The Catskill Chronicle

LIBERTY – On September 22 and 23 over twenty Sullivan County youth workers participated in the Advancing Youth Development (AYD) training at Cornell Cooperative Extension of Sullivan County. The professionals who took the training are engaged in youth work throughout the county with agencies such as the Boys and Girls Clubs, Sullivan ARC, the Center for Workforce Development, Teen Link to Community, Hudson River Healthcare, the Dispute Resolution Center, EPIC Parent Centers, and the Foster Parent Association. The Sullivan County AYD Instructors who taught the course are Carl Graham – Director of the Sullivan County Youth Advocate program, Carolyn Massey – Project Director for the Sullivan County CARECORPS/Communities that Care program, Walter Stein – CACHE Director, and Melissa Stickle – Sullivan County Community Services Coordinator. Amanda Speer – Family and Youth Development Team Coordinator for Cornell Cooperative Extension hosted the program.

The Advancing Youth Development program was developed to provide youth workers and administrators with the foundation needed to effectively develop and implement youth-development programs that provide experiences for youth based on a positive youth development approach. Given the need for multiple strategies and approaches to help youth develop the knowledge and skills to be productive, contributing members of society and develop to their full potential, it is of vital importance that youth workers fully understand the value of their work, know the key principles of positive youth development and develop the core competencies of effective youth work.

Participants included: Zaida Chasi, Carmen Limbert, Ramona Texidor, Ralph Guerrero, Tom Fetterman, Jr., Jillian Rahm, Melissa Figueroa, Adam Rodriguez, Yary L. Chimelis, Kim Hill-James, Barbi Neuman-Marty, Patricia Ocasio, Robin LaFountain, Peter Duncan, Leslie Hernandez, Cookie McKinney, Kaitlin Coray, Sheldon Paul, Lawrence Ricciarelli, Clara Hendrickson, Shauna Murry, Johamy Vega, and William Lewis. Also, pictured in the leading photo are the AYD facilitators and host, Kathy Kreiter from the Dispute Resolution Center and Bill Fioravanti from Boys & Girls Clubs.

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Story and photos by Carol Montana

There was plenty of applause to go around on Thursday, September 24 when the Sullivan County Carecorps held a luncheon to thank the many organizations and volunteers who come together to make Sullivan County a better place.

The effort was started about nine years ago by the Recovery Center, according to Kathy Kreiter, board chair of the Monticello Coalition of the Carecorps. Originally done on a town-by-town basis, the Carecorps – a coalition of community, business, religious, civic, government and law enforcement agencies banding with non-profits, school districts, youth and senior groups – has now coalesced into several coalitions under the same umbrella.

Carecorps Coalition Chair Larry Schafman, who also acted as MC for the luncheon, explained that the group discusses “issues affecting our youth and the rest of the community such as where they’re at risk and what are the positive factors in the community. We share information and issues to give us all a focus.”

Schafman noted that one of this year’s major projects was “the STOP campaign to see an end of the sale of alcoholic beverages and tobacco products to minors in Sullivan County. We created signage and enlisted the support of different businesses. It’s been very successful and it’s countywide.”

Project Director Carolyn Massey explained that the Drug Free Community Grant – which funds the project, but was not granted for the coming year due to economic hard times and tough competition – had, as its direct objective, the mandate to “build community coalitions to address drug and alcohol abuse in minors.” One of the things Massey does toward that end, is to conduct the national Prevention Needs Assessments Surveys, which survey students in 6th, 8th. 10th and 12th grades, in all eight county school districts. The students are asked for their perceptions of family, peers, community and school, as well as their feelings on drugs, alcohol and tobacco availability and accessibility. The results, Massey said, are used for a variety of things including community health assessments and for community risk and protective factors.

Massey enjoys the challenge and opportunity to make a difference by mobilizing and bringing people together. “That’s the only way we’re going to make change is to realize that all of us have equal representation, no matter what position we have, we’re just as powerful as the other – housewives and chief of police both can have a profound effect on the community,” she said.

Indeed, the luncheon guests represented a variety of the community and included representatives from the Monticello Senior Club, Cornell Cooperative Extension, Monticello Police Department, the Sullivan County Chamber of Commerce, the media and many others. Sullivan County Family Court Judge Mark Meddaugh reminded the attendees that even when there is no money “there are a lot of things you can accomplish … People ask me whether you should donate money or give your time. Volunteer time you can do a lot with.”

Chief Assistant District Attorney Jim Farrell quoted Margaret Mead. “’Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.’ That quote applies to the people I see in this room,” said Farrell, “We are trying to make our community a better place. We will get it done. This group has opened my eyes to a lot of different things. The DA’s office is committed to making sure that we not only react to crime, but also to be out there to try and prevent it in the first place. I pledge to you and I commit myself and the DA’s office to all the work that the Carecorps is doing. We know we’re going to make a difference.”

To views more photos or to purchase prints from Thanking Those That Care, visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story and photo by Ted Waddell

[MONTICELLO] – It all started with a photograph, a haunting image that spoke of the pain and suffering that war leaves in its bloody wake. Not one of those iconic classic images by Roger Fenton, Matthew Brady and crew, James Nachtwey, Robert Capa, Carl Mydens, Henri Huet, Larry Burrows and Eddie Adams, but a front page picture by AP award winning photographer Michele Haskel, a staff shooter for the Times Herald Record.

