BlueStone Press

The best source for local news from Marbletown, Rochester & Rosendale

Published the 1st and 3rd Friday of each month | Vol. 5, Issue 27

Circle sisters seek area creatives

March 4, 2022 | $1.00

Rochester gets a NYS grant to replace Boice Mill Bridge

Page 16

Check out the local maple syrup run Page 10

Page 3

Schools bring data governance plans to track students

Talking with local Ukrainians

Kindergarteners went to school dressed like they were 100 years old as part of the ‘hundredth day of school’ celebration Amber Kelly BSP Reporter

Halyna Shepko from Gardiner and Natalia Girardi from Spring Glen in front of the White House, Washington, D.C.

“Ukrainian-Americans love the Catskills, with its scenic vistas, waterfalls, rivers and mountains that remind many of the Carpathians,” said Halyna Shepko in a recent email to the BSP. “Some of my favorite childhood memories were getting up early in Queens to come to Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson.”

Ukrainians have been coming to this part of New York for a hundred years, with the greatest influx taking place after WWII, fleeing from the repressive regime of the USSR, a country already known

for its brutal treatment of Ukraine during Stalin’s enforced famine of 1932-33, known as the Holodomor.

And the Ukrainian presence is still felt along the Rondout Valley – starting with Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church and Soyuzivka resort in Kerhonkson. A candlelight vigil was held at the church earlier this week. Fundraising efforts are growing, and rallies for peace in Ukraine are taking place around Ulster County this weekend.

See the full story on page 7

HPAI confirmed in Ulster County

as wild waterfowl migrate northward in the coming months. Commercial flocks in Delaware, Indiana and Kentucky have been affected, as have backyard flocks in Virginia, Maine, New York and Michigan.

We are asking our poultry producers to keep eye out for suddenly high mortality and to be prepared to report any suspicious whole flock illness.

Flocks of any size, from backyard to commercial, and any species can be affected.

Any birds can be affected, but birds other than waterfowl react most strongly to the virus. Poultry infected with HPAI may show one or more of the following symptoms: -Sudden death without clinical signs -Decreased egg production or soft-

Two laboratory-confirmed cases of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, one in a pheasant flock in Dutchess County and one in a backyard flock in Ulster County, were identified in NYS on Friday, Feb. 25. These follow the case identified in a backyard flock in Suffolk County, Long Island, on Feb. 19. These flocks have been euthanized to help control the spread of the virus.

While these are only three cases, it is anticipated that there will be many more.

The states with wild bird positives (250 cases) now include New Hampshire, Connecticut, Delaware, Virginia, North Carolina, Georgia, Florida and Kentucky.

Cases will increase across the Northeast

See Birds, page 6

“The strategic plan committee met last Tuesday with two topics,” said board member Chris Schoonmaker at the Feb. 22 Rondout Valley Board of Education meeting. “The first was just reviewing all strategic plans from each building. We had all the building administrators there giving us an update. The primary goal of these discussions was, one, to see where we are, but also to get out of that discussion areas that might be budget related.

“The other half of our conversation we had was about data and what we are going to do as a district to get to where we can start collecting data on student performance and achievement,” Schoonmaker said. “Ms. Pacht gave a presentation on our data governance plan, which sets the stage for what we need to do in order to have the systems in place to collect data in a succinct fashion and also allow us to pool all the data together for reporting purposes so that when we as a board, or when teachers or whomever needs to see data on a particular student’s performance or a district as a whole, it’s going to be there at our fingertips.”

Several students in Jake Maloney’s college-level high school class “advanced computer arts” were given the Rondout “R” and the district’s mission, vision and values to put into a design. Each student was given an opportunity to complete the design over the course of a year. The winner, Eleanor Gonzales, came to the Feb. 22 BOE meeting to present the new image.

Gonzales said that she had originally liked the way the Rondout “R” looked on a white background. She was working to find a way to bring them together when she discovered a photograph she took of the mountainous district with white

cloudy sky, which was a perfect image.

Andrew Davenport, Marbletown Elementary School principal, gave kudos to all those working during the recent storm. He went on to report that during January, MES students had the goal of reading 2,022 books and instead read almost 20,000 books. In December the school focus was on giving, with a doordecorating contest, festive dress day, and holiday sing-along. In January they had a Mad Science assembly and the focus was on kindness. February was for celebrating diversity, and the “No Place for Hate” club created diversity assemblies for each grade level. The Rondout Reads program was started years ago by teachers with the idea of having everyone in our community read the same book. This year the PTA gave every student the book “Just Ask,” written by Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor.

“We had Tryout Tuesday, and students were able to sample sweet potatoes with honey,” said Davenport. “The sweet potatoes came from Tributary Farm in High Falls, and the honey from Damn Good Honey in Kerhonkson. It was great. I want to thank Dan Matthews, our food service workers, RV Growers Association, and also Cornell Cooperative Extension.

“Today we celebrated February 22, 2022, or Tuesday 2/22/22 at 2:22 p.m. with a little announcement and a lot of fun.”

Davenport said. “Tomorrow kindergarteners are going to come dressed like they are 100 years old as part of our ‘hundredth day of school’ celebration. We’ve all kinds of clubs going on, thanks to our PTA, such as yoga, art, and Lego clubs.”

Victoria Salfioti, Junior High principal, said that the junior and intermediate schools are planning a field trip to the Holocaust Museum for sixth-, seventhand eighth-graders in March. In May, seventh- and eighth-graders graders will have a field trip (undecided destination) as well as “music in the park.” Members of the Middle School PTSA are raising money through a partnership with Hoffman Car Wash, with 50% going to the PTSA. The Creative Writing Club is happening, and the Junior High Wingman Club has been working with the Intermediate School Wingman Club, and they recently did a

See Schools, page 6

Page , March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press

Putting a ton of heart into everything You moved here a few years ago with your wife. What brought you up here, and how has the transition been?

My wife, Kristin, and I moved into our Rosendale home in May of 2020. We had an accepted offer on the house on Creek Locks Road before the Covid-19 pandemic started.

It was our intention to gradually shift the balance of our lives out of the city over the coming years. But everything changed. We Visit the folks gladly surrendered our Manhattan next door apartment and haven’t really looked back.

My brother Andy and sister-in-law Angela have lived in Cottekill for as long as I can remember, so I’d been visiting the area since my college days when I was still a student at Columbia University. Over the years, it took on a magical quality as my safe space when things were going off the rails. After 9/11, I came here for a week to breathe clean air and calm a nervous stomach. Many years later, when I returned to the East Coast after a decade living in Los Angeles, I decompressed with Andy and Angela for months. After recovering from the shock of a 6-degree morning after years of warm weather and sunshine, I fell in love with the area in a new way. The different towns. Rail trails.

The tree-lined roads. Thursday music night at the High Falls Café. It was grounded. Los Angeles isn’t really grounded.

Hudson Valley felt like home to me.

Thankfully, when I started seeing Kristin, she felt the same way. We held our wedding at the Breathe Inn in Phoenicia. We celebrated our anniversary in the Catskills each year. We were still living in the city, but we knew we’d love to find a way to spend less time there. When I was in my 20s you had to pry me out of New York City, even for a weekend. But I’m older than that now. I’d rather make cameos.

The transition for us has been easier than anticipated. We adore our house.

We were lucky that it was in live-able shape, and the previous owners were kind enough to sell us almost everything in it.

So we started with stuff we’ve been able to replace gradually with our own. We have so much more space with a threebedroom house and deck and yard than we did with a one-bedroom walkup in the city – and it costs less! Also, our neighbors in the Rosendale/Bloomington area have helped us feel cared for.

Kristin has successfully been practicing therapy remotely from an upstairs room that’s all hers during the week. And I’ve been stupidly fortunate. I’m a person who needs some solitary work space of his own. So I rent a small office in the Franz Roggen house on Crown Street in the Stockade District of Kingston. I love it. It’s across from my favorite book store/coffee shop, the Rough Draft. There are multiple Asian food spots and I can walk around.

Those simple things makes me happy.

just getting my head around the story. I’m consulting on two documentary projects by esteemed filmmakers and have just started to approach talent on a feature film that could put me back in the director’s chair. … And Kristin and I have a puppy coming in few weeks, which is probably the creative project I’m most excited about!

Q&A

What do you do for a living?

I’ve spent my career writing my way into as many interesting creative opportunities as possible.

My current day job – and it has been for the last five-plus years – is as a senior director of creative strategy and editorial for Paramount Consumer Products, the big media company that owns Nickelodeon,

Kwyn Bader Age: 53 Profession: Screenwriter, author and creative strategist Town: Rosendale

Comedy Central, MTV, Paramount Pictures, BET and other brands. I head up the cross-generational and superfan side of our editorial team. Basically it means that I help things like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ toys, “Yellowstone” series-inspired T-shirts and “South Park” Monopoly come into the world by translating beloved shows, movies, series and characters into words and artwork for products. And I’m a member of the Paramount-wide Content for Change Council, which is making breakthrough strides to initiate and ensure greater diversity and inclusion when it comes to hiring in content creation at major media companies.

I’m also a filmmaker who wrote and directed a feature film, “Loving Jezebel,” that won the Audience Award for Best Feature at the South by Southwest Film Festival over 20 years ago, which then led me to write feature screenplays for studios like Paramount and Fox Searchlight. I wrote the 2017 PBS documentary “Birth of a Movement” about the 1915 protest against filmmaker D.W. Griffith’s racist motion picture “The Birth of a Nation” led by Black newspaper owner William Monroe Trotter. The story I crafted, with the help of Pulitzer-nominated journalist Dick Lehr, pulled in some of the best scholarly minds in the country to tell a story that garnered an Emmy nomination.

What projects are you currently working on?

I co-authored a book for kids that was released in January by Scholastic and Nickelodeon books – “That Girl Lay Lay: #It’s Time to Slay” – with Nickelodeon TV star and the youngest female ever signed to a major rap label, That Girl Lay Lay, and it’s her memoir. Lay Lay and her father are terrific people, and she’s a breakthrough presence on the cultural landscape, especially for young Black girls. There are very few girls of color with their own fashion doll. She’s an outlier. To see the book out in stores and on Amazon now is a huge thrill. And as you can tell, I’m still getting the word out about it.

I’m currently overseeing the scripting for our Paramount Consumer Products Licensing Show, the biggest presentation of the year. I’ve just agreed to write a book on one of the iconic streetwear companies of the 1990s and the woman who started it in a Lower East Side storefront. I am

What are you most proud about regarding your work?

Two things.

One. I put a ton of heart into everything I do. I don’t know how to do it otherwise.

The reward has been a lifetime of working on things that are authentic and true to me in some way. Does everyone get to do that? Not sure. Grateful I do. Don’t get me wrong, there are real consequences to living by heart in professional contexts. I’ve had my heart broken many, many times.

But somehow it always comes back together. And the stuff that nearly murdered me makes me a deeper, more compassionate and better person. I’m vulnerable but resilient.

Two. I’ve helped things come out that mattered to people. Documentaries on the Tuskegee Airmen and Civil Rights figures like Trotter whose stories change the way we see American history while putting the spotlight on underappreciated Black heroes. I know from people who saw the documentary “Alive Inside,” for which I helped craft the story, that its depiction of music bringing valuable moments of memory back to people with Alzheimer’s changed their relationship to their own family members.

When it came out, “Loving Jezebel” was applauded by The New York Times as a sign of the future of film for its forwardlooking depiction of multi-racial relationships. It gave young people permission to live like they wanted to. Now we see these depictions in movies and commercials everywhere, but I was a little ahead of my time – I’m sure being the son of a Black mom and White dad who got married not long after the anti-miscegenation laws came off the books In Maryland made me the right person to do it. But what I’m even more proud of is that the focus of the movie was about something universal and human – that everyone struggles with who and how to love. So anyone can relate to it.

And sometimes, doing something that matters to others can be the karma that saves your own life. I remember one of my low points when I was in California. My career was at a nadir, my first marriage was on the way down, and my self-worth was dangerously low. I had lost any sense that I had anything valuable to give the world.

I had lost the plot. And out of the blue I received an email from a U.S. military sergeant stationed in Iraq during the war. She said that she and a group of fellow soldiers had found the DVD of “Loving Jezebel” in what I guess was a video library on base.

On a night they needed their spirits lifted, they laughed their way through it, and she wanted me to know it was important to her. I still cry just thinking about it. It reminded me that the things I give my heart to connect to other hearts. The laughter I share provokes more joy. And the love I put out just might come back to me …

See Q&A, page 14 BSP Correction In the Feb. 4 issue of the BSP, in the article “Old Times on Clove Road,” the man in a photo with Violet Ferguson was incorrectly identified. The man in the photo is actually Peg Leg Bates, not Pat Ferguson.

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BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page

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foR 26 YEARS of EXPERIENCE

Boice Mill Road bridge near Dunn Farm Road in Kerhonkson. Photo by Martha Brittell

Bridge NY awards Rochester funds To rebuild Boice Mill Road bridge Ann Belmont BSP Reporter One of the biggest grants the Town of Rochester has ever received, according to town supervisor Mike Baden, is the Bridge NY grant it was awarded at the end of December for the purpose of completely replacing the Boice Mill Road bridge near Dunn Farm Road, the base of which is close to 100 years old.

Currently, according to the initial project proposal outlined by Baden at a special Town Board meeting on Feb. 24, “bridge conditions prohibit school buses, fire engines, and snow and salt trucks, causing delays in schoolchildren pickups and drop-offs and slower emergency response.” The bridge has “a steel frame, timber deck, concrete and stone abutments and wing walls." Currently, the steel is cracking and the concrete abutments have “heavy abrasion." The replacement plan calls for a structure capable of carrying 25 tons, the same width as the old bridge but with some shoulder paving improvements for pedestrians.

Baden explained the next steps on the road to making the new bridge a physical reality. Baden will be the project manager; he will deal with the administrative side and all the paperwork that will be involved. Rochester will ask for bids on the project from a list of 15 engineering firms preselected by Bridge NY. March 25 is the deadline for them to submit their proposals. Once the town chooses from among them, Highway Department superintendent Jeff Frye will work with a consultant from that firm to design the new structure and determine if the town needs to pay any right-of-way fees to landowners.

Bridge NY is a mostly federally-funded program whose purpose is to repair and

replace aging bridges statewide. The way the grant is administered, municipalities cover their costs up front and are then reimbursed by Bridge NY. Baden went over the numbers: $395,500 will be appropriated from the town’s General Fund via the Capital Project Fund to cover the preliminary work itemized in his project proposal.

“When the reimbursements come in, they will be added back to the General Fund balance." Baden said. The town's fund balance is currently "about $1.3 million," he reported, so the town can afford to front the $395,000. (If they borrowed the money they’d pay extra in interest.) “So essentially the GF is loaning the Highway Department the money … They’ll get reimbursed and pay it back. The 5% the town is obligated to pay [about $20,000] will be added to the Highway Department budget."

When the bridge design is complete, bids will go out to construction companies to build it – “a complicated process,” said Baden.

The town has two years to start construction or else lose the grant money. “By December 2023, we have to have a shovel in the ground,” Baden said. He is optimistic, however, that the work will begin much sooner than that – hopefully by the summer of 2023.

Construction costs are estimated (according to Baden’s initial project proposal) to be $1,414,000; ultimately the federal government will reimburse the town for all but $74,000 of that amount. Money will be appropriated out of the town's Capital Project Fund in a timely fashion so Rochester won't have to take an overlarge financial hit at any one time, Baden said.

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Briefs Little Ones Learning Center Chili Takeout Fundraiser, RSVP required Little Ones Learning Center, at the Rochester Reformed Church, 5142 Route 209, Accord, will host their Chili Takeout Fundraiser, 3-5 p.m. Saturday, March 26.

The chili will be prepared by renowned local chef John Novi. The menu consists of a 16-ounce container of meat or vegetarian chili, cornbread and dessert for $12.

Prepaid reservations are required by Sunday, March 20, by contacting Mary Lee at 845-626-7249 or marylee2440@gmail. com. Arrangements for the pickup of tickets will be made at the time of reservations.

The Little Ones Learning Center provides early literacy programs and activities for children from ages 0 to 6. Presently LOLC is offering a virtual story time at 10:30 a.m. Saturdays, and is open for book borrowing 10 a.m.-noon Wednesdays.

Plans are being made to return to in-person story times in April. Check the Little Ones Learning Center Facebook page for more information.

