[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="200" caption="Mescal Hornbeck, a longtime Woodstock-based activist and 50-year nurse, passed away January 18 at the age of 99. Photo from Daily Freeman."][/caption]Mescal Hornbeck, who passed away at the age of 99 in her hometown of Woodstock on Tuesday, January 18, may have had her biggest impact in Ulster County, but her activities on behalf of local Meals on Wheels programming and the establishment of strong Offices of the Aging were regional in scope... and ultimate effect. Moreover, Hornbeck's weekly letters to local papers were read far and wide... to the point where people started worrying when they stopped appearing in recent weeks.

The Kingston Freeman has a story about the feisty Hornbeck's passing in its January 20 issue. A memorial will be printed in the Woodstock Times later today.

Even at her advanced age, Hornbeck remained “sharp as a tack” and “politically astute,” said town Supervisor Jeff Moran. And she always was a “doer and a shaper,” said Amy Godes, who organized a “Mescal Appreciation Concert” in 2001.

Godes said Hornbeck spearheaded the community’s Senior Recreation Committee and that the group’s activities grew to include classes, art, drama and exercise. “She really breathed life into it,” Godes said.

When it came to senior citizens’ activities in town, “she was basically the head of the whole shebang,” said Toni Weidenbacher, one of the organizers for Woodstock’s annual All Day Christmas Parties.

Hornbeck, who was a nurse for nearly half a century, also is remembered as a political advocate for issues she believed were important — particularly universal health care and campaign finance reform. For a full appreciation of this "cantankerous" original, click here...