Taken the day after the wife of Lt. Louis Allen of Chester, NY and the mother of four, learned that her beloved husband had been killed on June 7, 2005 in an explosion at a military compound in Tikrit, Iraq, Haskel took a picture of the grief stricken survivor. 1st Lieutenant Allen served with the 42nd Infantry Division of the Army National Guard.

“I held onto that newspaper for three weeks, you know how something just haunts you…I knew I had to do something,” recalled Ray McCarthy, founding president of The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans. “It was a picture of immeasurable loss and suffering…it kept me up at night,” he added, continuing, “Soldiers who make the ultimate sacrifice also sacrifice the lives of their families. Isn’t there something we can all do to help?”

So in short order, a group of volunteers joined the local entrepreneur and café owner in establishing a not-for-profit organization dedicated to raising funds for Mid-Hudson area families of soldiers killed or wounded during overseas service in Iraq or Afghanistan.

A roll call of those who gave their all to protect those left at home (as of 9-23-09): Anthony Kaiser, Carlos Gonzalez, Eugene Williams, Jonathan Cadavero, Brian Pavlich, Catalin Dima, Irving Medina, Joseph Tremblay, Brian Parrello, Doron Chan, Jacob W.  Beisel, Ken VonRonn, Louis Allen, Phillip Esposito, Mark H. Dooley, Michael Oremus, John McKenna, Mark Palimateer, Justin Whiting, and Ashly Lynn Moyer.

During 2007, the ad hoc group raised over $17,000 at its first event, a King and Queen Gala at Monticello Gaming and Raceway.

As September 2009 draws to a close, The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans has raised more than $65,000, due in large part to Thunder Country 102 Radio’s recent radiothon, “Home of the Free Because of the Brave!,” and the sale /sponsorship of tee-shirts, featuring a pair of eagles feeding a pair of eaglets nestled in an upside down battle helmet.

“This has been a great year for us, and we’re going to be able to add a number of families that need help,” said McCarthy.

The second annual radiothon is scheduled to be held next August at The Villa Roma Resort in Callicoon, NY.

McCarthy added that the 18 ShopRites in the valley kicked in more than $40,000 during the event.

“I am proud to support The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans,” said Michael A. Schiff, Sheriff of Sullivan County. “This is an organization of all volunteers dedicated to assisting families in the Hudson Valley area who have lost loved ones in the Afghanistan and Iraqi conflicts…I find their dedication and hard work impressive.”

The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans is made up of “just regular people”, including Jonathan Hyman, a local photographer who documented 9-11-2001, a farmer and a psychoanalyst, who donates her serves helping grieving family members.

“Friends of the Committee” include NYS Senator John J. Bonacic, NYS Assemblywoman Aileen M. Gunther, Sullivan County Legislator Ron Hiatt, and Eric J. Chaboty, Sullivan County Undersheriff.

A 70-year old county resident hand crocheted a 15-foot by 18-foot American Flag, a symbol of our nation’s freedom that resides at the Sullivan Airport, home of McCarthy’s Cup & Saucer Café’.

McCarthy stressed that the group has no political ties or agendas, and all monies raised (less event costs) are distributed equitably among the families left behind, “There’s no salaries, period…we have absolutely zero folks on payroll.”

In September, they are starting a job program to help vets find a job after they return from a 16 month overseas tour serving their country in combat zones.

“They get home and there’s no work, they’re behind the eight ball,” said McCarthy.

What can you do to help? Become a sponsor, take out an ad, donate goods and services, volunteer, or write out a check to Sullivan County Airport Festival (SCAF), 65 Liberty Street, Monticello, NY 12701.

The group started out calling themselves the SCAF, but soon shortened the title to The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans. Speaking of volunteers, the committee is looking for someone with a secretarial background.

“I just love this country and the freedom,” said McCarthy, who as an entrepreneur spent 45-some years on the road as a restaurant consultant, visiting such places as Cambodia and “close to Russia. The American people are the greatest folks, and those are our kids over there…we’re never going to forget these veterans and their families as long as our organization is in existence.”

For more information about The Committee for the Families of Iraqi War Veterans, call Ray McCarthy 845-794-0060, write the SCAP, 65Liberty Street, Monticello, NY 12701 or visit their website www.familiesofwarvets.org .

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Remembering Those Who Gave Their All visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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[JEFFERSONVILLE] – Thunder 102 and the Villa Roma Resort are joining forces in an event entitled, “The Face of Breast Cancer Concert at the Villa Roma.”

Kevin Dowell, Director of Sales and Marketing for the Villa Roma Resort, came up with the idea of a fundraising concert. “When one of your employees gets diagnosed with breast cancer, it’s a wake up for everyone,” he explained.

The Villa Roma and its employees stepped up to the plate to help one of their own, Linda Canfield, a 35-year employee of the resort. The Villa Roma established the Linda Canfield Fund, one of the beneficiaries of the Face of Breast Cancer Concert.

They then turned to Thunder 102 for help in getting the word out about the event.

Paul Ciliberto, New York Regional Manager and host of the Thunder 102 morning show, “Ciliberto and Friends,” jumped at the chance to help.

“We were amazed at how quickly people signed on to help us out with this concert,” Ciliberto commented.