Birds from page 1 shelled or misshapen eggs -Swelling of head, comb, eyelid, wattles and hocks -Purple discoloration of wattles, comb and legs -Nasal discharge, coughing and sneezing -Discoordination -Diarrhea A high level of mortality without any clinical signs is known to be a hallmark of

Schools from page 1 Valentine’s Day candygram project.

“It was a nice surprise for us,” Salfioti said. “The art classes had the students make Valentine’s cards.”

The National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony will be in April.

Board member Christopher DePew gave a capital projects update. He said, “Everything is moving. I cannot believe we are going into Phase 4. Phase 3 has been awarded and is massive middle school infrastructure. Phase 4 will begin in 2023, and that is bus loops, lockers, just tidying

the virus. In some cases, expect 100% of the flock to die within a few days. Regardless of how the disease presents, a large portion of the birds in a flock will be affected.

Source: Cornell Cooperative Extension College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, calscornell.edu

Join Cornell Cooperative Extension and Dr. Chad Wall, Field Veterinarian for NYS Department of Agriculture and Markets,

to learn about the current outbreaks of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza, the threat it poses to NYS poultry production, and to protect birds and stop the spread!

This free event, 7-8 p.m. March 7 via Zoom with a call in available is for small production flocks and backyard/hobby flocks.

Topics covered include symptoms of the disease, keeping poultry safe, and what will happen if the disease is found in the flock. The update will leave ample time for Q&A. Pre-registration is required at http://tinyurl.com/NYS-HPAI.

things up. I want to thank all the building administrators for working through this craziness over the past few years, and obviously we’re going to get to a point here where most things will be in place and done by the end of next summer.”

“We have had massive power outages at the schools,” board president Dawn VanKleeck said. “Are we talking about generators for this campus, Kerhonkson and Marbletown? They could almost become refuges for our community in an emergency because, you know, Marbletown, the whole area, just seemed to be devastated by the recent ice storm, and then we even had a power outage last week.”

“We are currently doing the building condition survey, which is the first step to

look at our needs district-wide,” superintendent of schools Dr. Joseph Morgan said. “When that is finished, then we’ll review it with facilities committee and look at additional things we need to do.

But a generator is something we definitely need to look at.”

“I’m concerned about functioning, and then I’m concerned about our community having a place to go – not that that’s our responsibility, but if we have that,” VanKleeck said.

“Often school districts are a first-aid center,” Morgan said.

VanKleeck said, “I’m so glad to hear that.”

CCE Flock Talks presents: Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza in NY

CCE Ulster New and St. Patrick’s Day coloring contest and shamrock craft kit Beginning Farmer The Town of Marbletown St. Patrick’s by dropping them back off at the ComDay Coloring Contest and Shamrock munity Center. The craft kit is a gift to Series Craft Kit is available to kids in four divithe participant. Entries must have name, Each year Cornell Cooperative Extension of Ulster County hosts the New and Beginning Farmer Series, a collection of one-hour workshops that help new and aspiring farmers get started. All classes will be held online via Zoom and cost $5 each.

The first of the classes in a series of eight, running through April 24 is “Unintentional Consequences,” a discussion on what is a weed in the garden and what is not. The class, 1-2 p.m. Thursday, March 10, will talk about how new fields and gardens can contain many different uninvited plants, aka weeds. During the session CCE master gardener volunteer Barbara Bravo will identify some of them and learn why there is a concern. Hear about some of the most common exotic, non-native plants and destructive insects as well as an aquatic invasive weed in waterways.

The second class in the series is “Introduction to Regenerative Agriculture & the Regenerative Organic Certification,” 1:30-3 p.m. Thursday, March 17. In the session, participants will be introduced to the concept of "regenerative agriculture," including potential practices (e.g., cover crops) and outcomes (e.g., carbon sequestration) and learn about the requirements and process for obtaining organic and regenerative organic certification. Guest speakers include Katy Williams, the operations manager for Regenerative Organic Certified (ROC), and Caitlin Tucker, the New York region organic consultant with Rodale Institute.

For more information, visit ulster.cce. cornell.edu or call 845-340-3990.

sions, ages 2-4, 5-7, 8-10 and 11 and older. Markers, crayons or colored pencils may be used. Participants can pick up the coloring sheets and craft packet at the Marbletown Community Center (back porch), at 3564 Main St., Stone Ridge, or the Town Hall, at 1925 Lucas Turnpike, Cottekill.

Winners will be chosen based on use of color, overall design and creativity.

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age and email address on the back of the coloring sheet. By submitting an entry, permission is given to display, promote, use, distribute to media, the colored page.

Entries must be received at the Marbletown Community Center on Tuesday, March 15. Winners will be announced, Wednesday, March 16.

For more information, call 845-6877500.

Participants can pick up the coloring sheets and craft packet at the Marbletown Community Center.

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page

Love and loyalty for Ukraine Halyna Shepko Special contributor to the BSP I live on a little, safe homestead in Gardiner, just outside of New Paltz. The New Paltz area has been my home for 33 years. I met my husband, Richard, while studying at SUNY New Paltz. I am thousands of miles from my mother’s birthplace, Ukraine, but hearing and seeing the horrific attacks and bombing by Russia in Ukraine is making my everyday life seem distant. I fight back tears, I keep checking the news to see if my mom’s city of Kharkiv is still standing, whether Kyiv is able to withstand the Russian forces, how the refugee situation is being handled, and news about all parts of Ukraine. Sometimes, I feel nauseated, wishing I could just rid this bad dream away with a flush of the toilet.

My mom, Anna Shepko, lives across the street from me, and every day I call her first thing in the morning. Today, I woke her up and she said, “My bed is so cozy, I feel bad for those trying to sleep in bomb shelters. Many can’t even lie down, they have to sleep sitting up, babies are being born underground. Melnikov’s wife’s school was bombed, they had to do it, the

Halyna Shepko from Gardiner and Natalia Girardi from Spring Glen in front of White House, Washington, D.C.

Russians occupied it, so much destruction.” Rostyslav Melnikov is a scholar who has written about my grandmother’s poet husband, Maik Johansen. We connected through art and memories of my grandmother, and now we connect through war atrocities.

All of my closest family is in the U.S., and we never lived far from a Ukrainian community. We live just under the mountain from Kerhonkson, Gardiner is where I

raised five children, homeschooled them, driving them up and down the Shawangunk mountain to where I could share Ukrainian culture with them.

Stand With Ukraine in New Paltz on Feb. 27 showed that there are many Ukrainians who call the Hudson Valley our home, and we thank all our neighbors for support and standing with us.

Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church held a Prayer Service and Candlelight Vigil for Peace in Ukraine on Tuesday, March 1, in Kerhonkson. The Very Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczsak said during the sermon, “We pray for Ukraine, for Russia and the entire world, because we want our enemies to become our friends – we think they are also our brothers and sisters.” There were many present from the community including, Town of Wawarsing Supervisor Terry Houck, Village of Ellenville Mayor Jeff Kaplan and Deputy Mayor Ray Younger, Wawarsing Town Board member Paul Tuzzolino, Bianca Coppola, who is director of communications for state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, and Elliot Auerbach from the New York State Comptroller’s Office.

The Ukrainian community is asking the

world to act immediately. The invasion of Russia in Ukraine threatens democracy not only in Europe, but also around the globe. Millions of lives will be affected.

Europe will have long-lasting consequences, as will as the United States, if Russia succeeds in taking over Ukraine. What Russia is doing in Ukraine is genocide, and their invasion can become an ecological disaster whose repercussion will be felt all over the world.

If you want to help the people and the nation of Ukraine, here are two sites with info: https://razomforukraine.org and https://bit.ly/links_for_ukraine. We are organizing a medical supply drive for civilians who are defending their cities in Ukraine. Location for donations will be decided soon, and it will be in Kerhonkson area. We are trying to save lives. If you’d like more information on this effort, you can contact me via email, halynashepko@ gmail.com, or phone, 845-255-5936.

My friend Daryna, in Kyiv, wrote to me today, “We’re preparing, we’re organizing, truth will win! God is with us!” May this be so.

Ukrainians in Kerhonkson … and nearby Staff Reports BSP Halyna Shepko, who contributed the accompanying piece in this issue of the BSP, emailed us after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, saying, “Ukrainian-Americans love the Catskills, with its scenic vistas, waterfalls, rivers and mountains that remind many of the Carpathians. Some of my favorite childhood memories were getting up early in Queens to come to Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson.”

Soyuzivka is a beautiful resort in Kerhonkson, set near the base of the northern slope of the Shawangunks. Originally a famous sanitarium providing a “rest cure” for high-class, wealthy patients, run by Dr. Andrew Foord (hence the name of Foordmore Road) in the early 20th century, the Ukrainian National Association bought it in 1952, with plans to turn it into a home for the aged. That first summer, however, it was used as a youth camp, the beginning of a long tradition.

The following is an excerpt from a brochure for Ukrainian Heritage Day, Sept. 28, 1980, held at Soyuzivka in Kerhonkson: “… The first Ukrainians to settle near Kerhonkson came to the region from 1914 to 1925. They came from all over but predominantly from the state of Pennsylvania. They worked on or bought farms, mostly in Sullivan County … and around Ellenville ... “… The next wave of Ukrainian immigrants came to this country after WWII, starting in 1949. These were a different type of immigrants, people who fled from religious and political persecution in the Soviet Union.

United, residents of Ukrainian descent bettered themselves materially, buying or building homes, and formed 15 organizations to fulfill religious and cultural needs of the Kerhonkson community …

“The community’s religious life centers around two churches: Catholic and Orthodox, which represent the two largest Christian faiths of Ukraine. … Both faiths have had their churches liquidated by the atheistic regime of the USSR, and many clergy and believers were sentenced to long terms in concentration or hard labor camps. This is why Ukrainians cherish religious freedom so much.”

The visually striking Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church is on Foordmore

The Very Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczak with dignitaries at the Prayer Service and Candlelight Vigil for Peace in Ukraine on March 1 at the Holy Trinity Ukranian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson. On right, families gathered at the Prayer Service and Candlelight Vigil for Peace in Ukraine on March 1 at the Holy Trinity Ukranian Catholic Church in Kerhonkson.

Photos by Gloria Waslyn and Halyna Shepko

Vigil for Ukraine On Tuesday evening, March 1, a Prayer Service and Candlelight Vigil for Peace was held at Holy Trinity Ukrainian Catholic Church on Foordmore Road, Kerhonkson. Many people from the nearby towns and even across the region attended,including many children wearing traditional Ukrainian

garb. The service was conducted by the priest of the church since 2011, the Very Rev. Dr. Ivan Kaszczak, and others spoke about the devastation going on in Ukraine, including hundreds of thousands of people fleeing the dangers of war.

Father Kaszak, in a video clip posted on Facebook by an attendee at the event, said, “It’s a shame that so

Road, across from the entrance to Soyuzivka. St. Volodymyr’s Ukrainian Orthodox Mission chapel is found at Soyuzivka.

Outside this chapel there is a cross to commemorate the millions who died during Holodomor, an "artificial famine of the 1930s" in Ukraine. And on Rock Haven Road, in the woods, on the edge of a cliff, is the St. Peter and Paul Ukrainian Orthodox Chapel, built as a memorial to soldiers who died fighting for Ukraine’s freedom.

According to soyuzivka.com, “Soyuzivka has always been host to the most important dignitaries of Ukrainian descent.

Cardinal Slipyj, after his release from a Soviet prison and after the Pope named him as cardinal, was honored during his first U.S. visit, as was the first president of an independent Ukraine, President Krawczuk, in 1992.

During the 1980s, 1990s and now, leaders and political dissidents, championing the rights of Ukraine’s self-determination were asked to lecture and meet with the community. These included Valentyn Moroz (dissident released by an exchange arranged by the United States and Russia), Mykola Horyn, Taras Chornovil (who later

died in mysterious circumstances) and others. It has played host to movie star Jack Palance, who appeared as a benefit for the Ukrainian community, as did Hollywood’s Mike Mazurki, Miss Universe and others.”

Over the years, Soyuzivka has hosted community events such as the Kerhonkson-Accord First Aid Squad’s annual fundraiser dinner. The resort, which has beautiful views of the Catskills and Rondout Valley, is also available to the public for weddings.

The pandemic messed up many plans, including those of the Ukrainian Heritage Day Camp, which traditionally has been held at Soyuzivka every summer. The camp managed to host sessions in 2021, and hopes are high for the summer of 2022.

Another long-term offering at Soyuzivka has been the Pryma-Bohachevsky Dance Academy Workshop, also held in in July and August. Kids and young people of all ages learn traditional Ukrainian folk dancing. Check out the 2019 recital, https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=g8SBCrFCykw.)

much blood has to be shed for nothing … for nothing. How many mothers and fathers will have to bury their children? And why? Why? There are thousands of deaths on both sides now …All Ukraine wants is let us be ourselves.”

The webstite for the Ukrainian Church in Kerhonkson's is www.holytrinityny.org

Visit soyuzivka.com or call 845-626-5641.

For real Ukrainian “flavor,” seek out some local cuisine. For many years, the Log Cabin was a very well-known Ukrainian restaurant on Route 44/55, Kerhonkson, not far from Soyuzivka. It was owned and operated by beloved members of the community, Zen and Olga Sawchuk, who served many Ukrainian dishes such as pierogies, potato pancakes and stuffed cabbage. It is now the site of Rough Cut Brewing Co., a popular restaurant and microbrewery.

Another well-known and tremendously popular Kerhonkson eatery is Helena’s Specialty Foods on Route 209, across from Kelder’s Farm. Opened in 1995 by Anna and Stefan Samko, a couple of PolishUkrainian descent, Helena’s prepares and sells a tremendous selection of homemade pierogies, as well as kielbasa and other Polish sausages. You can call ahead (845-626-2958) and place special orders for pickup, or just stop by to see what’s available, noon-5 p.m. Thursday through Sunday. A menu can be found at helenaspecialtyfoods.com.

Page , March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press

ECC Chair presents NY Zero-Emissions Pilot Firm hired to handle an influx of grievances from the town's Highway Department Brooke Stelzer BSP Reporter The Marbletown Town Board meeting was held via Zoom and Facebook Live at 6 p.m. Tuesday, March 1. Five board members were present including Rich Parete, chairman and town supervisor, along with Ken Davenport, Daisy Foote, Don LaFera and Tim Hunt.

Five resolutions were presented, and all carried, 5-0.

Resolution 32 is a new appointment to the Environmental Conservation Commission. Lisa Giannico has been appointed for a three-year term, which will end Dec 31, 2024.

Resolution 33 is the 2022 inter-municipal agreement between the towns of

Rosendale and Marbletown on co-ownership of the Rondout Municipal Center on Lucas Turnpike/County Route 1. The agreement outlines which rooms are owned by each town, which were common, maintenance and internal structure costs, as well as building managers.

Resolution 34 is a 2022 contract with Roemer, Wallins, Gold and Mineaux LLP, a labor law firm based in Albany. The board has hired the firm to handle an influx of grievances from the Highway Department, which have become too much for the town to handle. The firm will also help with contracts, arbitration and violence in the workplace.

Resolution 35 covers the 2022 Transfer Station permit fees, which will remain unchanged from last year. The annual permit is valid from April 1 to March 31. A single permit is $45, an additional permit is $20, and seniors (62 or older) can receive a $25 permit, or an additional permit for $20.

One-day permits remain at $10.

Resolution 36 reappoints Doug Adams to the Historic Preservation Commission

for a new term, ending Dec. 31, 2025.

ECC chairman Tom Konrad put forth a proposal for Marbletown to apply for the Stretch to Zero Pilot Program, which is part of the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). The pilot looks to municipalities to first develop and then adopt zero on-site greenhouse gas emissions codes, which would remove combustion of fossil fuels on building sites and prohibit furnaces and cooking that use propane and fuel oil. The new code will likely require any new construction within the adopting municipality to be all-electric, but that will be finalized during the pilot.

“The state is looking for three different municipalities to participate. We are qualified from our past environmental work.

They also want to look at support from the business community and plans for how we’d spend the money. If we go ahead and sign the resolution, I would spend the next month developing a budget for that money to help win the contract,” Konrad said, adding that he believes the state

is going to adopt zero-carbon emission codes eventually, so his thought is to be a frontrunner in the state. The pilot program comes with a large grant if accepted, and upwards of $500,000 in total, if the town were to pass a resolution into law at the end of the pilot, which is December 2023.

Councilman Hunt asked if the code would apply to both new construction and major renovations.

