were – an old-timer, a newcomer or just passing through. Everyone who came into the Town Clerk’s office was greeted with kindness and a smile. And that’s how it should be. I always hoped that I somehow brightened their day.”

Although Mosher said she’ll miss the interaction she had with the residents of the town, she said it is time to begin a new chapter in her life.

“I want to spend more time with my family,” she said. “My husband Scott, and children Laura, Aimee and Michael and my sweet puppy Jasper. I couldn’t have done this without their support.”

Mosher said in her retirement she hopes to dedicate more time to working with crafts, particularly making soap. She also hopes to travel more and spend time at her “happy place” on a beach.

“I have worked with great people over the years and I thank them all for their support,” Mosher said. “The Town of Gardiner has been good to me. And I have been blessed to have the opportunity to serve them.”

In other news, the board voted unanimously to allow board members to participate remotely as long as there is a quorum of the five-member board at the town hall.

Only one person spoke at the public hearing prior to the board voting 5-0 to approve remote meetings under the Open Meetings Law. Majestic said other Gardiner boards and commissions would have to pass resolutions allowing remote participation by its members.

Jean McGrane, chairwoman of the town’s Open Space Commission, urged the board to adopt the resolution allowing for remote participation.

McGrane said it was often a challenge to get town residents to volunteer for commissions in the first place. She said this would give “people some slack” to attend meetings remotely if they couldn’t make a meeting in person due to work commitments.

“I think this really is an excellent accommodation,” she said.