On the bill are Pennsylvania’s hottest country band, and ThunderBash favorite, Iron Cowboy; Colgate Country Showdown runner-up Alyssa Startup; Miss Southeast New York Melanie Hildebrant; Elvis’ Lost Brother Eric Bressi; The Drummers; Lumiri Tubo; Dejea and Miss Sullivan County Felicia Ramos. All have volunteered their talents for the event.

“In addition to raising funds to help Ms. Canfield offset the expenses to fight this disease, the event will also benefit the Hortonville Fire Department and will kick off October’s Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

The Face of Breast Cancer Concert takes place this coming Saturday, September 26 and is being held at the Club Forum in the Villa Roma Resort. The show kicks off at 6:30 p.m. Suggested donation is $10. Advance tickets are available, but tickets will also be available at the door the night of the concert. For more information or to buy tickets in advance, please call Kevin at 845-887-4880 ext. 7021.

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Story and photos by Carol Montana

Eleven years ago, 25 people – give or take – got together to celebrate their love of antique farm tractors. Two of those people, Al Hall and Carl Denman, went on to co-chair the Antique Tractor Show & Swap Meet, an event that just recently celebrated its 10th year. “After the first year, we had about 20 to 25 members,” said Hall, “but we said ‘hey, our objective is to have a show, so let’s do it.’ It’s worked out very nicely.”

The two-day event held at the Grahamsville Fairgrounds takes place the third weekend in September. This year’s event was co-sponsored by the Sullivan County Trail Association. Admission was free. Parking was a modest $2.00 donation per car.

“We want people to get a feeling that these tractors are 40 and 50 and 55 years old, and they are in fine running condition,” said Hall. “It’s contact with the past. And young people come and wonder how they can look so good. But Ford and Ferguson built tractors to run for years and years, and they’re still running in the field today,”

Hall goes on to explain that during World War II, “Ferguson was commissioned by the government in England to produce tractors, because England was running out of food. So they had to have more tractors. Ferguson’s the guy who developed the three-point hitch, which is universal on tractors today, and had the internal hydraulics, which before were on the outside.”

Hall grew up on a farm and is clearly a lover of antique tractors. “The first tractors I got to drive were Fergusons. When I got a chance, I found I could make a little money mowing fields, and I’ve been doing it for 50 years, I had one tractor for 45 years, the rest just keep following me home,” he said with a hearty laugh. 

At this year’s show, Hall had five of his Ferguson tractors. “I have a couple more at home that are kind of sick and couldn’t make it,” he said.

Hall, who is also the membership chairman, reported 13 new members during the first day of the show, bringing the club’s total membership to around 80 people. “We have members from Orange, Ulster and Delaware Counties, people from Pennsylvania … I had a lady say, ‘there’s just something about you people, I gotta be a member.’”

Besides the show, the club has an annual dinner and a Christmas party. “And we have about eight meetings a year at the Neversink Firehouse on the third Wednesday of the month,” said Hall. “We’re open to everyone, you don’t have to be a real active person, you really don’t even have to own a tractor. We got people who aren’t even members who bring their tractors to the show.”

In addition to antique tractors, the show featured smaller antique machinery, antique cars and trucks, several vendors of old parts, as well as folks selling crafts. There were kids’ games, kids’ rides, a chicken barbecue and other food, a tractor pull, maple syrup and more.

At the other end of the Fairgrounds from Hall, Carl Denman, co-chair of the show was beaming with pride. “This is the largest year we’ve ever had. Yesterday there were between 350 and 400 cars here. I’m very happy with the turnout this year. We changed our music so more people could hear it. We have a tractor bingo this year – you buy a box, we take a garden tractor and ride around the boxes. Wherever the tractor runs out of gas, the right front wheel, that’s the payout -$250.”

Denman owns around 30 restored tractors: unusual ones that most people haven’t heard of, such as the David Bradley Tri Trac and Earthmaster, which was built in California. “There are very few Earthmasters this side of the Mississippi,” said Denman. “And Agra-Cat was a little bitty bulldozer that was built for a railroad company in CA, it was small – they put it right inside the railroad cars to push grain.”

According to Denman, the club has two goals: “To keep this old stuff going … There’s so many people who have no idea what a hit and miss engine is. … and we want to educate this younger generation.” To that end, the organization gives out a scholarship every year “to some young person that wants to be in the field of agriculture or agricultural machinery.” 

Membership in the Neversink Rondout Antique Machinery Association is $20 for a family or $15 for an individual. For more information on membership or next year’s show, call Al Hall at 985-2692.

To view more photos, or to purchase prints from the 10th Annual Tractor Show & Swap Meet visit The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story and photos by Ted Waddell

[ABRAHAMSVILLE,PA] – Willow Wisp Organic Farm hosted an open house on Saturday, September 19, an event that attracted about 150 folks during the afternoon –  people from both sides of the river who were interested in organic farming and community-supported agriculture (CSA).

In 2007, Greg Swartz and Tannis Kowalchuk bought a farm of their own, and two years later celebrated their first year of full production.

Swartz has been farming in the Upper Delaware River Valley for a decade, first as an apprentice on an organic vegetable farm, and, in the wake of working on several farms in Sullivan County, deciding to go into farming on his own.