“It would only cover new construction,” said Konrad. “We’d develop a law that is suitable to use that would meet these guidelines. We could make it cover major renovations, I would say make it broad, but we can say we’d spend the next two years to develop a code and report it to the state. Really the only requirement is that it is a zero-carbon emission on-site building code.” Konrad said they’d work with other partners to determine what that would look like. The board decided to reconvene on the decision and discuss further. Konrad gave March 15 as the final deadline to submit Marbletown’s application.

Time to get into a NY state certified Ag District Staff Reports BSP The Ulster County Legislature will accept applications from landowners wanting to have their agricultural lands included within a NYS Certified Agricultural District from now until March 30.

"In the last five years (2017 to 2021), Rochester had the most applications at eight. Marbletown was tied for second, with Olive at seven applications …

Rosendale had one application – out of 15 municipalities," said Burt Samuelson of the Ulster County Planning Department.

Landowners seeking inclusion into a New York State Certified Agricultural District must submit a completed Agricultural District Inclusion Application

available on the Planning Department’s website, http://ulstercountyny.gov/planning/annual-agricultural-district-inclusions. Interested parties may also request an application by contacting Samuelson at 845-339-2490 or via email at bsam@ co.ulster.ny.us with tax map identification number(s). The application and the relevant portion to the tax map should be submitted to: Burt Samuelson, Ulster County Planning Department, 244 Fair St., P.O. Box 1800, Kingston, NY 12402-1800 Applications must be received no later than the close of business on Wednesday, March 30. Applications may also be sent by e-mail to bsam@co.ulster.ny.us.

E-mailed applications must be received by

The TírnanÓg Farm in Marbletown, a cattle operation and haying when the photo was taken in April 2017

11:59 p.m. on March 30.

Agricultural District Law adopted by

the New York State Legislature in 1971 provides for the creation of agricultural districts to protect and promote the availability of land for farming purposes. Lands within districts are protected from unreasonable local regulation of farm practices, the acquisition by public entities through the use of eminent domain, and the advance of public funds to construct facilities that encourage non-farm development.

Additionally, land used in agricultural production within an agricultural district is not subject to benefit assessments, special ad valorem levies or other rates and fees for the financing of improvements such as water, sewer or non-farm drainage.

Ulster County has four certified agricultural districts containing around 71,000 acres of farmland.

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BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page

Rock Cliff House opening is on the horizon

Hotel & restaurant approaches opening in late spring of 2022 Things are really coming together for a new venture in a historic location

Chelsea Miller BSP Reporter It’s been a long three years for Jacqueline Marie Williams, owner of the Rock Cliff House in High Falls. Purchased in 2017, Williams has spent the time thereafter lovingly restoring one of High Falls’ flagship buildings.

“It’s been a long three years in the sense that I was hoping construction would be over already,” says Williams. “That’s the piece that has been challenging. These things take time. And I’m used to things happening at a much faster pace.” An opening is finally within striking distance, however, and Williams says that the goal is to open by the end of May 2022. Beloved by longtime locals and a mystery to newer residents, the Rock Cliff House has a long history of hospitality, and Williams is eager to continue that tradition.

While, at the time of purchase, Williams knew that the Rock Cliff House would require extensive renovation, she says that the scope of the renovation has slowly revealed itself.

“The truth is, I don’t know how the building didn’t fall over into the street,” says Williams. “The entire sill plate had rotted out.” She also found that digging a septic system would be a much larger task than originally anticipated. “Digging the septic was like mining for diamonds,” she says. “As we got down about 2 feet, we started to hit bedrock, literally, and trying to break that up was a huge challenge. We actually broke a few drills just to actually be able to dig it down to the depth to put the septic.” However, Williams says, with a note of hard-won triumph, “We’re finally there, the septic is ready to be put in place.

I’m imagining that within another week, we will have an entire plumbing system in place.”

Adding to the process was Williams’ complete commitment to preserving the historical detail of the building. “I’m extremely detailed oriented,” she says.

“Capturing every single detail that was left behind is at the heart of what I want to achieve. This is not slapping it together.” She shares the story of restoring the iconic Rock Cliff bar, which many locals may remember so well. The bar was covered with multiple layers of paint, and Williams, seeing the gorgeous detail, set to stripping the bar down to the natural wood to showcase it. “I stripped the paint and put a stain on it to see the intricate carving that someone took the time to do,” says Williams. “It took me three months to strip that thing. It was five layers of paint.

When I brought it back to the natural wood – it was just gorgeous.” The effort came with a lot of time and even a little injury (when the bar toppled over her at one point in the process). Williams is also reusing all the doors and went so far as to resource more time-appropriate hinges from a salvage yard in Pennsylvania. The only outwardfacing architectural change will be the placement of the stairs leading up to the front porch. Upon reviewing

Jacqueline Marie Williams, lovingly restoring the original bar at the Rock Cliff House

historic photos of the building, Williams found that the stairs, which were leading up to the porch from the side when she purchased the building, were originally placed at the center of the porch and led straight out toward Route 213. As for the exterior, Williams has chosen historic Benjamin Moore colors.

Kismet has been with Williams over the course of her Rock Cliff House journey. Williams met the newly minted general manager of property while shopping for coffee machines at Williams-Sonoma in New York City. While browsing the various coffee-making options, she chatted with Audeliz Irizarry, a sales person at Williams-Sonoma. The two had an immediate connection.

Says Williams, “Audeliz asked, ‘What kind of coffee are you serving?’ We just kept talking about these coffee machines, and the store was closing, and he walked outside with me and my daughter. He said, if you want to get a feel for good coffee, I can point you in the right direction. We continued to talk on the street and decided to meet at a coffee place. As I walked away, I said to my daughter, ‘It would be great to have him as our general manager.’” Williams would come to learn that Irizarry was a trained sommelier, with extensive hospitality experience, and after

their first meeting at a café in Brooklyn, Williams floated the idea of his being a part of the Rock Cliff team and was met with excitement. Williams then asked a friend who is in the restaurant consulting business to interview Irizarry, and once the friend advised that he would hire Irizarry in a heartbeat, she knew fully that she had found her GM. Over the past three years, the vision for the Rock Cliff House has changed and grown, says Williams. Initially, she planned to open a bridal boutique and small bed-and-breakfast. As time progressed, she has shifted the vision to include a seven-room hotel that is both modern and comfortable, as well as a restaurant that serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. The restaurant will be named “Lynette” after Williams’ grandmother, and while the menu is still being finalized, she is leaning toward Jamaican cuisine to honor her grandmother.

“Lynette was a mother, grandmother and great-grandmother and a fundamental influence on the family and who we are today as Jamaican people,” says Williams. “She had an impact in her community, and we strive to do the same. She went to England, set to experience new perspectives in life without setting aside her Jamaican heritage. Lynette lived out what it was to be a Jamaican in a somewhat unfamiliar country. Her daughter Renetta manifested her mother’s bold and independent spirit and accomplished far more than what her generation expected.

In the end, her achievements superseded what women did not and could not have done back then. With these women behind us, we hope to do the same. We aim to immerse ourselves into the High Falls, Rosendale and Stone Ridge communities while sharing and portraying our Jamaican tastes and culture.”

Like her grandmother, Williams says that she is focused on the community. “I’m a very community-oriented individual, and the community plays a role in any business establishment, and I think it’s a responsibility to give back the community. It’s a give-and-take relationship. The Rock Cliff is not only to be open to locals, but to welcome them while at the same time embracing newer residents and weekenders.”

To stay abreast of the opening, visit https://rockcliffhouse.com.

Briefs Town of Rochester exploring website options The Town of Rochester Town Board is seeking proposals for website design, implementation, support and hosting, including but not limited to provide municipal website design, implementation, client support and hosting services for the town’s website, townofrochester.ny.gov, at the highest level of services to the town.

Proposals are due on or before noon Friday, March 18, at the office of the town clerk, 50 Scenic Road, Accord, where they will be opened and read aloud. Specifications are available on www.townofrochester.ny.gov and at the office of the town clerk. The Rochester Town Board has the right to reject any and all proposals for this project.

RVBA monthly meeting with Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan Join the Rondout Valley Business Association for its annual meeting with guest speaker Ulster County Executive Pat Ryan, 7:30 a.m. Thursday, March 10, at Mohonk Mountain House, 1000 Mountain Rest Road, New Paltz. At the event, three board members will be elected and a review of 2021 will be discussed. All attendees Ryan will need for fill out the Covid-19 disclaimer form and present it upon entry of the Mohonk Gate House.

For more information, visit rondoutvalley.org or call 845-687-4567.

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Page 10, March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press

The maple sap run: It ain’t over till it’s over Ann Belmont BSP Reporter Back in 2017, the BSP talked about the local maple syrup industry with John Stockin, who owns and runs the Lyonsville Sugar House, and Jay Broekema of the Sugar Brook Maple Farm in Kerhonkson.

Recently we checked back in with both of them for an update during this, their busiest time of year. We also got the perspective of Jay Banta, who produces Banta’s Maple Syrup with his father, Kevin, and brother Josh.

Stockin’s wood lots are in Accord and Lyonsville. “I have noticed a lot of my trees are suffering,” he said. “I would say the main cause is too much water. I’ve noticed this the last two or three years … at least the hard maples. Soft maples, it doesn’t seem to affect them at all. I do tap both, but the higher sugar content is in the hard maple.” (Red maples are soft; sugar maples are hard.) We asked him if he’d noticed any changes in the season over the years. Reluctant to draw any conclusions – “my whole life is just a micro-drop in nature” – he did think that “overall, maybe the seasons are starting a little earlier … on average, possibly a week earlier.”

Any prediction for how this season will turn out? “None!” he said with a laugh.

“We did have some good runs early in the month [February] … I’m still not done tapping, I’ve got a ways to go.” Cold weather “usually brings the sugar content of the trees up.” He said he doesn’t really know why. “A lot of times, if you start tapping real early – say it got warm the end of January –you can get good sap runs but the sugar content is usually low. [The tree] knows it’s too early to send sugar up to make leaves.” To capture that sugar, you need to harvest “when it starts to form a bud, whether it’s a grass or a tree … When you make hay, you want to cut it in the bud form because that’s when you get the most sugar, the most protein out of the plant.”

Right now “the woods are a mess,” said Stockin. The giant ice storm in mid-February did a lot of damage. The maples lost some limbs, but “a lot of oaks got pulled out by the roots and took lines down.”

(The lines he refers to are the network of tubing that tappers set up so their sap can flow to a central collection point.) “You never know when to start repairing, because then you get more bad weather and it knocks things down again.” However, it’s an ill wind that blows no good … “The maple trees I have in lots with a lot of ash trees are actually doing a lot better now, because they have less competition.”

The Bantas tap trees in the same general territory as Stockin, who was actually their mentor. “We have a couple of lots up in Samsonville … we have about 550 taps right now, and about another 150 up at my parents’ house in Accord,” Jay Banta said. This year’s tapping season? “So far it’s been kind of … strange. Low sugar content, and we haven’t been getting really

Jayden Banta, 5, tasting sap and checking bucket

good runs, even though it should be running [well]." His guess as to the cause of the unreliable weather: “Climate change, I would assume. It’s just been hit-and-miss … definitely a roller-coaster winter. The syrup could last one week or it could last six weeks this season … we just drilled our holes last week. Valentine’s Day is our rule of thumb … but we just watch the longterm forecast and see what it’s going to bring us. It’s a gamble. Because your holes only last four to six weeks before they begin to dry out … it could be a good season, but my prediction is that it’s going to be short and sweet. We’ll see.”

Jay Broekema's wood lots are in Oliverea, near Big Indian. The first runs of the season caught him a little bit unprepared, though he’d been working in the woods since January making preparations. “I didn’t have all my taps in.”

He commented, “Last year wasn’t the best of years, and this year is looking similar, but let’s hope that’s not the case.

Last year it was cold right on until March, kinda just like it’s been ... then it kind of warmed up quickly, and the season ended a little early.

“The biggest thing that determines a good season is freezing and thawing temperatures," Broekema explained. "You got to get a freeze at night, that recharges the trees. It draws sap up into the tree ... If we can get 25 degrees at night, 45 during the day, usually we’ll get a pretty good sap run.” But even that isn't always enough.

“It depends on which way the wind blows.

I don’t know why, but a south or an east wind, and the sap won’t run the way you’d expect, even if the temperatures are right. You get a north or a west wind, and the sap usually runs strong. We’ve been having a lot of south winds this year, so far ... there’re days you think it’s going to run like crazy, and it doesn’t run; there’re

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days you think it’s not going to run and it’s pouring out of the trees. Mother Nature!

It’s whatever we get."

Although the tapping season might be getting less predictable, tappers are countering that trend with new technology that has increased the yield per tree.

When the temps don’t get below freezing at night, the sap won’t run on its own.

“There has to be a change in the atmospheric pressure between the inside and outside of the tree,” Stockin explained, as well as temperature change, to get the sap moving. So tappers use a vacuum pump on the “lines,” the plastic tubing network that harvests the sap. The system keeps improving, Stockin said. "Better line work, keeping everything a little more tight – better vacuum."

Broekema, too, is looking for ways to increase his sap yield, even in uncertain weather. “Basically when you drill a hole, it’s an injury to the tree, just like cutting your finger,” he explained. “And the tree’s response is it immediately starts to heal.

When you get those warm temps, your spiles get bacteria, which causes the tree to heal faster. Your holes dry out and stop producing. That’s one reason why I’m changing my drops this year."

What’s called the spile, the piece of pipe that actually taps the tree, connects to a short tube called the drop line, “which connects to lateral lines, which connect to your main lines, which connect to your tank,” if you have a tanker truck for maple sap, as Broekema does. “They’ve found that if you change your drop lines, your holes’ll stay fresh longer, so they’ll produce sap longer … It costs about $1.50 apiece,

but they’ve done the math at Cornell, and it’s still worth the labor and the cost,” although, he admitted, it’s labor-intensive.

“I made a lot of changes in the sugarhouse, too. I’ve added another R.O. [reverse-osmosis], basically a high-tech filter. The water can pass through but the sugar and minerals do not. It saves time and energy.”

Tapping trees and producing syrup is of course not a year-round operation. “We work full time. My brother’s an excavator and I’m a carpenter, my dad’s a carpenter,” said Jay Banta. But winter’s a slow time, “so it’s a good time to make maple syrup! A good time to get outdoors.”

Broekema’s day job is driving heavy equipment for highway construction crews. He too enjoys a change. “Tapping trees is good exercise! Today I put on 5 miles in the woods,” bushwhacking up and down steep Catskill hillsides in ice and snow. “I’ve lost 10 pounds in the last few weeks!”

Stockin and Broekema are both veteran syrup producers. The Banta brothers started their business more recently, but the two have been tapping trees since they were small children. “My father got us into it when we were kids … now we got my son Jayden doing it, he’s 5, so this’ll be the third generation ... John Stockin started his sugar house in 1985, and my dad used to help him. We pretty much did it with him our whole lives.”

“I got pictures of them running around my saphouse in their diapers!” Stockin joked. He's looking for more apprentice syrup makers who want to learn the business. If there are potential tree tappers out there, he said, “send ’em over!”

Banta’s Maple Syrup is available at the Arrowood Brewery and at the Accord Market.

"We will have bourbon barrel-aged maple syrup available at the end of March.”

Visit @Bantasmaplesyrup or write bantasmaplesyrup@gmail.com.

Sugar Brook Maple Syrup is sold at “Barthels Farm stand, Saunderskill, Kelder’s, Jenkin-Leukens, Dressel Farms, Tremper Hill Farm – there’s a lot. And we sell quite a bit from the house.” Call 845-594-2483 and leave a message.

Lyonsville Sugarhouse 591 County Route 2, Accord. Call 6872518.

“Give a call or come by. We also do dropoffs if it's not too far away.”

Available at Tetta’s Market, County Route 3, near Samsonville, in Olivebridge.

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022 , Page 11

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Page 12, March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press

Memoriam John Charles Metsger

KINGSTON—It is with great sadness that family shares news of the passing of John Charles Metsger on Feb. 11, 2022, as he embarks on life’s last great adventure. He was born on Dec. 9, 1944, in Bedford, Ohio. He is predeceased by his parents, Charles Suydam Metsger and Frances Annette Metsger. He leaves behind his son, Erik, daughter-in-law, Caitlin, and granddaughter, Lucy Anne; his sister Dianne, and nephew Charles Tieryn; his sister, Carole, and her husband, Jimmy Williams; niece Bethany and her Metsger husband, John Harrington; grandnephew Andrew; and grandniece Elizabeth.

John served his country in the United States Marine Corps from 1963 to 1967. including a tour of duty as a radio operator in Vietnam. John worked in the electrical industry for a number of years and later worked as a certified electrical inspector in Ulster County. He was loved and will be greatly missed by his family and friends.

Charles F. Krom

BLOOMINGTON—Charles F. Krom passed away on Feb. 16, 2022, at his home. He was 81. He was born in Ellenville, Nov. 14, 1940, a son of the late Andrew and Josephine Krom. An area resident for many years, Charles had been employed as a corrections lieutenant for NYS Department of Corrections. He retired from the Johnstown, New York, facility. He had also served as vice president for Council 82 Retirees Chapter, Department of Corrections. Charles later served as Town Justice for the Town of Krom Day, Saratoga County. He also was a life member of Pioneer Engine Company in Ellenville. His wife, Patricia Miller Krom, died April 22, 2016, and a grandson, Benjamin, also died previously.

Charles is survived by his children, son Charles Krom (Deneen) of Edinburgh, daughter Theresa of Tampa, Florida, daughter Charleen Rutherford (Dan) of Tampa, and son Andrew Krom (Dawn) of Tillson. Also survived by eight beloved grandchildren: Brian and Yvonne Krom, Elizabeth (Benjamin Byrnes), Christopher Krom (Jenelle Massaro), Rebecca Tompkins, Sarah Lombardoni (Joshua Claus), Corey Palmer (Alishia) and Ross Krom (Theresa); and 11 great-grandchildren. Cremation will be held privately, and there will be no calling hours. His family suggests memorial donations to Ellenville Elks Lodge #1971, 50 Route 55, Napanoch, NY 12458. George J. Moylan Funeral Home, Rosendale, is assisting the family with arrangements.

John J. Stensland

ACCORD—John Joseph Stensland passed away on Feb. 18, 2022, at MidHudson Regional Hospital. He was 58. John was born on Jan. 31, 1964, in Manhattan; he was the son of the late Thor and Rose Marie (Vurchio) Stensland. John was a loving father, grandfather, brother and friend. Music was one of John’s passions. He was a gifted guitarist, bassist, pianist and vocalist. Some of his hobbies include gardening and watching sports. John loved spending time with his family. He will be deeply missed Stensland and fondly remembered by his daughters, Angelina Connolly and her wife, Sarah, and Rhianna Burger and her husband, Jacob; their mother, Angela Knowles; his companion, Denise Region; his brother, Thor Stensland; his sister, Doreen Berezowski, and her husband, Michael; his grandchildren, Octavia and Roman. Memorial visitation was be held on Feb. 25, with a celebration of his life following.

Joseph Panko

STONE RIDGE—Joseph Panko died peacefully at Kingston Hospital on Feb, 23, 2022, at the age of 98.

Joseph is survived by his daughters, Michele Panko of Stone Ridge and Lisa Panko Pastor and husband, Greg of Bethel, Connecticut; grandchildren Richard Panko and Christine Bubbico Panko of Mahopac, Kimberly Panko Vince and Gregory Vince of Fishkill, Reynold Bisordi and Joseph Bisordi of Bethel, Connecticut, Donald Roberti and Odessa Kitchen Roberti of Mount Tremper, Nicole Panko Roberti Seiferheld and Richard Seifer-

held of Shrub Oak, Daniel Roberti of Lanesville, Michele Roberti Turko and Ted Turko of Putnam Valley, Richard Roberti Jr. of Lanesville, Regina Roberti and Mario Rodriguez of Tamarac, Florida, Vanessa Roberti and Jason Schutt of Cave Junction, Oregon, Amanda Roberti and Christopher Ahearn of Stone Ridge, and Thomas Roberti and Elizabeth Leacock of Phoenicia. He is preceded in death by his wife of 56 years, May Napurski Panko; sons Gary Panko, David Panko and Joseph Panko; and brothers Peter and Paul. He was born in Yonkers on April 17, 1923, to Pearl Pidany and Paul Panko. He married May Napurski on Dec. 17, 1944, at Most Holy Trinity Church in Yonkers. Joseph enlisted in the U.S. Navy in May of 1941 and proudly served his country for 20 years. After he retired he became a mail carrier with the United States Postal Service in White Plains for 17 years. Joseph was the patriarch of his family for many years, loved by his children, grandchildren, many great-grandchildren, one great-greatgrandchild, as well as many nieces and nephews. The family has countless fond memories of his expressions of love, humor and generosity. In his younger years Joseph loved bowling and playing softball on local neighborhood leagues. As a teenager he began caddying at several Westchester golf courses, and upon his retirement from the Navy he resumed caddying as well as playing golf until he was 80 years old. Joseph was proud to be an active member of the Eastchester VFW for many years and loved playing pinochle with several of his VFW buddies several times a week. A funeral service is scheduled for 2 p.m.

Friday, March 4, 2022, at George J Moylan Funeral Home, 2053 Route 32, Rosendale. Memorial visitation for family and friends will be from noon-2 p.m.. A service by a pastor from Faith Church, New Milford, Connecticut, will immediately follow. All are welcome to attend and celebrate Joseph’s life. There also will be a celebration of his life at noon Saturday, March 5, at Faith Church, 600 Danbury Road, New Milford, CT 06776. In lieu of flowers, please send donations to Villa Veritas Foundation Inc., 5 Ridgeview Road, P.O. Box 610, Kerhonkson, NY 12446. The family would like to thank Hudson Valley Hospice and the staff of Kingston Hospital who were involved in his care for all their kindness and support, not only for Joseph but the family as well.

Marie G. Dean

GRAHAMSVILLE—Marie G. Dean passed away on Feb. 20, 2022, at Achieve Rehab and Nursing. She was 98.

Marie was born on Nov. 21, 1923, in Eureka, New York; she was the daughter of the late George and Sarah (Amthor) Gorton. She married Charles W. Dean on June 3, 1944.

Charles sadly passed away in 1998.

Marie was a former member of the Claryville Reformed Church, where she enjoyed attending the church functions and suppers. She was a member of the International AssoDean ciation of the Rebekah Assemblies in Grahamsville. Marie was a self-employed tax preparer and had worked as Tax Collector for the Town of Neversink. Marie loved attending auctions with her husband, NASCAR, fishing, flowers and her cats. Marie is survived by her children, Andrew “Mike” Dean and his wife, Lorraine, of Claryville, Christine Merritt of Sterling Heights, Michigan, and Penny Dean and her husband, Gary Lowe, of Woodlawn, Virginia; four grandchildren, Christine Sarosy, Spencer Merritt, Dean Merritt and Leonidas Merritt; nine great-grandchildren; seven great-great-grandchildren, as well as several nieces. In addition to her parents and her husband, Charles, Marie was predeceased by her brothers, Andrew and George Gorton, and her son-in-law, Arthur “Jake” Merritt. Visiting was held on Feb. 24, with a celebration of her life immediately following, at Loucks Funeral Home, Ellenville. Burial will take place in Claryville Cemetery in the spring. The family would like to thank the nurses and staff at Achieve Rehab and Nursing for the wonderful care they provided to their mom. Memorial contributions may be made in Marie’s name to the ASPCA.

Donald R. Churchill

ACCORD—Donald R. Churchill died on Feb. 28, 2022, with his family by his side. He was 79. Donald was born on April 14, 1942, in Kerhonkson; he was the son of the late Ross and Catherine (VanDemark) Churchill. Donald had served his country in the U.S. Army and was honorably discharged in 1966. On March 20, 1966, Donald married Alice Brown, and together they raised their family. Donald had worked for Channel Master and then with Imperial Schrade before his retirement. He enjoyed bowlChurchhill ing and hunting and loved spending time with his grandchildren. Donald had coached baseball for the Indian Valley Little League

and would lend a helping hand at the Federated Church whenever it was needed. In addition to his wife, Alice, Donald is survived by his son, Guy Churchill of Ellenville; his daughter, Corrie Wolfeil of Accord; his daughter-inlaw, Beth Churchill, and his son-in-law, Todd Wolfeil; his grandchildren, Jacob Churchill, Catherine Wolfeil and Daniel Wolfeil; his sister-in-law, Elinor Churchill; brothers-in-law Russell Gray and Richard Brown, as well as many nieces and nephews. Besides his parents, Donald was predeceased by his brother, Ross D. Churchill, and by his sister, Gladys Gray. Visiting will be held 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Friday, March 4, with a celebration of his life immediately following at H.B. Humiston Funeral Home, Kerhonkson. Burial will take place in the spring at Krumville Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made in Donald’s name to the Federated Church of Kerhonkson, P.O. Box 176, Kerhonkson, NY 12446, and/or to the Indian Valley Little League, P.O. Box 686, Kerhonkson, NY 12446.

To send a personal condolence to Donald’s family, visit humistonfuneralhome.com.

Barbara Becker

HIGH FALLS—Barbara Becker passed away peacefully on Feb. 16, 2022, at Health Alliance Hospital - Broadway Campus in Kingston. She was 86. She was born on Sept.7, 1935, in Freeport, and was the daughter of the late Albert and Virginia Hendrickson of Merrick. Barbara graduated from Wellington C. Mepham High School in Bellmore and was married on May 6, 1956, to Robert John Becker.

In 1976, Barbara and her family moved from West Islip on Long Island to her dream home in High Falls. After movBecker ing, Barbara took a position at Mohonk Mountain House selling antiques in the Gazebo Shop. She was eventually promoted to the gift shop manager and held the position until she retired. Barbara was passionate about everything in life, but her real passion was collecting antiques and furnishing her Dutch Colonial stone house. During her entire life she always loved cats, and continuously had a feline from when she was 5 years old. Her latest surviving cat is Coco, a Tortie Tonkinese. Her family will always remember her baking skills and the best damn chocolate-chocolate-chip cake ever made. She is survived by her children, Robert Becker, Richard Becker, Karyn Countryman and Jon Becker, and daughter-in-law, Donna Becker. Barbara had nine grandchildren: Christina, Alexis, Robbie, Justin, Jared, Lauren, Nicole, Erin and Mandi. She also had many great-grandchildren and loving nieces and nephews. Arrangements were entrusted to Keyser Funeral & Cremation Service, 326 Albany Ave., Kingston.

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Page 13

MOMEMADE providing healthy, delicious dog treats from Accord Local business thriving and expanding Jeff Slater BSP Reporter “I launched MOMEMADE in December of 2020 out of my desire to make dogs happy with healthy, safe treats” said Michele Weisman, founder of the company.

“Mome rhymes with home, and I define MOME as the power of motherhood aligned with the power of the universe. Our brand is about taking care of pups, our precious planet, and whomever needs some extra love and attention,” Weisman continued.

MOMEMADE (“Mom is the key ingredient,” as the website states) sells vegan dog treats in 4-ounce ecofriendly food-safe, heat-sealed bags to both retail and wholesale customers. She also sells two individual treats in “bundles” to dog-friendly businesses like the Stone Ridge Orchard.

She produces, bakes and packages, and ships from her home in Accord. Everything is done by hand, one treat at a time. You can purchase her products in a number of places locally, including Accord Market, Damn Good Honey, Saunderskill Farm and Mohonk Gift Shop. They are also available at various other locations throughout the Ulster County and even in Brooklyn.

“I love to sell direct from my website, Momemade.com, and in person during market season in Ulster County. The Hasbrouck House even gifts our ‘bundles’ to pups staying in their dog-friendly rooms,” said Weisman.

“Our peanut butter pumpkin treats use just three ingredients: non-GMO chickpea flour, pure pumpkin puree and natural peanut butter. That makes them vegan, grain-free, healthy and very tasty, They are safe for even sensitive or allergic dogs,” said Weisman.

Michele selling Thanksgiving-inspired Momemade dog treats at Damn Good Honey’s pop-up market this past November. Photo by Jennifer Duarte

The treats have undergone a shelf-life study and are guaranteed fresh and safe for six months. MOMEMADE Dog treats are certified by NY Department of Agriculture.

Business is booming. In the first year Weisman sold 2,000 bags and created an organic cotton tote and an eco-friendly T-shirt. Check out more about the company and its products on the website or on Instagram, @ mome_made.

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Your letters, views & ideas

Page 14

Letters policy Please send letters to the editor to the BlueStone Press by email at bluepress@aol. com or send to P.O. Box 149, Stone Ridge, NY 12484. Include your name, hometown and daytime phone number. Letters should be fewer than 500 words and may be edited for clarity, brevity and taste. Letters won't appear in consecutive editions from the same author.

The BSP hopes that, in the spirit of community dialogue, readers and writers in the letters section are respectful of a diversity of viewpoints.

We err on the side of freedom of speech in our letters, and we hope that vigorous dialogue is more likely to produce an informed public than censorship, however well meaning. Call 6874480 with questions.

March 4, 2022

Welcome, March!

Here are some operating procedures.

I’ll hang around, maybe pop in & out.

By the end of the month you start taking over.

The ice storm To the Editor: I just want to say thank you to all the workers from Central Hudson that were out in the frigid temperatures working to restore power. As a retired electrician who has also had to work outside restoring power during those extreme weather conditions, I know full well what you all were dealing with. Not only is the work tiring and dangerous, but the simple things like getting time to grab a hot meal and even using the bathroom can be chores in themselves.

In my opinion, you all did a fine job. Thank you.

Robert Dipolito Accord

Back on the tax rolls To the Editor: This past year Ulster County took in $34 million in additional monies not expected to have on hand at year-end. I offer that now might be a good time for the people of Ulster County to open a dialogue with our government about how this surplus should be handled.

From my point of view, I believe the conversation should start with putting it back on the property tax rolls.

When the county sets a budget for the year that is the plan to fund the day-to-day operations and government services that property taxpayers are asked to assist with once other revenue sources don’t match up with planned expenses.

With 2021 ending with such a large surplus, perhaps this should be returned to those who provided it to us through their hard work: the taxpayer. I propose and will be putting in legislation to allocate a $34 million reduction in property taxes in next year’s budget cycle or simply cut a check this year, proportionately sized, to all property taxpayers in Ulster County, to begin this conversation.

Q&A from page 2 when I really need it. I know what I do won’t cure cancer, which can sometimes give me a complex because my parents had long careers as cancer researchers and actually did help cure a lot of cancer.

But when I have moments where I think what I do or who I am doesn’t matter, I remember that email from overseas, get a kiss from my wife and get back to business.

What do you enjoy doing in your spare time? (hobbies, interests, family) I love to cook. One of the few things outside of my work friends that I miss about going to our Paramount offices in Times Square is that we had a fantastic teaching kitchen where you could break up your day by attending a cooking class with a chef named Sydney who would help improve your knife skills and prepare a delicious meal before you went back to an afternoon conference on toddler apparel for PAW Patrol. But now I have a Big Green Egg, which after Kristin is the second love of my life. I roasted Thanksgiving Turkey on it for our first Creek Locks T-Day. The smoky flavor put that bird over the top!

This might be the most prudent, equitable, fair and good government policy to do so.

Joe Maloney Ulster County Legislator, District 2

Become an amphibian-migration crossing guard To the Editor: As spring approaches and the weather turns warmer, an exciting event will be taking place while we sleep. Amphibians will wake from their winter resting places in vernal pools and wetlands to make the journey to their breeding grounds. The busiest first migration is known as the Big Night, and it happens when the weather conditions are just right, in late March/early April. It’s usually on the first rainy night after the ground thaws and overnight temperatures are around 40 degrees. Migration distances can be anywhere from a few feet to more than a quarter of a mile, and the migration often involves crossing roads, leading to many road deaths.

I also love playing the ukulele. I first started in a class taught by a master character artist when I worked at the Walt Disney Company. My guitar-playing brother Andy and I have regular Bader brothers home jams (we play until our wives tell us to please quit so we can eat dinner), usually accompanied by a martini or two and the spirit of our late father, John, who was a great campfire guitar player. Our mashup of “Old Town Road” and “What Goes Around … Comes Around” is getting pretty good. And I’m over the moon about joining the Rosendale Ukulele Wednesdays group that meets up every week at the Stepping Stone on Main Street. It’s so much fun to come together with other ukesters of all levels. The rotating leaders, Jenn Sturiale, Joy Reed, Sue Kiel and James McGrattan, take us through selections from different songbooks. If you weren’t at our holiday show with its lively renditions of “Feliz Navidad” and “You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch” you really missed a good time! I encourage anyone who thinks they might want to uke out to please join us!