Kowalchuk divides her time between working the farm, serving as artistic director of the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) in Highland Lake, NY and raising their 14-month old son Simon, a bright-eyed little lad who thoroughly enjoyed the open house –  especially sitting in the driver’s seat of a bright red tractor with Lucas Petersheim.

The area’s newest entry into the organic farming scene specializes in growing a diverse mix of vegetables, herbs and cut flowers, while future plans include adding a broad range of small fruits and pasture raised organic eggs to the healthy mix. Willow Wisp is a familiar face at the Callicoon Farmers Market and several retail outlets.

For 2010, plans are afoot to launch a CSA program, in which people can purchase a share in the farm’s bountiful harvest, and come to the farm to pick up a seasonal mix of vegetables. The summer share is scheduled to run from June to November, while the winter share will go from December to May.

“You take as much as you feel you can use. Are you having guests for the weekend? Take more. Are you going away for part of the week? Take less,” said Swartz as he explained the CSA idea to the crowd making its way around the farm on a guided tour. “By supporting the farm in this way, you share in the bounty, gain connection to the farm where your food is grown, and become part of a community.”

During the tour, Swartz noted that organic farmers “take the long view that, while growing food, we should always be improving the soil, increasing the farm’s biodiversity, and contributing to our community,” and, to this end, don’t use pesticides, herbicides or synthetic fertilizers.

What better way to start a walking tour of a working organic farm than to chat with your neighbors, meet new folks and sample a variety of brews and dishes prepared with organic ingredients?

On the menu: French bread with cilantro-cumin pesto, roasted rutabaga with chipotle mayo, rutabaga fries (a real hit), grilled beats with goat cheese, and Kowalachuk’s sauerkraut and cukes, another dish that disappeared in a wink at Willow Wisp.

For information about Willow Wisp Organic Farm,  located at 25 Stone House Road, call 570-224-8013 or www.willowwisporganic.com.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from A Willow Wisp Welcome visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story and photos by Ted Waddell

[YULAN] – It was a great day for a parade, but there wasn’t one.

The Annual Von Steuben Day Parade has been a popular fixture at the crossroads in Yulan for years, but the local fire department decided to pull the plug this year, citing lack of attendance.

Festival goers share good times.

A youngster gets a chance to climb all over a Yulan fire apparatus…it’s for sale next year.

Reports as to when word of the cancellation went out vary from six months ago to last month, but a lot of folks arrived at the crossroads still displaying a large sign “Von Steuben Festival Parade and Germanfest September 19, Yulan, New York” only to discover there was no parade, and the festivities would be held on the nearby fireman’s field. General Von Steuben would have been upset to find yet another local tradition bit the dust (at least for now), and Heide Marie Sheppard’s, Maximilian, wasn’t a happy pooch.

A patriotic display by the Committee for the Families of Iraqi War.

Von Steuben Day is named after the Prussian army officer who served as inspector general and Major General of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. ‘ Credited with teaching the Continental Army the basics of military drill and discipline, he helped guide a new nation to independence.

Founded in 1957, the Annual Steuben Parade on Fifth Avenue and an Octoberfest-fest gathering in Central Park have given New Yorkers a chance to celebrate their German-Americanheritage. A bit closer to home, the Yulan parade was an opportunity for volunteer fire companies to show their colors and give folks a chance to enjoy the colorful change of seasons.

Heide Marie Sheppard of Cochecton showed up with her German short hair [Maximillian] all decked out in German colors, but he had to wait in their car as no pets are allowed on the field. “He’s very upset,” said Sheppard. “I brought my dog to the parade, only to find out there is no parade. If I had known it was cancelled, we would have gone to the parade in Manhattan.”

Meanwhile, across the road from the sign advertising the parade, a faded shamrock is all that’s left from Yulan’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade, which also got the firefighter’s axe this year.

A local biker shows off his love of whiskey and suds.

“The last couple of years, there were more people in the parade than actually watching it, and it took some of our people away from down here (the festival), and it spread us out too thin,” said Tim Schadt, chief of the local volunteer fire department. “So we just did away with the parade…I did hear there were a lot of disappointed people.”

Parade or no parade, hundreds of folks showed up for the festival, enjoying never ending pitchers of beer, German food, the music of “Musikverein” and German dancing.

German dancers perform for the crowd.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from The Von Steuben Festival visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story and photos by Ted Waddell

[LIBERTY] – A dingy basement lit by a couple of dim bulbs dangling from a
peeling ceiling, a two-man crew waiting for their next job. An unseen upstairs presence sending enigmatic messages downstairs by the grungy dumbwaiter. The ever-increasing tension between the two characters creates a sense
of foreboding and dread.

Harold Pinter’s “The Dumbwaiter,” is a one-act play that delves into the unease and violence of our times, showcases Pinter’s “strange and compelling talent” and established the Nobel Laureate as a master of what would become known as a “comedy of menace”. It takes to the local stage at the Liberty Free Theatre for eight performances Thursday through Sunday, September 24-28 and continuing Thursday through Sunday, October 1-4.

Pinter was London-born  in 1930, and died on December 24, 2008. In 2005, he received the Nobel Prize for Literature, and other awards include the Companion of Honour for Services to Literature, the Legion D’Honneur, the Lawrence Oliver Award and the Moliere D’Honneur for lifetime achievement. He was made a Companion of Literature by the Royal Society of Literature in 1999, and received honorary degrees from 18 universities.