Am I’m also a big sports fan. My younger brother Dewan was a professional soccer player and coaches for a living, and I grew up dueling him in the backyard.

If Patrick Mahomes, Steph Curry or the

The DEC’s Amphibian Migration and Road Crossings Project enlists volunteers to help these amphibians safely cross the road and record their findings. Last year I volunteered on my own road, where the frogs, toads and salamanders cross from the wetlands by my house to the pond across the street. In the span of 90 minutes I helped 60 amphibians of seven different species, including the spring peeper, a tiny frog whose high-pitched trill is the telltale sign of spring.

This spring I plan to devote more time to assisting in the migration, and I hope you will consider becoming a crossing guard for migrating amphibians. With habitat loss and increased traffic in our area, amphibians and other animals can use all the help we can give! If you do take part in this fun and rewarding Big Night of migration, please remember to use a headlamp and orange vest to make yourself more visible to drivers. For more information on how you can help, visit dec.ny.gov and search “amphibian migration.”

Lea Mazzei Accord

Manchester City soccer team are playing on the air, I’m probably watching. Hoping to find a few other sports fans in the area. I watch too many games as the lone fan.

What do you look forward to in the future?

Well, hopefully at some point this pandemic will really settle down and travel can happen easily again. Because, when we can afford it, I love going somewhere new once a year. Our three summers preCovid had trips to Montreal, Lake Como in Italy, 10 days on the coast of Maine. I know … I know … “it’s so rough you couldn’t go to Italy again, Kwyn.” It’s a bit spoiled. But those trips are good for the soul and make all the difficulties of a given year sort of evaporate.

As for work …

I feel like I’m coming into an amazing new era of my creativity. It took me a long time to figure it out, but I now have a great balance of steady employment and creative discovery. The job with Paramount, besides being one I enjoy, protects my art because I only work on the outside projects that I really care about and want to do. No compromise on the things where compromise makes me sad. So I’m looking forward to seeing where my impulses and storytelling take me. I think it’s going

to be pretty incredible. I have big dreams of creating a story franchise that goes from book to movie to amusement park rides.

It’s an audacious idea, but I’ve worked in every area of that pipeline so who knows what’s possible.

And home …

I’m looking forward to continuing to fix up our house and having it be more reflective of who we are, while continuing to meet more people in the area and discovering who we are here and how we fit. And even if I do have to start going back into the city in hybrid fashion I always want this to be my default center of gravity. I remember my last day in LA years ago. I ran up the back of the Griffith Park Observatory, and as I got sight of the James Dean bust and the Hollywood sign, my shuffling playlist started U2’s “I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For.” It was one of those hair-on-your-arm-raising moments that was just so true. Ten years there, and, somewhat tragically, I hadn’t found it. But now that I’m here, married to Kristin in a house we love, close to family, in an area that feels like home … I feel good … I feel like my true self … I’ve found what I’m looking for … and I’d like to keep it!

--Compiled by Jeff Slater, BSP Reporter

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page 15

Cougher McCoffin OK. Cougher. Listen up. Things have changed, in case you have been living under a rock on a different planet than earth. It’s not 2019 when you could hack in public and it would just be a little gross. Now in these covid times, you just can’t do that. You also can’t feign ignorance … not even the luddyist of the Luddites can say they haven’t heard of the super infectious Rona …

It’s super bad form to cough in public these days. And it freaks everyone out. It’s tricky enough to even clear one’s throat. So yes, I’m shaming you. Right here, right now.

I saw you at the post office recently. Oh, you know who you are … You couldn’t hide behind a mask because you were Wally Nichols not wearing one. Well, technically you were, but it was looped around your ears and functioning as something between a chin strap and a hickey hider. It was also, not for nothing, filthy. I wear dirty-ish masks and even I was grossed out. That takes a lot. It was no longer robin’s egg blue. It was robin’s nest brown. But mostly, it wasn’t even on.

The post office is still is under the jurisdiction of the federal government, and in exchange for charging you

Dear Wally

(only?) 80 cents (or something) for a letter, it requires masks to be worn. It’s not up for interpretation, or dismissal, or judgment any more than taxes or speed limits are. If you don’t like it, and want to be contumacious, run for president. Your first act as Commander in Cough can be the executive order outlawing masks everywhere including asbestos factories.

But we are in the here and now, like it or not.

Now in your defense, you were technically wearing a mask. I suppose you get points for that loosely interpreted fomite sportage. But you could have just been wearing a mask on your leg and stayed within the letter of the law …

Believe it or not, this is not a shaming for your poor adherence to mask-wearing rules. At this point, in places other than airports and post offices and private businesses with the mask requirement policy, for better or for worse, it’s pretty much everyone for themselves as far as I can tell. Wear one or don’t. That matters less. I’ll do me, you do you. We all have access to all the information, PPE and/or meds we want now. And we have for a while.

What I’m talking about is you masklessly expectorating in a public place with deep, guttural, lung-clearing force, repeatedly. And then doing it again. And again. I don’t care that in other cultures, your age (guessing 75?) might normally afford you a carte blanche etiquette pass. Not here, Grandma. Not for this. You forcibly coughed your ick ON the postal worker behind the counter. Then you did it again – 100% not cool, 100% biological warfare. Your aerosolized sputum must have found every nook and

Don't miss out!

L A U NN

A

cranny of the building and all the occupants' upper respiratory systems.

You did not excuse yourself to the outside. That would have been fine. You did not pull up your chin strap mask. You did not even apologize sheepishly. You just kept coughing. Which, especially now, is just uncool. Beyond that, it’s dangerous and impertinent. Smoking for 35 years is not an excuse for public hacking.

At some point you must have vibed the massive stinkeye we in the eight-person line were collectively giving you. You turned around and assured us, sotto voce, you didn’t have Covid.

Really? An often symptomless, highly infectious, deadly respiratory ailment? Well, that makes us feel better. Because you, with your flapping chinstrap of a nugatory mask, arbitrarily deemed it so.

You kept coughing and then decided it was the perfect time to ruminate over which style of stamp (flowers?

Some jazz musician? A flag? Oh my, the choices!!) would work the best for you. That poor postal worker who is forced to be polite and take your ocean spray of boogers head on ...

So, please do better.

– Wally Got a question for our advice columnist or just want to send him some sanitizer? Email him at cwn4@aol.com.

Sat 8:30-1:00

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Your friends and community

March 4, 2022

Calling all creatives

BLOOM is coming this spring, and the Circle Creative Collective needs your help Chelsea Miller BSP Reporter There’s magic coming to High Falls. Helmed by the power trio Jenny Wonderling, Melissa Hewitt (VISITvortex Magazine) and Mirabai Trent, Circle Creative Collective – a nonprofit organization dedicated to the healing power of traditional craft – is planning BLOOM, a large-scale experimental performance event coming this spring.

Many may remember Wonderling as the proprietress of Nectar, a lively shop filled with eclectic finds from across the globe and a supreme selection of teas. Wonderling’s creative and curatorial eye was evident in every inch of the store where curious shoppers could find hand-hewn furniture, luscious textiles, gleaming jewelry and whimsical housewares. In 2017, however, Wonderling began rethinking the business.

“I officially closed Nectar in 2018, but by 2017, when a certain president got into office, I recognized that I couldn't just point fingers at greedy or unconscious policymakers and corporations treating the environment negatively,” says Wonderling. “I needed to question and admit how I was also, and make radical changes in my own life. Thirteen years of importing large containers of furniture, shipping them across oceans and the country, felt like a betrayal of that intention, even if I was showcasing Fair Trade, organic and reclaimed items. The truth is, globally we all must commit to making less of an imprint upon our already burdened planet. It's never been more urgent to consider the waters, soil, air, other creatures and future generations.”

Wonderling began to think hyper-locally. “As we all know, shopping and manufacturing, even on the ‘green(er) side,’ perpetuates waste and increases the use of fossil fuels and chemicals, even if one just considers packaging, shipping,” Wonderling says. “It's not news, but it’s time we all buy less and share more. Making and growing only what we need and will use at home is not feasible for most these days, so at least purchasing from those who create with thoughtfulness locally or using pre-loved items helps. And, of course, so does expressing ourselves through earth-minded craft and creativity and making beauty from local plants in a sustainable and honoring way.”

The Circle Creative Collective focuses on upcycling materials, honoring the environment, inviting people to make things themselves, and it celebrates the healing capacity of working with your hands, creative expression and joyous community. The organization offers inspiring workshops and events, holds makers’ markets, invite teachers and indigenous wisdom keepers to share skills and knowledge, a line of DIY craft kits so people can learn to create at home, and provides circles of authentic support, including programming for teens.

Wonderling says that there is a magic that happens when working in a circle. “It started with friends initially getting

The founders of Circle Creative Collective at the 'Sankofa event' in Kingston with Caru and Ms. V.

together in living rooms to share skills and stories – women gathering together to make things. We all immediately recognized how others must also need this sense of play and sharing. Handwork seemed to dissolve stress and help us feel less alone. Natural plant dyeing, embroidery, weaving … these seemingly simple things hold powerful, healing magic. They transform pain, help people feel connected to those who came before, and that they are less alone. Craft is meditation in action – each stitch, each process. Perceived differences like race and age also seem to fall away, and time stills, at least for a while. Our divided and hurried world needs much more of all that.”

The Circle Creative Collective was born in 2019, and within the first year the organization launched with its first event in Kingston where several hundred people attended to make baskets, quilts, weave, natural plant dye, and witness the music and more of partner organizations Cornell Cooperative Extension and MyKingstonKids.

This spring, the Creative Collective is planning BLOOM, and as with most things, they are looking to engage and connect with the community on a journey of healing.

BLOOM continues the organization’s work bridging story and craft. “BLOOM: A Story of Rebirth embodies all our great loves: craft, storytelling, community – and a sense of hope,” says Wonderling. “Each visitor will go into the candlelit woods in small groups and meet creatures and allies

Lunching local with Farm to School Program

plained how the produce was grown and how the honey was made, and talked about the health benefits of eating fresh foods. Students then were asked the question, “Did you like what you tasted?” Depending on their answers, they placed a sticker in a “yes” box, a “no” box, or somewhere in between. #GanderPride --submitted by Lynn Gilbert

served to students who wished to participate in the tasting.

After trying the honeyed sweet potatoes, Matt Igoe, president of RVGA, explained to the students that the food they were eating had been grown by their neighbors. He shared information about the local farms, ex-

Bluestone Press right now!

High Falls

Rosendale

Thanks to local farmers, Rondout Valley School lunch is fresher than ever, and RVSD food service, "is thrilled to be a part of it."

Accord Stone Ridge

Your best customers are just aroundthe and theY’re corner reading the

Kerhonkson

Students at Marbletown and Kerhonkson elementary schools recently participated in a food tasting of local delights during their lunch periods. The Rondout Valley School District collaborated with Cornell Cooperative Extension Ulster County, the Rondout Valley Growers Association, Tributary Farm and Damn Good Honey Farm LLC to bring this educational experience to students.

John Matthews, RVSD director of food service, said he is thrilled to be a part of the CCE and RVGA Farm to School Program, which gives students access to healthy, local foods as well as a wealth of educational opportunities. “This program is designed to allow our students to try new things, and for them to be exposed to the food available at our local farms,” said Matthews. The recent tasting event took advantage of donations of sweet potatoes from Tributary Farm in High Falls, as well as honey from Damn Good Honey Farm in Kerhonkson.

Matthews and his staff used the donations to cook up samples of “Honey Stung Sweet Potatoes,” which they

of all kinds, sharing gifts of great beauty, music, wisdom, poetry, dance and story to awaken you to the mysteries of the forest and spring! Interactive, playful, improvisational … BLOOM is living theater, wrapped in a prayer. The vignettes or scenes along the path build sequentially upon the one before to tell a complete story of rebirth personally and as a collective.”

The Creative Circle Collective is seeking creatives of all types to join in the preparation of the event. Whether you can sew (even just a little), weave, sing, paint, perform, paper mâché – all creative skills are invited and encouraged to get involved. There’s much work to be done, including mask making, creating wings, costumes and sets, and Wonderling reminds us that “many hands will make light and joyous work.”

“The Hudson Valley is an incredibly creative community with a strong sense of service! This event will take lots of volunteers,” she says, “and so many have already generously stepped forward to help the scenes come to life. No experience is needed, so if people want to get involved, they can. BLOOM will be an affirmation of the importance of creativity to alchemize the stresses of our world, and that goodness and peace are within reach.”

For more information or to get involved, visit www.incircle.org, email info@circlecreativecollective.org or call 845-481-0739.

call for an advertising consult:

687-4480

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page 17

Kudos Gander student Skyler VanKleeck honored as youth ambassador Rondout Valley High School grade 11 student Skyler VanKleeck was recently chosen to represent the Greater New York State Chapter of the Tourette Association of America at an upcoming Youth Ambassador training.

VanKleeck has been actively involved with the organization for several years. He applied to be a 2022 Youth Ambassador and was selected along with several other candidates from across New York.

VanKleeck will be joining other Youth Ambassadors from around the country as he heads to Washington, D.C., at the end of the month to participate in this year’s program. The program involves coaching on giving educational presentations on Tourette syndrome (TS) to peers in schools across his area, and to community agencies, sports teams, clubs, and various other organizations.

While in D.C., he will also participate in other chapter events such as conferences and fundraising activities. In addition, VanKleeck will have the opportunity to meet with New York state senators and local members of congress to advocate for issues that affect persons with TS and other disabilities. For more information, visit rondout.k12.ny.us or call 845-687-2400.

Smitty’s in the 1970s was a very special place according to those who were there. Above, a John Novi's painting finished this month, as he remembers Smitty’s nearly 50 years ago.

Old times on Clove Valley Road, postscript Ann Belmont BSP Reporter

Lynne Friedman, Construct 1: “Blueness,” oil on cradled panel, 36 x 36” 2019

Rosendale’s Lynne Friedman featured in ‘What is a City? Solidity & Suspension’ exhibit The New York City Artist Circle presents, “What is a City? Solidity & Suspension,” an online exhibition featuring 23 artists, among them Rosendale’s Lynn Friedman, offering visual answers through iconic urban structures, on display through May 15. Curated by Bascove and Cora Jane Glasser, the show is the first in a series of exhibits focusing on different aspects of the city.

View the online exhibition at https://nyartistscircle.com/ curated-show/what-is-a-city-solidity-and-suspension.

Gander student Jaden Rion is King of the Ice in fishing tournament Jaden Rion, 12, of Accord, seventh grade student at Rondout Valley Junior High School, took first place in the youth division of the King of the Ice tournament held on Feb. 20 at White Lake, presented by Sullivan County Conservation Club.

For more information on the event, visit sullivancountyconservationclub.

Jaden Rion, 12, of Accord org.

In previous issues of the BSP, “Old Times on Clove Valley Road” has featured the Wickie Wackie Club (Feb. 4) and Smitty's Dude Ranch (Feb. 18). The memories keep coming. Smitty’s in the 1970s was a very special place according to those who were there. One of them is Larry Klaiman, who worked at the Depuy Canal House for some years and made frequent trips up to Smitty’s on weekends to listen to the Arm Brothers, who were the house band “for a couple of years in the early 70s … ’73 and ’74, I think... I moved up to High Falls in about ’68, I guess it was. I remember Smitty. He was always out front.

He was never flashy, just jeans and a shirt. He was always smiling, always very mellow, the whole place was. The parking lot would be full, and you’d walk in and the band ... they played one set with regular traditional instruments: upright bass, mandolin, banjo, and like that. Then they would switch over. The next set would be drums, electric bass, electric guitars. It was wonderful! I never knew where the hell they came from. They never played the local area, any bars in Woodstock or Rosendale. Just Smitty’s, and how they got there, who knows?

Scholarships offered to graduating seniors by the Women’s Club of Rosendale The Women's Club of Rosendale will once again offer two scholarships to students residing in the Town of Rosendale. Rosendale students graduating from high school this June and planning to attend a two- or fouryear college should obtain a scholarship application from their school Guidance Department. Applications

Scholar kudos James Murphy of Stone Ridge has been named to Adelphi University's fall 2021 semester dean's list.

Murphy was among a select group of outstanding students recognized by Adelphi's deans of Arts and Sciences, Education and Health Science, Business, Nursing and Public Health, Social Work and Psychology for superior academic performance. The list comprises full-time students-registered for 12 or more credits, who have completed at least nine graded credits, who achieved a GPA of 3.5 or above for the semester.

Noah Schumacher of Kerhonkson was named to the dean's list at Rochester Institute of Technology for the fall 2021 semester. Schumacher is in the packaging science program.

Full-time degree-seeking undergraduate students are

“It was a huge room, and it was always full. As I remember, on the far right was the bar, and a kitchen in the back. French fries and hamburgers were the only things I remember coming out of that kitchen ... everybody was drinking Boone's Farm – strawberry or whatever the flavors were. I think the bar sold it.”

In spite of the alcohol, “it was the mellowest times.

There was never any aggression. I never heard yelling or any kind of confrontation outside or inside. You would see people there that seemed to be coming out of the woods.

It was an amazing amount of people that just seemed to have convened at that one moment, a great bunch of people … it was just a really nice time. And the music was great, of course. Everyone was into it, there was a lot of group dancing ... everyone was involved in the same thing and with the same attitude at the same time.”

Remembering Smitty’s started Klaiman thinking about other things.

“There is so much history ... in High Falls itself,” he said.

“It was the most incredible time! It was like Brigadoon."

Klaiman started describing some of the extremely colorful local characters he could remember from those years.

“Those were the days, my friend,” as the song goes. There are no doubt endless stories to be told. Do you have one?

are also available at the Rosendale Library, 264 Main St., Rosendale, and on the library’s web site, rosendalelibrary. org. Application deadline is April 26.

A second scholarship is available to Town of Rosendale residents graduating from SUNY Ulster this spring and planning to continue their education at a four-year college or university.

Applications for this scholarship should be submitted through the Ulster Community College Foundation Inc. For more information, visit the Women’s Club of Rosendale on Facebook. eligible for Dean's List if their term GPA is greater than or equal to 3.400; they do not have any grades of "Incomplete", "D" or "F"; and they have registered for, and completed, at least 12 credit hours.

Benjamin Adams Hefele of Stone Ridge received a master of engineering degree in electrical engineering and a certificate in power systems engineering from Clarkson University on Dec. 18, 2021.

As a private, national research university, Clarkson is a leader in technological education and sustainable economic development through teaching, scholarship, research and innovation. With its main campus located in Potsdam, and additional graduate program and research facilities in the New York Capital Region, Beacon and New York City, Clarkson educates 4,300 students across 95 rigorous programs of study in engineering, business, the arts, education, sciences and health professions.

Arts, culture & entertainment

Page 18

March 4, 2022

The buds are swelling The great wakeup began back in the darkest days of winter. “There has to be a winter for there to be a spring,” as Christy Rollinson, a forest ecologist, put it (quoted in the Chicago Tribune). Cold is a signal for the buds to begin to grow. Tree buds, as we know, form very early. Some can be seen in January, if you are looking for them. By March, I'm looking hopefully for any sign that winter's ending. Today the wind is from the northwest, and there's still snow on the ground; but, like the plants, I feel different because the sun is brighter, higher in the sky. Winter's music contains an undertone, a sustained bass note of spring.

I walk around examining twigs.

You have to train your eye to notice them, these first swellings.

The buds are still mostly tiny and delicate, but every day they're Ann Belmont bigger. The buds of trees are actually as distinctive as their leaves.

The sumac develops a fuzz at the growing tip of each branch, like a young buck deer with new antlers. Its buds are large and reddish. Maple buds are stubby. Birch buds are narrow and arrowlike. The biggest black birch near my house – and there are many – looks like the buds near its top are opening up already; could that be because they get more sun? Even the evergreens have buds, though they are not very easy to see, but look at the tip of a white pine branch, and among the feathery needles you will see several unmistakable brown buds. Even evergreens need to produce new leaves; those needles don't last forever, only a year or two.

When the first run of unseasonably warm weather occurs, and the frozen ground begins to thaw, and suddenly a spring scent enters your nostrils, unbelievably intoxicating, you can almost hear those buds growing bigger. The water in the ground is unlocking and will begin flowing up root systems, causing the buds to

Wild Things

Dogwood buds and Black birch buds Photos by Ann Belmont

begin unfolding. Plants don't have glands, but they have hormones, like us. Tree roots will respond to the gradual warming of the earth and send up hormones that trigger growth.

It's a vulnerable time for plants. We all love the trees that spectacularly blossom before the leaves come out: cherry, many types of dogwood. They have the stage to themselves, as it were, along with a few shrubs, especially the ubiquitous forsythia bushes both wild and planted by humans. Their reason for blossoming first is, biologists believe, to get the flower-and-seed producing part of their cycle over with so they can concentrate on building up their "fat stores" for the rest of the growing season. It can backfire, though, if an untimely cold snap freezes those flowers; it's a chance they take.

There is actually an organization called the USA National Phenology Network which, depending on citizenscientist volunteers, keeps track of when buds open and when leaves fall every year. The goal is to see if/how climate change is affecting that timing. Spoiler alert: Yes, research is showing that spring is coming earlier, chang-

ing the synergy of light/warmth/moisture that controls what happens and when.

Trees can withstand so much punishment. The young elderberry and dogwoods will survive their buds being eaten by deer. The ice storm in February that knocked power out to a lot of the county encased the forest for many days in what looked like glass, as if under a spell, but when it got above freezing, the boughs that had been bent down to the ground, seemingly trapped, sprang back up as if nothing had happened.

All the broken limbs and carnage of downed trees will soon be forgotten, as they are covered by new growth and become part of the forest floor.

We have such short memories. You may remember what this winter was like, but how much can you say about the winter before that? As I walk around the yard, I'm struck, as always, by how much I don't know about the trees I look at every day. I may collect facts about them, but fundamentally they are mysterious and complex beings whose inner workings may be beyond the understanding of my human brain.

Marches Past in the Rondout Valley March 7, 1912 Kingston Daily Freeman Captain Clark’s Dream of Canals Assemblyman Andrew J. Cook last night introduced the bill of Captain Clark to revoke the charter of the Delaware & Hudson Canal Company. The measure also appropriates the sum of $1,000,000 to reconstruct that portion of the Delaware & Hudson canal which was filled in by the Ontario & Western railroad.

At last $2 coal is in sight for residents of Ulster County. With the canal rebuilt between Rondout and Honesdale and a tunnel through a few miles of mountains from there to Scranton or some other place down in the coal regions, it matters little exactly where, coal can once again be brought right to our doors. CapLinda tain Clark says so and shows a Tantillo map to prove it. Then with the branch lines to be established

by Captain Clark in his comprehensive scheme of improved waterways there will be a chance for excursion parties from the headwaters of the Sawkill to Chesapeake Bay or to Lake Ontario. …

From the archives

What will happen if a canal boat sideswipes an Ontario & Western railroad train where it runs in the canal bed between here and Ellenville is too horrible to contemplate.

Sidetracks ought to be established to prevent a possible collision. Or a lagoon in the vicinity of Accord where coal barges and pleasure craft could ride at anchor or tie up at night is not to be sneezed at. The suggestion is offered Captain Clark for what it is worth.

March 11, 1938 Rosendale News Rosendale Township Association When all the cement mines within the Township of Rosendale were in full operation our town enjoyed a prosperity known to few other towns within the boundaries of Ulster County. With the passing of most of them our people were financially hurt, for there were practically no other thriving industries here for them to turn to. Many of them moved to distant parts and sought new means of securing a livelihood. For those who stayed it meant seeking out new ways of being self sustaining. And so it is that the Town of Rosendale became a vacation center. Those who remained, or many of them, turned their homes into “boarding houses” and welcomed back their old neighbors as “paying guests” during their vacations.

Soon these boarding house proprietors realized that this might be developed into a very prosperous business.

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They began to enlarge their houses and to advertise individually throughout the Metropolitan Area. So it was that for many years they enjoyed a prosperous Summer resort business.

Year after year the competition among resort areas became more keen, and even during the peak years of 1927 and 1928, because of the lack of a cooperative effort upon the part of our own business people…our business began to wane and moved slowly downhill for several years.

In the early days of 1934 it became the “brain-child” of Mr. Henry Mollenhauer that the people of our Township should band together in an effort to help our resort keepers, our merchants and farmers….

Since February 1934, many objectives have been gained by this Association of which we will list a few.

The co-operative booklet “Vacationists Rendezvous” has been printed and distributed annually.

Two “Old Home week-ends; Better entertainment within our Town; Two kiddies Christmas Parties; School dramatic contests; Winter Sports folders; Winter sports; Eastern ski meets; Erection of educational markers….

[NOTE: The Rosendale Library Local History Collection has two of the “Rosendale Vacationist’ Rendezvous” from 1934 and 1935. 1934 was a 42-page booklet with ads for 39 inns, hotels and boarding houses in the Town of Rosendale.]

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page 19

Horoscopes International relations are now focused on the Russian invasion of Ukraine – and the planets are focused in two houses, Aquarius and Pisces – the sole exception being Uranus. The Sun, Jupiter, Neptune and Mercury form a stellium in the sign of Pisces, while Saturn is conjunct Mercury, with Mars and Venus conjunct Pluto in the sign of Aquarius – forming another stellium. Uranus remains in the sign of Taurus forming a square to the stellium with Pluto (negative) and a good aspect to the stellium that includes the Sun. The future of the world looks grim, but wiser heads may prevail.

The full Moon on the 18th falls in the sign of Virgo, promising attention to details.

Your Zodiac

ARIES: 3/21 to 4/19: Mars, your ruling planet, is conjunct Venus and Pluto in your 11th solar house of income from career.

With the preponderance of planJoanne ets in that house, you should be Ferdman receiving the money owed you with kudos for the quality of your work. The full Moon in the sign of Virgo is your opportunity to catch up on the paperwork involved.

TAURUS: 4/20 to 5/20: Venus, your ruling planet, continues to conjunct both Mars and Pluto in your 10th solar house of career. With Uranus in your 1st house, opportunities present interesting subjects but seem to fall short of your expectations. Perhaps at the full Moon, you will be able to extract a pattern of opportunity that will be pleasing.

GEMINI: 5/21 to 6/20: Mercury, your ruling planet, is

conjunct Saturn in your 9th/10th solar houses. The stellium of planets in that house presents a confusing picture of opportunity. Better to focus on your interests and desires than try to adapt to outside influence. Things will get easier at the full Moon in Virgo, when you see the details.

CANCER: 6/21 to 7/20: The full Moon on the 18th in the sign of Virgo is the time when many details will become known so that you can fill in the blanks. You’ll also be able to rearrange your schedule to accommodate the various components of your work and continue your education. Lending a helping hand is also important for you.

LEO: 7/21 to 8/22: The Sun, your ruling planet, is positioned in your 8th solar house of transformation. It is closely conjunct both Jupiter and Neptune as well as Mercury, bringing a great deal of information for you to digest – in addition to a great deal of socialization all at the same time. The full Moon will be a difficult time to sort it out.

VIRGO: 8/23 to 9/22: Mercury, your ruling planet, is positioned on the cusp of your 7th solar house of partnership. It is also at the end of the 6th house of health and daily work. Once any minor health problem is cleared up, you’ll be able to socialize as well as clear any difficulties that were present earlier.

LIBRA: 9/23 to 10/22: Venus, your ruling planet, is positioned with Mars and Pluto and helped by both Mercury and Saturn in your 5th solar house of creativity and children. You may be dealing with problems connected to your children or an aspect of your own creativity pertaining to your work. The full Moon on the 18th will help with the details.

SCORPIO: 10/23 to 11/22: Both Mars and Pluto are part of the stellium positioned on the cusp of your 4th solar house of home and family. With Saturn positioned there as well, you certainly are involved with your home whether just paying the bills or renovating – it is time-consuming. Some of the problems you have will become clear with the full Moon.

SAGITTARIUS: 11/23 to 12/21: Jupiter, your ruling planet, is conjunct both the Sun and Neptune in your 4th solar house of home and family. Your usual run of sociability and fun has slowed temporarily while you take time out to help your close family recover from their problems. The full Moon will clarify the details so that you’re certain of the cause.

CAPRICORN: 12/22 to 1/20: Saturn, your ruling planet, is positioned in your 2nd solar house of money conjunct Mercury, Mars, Venus and Pluto. This may represent your ambition or a genuine need for additional funds. With the Sun, Jupiter and Neptune in the 3rd house, you are certainly doing your best to accomplish just that. Details may help.

AQUARIUS: 1/21 to 2/19: Uranus, your ruling planet, continues in your 4th solar house of home and family. However, with both the personal and outer planets positioned in your 1st and 2nd house, you are trying to overcome any barrier to accomplish your mission. Perhaps the full Moon in Virgo will highlight the details you need to resolve the problem.

PISCES: 2/20 to 3/20: Neptune, your ruling planet, continues to be positioned in your 1st solar house of personality together with the Sun and Jupiter. It is also joined by Mercury – creating a stellium asking for action.

However, with both Mars and Venus working behind the scenes, you’re asked to wait. Details at the full Moon will help you plan.

Joanne is available for private/personized consultations at 561-744-9962. Treat yourself – learn what to expect from the current transits and receive an overview of your longterm goals.

d

is em.

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Page 20, March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press

FOR THE FAMILY Stone Ridge Library Knitting Group The Stone Ridge Library Knitters meet 10 a.m.-noon Saturdays in the activity room, at Stone Ridge Library, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge, with the next upcoming gatherings on March 5, 12, 19 and 26. All ages and experience levels can join, and drop-in knitters are also welcome. Bring your own supplies, do as much as wanted, and ask for help or advice if needed. Donations of yarn to the library get made into items for sale at the Library Fair and during the winter holidays for the benefit of the library.

Some group members also knit things for local hospitals or for U.S. troops. For more information, visit stoneridgelibrary. org or call 845-687-7023.

Writers group with Cathy Arra Two separate writers groups meet 4:30-6:30 p.m. on alternate Mondays at the Stone Ridge Library in the activity room, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge, with a maximum of 10 participants in each group. The program is designed for those who are actively writing and publishing work and who want to participate in a structured, critical feedback process. Cathy Arra, a poet, writer and former teacher of English and writing in the Rondout Valley School District, facilitates the groups. The next meeting is for Group 1 is March 7 and 21, and Group 2 on March 14 and 28. Email carra22@aol.com.

Mahjong, Tuesdays and Fridays at Stone Ridge Library The Stone Ridge Library hosts ongoing weekly mahjong at 10 a.m. Friday mornings (March 11, 18, and 25), plus a beginner’s group, 10 a.m.

Tuesdays (March 8, 15, 23 and 29), in the activity room of the library, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge. New members are welcome. No registration required. Just walk in. For more information, call 845-6877023 or visit stoneridgelibrary.org.

Teatime Book Group discusses ‘Moo,’ a novel by Jane Smiley Stone Ridge Library’s Teatime Book Group will meet at 12:20 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, via Zoom to talk about the novel “Moo” by Jane Smiley. Nestled in the heart of the Midwest, amid cow pastures and waving fields of grain, lies Moo University, a distinguished institution devoted to the art and science of agriculture. Here, among an atmosphere rife with devious plots, mischievous intrigue, lusty liaisons and academic one-upmanship, Chairman X of the Horticulture Department harbors a secret fantasy to kill the dean; Mrs. Walker, the provost’s right hand and campus information queen, knows where all the bodies are buried; Timothy Nonahan, associate professor of English, advocates eavesdropping for his creative writing assignments; and Bob Carlson, a sophomore, feeds and maintains his only friend: a hog named Earl Butz. Contact Sarah Robertson, programs manager, at programs@stoneridgelibrary.org to join the group.

Rosendale Seniors next meeting and upcoming trips The Town of Rosendale Seniors meetings are held at 1 p.m. every second and fourth Wednesday of the month at the Rosendale Recreation Center, 1055 Route 32, Rosendale, with the next meetings on March 9 and 23.

Upcoming trips for next year include Hunterdon Hills Playhouse in New Jersey on March 22 for dinner and show to see “Sherlock Holmes Returns.” Cost is $78 per person. And a trip to Myrtle Beach is planned for Sept. 11-17. For more information, call Chickie at 845-658-2414 or Hal at 845-658-9020.

All-ages Chess Hour at the Rosendale Library Every Thursday, 4-5 p.m., March 10, 17, 24 and 31, enjoy playing chess, all ages, all levels, at the Rosendale Library, 264 Main St., Rosendale. For more information, call 845-658-9013 or visit rosendalelibrary.org.