The English playwright, screenwriter, actor, director, political activist and poet was among the most influential playwrights of modern times, in a career that spanned more than half a century, and produced 29 original stage plays, 27 screenplays, many dramatic sketches, and numerous other works in various media. Pinter’s best known plays include “The Birthday Party”, “The Caretaker”,
“The Homecoming” and “Betrayal”, each of which was adapted to the silver
screen.

Penned in 1957, “The Dumbwaiter” premiered at the Hampstead Theatre Club
on January 21, 1960 starring Nicholas Selby as “Ben” and George Tovey in
the role of “Gus”. In 2007, the 50th Anniversary Revival staged at London’s Trafalgar Studios featured Lee Evans and Jason Isaacs.

“I’ve known it since it was written and have always loved the play,” said Paul Austin, founder and artistic director of the Liberty Free Theatre. “It was the first time in my young life as an actor that I saw the relationship between comedy and drama…I always wanted to do it, there’s a whole file in my head of plays that I want to do, and when the moment’s right, they show up.”

Austin said that in getting ready for a new season of productions at the local theatre of, by, and for the people of our community, he starts sorting through ideas for plays jotted down on paper or tucked away in corners of memory. “What can I do, what should I do, who can I cast, what do I feel like doing…’The Dumbwaiter’ popped right off the page.”

In casting Pinter’s play dark-sided play with a bit of light peaking around the edges, Austin selected Paul Jannicola, a singer/songwriter and multi-instrument musician to appear as “Gus”, the junior member of the two-man crew. His compositions have been featured in the award-winning animated short “Hardly Workin”, the acclaimed episodic web series, Tra5hTa1k and MTV’s comedic Life in the Virtual Hills.

“My character is continually looking for guidance…someone to tell him it’s okay,” said Jannicola. “It’s two guys on a mysterious mission.”

“The word of the day is ‘dread’,” he added. “My character is dreading what he has to do…my character knows something is wrong, [and] at the end, we don’t know how it plays out.”

The play ends with the question being asked, “How will this happen?”

Mike “Friz” Frizalone portrays “Ben”, the senior partner in a role he developed in part based on a former life.

As an actor/writer/singer, Frizalone has appeared on stage and film from Maine to the Big Apple, including numerous performances at the Liberty Free Theatre, such as last season’s hit “Kinfolks and Mountain Music”.

“My character overpowers his junior partner…like a father son relationship, the classic case of ‘you piece of crap, good for nothing, I only tell you that because I love you,’” he explained. “Dread is inside my character, but it’s suppressed…it’s a great play by a great playwright. It speaks to me in a way that I don’t know if Ben ever gets away from his troubled past.”

“I grew up around a lot of characters like Ben,” added Frizalone. “I had a troubled past that I was able to get away from and I use that to help me out [in playing the role].”

What happens as the curtain falls on “The Dumbwaiter”? Does dread take the day, or is there the light of redemption at the end of the tunnel?

“You’ll have to make that decision when the lights go down,” replied Frizalone.

Pinter’s comedy drama “The Dumbwaiter” will be presented for eight performances at the Liberty Free Theatre Thursday through Sunday, September 24-28, and continuing Thursday through Sunday, October 1-4. There are no matinees. All shows are at 7:30 p.m., and as always admission is free.
Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. The audience is
invited to gather after the performances for food, drink and music.
The Liberty Free Theatre is located at 109 South Main Street in Liberty,
NY. For information/reservations, call 292-3788.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from The Dumbwaiter – A Study in Dread Noir visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story by Leni Santoro – Photos by Leni Santoro, Ted Waddell and all of You

[PHILADELPHIA, PA – HANCOCK, NY] – I can’t believe it’s been a week and a half since the Light Up the Delaware River Party on September 6. I can’t believe it’s taken me this long to gather my thoughts on this momentous event and I relay my apologies to all of you have been waiting patiently for the story and the photos….

To read the full story got to: A Week and a Half Since the River Party at the Two Grannies River Trip Diary.

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[FALLSBURG] – For the past five years, the Fallsburg High School Alumni Association (FAA) has sponsored an All Classes Reunion. The latest event, a luncheon held on September 12 in the high school cafeteria, was one of the most special because of the gratifying turnout of over 100 alumni from as far back as the class of 1934, long before the town schools were centralized. David Rashkin went to Mountaindale High School with his high school sweetheart Sylvia, who was in the class of 1935. They truly are the stalwarts of these reunions. Honoring former staff is also an important part of the reunions. You could tell from the long and loud applause that this year’s honorees were two of the most beloved members of the Fallsburg family—long term secretary Charlotte Schwartz and former High School Principal Pat Naso.

Charlotte returns to the area each summer and spends her winters in Florida. Pat has not been up north for quite a while and lives in North Carolina. They were both completely surprised by the recognition offered to them for the long and wonderful years of service to the Fallsburg Central School District.

The main purpose of the FAA is to bring alumni and former staff together, to honor that staff, and to recognize a deserving graduating senior each year with a college scholarship. This year’s recipient of $500 is Sieara Smith, who was unable to be at the reunion because she has already begun her studies in biology at Spelman College in Georgia. With the proceeds from the reunion event, the FAA will have enough money to provide scholarships for the next few years. Many local businesses generously donated gifts, gift cards, and other items that were raffled off to add to the proceeds. Members of the Reunion Committee were Cynthia Toliver, Bonnie Blanchard, Eileen Kalter, Arlene Hussey, Renee Kates, Regina McKenny-Snead, Ceil Cohen, Bob Longo, Zinnia Konviser, and Larry Schafman.

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Story and photos by Ted Waddell

[MINISINK] – The Upper Delaware Writers Collective (UDWC) and the Green Heron Poetry Project presented “Hope in the River – Celebrating the Return of the Green Heron” on Sunday afternoon, September 13. It was held at the Sullivan County residence of the Margolis Brown Adaptors Company on the New York side of the famed Delaware Aqueduct, now commonly known as the Roebling Suspension Bridge, as it was designed and constructed under the supervision of John A. Roebling, future designer of the Brooklyn Bridge in NYC.

The UDWC was founded in 1993 by Mary Greene, a published poet, writer and associate editor of the River Reporter newspaper of Narrowsburg. The two-part afternoon of the arts kicked off on the Pennsylvania side of the river on the grounds of the Lackawaxen Inn with a outdoor theatre dance performance created by Tannis Kowalchuk, co-founder and artistic director of the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) of Highland, NY.

At the conclusion of the introspective dance featuring 10 women and girls swaying to drum music while holding red flowers, petaled wishful offerings that were later tossed into the swirling Delaware River, the assemblage marched across the ca. 1847 bridge – the oldest existing wire bridge in the United States – to the New York side of the river for an original storytelling performance accompanied by qigong movements and the reading of several poems by award-wining poets.

As the musical procession wended its way along the wooden pedestrian decking of the old bridge, they were led by drummers and folks holding poetically inclined posters designed in honor of the heron project.

The second part of the event, held at the Roebling View, the restored Roebling Inn, now converted into a multi-use artist’s space by its new owners, the Margolis Brown Adaptors Company, began with Kazzrie Jaxen performing an original story titled “The Girl Who Dreamed Dresses”, a work accented with haunting  qigong movements. Tom Holmes followed with a brief musical interlude on a homemade lyre.

Next were several poets reading their original works penned for the UDWC’s Green Heron Poetry Project (GHPP), designed to promote poetry in public spaces in the county.

“In addition to promoting poetry, we were committed to involving area artists to interpret the theme of the project – create the reality that you are hoping for,” said Marcia Nehemiah, UDWC member and GHPP coordinator.

The UDWC selected the green heron (Butorides virescens), a stately bird observed more frequently in the Upper Delaware River Valley, as inspiration for the creative project.

“We choose the green heron as our symbol because our beautiful home faces enormous challenges, and according to Native Americans, the bird embodies important qualities of self-reliance, determinati on, aggressive adaptability and innate balance, qualities necessary for our own species to face the challenges ahead,” said Nehemiah.

The UDWC received more than 100 entries from 39 poets, and the 12 winners were determined by a panel of three judges: Paul Austin, founder and artistic director of the Liberty Free Theatre, novelist Joe Freda, and Kowalchuk.

The poets and their worksincluded: David Crews “Spring Song”, Rees Davis “Love Birds”, Mimi Moriarty “Quilting”, Lorraine A. Davis “The Garden” (read by Nancy Wells), Will Nixon “Saying Cheese, 1960”, Matthew J. Spireng “The Flower”, Judith Lechner “Revision”, Emily Nelson “If I Had a Rooster”, Marcia Nehemiah “New World”, Georganna Millman “Seduction”, Diane Feula “Cappadocia”, and Mary Greene “Cape May, January”.

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“New World” by Marcia Nehemiah

Soon, I will wake in a different woods.
I will lift myself from this pine-needle bed
where I have slept too long
in the darkest night.

A clear path will lead me
to green, sun drenched river water,
silver minnow flashes,
bass, heron, eagle.

Every thing
Any living thing needs is
here, where life and death
move in the eternal dance.

I am suddenly made wild.
No words.
Only ecstatic song
Flung from my burning throat.

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“Cape May, January” by Mary Greene

The earth will shrug us off –
but first, split the oak, tend the fire.

The earth will shrug us off –
but first, get your paints, render the sky.

Green surface of the earth
tugged down by the weight of monastery walls,
Green surface of the earth
obliterated by the white worms of blizzards.

The earth will crack at its polar edges
and we’ll be as shells, smashed

to bits, hardening to glass. But first –
the fog is lifting. Waves break, shapely and silver.

A young girl holds a white cup.

She is about to begin.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Hope for Herons and Humanity visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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The Starlight Ballroom on Sunday, September 13; day 3 of ATP New York and the Super Furry Animals are on stage. 

Story and photos by Jason Dole

[Monticello] – I just got back from ATP New York, and boy, are my ears tired. Same goes for the rest of me. It’s been one hell of a weekend. It’s been one hell of a trip, although the show was only 25 minutes from home.

Read the full story and see the pics at Jason Dole’s “Shoes for the Music Industry,” Transmissions from Planet ATP, then check back often as he continues to update the Kutsher’s concert happening that rocked the county.

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Story and photos by Ted Waddell

[LACKAWAXEN, PA] – “I believe that a reality without war is absolutely necessary for our culture right now,” said Tannis Kowalchuk, artistic director of NACL Theatre in Highland, NY. On Sunday, September 13, she led a group of white-clad women and girls in performing “Butorides” an outdoor dance in celebration of the green heron, overlooking the tranquil Upper Delaware River just a stone’s throw downstream of the historic Roebling Bridge.