Second Sunday Suppers are back!

Enjoy Jambalaya and KingCake, by the pint, offered free to the community, 2-4 p.m. or while supplies last, Sunday, March 13, for drive-thru curbside pickup from the Rondout Valley United Methodist Church, 25 Schoonmaker Lane, Stone Ridge. Also back at the church, in person 10 a.m. Sunday worship, which will be offered along with online services. For more information, visit rvumc.org or call 845-687-9090.

Conversational French with Claudine Brenner A native French speaker, born in Paris and raised in Europe, Claudine Brenner chose Stone Ridge as her place

.

Stars of the play “Constellations,” Rick Meyer and Janet E. Nurre

‘Constellations’ Directed by Christine Crawfis and the Rosendale Theatre In this first live theater production of the season, Broadway comes to the Rosendale Theatre on Friday and Saturday, March 4 and 5, with “Constellations,” written by Nick Payne.

For this exploration of love, science, quantum theory and infinite possibility, Rosendale Theatre Arts Director Ann Citron has brought together director Christine Crawfis, founder of Mohonk Mountain Stage Company, to work with local luminaries Janet E. Nurre (“Grounded,” “How I Learned to Drive”) and Rick Meyer (“Every Brilliant Thing,” “The Complete Works of Shakespeare Abridged”).

“Coming up on the two-year milestone of this pandemic, people have been reexamining their lives and making changes,” said Citron. “The question of where those choices take you is at the heart of this play, which makes it a powerful reflection of our current times.”

“The play doesn’t actually talk about constellations,” explained Crawfis. “But the idea of the play is that at some point thousands of years ago someone looked up and saw an infinitesimal number of stars, and to make sense of it, he (or she) started drawing lines and making recognizable shapes as a way of helping us feel connected to something bigger, to help us understand something that’s impossible to understand, something like the universe or human relationships.”

In the play, Roland (a beekeeper) and Marianne (a theoretical physicist) meet at a party. In that single moment, an unfathomable multitude of possibilities unfold. Their chance meeting might blossom into a meaningful relationship, a brief affair or nothing at all. In this clever,

to retire following a 30-year government career abroad. Culture, medicine, travels and anything/everything culinary are favorite subjects that she would love to share and exchange with others, speaking in French. The program she is offering via Zoom is held 1-2 p.m. on the third Tuesday of each month, with the next conversation hour on Tuesday, March 15.

Visit stoneridgelibrary.org or call 845687-7023 to sign up.

In-person Holistic Healthcare Day at Marbletown Community Center Holistic Health Community of Stone Ridge will offer its ongoing in-person Holistic Healthcare Day from 4-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, at the Marbletown Community

“Constellations” director Christine Crawfis with Rosendale Theatre Arts Director Ann Citron

eloquent and moving story, Roland and Marianne's romance plays out over a myriad of possible lifetimes, capturing the extraordinary richness of being alive in the universe.

“If you are a person who has a conversation and walks away and then thinks of all the different things you could have said ... the multiple versions of you making every possible decision, eventually, what’s the point of making any decision? said Crawfis. “We get to choose the story of our lives. Our choice to open and be vulnerable to another person is, ultimately, the thing that makes us human.”

Showtimes for “Constellations” are 7:30 p.m. Friday, March 4, and 2 and 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 5.

Tickets are available in advance at rosendaletheatre.org and the box office, Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St., Rosendale, which opens 45 minutes before show time. Prices are $20 for general admission and $18 for members.

The show is recommended for audiences age 13 and up. The Rosendale Theatre requires proof of vaccination for entry. Masks must be worn inside unless eating and drinking at a seat.

For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

Center, 3564 Main St., Stone Ridge, and a Virtual Holistic Healthcare Week, Monday-Friday, Oct. 25-29, via Zoom. Community Holistic Healthcare Day is held on the third Tuesday of each month. All sessions must be booked online. Patients should make an appointment for one session only so the maximum number of people may benefit. To make an appointment, go to http://hhcny.simplybook.me.

Once the appointment is made, all information will be sent to the practitioner, and then they will contact each patient.

The Holistic Health Community Inc. is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, charitable corporation. Visit their website to donate and for more information about the Holistic

Health Community, its practitioners, and the modalities offered at holistichealthcommunity.org or call 845-867-7008.

Mystery Book Group visits ‘Bughouse Affair’ by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller “Bughouse Affair” by Bill Pronzini and Marcia Muller will be discussed by the Mystery Book Group, 11 a.m. Wednesday, March 16, in the activity room of Stone Ridge Library, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge and via Zoom. In 19th-century San Francisco, Sabina Carpenter and her partner, John Quincannon, are working on what appears to be two completely separate cases. Carpenter is on the hunt for dangerous woman who has some sinister ways to get her victims to part with their valuables. Quincannon is looking for a burglar who has set his or her sights on the city’s wealthy upper class. But soon, these two mysteries come together in an unexpected way.

To join the group, email Sarah Robertson, programs manager at programs@ stoneridgelibrary.org.

Poetry with Rosemary Dean Join the community via Zoom, 1:30-3 p.m. every other Thursday, with the next meeting on March 17. This program is presented by the Stone Ridge Library. Contact Rosemary Dean at rmdeen@gmail.com to join the group.

Quilt group Zoom meetings At 10 a.m. on the third Saturday of each month, with the next meeting on March 19, the Wiltwyck Quilt Guild comes together to share their work, learn a new skill and meet new friends. The guild, which normally meets at Grace Church in Lake Katrine, is currently holding meetings via Zoom. Members are always wanted and welcomed to join the projects benefiting the community. For more information, contact Guild secretary Mary Tyler of Rosendale at marycodytyler@yahoo.com.

Celebrating Aging and Rosendale Theatre’s Filmmaker Series presents ‘Fast-Forward’ This award-winning documentary asks, “If you could see 30 years into the future, would you change anything?” The film follows four millennials and their parents through a life-altering bootcamp experience at MIT’s AgeLab as they learn the secret to aging well, together. Supported by expert commentary, participants gain new perspectives on how simple changes in their mindset and behaviors can provide more control over the aging experience. The event, 2 p.m. Saturday, March 19, at the Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St., Rosendale, includes a post-screening discussion with director/producer Michael Eric Hurtig. Admission is by donation. Reservations and seat selection are available online and at the box office, which opens 45 minutes before showtime. For more info, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

Rondout Valley Lions Club New members, men and women of all ages, are wanted and encouraged to join the Rondout Valley Lions Club, serving the towns of Marbletown, Rochester and Rosendale since Oct. 18, 1950. During this time, they have helped those in need, whether it is for sight, hearing, medical emergencies or any worthwhile cause. “We serve” is their motto, and this is what they do.

For more information on being included in the club’s next meeting, contact Janet Sutter at janet.sutter@aol.com.

Marbletown Seniors trips A trip is planned for the Marbletown Seniors on April 12 to go to Aqua Turf Club, Plantsville, Connecticut, to see comedian/ singer Mark Verselli. Cost of the trip is $54, with family-style meal included. Bus leaves at 8:15 a.m. On May 10 is the trip to Hunterdon Hills Playhouse, Hampton, New Jersey, for the comedy “I left my dignity in my other purse,” featuring Joyce DeWitt from the TV sitcom “Three’s Company.” Cost of $78 includes lunch with choices from menu. Bus takes off at 9 a.m. The “Ride the Rails” fourday, three-night trip to West Virginia is Monday-Thursday, June 6-9, and includes Cass Scenic Railroad, Black Water Falls State Park with a spectacular waterfall, Seneca Caverns and more. Cost of $680 for a double room or $879 for a single includes three breakfasts, one lunch and three dinners. All trips leave from Marbletown Reformed Church, 3750 Main St./Route 209, Stone Ridge, across from the post office. For more information, call Sharon Letus, trip chairperson, at 845-687-9162.

See More events, page 21

BlueStone Press, March 4, 2022, Page 21 Events continued from page 20 Little Ones Learning Center’s story time The Little Ones Learning Center is a free early-literacy program held in the space rented from the Rochester Reformed Church, at 5142 Route 209, Accord. Story times are held virtually, 10:30 a.m. Fridays, on Little Ones Facebook page, and in person, 10:30-11:30 a.m.

Saturdays, at the church. Book borrowing is available 10 a.m.-noon Wednesdays and on Saturdays following story time.

Cancellations or changes will always be posted on their Facebook page. Give them a “like” to stay informed about new stories, changes in programming, and special events. For more information, call Mary Lee, treasurer, Little Ones Learning Center, at 845-626-7249, and visit thedenofmarbletown.com.

ARTS, MUSIC, BODY & MIND Ashokan Center of Olivebridge’s virtual Waltz-a-thon tonight Join hosts Jay Ungar and Molly Mason and their special guests for an exciting evening of dance, music and fun waltzing along with friends from around the world, at home (or anywhere)! Just sign up, share the link to encourage friends and family to pledge per dance to support the Ashokan Center, and play or dance along from home on Friday, March 4. To be a sponsor, view the list of signed-up waltzers and make a pledge. Choose any amount – $3 per waltz or $34. To be a donor, simply donate any amount. All donations during the Waltz-a-thon will be counted toward the fundraiser goal of $10,000.

Donations to the Ashokan Center help support Ashokan Music & Dance Camps, outdoor education for kids, festivals, lectures and much more. For more information, visit ashokancenter.org or call 845-657-8333.

Northern European Art Lectures by High Falls’ Sevan Melikyan, a visit to Antwerp Sevan Melikyan, owner and operator of Wired Gallery in High Falls, takes viewers on a pre-trip journey to Belgium and the Netherlands to enhance understanding of the artworks, 11 a.m.

Tuesdays, through April 12, with 60-90minute lectures; on Antwerp, Rubens House on March 8 and Cathedral of Our Lady, Mayer van den Bergh Museum, etc., on March 15. Melikyan, docent, museum guide and transcendent storyteller, will explore the works, lives, the historical setting, the techniques and the muses of the great masters of art. Cost is $15 per session. For more information and registration, contact Joan Hill, director of Artful Journeys LLC, at info@artfuljourneysllc.com or at 508-225-7907.

‘Encanto’ in Rosendale The Madrigals are an extraordinary family who live hidden in the mountains of Colombia in a charmed place called the Encanto. The magic of the Encanto has blessed every child in the family with a unique gift, every child except Mirabel. However, she soon may be the Madrigals’ last hope when she discovers that the magic surrounding the Encanto is now in danger.

“Encanto,” an American computer-animated musical fantasy comedy film produced by Walt Disney Animation Studios and distributed by Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures, is directed by Jared Bush and Byron Howard, co-directed by Charise Castro Smith who co-wrote the screenplay with Bush, and produced by Yvett Merino and Clark Spencer, with original songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda. The film, to be shown 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. Saturday, March 12 for $10, features the voices of Stephanie Beatriz, María Cecilia Botero, John Leguizamo, Mauro Castillo, Jessica Darrow, Angie Cepeda, Carolina Gaitán, Diane Guerrero and Wilmer Valderrama. Admission is $10/$6 members and $8 for kids 12 and under.

For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

‘The Expressive Figure’ online course with Kerhonkson’s Keith Gunderson This workshop will be held 9:30-11:30 a.m. Wednesdays, March 16, 23, 30, and April 6. The two-hour Zoom session coaches the figure drawing enthusiast past the challenges of technique and finding one’s artistic voice, starting with drawing from the model in a variety of poses and then through a series of

See More events, page 22

Building Resilience Conference for Women in Business In honor of the International Women's Day, the Mid-Hudson Small Business Development Center is hosting the Building Resilience Conference for Women in Business, a free virtual event, 1-5 p.m. Tuesday, March 8.

“We feel women in business need a lot of support right now, and that’s how this conference came to mind,” said Myriam Bouchard, certified business adviser for the Mid-Hudson SBDC and organizer of the event.

The conference begins with a welcome session with opening remarks from Sonya Smith, state director of the New York SBDC, followed by Dr. Mindy S. Kole, chair of the Business Department at SUNY Ulster, and Sylvia Rivera, economic development specialist, U.S. Small Business Administration.

There are three sessions, each with three unique presentations, including an interactive period of Q&A. The first session focuses on Health and Wellness, Finding Balance, and features a presentation entitled “Promoting Mindful Well-being,” and two panels, “Build Resilience & Grow Your Business” and “Self-care for the Business Owner.”

The second session focuses on Business Essentials – Foundation with two presentations, “Branding Done Right” and “Friend or Foe? The True Nature of Numbers Revealed,” and one panel, “Long-term Strategies for Financial Health.”

The third session of the conference focuses on Business Success – Planning Ahead with two

Building Resilience Conference for Women in Business, a free virtual event on March 8

presentations, “Why Me? Create a Culture of Leadership” and “Create Financial Independence,” and one panel, “Long-term Strategies for Financial Health.”

The conference concludes with a closing session with remarks from state Sen. Michelle Hinchey, Commerce, Economic Development and Small Business committee member, and from the organizers.

Recordings of each presentation will be available to attendees for viewing for up to one month after the event. Preregistration is required to attend. Closed captioning will be available. The Mid-Hudson SBDC offers no-cost, confidential, one-on-one business counseling to new and existing businesses. It is funded by the U.S. Small Business Administration and is hosted by SUNY Ulster.

For more information, reach out to sbdc@sunyulster.edu or 845-801-9150 or register https://hopin.com/events/buildingresilienceconference.

Mindful Mondays with Aimee Trumbore Mindfulness is a skill that is practiced through meditation. It offers numerous benefits to physical and emotional health, helping to reduce stress, improve concentration, cultivate kindness and experience greater emotional resilience. Join the community, 2 p.m. Mondays, March 7, 14, 21 and 28, via Zoom or in person, at the Stone Ridge Library, 3700 Main St., Stone Ridge, to develop awareness, cultivate more presence, and strengthen the ability to bring mindfulness into day-to-day life. These weekly drop-in sessions will include a short talk on the topic of the week, guided meditation, and opportunity for discussion. All levels of practitioners are welcome, no previous experience required. Mindful Mondays are led by Aimee Trumbore, certified Mindfulness Meditation teacher. For more information and registration, visit stoneridgelibrary.org or call 845-687-7023.

Free handgun safety class at Marbletown Sportsmen’s Club Seating is limited for this free handgun safety class, 9 a.m.-2 p.m. Sunday, March 13, at the Marbletown Sportsmen’s Club, 105 Scarawan Road, Stone Ridge. For information and registration, call 845-549-0961 or visit marbletownsportsmensclub.org.

Rosendale Library presents Medicare 101 Webinar

The films beloved around the world

Silent film shorts of Laurel & Hardy In 1921, Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appeared together by chance in “The Lucky Dog.” They officially became a team in 1927 when Hal Roach cast them in “Putting Pants on Philip.” The result is generally considered the greatest comedy team in film history.

This program, presented at 2 p.m. Sunday, March 6, at the Rosendale Theatre, will show some of the team’s best silent shorts including “Duck Soup,” “Second Hundred Years,” “You’re Darn Tootin’,” “Two Tars,” “Angora Love,” and their bestknown short from the silent era, “Big Business,” in which the duo start out spreading Christmas cheer, but end up sowing discord. Ray Faiola, “Grank Sheik” of the local Them Thar Hills Chapter of Sons of the Desert, the international Laurel & Hardy Fan Club will share the films’ commentary.

Sons of the Desert, the official Laurel & Hardy appreciation society, was founded in 1965 by John McCabe, Orson Bean, Al Kilgore, John Municino and Chuck McCann shortly after the death of Stan Laurel.

Sunday Silents are made possible through the support of Jim DeMaio - State Farm Insurance Agent, New Paltz. All films have live accompaniment by Marta Waterman. Admission is $6.

For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

Learn about eligibility, how and when to enroll, when to make changes, and the insurance options available. The program will simplify choices to help make informed decisions and explain what Medicare can do. This webinar will be held 10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, March 5, and 6-8 p.m. Tuesday, March 22, at the Rosendale Library, 264 Main St., Rosendale. Attendance is free. For more information, call 845-658-9013 or visit rosendalelibrary.org, where you can register for either session.

TMI Project free writing workshop This free, weekly drop-in workshop series to experience expertly crafted freewriting exercises will be held via Zoom, 7 p.m. Monday nights in March. Each workshop will be facilitated by trained TMI Project workshop leaders and will focus on free-writing and sharing work with Kiebpoli Calneck and Micah, March 7; Dara Lurie and Blake Pfeil, March 14; Rae Lipkind and Micah, March 21; and Hayley Downs and Perla Ayora, March 28.

The TMI Project Free Write is free for all.

Donations are welcomed, with $20 suggested per workshop. For more information, visit TMI Project, which originated in Rosendale, at tmiproject.org.

Email your

calendar item to BSP!

The Creative Movement class, for ages 4-6, is a wonderful introduction to the world of dance. A combination of simple choreography, circle songs, rhythm, shape and imaginative storytelling gives children a full range of movement.

Vanaver Caravan of Rosendale’s spring dance series of classes, ages 4-18 The 10-week spring series begins March 15, culminating with the Hudson Valley Beltane Festival on May 21. Creative Movement classes are held 4:15-5 p.m.

Tuesdays for ages 4-6 and CaravanKids, level one, 5-6 p.m. Tuesdays for ages 7-9; CaravanKids, level 2, 4-5:30 p.m., Wednesdays, ages 10-12; and Youth Company, 5:30-7 p.m. Wednesdays for 13+. The first four sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, March 15-April 6, are at MaMA, 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge, and the last six sessions on Tuesdays and Wednesdays, April 19-May 25, at Stone Mountain Farm, 310 River Road Extension, Rosendale. For more information, visit vanavercaravan. org or call 845-256-9300.

Page 22, March 4, 2022, BlueStone Press Events continued from page 21 illustrated lectures and top-down video demonstrations. Each class features a video sketch of a figurative artist, work or trend that has impacted the artistic evolution of figure drawing. Homework helps the student to integrate the lessons into their practice and thus all are encouraged to submit work for the critique at the end of each class. Deadline for registration is 7 p.m. on the day before the first class. Any registrations received after 7 p.m. the night before the first class of the session will receive the prerecorded video of the first class (or classes missed if session has already begun. For more information, visit woodstockschoolofarts.org.

Virtual Holi Celebration, presented by Stone Ridge Library Join Ajna Dance Company, 6 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, via Zoom to celebrate the color festival, Holi. This fun, interactive, virtual event, presented by the Stone Ridge Library, is great for all ages and will include a live introduction to Holi, an interactive video presentation that explains the significance of the festival, which will include a dance performance, and then an interactive Bollywood and Bhangra dance workshop for all ages and levels. One of the dance company members will be available for questions at the end. Come, learn about this cultural tradition, and pick up a few dance moves. Registration is required. Visit stoneridgelibrary.org or contact Sarah Robertson, programs manager, at 845-687-7923, ext. 8.

Staats Fasoldt showing new watercolors at the Rosendale Theatre Gallery The new watercolor paintings by Rosendale artist Staats Fasoldt will be on exhibit at the Rosendale Theatre Gallery, 408 Main St., Rosendale, for the months of March and April, with a meet-the-artist opening reception from 5-6:30 p.m. tonight, Friday, March 4. For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

MaMA Sunday Gatherings continues virtually Marbletown Multi-Arts of Stone Ridge’s Sunday Gatherings provide meditation on various spiritual matters and issues, and continue virtually via Zoom, 11 a.m.-12:30 p.m. each Sunday, with upcoming sessions on March 6, 13, 20 and 27. Newcomers are always welcome. For more information, visit cometomama.org or call 845-853-5154.

Co-sponsored by Marbletown MultiArts, Raga Meditation with Steve Gorn via Zoom Join bansuri virtuoso Steve Gorn at 9 a.m. Mondays in March, with the next classes on March 7, 14, 21 and 28. Co-sponsored by MaMA, Marbletown Multi-Arts, the hour-long program provides an invitation to meditate, do yoga, or simply settle into the moment of each new day. Contributions of $10 are welcome on Venmo or PayPal. For the Zoom link, donations and information, visit cometomama.org or call 845-853-5154.

Trees in winter, habit drawings in graphite, Zoom workshop Accord’s Draw Botanical presents the habit drawings in graphite of trees in winter Zoom workshop, 3-7 p.m. Sunday, March 6, and 4-6 p.m. Thursday, March 10. Graphite habit drawings, views of an entire plant in its natural habitat and growth pattern, can make excellent, rich additions to botanical compositions. In the workshop, the group will use photographs of a winter tree or one that is easy to access and draw them in graphite. Workshops include a set of prerecorded videos to prepare for class and recordings of each workshop session delivered via email. Be sure to add info@drawingbotanical.com to email contacts. Live demonstrations are provided on the first day of the workshop and constructive critique of work on the second day. For info, visit drawbotanical.com or call 845-377-0530.

Death Café group discussion via Zoom on different types of losses; free & open to all Circle of Friends for the Dying’s Death Café is a group-directed conversation with no agenda, objectives or themes. It is a discussion group rather than a grief support or counseling session; it is free and open to everyone.

Death Cafés are held, 6:30-8 p.m. on the 18th of each month, with the next discussion on Friday, March 18, discussing different types of losses, death, relationship, empty nest, environmental, retirement, job loss, move, illness, loss of function – any of these that can bring a sense of loss of identity. For more information, visit cfdhv.org.

Timing and techniques for vegetable seed Basics for starting with Kerhonkson’s Erin Enouen Beginners Yoga in Join the community at 7 p.m. Monday, Stone Ridge March 7, via Zoom for an evening with Erin Enouen, co-owner and farmer of Long Season Farm, 68 Maple Lane, Kerhonkson. Enouen will be teaching about the best timing for seed starting indoors and direct seeding the garden. She will go through techniques for seed-starting success and how and when to transplant seedlings to garden beds for a great growing season.

Enouen has been living and farming locally since 2008. In 2014 she started Long Season Farm with her husband, Sam Zurofsky. Their 10-acre certified organic farm is focused on providing fresh, high quality and delicious produce year-round.

In her role as co-owner/operator at the farm, she serves as the general manager and specifically manages the crop plan, variety selection, greenhouse production, outdoor seeding schedule, and the overall sales plan. Registration is required.

Visit stoneridgelibrary.org or contact Sarah Robertson, programs manager, at 845-687-7923, ext. 8.

Whole Sky Yoga, at 3588 Main St., Stone Ridge, presents Basics for Beginners, an in-person yoga program, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m. Tuesdays, March 8, 15, 22 and 29.

For very beginners or practitioners who want a refresher in basic yoga fundamentals, this four-week course will help participants understand yoga posture practice more deeply, basic yoga terms asana (posture) , pranayama (breath/energy), ujjaii (victorious breath), and vinyasa (to move with breath), and gain tools that will benefit the overall yoga practice.

For more information, visit wholeskyyoga.com or call 845-706-3668.

Erin Enouen, co-owner and farmer of Long Season Farm, Maple Lane, Kerhonkson

SUNY Ulster Fine Art/Visual Art and Fashion Design Faculty Exhibition The Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery at SUNY Ulster, 491 Cottekill Road, Stone Ridge, begins its spring season with an exhibition of the works of its art department faculty. Fine Art/Visual Art and Fashion Design Faculty Exhibition is open to the public and will run through April 1, with a closing reception scheduled for 4-6 p.m. Friday, April 1.

Described as a celebration of its talented and formidable Fine Art and Fashion Design faculty, the exhibition will include drawings, paintings, digital artwork, fashion garments and mixed media pieces of artists James Alderman, Lisa Anderson, Les Castellanos, Joan Ffolliott, Angela Kunz, Chelsea Stingel, Seth Rubin, Chelsea Vierstra, Kristin Flynn, Sean Nixon and Chris Seubert.

The Muroff-Kotler Visual Arts Gallery is

Artwork by Angela Kunz (above), Joan Ffolliott and Les Castellanos will be featured among other artists at the faculty exhibition.

open noon-4 p.m. Tuesday-Thursday.

For more information, visit sunyulster.edu or call 845-687-5000.

'These paintings that Stuart Bigley calls ‘Siblings,’ created during the pandemic, were made together and refer to one another; some are actual diptychs, but all share the same energy flowing from one to the next.'

Stuart Bigley’s ‘Siblings’ exhibit of paintings on display at in Rosendale “I’ve known Stuart Bigley for many years, primarily as the founder of Unison Learning Center,’ said fellow artist Staats Fasoldt of Rosendale, “but also as an expressionist non-objective painter of some power.” This exhibit will present recent paintings done during the pandemic shutdown. “The virus has been an enormous intrusion into our public lives, but Stuart

has used this time for deep and intense work,” said Fasoldt. “These paintings he calls ‘Siblings’ were created together and refer to one another; some are actual diptychs, but all share the same energy flowing from one to the next. The paintings are acrylic on canvas and show an artist of great energy and vision.”

Bigley has been making art for more than 50 years. He studied at the Corcoran College of Art and graduated from Silvermine College of Art. He is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on painting, drawing and photography. His work will be on display for the months of March and April at the Rosendale Café, 434 Main St., Rosendale. For more information, visit rosendalecafe.com or call 845-658-9048.

‘Licorice Pizza’ at the Rosendale Theatre A young girl named June with a big imagination makes an incredible discovery – the amusement park of her dreams has come to life.

Filled with the world’s wildest rides and operated by fun-loving animals, the excitement never ends. But when trouble hits, June and her misfit team of furry friends begin an unforgettable journey to save the park.

“Licorice Pizza,” an American coming-of-age comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson, who also serves as one of the film’s producers and cinematographers, stars Alana Haim and Cooper Hoffman in their film debuts, along with Sean Penn, Tom Waits, Bradley Cooper and Benny Safdie. The film will be shown at 7:30 p.m. Friday-Sunday, March 11-13, and 2 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, at the Rosendale Theatre, 408 Main St. Rosendale.

For more information, visit rosendaletheatre.org or call 845-658-8989.

Winter tree identification hike to Compass Rock at Minnewaska Join Nick Martin, park educator, 10 a.m.1 p.m. Saturday, March 12, for this recreational and educational, 2-mile, winter tree identification hike in the Peter’s Kill.

Program participants will hike to Compass Rock, a cliff edge promontory, with beautiful views of the Catskill Mountains on a clear day. Along the way, the group will make stops to look at trees and learn some of the clues to identify them in winter.

This outing does include two modest hills, which some people may find challenging. If snowy and icy conditions persist, the hike destination may change. If conditions are icy, participants are encouraged to bring microspikes or other ice traction devices. Meet at the Peter’s Kill Area.

Preregistration is required by calling the Lake Minnewaska Visitor Center at 845255-0752.

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Open Saturday and Sunday, 11am5pm. 1500 square feet of Art Deco, Vintage Art Pottery, country and formal furniture, selections of 19th and 20th century lighting, vintage photos, and decorative accessories.

Something for everyone. rosehillantiques.com 845-594-5752. BUYING antiques and used furniture.

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Mar. 9 @ 7:00pm to 9:00pm )RU 5HQW

Fine Jewelry Studio has an open bench position in High Falls.

Responsibilities include assisting LQ WKH IDEULFDWLRQ DQG ¿QLVKLQJ RI production jewelry.

Expect a variety of daily tasks.

Bench experience required.

For more information please email kmcmills@gmail.com.

'HYHORSPHQW 2ႈFHU: )XQGUDLVHU Z \UV QRQ SUR¿W exp. to work with a portfolio of prospective donors; take a leadership role in planning special appeals, managing Preserver Membership program, and increasing planned gifts.

Responsible for donor research, data entry, gift acknowledgement, reporting, tracking, budgeting, and other administrative functions.

Excellent computer skills req.

Salesforce or similar database exp. preferred. Salary: Low-mid $50’s/ \U IXOO EHQH¿WV (PDLO FRYHU OHWWHU & resume before March 25 to: employment@mohonkpreserve. org Include Development 2ႈFHU $SSOLFDWLRQ LQ HPDLO subject line. Details: https://www. mohonkpreserve.org/who-we-are/ jobs-fellowships-and-internships/ EOE Rice Plumbing and Heating is looking to hire an experienced HVAC Plumbing technician.

3 to 5 years experience.

Clean drivers license.

Full time.

Salary based on experience.

Send resume to riceplumbingandheating@gmail.com

Historic Preservation Committee Mar. 10 @ 6:00pm Planning Board Mar. 14 @ 7:00pm to 9:00pm Town Board Mar.15 @ 6:00 via Zoom Zoning Board of Appeals Mar. 23 @ 6:00pm

Town of Rosendale

All meetings held at Rondout Municipal Center unless otherwise noted, 1915 Lucas Ave., Cottekill, NY townofrosendale.com 845-658-3159 Youth Commission Mar. 7 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Town Board Mar. 9 @ 9:00 am - 10:00 am Environmental Commission Mar. 10 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Planning Board Mar. 10 @ 7:00 pm - 8:00 pm Zoning Board of Appeals Mar. 15 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm

Town of Rochester Town Board, Planning Board and ZBA meetings will livestream broadcast on YouTube.

Rochester Town Hall 50 Scenic Rd, Accord, NY

Planning Board Mar. 14 @ 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm Zoning Board Mar. 17 @ 7:00 pm – 8:00 pm Historic Preservation Committee Mar. 21 @ 2:00 – 5:00pm Recreation Commission Mar. 23 @ 9:30 am – 11:00 am Environmental Conservation Committee Mar. 29 @ 6:00-8:00pm Town Board Audit Mar. 31 @ 6:00 pm – 7:00 pm

BSPis is looking BSP looking for for a news reporter a Call news reporter. or email bsplori@gmail.com 845-687-4480 Give us a call to discuss the

Town Board Workshop Mar. 31 @ 7:00 pm – 9:30 pm

Page 24, March 4, 2022 BlueStone Press

Water Testing & Treatment for over 25 years

James Lyman Reynolds architect 3555 Main St, Stone Ridge Iron, Hardness, Sulphur, Bacteria - UV Treatment, pH - Green Staining

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Custom Showers • Ceramic & Stone Tile Stone Veneers • Full Bath Build-Outs • Insured COMPLETE AUTOMOTIVE DETAILING

Accessories -- Sales Accessories Sales--Installations Installations Cars - Trucks - RVs - Boats Dave Hllml • By Appointment 687-2445 4693 Route 209, Accord, NY 12404 www.davescarcare.com OVER 45 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN THE VALLEY

Matthew Flamhaft 845-687-9735 www.visitvortex.com/Matthew_Flamhaft

Wayne W. St. Hill, DDS, MAGD

Medenbach & Eggers

Stone RiDGe DentiStRy

Civil EnginEEring and land SurvEying PC Stone Ridge Dentistry 3642 Main Street Stone Ridge, ny 12484 (845) 687-0600

212 Fair Street Kingston, NY 12401 P: (845) 331-3600 F: (845) 334-9465

4305 uS Highway 209 • Stone ridge, ny 12484 PHonE (845) 687-0047 • Fax (845) 687-4783

www.gagnoncpa.com

info@mecels.com • www.mecels.com

PC Perfection

Edgar P. Campbell Joanne C. Whalen

Helping Human Beings Cope with Computers since 1986

Counsellors At Law

Tutoring, Sales, Repair, Cleaning

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• Wills • Real Estate • Elder Law • Estates ,QMXUHG" &DOO XV

(914) 948-7700 (845) 687-0353 3536 Rt. 209 Stone Ridge, NY 12484

Alan Silverman Emergency Well Pump Service Plumbing Repairs & Installation Water Filtration Systems Radiant Heat Flooring Oil & Gas Heating Systems-Installation & Service Septic & Drain Field Installation/Sump Pump Installation

(845) 687-9458

riceplumbingandheating@gmail.com • riceplumbingandheating.com

alan.silverman.computers@gmail.com http://alan-silverman-computers.com

Stone Ridge Insurance

Sanitall

Licensed Master Plumber #136 • Fully Insured

HudSon Valley Green CleanerS

Serving All of Your Insurance Needs

Steam Vapor Sanitizing SerVice ChemiCal Free!!!

100% Green Cleaning testing and removal of

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mold. allergens. deep Cleaning.

Michele Aversano, Licensed Associate michelesri@outlook.com

Reconstruction/Remodeling Post Construction & Seasonal Clean Up

PO Box 341, 3669 Main Street, Stone Ridge Phone 845-687-2828 | Fax 845-687-2829 stoneridgeinsurance.net | Like us on

Cracked Pipe, Flood & Black Water Damage, Dry Out & Disinfecting nYs licensed mold assessor & mold remediation

Commercial & Residential. Insurance Claims Accepted.

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All Motor CArs Creating thoughtful, livable spaces.

sales & service

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