The co-founder of the North American Cultural Laboratory (NACL) gathered
together an “all-ages group of girls and women” to dance a theatre performance on a series of terraces above the shimmering riffles of the river as part of the Green Heron Poetry Project, “Hope in the River – Celebrating the Return of the Green Heron.”

The dance performance was overlaid with many symbolic layers, from the silky sensuality of womanhood to the tragic foretelling of futures squandered by those who fail to protect the environment, and to a sense of universal hope, as in the end, the members of the dance ensemble invited the audience to join them at river’s edge and toss wish-laced flowers into the water.

The river-side performance event featured Kowalchuk, Karen Smith, Pearl Smith, Janice Zwail, Lee Ehman, Cass Collins, Robin Dodson, Mary Greene, Rebecca Acker, and Sarah Maurice Acker-Krzywicki.

Kowalchuk said the work of dance was created in response to the project’s theme of creating your own reality, and was named “Butorides” by her association of the Latin word for heron with the Japanese name ‘butoh’, the name for “an intense and beautiful form of a very slow dance that emerged in Japan after the terrible A-bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.”

To construct the foundation of the dance, Kowalchuk asked each performer to bring in a couple of pictures of a sculpture of a human body in a dynamic position, and these visual inspirations were subsequently used to fashion the dance sequences.

Before the dance took to the natural stage setting, a trio of drummers, Tom Holmes, Maya Mary Herbert and Tom Doheny, proceeded the dancers to the rock terraces, and accompanied their performance with drum sounds reverberating off the both sides of the scenic river.

In the wake of the dance, the musicians led the gathering across the bridge over to the Roebling View, the local home of the Margolis Brown Adaptors Company (MBAC), a physical theatre company established in NYC in 1984 by Kari Margolis and Tony Brown. The Margolis Method “centers on the dramatic force and emotion that emanate from an actor’s physicality, uniting instinct and intellectual analysis” takes inspiration from the work of Etienne Decroux, Bertolt Brecht and Jerzy Grotowski.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Butorides – Dance in Celebration of Peace and the Green Heron visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Concert goers at ATP New York hang out by the pond at Kutsher’s.

Story and photos by Jason Dole

[MONTICELLO] – ATP New York is rocking the weekend away over at Kutsher’s in Monticello, NY. It’s a rock festival without the muddy fields and sun burn. It’s more like a weekend summer camp for nerdy music fans.

Read the full story and see the pics at Jason Dole’s “Shoes for the Music Industry,” ATP – Not Your Father’s Music Festival, then check back often as he updates the concert goings-on each day.

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Photos by Leni Santoro

[BETHEL] – An innovative approach to storm water management and beautification was formally dedicated on September 2 at Lake Superior State Park in Bethel. The Lake Superior rain garden captures runoff from the concession roof and allows it to soak slowly into the ground. 

Rain gardens are attractive landscaped areas planted with deep-rooted native plants and grasses that slow down the rush of runoff from hard surfaces such as roofs, sidewalks, parking lots, driveways and even lawns.  They actively manage storm water by filtering out pollutants that compromise water quality and threaten wildlife.  Rain gardens are an effective way to improve the overall health of water systems. 

The Lake Superior rain garden is a partnership among Sullivan County Division of Planning and Environmental Management, Sullivan County Division of Public Works (DPW), Sullivan Renaissance and the Tri-Valley Central School Natural Resources Class.  The project was designed by planning staff and Tri-Valley students, who then installed the garden under the direction of their instructor Robert Hayes.  Participating students were: Dustin Brackman, Jaxon Denman, Robert Frunzi, Joseph Kinzie, Christopher Lake Jr., James Mercado, Thomas Monforte, Anthony Perry, David Phelps Jr., James Ruhlin, Erin Smith, Julia Spriggens and Lindsey Staesser.  DPW staff assisted with construction.

“We hope that this project will inspire others to consider how to use gardens and work with the natural landscape to address issues of erosion and storm water runoff,” said Denise Frangipane of Sullivan Renaissance, who welcomed every to the dedication.

County Planner Jill M. Weyer explained how the rain garden works and described the plants that have been included.  Other speakers included: County Legislator Kathleen Labuda, who chairs the public works committee, County Legislator David Sager, whose district includes Lake Superior Park; County Manager David Fanslau; and new Planning Commissioner Luiz Aragon. 

The demonstration project includes educational brochures and future plans to install an interpretive sign discussing this practical and natural solution.  The native plants used in this rain garden were purchased at Butterfly Botanicals in Bloomingburg and Catskill Harvest Market in Ferndale.

The rain garden was a special environmental demonstration funded by Sullivan Renaissance, a beautification and community development program principally funded by the Gerry Foundation.  Additional funding has been secured by NYS Senator John J. Bonacic and Assemblywoman Aileen M. Gunther. For more information, visit www.sullivanrenaissance.org or call 845-295-2445.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Rain Garden Success Celebrated visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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Story and photos by Leni Santoro

On Saturday, August 29, Kayli Green and her friends were standing outside the Livingston Manor Free Library holding a bake sale for the library.

Kayli Green is in the 6^th grade at Livingston Manor School. She loves going to the library and she wanted to make sure that the library has all it needs to serve the public when it comes to books, bookshelves or just keeping the flower beds looking good.

This summer Kayli wrote a letter to the library asking them to allow her to have a bake sale; with all donations going to the library.

What made her do this?

“I’ve been coming to the library for years and years,” said Kayli. “I like taking books out of here and wanted to help so I came up with the idea to have a bake sale.”

Kayli and her friend Aryanna Staudt sought donations of baked goods from friends and family and in fact did so well on that front that there were cookies, cakes and pies enough to sell both outside and inside the library.

Rene Green, Kayli’s mom said that her daughter had been thinking originally of a more global cause such as “Save the Whales,” but she suggested something a little closer to home. “She came up with the library,” said Rene. “We frequent it [the library] often and I thought that it was a good idea.”

To view more photos from Baked Goods are Good for Books visit the Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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By Carol Montana

The five ladies met about five years ago when they were taking a Digital Publishing class at the Catskill Art Society, still located, at the time, in Hurleyville. Mary Collier, Caroline Harrow, Ginger Smith, Gloria Wagenknecht and Evelyn Porter. The ladies bonded and began to learn from each other, developing a friendship.

Then, when the Catskill Art Society moved to Livingston Manor, The Forum Friends, as they now called themselves, decided to continue to meet at each other’s houses. “We got together, we would have something to eat, we would share our work with each other,” says Wagenknecht, “and we came up with assignments. We would try to meet about once a month.”

Shortly before she passed away, Evelyn Porter said, “I don’t think you ladies have enough exposure, what do you think about having a show?” Wagenknecht says a couple of them were shocked. “We had never done anything like this before. It was Evi who saw the best in us and wanted to bring it out. She was terrific.”

The result of the ladies’ work – Broad Spectrum – is on exhibit at the Old Stone House in Hasbrouck until the end of September. “We were trying to come up with a name and having a difficult time with it,” says Wagenknecht, “It is a broad spectrum, we have watercolor, encaustic, photography, and Evi’s work, some of which is in pencil. And, of course, we’re all women, so I thought there’s also a play on words …”

Wagenknecht is from Loch Sheldrake and her medium of choice is photography. “It gives me an opportunity to be exceptionally creative, and I don’t think I have the ability to do that with my own hands. I can see something that I love … and take a picture and I work with Adobe Photoshop. I try not to do too much manipulating because I like to keep things as natural as possible, but I am able to bring out the very, very best in what I’ve seen and I love it.”

Ginger Smith is a photographer, but she also works with encaustics, which means painting with hot wax. “You melt the wax, you apply it and then you use heat to fuse it to the surface,” says Smith, who goes on to explain that encaustic is a very ancient medium. “The ancient Greeks used it to seal their ships, and it was also were used to decorate sarcophagi, some of which are still in existence.”

Smith uses a handmade wax that’s made in Kingston. Its composition is beeswax, a resin and a pigment. The artwork doesn’t need sealing, and after being cured for about six months, they can actually be buffed with a soft cloth to a shine. “The thing I like about encaustics,” says Smith, “is that I can’t be tight, you put the color on and the wax will move differently depending on the color … it has a life of its own, all I can do is guide it.

Also a photographer, Smith loves digital photography because, “I can see it right away, I can crop it. And so I was fascinated by extreme close-ups of flowers.”

Mary Collier is a retired science teacher, and possibly because of that, looks for the play of light on colorful subjects. How very appropriate during this 40th anniversary of the Woodstock Festival, that her photograph of a colorfully painted school bus is reminiscent of the Woodstock bus.

Painting barns and still-life scenes is what drives Caroline Harrow. Originally she delved into black and white photography, but found her true love a few years ago when she picked up a paintbrush to depict simpler times.

The Forum Friends consider Evelyn Porter to be not only their friend, but their mentor. The handout at their exhibit says of Porter, “Her philosophy of art showed us that change in synonymous with growth … with the freedom to investigate new media and experiment with a variety of techniques and styles.”

And so, The Forum Friends continue to meet, to “network, support, encourage, inspire and nurture each other’s desire to create what each sees through different eyes and emotional ties.” Indeed, isn’t that what all good friends do?

Broad Spectrum continues on exhibit at The Old Stone House, 282 Hasbrouck Road, Woodbourne through September 27. Gallery hours: Saturday and Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. or by appointment. Call 439-5867 or 583-1060 for more information.

To view more photos or to purchase prints from Broad Spectrum visit the The Catskill Chronicle on Zenfolio.

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[FALLSBURG] – September 2 was the first day of school for children at Fallsburg’s Benjamin Cosor Elementary (BCES). It also marked the beginning of kindergarten teacher Ms. Sandy Vanderzell’s final year teaching at the school. She will be retiring after 20 outstanding years at BCES and over thirty years total with all teaching experience.

Ms. Vanderzell will be greatly missed by her colleagues, many of whom have been mentored lovingly by her over the years. Clearly many young people have been blessed to have her as a teacher. Just watching her focus on each student on a busy first day one can see how a child feels special to be in her classroom.

There are many first days in a teacher’s life, but there is only one last first day. When kiddingly asked if she knew what to do with the children, she said, “I think I remember!” She surely did, and about twenty youngsters were glad that she did.

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